2020.02.06: Non-Mortal Kombat

Non-Mortal Kombat
Who hates vegetables more, a mage who lives off Hot Pockets or a bunch of shifters? This can only be settled through video games.
IC Date	February 6, 2020
IC Time	Evening
Players	Alexander, Antonio, Arumi, Eden, George, Joel, Klara, Rian, Verlaine
Location	Cuephoria

Joel has arrived early, staked out the "best" table Cuephoria might have to offer (probably exactly the same as all its other tables), and generally gotten himself set up for the video game showdown with a beer in his hand. He's got a pitcher of tap Guinness waiting for the others who are arriving, a plain pizza, and a plate of nachos that looks dangerously close to burning one's tongue off if eaten too quickly, steam still rising from it and the jalapenos studding it glinting threateningly with capsaicin. The first erstwhile competitor to tonight's main event has got his trenchcoat on, collar turned up for business mode, and is windmilling his free arm in preparation to hit the old-fashioned arcade games that line the third area neatly, He's eyeing Space Invaders or Street Fighter with particular interest. Pac-Man doesn't seem to be his thing.

George saunters in for the contest also and makes his way over to the table Joel has claimed, setting down his messenger bag as he looks over at the arcade machines with a grin "There it is. Time Crisis two. one of my favorites."

Verlaine arrives wearing a light, leather jacket to help ward off some of the relative chill outside. At least chill as far as she's concerned. The wind has tossed her hair a bit and she exhales loudly once she's inside, blowing a few strands aside before she begins pulling locks of red hair back behind her ears. She has a smile on her face despite the somewhat ruffled look, wandering in and looking over to the bar as she considers her options on where to sit.

Rian arrives at about the same time as George in what is, for him, typical gorgeous peacocking fashion. Slacks, teeshirt, they're nice but nothing special, but he's got on a blazer covered in light blue sequins with a shiny yellow Pac-Man on the back. Joel specified, I couldn't help myself! He smiles and waves at the trenchcoated fellow, and basically just looks like a guy that's about to get his ass handed to him but have a lot of fun in the meantime.

Arumi just finished a late lunch, and just goes window shopping a bit. She end up at this arcade... and so she walks in Her hands folded behind her head, elbows out, she hums quietly as she looks around, walking past the pool tables toward the arcade machines.

Joel nods at George, grinning. "You want Time Crisis, I'll kick your ass at that too. Pizza. Nachos. Didn't know if anyone was a vegetarian, but we're in Cali, so it seemed the safest bet. Take 'em." He makes a broad gesture that encompasses Rian too, athough his arm checks midway through at the sight of that sequined blazer. "Wait. What the fuck are you wearing? There's gotta be a surp -- turn around," he tells Rian, looking very dubious about the redhead's choice of outfit. The two women who arrive earn nods and a gesture towards the bounty of food he's acquired, but the blazer has drawn the bulk of his attention. "Oh, by the way, if you didn't get my name back there -- Joel." He stares skeptically at Rian for a long moment.

George grins at Rian's entrance and comments to Joel "He has never met a sequin or glitter sparkle he didn't like. He's on theme at least. I'm George, that's Rian."

Rian turns and poses and models his eye gougingly sparkly jacket like a pro! I mean, technically that is his job, so... "I found this hidden away with a couple ugly christmas sweaters at the back of the clearance rack in a hole in the wall shop. You might be thinking 'it probably should have stayed in that hole', but *I* am going to have this jacket's babies. The wedding will be on a Tuesday, you're invited." He offers a blingy tattooed hand to shake when introdictions happen, of course!

There's certainly a colorful group of people gathering over by the arcades and Verlaine finds herself drawn over towards the group with a wmirk on her lips. She glances towards Arumi for a moment before she speaks up to Joel, offering a wave of her hand first. "Hey. Sorry, hope I'm not interrupting? Is there some kind of tournament going on?"

