202/Games and Gals

Games and Gals
Date of Scene:	04 August 2023
Location:	Game Crown Arcade
Synopsis:	On a casual summer afternoon, Usagi and Minako get to know each other over a few rounds on Game Crown Arcade's finest titles.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Minako Aino

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Game Crown Arcade is the ideal spot to spin a lazy summer afternoon, especially when you've got plenty of energy to burn and allowance to spend. Usagi Tsukino has had a rough summer, and so where else would she be but at the Sailor V game?

She's almost to the high score, at a level she's never even seen, Sailor V launching beam attacks with a crescent moon shaped rod, enemies falling to her attacks...

She's completely oblivious to anyone near her.

Minako Aino has posed:
Even superheroes need a day off, right? Certainly Minako was no exception even if there was a certain white cat who would probably insist she worked on her studies. For the moment however, she was busy burning off her energy on the nearest dancing game...until she finished the next song and steps away, the blonde girl in her summer shorts and spaggetti shop bounced happily along off the game and onto the next entertainment...only to skid to a stop and look over her shoulder at the arcade game nearby with a rather familier face plastered on the side.

A few moments later and she was a face leaning over Usagi's shoulder, watching well...an adorable sprite of herself!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
On this level she's got to just mow down everything in her sight. Monsters pour in from across the field, front, back, up, down! She's got to use everything in her arsenal!

Fire! Fire! Fire! Jump, flip backwards, jump again - oh no! She's hit! Usagi frantically goes for the tried and true trick of jiggling her joystick left and right to try and get the Sailor V avatar to recover faster. It doesn't work of course, but it feels like it should!

And then, when she's back on her feet, she really leans in, left, right, special beam attack!!!

The boss explodes in a burst of pixels. Sailor V strikes a pose!

"I did it!" Usagi whoops, and starts to spin, to look for Motoki - only to jump back into the game cabinet when she realizes someone is right there. "WAH!"

The someone is a strikingly pretty girl, with lond blond hair, bright blue eyes, and the cutest spaghetti strap top and shorts combo. Usagi, dressed down in pink overalls and a white top, tries not to ogle. She mostly succeeds.

"Were you - um - wanting to play?"

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor V had...had some pretty intense encounters in her career so far, but even she wasn't quite sure that there had ever been -that- many monsters attacking her at once. Huh.

Maybe the 'legend' had outgrown the reality, and she still didn't even see any money from this stuff!

Still it was addictive, eye-catching even and sure enough Minako had been leaning in a little when Usagi finally claimed victory and the digital 'Totally-not-Minako' celebrated on screen. So enraptured was she that Minako herself was caught off-guard when Usagi span around and even she jumped -just- a little before blushing furiously and waving a hand.

"Hi! Sorry, I was just watching...you're really good at that!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The fact that the other girl looks about as startled as Usagi is what makes her start giggling, recognizing exactly how silly the whole thing is. Two girls, alike in looks and absorption in the same video game, come face to face now.

"Thank you! This is my best score so far, ahaha," Usagi scratches the back of her neck, feeling a little bit bashful now, but - "You know, you kinda look like Sailor V. Have you ever considered cosplay? You'd be really good!"

Usagi, Usagi, stop talking to the beautiful girl, stop rambling! "What were you playing?"

Minako Aino has posed:
There it was, cosplaying again. Usagi might even catch that deadpan moment that crosses her face. She'd been engaged in battle against Youma and who knows what else, and only the other Senshi she'd met by complete suprise seemed to take it at face value that she'd actually been the real deal!

Quick to smile and giggle it off a little, she waves her hand. "Maybe, but then I'd hate for some bad guy to mistake me for her and interrupt a fun time, right?"

Yeah. Imagine random monster attacks interupting one's attempts at a social life!

Still, she smiles, gesturing over to the Dancing game and grinning. "That one over there, it has a bunch of really fun songs to sing and dance to...okay, so you're only really supposed to dance buuut..." she blushes, laughing brightly.

