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A year since he had woken up from his pod, and Finn, until this day, had not bothered investing in any kind of gaming system. It wasn't that he didn't want to play video games. In fact, he actually loved video games, which was something about him that pretty much nobody knew, or even caught on to, which was surprising enough on it's own, since he had fashioned his uniform to resemble something that would come straight out of one of his absolute favorite games (though it really was a shame that the jackets were white instead of black). But the fact remained that, while Finn might have loved video games, he loved cigarettes, alcohol, and expensive new clothes even more. While the technology itself was affordable, it was getting said technology runic'd that cost the dollars that Finn was so hesitant to part with. So a year had past and Finn had put up his gaming boots for what he thought very well might have been for good.

Well, until that morning, at least.

He had been out for an early morning jog, the start of a daily regimen that began at ungodly hours, and on his way back in when he spotted somebody setting up a table outside, a paper taped to the front of it with the words "SALE" emblazoned across it in dark lettering. Curious, Finn had approached, and twenty minutes later, he was walking away with a play station 2, a small television set, and a handful of games, all while questioning his life's choices.

But hey, it had at least been cheap? Well, cheaper then it would have been to find himself something for new. Still a bit of a rip off but it could have been far worse.

Setting it all up had taken hardly any time at all, and though Finn's fingers itched to pick up the control and turn everything on (it'd had all better work or somebody was getting Trynt shoved up their a**), he knew he had other things he had to do, and so, he left it all behind for the day, content with the knowledge that he could play later.

But he didn't want to play alone.

Sending off a quick text to Ripley, he invited the other man over for later that night, telling him to bring snacks if he could, but without giving any explanation at all for why or what he had in mind, which, for once, wouldn't need to involve getting naked.

............Though there was an interesting thought.

He had been hooking up the audio and video cables to the appropriate locations on the television set when he heard the door creaking open. Turning to look over his shoulder, which was a bit annoying because the door was on his left and he had to look over his right to see, Finn gave the other man a half smile, which grew just slightly at the sight of the bag which was, presumably, filled with goodies.

"Well aren't you just a sweetheart." He turned back to his work, connecting one last cable before stepping back, his hand lifting to place an index finger against the power button on the television screen, and sitting there for just a moment before pressing down as Ripley's next words were spoken, and Finn let out a chuckle. He hadn't presumed that the other man was into video games, and he did wonder a couple times that day if Ripley even knew what a gaming system was.

He guessed he had his answer, now.

"It's called." Finn turned to the side so that he could see Ripley better, as he then flicked the power button on the game console. "A play station. Well, a play station 2, to be exact." His smile turned into a grin, as the machine lit up blue and began to whir to life.

"And I didn't rob anybody. I bought it." Was he proud? He seemed awfully proud for some reason.

The screen on the t.v. had changed to that of a display for the gaming system, and while Finn was eager to test it out, he had other quite pressing matters to attend to, which involved turning towards Ripley and moving to close the distance between them, a hand going up to the other mans face even as he bent his down to press a long kiss against his lips, his other hand reaching to snag the snacks out of Ripley's grasp as he pulled away just enough to mumble a few words. "And I want you to play some games on it with me." He placed another kiss against the other man, this one much shorter then the first, before grinning again, and pulling away to better look at him and try to gauge whether he was going to get a yes or a no ******** way.

The congratulations that passed from Ripley's lips was suspected by Finn to be sarcastic, though when Finn faced him fully it was to see a small smile on the other mans face, which was both surprising and oddly delightful. For all of their often cold and callous nature, even towards each other more often then not, it often satisfied Finn in some unexplainable way to see Ripley smile.

So maybe that's why the first kiss had been so long and drawn out compared to the relative tease that was the second. It was almost enough to make him forget about the new console he's obtained until later, until after, though he knew by that point he'd likely be hot and exhausted, ready to sleep for what few hours his mind would let him before nightmares roused him in the way too early hours of the morning.

And besides that. Video games. Their particular siren song was too sweet to resist, though he had a feeling Ripley did not quite share the same sentiment.

"Mmmm, how often I've longed to hear those words...though not quite in this situation." He smirked, turning to follow his companion with a steady gaze, before that gaze dropped to the bag he held in hand, using his second hand to rustle it open and check on what goodies had been brought along.

"Perfect. I knew there was a reason why you're my favourite." He closed the bag with one fist, before stepping up behind Ripley, a free hand reaching up to rest on his shoulder before he leaned in to brush his lips against the other mans cheek, clearly unable to stop touching him now that they were alone together for the evening.

" Come on, it's easy. If a five year old can do it, then I'm pretty sure you can figure it out too. Playing alone is boring." He smirked again, "And that goes for with or without a gaming system."

