Ask Game On

[Ezra Thorne]

Although his days were filled with classes and missions, every now and then he found himself bored with nothing to do. It was the weekend and his family was busy and all his friends were on different missions. He had time to himself and decided to wander slightly off campus to the local hangout strip. There were shops and food speeders frequented by padawans and knights, along with local musicians sometimes performing.

Today Ezra decided to visit the arcade that had several retro games. He didn’t dress as over the top as his usual, his more casual attire fitting in with his surroundings. Ezra was currently standing across an arcade machine called AMS Invaders 3. He had enjoyed this since the first edition of the game, and he was intently staring at the screen while rapidly moving the joystick and mashing buttons.

He had an oversized slushie perched on a surface next to him. As usual, there were whispers about his identity and finger pointing, but he was oblivious to it all. Today he was Lt. Boggs and he had a mission to shoot down as many infected as possible to get to his wife and kids trapped in the middle of the city.

@Logan

 

[Zeri Adasca]

The ice in Zeri's drink was starting to melt as she entered an arcade. It wasn't the end of the world, of course, but she knew she needed to finish it quickly before it lost its appeal and became little more than a watered down mess. Not a bad price to pay for one of the better iced coffees she'd had in recent memory, though she made a mental note to ask for extra whip next time.

There was never quite enough.

Zeri passed by all manner of games as she sipped away idly, her eyes wandering here and there looking for something interesting to nab her attention. That something interesting came quicker than she would have thought once Zeri spotted a boy playing AMS Invaders 3. Suddenly she wished she'd been wearing something a little more cute than her current outfit, but oh well. What could you do.

Walking up behind Ezra, Zeri watched him play and nodded her head a little in respect. The guy knew what he was doing, that much was obvious. Finishing up her coffee, Zeri tossed it into a nearby trash bin before coming right next to Ez, a friendly smile on her face.

Did you know there's a secret level you can only get to if you're playing two player? She asked, stepping up to the second player joystick and tossing in a few coins. Not very many people have managed to get through it. Think you're good enough?

Zeri shot Ezra a challenging smirk, curious to see if he'd be willing to play or tell her to simply fuck off.

You never knew with boys and their video games.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra could hear well enough to know someone stepped up near him. He gave a quick glance over, noticing a cute girl a foot shorter than him standing there. His distraction cost him as an infected jumped him and the screen turned into pouring blood and background screaming. Ezra retrieved more coins, looking over when the girl made her remark. He scoffed in response.

“That sounds like something you just pulled out of your ass,” Ezra said dryly. He popped coins in just for himself, paused, scowled for a moment, and then popped more coins in, “All right, fine.”

He was entirely skeptical of this secret level, but he had never tried the two player version of the game. As soon as the alarms sounded, the game began. They were both playing soldiers with split screens and these levels required lots of button mashing.

“Cover me, I’m going in that building,” He called out as his character started climbing a ladder. He was relying entirely on Zeri to shoot the mobs that were going after him. Ezra’s character climbed up on the roof and Ezra’s eyes widened, “Never made it out this far..” He gave her a quick glance, a lopsided grin forming on his face, “You’re not bad at all.”

@Logan

 

[Zeri Adasca]

Zeri shot Ezra one of those "just you wait and see, loser" type of looks when he said she was just talking out of her ass. Not the first time a dude questioned her knowledge about AMS Invader 3 and probably wouldn't be the last. She might not look it but Zeri had put in a lot of hours on various video games. It was her go to activity when she needed something to do after blowing off whatever Jedi classes she was supposed to be at.

Don't worry, I got you. Zeri said to Ezra's request for cover fire. Watch this shit.

With some slaps of the joystick mixed with rapid button pressing, Zeri managed to rattle off more than several headshots in a row on the zombie mobs that tried chasing Ezra up the ladder. A little trick she'd picked up from a kid awhile back. It had taken her some practice to get good at it, but now Zeri could pull it off pretty much at will - especially when she wanted to show off.

