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 Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 11:18 pm
Perhaps she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That would explain a lot. Like the reason she had trouble sleeping, even though the threat of Elysion was over. There were still the nightmares, though. Not just the reality-based nightmares of the fire, or Barren Pines. Not the confusing nightmares that had preceded her coma. Those, in a way, she was used to. She was not used to waking up in a cold sweat, batting away invisible monsters- human and not- that threatened to tear her apart.
Tara knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what. Or she refused to see. Either way, she was unhappy. And when she was unhappy, sometimes what she needed was to pummel everything until it started looking better. Since doing so in real life was out, she settled for swinging by the arcade with a pocket full of quarters that were usually reserved for laundry. Laundry was important, but her mental health was more important.
It was getting hot out, and Tara sank into one of the seats for racing games, letting the air conditioned coolness wash over her. She didn't have any intention of playing a racing game, but it made a good resting spot and allowed her to look around. Any game with guns was out- too many bad memories. Fireballs of doom were out for the same reason. But good old-fashioned fighting games? There was nothing wrong with those. And there was a neat looking one right next to where she was sitting.
Leaving her bag in the seat, Tara stood and put two quarters in the nearest game. It blared to life in a series of sound effects and flashing lights, then switched to a character selection screen, where she flipped through her options casually. The place wasn't too busy, and she had that particular section all to herself for the moment, so she could afford to take her time.
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 11:04 pm
xxxxxTalia the screen almost furiously as Scorpion pummeled the computer enemies in perfect sync with the rhythmic tap of her fingers on the buttons. Blue blue red up blue, she thought with perfect clarity. The joys of a fighting game. Talia almost cheered out loud as the bold red letters screaming "FATALITY" blinked across the screen. Scorpion gruesomely took out the enemy, and she felt rather satisfied.
xxxxxHer mood immediately dampened when she noticed she only had enough quarters for two more games. "Just two?" she whined under her breath to herself. Next time she had to remember to bring more money.
xxxxxSuddenly though, yellow words blinked across the screen asking her if she wanted to play two player. She glanced over to the other side of the machine, not daring to say a word. Who was this mysterious new challenger? Talia didn't go over to check, she didn't want to ruin the surprise. Besides, what if it was some little kid? She didn't want to know that she might be ruining fighter game dreams on the other side of the machine.
xxxxxInstead, she grinned and inserted a quarter, then selected Scorpion. Ah Scorpion, her old favorite. She smiled as he flipped onto the battlefield, and took his familiar pose. Words that were all too comfortable with her flashed across the screen, saying "ROUND 1 .... FIGHT!"
xxxxx"Alright then. Game on." she whispered.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:44 pm
As she was trying to choose a character, a message suddenly popped up on the screen. Tara blinked at it for a moment. Was somebody challenging her? Or did the game automatically pair up people if they were playing at the same time? She wasn't sure she was able to hold her own against a real person, especially if they'd played the game before. But when had she ever backed down from a challenge?
"Besides," Tara said to herself, "maybe they're just as inexperienced as I am."
There were so many characters that she'd only looked through about half of them. But if she was playing a real person, she couldn't keep them waiting. Frantically button tapping, Tara ended up on the square marked RANDOM. "Why not? Not like I know any of these guys." She pressed the button to confirm her choice.
"Mileena!" the game boomed, changing to an image of a girl with dark hair and hardly any clothing at all. Tara's face contorted into an expression somewhere between a grimace and a grin. "You can definitely tell what kind of people made this game," she said to herself. But her choice was confirmed, and her opponent- some ninja-looking dude- was staring her down.
As soon as the words vanished from the screen, Tara started tapping all of the buttons she could reach, as fast as possible, with no rhyme or reason. The stripperesque girl on the screen looked as though she was having some sort of seizure. Was that how it was supposed to go?
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:33 pm
xxxxxTalia was a bit baffled by player 2's choice for picking random. It could mean two things. One- that the player was a novice and didn't know who to pick or Two- he/she was an incredibly experienced player and could beat her with any character. Somehow Talia guessed that some great player wouldn't be spending all of their time at a simple arcade.
xxxxxThe game auto-selected Mileena for the second player. Not the worst person to play as if you were a newbie- she was pretty easy to control. It was unfortunate how ... poorly designed she was. Well how badly designed all of the girls were. The game was definitely made by a male, you could tell. It was why Talia like Scorpion so much. He covered himself appropriately for a ninja.
xxxxxAs the game began, Talia's suspicions were confirmed. She watched as the newbie player began tapping random buttons. Talia could tell because there were no combos being performed, and the girl kept flashing across the screen with no rhyme or reason. Talia grinned. She had this in the bag.
xxxxxWith a few simple taps of the buttons, Mileena was already down to half her health. Of course, Scorpion had lost a bit of HP too, simply because the game registered Mileena's random hits as attacks too. It would all be over soon though.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:00 pm
Tara winced as the other player quickly took her stripper girl's health down, while she barely seemed to do anything at all. Clearly she was not facing someone as inexperienced as she was. Frustrated, she banged her fist down on the buttons. Mileena did some kind of jump that looked pretty, but didn't do anything. "Okay, brute force isn't going to cut it. Time to resort to a scientist's standby."