"And what a stand up job you're doing at it as well." Finn grinned, watching the other man take a seat before moving back towards the gaming system itself, eyeing it for a moment before finding the eject button and pressing it down. Soon enough the disc tray was whirring to life and jutting out, awaiting a game.

Reaching to the side of the t.v., Finn grabbed the small stack of games that were waiting there. The selection was small, though there were a couple that could require two players, and he nabbed the first one out before putting the rest back. Popping open the case, he pulled out the disk and placed it into the tray before pushing it back in.

Backing up, he lowered himself down to the floor next to Ripley, picking up the other controller and hitting x to start.

The tv went dark for a moment and then flashed to life again, the game loading with it's opening animation that ended with a Soul Calibur II title emblazoned across the screen. "It's a fighting game." Finn explained. "We each pick a character and go head to head against each other in a vs round. Best two out of three, usually, but I can set it to one match. There's also a practice mode if you just want to get a feel for it, first." Really, with this game, though? Ripley could button mash to his hearts content and have a chance of winning. That was one of the reasons Finn picked it over something like Mortal Kombat where more formulaic button combo hitting was key to doing any decent moves.

Not so with Soul Calibur.

"Arrows move your character around, square is horizontal strike, triangle is vertical strike, x is block..guard, whatever, and circle is kick. If roll your thumb around on the buttons you can do some special moves." He was not going to tell him to button mash, not outright at least. He'd probably figure it out on his own.

Finn was scrolling down the list as he spoke, stopping on practice mode and giving a glance over to the other man. "I'll go easy on you if you want to just get right into it. You know I can be slow. And gentle." He was grinning again, and it was highly questionable whether at that moment he was anywhere near still thinking about the game.

"Well I didn't hear any complaining." Finn laughed, clearly in a good mood and not afraid to let it show, though as always none of his amusement or mirth reached the coldness of his eye, that one habit too hard to break. "But if you insist, next time, I'll prove it." There was a promise in those words, and his grin widened as he looked over towards Ripley, who was busy studying his controller.

Getting right into it was fine, well okay than. Finn scrolled to the versus mode and hit enter, the screen changing, displaying the characters that there were to choose from.

Finn began scrolling through those as well, hitting enter on Talim.

She was really fast. Annoying, but fast.

He then waited for Ripley to make his choice so they could begin.

"That guys such a d**k. You should like him." Finn (unnecessarily) commented on Ripley's character choice, thumbs ready on the controls as the screen went dark, then brightened on a mountaintop scene with the two characters facing each other.

"Now you use the arrow keys to move your character towards mine." He demonstrated, by having Talim inch forward.

"And then, wellll....." He did a quick combo, getting Ripley's char with a couple of hits. No big deal.

Hp: 25
Damage: 7

"Lucky for me, I guess." Finn smirked as he replied, knowing full well what, or rather, who, Ripley was referring to when he said them. However, as the opportunity to say something was too good to pass up. "I mean, if you weren't so into mine then I wouldn't be getting any at all right now."

Cue the drums and cymbal crash.

After his initial move against Ripley, Finn had backed his character up a bit, but did nothing to continue, wanting to give the other man a chance to attack. He wasn't really expecting much to happen. Maybe a light punch, and it was pretty tempting to press down on the x key and block whatever was thrown his way, but he behaved himself, and kept his thumbs up and off of the keys.

And then Ripley had to go and do something mildly impressive. Finn glanced his way, squinted, and stopped the sudden combo onslaught with quick block and a jumping punch.

Then he waited again because he was a stand up guy like that.

HP: 15
Damage: 5

He was good. In fact, he was doing a pretty decent job in pulling off a few hard hitting moves in a seemingly effortless manner. Well, it probably was effortless. He couldn't imagine that Ripley actually cared enough to try very hard. Perhaps it was just beginners luck, or maybe the game was actually just that easy to deliver combos and hard hits.

Whatever the case, Finn wasn't all that bothered by it. After all, he knew he could totally kick some a** if he really wanted to, but at that particular moment he was just fine with letting Ripley get a feel for it, even if he was indicating that it would be okay for Finn to go ahead and let loose.

"I need a drink." He suddenly declared, and rather than continue to play, he set his controller down and abruptly stood up. "Do you want anything?" He asked, even as he stepped around the other man and over to where the bottle of whiskey, which was largely depleted of it's contents, sat. "Oh. Go ahead and keep practicing." He waved the fact that he had just abandoned the fight off as he began to pour himself a glass.

"I'll get you next round." Which was to say that he would be ready to take it more seriously by then.

HP: 8
Damage: 0