Joel stares for a long moment at the jacket, Pac-Man and all, before he grins, a little too brightly. "You and I are either gonna be terrific friends or kill each other," he informs Rian easily, before he looks back towards George. "You the guy who keeps him from walking into walls or something, George? I can believe it, if you say it's the case." There's no heat in his voice there; it's friendly. He moves to pour two more beers. "What say we get this show on the road, and then, once I've defeated you both and claimed glorious victory, we can sit down to a meal? Though the food might be cold by then, so maybe we should eat as we go." He looks over towards Verlaine. "Tournament's the wrong word. Utter trouncing is closer. Come on, Arumi, join us and watch me keep running my mouth writing checks I'll /probably/ be able to cash." He moves towards Time Crisis, beckoning George over. "Red pill or blue pill, Mr. Anderson?"

Arumi starts by getting herself an iced coffee. She's already eaten, but she'll have coffee. With it, she steps up to the old machines. "Joel," she nods to him. "Hi! So um... I was going to play a bit, but if the machines are reserved for a competition, it can wait!"

George snorts as he goes for the red "That's most people's reaction to him. Best friends for ever or inspirational murderfest. He runs his own crew though, just as you can tell he's allll out of fucks to give. Man walks down the street in a jacket like that you can tell he's not afraid of nuttin."

"Well we'll just have to hope for the non-murder option!" Rian'll snag a piece of pizza, but just one! For the sake of diplomatic relations he will eat carbs and fat. He makes a gesture for George to take first crack, "I'm'a eat and look pretty. Maybe see if I can aim one of these sequin beams right at Joel's eye so George'll win." Cheater! He's kidding though, he'd never be able to figure out how to do that when he wants to. He also gives a friendly smile and a wave at Arumi and Verlaine, which I might have meant to type before but completely failed at! "Hi, I'm Rian!"

Verlaine chuckles at the confidence radiating off of Joel, shaking her head briefly before her eyes drift over the others. Her gaze lingers on Rian for a moment, taking in the man's interesting aesthetic with a slightly raised eyebrow though she seems to appreciate the look. After a moment she offers up a question to the group, "Mind if I watch?" Rian actually introduces himself however! Verlaine looks over to him and flashes a brilliant smile his way. "Verlaine. Nice to meet you Rian."

Joel moves for the blue controller to Time Crisis, with a scoffing laugh about something somewhere in there. "He thinks I haven't been in an arcade before," he tells George and Arumi. "That I'll be distracted by bright lights. How much of a newb does he think I am?" He tosses some tokens in the machine, waiting for the load screen, adding to Arumi as he does so, "We're gonna be using Time Crisis. You seem like a Q-Bert kinda gal, doc. Go for it." He adds to George, "Ready? 'Cause this shit starts up quick." And he focuses...

Arumi giggles and gives a finger wave to everyone with a free hand. "Dr. Arumi Hanada, Hi everyone. And good luck." She then steps up to one of the machines in particular. Missile Command. Setting her coffee down, squatting down to load a few coins, her small hands then get into position, and she fires it up.

George slots in his tokens and takes up stance, looking like he'd be comfortable at a firing range actually, more than an arcade "I've played this game a lot. I was born ready."

"Oooooh, listen to that smack talk, ladies and gentlemen!" Rian says in his best American Sports Announcer voice, and adds to Verlaine and Arumi, "Nice to meet you both!" He tries not to crowd, but also he totally wants to see what's happening on the screen. The better to call out encouragement to both sides! Rian's one of those damned dirty Neutrals, and when it comes his time to get pwned, his last words will be 'If I don't survive, tell my wife hello.'

Joel eyes George's stance, assessing him frankly. "You ain't kidding," he remarks, and then the screen comes up. But for whatever reason, those checks he said he was going to cash? Get overdrawn at the arcade game bank. He gets blasted, his own screen having maybe half the rounds fired as George's do, if we're being generous. Thudda thudda thudda -- and he's out in a surprisingly short amount of time for what seems to be a trained video gamer stance. He sucks in a breath, remarking, "Well, shit!" but at least he doesn't seem to take it personally, looking over to see the smackdown George is sure to be laying on him.

Verlaine moves to watch as well, as this seems to be the entertainment for the evening. She finds a table to lean against, hands back against the top of the table to give her some stability. She blinks a bit, seeing the guy with all the bluster get knocked out early. "I'm guessing that's bad?"

Arumi has a very bad start. "Wow. I thought I remembered how to play this. I guess I'm just rusty." She sighs, and uses the SECOND credit she put in to try it again! Between rounds though, she does glance over to the tournament in progress, trying to figure out who's winning.

