DEMON LLAMA

[rainbowarch]

Who: Cielo, a llama from the petting zoo, and you!
Where: The park
When: Afternoon
Status: Open
Style: Starting in action, pick whatever suits your fancy

[Cielo had heard about the escaped animals, but he had decided he wasn't going to go looking for them as long as they weren't hurting anybody. And judging from the reactions he's seen, they seemed to be minor annoyances at worst.

He's cutting through the park on his way back to the Embryon base when he spots it. The tall four-legged creature grazing on the grass. At first, he was going to simply just walk by it when he notices its ears.

That...yes! That animal has the same ears he had during the animal curse! A llama! He had only just recently learned what llamas were and this was his first time seeing one. Of course, he can't resist the chance to see it up close. He pets its neck and tries talking to it. As normal llamas cannot speak, it does not reply.

Not verbally, anyway.

The llama lifts its head, takes one look at Cielo, and takes one of his braids of blue hair into its mouth and starts chewing on it.]

Hey!

Comments

[tsundyne]

[Okay, okaaay, they're going!

Yukari nods and does just that. It's not a terribly long walk, luckily, even if they do get distracted by animals now and again . . .

And pretty soon, before they know it, she finds herself pulling a key out of her pocket.]

It's just up ahead.

[rainbowarch]

[Although Cielo has seen basically every building in Vatheon, he's been inside a much smaller number of them. So he is quite excited to see what the inside of the dorm looks like! He has the urge to run ahead of Yukari, but he decides not to and instead just walks behind her.]

[tsundyne]

[Well, Cielo wouldn't be able to get in anyway, so it's a good thing he waited, she thinks; though running ahead would've given her a nice reminder of Koromaru, and the way he used to run ahead of her the same way.

As it is though, Yukari will just be opening the door like she does every day. And she'll lead Cielo inside.]

Here we are. I guess Junpei stepped out.

[rainbowarch]

[Obviously, Junpei must be a friend of Yukari's who lives here as well. He takes a moment to look around the dorm - it actually reminds him of the base in some ways. Although it does have its differences. For example, it's a lot more decorated than the Embryon base.]

[tsundyne]

[It also doesn't have a hole in it. She still thinks you guys ought to do something about that, you know . . .

But in any case, she'll let Cielo look around first, pointing things out to him before dragging him anywhere.]

There's the TV . . . the kitchen's through the back there, and all the bedrooms are upstairs. There are a lot of 'em!

[Point, point, point --]

And that hallway leads to the game room I mentioned.

[rainbowarch]

[If you have a problem with the hole, take it up with Serph. Cielo doesn't have any authority over it. He looks at everything Yukari points out to him. But what he really wants to see is the game room.]

Can we go in it?

[tsundyne]

[Of course. Once Cielo's taken in everything and it seems like he is satisfied, Yukari nods.]

Sure. Come on.

[And she'll gesture him to follow. She doesn't even remember what kinds of games they have, but -- well, they're about to find out.]

[rainbowarch]

[The fabled game room! Cielo is far more exicited than he should be to see it.]

So what do you do here?

[tsundyne]

Well, let's see . . .

[She looks around once they walk in, and it's pretty much standard fare. There's ping pong, a pool table, a pinball machine -- and some comfortable couches off sectioning off a portion of the room for a rather large TV. Game consoles can be hooked up to it of course --

And well, it pretty much looks something like this.]

Where should I even start?

[It's more a question addressed to herself while she's considering it, but Cielo's free to answer it if anything in particular catches his attention.]

[rainbowarch]

[Cielo knows what ping pong is, surprisingly, having played it with Minato before his departure from the bubble. So he starts out by pointing to the pinball machine.]

What's that?

[tsundyne]

[Yukari remembers doing the same thing with him . . . though luckily, Cielo pointing out the pinball machine keeps her from dwelling on it for too long. Excitedly, she walks over to it and they're both able to get a closer look.]

Oh, that's pinball! See those flaps?

