"Did you ask me to stay, because you seek my counsel?" Naeth asks, watching as the other inspect the confines of his wallet.
"You could say that. Aaaand... This is enough for pizza and a dozen or so games, I think. Let's go." Galivinth responds, shutting and tucking the item back away into his pocket before turning to head toward the corner of the block.
"Go where, exactly?" Naeth asks as he moves to walk beside his relative.
"To an arcade that's not too far from here. It's a place where you can play video games on cabinet machines within a public space. There's a pizza store right across from it, too."
"I see. Though, what sort of goods does a pizza shop sell?" Naeth genuinely asks.
"It's- it's food, dude. Steamy, cheesy, meat covered goodness. Or veggie, or just cheese, if that's your preference." Galivinth answers.
"A place to purchase cuisine, then. I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself."
The two adolescents make a left at the corner and carry on in lingering silence. It remains as such all through their little trip and until they reach the parallel businesses. The walk-in pizza shop, Mama Jane's, just to their left - and Arcadem Max, the local arcade, across the street to their right.
"Hmm... I think we can play first before grabbing a bite. I'm not too hungry at the moment." Galivinth muses, taking a short moment to look both ways of the street afterwards.
"So this is the location, huh?" Naeth questions as he takes a moment to observe his surroundings, noting the names of the establishments Galivinth informed him of. The two head across once it was safe, as well.
"Yup. Now, let me introduce you to another side of gaming culture." Galivinth responds as he peels open the arcade's front door by its handle, leading them inside to a cool interior with a myriad of sounds filling the entire establishment. It was a fairly busy afternoon, but not too many roaming people around that they'll spend too much time waiting to play the most preferable game machines. In fact, one of the better ones was currently vacant.
"It's... Comfortably cold in here. Though, it's also obnoxiously noisy." Naeth comments with an observing frown on his face.
"Yeeeah... You get used to it eventually. Took me three visits before I did. But uh, follow me a second?" Galivinth requests and leads Naeth over to a quarter dispenser, where he takes a moment to retrieve bills from his wallet and inserts his first dollar. In turn, the machine rattles out an equivalent exchange of four coins into an open pocket where they can be retrieved easily.
"What is the purpose of this device exactly?" Naeth questions.
"To give you the equal amount of money you put in back as quarters. Quarters that we can use to play anything here." Galivinth answers and hands over all four coins to his cousin.
"Here, try a game or two out while I get more for us."
"Very well. My curiosity is piqued." From there, Naeth ventures off while Galivinth stays behind to finish his objective. The cryonean surveys the entire room and its bountiful selections as he mindful treads through it. There was a sense of indecisiveness within him. At least, until he spots something peculiar to his monochrome eyes. A ramp structure with half a dozen or so orange spheres and a rim adorned by a thin net of some kind. There were two beside one another, with one currently being occupied by someone else. He sees the individual make attempt after attempt after attempt to throw the balls through the open net as many times as he could before his time limit is up. By the time the clock hits zero, he sees the player has obtained a score of 12 points, and hears the machine's fuzzy voice announce that no new record has been beaten. It asks if he'd like to try again, but the individual had already turned his back to it and began walking away.
Wanting to give it a go, Naeth approaches to take his place. He examines the instructions at the slanting foot of the machine. How to start the game, the conditions of winning, and even the explanation of its built-in leaderboard. Once he finishes, he feels he's ready to begin. He inserts the asking price of twenty-five cents and almost immediately, the machine becomes audibly active again.
[ "Welcome! Can YOU beat the number one baller?" ] The machine's automated voice asks as the screen above the backboard of the rim momentarily displays the leaderboard, with 26 points being the highest of a list of eight three letter names.
[ "35 seconds on the clock, champ! Ready?. . . GO!" ] The machine exclaims and releases its basketballs into the large open pocket that's easily accessible to the player.
Naeth blinks curiously and reaches to pick one up at his leisure, not too concerned with the time limit at hand.
"I think it's done like this--" He murmurs to himself and lofts the ball at the rim. However, the ball doesn't quite go anywhere near the basket and roughly bounces off the backboard due to the unintended excessive amount of strength he put behind it. The orange sphere ends up flying past his face and skipping along the carpet floor until it hits the back of someone's calf.
The individual does his best to keep aware of his active game while also peeking down to see what hit him.
"Hey, you dropped this, dude." The teen informs. Eventually managing to pick up the ball, briefly turn toward Naeth before tossing it over.