"Still, you looked like you were having fun, so I got curious."

Okay, so perhaps a little rambline was shared between the two of them!

"I'm Minako Aino, a student at Radient Heart Academy, newly transferred!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
What a tragedy that would be, huh, getting snatched by bad guys while you're trying to have a life? Usagi has to struggle for a straight face at the very thought. Can't show she relates, after all! "That'd be the worst. Imagine going for a snack and someone just attacks you out of the blue!"

Like say, cat girls who steal your disguise pen while you're trying to have a touching conversation! Not that Usagi is annoyed about it or anything. Her scratches had healed up and everything, and the disguise pen is firmly (safely) in her possession again.

She follows the other girl's gaze to the machine she'd been at, her eyes widening at the sight of the dance machine. "Who can resist singing when they're dancing? Besides, that game practically asks, they include all the lyrics on the side of the screen!"

How can you resist? It's like being in a karaoke machine! And - wait, really? Usagi blinks, cocking her head at Minako. "I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever meet anyone who doesn't go to Radiant Heart. Usagi Tsukino, Grade 9! I transferred recently too."

Minako Aino has posed:
"Us-ah-gi," Minako repeats, sounding the name out almost as if it were foreign to her...but it's exactly the opposite. As a matter of fact, she'd heard it before! "Oh! I think I met your roommate when I went out for Soda the other day, she talked about you. Did she ever end up getting that soda girl's number?"

Danger. Shipping reflexes activated.

Well, she -was- meant to be the Senshi of love, right?

"And I guess that makes sense, all the students around here would hang out at the same places, right?"

This was nice, nice enough to feel normal, to hang out with an admittedly cute-if-akward girl and just enjoy herself, and it showed by the beaming smile on Minako's face.

"Well, if you want we could play it together...then you can show me how to play this one! I'd hate to let Sailor V down by being bad at it and getting her beaten by some zombie thingy!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Naru-chan? Yeah, that was probably Naru-chan... she didn't mention anything about a soda girl. Was she cute?" It is only good, proper, and natural that everyone knows Naru-chan, so that doesn't even make her blink. What is making her give conspirational glances - to this virtual stranger! - is the mention of a girl. Naru-chan wanted her number, huh?

Her grin widens. Tell her more!

"Mhm, it's true, but when I went to Juuban Public Middle School, I never really ran into people from Radiant Heart. Now we're all over the place!" It's a little suspicious. Maybe she didn't pay attention before because she wasn't a part of it.

But those somber thoughts are quickly abandoned, because - "Oh! That would be awesome! We could even play against each other, if you don't mind a dance off!" Which Usagi will lose. Immediately. "And sure, of course! The Sailor V game is my favorite, just like Sailor V! I'll make sure you don't let her down."

This is shaping up to a great day, honestly.

Minako Aino has posed:
Naru might not have wanted her number, but Minako had -very- much suggested she get it. Of course, why let that detail get in the way of a good shipping.

A little tilt of her head, Minako grins brightly as she shares the tale of smiles, blushes and cute exchanges that was clearly enough for the girl to ship the two who were basically strangers to her hard!

Still, the pair of them come to topic of games and Minako extends a hand to just sort of excitably pull Usagi along to the dancing game. It helped at least, that being in front meant that last comment bringing a blush and a grin was less likely to be seen by the fellow blonde.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Oh ho ho, Naru-chan's been holding out on her! Usagi is practically floating on air by the time Minako pulls her over to the game, hearts in her eyes and a mischievous smile on her lips. She is so going to tease Naru about this! Finally, revenge for the study night that had gone well but that wasn't the point!

Much more important is the dancing game, admittedly. Usagi might have been a little more boastful than audiencce; with her two left feet, she might well bring them both down! At least she's in the back - she misses the blush and smile, but she'll probably also avoid dragging Minako down with her if she falls.

"You pick the first song," she offers graciously, "I'll pick the next!"

