makeachoice: (→ 17)
Christopher ([personal profile] makeachoice) wrote in [community profile] nexus_crossings2016-04-17 04:16 pm

nerd alert

Since when was there an arcade in the Nexus? Has it always been there, or has Chris been simply ignorant of the video game haven's existence? The latter would be a shame seeing as how he's been suffering from video game withdrawals since his arrival. No matter at this moment, though. He can debate the when and how later. For now, or rather, for the past few hours, Chris has been indulging himself. As soon as his eyes fell on the large sign that proudly stated 'ARCADE', all of his other responsibilities of the day were pushed aside and forgotten. 

Anyone who steps in will see him hunched over a game halfway down the middle aisle. The screen illuminates his face with a shade of blue, and the concentration he holds is evident in his expression. He almost appears to be in a trance in the way that his unblinking eyes trace across the screen. Occasionally, he'll lift a hand to prop up his glasses that have slid down the bridge of his nose. Aside from that, his fingers are busy with tapping buttons and wiggling the joystick. Finally, if the spectator hasn't grown tired of watching him, the game plays a fanfare, and Chris is straightening himself and beaming. "Hell yeah!"

Oh, right, the outside world exists, and he apparently has an audience. No matter who is hovering nearby, Chris will greet them with a smile and a raised brow before issuing a challenge. "Think you can beat my high score?"
red_room: (Smirk)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-04-17 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Speaking of his other responsibilities.....

When Chris looks up from his game finally there's a familiar redhead leaning against the side of a nearby machine. Her own perfectly sculpted eyebrow is raised, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"So.... this is where you ran off to."
red_room: (Out of uniform)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-04-18 02:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"Uh huh."

Just like barton, she swears. Natasha rolls her eyes and sidles over. Chris knows better than to assume it's a come on--that's simply how Natasha is with everyone. Especially when she's in public in any capacity.

"Fine. Let's go kid, and then you can explain to me why this was more important than what I sent you out to do."
red_room: (Out of uniform)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-04-19 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"...Here." Natasha gives Chris a handfull of bills and turns her attention to the screen. "Get more tokens, and get me a pack of gum while I figure this thing out."

Is this the expansion that has Vega? It better be. Claw is where it's at. Natasha gives the console a glare that would melt Siberia and turns her attention to the screen. It's been a long time since she's touched one of these things.

Ironically, the last time she saw this game it was with Barton.
red_room: (Can I put you on hold?)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-04-20 01:45 pm (UTC)(link)
She's not going to waste Chris's valuable pizza funds (he better be eating something other than that with how hard Natasha is training him) trying to learn this game.

This game is going to rue the day Black Widow discovered its existence.

Sending Chris away also has the added benefit of him not being there to see her struggle to learn the ropes for her first few matches. There may or may not have been some very creative swearing in Russian before Natasha found something of a footing.

"Look at me what." Is her reply, not looking at Chris until the match is over. Take that Sumo Guy. The gum is plucked from Chris's fingers immediately, a small cube popped into her mouth. Good. Now she's less likely to grind her teeth when she gets frustrated. "Punching an obese man out shouldn't be something to cheer over."
red_room: (Can I put you on hold?)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-04-21 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
"So is this against a computer or am I fighting other people over a network or something?"

She spares a glance Chris's way while the match loads, and she legitimately looks like she's interested in their newest bonding activity. He'd taken to training, gun care, and shooting with minimal complaint. The least she can do is learn how to have fun with him once in a while in return. Chris is a good kid. One she wants to look out for.

"Could I play you later even?"
red_room: (Smirk)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-04-21 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not something Natasha would do every day but the activity is certainly something she could see herself sitting down to do once in a while with Chris. He's so excited about it Natasha can't help but to smile along as she gets a handle on the game.

She likes throws. As soon as she figures them out, she likes them a lot.

"Good. The whole arcade doesn't need to know I'm just figuring this out..." She says that but she's pretty good. Good reflexes on this one.
red_room: (Wiping Red Away)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-04-22 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"Isn't this game a bit old for you?" She tilts her head just slightly enough to peer out of the corner of her eye at Chris. A bubble gets blown while she waits for his answer.