George does not do the gangster nonsense where you hold the gun sideways, or any of that nonsense that looks good on film but is horribly impractical. His gun starts pointed down at the floor along his body and when its go it snaps up to ready and he moves and shoots with movements as small as possible, practiced and disciplined. His reflexes are /fast/.

"That was a good run though!" Rian says encouragingly to Joel, but also says, "Way to go, George!" to the frickin gun guy over here. "Best two out of three?" he asks the pair, unsure if they're going to duel again but looking excited none the less! Excited and SPARKLY!

Joel stares for a long, long moment. "You know he could shoot like that?" he calls over to Rian, a little surprised. His jaw drops slightly before he snaps it shut. He looks towards Verlaine, shrugging. "I'm a decent gamer. But more into, like, computer stuff. That Star Wars game at the big arcade? I play as Poe Dameron." His voice is quiet though, more than a little taken aback. The 'best two out of three' suggestion earns a nod. "I'm coming for you," he warns George, although the bravado has cooled down somewhat. He focuses more intently this time on what he's doing, aware of the challenge he's obviously facing.

Verlaine is just playing the role of the female, redheaded eye candy to Rian's male type at the moment, halfway perched up onto a table as she nods her head to Joel. She gives a light applause to Joel as he turns around to get back into the competition. "I'm sure you've got it this time!"

When Joel asks the question, Rian quips back with, "Well, he's black and American, so..." shrug. Can he get away with that if he's British? Well he seems comfortable enough around George, at any rate! "Ah shit! Sorry!" Probably ruined both their games with jokes! Cant shoot things while laughing!

George tries to get fancy, and add in some theatrical nonsense and one handed action hero shooting and....it doesn't go so well for him this time. Especially when he looks over to Rian like 'fucking really?'.

Arumi tries again. Her right fingers spinning the ball, the left tapping the buttons. She shifts on her chunky sandals as she watches the screen, leaning forward a bit to get a good look. "Better..." she murmurs, as the game is afoot.

Joel is on target, pun not intended, for round two. He takes the round for blue this time, but he's not playing up to par either. Rian's comment makes his head whip around. He looks back towards George, wincing apologetically. "/Sorry/," he apologizes quite deliberately -- and firmly -- for Rian, his tone shifting into something new: making a definite point. He shoots Rian a sharp, displeased look, but looks back towards George. "You feeling like Round Three, man? I can understand real well if you're not." He hesitates, offering a shrug, although he still doesn't relinquish the blue controller.

Verlaine arches an eyebrow at that comment from Rian, staring over at him quietly for a few seconds before she shakes her head. That look from George probably says enough, plus she doesn't really know these people so she just lets it go to watch the presumed round 3 of the little competition.

George nods at Joel and considers the game again "Yeah, we'll do one more." and then he goes back to his first stance and says what sounds like a few lines of poetry in spanish before putting in his tokens for round three. "No pretendo con mi mano, y el que se propone con la mano ha olvidado el rostro de su padre. Mi objetivo con mi ojo." "Yo no disparo con la mano, y el que dispara con la mano ha olvidado el rostro de su padre. Yo disparé con mi mente." "Yo no mato con mi arma, y el que mata con la pistola ha olvidado el rostro de su padre. Mato con mi corazón ".

Arumi does keep the game going for a bit, but she just had dinner and she's not really putting any... willpower into it. So, she fails after dawn, and sighs. "Well that was fun." Grabbing her coffee back, she starts walking back toward the competition to see who won.

Rian may have grown up in a bubble, it's possible, but he's foreign, so there's that. He doesn't seem worried about offending George, but he does find the native reation curious and marks that down in his mental 'important stuff' file. "Heeey that was close!" he says with a grin as the third game ends, finishing his slice and stepping back out of the way of the machine.

Joel is focused. He's intent. He's a good shot all of a sudden, almost to George's level. When he concentrates, he's plowing down targets on the video game screen with intense focus. He's not a born shooter, but he's good at sensing the space of the game, now that he's taken a couple moments to figure out how it works, and with more practice, he might be devastating at it. As it is, he gives George a solid run for his money in the third round, the score shifting back and forth between the two of them. In the end, though, it tilts just slightly in George's favor. Joel pulls his blue shooter back, racking it on the game again, his jaw working for a second before he extends a hand to the taller man. "Bueno juego," he offers, with all the I-don't-really-speak-the-language panache of someone who half-remembers high school Spanish. It's not quite the right words, but it's not far off for 'good game'.

