|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 7:05 pm
It'd been a busy week for Natasha. Between finishing up exams for the end of the term in school, and finding herself in exactly the sort of situation she did not want to be. Christmas shopping. She always dreaded the shops this time of year. People moving around in stores with barely enough room to breath, some fighting and angsting over toys or gadgets they had to get for little Timmy McGreedykidpants. Most years she completed shopping for family sometime in the late summer or fall, however this year a monkey wrench had been thrown into the mix.
She'd made a new friend, and she felt she had to get him, well, something. It wasn't an easy task either. No. He had tastes that were nothing like her own, and tastes she knew nothing about. So not only had she been in standing room only stores, she also was in these places with no two sweet clues on what he'd like (or even if he'd have it already)!
However, all her suffering had not been in vain. With the help of some pock faced teenage boy, and an amusing run in with a shirt baring her new nickname ala Castor (apparently Navi was a sprite in some game with a green hatted elf?), she had found something she hoped he liked.
Seated at a table in the Dippin' Donuts, Natasha had her hands clasped around a cup of hot chocolate. A half eaten, chocolate-glazed, donut sat on a napkin next to her. She'd phoned Alex earlier to arrange the meeting with him. She'd contemplated e-mailing him, but she wasn't really a fan of it. Still seemed so impersonal to her. At her feet was her satchel, and next to that was a rather large, and awkward box that was wrapped in shiney red and green striped paper. She tapped the box gingerly with her foot, what a pain in the a** it had been to drag all the way into town. She should have just invited him to her place, but yeah. Hindsight was 20/20, afterall.
Hopefully he wouldn't forget to show up, though she wouldn't be surprised if he turned up late. Promptness did not seem to be his forte.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:21 pm
"Busy" was a bit of an understatement. Of all the places, Natasha had to choose the mall. Alex wasn't exactly on speaking terms with the place -- while it was home to many stores with many exciting things, Alex's empty wallet was quick to point out that those things were out of his league. Added to that, the mall had 90% Hillworth contraband items, and he wasn't too keen on becoming a shady appliance dealer just yet. Or at all, even!
For now, though, Alexander was in the process of trying to successfully navigate the crowds without the aid of a minimap. It was a challenge, an epic quest, a level all in of itself!
...Or at least it was until Alex finally flopped into the seat across from Natasha, giving her a belated grin and wave. "Hey! Guess what! I actually passed you several times while trying to find this place, haha! This place is pretty crazy around this time of year, y'know? It's like a real life version of some sort of raid or battleground except no one's trying to chop off your head -- they're just trying to make sure you don't get what they want!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:05 am
Taking a sip of her cocoa, Natasha looked up as Alex sat down. Listening to his short ramble, she chuckled. "Several times, hmm? I'll keep that in mind. If we ever get lost somewhere, I won't ask you to get directions." She didn't really understand the raid reference, but she did shake her head at him.
"I dunno about that, Alex. I'm pretty sure some of these people would take your head if you tried to get, by the way, there's donuts there," she nugged adjacent from her own donut on the napkin, "in their way. Christmas shoppers are crazy, I tell ya. It's like, how I imagine people would be post apocalypse. You're all out for yourselves when it comes down to it." She wasn't really into post apocalyptic mumbo jumbo, but it seemed suiting for the time.
"Anyways, I wouldn't normally have asked you to come to the mall, not my cup of tea, but I didn't know where else to meet, and like hell I was dragging my a** back to that arcade today. I felt like being lazy. Mall was closer. Also; it has donuts. Obviously." with that she picked up her own, half-eaten donut, and took another bite.
"I see you've survived the holiday so far."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:14 pm
The boy merely shrugged at her statement. "I dunno, it was actually pretty fun 'cause I haven't been here that often and I kindasorta know my way around a bit better. I don't know where most stuff is like where certain clothes are but I did find a pretty nice place with exquisite mannequins in the window except they weren't wearing much of anything, come to think of it. Aaanyway!"
He glanced down at the donut she nudged, then twisted in his seat to take a look at the stand. He wasn't particularly hungry (SHUT UP STOMACH), and considering the holiday rush. Alex turned back to her, offering a grin. "Aw, the arcade's not that bad! It just happens to have a lot of people that wanted to meet you'n'stuff! I'm sure if you go back there someone'll want to buy you some games, but then again that's kinda like offering to buy someone a drink but for geeks sooo..."
Alexander broke off, laughing. "You bet! School's been pretty nice with some of the campus gone, and I think they've slacked off a bit on the rules'n'whatnot, but they'll catch on sooner or later and tighten up the yolk again. Happens again and again, 's not that surprising really. Anything new with your side?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:40 pm
The awkwardness that had been the arcade on their last visit came back to light in her head. Yeah. It was weird being stared at on any occasion, weirder when it was more than one person doing so. Nat decided better than to voice the fact she was likely never going to step foot in that arcade again. At least not alone. Apparently she could only handle geek in a one on one session.