"My apologies, and thank you." The latter catches it with ease and shifts his focus back to his own game, as well. Eight seconds had been wasted. Still, Naeth uses his time to stare at the rim contemplatively. Calculating the adjustments he'll need to make in order to grasp some form of working method. After another six seconds, he takes another experimental shot. Giving the ball a very careful overhead launch from the palms of his hands -- Just a gentle jolt to send it flying and plummeting to his liking.
BRNK!
Even though the ball doesn't go into the net, the cyonean male manages to at least hit the rim this time.
"Better, but I can do far better." Naeth muses softly to himself, his features still wearing a solemn expression as he focuses. He picks up another ball and shoots.
BRNK!
Another rim contact, another miss. He shoots again, coincidentally just as the buzzer goes off. Yet again, all he hits is the rim.
[ "Only 0 points! Better luck next time, champ!" ]
"Well, that's absolutely unacceptable..." Words stoically spoken by him. Without wasting time, Naeth grabs another quarter out of his pocket and inserts it. The game starts up the same way as before and Naeth stands ready with a ball in his hands.
[ "...GO!" ] And with that, he takes his first shot of the second round. Which happens to be a complete miss. Nothing but air struck before that sphere lands and comes rolling back down to rejoin the pile of balls.
He exhales a breath of air and takes his time with the next one. Analyzing his potential trajectory once more, briefly, and then lets it fly--
KWOOOP.
He makes the shot and the ball goes almost absolutely cleanly through the net, earning him 2 points on the scoreboard.
"Hmm..." He hums flatly in thought, not entirely convinced he's cracked the formula just yet. 12 seconds pass by. He picks up another ball and lets it go up and down in the same fashion as the last.
THHMB...
It barely grazes the rim this time. With that result in mind, he makes a little more adjustment to his posture and the positions of his hands. Maintaining that form onward, he takes his next three shots. One after another.
KWOOOP.
KSSSH.
S W I S H !
All three go in without a hitch. A satisfactory grin curves the corners of his lips upon realizing he's found the 'sweet spot' - one that turns into a mischievously smug one just seconds later. Just as he was prepping his next shot, the buzzer goes off. His score was 8 points in total by the end.
"Bah.. Again!" Naeth demands, plucking out another quarter to insert into the machine.
"Why am I not surprised? Should have known you'd go to a game like this." Galivinth banters with a grin, approaching to use the rim beside the one Naeth was using. He inserts a quarter to begin his own game.
S W I S H!
"Ah, glad to see you've finished. And I'm not quite sure what it is about this game--" Naeth begins his response, briefly pausing to take another shot. Simultaneously, Galivinth takes his first one, as well.
S W I S H.
THOOOM.
"But I find it compelling. The natural competitive aspect of it is one of its qualities that draws me in." Naeth finishes after making another shot. Galivinth, however, grazes the rim with a miss.
"Makes sense for sure. When you're invested in something, you do get pretty competitive. It's something I find admirable about you." The latter replies and picks up another ball.
"It's pretty inspiring. It makes me want to do better."
"Oh?" Naeth pauses completely for a moment and looks over at the Galivinth with a faint look of surprise on his face, watching as his relative takes another shot. He grins again, fond of the notion. His attention shifts back to the game at hand afterwards.
"That's good. Truth be told, I see it when it occurs. How you step out of your passiveness and comfort to face adversity. It makes me feel as if our camaraderie could conquer anything or anyone that stands in our way." He continues, tone radiating with a sense of pride before he takes another shot.
KOOSH.
. . . . .
S W I S H.
Both adolescents make it into their respective net this time.
"I feel that, dude. It's a mutual feeling, and one I couldn't have worded better myself." Galivinth responds with a toothy grin and a following soft chuckle. With both having under 17 seconds left, they shift their focus onto scoring. Landing as many shots as they could before the buzzards went off.
At the end, Neath achieves 18 while Galivinth hits 12 points worth.
"I'm already getting close. I'm determined to beat the top performance of this machine." Naeth speaks to no one in particular and proceeds to slip in another coin. More in sync this time, Galivinth does the same.
"Go for it, dude. I think you got this." The latter encourages before they both pour all of their attention into trying to earn a high score.
It initially seems like a back and forth, but partway into it, a gap forms and continuously grows. Unlike Galivinth, Naeth doesn't miss any shots this time around. The two match pace the entire time and until the machines give off a dual buzz. Naeth ends up with 26 points, while Galivinth barely manages to make 18 points.
"One more time... I've matched the top scorer's record, but I can still do better. I'll just have to be much faster." Naeth reasons to himself, retrieving the last quarter in his pocket to feed into the machine's coin slot.