George nods and grins at the good faith attempt "Good game. Wound up way closer than I thought it would be. This is a great game for practicing reflexes on, especially in the higher levels. Kind of shit for actual fire arms practice but its a videogame so that's to be expected. I'm also shit at most of the rest of them. Relatively speaking."

Verlaine gives light applause to both of them as they finish, not entirely sure who actually won at first. She doesn't intrude on their moment though, instead looking back over to Rian as he steps away from the machines. "So.. are you British or Australian?" She can't quite tell from the accent it seems.

Joel smiles at George. "I'm sharp," he tells the other man. "Mostly up here," he taps his head, "but it's not the first time I've fired a gun. Plastic and neon-colored or otherwise." That said, he adds, "But I'm not an expert. That's all you, man. Have a beer and some nachos or something before they get cold." Stepping away from the shoot 'em up, he looks over towards Arumi, calling, "How you making out there, anyway?" as he makes his way towards where Rian and Verlaine are. "All right, Enoch Powell, you're up. Pick your poison." And he motions Rian to the broad array of choices for computer competition, even as he's not /quite/ letting that comment about George go.

Arumi gives a clap once a winner is announced. "I did not do well. It's been like, years since I played that and I had to remember the, um, the algorithm for going infinite. It'll come back to me. So what kind of guns are those supposed to be in that game?"

"British." Rian answers Verlaine, "London, until very recently." Ah crap! Gotta pick a game! Sparkles turns around in a circle and tales in blinky lights and screens all over the place. "Uhhhhhhhhhh that one." he says, pointing towards a driving game where you get to pretend to be in a little car that's collected kid farts all day. Which I hereby dub Rad Mobile because Encino Man is on right now. "Yeah?" Double checking and giving the option to veto.

George is over to get some refreshments before answering Arumi "The shape of the controllers is more like a nine mil than anything else but the size is more like a forty five. In the animation I'm not sure which way they went, it doesn't quite match anything real."

Verlaine glances over to George as he gives that explanation of the weapons but the look in her eyes shows that she's not really following along. She knows absolutely nothing about firearms. She takes this moment to push off of the table and move over towards the bar, ordering a Guinness from tap after seeing that Joel had a pitcher on his table.

Joel blinks as Rian doesn't react to being called out for the previous comment. "Yeah, man. Cool." Though when he looks towards Rad Mobile, he stares for a long moment. "Seriously, man?" He shoots George a dubious look, but starts making his way towards Rad Mobile. "I am going to lose some serious cool points for this," he complains, flinging his trenchcoat back to prove he's cool even as he strolls over. "Practice makes perfect, Arumi. Or algorithms. But watch out for perfection. It makes a pretty lousy end goal." There's a bit of an edge to his words there, as if making some sort of point to the small woman, before he claims his seat at the driving game, getting comfortable.

Arumi smiles to George. "So basically it fires like a laser gun, since it's not actually working like any sort of real like, gun." With a snicker, she then walks up to the machine the boys were just playing, and squats down to feed a dollar (or is it two?) into it to give it a try herself...

Nope, Rian takes it, embrace your call outs and jabs like you would embrace a god awful jacket. "I don't know, I drive like a toddler as it is so I'm pretty sure we'll at least *both* do terribly." It's an attempt to soothe? He looks like he's excited to waste some quarters crashing into things though, and plugs a few into the machine, waiting on the start button till Joel's ready to rock the wrong side of the road with him.

Verlaine gets her beer and then returns back over to the group, returning to her perch against a table as she watches the new match between Joel and Rian with mild curiousity. She takes a few sips of the beer, but overall it looks like this might last her for awhile.

