015 ♐ there is life outside your apartment! ♐ ᴏᴘᴇɴ

[geometry]

Characters: Equius Zahhak and YOU YOU YOU!
Setting: Media room.
Format: Whichever.
Summary: It's not often that Equius goes to the media room all by himself; he doesn't really care enough about most forms of media to head down there. But sometimes, you just get the irresistible urge to play some good ol' violent video games... or, in this case, good ol' non-violent video games, because guess who's playing a knock-off of Animal Crossing: City Folk.
Warnings: Pretty much none.

[Sometimes, shit happens, and the only way to deal with that shit is to sit in a comfortable chair you've sat in a billion times before and… talk to cute animal villagers.]

[As opposed to the usual cacophony of shooting and loud music that comes from the Media Floor, today there's only one sound — some nice, soothing music, maybe a little bit upbeat as it's the middle of the day. Every so often, there are noises that sound like possibly-human voices put through Audacity one too many times. And sitting in a veritable cocoon of blankets, all by his lonesome, with a ridiculously huge mug of tea losing its heat on the end table, is one Equius Zahhak.]

[Some douchebag started a game already. They named their town TOWER WONDERFUCK and the four player characters were JASON, RUANA, RIKI, and ZO.]

[Probably because they thought it was funny.]

[Equius was now going through the motions of starting a new town, a town known as Alternia, and the main character was — for whatever reason — a female who he gave a random human name pulled out of his memory. At least she had nicer hair. Nicer, pink hair. In three ponytails. Okay, her hair was kind of weird, but he preferred three ponytails to having to stare down Jason the whole time.]

[If approached in this state, he might or might not care about you or your lonely soul — although if you bothered to bring it up to him, and also quoted the Tower version of Les Misérables, then he might care a little about your lonely soul. (There's a difference, you see, in the references, they bond people together.) Honestly, he's sitting here playing this utterly nonviolent video game because he's kind of feeling shitty himself, what with the events and the monsters and the spending a week-and-then-some in the hellish remains of a ruined land and… yeah. Equius liked to tell himself that he was used to the horrors of the Tower by now, he could handle whatever they threw at him, but the fact of the matter was that he couldn't. No one could. If people could handle it, the Tower wouldn't use it.]

[So hey, maybe you think the game is cute or you want to use the console or you're pissed that he's occupying like all the blankets. Whatever. But there's a dude here who looks like a lady, playing a video game for girls.]

[What do?]

Comments

[sunflowerfairy]

[While Yotsuba stayed in the dorm floors when she was without weapons, now that she had a sling and a sling pouch attached to a sash she always wore, she had gone back to her ways of happily exploring and playing with people she found. While she had hated the blued haired boy she had met here before, she did like the golden man and was more than a bit curious about video games, so she had wandered in here..only to find an odd person cuddled up in blankets playing something. What it was, Yotsuba couldn't say, but the music was really nice and calming, and it looked really cute and fun. So, after watching him play for a few minutes, Yotsuba tried to tug at his blanket cocoon and asked a question, looking rather interested but curious, smiling all the while.]

Hey..what's that? It looks like a lot of fun! [When she said 'what's that?', she pointed to the telly, where the video game was being shown.]

[geometry]

Uh-- what? [Guess who didn't expect to be bothered. Especially when he was trying to catch a REALLY rare beetle. Well, long story short, the beetle got away, and Equius turned to look at the little human girl with a face of alarm.]

Oh... sorry. Um. Well, it's a game called Monster Crossing... I guess it is pretty fun.

[sunflowerfairy]

[If Yotsuba had known about the rare beetle, she would have really apologized, since she knew how hard it was to catch cicadas in real life, even if it was a lot of fun. However..she still looked pretty shocked at the title.]

Monster Crossing?! Are they all trying to eat you?!

[geometry]

[ !!! ]

No! The monsters are nice! Oh god please calm down.

[sunflowerfairy]

[..Ah. So these were nice monsters. Okay then! Thanks to that, and the way this person told her to calm down, Yotsuba did so quite easily..even if she did look puzzled.]

Oh! Okay then! But I'm not God! I'm Yotsuba Koiwai!

[geometry]

Oh. Hi.

...Um, my name's Equius.

[sunflowerfairy]

It's nice to meet you, Eq..Equius! How do you play the game?

[Guess who had never played video games before?]

[geometry]

Oh, um... it's pretty simple. There aren't any enemies. Mainly you walk around, talking to your neighbors and selling bugs and fish and things, so you can make money and buy stuff.

It's pretty fun.

[sunflowerfairy]

That does sound like fun! It's fun work!

[Pardon her, Equius. Yotsuba thinks that anything a person does to get money is work and a job. Quickly, Yotsuba got on to the couch and sat next to the bundled-up Equius. If he didn't stop her, she would be trying to nestle into that blanket nest.]

Can Yotsuba play?

[geometry]

Sure.

[Equius doesn't much care if Yotsuba steals his blankets, since she's an actual decent person -- and a little kid. He can't turn that down. So, in addition to letting her take the blankies, he also gives her the controller.]