Still think I was, what was it now? Zeri said, feigning that she couldn't remember as she tapped her finger on her chin in a playful mocking way. Pulling stuff out of my ass?

Having her character follow Ezra's up the ladder, Zeri shot the boy a look, curious to find out more about him if he were willing to divulge. She'd been in this arcade once, twice, a million times and couldn't remember seeing him before.

So what's your story? She asked, fingers continuing to mash buttons as the AMS hordes kept on coming. I think we can take AMS Invaders pro player off the table, at least.

The light rumble of her stomach alerted Zeri to the fact that she hadn't eaten anything today outside of coffee and a couple cake balls.

I am absolutely starving, she said absentmindedly, though Zeri gave no sign she was going to stop playing the game as long as Ezra still wanted to play.

Food could wait. AMS Invaders 3 was far more important.

Not to mention, the cute boy helped.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra only rolled his eyes with a grin at her mocking remark, his gaze fixed on the game. He was impressed by the series of headshots - clearly she had played this a lot more than he expected. He continued to mash buttons, his character opening the door to a room he had never seen before. It was a dark tunnel with just a flashlight to illuminate the way.

“My story is all over Holonet..” He said dryly, his life never really his own narrative. Tabloids and social media loved to talk about him and he wouldn’t be surprised if a few people were trying to record him on their phones even now. He turned a corner and quickly backpedaled as a horde began to approach. He shot several of them successfully, but he was running out of ammo. He shattered a glass box, took out a fire axe and began to melee his way through the horde.

With the two of them, they were slowly able to push through the horde and he could see the room that would hold his in game family. Ezra cast the girl a sideways glance as her stomach growled, his sensitive ears meaning he could hear it loud and clear. Amusement danced in his eyes as she declared she was starving.

“Are you dropping a hint or do you just like the sound of your own voice?” He asked breezily, giving her a teasing grin. They finally made it to the door and he kicked it open, revealing a happy reunion and closing out the chapter.

@Logan

 

[Zeri Adasca]

I didn't ask the holonet for their story, Zeri said, swapping from her pistol with dwindling ammo to the shotgun she'd picked up from one of the hidden caches. As Ezra found and started swinging away with his axe, Zeri gave him some backup in the form of blowing holes straight through the chest of zombies. I asked you. In my experience, the holonet is mostly bullshit that barely edges the truth.

Zeri rolled her eyes at Ezra's next remark, the hint of a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. Some people may have found him rude, but Zeri found the boy a breath of fresh air. She was used to dealing with uppity Jedi who always tried saying the exact right thing. It was rare that she talked to someone with as much sarcasm as she had.

Can it not be both? Zeri asked, the smirk from earlier remaining on her face. You want some food? There's a pretty good burrito place just around the corner. They even got vegetarian stuff if that's your style.

Zeri didn't mention the fact that the burrito joint was also conveniently right next to the coffee place she'd just come from. If there was one thing that Zeri had little self control over, it was how much iced coffee she drank in a day. Could be worse, all things considered.

You can tell me your story while we walk. Zeri would wait for a bit for Ezra to decide on whether or not he wanted to come. If he didn't, she'd probably go by herself considering how hungry she was getting.

She just hoped that wasn't what ended up happening.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was surprised and amused when she doubled down on asking about him. He wasn’t entirely convinced she didn’t eat up everything on Holonet, but he could appreciate the effort. Ezra couldn’t fight the grin that appeared when she coasted right into asking to go get burritos. He checked his chrono and nodded, falling into step beside her, “Is that the place next to Java the Hutt? Been meaning to try their food,” He said. It would become clear that he was also a caf fanatic, but he was one of those obnoxious customers that ordered insanely customized drinks, “It’s my Pops that does the whole vegan thing. I’m not afraid of some meat,” He added with deadpan delivery.