Joel knows how to drive in reality. He drove here, in fact -- unless that neon-painted nightmare of a car outside is anyone else's. However, those skills don't seem to translate to Rad Mobile, where he winds up spinning off the side of the road, hitting a mailbox, getting flats from the spikes that pop up intermittently in the middle of the road. At length, the blocky graphics and the insane amounts of calamity his poor benighted car seem to suffer reach the point of parody, and he starts /deliberately/ trying to crash. The rumbler underneath the seats is working overtime now, and he's jolted a little, not the strongest guy. "Oh! Oh, Jesus! Oh, fuck!" And he starts cracking up. It's just that awful. "No way I'm winning this one! Come on, Rian, hit the fuck outta my car. Let's see what happens." He leans in, more interested in the destruction than in providing real competition.

Alexander comes in with a roucous laugh and a hearty 'Hello' for the staff, and a large wave for the pool table. Patting Tony on the back as they find there way someplace comfy to get some food.

Tony bounces in with Alexander, giggling about something. He grins as he looks around the room, "I wanna get a frito pie."

When they're off, it takes Rian some time to figure out what the hell he's doing at first in this driving game, "Wait, why am I going backwards?? OH! There's a shifty thingie...", narrowly missing some other cars in his race to... Well to beat Joel but mostly to just avoid crashing instantly and losing all his fun. But it's not instantly, it's just ALMOST instantly! It's a fairly accurate look at his real driving skills, probably. "Did you go off road??" he asks, trying to watch his screen and look at why Joel is being jiggled like jello.

Still new enough to town, Klara hasn't found nearly enough fun hangouts. But the flashing lights seen through the large windows had caught the woman's attention on her way by. And in that moment, her plans for the evening had changed. She pauses on the sidewalk long enough to send a quick text before she pulls the yanks the door open and bursts in. The sounds, the lights, the smells - it's amazing!

Arumi finishes her round on the shooting game. She did better thatn some, but worse than Joel. "Yeah, that shoots like a laser gun, not a real gun. I've seen real guns. They're... like way noisy and loud and awful." Winking to George, she turns to watch the racers.

"Right side of the road," Joel singsongs to Rian, because the Brit might not know which side is which, judging from those driving skills. He sets his hands on the wheel -- and his car manages to slam into the train that's starting to cross their path. Thud. "I swear I've gotten /no/ tickets since I moved here. And it's not 'cause the lady cops think I'm all that and a bag of chips." He winces at Rian's latest bungle on his side of the screen, since Joel's own is already grayed out. "Turn! Hard left! Get outta the way!"

George is watching Arumi shoot while he eats, he's not playing at the moment "Not bad at all." then he goes over with her to watch the racers. He comments to Rian "No some of the dude cops though."

"Right side of the road!" Rian shouts back, confusing himself and turning a hard right instead of left to WHAM. Right into a tree. "I still have to go queue up at the DMV." Rian says with a sigh as his hands flop off the wheel, "Something tells me I'm not quite ready yet." He snerks a laugh at both George and Joel and offers a fist bump to the latter, "Take two?"

"You really wanna top /that/?" Joel responds to Rian. "That is... instructive. I'm not sure if it's in a good way." He looks back towards George. "All you, man. Let's see if you drive as well as you shoot." And he slides out of the racing seat. "I gotta get some beer to /really/ drive well. I'm pretty sure that's the way to improve your driving skills." He glances up at all the newcomers, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Guys, free pizza for the taking. And nachos. They'll get cold if nobody eats 'em, and I didn't spend forty bucks for nothing!"

George nods and grins at Joel as he slides in to the abandoned driver station "I suppose we'll see." Then he looks over to Rian "You ready?"

Heading up to the bar, Klara orders herself a quadruple vodka on ice and flashes a bright grin at the bartender when he gives her an odd look for her unusual order. But she gets her drink without argument. Familiar voices sound over the beeps and whirls of the various games, and Klara's head turns around to spot the game playing fools. "Hey!" chirps the russian as she nearly skips her way over towards the tournament going on. She lifts her hand, holding her glass of what may well look like water, and waves as she makes her way over.

"Ready to drive terribly and never once use a turn signal!" Rian tells George, plugging in a couple more quarters and waiting to hit go when he is! Oh the pixelated humanity, Rian's going to do very bad at this. "Hey!" he greets back at Klara when she comes around to their zoom mobiles.

George gives Klara an upnod as he drops his game into gear "And awayayyyyy we go." Zooming off into the game, trying to fracking consentrate this time.