"I mean, this is something Barton plays, and you're at least half a generation younger than he is.'
red_room: (Can I put you on hold?)

Wingman Chris working in sublimal messages

[personal profile] red_room 2016-05-02 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Games are an excellent practice for hand eye coordination. If Barton approves of them then Natasha can hardly argue. Though, she is rather dubious as he seemed to get that knowledge from listening to a Mr. Wade Wilson.

A story for another day.

"You're not a hipster are you?" She teases, but is kind enough to make that evident in her voice instead of the same monotone that she says most everything else in. "Do you play newer games, too or just the classics?"
red_room: (Ha)

[personal profile] red_room 2016-05-04 01:55 pm (UTC)(link)
She wrinkles her nose at his playacting, and laughs after shaking her head. It's soft, not like the usual bark of laugh she gives in sarcasm.

"You really need to work on your lying skills." He gets bumped lightly by her hip before she starts her next match. She falls silent for the match, the only sound being the occasional bubble she blows in her gum and the tappatapptap of her fingers on the buttons.

"This guy doesn't specialize in throws does he." She purses her lips. Another victory though this one not so easily won. "I think I'd do better with someone who was."
sumarusfinest: icons created by pariker (I see...)

[personal profile] sumarusfinest 2016-04-18 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
This is the sort of place his brother would likely frequent. It makes the officer pause and give a nostalgic sigh for a good long moment before he recognizes that he's being spoken to.

"High score at what, pray tell?"
sumarusfinest: icons created by pariker (Thinking)

[personal profile] sumarusfinest 2016-04-20 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"I have to confess, I've never played it."

He's never played any video game, to be exact, but that wasn't what was asked of him. The officer moves so he can see the screen, looking a bit embarrassed by the admission.

"So...it's quite doubtful I could."
sumarusfinest: icons created by pariker (Turn)

[personal profile] sumarusfinest 2016-04-21 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Okay...h..how do you play?" The officer is easily several years older than Chris, but he seems rather sheepish when he approaches the machine, carefully reading over each of the buttons.

"It's a fighting game, yes?"
sumarusfinest: icons created by pariker (I see...)

[personal profile] sumarusfinest 2016-04-21 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"I see. This appears to be simple but is in fact quite complex, isn't it...?" Seems like a game that is very much easy to get into but very much difficult to master beyond a certain level.

Character selection isn't important to Katsuya and he leaves the cursor where it defaults to on the headbanded fighter. He systematically goes through the buttons Chris has taught him, trying to determine which combinations of buttons will provide various attacks.

He isn't the best at this, having never touched the machine before, and the timer runs out before he finishes his first fight.

"Oh..u..uhm. Oops."

sumarusfinest: Icons created by pariker (Smile)

[personal profile] sumarusfinest 2016-04-22 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"My brother was always quite good at these things. Kind of shocking that I've never played until now, when I think about that."

Ouch, yeah. That's a past tense usage there. He's nothing if not tenacious though, and the next round will go in his favor. It's only the first round--so it's kind of difficult to lose too badly.
sumarusfinest: Icons created by pariker (Smile)

[personal profile] sumarusfinest 2016-05-02 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think..." The officer smiles a bit wider, giving Chris a glance out of the corner of his eye. "You may be flattering me in an attempt to keep me playing." He's not that much older than Chris is but he definitely carries himself like he's someone's father, or at least father figure.

Being a police officer is part of that, but so is his personality really. Games are fun and fun isn't responsible obligations to ones family.

"Who do you prefer to play?"
twelve_not_fourteen: (Wut? - Episode 5)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-04-19 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Han ... literally has no idea what the hell he's seeing in this place. Only that he texted to see where Chris has been lately and between games he simply got an address by way of response. Solo has never seen so many flashing screens in all his life before.

For a while he just walks around, taking it all in. After he's had his fill, looking at the different games, he wanders over to Chris.

"Nope." He says shaking his head. "I think your high score is safe, kid."
Edited 2016-04-19 00:07 (UTC)
twelve_not_fourteen: (Shiii ... [Trooper] - Episode 4)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-04-20 01:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, he has great reflexes and on a game that's forgiving to button mashers, he's likely to have some success.