Though, while she would never admit it, more of her disdain of the arcade came from falling on her a** while playing DDR. It was a failure of what could only (apparently) be described as "Epic Failure". Sounded pretty appropriate. Least it hadn't been rubbed in her face too much. Maybe some day she'd get the hang of some sort of video.
If she'd ever sit long enough to learn.
That was neither here nor there however. She pushed the memory and thoughts from her head, listening to Alex prattle about school. "That sounds pretty good. Me? I can't really complain all that much, other than being out in the mall and trying not to get run over. Just enjoying the holidays, glad exams are over for now, and wishing we didn't have to go back to class sooner than later. Also, general holiday stuff." she tapped the large box with her foot, loud enough to (hopefully) grab Alex's attention.
"Which reminds me, the reason I called ya out today. Here." With that, she pushed it towards him, "S'for you. Merry Christmas, or whatever." she was doing her best to go at this with a modicum of indifference. However, the tinge of excitement was there as she pulled her foot back, pulling them behind her in the chair, causing her body to lean forward a bit to catch her friends' reaction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:37 am
Natasha shouldn't be alone for DDR. Alex's flailing often landed him a B rating -- and that's if and only if he managed to avoid getting distracted by the flashing lights or someone else beating his score. He's ditched the dance mat more than once because of one or two upstarts topping his scores! DDR wasn't his style anyway. Hail to the buttons!
"Yeah, that's usually how the holidays are," he agreed, tilting his head to oneside in the midst of the conversation to listen to the soft tnkthnkthnk of the gift. "What! For me? Really? Oh! Ohohoh!" The boy held up his hands then began patting down his own coat, clearly looking for something. With a triumphant "HA!" Alex reached into his jacket and pulled out a rectangular box. If she measured it, it would have been as long from her palm to the tip of her index finger, while its width was as long as her palm. It wasn't very thick, but it rustled when shaken. "Here! This is for you. I saw it and thought you might like it but if not that's okay 'cause then it can double as a nifty paperweight!"
Alex beamed, then turned his attention to the gift. It was rather... big. He felt a little awkward with the gift he gave her, but curious is as curious does, he began to slowly peel away the festive paper after lifting the box onto the chair next to him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:05 pm
Natasha took the gift offered to her, and turned it over a few times in her hands. She liked the wrapping paper. Shiny. She drew her attention back, however, to Alex who seemed to stare for a moment at his gift box before pulling it apart. As the wrapping paper was pulled away, a white box with a picture of a blue, car seat(?) was left behind. Wait, no, upon closer inspection, the box read "BoomChair a44 gamer". The image on the box showed a blue and black chair with multiple ports on it.
"I hope you like it, I really don't know much about it." she admitted with a shrug, "The guy at the store suggested it. Apparently you can hook it up to your games and it will shake? I dunno. I guess there's an instruction book with it. You'll probably get more out of that then what I know." she paused for a brief moment, thinking, "If you don't like it we can exchange it for something else though, heh."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:22 am
Alex stared, and stared some more. He just... well. In all honesty, he couldn't believe it. The most rumble he ever got was in the arcade when the speakers were still working and blasted him with sound, leaving him partially deaf for the rest of the day. He ran his fingers over the exposed part of the box, settling for quickly ripping the rest of it away.
"DUDE! No way! No way no way Natster! Are you kidding? This is one of the best things ever!" He shouted, throwing his arms up into the air for emphasis (and also gaining a few curious looks). "This is by far the best gift I've ever gotten man! I'm serious! I mean, hell, even though I have only a NES-slash-SNES currently this is just the right kick I needed to start saving up and getting my hands one one of the newer systems just to ride this thing out! I mean, I could probably hook up my smaller handheld to it in order to listen and -- oh! Ohohoh go on! Open your's!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 6:19 pm
To say Natasha was relieved that Alex liked the gift was an understatement. Considering her bare-bones knowledge of anything to do with the gaming world (above and beyond classic and super Mario), the fact that she seemed to have hit the nail on the head made her ecstatic. Though it faltered only slightly when he mentioned he didn't really have any consoles that would work for it. At the very least, however, he was going to look into it.
"Natster?" she quirked an eyebrow in his direction at the new nickname, it was weird. Didn't roll off the tongue all that well in her mind, but whatever. She shook her head, ignoring it for now. "Anyways, m'glad ya like it. N'junk." she looked at the wrapped gift he handed her, turning it over once more to hear the little rattle.
