raging_waters (raging_waters) wrote in repose, @ 2015-12-28 13:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | *log, tae joon, yuki minato |
The Simple Joys of Gaming and Gorging
Who: TJ and Yuki
Where: Their Abandoned House, then the Arcade and the Diner
When: The Day after Christmas
Warnings: None
Yuki hated tromping through the woods, but it was the best way back to their house. His shoes were wet by the time he was back inside, his hood pulled up, his arms wrapped around himself. He was freezing and it wasn’t fair that TJ didn’t get cold like he did. He dropped on to their dirty hand-me-down couch and pulled his knees up to his chest. He was in a bad mood again, having spent too long watching the people in Repose and wanting to be like them. He needed to drop the mood, but it was hard and hating their run down house in the middle of nowhere wasn’t helping his mood.
A while back, TJ couldn’t remember when exactly, he’d been taught how to create a fire from a human he met. It was helpful now, because even though he couldn’t really feel the warmth, the fire was pretty to watch and it made him happy to make Yuki warm again. He was quiet as he moved toward the dirty fireplace in their house and began building the makings of a nice warm fire for his human friend.
He didn’t mind the house so much, not nearly as much as Yuki seemed to. It was a shelter, it was free, and it was not being used by anyone else before they descended upon it. In his mind, it was perfect. Looking back over his shoulder at Yuki, TJ smiled a little when he saw him on the couch. “We did well today, Yuki,” He said gently, returning his attention to the fire as he lit a piece of old newspaper and tossed it into the fireplace. “Plenty of good leads for us to explore tomorrow.”
Yuki made a noise that was close to agreement, but not really. He didn’t care today. TJ had his goals and Yuki was incredibly uninterested in them. Tomorrow he’d care more, but today he’d wanted to stay at the arcade, not save humans. No one had saved him, had they? Where had TJ been then?
TJ frowned again. He couldn’t truly feel the chill in the air or the warmth of the fire, but he could certainly feel the frigidness radiating off of Yuki. It unsettled him. Once the fire was well on its way to building itself up, TJ turned toward Yuki and sat there, cross-legged, watching him in silence. The moments passed to minutes and before long, five full minutes of silence had passed while TJ studied Yuki, trying to discern the proper path of action. Humans were so fragile, and yet so strong at the same time. He’d been fascinated with them for over three centuries, but he still hadn’t mastered the subtlety of human interaction. “...Are you hungry?” He guessed.
Yuki gave TJ a look, one that said it wasn’t always that, though his master typically went to that first. In his defense, he was usually right, but not today. Today he was just...not himself. He didn’t answer though, not more than the look, almost daring TJ to try something else.
His attitude didn’t phase TJ, not yet. With another human he might have felt hurt, but not with Yuki. He’d been with Yuki long enough to know his emotions passed like waves and right now, they were just choppy and rough. They’d become calm again and maybe TJ could help soothe him. What else did humans need? There was shelter. There was fire. It wasn’t food. “...Are you bored?” He tried again.
The noise Yuki made was more like a sigh, paired with a roll of his eyes. He wasn’t bored. God, no, he was just lonely. Maybe that was it. He was lonely. He’d seen the people who loitered near the hotels, clouds of despair around them, but they were there for curing loneliness weren’t they? Sadly, Yuki never understood that interaction between humans, and he wasn’t about to figure it out now.
Confused, TJ cocked his head to the side and studied Yuki again with a more furrowed brow. So he wasn’t bored. That wasn’t right either. What else could he possibly need? Coming up short again, he blinked a few times before answering. “...Have you lost your voice somewhere on our journey?”
Yuki sighed again and shook his head. “No. I can still talk.” He bit his lip then swore softly in Japanese, mostly at himself for breaking his silence.
TJ grinned a little, happy that Yuki had finally spoken to him, plus it always made him happy to hear the melody of an Asian language whether or not it was a curse word. “Then tell me why you are unhappy,” He said, voice soft but it wasn’t a request or a question.
There was a long moment of silence where Yuki looked at the flames past TJ before he spoke again. “I’m lonely,” he admitted finally.
Thinking he understood, TJ nodded a little. “Should we get you a pet?” He offered, sure that that would help. Humans liked pets. Cute, fluffy dogs and soft, slinky kittens. Some humans even liked lizards as pets, or birds, though TJ wasn’t a large fan of either of those last two.
Yuki opened his mouth in shock then gave up and rolled his eyes. “A pet doesn’t need a pet,” he said with a little bit of a look towards TJ.
“But you aren’t a pet,” TJ stated, knowing this was a conversation they’d had before. A weapon was not a pet, and Yuki wasn’t even just a weapon anymore. He was more than that.
Yuki groaned softly then buried his face in his knees. “Am too a pet,” he said.
That was it. He had to fix Yuki’s attitude. Standing up with an energy he was lacking a moment earlier, he grinned. “Get up, Yuki!”