Of course, a scientists standby wasn't all that different from what she'd been doing already. When in doubt, a scientist tried everything. Mileena started moving in a slightly different pattern of contortions, while Tara tried to remember what button combinations she had already pressed. A trick that worked a lot better with someone whose memory wasn't completely shot. She continued to get a hit or two in edgewise, but knew it wouldn't last much longer.
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:48 pm
Talia grinned as Mileena went flying across the screen, smacking into a pole on the side of the screen. The fake crowd in the background cheered wildly, though they were on a set loop track- it's not like they could do anything different. Talia's fingers were still nimbly tapping in memorized sequences performing combo after combo.
The girl's tactics change a little bit part way though ... Through an experience eye, Talia could tell that she was no longer just pressing buttons, but attempting to combo. Well that was certainly surprising.
It simply wasn't enough to beat her though. Talia gave the stripper girl a severe smack down until the words "FATALITY" flashed across the screen. She performed Scorpion's ever famous flaming skull fatality and the words "TRY AGAIN?" along with a set of blinking numbers appeared on screen. With a cocky smirk, she high fived herself and said, "Awyeahhh." At the moment, she was the coolest person in the world.
Talia couldn't help but feel a little curious as to who she had just killed though. Surely it couldn't be just a little kid- Talia could tell there was some actual thought process part way through. Breaking the little rule she had set for herself earlier, Talia peeked around the game, just enough to see Tara.
It was surprising for Talia to see another girl in the arcade, let alone a pretty one. Uh oh. Wait a second. If Talia saw Tara, that meant Tara had seen her. That meant she was supposed to say something right? What were you supposed to say in this situation though- "Hey sorry I kicked your a** in Mortal Kombat, My name's Talia."
No that would never do. Talia decided to wait for Tara's reaction before saying anything.
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:44 pm
"Aw maaaaan," Tara moaned, watching the seizure-inducing display light up the screen. The other character did something, and then- did her character just go up in flames? Creepy, for sure, but nothing truly nightmare-inducing. Unless, of course, you had died rather painfully in a fire and still hadn't gotten over it. Tara wasn't sure you were supposed to get over dying. At the moment, she didn't even care. The game was temporarily forgotten, as the flaming skeleton stirred memories of smoke, of fire, of a sinister presence in the shadows, of screaming-
Tara closed her eyes and shook her head. That was over and done with. She had died, sure, but she'd gotten over it. She wasn't dead anymore. She was taking measures to ensure that she didn't die again anytime soon. So there was absolutely no reason for a silly video game to make her break out in a cold sweat. When she opened her eyes, the game would be over, and everything would be fine.
She opened her eyes. The game, tired of waiting for her to respond, had returned to its INSERT COIN screen. The flaming skeleton was gone. But Tara didn't notice either of these things. All she could see was the girl standing there, waiting for her to respond, who most definitely hadn't been there before she shut her eyes.
So, Tara reacted. Or rather, overreacted. "Aaaaaaah!" she shrieked, flailing backwards and bumping into the machine next to her, which let out a series of beeps in reply, punctuating the awkward silence that settled when she realized what she had just done.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:18 pm
Oh wow. This girl was absolutely pathetic, at least in Talia's eyes. First she loses a game, and then she screams just because she lost? Talk about being a sore loser. Had Talia known about Tara's ... past experiences, she might've been more sympathetic, but in Talia's eyes this girl was just a sore loser.
Awkwardly, she crossed her arms and said, "Uhhh ... you okay there miss?" She offered her hand to help the girl up, but that didn't really seem like it would do anything. Still, it was the politeness of the gesture that counted, right?
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:08 pm
It took her a moment, filled with mechanical beeps and the sound of her own breathing, for Tara to calm down. When she did, slowly lowering her arms to a position that resembled normal, she couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the "miss" comment. How old did this girl think she was, anyway? Or how insane, maybe, was the better question?
"Sorry, you startled me." Tara opened her mouth to explain more, but after a moment of thought, closed it again. What could she really say? 'Sorry, your character's deathblow reminded me of how I died the first time. Oh, but don't worry, it wasn't as bad as the second time, so I'm over it now.' She shook her head, trying not to think about it too much. It was because she thought about it that those memories still had so much power over her.