Joel moves away from the driving game and towards his food, upnodding at Alexander and Antonio as he digs into the rapidly cooling nachos. He aims for more jalapenos, not less, and scoops it into his mouth with his hands, because etiquette is for the birds and playing video games makes you hungry enough to not care. Or at least it does when it comes to Joel. "Hey," is his elaborate greeting for them. "You finish your drawing?" This, to Antonio.

Tony looks towards the pizza, "I could use a slice with my frito pie. I mean, it's free right?" He grins over at Joel, "Thanks, man!" He sneaks a nacho too on the way over to stand by the big blonde to watch the ones playing games. He grins then to Joel as he replies, "Which one?"

Concentration is for suckers! Rian's sweet but barely attained win is behind him, and now it's just trouncing left and right! Rian ends up stuck driving through a bunch of spike strips and such when he gets stuck between two trucks, "Noooooooooo!" he wails, trying to correct his beaten up car and vibrating around wildly, ending up backwards and swirving wildly until finally going off a cliff. "Ah crap!

Klara hrms softly and then snorts. "Remind me not to ever get in a car with you," she informs Rian before her attention shifts to George and she grins. "Oh, I need to speak with you later. About a...joke." Human world, gotta use the right words that won't draw attention. A small sip from her vodka, and she looks to the rest of the small, but growing, gathering.

Alexander points to the screen and makes little flappy motions with his hand.. "I don't think that's a transformer. Not going to sprout wings and fly when it ass ends off a ledge..."

Joel shrugs at Antonio. "The one you were working on when I last saw you. Don't tell me you forgot me. People don't forget me," he drawls, although there /is/ some element of surprise in the event Antonio might have forgotten. He's used to being noticed, clearly. He pours himself a glass of Guinness from the pitcher, taking a sip, his gaze going towards the racing game. "That game's just /trying/ to make you die, I think. Like Happy Wheels. You ever watch the playthroughs of that?" And he pulls up a Youtube on his phone, extending it to the pair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0AweiHNfJo -- a screaming man curses as bloodshed and pixelated Segway racing abounds.

George laughs at Rian's distress and then yelps as he jerks his wheel around to keep from going off the cliff after Rian. George adds to Klara "A joke?"

Eden makes her way into the Cue and is quickly overwhelmed with sights, sounds and colors. She moseys around the joint wearing a baby pink hoodie from Hollister and those tight gray yoga pants that never got used for actual yoga. She looks around for a coin or token exchange machine, since rarely did machines let you game for free. After setting herself up with the proper coins, she checks the various arcade games - both used and unused. Just to truly identify what was available. Eden paused at a current rendition of Tekken Tag, testing the joy stick and buttons to see if they were broken or sticky. She almost stops there, but instead makes her way to Time Crisis and checks the plastic pistol. She tries a few pistol stances, loads up the machine to play and fires off a shot.

"Damned good driving, brov." Rian says, and offers George a fist bump when his race comes to an end, and climbs out of the car so other kids can have at it. He gives Klara a friendly punch in the arm and goes to find some water.

Tony nibbles up the nacho and wipes his hands. He giggles as he answers Joel, shaking his head, "'Course I remember you. It's just I draw lotsa things. But yeah, yeah I did. I'll show it to you later iffen you want." He gives a smile to Klara as she looks over at him, then he starts in on his frito pie.

Klara mm'hmms softly at George, her wide grin brightening her whole face. "Yup. Lesson needs learning, I'm going to make sure it's taught." she assures George proudly before she receives a punch to the arm, and grunts softly. "Hey, careful...I bruise." Not really but. Oh well!

Joel raises the beer pitcher in indication to Rian. "Sounds good, man," he tells Tony. "It was pretty damn good, that drawing of yours, and I don't give bullshit compliments." He waits to see if there's another round of racing to be had. "/Food/," he calls out pointedly to the others. "It's getting cold. What, you all some sorta vegan hippies or something? Fuck California," he comments without a trace of bitterness, before adding sidelong towards the pair, "Joel," with a stray thumb jabbing at himself.

George returns the fist bump when Rian offers it and vacates towards the food as well "Sounds like a good time then. I look forward to hearing about it."

"Ah ha!" Rian says, and helps himself to water! He shrugs and bobs his head at Joel, saying, "I'm not a vegan but I do keep a pretty strict diet. Horrible dinner guest. I ate a slice of pizza though!"