One blonde eyebrow arched, but Yuki didn't move more than that. “Why?”
TJ groaned, head falling down. Just once. Just once he'd like for Yuki to not question him. He was the one in charge here, after all! "Just get up, Yuki..." He muttered through clenched teeth.
Yuki glared for another moment then nodded, getting up at TJ’s request. Just once he’d like TJ to talk to him before making decisions. He stood, arm away from his sides. “Alright. I’m ready.”
Having sufficiently snuffed out the fire in the fireplace, TJ started them wordlessly to the door and toward the town, away from their abandoned house. He walked in silence as the minutes passed, hoping this decision would make Yuki happy.
When he'd reached his destination, he turned to Yuki with a grin and outstretched arms. "We're here!" He said, smiling with the arcade right behind him.
Yuki felt silly, but the sight of the arcade made him smile, actually smile. He moved into TJ’s space, patting his arm as he moved past him and into the building. “I’m that easy, aren’t I?”
TJ brightened instantly when Yuki did, reflecting his emotional state nearly immediately. He was absurdly, ridiculously happy that Yuki was not moping any longer. “This is just what you like!” Plus he had a bit of money saved up. He typically wouldn’t use it for anything like this, but adjusting Yuki’s attitude was just as important as anything else. It meant Yuki would be happy. “Show me what you like to do here.”
Yuki pulled TJ with him, back towards a corner of the arcade, one of the older games that he vaguely remembered from before his death, but he wasn’t sure how or why. He pointed to it, when the scroll of top scores hit. His was there, not that high, but on the screen at least.
TJ followed him, feeling a sense of familiarity for a game he’d never seen before. Obviously this game meant something to Yuki, TJ just wasn’t sure what. Smiling when Yuki’s name scrolled up, TJ nudged his friend with his elbow, an action he’d seen other humans do to their friends in times like these. “Look! That’s you!” He said brightly, stepping closer so he could lean toward the screen. “How did you...how is your name there?” He asked, tapping at the screen gently with his index finger.
Yuki smiled softly at TJ. “You have to win. You have to win a lot and then you get there,” he said. “It’s a high score.” He nudged TJ back, liking the contact between them.
“So you must have won a lot then,” He surmised, smiling when Yuki nudged him back. It made him so unbelievably happy to see Yuki happy. Maybe his friend did need more...what were they called, creature comforts? Maybe he needed more of those than TJ did. “Show me,” He said, stepping back a bit with an eager bounce in his step.
“A bit,” Yuki said, he said fishing into his pocket for a coin, then shoving it into the machine. It started up, making a few noises before it was where it needed to be, the start screen flashing. “Stay there,” he warned him. “You’ll mess me up.”
Dedicated to not ‘messing Yuki up’, TJ stood where instructed but his attention was soon pulled away from his charge straight to the blaring, noisy, colorful screen in front of them. “...Woah.” Eyes wide, TJ found himself stepping a little closer to the machine, wanting to touch the screen and its pretty colors. “I can see why you spend so much time here.”
“Remind me to get you a Playstation when we have money,” Yuki said, eyes focused on the screen at least for a moment. TJ was distracting like that sometimes. He needed to stop being so, but he couldn’t help it.
“A Playstation?” He repeated, wondering what the words meant. It sounded strange, like something a baby human would have. A specific spot for playing. Maybe it wasn’t for baby humans, though, if Yuki liked it. “Oh! Look out!” He gasped loudly, eyes wide as an enemy danced across the screen toward Yuki’s character.
“This but smaller,” Yuki said, working the controls and half rolling his eyes as he took the enemy that was coming at him easily. They were still on the first level. They’d have to go for a ways before it was an issue.
Enthralled and intrigued, TJ covered his mouth with his hand as Yuki took on the enemy easily. Maybe that was why he was such a good weapon? He could see the enemy and really focus in on it. He stared again, watching the screen change as Yuki advanced. “You’re really good at this.”
“I’ve been playing this for a long while,” Yuki said, not taking his eyes off the screen as he jumped over an obstacle. “You’d probably be better.”
“I have never played these games.” Not in his own time. His weapons have, which is why some of these levels felt familiar to him. Yuki seemed to know his way around this game very well. “I had other battles to handle. This might be good practice, though.” Maybe now he wouldn’t get so upset when Yuki spent time at the arcade. He could see how this might translate to practice very easily. “I want to try. Try the game. Teach me the game.”
“It’s not really the same,” Yuki said. “It’s just a game.” He looked up when TJ said he wanted to try and nodded, moving out of the way so that he could. “This one makes you move, this one makes you fight,” he said, pointing to the right buttons and joystick.
Taking hold of the controls, TJ immediately ran straight into an enemy. His eyes widened and he groaned, fingers tightening in frustration. “Wha- How?!” How was he already dead? “Do I have more lives?”