If you press the right and left buttons on that plus-shaped pad, you can switch between different tools.

[sunflowerfairy]

[Even though Yotsuba was usually a pretty good kid, she was still a kid, and, therefore, could be pretty selfish at times, so she didn't feel bad as she wrapped the blankets around herself and took the controller. Thankfully, she knew the difference between right and left, so Equius's instructions made sense.]

Really?! [And with that, Yotsuba would try it out, and, hearing the sound effect, would look up at the screen, seeing that the avatar was now holding a fishing rod.]

Oh! How can you catch fish?!

[geometry]

Heh... just walk along the river until you see a fish shadow, and when you see one, press A to throw your reel into the water. Then when it goes under, mash A.

[Yotsuba should be able to figure out what A is, considering there's big obnoxious letters on every button.]

[sunflowerfairy]

[Thankfully, she was able to read it, even though she had never used a game controller before, so, after messing with the controls and looking at the screen, she figured out how to move around, and grinned happily.]

Okay! Yotsuba will catch a really large fish then! Fish are tasty, you know!

[Not that you could eat them in the game, but Yotsuba didn't know that. While it didn't take her long to find the river, she kept running alongside the river, which made the fish shadows run away..and made Yotsuba pretty frustrated.]

Stay there! Come back!

[savedbyasong]

[What do indeed. Well Shion will just flop next to him and look at him in concern, before watching the screen, and going back to Equius. He had also been in his doomed world for a little bit, and since then had to deal with the fact the administrators were stealing his memories, and he's mad at Xion.

But he's also worried about Equius, and so is glad to see him.] I was worried you'd gone...

[geometry]

[Fortunately, Animal Crossing and its ilk is not a game that really has to be paused, so Equius was able to drop the controller at his leisure... if he wanted to. So when Shion comes in, he glances over and gives the boy an awkward attempt at a smile, but then turns back to the game -- because being completely socially incompetent didn't mean as much when you were playing a video game.]

[But then Shion talked, and he really had no choice. So down goes the controller.]

...Really?

[He rearranges himself in the blankets, looking over at Shion.]

I, uh... I'm sorry.

I left for a little while. But I'm fine. Really.

[No he's not.]

[savedbyasong]

You don't have to be sorry. [He's staring him intently, as if trying to work out the truth of that statement. Even though it didn't actually take Shion's genius to know that Equius was lying.]

You don't look fine.

[geometry]

...I don't?

[whoops.]

Oh.

...I, uh, thought I was doing pretty well...

[savedbyasong]

You need to work on your acting. [Shion gave a small smile, to take the sting out of his words]

What are you playing?

[geometry]

...Yeah, I'm not very good.

[He looks back to the screen.]

It's called Monster Crossing. Pretty calm game... no enemies...

[savedbyasong]

The monsters aren't enemies? [Yes inane video games are easier conversation topics than dead worlds and hopelessness]

[geometry]

No, they're friendly. You live in a town populated by monster people, and you're the only human.

[See? There goes a cute, chibified harpy, watering her flowers.]

[savedbyasong]

Oh. And what do you do there?

[geometry]

Just... random stuff? Catch fish and bugs, decorate your house, garden, stuff like that.

It's quiet.

[savedbyasong]

It sounds nice. [And strange, but in a nice way. In a what life could be like if you weren't a fake construct living in a tower of illusions and despair kind of way.]

[chainsawn]

[ At first it might not be very noticable. But then every time he tries to catch something in the game with his net, he might hear the sound of a footstep or something like that behind him. If he actually bothers to turn around and look, he might find Urotsuki there running around like she's imitating what he's doing in the game, swinging an imaginary net around in the room. ]

[geometry]

[Equius actually noticed fairly early, but after glancing behind him once, he just kind of... ignored her. But when he fell in a pitfall trap and she casually threw herself onto the floor, that was the moment he began to consider that something was wrong.]

Are you okay?

[chainsawn]

I'm stuck.

[ In the pitfall trap, she means.. although she's obviously not stuck in the ground herself, but her imitation looks pretty convincing considering all she does is wiggling a little on the ground. ]

[geometry]

[Slowly, he watches her wiggle...]

In what, exactly? The ground?

[chainsawn]

Uh-huh. [ Wiggle wiggle. ] .. It's a pitfall.

[ IN CASE IT WASN'T OBVIOUS YET. Or well, since it's her play pretend, it's not that obvious.. ]

I hate those.

[geometry]

...So do I.

[Equius gives her kind of a weird look.]

Um, so... did you want to play in here or...?

[chainsawn]

[ Apparently she has to think about that question.. but at least she's pushing herself up from the ground as she does so, still blinking at him. ]

Uh-huh, I guess I was playing that game along with you. [ Without asking in advance. ] It seemed like fun.

[geometry]

Uh. Okay.

[He looks uncomfortably at the screen, and then unwraps himself from the blanket cocoon.]

If you wanna play the, uh, the actual game, you can go ahead.