It's just unlikely that he'll be dedicated to a fighting game long enough to learn the moves. On the other hand, there's little doubt he'd make a great partner for a rail shooter. And he'll probably wreck people trying to keep up with him in this game.

At Chris' encouragement, he looks down at the controls, dubious. "What the hell?" He says with a shrug. It not as if there's anything riding on him winning or losing here.

"How does it work?"
twelve_not_fourteen: (Scoundrel - Comics)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-04-21 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, let's take gaming with Han on the slow and steady. He could probably handle the explanation of combo moves and how they work, but realistically, they would just keep them from the fun part. The actual game. And besides, he'd probably forget half of what Chris said by the end of the first match.

"Uhhh." Han moves the joystick around the character select screen. "Let's see. Blond haired guy with headband ... practically the same guy again ... fat guy ... stick figure ... don't even know what that guy is supposed to be ... token lady ... shemale with claws."

"I think the green one." Han says. He moves the cursor over to Blanka, but no idea he needs to press start to select him.
Edited 2016-04-21 02:16 (UTC)
twelve_not_fourteen: (Wut? - Episode 5)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-04-21 03:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, well look at that. Chris pushed a thing and the game selected a thing. He supposes that seems like something he should try to remember.

"Country?" He says with a shrug. "Country from where?" It's not as if Han's been to earth and recognizes any of these places or flags. Anyway, he scrolls around for a moment before picking the USSR stage because that seems as good as any other. And look, he even figured out that he has to push the thing Chris did just a moment ago to select the level.

Isn't he a quick learner?

Han decides to make a bit of small talk while he's watching that loading screen. "I assume you used to like playing these things at home?"
Edited 2016-04-21 15:51 (UTC)
twelve_not_fourteen: (Foot in Mouth - Episode 5)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-04-23 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
"I suppose I should have known." It was a game that Chris was familiar with, after all. Plus, no single planet, other than Earth, that he knows is so obsessively divided up by its inhabitants. It's just not a thing that happens very often where he comes from.

Oh. The thing is starting!

He's gotta do some stuff, right?

Uhhhhhhhhh.

Move the stick and, okay, the green guy starts moving around. Push the buttons like Chris was saying and the green guy attacks. This doesn't seem to bad ...

Han walks the first stage Zangief all the way into the corner of the level and starts cheesing him to death with the low kick.
twelve_not_fourteen: (Thinky Face - Episode 5)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-04-24 03:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Well he can't be good at everything, can he? More time and he'd have a better idea of what he was doing, of course. The aim wasn't to come here and become a video game wizard, though, it was to talk to Chris.

"Depends on if you count holographic things as 'like this' or not." He says with a shrug as the next match starts. This time he's working in more than just the one move, but he's still trying to grind the enemy character into the corner.
twelve_not_fourteen: (Planning - Episode 5)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-05-02 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"They don't tend to be geared towards entertainment." Han says as he's trying to virtually kick and punch the crap out of his CPU opponent. "They're more often simulations for learning something."

Not that he want's to step on Chris' enthusiasm, but he does have some things other than games on his mind. Hopefully, a subject change won't rub him too much the wrong way? "What have you been up to besides spending time here, lately?"
twelve_not_fourteen: (Thinky Face - Episode 5)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-05-03 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"So you're not like the people that go back and forth then?" Han says as a response. He knows a lot of people do, but he'd be kind of glad to find out that it wasn't the case for Chris.

Han seems to have beaten Zangief and his little pixilated plane is now flying off to Japan. Looks like the next match is against the fat one.
twelve_not_fourteen: (Cover Your Mouth [Side] - Episode 5)

[personal profile] twelve_not_fourteen 2016-05-04 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
One of these days, Chris is going to have to explain to him what happened. He has heard bits and pieces of things that didn't really make a lot of sense from Josh. And it was during an episode, so he took it all with a grain of salt.

"Good." He says with a nod. "I'll feel better knowing that Josh has someone looking out for him."

It's possible that this very subject came up while the two of them were working on the speeder a few days ago. It's been on his mind ever since. This pirate has no intention of leaving all the people he's befriended in the Nexus behind, but let's face it. This guy is probably never going to settle down in one place for any length of time.