Pizza Planet, Friday Afternoon

[bitten_notshy]

Jack had never made time to get any good at video games since he jumped forward in time. They seemed loud, and childish, and he didn't see the point of them -- and anyhow, being publicly bad at common things was embarrassing. Easier to avoid the subject entirely.

But at 13, he loved loud, childish, pointless things, and didn't especially care if people he'd never met before thought he was good at them or not. Which was why after he devoured some pizza for lunch, he spent some serious time trying to conquer the ancient meta Mortal Kombat game in the corner of the restaurant. Someday he'd make it past the first two opponents; for now, he was having fun trying.

[OOC: Open like a restaurant!]

Comments

[not_a_whiner]

So-- who knew-- you could eventually run out of food in a house. Pizza seemed like the safe option to quell the biotic-sized gnawing in Kaidan's stomach.

He hadn't known the kid from his house would be there.

"Just hit all the buttons at once," he said, after debating for a while on the matter of whether he wanted to deal with the kid at all.

[bitten_notshy]

"And what will that do?" Jack asked, barely glancing away from the screen. He seemed mildly surprised to realize who was addressing him; Kaidan hadn't been going out of his way to be friendly.

He did it anyhow, and was rewarded by a complicated kick-backflip-punch combo that made his opponent's head fly off.

[not_a_whiner]

"That," Kaidan said.

He had a remarkable straight-face when it quite came down to it. "These games are all the same."

[bitten_notshy]

"Hitting everything always works?" Jack asked, glancing over while the game loaded the next level. "I've never played."

[not_a_whiner]

"Yeah," Kaidan said. He took a glance at the machine itself and added, "That one's old."

[bitten_notshy]

A pause, then: "I think I'm old. So that matches."

He'd seen the current year in passing when he picked up his phone, and again when he passed a newspaper stand. It was just another brick in his current great wall of strangeness.

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan snorted. "You're still a kid," he said, "Even if you don't know what a television is-- doesn't make you old. Just displaced."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'd rather be old."

At least old people got some extra respect. Displaced people just got confused.

"Are you -- displaced? Or old, either one."

[not_a_whiner]

"I'm a century ahead of the island," Kaidan said, leaning against the wall (and managing to look spectacularly broody while doing so). "So yeah. I guess you could say that."

[bitten_notshy]

"Which do you think is easier?" Jack wondered, abandoning his game for the moment. (There was something compelling about broody people, all right?) "A century behind, or a century ahead?"

He tried to imagine finding himself in 1795. Couldn't, and decided he'd gotten the better end of the deal.

[not_a_whiner]

"A century behind, I think," Kaidan said, watching the kid. "You get to see progress in action."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack nodded slightly in agreement. "Everything's loud and confusing," he noted. "But -- it's not horrible. I can't imagine how much more we change before we get where you're from."

[not_a_whiner]

"A lot, and not enough," Kaidan said vaguely. "But isn't that always the case?"

Prejudice, for one. Fear. That stuff didn't go away so quickly. And Kaidan was well aware he hadn't exactly made it better.

[glacial_queen]

Karla had also been craving pizza today which was why she'd bundled up and headed into town. Seeing tiny Jack made the whole trip worthwhile. Seeing tiny Jack playing video games brought it from worthwhile to some higher plane of awesome entirely.

"Kiss kiss," she said, strolling over to the arcade machine. "If I promise to keep my pants on, can I take a picture of this?"

Guess who had also talked to Emma last night!

[bitten_notshy]

Jack had gone in for some especially vicious rounds of the game after Kaidan left, but Karla's greeting had him flustered enough to be down in a second and dead in another.

"I suppose," he said. "Why is taking your pants off an option? Do I know you, too?"

[glacial_queen]

"You do," Karla promised, dimples very prominent. "And I just wanted to assure you that there are indeed some pictures of you on phones that involve clothing."

Emma was going to hate her.

...This was so worth it.

[bitten_notshy]

"The pictures weren't totally naked!" Jack and Emma stuck to classy sexting, yo.

He ran his hand back through his hair in a familiar gesture. "And -- this is a very confusing conversation. Let's start over. Hi, I'm Jack, what's your name?"

[glacial_queen]

"I'm Karla," she replied, still grinning at him. "Future good friend. We'll fight, flirt, and have one another's backs. We never kissed, but only because of poor timing."

Did that clear everything up?

[bitten_notshy]

A little, yes.

"It's nice to meet you again," Jack said, a touch formally but sounding more at ease. "I don't suppose you want to fix the kissing part now, do you?"

He'd never kissed anyone in his life, but if she wanted to give suggestions...

[glacial_queen]

"And lo," Karla said, eyes up to the heavens, "he proves himself to be Jack no matter what the age."

Look at him, the wee baby flirt in training. "And no thank you. I have a boyfriend, you have an Emma--" Darkness only knew how they were referring to one another these days, "--and if we ever do kiss, it's going to be a proper one. And I don't give proper kisses to fourteen year olds."

Extra not to almost-fourteen year olds.

[bitten_notshy]

"It wouldn't have to be a proper kiss," Jack teased lightly -- but dropped it pretty fast, because it sounded like they were both taken. And also because he didn't want his first kiss to come as a novelty, or out of pity, or whatever would make a young woman like Karla kiss a 14-year-old.

"Are you any good at this game?" he asked, by way of changing the topic. "I'm getting better, but I keep getting knocked out. It's rather annoying."

[glacial_queen]

...Honestly? If it weren't for Warren, she'd probably do it anyway, just to be horrible to Emma.

"I'm even less likely to give you an improper kiss at fourteen," she laughed. "And I'm not very good at any video games. They don't have them where I'm from. I play some back at the dorms, but I usually lose. Unless it's Rock Band. I'm pretty good at that."

[bitten_notshy]

"I have no idea what a rock band is," Jack told her, matter-of-fact. "But I like killing people in this. I hope that doesn't sound bloodthirsty."

He found a wall to lean against. "Are you from the past, too?"

[glacial_queen]

"Compared to some of the video games I've seen, this one is practically filled with hugs and friendship."

On the other hand, she hadn't seen Jack commit a fatality yet, so...

Karla smiled and shook her head at him. "I'm from a different world entirely," she explained. "Territory Glacia in Realm Kaeleer. I'd tell you about it, but you'll assume I'm spinning tales."

Queens and dragons and unicorns, oh my.

"We sometimes argue whether my adopted uncle is a vampire or not. I maintain he's a Guardian. You roll your eyes."

[bitten_notshy]

"Well, for now I'll believe it's unbelievable," Jack decided gallantly. "And someone can be a guardian and a vampire, you know. They go rather well together."