"I already beat my usual score, so I'm good. I'll watch you, though." Galivinth informs before moving to stand off to the side a few feet from the other. However, it's almost immediately then that someone approaches him from behind.
"Galvin? Is that you, dawg?" A masculine voice addresses him, drawing his attention. Turning his head to look over a shoulder, it's there he sees a lean redhead male approaching to stand beside him. He squints, staring as he tries to recall who the individual is.
"...Shurman?" He asks after a moment.
"Yeah, boy! Big Red is in the building to-DAY. How ya been, G?" The latter answers with a toothy grin. In turn, Galivinth couldn't help but to stare with a wide-eyed dumbfounded look on his face.
Shurman, who typically went by 'Big Red' around the neighborhood, had undergone a mind-blowing transformation. He wasn't chubby anymore, and now was comparably built like an athlete. If it wasn't for his height of 6'2, the nickname wouldn't quite fit, but now the ginger had flipped the concept behind it to something quite admirable. The guy wasn't skinny, but sculpted. Broader than Galivinth in physique in a healthy way.
Shurman is an individual who is a year older than Galivinth. A young man with an ivory complexion, hazel eyes, low trimmed bright red hair, and an outspoken nature. A guy Galivinth knew to not let the weight of other's words drag him down.
Shurman's attire is made of a white sleeveless jersey with 'Dungun' and the number 96 below laid out on the torso and back in bold blue characters. A white sports wristband on his right wrist, and a blue bandana tied securely around his left. Black loose jeans held up by a red belt, shin high socks, and a pair white & blue high top sneakers make the rest of his outfit. His head of red hair is low, but it looks as if the last time he had a haircut was about two months ago.
"I've been pretty good, but maybe not as good as you, man. Just look at you." Galivinth responds with a grin, extending a hand to share a mutual hand shake with the other.
"Yeeeeeeaaah, buddy! Been working on myself for a little while now, and now I'm almost cut enough to be a diesel motherfucker." Shurman responds while taking up the hand shake, giving an added shoulder bump in the midst of doing so.
"Yeah, no lies detected at all. I'm happy for you, man."
"Appreciated, bro. Also, that dude right there, that a friend of yours?" Shurman asks, motioning a pointing finger at the male who was currently taking shot after shot without missing.
"Yeah, that's my cousin Naeth. He's from Canada, I think." Galivinth answers as he returns to spectating the mentioned individual. Around the 16 second mark, it's then Naeth drastically changes up his method. The Cryonean goes from taking traditional shots, to using a hand under 'water splashing' motion, lofting ball after ball, back to back, at an absurd pace. Not a single one misses, either.
"Goddamn... He is going HAM right now. I don't think I've seen him hit a brick yet."
"Yeah... It's.. It's... I don't even know. I didn't know someone could do something like that." The two comment as they stare all the way through, unable to look away from the display. When the buzzard finally goes off again, the scoreboard shows Naeth had not only beaten the previous old score, but also belittled it tremendously. NOW Naeth was satisfied.
"You actually hit 46 points. I'm honestly amazed."
"Yo, for real. Big respect right there, man."
"Nothing beyond what I was capable of, but the praises are definitely welcomed. Are you an acquaintance of Galivinth, by the way?" Neath asks as he settles his attention toward the new face.
"That's right, we go way back. Like, back in Kindergarten. Name's Big Red, but you can call me Red. Good to meet you, homie." Shurman greets, extending a hand to offer a handshake. One that Naeth indulges almost immediately.
"Homie, you say? That is an endearment, yes?" The cryonean asks curiously.
"Yeah, it's a friendly acknowledgement. Anyone G. is cool with, is cool in my books, too. He's the closest thing we got to a boy scout around these parts." Shurman answers, grinning as he gives Galivinth a light push of his elbow.
"A boy scout? Hardly, man. I just prefer not to fall into those kinds of lifestyles." Galivinth responds.
"I know, and same here. But you're unfazed by all of it. On top of that, the way you... You know, uhh-- Articulate yourself. That reaches people, man. It helped me, too. I was sort of on the fence about it. The street shit, I mean. But after listening and hanging with you, I gave up on all that noise. I hold a bit of a rep down, but I'm chill. Ain't messing with all that negativity too much." Shurman goes on to explain.
"I'm glad for that, Red. You seemed way too smart for that stuff, anyway." Galivinth comments approvingly.
"As I said since the day we met, there's great potential in you. Seems like it's just as easy for anyone else to see, as well." Neath chimes in.