Instead of an explanation, she offered her hand. "I guess we're even now, hm?" Her smile was only a little bit forced, and more amused by the current situation than anything else. Her next apology was a lot less apologetic than the first one, but at least she wasn't screaming anymore. "Sorry, I didn't catch what you said before. I was kind of spacing out. Would you mind repeating it?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:59 am
Talia gave a jingling laugh. "I'm sorry. Didn't know I was so scary!" She curled her hands to make little "claws" and scratched at the air a few times in jest. That wouldn't freak the girl out, right?
Either way, she threw her hands back down to her side. No need to potentially freak the girl out more. Instead her hands went digging through her purse for her chapstick. A girl could never apply too much chapstick after all.
She tilted her head at the girl's last comment though. She seemed a little ... well off somehow. "Ah ... even? Even for what?" She smiled a little sympathetically and said, "I didn't say anything before ..." Was this girl hearing anything? She seemed old enough to not be babbling nonsense like so many of the kids in this arcade. So what was up?
Talia stepped out from behind the game booth to reveal her whole personage. She was dressed rather casually, but then, she was only hanging out at the arcade. It wasn't exactly a formal event. Besides, after her last escapade with Corey and the DDR machine, she learned that wearing heels to an arcade was just a bad idea in general.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:50 pm
The sight of Talia pretending to be frightening was so completely different from what was actually bothering Tara that it made her laugh. Loudly. She was relieved to still be able to laugh, relieved that the girl didn’t think she was a total basket case- because that meant she probably wasn’t. At least, not yet. If she kept going around having flashbacks from video games and screaming at bystanders, it was only a matter of time.
“Well, you startled me,” Tara explained. “But I think I definitely startled you in return. Or else you’ve got nerves of steel and I could learn a thing or two from you.” Unlikely, but always possible. Not everyone’s nerves had been shot to hell, almost literally. “Either way, I think we’re even.” It seemed that she had yet to put two and two together and realize that she was addressing her victorious opponent.
Things were still awkward though, and it made Tara fidgety. She put her hands in her pockets, then pulled them out and folded her arms instead. “You didn’t? Oh.” She tried to brush it off, to act normally, but it was clear that she was still on edge. The insinuation that she was hearing things didn’t help with her supposed normalcy either. “Well, never mind then! I’m Tara, and you are...?”
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 1:26 am
Talia did not laugh along with Tara, in any way shape or fun. Instead, she said, very flatly, "Um, no. You didn't startle me." Talia looked at the girl with sharp eyes, clearly condescending. This Tara girl was definitely a bit off her rocker.
True, it was a bit mean of her, but if there was one thing that Talia hated, it was being weak, and being useless. Even the idea of being slightly startled by some stranger was just too much. She was the top dog here.
Besides, the fact that the girl was hearing things was proof enough that she was crazy, right?
Awkwardly, Talia bit her lip and said, "Ah ... nice to meet you. Tara." She held her chin a bit higher, and held out her hand politely. "My name is Talia," she finished, matter of factly.
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:19 pm
“Oh.” For a moment, Tara looked disheartened. Then she laughed again, a bit more naturally than the first time. “In that case, I find the scales tipped in your favor, and we can’t have that.” Even though she folded her arms and put on a pouting expression, her tone was light and friendly. “By rights I should take you to a haunted house or a scary movie or something and make you scream, but that would be a pain in the butt. Not to mention expensive. Got any better ideas?”
Being treated as a lunatic was normal enough for Tara that it didn’t put her off for long. With the flames finally fading from her vision, she took the reality she saw and clung to it. So this Talia girl thought she was nuts? Fine. Whatever else she was, she was alive, clearly looking for fun, and willing to talk. If Tara could keep the conversation going, maybe she would be able to forget what came before. She had come to the arcade looking for fun, and she wasn’t going home until she had some.
“Do you come here a lot? I’m not usually into video games, but I thought they might be a nice change of pace. Then again, maybe I need to stick with something more... peaceful.” Wrong topic, she thought with a shudder, changing tracks again quickly. “And I suck at this too, though I guess that’s to be expected. Have you played this one before?” Tara tapped the console thoughtfully. “Any pointers for a newbie like me?”
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 12:31 pm
If there was one thing Talia wasn't in the mood for, it was being taken out by a complete stranger. Not only was this Tara extremely freaked out by a video game, she was all of a sudden offering new places to go and things to do. Hadn't they just met? This was weird. Really weird.
So Talia decided to discard her ideas completely. If she just ignored it, it would eventually go away, right? That's how these things worked.
Fortunately, the girl seemed to continue talking like they were now the best of pals. Still very weird. Talia was not the type to become friends with just anybody. They had to meet standards. Or at least not be afraid of a video game.
The Mortal Kombat questions she could at least answer with sophistication. At first she was going to spill all to the girl and tell her how much she loved the game, but then she thought better of herself. She definitely didn't want to come across as a video-game-loving freak. Only nerds did that. "Ah, no. I only come here sometimes for fun. I haven't played this one before. Beginners luck?" Hopefully Tara would buy that lie and let it go.
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