Christopher (
makeachoice) wrote in
nexus_crossings2016-04-17 04:16 pm
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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?"
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?"
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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."
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"So, you up for a game or not?"
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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."
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There's a flash of sheepishness that's ultimately taken over by a look of triumph. He wasn't actually expecting her to resign to playing, but he's definitely glad that she did.
"Oh, you'll see why this is more important."
A token is slipped into the slot, and the game flashes before urging the redhead to pick a character.
"Bask in the glory that is Street Fighter, Nat."
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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.
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"Seriously?" A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. Hell yeah he'll get more tokens and a pack of gum. "You're a woman after my own heart," he jokes.
This is Street Fighter II, so Nat can bet her bottom dollar that has Vega. Go forth and kick ass.
Chris ducks out to nab a handful of tokens and search for the needed gum. She seems like the type to chew on something cinnamon flavored, but since this is an arcade, she's going to have to deal with double bubble. To Chris, that's perfect. It's part of the ambience.
He returns quickly to hover over her shoulder. She's definitely doing something right because Chris whistles with a raised brow. "Look at you."
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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."
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"Hey, Honda is a tank, and you should be proud of taking him down." Winning your first match is a big deal, okay.
"Oh! Next round is starting. Looks like you're fighting Blanka."
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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?"
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He will open up a whole world of gaming to Nat if it actually intrigues her enough. And wouldn't that just be awesome? They get back all sweaty and tired from her spartan training, and what next? Mario Kart. Is there a better way to unwind? He doesn't think so.
His smile widens into a full blown grin at the question. "Hell yeah you can!"
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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.
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"Your secret is safe with me." Even though she could definitely fend for herself with those natural skills. Nobody would even suspect her of being a novice. "You're teaching me to kick ass in real life, so I'll teach you to kiss in the video game world."
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"I mean, this is something Barton plays, and you're at least half a generation younger than he is.'
just noticing that typo now like wow @ me
"It doesn't have HD graphics or a riveting plot, but it's timeless, you know? Anyone can enjoy it, I think."
Wingman Chris working in sublimal messages
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?"
AAAAY
"How could you say that to me?"
He chokes out a dramatic sob, wiping away at a non existent tear before cracking a smile that crumbles the charade that was shoddily strung together.
"New and the classics. Best of both worlds, Nat."
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"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."
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"High score at what, pray tell?"
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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."
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"Doesn't mean you can't try." Believe or not, the blond is not attempting to coerce others to play the game so he can boast over how unbeatable his score is. Rather, he wants to spread the enjoyment that can be taken from an arcade game.
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"It's a fighting game, yes?"
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The explanation is quick and simple enough. There are four main buttons, two for kicking and two for punching. And then, of course, there's the joystick for moving.
"Basically, all you have to do is hit your opponent more than they hit you." Or hit them with just a few strong combos. Chris will get to that if the other wants to play more after getting a feel for the game. "Also, blocking is your best friend. Don't forget that."
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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."
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"Hey, don't worry! You didn't even die. That's awesome," he offers with a supportive tone.
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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.
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"I'm kinda surprised. I mean, you're pretty good."
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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?"
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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."
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"C'mon, you'll like it."
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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?"
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He visibly brightens when the other agrees, his smile widening even more so when Han asks for direction.
"Alright, so this-" He points to each button as he goes along. "--is a light kick, a hard kick, a light punch, and a hard punch. Use the joystick to move. You can jump, duck, and block with it, too. Oh! And you can do combo moves if you press the buttons and move the joystick in a specific order." But to spare Han from the confusion and the nerd babble, he'll skip explaining those. "First things first, though. You gotta pick your character."
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"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.
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"Blanka. Not a bad choice." Ah yes, the green goblin-ish guy with the sad backstory turned happy. "He's pretty popular, actually."
Okay.
Ready.
Start.
...Why isn't Han starting? The time will eventually run out, and his character of choice will be chosen since the cursor is highlighting the space around Blanka, but, for future reference of speeding things up, Han should know about the select button. "Let me just--" There. Chris will just press it for him.
"Okay, so now you just pick which country you want to fight in first, and the fight will start."
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"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?"
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Good job, Han. Anything is possible now! That's one button figured out, and the rest will come.
"I played this one a lot when I was younger," he says, his eyes set on the game as the battle starts. "Arcades are kind of hard to find." There are certainly none near him. "But I played other games."
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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.
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Wow. Han Solo is truly a novice at this. But he is winning so far, so whatever works for him. Also, there would be no judgement if Han was losing. Video games are meant for fun, and Chris is perfectly happy talking to other while he mashes buttons. He just hopes that Han is enjoying it.
"So you've never seen stuff like this anywhere else?" Are video games seriously just an Earth thing, or are they just super uncommon?
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"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.
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"That sort of counts. Same concept, different utilization." Not as fleshed out and expanded upon. "Wait until you see some of the other stuff. The graphics are insane." Just give him some time to find a system and the games if they exist here (which they should, considering the arcade).
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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?"
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Chris could go on and on about video games for hours, so a subject change is probably needed for Han's sake. Besides, he actually enjoys the shift in topic. Small talk doesn't bother him. "Odd jobs, Spartan training under Nat, that sort of stuff. I think I found my rhythm here. Like, living normally even though this place is seriously not normal."
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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.
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"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.