Alexander looks between Klara and George. "Bruising? Certainly sounds like a good time. Hope it's a funny joke."

"Huh? Oh...no, -he-," Klara will jerk a thumb towards Rian, "Is going to bruise me if he keeps punching my arm. And yes, it will be a funny joke. Hilarious, actually, I'm sure." And then she perks up at the mention of food. For a girl with a good figure, she sure seems to be always hungry. "Oh, I"m in..." And she moves to the table, looking over the options before her nose wrinkles. "Where's the meat on the pizza...?"

/Poom-Poom-Offscreen reload-Poom-Poom./ Surprisingly the youthful girl in pink is doing fairly well. Eden bounces a bit on the balls of her feet from white new balance shoes, her hips shaking back and forth in time to the music. She wasn't an expert, but had a decent modified Isosceles shooting stance, sometimes known as a fighter. Maybe she liked guns.

Tony looks over at Klara, "You could always get 'em to toss on pepperoni from the kitchen. Or... hey, you're welcome to try dippin' a slice in frito pie. It ain't bad." He holds up his half eaten slice to prove his point."

"Thought we'd have some vegetarians here," Joel mumbles through a bite of pizza. Chew, chew, swallow. "Figured it'd be a decent gesture. Next time I'll get the triple meat supreme, huh?" He's at ease in a crowd, it seems, and willing to talk. "That was some good driving," he adds to George. "I guess you take the cake, man. Beat me at shooting, and absolutely crushed it at driving. You got talent." He pauses a moment. "So, we gonna do a Round Two video game challenge? I like the Star Wars game over at Timeless. I think I told you guys," a nod to George and Rian, "I play as Poe Dameron." Which, clearly, he likes what may be the slightest bit of typecasting about, in his own head as well.

George has been eating between games pretty enthusiastically. And he takes more Pizza at Joel's prompting "Our crowd are practically obligate carnivores. We eat other stuff, usually as a vehicle for more meat though."

Klara eyes Tony and her nose wrinkles. "What in the hell is frito pie?" the woman asks, her thick russian accent making it clear why she would have no clue what that was. Sniffing the air as if she could figure it out that way, she gives her head a slight shake. "Odd...and yes," she agrees with Joel, a grin spreading wide on her face once again. "ALWAYS get the triple meat supreme. The vegetarian can pick it off." So there. She bobs her head at GEorge's explanation

Alexander gets his own chili cheeseburger and takes a giant bite out of it."No, no.. vegetabkes are to make food pretty. They are not, themselves, food."

"I disagree! Vegetables are delicious." Rian argues for the tastiness of rabbit food, "Raw or cooked, they're great." He also look really confused by the concept of a frito pie.

Joel blinks as just about everyone states their anti-vegetable preferences, a wry grin spreading across his face. "I've found my people. Or Donald Trump's people, in which case you guys really ain't my people. So, yeah, follow-up, one month, where we play Star Wars and Dance Dance Revolution and I show all of you up at video games from /this/ century, instead of the old stuff. Offer's open to you guys too," he adds to Antonio and Alexander, dark brows raising. "Name a vegetable that isn't improved by the addition of ketchup or cheese," he challenges Rian.

As the end of the stage progressed on level two, Eden was bombarded by missiles with the helicopter boss. The rate of fire was not fast enough; so she grabbed the second pistol normally reserved for player two and goes full akimbo. She keeps asymmetrical firing consistent so that one gun could cover the other with off-hand reloading. She wasn't perfect, taking the occasional damage or grabbing the right power up. But for the night, she was the action hero. Wanting to yell artichoke to the crowd debating vegetables, but focused on her game.

"Corn on the cob?" Rian answers, "I don't think you've been eating vegetables cooked the right way or something, mate."

George laughs at the odd reactions to frito and the looks to Joel "I got no fuckin time for that ferret wearing cheeto fingered shitgibbon" Then he turns to Klara and Rian "Glorious junk food. Sort of a caserole made with the same ingredients as chili con queso. With the addition of corn chips because why the actual fuck not."