[chainsawn]

.. Weren't you playing it like that though?

[ She blinks at him, even tilting her head sideways a little bit. ]

I don't want to stop your fun..

[looselips]

[What with having died recently, Shinji is in a less-than-good mood himself. So, he has decided to blow off steam in his usual way, which is to march into the media room and play violent video games until his thumbs can't take it anymore.]

[That was the plan, at least. The fact that someone is already occupying the console he wants to use presents something of a roadblock.]

Ugh. [Leaning on the back of Equius's seat, he groans pointedly and a little exaggeratedly.] If you're going to hog the television, at least hog it to play something better than this kiddie crap.

[Says the eight-year-old child.]

[geometry]

[well that's a little rude!!!!!]

[Equius is getting flashbacks to certain other individuals who would respond the same way (GAMZEE MAKARA), so please forgive him if he doesn't act like his usual quiet doormat self.]

The only kinds of gamers who use 'kiddie crap' as a legitimate term don't even deserve to hold a controller.

[ :I ]

[looselips]

[...OH NO YOU DIDN'T—]

[There's a second where Shinji is so taken aback that he just gapes, but then he leaps to defend his gaming honor. Also, to brag.]

Projecting much? For your information, I'm the winner of the most recent VAMP. Do you know what that is? It's a global competitive gaming championship.

[That's right, you're talking to a world champion gamer!!!]

[geometry]

You're from Earth, aren't you?

[Not looking up from Animal Crossing. He's hunting for scorpions and this little shit is not going to deter him.]

[looselips]

So what if I am?

[Similarly, Shinji continues to lean on the back of the chair.]

[geometry]

Then who the hell cares about Earth-based global gaming championships?

[SCORPION GET. He's still not looking away from the screen.]

Whatever you humans can come up with in a game doesn't project any real danger, or any real skill. [Because you don't have to fight off the zombies or run from the government in real life.] You humans are all incredibly full of yourselves, for living on such an easy planet.

Also, by the way, I know what VAMP is. I was able to connect to your Internet for ages.

I'M NOT LATE WHAT IS LATE WHAT IS THIS

[hystericull]

[Gamzee could easily pass for a thrown-away voodoo doll at this current point in time. His first outing since being condemned to bedrest found him in the media room. His head felt his own again... somewhere... underneath the throb and sting of pain burning across the fresh scar there. His stomach looked like someone had played tic-tac-toe on it with a fucking scalpel, but those wounds were hidden beneath a thick layer of purple-stained gauze. He sort of wanted to die. The only thing keeping him from it, though, was the knowledge that Jason would be handling his body again, and he'd wake up with that chip in his skull once more.]

[Having returned to his permanent state of hating everything, he didn't much have the energy nor the death wish to invite an altercation between himself and the boy he laid eyes on, hunched over on one of the couches with his ugly mug plastered to one of the TV screens.]

[Something inside him tightened, and it was lucky that that was a metaphorical tighten and not a literal tighten, or else he would probably be soaking blood through his shirt again. Gingerly, he placed his hands on the back of the couch Equius was seated on. He didn't dare try to attempt the feat of sitting.]

The fuck is you motherfuckin' playin' grub games for? You fuckin' two sweeps old!?

[geometry]

[If it's any consolation, Equius sort of wanted him to die, too.]

[Though it did pose the question: would one wish Jason on their worst enemies? Was that really a thing that a sane, moral person would do? Even though there were a lot of times that Equius doubted his actual morality, such as when he gets irrationally pissy at an eight-year-old kid who just happens to have an ego and offers similar responses to those of one Gamzee Makara. Still, Equius liked to think he was a sane person, for the most part. Enough to count.]

[But hey, that's alright, that death wish thing. He doesn't want much to do with Gamzee either, and if they had to fight, he'd hate for it to be in here -- there's so many cool video games and whatnot. ...Though the possibility did cross his mind, seeing as Gamzee was now the second person in just as many hours to accuse him of playing a game for children.]

[It's rated E for everyone not dead, fucknut.]

You and I both know that I'm not two sweeps old.

[The tone of his voice suggests that Equius is so, so far from welcoming Gamzee's bullshit today.]

[hystericull]

[Ah, yes, perfect consolation, thank you. It was a tough mental battle, choosing between antagonizing Equius and surrendering to the desire to not be attacked. If he played his cards right, he could have the best of both worlds. Shoot for the moons, etc.]

[Please. Everyone knows those ratings are just to make immature brats feel better about playing their tittybaby games. Unless, of course, your name is Tavros Nitram, and in that case you are exempt from all accusations of being a tittybaby, because then you would just be motherfucking adorable playing your grub games. That's neither here nor there, though.]

That was fuckin' rhetorical, you empty-nugged piece of grubshit.

[His hand was raised in mid-air, intent on smacking the boy upside the head for his idiotic retort. However, he gave a tense of his fingers before resting it back on the couch. He made a face at the screen.]

If you all want to be digging motherfuckin' holes, we got a floor for that crap.