"You guys are killing me here... Enough about me, alright? We came here to play video games, not start a support group. Let's play something." Galivinth promptly changes the subject at hand, his wry expression making it quite clear he was over being at the center of discussion.
"Very well. What other machine here would you recommend?" Neath asks.
"I'll just tag along with you guys and play the winner." Shurman cuts-in with an informing statement.
"In that case, I think we should introduce Neath here to King of Iron Fist 3 next." Galivinth announces and heads for the cabinet immediately.
"3? We have KIF Tag and 4 here now, you know? You don't have to take the man that far back." Shurman jokingly points out.
"Ah, it'll be fine. Besides, he'll have a chance to learn the basics before playing versions with game changing elements." Galivinth reasons as he plucks out two coins and inserts one into each slot below the pad table.
"By the way, I'm going to give him two turns to let him learn the ropes, if that's alright with you, Red."
"I ain't gotta' issue with it. Go for it, man." Shurman replies as he proceeds to lean against the cabinet behind him, lifting and folding his arms as he does. By then, Neath steps up to stand beside Galivinth.
"What sort of game is this?" Neath asks.
Before answering, his relative pushes the start button on his side. Resulting in a sound of confirmation as the screen jumps to the game's character selection.
"It's a fighting game. One of my favorites and probably the only one I'm actually somewhat good at. It's pretty fun. Go ahead and hit that white button on your side." Galivinth instructs while taking a moment to point at it. Upon Neath doing so, a second cursor and character display shows up on screen.
[ "Kin Jazama." ] The in-game announcer calls out upon Galivinth's selection.
"You've got about 50 seconds. Take a look over the characters and pick whichever that stands out to you the most." Galivinth tells Neath. And so the latter does just that - cycle through a horizontal list of various characters. It takes nearly the entire countdown for the Cryonean to choose, but he makes the choice with absolute clarity.
[ "Raunhwao." ]
"Interesting pick! He kind of reminds me of you, too." Galivinth comments.
"Oh? He seemed stylish and disciplined in nature. Of course, I'm just going by his facial expression and hairstyle." Neath responds as the match loads up.
"I see, I see. Alright, so the top left button is for left punches, the top right is for right punches. Bottom left is left kick, and bottom right is for right kicks."
"Hm. Surprisingly direct." Neath comments as he pushes each of the buttons one after another, testing out the inputs himself.
"Yeah, it usually is. Pressing certain buttons together will either give you an unique power attack or a grab. Pressing both left buttons together, or the right buttons, will always get you a grab."
"Like this?" Neath asks as he presses both right buttons on his side, successfully initiating a grab animation on Galivinth's character.
"Oh. Looks as if I managed to do it."
"Yup. Grabs are decent ways to get through someone's guard."
"That and kicking people's ankles in!" Shurman adds with a cheeky grin.
"A-heh-heh-hah... Freakin' Gink players..." Galivinth retorts disdainfully after giving a dry and feign bit of laughter.
"But yeah, low attacks are also a reliable way to get damage in, too. For some reason, everyone kind of sucks at guarding their legs."
"Oh? Why is that exactly?" Naeth asks.
"Dunno', honestly. It's weird." Galivinth answers.
"And easy wins for ya boy." Shurman chimes in. Something Galivinth couldn't help but to halfheartedly roll his eyes at.
"Anyway... The goal of this game is to K.O. your opponent three times before they do so to you. You can also win rounds by having more health than your opponent when the timer on the screen hits zero." Galivinth goes on to explain.
"Sounds simple enough." Neath states, taking a bit of time to mess around with the controls.
"Yeah, pretty simple. As you can see, there's more inputs you can do with your character. Not everyone can do the same things, so it's best to stick with a single character first and try to memorize the moves you learn while playing."
"A very reasonable suggestion. I'll follow it."
"Nice, nice. Go ahead and mess around with the buttons. Hope 3 minutes is enough for you to learn a few good moves. Oh! And you block low by holding down on the stick." For the next three minutes, Galivinth lets his relative practice freely while he himself spends that time on his phone. Casually leaning and resting an elbow on the control board as he aloofly looks over weekly news and article titles.
[ "Time up-- Raunhwao wins!" ] The in-game announcer informs at the end of the third round, drawing Galivinth's attention almost immediately.
"Oh, alright. Let's try playing a match this time." He inserts another coin and hits start. The two repeat the process of selecting their characters and the game begins the same way as last time. During, Galivinth decides to go easy on his relative. Usually attacking with light damage when Neath makes mistakes, which he intends to keep doing the entire game. From this method, Galivinth sees his relative learning from it. By the third round, Neath wasn't just carefully placing his attacks anymore, but also experimenting with counterattacks. Still, Galivinth ends up winning all three rounds with minimum effort.