Minako Aino has posed:
She might have been the leader of a band of guardians and warriors in her past life, she might be a superhero now...but Minako Aino still was ever the hopeful girl with dreams of being an idol, singing and dancing her way to stardom. The irony was that she already had it in some ways, but only as Sailor V! Still, a quick excitable pop-y song choice later and she was already moving onto the platform, releasing Usagi's hand to direct her onto the other and grinning. "Ready?" she asks, suspiciously timed with the question coming from the electronic voice of the game before the music kicks in and the arrows start to rise!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Totally ready!" Usagi chirps, not at all ready. She eyes the incoming arrows and puffs up her chest - she got herself into this and she will dance! her! self! out! of! it!

And as the arrows start, Usagi actually does manage to keep up... for the first part of the song. Sure, she's not the most graceful, but there's a fun, frenetic sort of energy to her movements as she dances along to the upbeat song. Her score is about average - a fair mix of goods and greats, with the odd PERFECT! and bad,,, mixed in.

Minako Aino has posed:
Ever get the sense that someone has played something a little too much? Certainly, that same level of affinity that Usagi showed with the arcade game was now on display with Minako as the average of perfect and 'great' lighting up the screen. Minako might be frustratingly graceful, or she's practiced this to the point that she probably saw the arrows behind her eyes. She was singing, she was dancing, she was even throwing in some twirls.

Truely she was setting herself up to fail when she got to the arcade cabinet.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is fighting for her life (but in a much more enjoyable way than usual), dancing around and lunging around and generally trying to slap each and every arrow - but even with all that distraction, she can't miss how good Minako is at this game. She's singing, she's dancing, she's twirling, and she's hitting every single arrow on the platform.

Usagi doesn't give up, but she definitely starts to clap and cheer a little as the song starts to wind down.

"Mi-na-ko! Mi-na-ko! Whoo! You're amazing!"

Minako Aino has posed:
Well, Minako wasn't without a love of a little applause! Still, as things wound down and she ended with a grinning, giggling bow and then a lift of a hand to offer a 'V' in victory that was ironically very similar to the image that had been on the screen Usagi had been playing not that long ago. Still she steps off the machine, grinning bright and lifting a hand to adjust her hair and ensure that bow was still in place before nodding towards the arcade machine. "Your turn to show off Usagi!" she offers lightly.

"Show me how it's done!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The game ends in Minako's favor by a dizzying amount. It's not that Usagi did terribly; she did pretty alright for a beginner, squarely in that B- range. It's just that Minako, why, Minako did so well that Usagi might well call shenanigans if she didn't get the perfect score.

"Minako-chan, your score is so high! You must have practiced this one a lot!"

Still, with the gauntlet thrown like that, Usagi's got no choice! She'll have to pull out all the stops!

tShe hops down from the platform and grabs Minako's hand; it's her turn to pull a new friend to a game! Once they're in front of the Sailor V game, mercifully empty, she considers - Sailor V is a single player game, so she can't play with Minako the way they could dance together, before coming to a firm conclusion. "Minako-chan, you'll play first! Come here, I'll show you the controls -"

The joystick for moving, one button for jump, one for attack, a third for super attack. Jumping, attacking, and super attacking in conjunction with motions of the joystick could change her action to something stronger, more directional, or defensive.

Minako Aino has posed:
And so Minako was going to have to enjoy the high that was her show of prowess when she was tugged along by Usagi to the game and pushed quite readily into the seat to begin. Okay! So a videogame required good reflexes? She had those. Dealing with monsters required adaptability? She had that! She fought monsters all the time! Now there were new fancy techniques beyond just punching and shooting, different types of monsters, environmental hazards...

Watching the little chibi sprite of herself getting 'zapped' to a smoking 'swirl-eyed' state there was a look of a pout and utter disbelief from Minako.

Apparently, she was going to need a little more practice at being Sailor V...at least when it came to the arcade game.

"Okay, so you said back and the blue one...."