"Potatoes are veggies 'n you like them well enough," Tony teases Alex and then he looks at Klara with widened eyes, "You ain't never had a frito chili pie? Oh, you just /gotta/ try one." He holds his own half eaten pie to show her. "It's really simple but super delish. You take Frito corn chips, pour beef chili over them, toss in onions and top it with cheese."

Joel offers George an approving smile at the anti-Trump note. "It's the people pulling his strings that are the real danger." And he seems poised to detail just who they might be, but thinks better of it, shaking his head. "Politics," he mutters. "And corn's excellent with cheese. Mexican food puts 'em together a lot. And hey, any vegetable that comes in a Hot Pocket is cooked fine for me." He digs out his wallet as a waiter comes over with the little pay gadget, offering cash to cover the bill, and then some. It's careless but enough to cover that Frito pie, Klara's vodka, and anything else that might have been acquired in the meantime. "One month until the sequel. You can find me online to drop me a line. Just gotta look for a second or two. We good?" It's a casual sort of segueway towards leavetaking.

Alexander glances at Tony. "Star Wars? Maybe. Dance? Sure. All for it." snorting s moment as Tony offers pie, "He just wants it gone faster so he can get to desert."

"Chili con queso?" Klara repeats. Yeah, using other American or mexican dishes to try and explain food to the Russian probably isn't going to go well. Her nose wrinkles as the frito pie is extended to her,a nd she gives her head a quick shake. "Thank you but...I will stick to my vodka," which she promptly takes a big swig of to make her point.

"We should do this again some time!" Rian says to Joel with a bright smile and a raise of his glass when splitting up starts to happen, "I'm gonna go check on the kids and the in-box." he informs Klara and George.

George nods at Joel "We good. I'm heading out soon anyway." Then to Klara "Okay, so I need to have a fuckin dinner party and shit. beef, bean, and tomato stew with lots of spices topped with cheese."

The digital screams and explosions occur as Eden shoots down the helicopter boss. A small smirk and firearm dance is had - but she ends the game there. Satisfied with her temporary experience. She heads to the crowd and offers them the extra gaming tokens she had. "I'm taking off soon. Why don't you use these up.", just trying to be polite as Eden then orders a hot dog for the road. She had her fun and had other places to be tonight.

Joel isn't going anywhere near the Frito pie, though. It's already half-eaten. "The Star Wars game is awesome. You get to be the hero and topple the dictatorship. What's better than that?" Clearly nothing, from his voice. He reaches out for Eden's tokens, but in order to set them on the table and share, rather than claim them all for himself. "Have the last slice of pizza," he tells the woman as she approaches. It's plain cheese, which clearly is somewhat anathema to the others. "Anyone need a free ride home? I play my music loud and I drive fast, fair warning." And, well, they've seen what happened with Rad Mobile.

Alexander accepts tokens! And Pizza! Which he puts between the buns with the chillivurger, Chilli pizza burger! Not above taking freebies from strangers. (Shush you.) "No, think I don't need a ride. Just food."

Tony shrugs at Klara and goes back to nibbling it, dipping the remains of the pizza into it. "We got the bike outside," he tells Joel, "but thanks for the food. Stop by my truck 'n I'll let you have your pick off'n the menu free."

George gives a lazy salute "We're good I think. Be seeing you."

Klara waves to Rian's back as he takes his leave, and then to the othesr who are on their way out. Settling into a seat, she sips at her beverage and allows her attention to drift to the chaos and noise of the rest of the space. She seems content to watch.

Eden does take that last slice of cheese pizza, "Aww, thanks.", she replies while giving the slice a perfected New York pizza fold - revealing something about her history. She gobbles up the slice and is one to eat the crust as well. Before returning to her hot dog. She would ask Joel for a ride, but decides that might be overstepping the boundaries with a complete stranger and departs on her own.

Joel looks puzzled at Tony. "Truck? Got a name or something?" But he thumbs-up casually at the offer, willing to accept it, before adding again to George, "Good game," in English. Once Tony gives the name of his truck, he'll start to peel away from the table, heading for the door. As promised, rap-metal thrums to life from his car outside, which screeches to hideous life, visible through the window of the pool hall/arcade.

"Fantasy Foods is the name of my food truck. We sorta do a pop-up restaurant from time to time too." Tony answers Joel and then waves at him as he heads out. "See you around." He settles back then to finish eatin' so he can get his chocolate ice cream.