He thought about her earlier question as they walked, his hands shoving into his pockets. He slowed his pace when he realized a few regular strides of his put him way ahead of her, “Ezra Thorne. Private school rich boy that discovered he’s a Jedi. So now I’m trying to juggle both. Big Limmie fan and I fought off a Sith Master,” He shrugged vaguely as if it was no big deal. It was all a show of course, he was practically shitting himself when he faced down that Sith.

“You got a name, Player 2?” Ezra asked as he held the door open for her when they arrived at the burrito joint. It was a chic fast casual establishment with a decent bit of noise and a few open tables, but the food was incredible. They had to walk up front to order which took Ezra especially long since he was extremely meticulous and specific about his order. The poor worker was practically sweating bullets by the time he was done, though Ezra seemed entirely oblivious. All that changed when Ezra dropped an absurdly large tip on his order, just a casual reminder of his obscene wealth.

@Logan

 

[Zeri Adasca]

A Sith Master? Zeri asked, the surprise evident in her voice. She'd never even met a Sith - as far as she knew, anyway - let alone fought off someone as strong as a Master. That's impressive. Were you scared?

Zeri fully expected Ezra to scoff at her question of being scared. She had enough experience around boys to know that they tended to act a lot tougher than they were. Still, the very fact that Ezra survived such an encounter showcased that he was stronger, or at least more crafty, than most other padawans. Especially her, who had never been in a real fight in her entire life.

Limmie, huh? She asked, nodding her head in that way that said "dude, nice." My dad is a huge Limmie fan. Team Coruscant. Who do you like?

When Ezra asked if she had a name, Zeri realized for the first time that she never actually introduced herself. How rude of her! Of course, it happens, especially when there are dope video games involved to pull her attention.

Zeri, She said with a smile. I guess I probably should have led with that, huh?

When they finally started with their orders, Zeri and Ezra couldn't have been more polar opposites. Where Ezra was extremely meticulous - some might even say tight assed and mildly annoying - Zeri was entirely haphazard. "Give me everything" was her usual go to when it came to food, especially burritos. She loved everything you could possibly stuff into a burrito shell and even still she usually wished they had been able to cram in more.

Of course, her opinion on Ezra's ordering style softened just a bit when she noticed how well he tipped the workers. At least he was a self-aware pain in the ass.

Once they had both gotten their food and paid, Zeri walked over to a small, empty table and sat down. There were only two chairs so Ez wouldn't have much of a choice on where to sit. She also couldn't help but notice that there were people staring at them as they walked through the restaurant, whispering to themselves in hushed tones as they pointed and watched.

People knowing you everywhere you go has to get old after awhile, no? She asked in between bites. Even though her ordering style and food choice was more close to a tornado whipping through somewhere, Zeri was at least clean and courteous when it came to the actual eating part. She wasn't a wild animal, after all. How do you deal with that kind of stuff all the time?

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra shrugged vaguely at her question, “Didn’t have time to think, honestly,” He responded to the query about being scared. It was terrifying after the fact, but he didn’t have the chance to process anything while he was in the moment. He was distracted when she mentioned her father was a Limmie fan. Ezra grinned at the mention of Coruscant, “Onderon, but Coruscant is a close second,” He said.

Zeri. It sounded like his name with a few letters switched around. He hadn’t heard it before and decided it was cute, though he wouldn’t say that aloud.

Even here Ezra ate as if he were at some formal diplomatic dinner with the way he handled utensils to eat his meal. Unlike Zeri, he seemingly didn’t notice anyone staring at him. Ezra shrugged at her question, glancing up to look at her instead of anyone staring, “I just don’t deal with it at all,” He remarked, blatantly ignoring anyone that looked and not giving them the time of day.

“Besides, not like they actually know me,” Ezra took another bite, finished it, and then spoke again, “I’ll let you guess three facts about me that you haven’t seen on Holonet.”

@Logan