Curiously she opened it up, knowing Alex it was likely something geeky and game like.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:13 pm
Alex didn't notice Natasha's reaction, as busy as he was running his hands over the box. If his hands weren't zipping up and down it, clearing off the last remaining bits of tape and wrapping paper, then perhaps he would be caressing it in such a way that would call the mall security over to escort him out. Instead, he was just an excited boy who received the best gift he ever gotten. Well, close to -- his excitement over getting his first video game system didn't rival this, not by a long shot.
When Natasha removed the last bits of paper, it was a box. It didn't look like anything -- in fact, it was several slabs of carboard taped together into a box-like shape, but that too was easy enough to get by. Inside, however, was another box. It too was in a rectangle, about five inches long and two and a half inches wide with a small, green triangle in one corner. It had two hinges on one side that opened up, and the plastic box itself was white with hints of blue and pink lustre. It was kind of pretty, but all hopes of Alex being a normal kid were dashed when Natasha opened it up.
It was a handheld game system, known as a Nintendo DS. It was turned on, and a small puppy barked at Natasha from the opening screen. It was then that she noticed the box also came with an instruction booklet for something called... 'Nintendogs: Chihuahua Edition.'
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:11 pm
The box in and of itself was very nice, though pink was far from her favourite colour. At least she had a fondness for the shade of blue. As the small, rat-like, virtual dog yipped at her, however, she stared at it for a moment. She lifted her eyes to look at her friend, he seemed pretty happy with the contents of the package. Bonus points to her. Well, to the sales rep, but that was beside the point. She'd made the eventual, and final, decision to buy it.
She smiled, however, looking back down at the game. Though she didn't much care for Chihuahua's, she was at least quick enough, upon starting up, to realize she could choose from a few different puppies. Boxer? No. Sheepdog? Nah. Oh, German Shepard! Good dog. Yes. She called it Rex. Not the most inventive name, but she wasn't the most inventive person and it was the first thing that popped into her head when she saw it.
"This is great Alex," she looked back over towards the Hillworth boy, "thanks."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:11 pm
Alex beamed at Natasha. "Hey, no problem! I tried to paint it as pearl-like as I could 'cause you know how pearls get those shiny pink'n'blue'n'sometimes green hues? I tried to duplicate that since you sent that, heehee! That one storeclerk for a snorkl in pearl, remember? I thought it was funny so I bought some cans of flammable spraypaint and experimented around after bringing that poor DS back to life after its previous owner killed it. It works fine, just don't leave it plugged in for too lo- oh! The charger!"
Here Alex smacks his forehead and begins digging in his coat, pulling out a small grey box with a cord wrapped around it. "Here you go! When your DS starts running low on batter, y'see that green light riiight there? Yeah, that! It'll turn red, so you better save and plug it into the wall. The light'll turn yellow like the unchocolated part of your donut there, and when it disappears it'll be ready to go."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:19 pm
Alex's verbal vomit was nothing new to Natasha. She was fairly used to the onslaught of speech by this point. For once, though, instead of zoning out she attempted to pay attention since it seemed like instructions. Plug in but not too long, charger, fun times.
"Hah. That was pretty fun." she mused, the memory of the annoying store clerk where she'd, eventually, purchased her snorkel mask. Good times, good times.
"It's really nice, I love it." she reaffirmed her adoration of the present. She looked down at her donut, lifting it quickly to take another bite. "Thanks for the lowdown though, I likely would have stared at it for awhile trying to figure out why it wouldn't turn on before just calling you and getting you to 'fix' it for me." she chuckled. She wasn't really ashamed of her lack of techno-know-how. Techno-dolt seemed an appropriate title somehow. She wasn't as bad as her father at least. She knew how to do emails on a computer, and didn't spend an hour doing it.
Leaning back in her chair, she turned off the hand held, tucking it into the box, and placing the new gift into her bag. She seemed to get lost in thought for a moment, before phasing back into focus.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:40 pm
"...And overheating really isn't fun since sometimes they can explode into fire. Y'know how cool that is?! I mean, it's cool to see but I remember reading once about an iPod that caught on fire due to overheating because it was in someone's pocket and -- huhwhat?!" She'd call me? A girl would call me?! I mean, she kinda called me before but- "Hey no problem! 's what I'm here for!" Alex replied happily.
He'll kick himself over the missed opportunity later. Then he'll probably QQ over it in a vlog. Typical nerd behavior.
"Go ahead, ask away!" He replied, leaning back in his chair and finally looking away from the box and at her. "What's up?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:43 pm
It was a pretty simple question, so she just kinda popped it out into the open,
"You wanna go out sometime? Like, to dinner, or something?" she had gone from leaning back in her chair to holding up her chin with her arm over the table, poking at her remaining donut with her free hand.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