“Two more,” Yuki said, pointing to the maker at the top. “Jump next time.”
Oh, two more. Focused on the screen, he managed to jump through another set of enemies and start rapidly firing at a final boss at the end of the screen. When that boss died in a blast of pixels, TJ yelled and threw his hands up in the air. “Yes! Take that, evil demon scum!”
Yuki covered his face when TJ yelled, embarrassed. “You’re still playing,” he told him. “Don’t forget that.”
TJ played for what seemed like hours, but was likely only a few moments. He’d been so engrossed in the game that when he lost, he could feel his temper rising. It was like it snapped when he realized he had no more lives and no more coins to deposit in the game. “How could they think that this would be an acceptable way to play this game?!”
Yuki reached for him, pulling TJ away before he broke something. “It’s how it is. It’s a tease,” he said softly, thankfully biting his tongue before saying that TJ would know something about that. “We can go,” he said.
Frustrated, TJ stared at the machine, thinking he wanted to retrieve his money. It had cheated him out of his money, money they needed! Taking in a deep breath and huffing it out, he looked back over at Yuki. “How are you not mad?!”
“Because it happens all the time,” Yuki said, patting TJ’s shoulder. “Happens constantly. That’s the point of the game.”
“That is a stupid point,” TJ said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He considered the game for a longer moment and then moved, kicking the damn machine. The frustration was still there, still bubbling under his skin, and he needed to take it out on something.
“Don’t…” Yuki sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s a human thing.” Or he supposed it was. Didn’t the gods have games? They had to.
Still frustrated, but listening to Yuki, TJ grumbled something in his native language and turned, heading quickly to the door. It did calm him a bit to know this was a human thing, but it didn’t make it any easier for him in the long run. “...This human thing is annoying.”
“It’s supposed to be fun,” Yuki said, still patting TJ’s arm. He didn’t know Korean, but he knew enough to know TJ was swearing or cursing something. That was why they usually stuck to English; it was the common language between them.
“It was fun! And then it wasn’t. Then it was frustrating. Two lives is not enough. How do humans do it with just one?” He asked, though then he made a face when he replayed the words in his head. “Why can’t we play that dancing game? With the big light up arrows on the ground?”
“Because we’re not lame?” Yuki tried, but still started towards the DDR machine. He knew what TJ would enjoy and it would be that game.
“The dance game is lame?” He asked, then stifled a laugh at how silly the phrase sounded with all of its rhymes.
“It’s a little lame,” Yuki said. “Don’t laugh at me. I’m being serious. You look like an idiot when you dance on it.”
“If I look like an idiot, then why would I laugh at you?” TJ wondered aloud, looking back at Yuki for a moment before stepping up onto the shiny silver platform. Just the bright lights made him happy, erasing the bad feelings he had just moments ago.
“You were laughing at me like a minute ago,” Yuki reminded him, but he didn’t fight it when TJ got on the platform. Instead he dropped some coins into the new machine and stood back. And maybe took out his phone to record the whole thing. For posterity and all.
TJ focused in on the screen, taking a minute to step on each of the arrows to make sure they lit up properly. Then he flipped through and chose a song, something fun and peppy, and waited for it to come on. And following the flurry of pink and blue arrows on the screen, TJ managed to hit each arrow with at least a ‘Good’ rating, if not a ‘Great’. He grinned, hopping up and down on the left and back arrows as directed, until the song came to an end and he threw his hands up in the air, yelling out something in Korean about being the best dancer that ever lived.
Yuki’s shoulders sunk. Of course he’d be good at it. Even the video didn’t look as ridiculous as it could and then TJ was yelling again and Yuki was rolling his eyes and pulling him away from the machine. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I like that game.” He said, beaming a grin at Yuki as he walked with him toward the door of the arcade. Slipping his arm around Yuki’s shoulders, he pulled the smaller man closer to him. “Let’s get some waffles!”
Yuki fought the warmth that spread to his cheeks when TJ pulled him closer, ducking his head so TJ wouldn’t see. “Waffles sounds great,” he said, knowing again that TJ did these sort of things to make him happy, but he couldn’t be upset about it.
“Waffles are a good food,” He agreed, starting them toward the diner. Yuki seemed happier now, though TJ was thinking back to the game he’d lost earlier. While he didn’t necessarily feel badly for attempting to kick it, he thought that maybe he should follow Yuki’s example for what to do in that sort of situation. “...I apologize for trying to harm your favorite game, Yuki.”
Yuki snorted a laugh that he buried in TJ’s chest. “It’s fine. I’ve done that before too.” He wrapped his arm around TJ’s waist, enjoying his warmth.
That made TJ happy, knowing that Yuki was happier. Just having him close like that made TJ sure he had done the right thing by taking Yuki out tonight. The happiness he felt was reflected in his entire being, almost as if he was nearly too happy to contain it all. As he opened the door to the diner, he decided that all in all, this was definitely a good night.