[She points out to the bottom, where a large gap seems to be. Closer observation reveals that there are two flaps however, which both move to protect the gap when the side buttons are pushed.

She demonstrates.]

You push these buttons to prop them up so the ball doesn't fall in. And you score points when the ball hits all those other obstacles at the top.

[A pause for breath -- did she forget anything?]

That's basically all there is to it. You just see how long you can keep it up. It's pretty addicting, I guess.

[rainbowarch]

[Even though he's seen her do it, he can't resist giving the buttons a little push himself.]

And what about that?

[He gestures to one of the video game consoles]

[tsundyne]

[The ball hasn't been released yet, so luckily there's nothing to fall into the gap. She'd been about to start a game for him, when he points out the consoles -- so she forgoes that idea and turns her attention to them instead.]

Looks like Junpei's video games. Heh, I don't really know that much about 'em, but why not? Let's give 'em a try.

[. . . annnd casually walking over. There are some comfy couches to sit on too, so Cielo is free to do that while Yukari checks and sees that everything's hooked up properly.]

[rainbowarch]

[A couch? Don't mind if he does! He watches as Yukari checks over the equipment. So, the machine is hooked up to the TV, kind of like the movie player.]

[tsundyne]

[Exactly like the movie player! Well, close enough, anyway.

It seems everything is plugged in and ready to go, so she just pops open the console to see what kind of game is inside. At the same time, she grabs a nearby extra controller to plug that in, too, so that they can both play.

It's not like Junpei'll mind.]

I think it's a fighting game. You ever play one before?

[rainbowarch]

[He shakes his head in response. Nope, he's never played a fighting game. Or any games even remotely similar to this at all as a matter of fact.]

How do you play?

[tsundyne]

[She'll hand him said extra controller while she explains . . . to the best of her ability. The game starts up also, in the meantime.]

After we pick our characters, we make them fight by pushing the buttons.

. . . I'm not really sure which ones do what, though. I guess we'll just have to figure it out.

[rainbowarch]

[So basically, the two of them are on a somewhat level playing field here. Cielo takes the controller and pushes the analog stick experimentally. He cycles through the characters - they all look distinctive and like they have lots of personality.

...some of those outfits don't look very practical for fighting though.

When he reaches the random selector, he pushes the button the screen prompts, and it randomly selects a character for him, a very cheerful looking teenage girl in a schoolgirl outfit.]

[tsundyne]

[Oh, the random selector. Not a bad idea! Yukari decides to do the same, since it's not like she knows who any of these characters are. And . . .

. . .

She gets a really buff looking guy. Oh.

Well, at least she thinks it's a guy. If she's honest, she really can't tell, but . . . either way, the game doesn't really wait for her to process it. Time to choose their battlefield!]

[rainbowarch]

[The stages are wide and varied, from pristine landscapes to bustling cityscapes. Again, there's the random option, but this time Cielo opts to ignore it. The level he ends up choosing is a crumbling temple in the mountains.]

[tsundyne]

[The graphics are actually pretty impressive for a fighting game. But rather than admire them, Yukari stares intently at the screen, waiting for its signal to begin the first round.

She breaks her concentration only to glance at Cielo for a moment.]

Here goes.

[rainbowarch]

[The announcer proclaims it's "Round One, Fight!" and Cielo fiddles with the controls. Okay, the stick thing moves the character, and this button punches, this one kicks...]

[tsundyne]

[And here Yukari is, playing the game the only way she knows how. She starts mashing some buttons, hoping that they'll eventually lead to her victory.

. . . Looks like she managed to find a special combo move. But it just missed and she has no idea how she did it.

Damn.]

[rainbowarch]

[By now, ten seconds have elapsed on the ingame timer and absolutely no blows have been exchanged. So Cielo moves his character closer to Yukari's and pushes the kick button.

Huzzah, he's playing!]

[tsundyne]

[Would you look at that? So is Yukari -- because the close proximity Cielo provided between their two characters just gave her the incentive and range she needed.

Finally, she's landing a few kicks and punches of her own, though her character is pretty slow . . . ]