"It's almost like actual combat. Very interesting."
"You were definitely getting a hang of it. Even surprised me a bit at the end. If you want, you can play again after Red has his turn."
"I certainly would like to try again. Maybe I can learn a bit from watching you two play, as well." Neath muses, moving aside to allow Shurman to take his place afterwards. He decides to stand beside Galivinth to watch the screen.
"Alright, lemme' show ya how it's done. I'm about to show G. that all that fancy karate don't mean a damn thing to the King of Grab City." Shurman confidently declares as he inserts a quarter of his own and pushes the start button.
"Yeah, okay." Galivinth retorts dismissively. The two swiftly pick their characters and load up into the match. As soon as they're given the cue from the in-game announcer to start, the two begin pressing buttons immediately. Naeth witnesses a flurry of attacks and a back & forth between the chosen fighters on screen.
"Look at you, already trying to do that dried up combo you like so much." Shurman teasingly jabs verbally.
"Hey, just don't press any buttons when it's not-- Oh Caught you pressing buttons! Yeah, you like throwing out those wild attacks when it's not your turn, don't ya? Yeeea-ha-ha, take another ONE. MMM! One-two, three, FOUR. BOOM! The round's mine."
"Ooohh, so that's how we're playing, huh? I got somethin' for you. I got somethin' for you. M'hmm!"
"Playing like what, bro? You're just getting out played." Galivinth cheekily retorts.
The combination of banter and fluent gameplay Neath finds himself observing is something that takes him by surprise, especially when it comes to Galivinth. To him, the energy behind the erratic sounds of buttons being pressed, the sound effects from the game, and the competitive nature it brought out in the other two was rather contagious. The excitement and anticipation to see who'd come out on top was washing over him like a tsunami storm.
"A-yo! How many times are you going to break my grabs? I swear nobody else does it as much as you." Shurman comments in amusement.
"As many times as you keep trying. Just stop, you're NOT getting one." Galivinth retorts.
"A'ight, fine then!"
"Oh, here we go with that ridiculous low kick..."
"Darn damn right, boy. Time to play my favorite guessing game." And with adjustments to his strategy, Shurman begins turning the tide of the match in his favor. For the next two rounds the two have a back and forth struggle, but the redhead ends up winning both and concluding the game.
"I hate playing this with you sometimes..." Galivinth mutters in annoyance.
"What can I tell ya? Shouldn't have been doubting my skills." Shurman smugly responds with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Yeah, yeah." Galivinth uses the next moment to insert another coin before pressing the start button.
"Here, Neath. You can play him next." He offers his relative before moving out of the way.
The three adolescents carry on playing various games all through the afternoon. By the time they finally take their leave, the evening begins drawing very near. As planned beforehand as well, the trio stop by the pizzeria across the street. Another hour passes, after spending time bonding with lighthearted conversation and tasty food, they head back home together. With Shurman living down the next two blocks down, he gives the other two a farewell and heads right for his house, while Neath & Galivinth continue on to the next one. Eventually turning at the corner on the opposite end and heading directly to Galivinth's home.
They settle in soon after. Galivinth sitting on his bed and playing a home console game, while Naeth lays on several layers of blankets on the floor and reads through Galivinth's collection of comics.
"Hey, Neath?" The teen finally speaks up after some time.
"Hm?" A nonchalant response as the elder of the two turns a page. It's seconds after that Galivinth decides to pause his game before continuing.
"I just want to say that... I don't blame you." A string of words that grab the cryonean's attention and leads to Naeth turning his head.
"And I appreciate--... Eh.. Your positivity helps in dealing with things."
"I'm glad that's the case. I'm not one to dwell on less fortunate details. Though ironically as I say that, I have wondered if I had imposed upon your life." Neath responds, shifting to turn his body and sit up.
"Well... It's nothing I'd never think to ask for, but I'm not upset or anything. I mean, I feel kind of guilty because my dad could be in danger, but things are
.. Mostly fine. I'm still glad we met."
"That's good to know, and likewise. We'll get past this before you know it."
"Yeah, I hope so. I also should really tell my dad about it... I don't know why I didn't. I wasn't thinking. He should definitely know about this whole thing. It directly affects him, after all." Galivinth comments with a solemn expression.
"A fair point, indeed. You can tell him when he arrives tomorrow morning." Naeth concurs.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, man."
"It's no trouble at all. As the Earthly saying goes, if I'm not mistaken; What are family for?"
End.