bakerstreet | Where a kid can be a kid...or something

Where a kid can be a kid...or something

The Discovery Zone / Chuck E. Cheese's / Arcade Meme

If you were a kid during the 80s or 90s, I don't have to explain. Everyone remembers those meccas of fun that were awesome, yet somehow still smelled vaguely of stale pizza and shame. Whether you're hanging out in the tubes, jumping in the moon bounce, or shooting some hoops, you're sure to have a blast.

Well, even if you don't, it's not like you can leave. As big as this place is, there seems to be no door. So you might as well just sit back and win some tickets.

HOW TO PLAY:
1. Comment with your characters.
2. Others will reply, rolling the RNG for the scenario.
3. Have shenanigans. Feel free to make wacky crossovers, since you're all stuck in here together.

SCENARIOS:
1. The slide
2. Ball pit
3. Climbing wall
4. Moon bounce
5. The tubes
6. The little viewing bubble
7. Skeeball
8. Hoop shooting
9. Arcade games
10. The claw machine
11. Laser tag
12. Harassing the poor guy in the mascot suit
13. It's your birthday party!
14. For some reason, you work here.
15. Wildcard

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[ Ordinarily, the sound of so much laughter directed at him would be just the height of horrible, for Cloud, but weirdly enough -- he can't seem to mind it all that much, just now. There's nothing mocking or cruel in the sound, though, and maybe that helps (it certainly doesn't hurt, but it's Tifa, too, and that never does).

The way she pulls him around in her circle makes his stomach take one great big uncertain lurch, competing with the lighter feeling of actually finding this kind of fun and not yet managing to best it. He clings to that as much as to the hand alternately helping him hold himself up and trying inadvertently to throw him off, trying to fall into rhythm with the completely random motion bouncing through the rolling floor under their feet.

The real downside, of course, to holding on to each other, is that once he finally hits a wave of motion at just the wrong angle-- ]

W-Woah!

[ --he's inevitably going to drag her down with him. ]

{he's having fun. Cloud actually looks, in those moments when the world isn't up or down too much, like he's having fun and that means everything. Tifa doesn't believe in having fun alone. It's just not... well, fun. Fun is only fun when you're sharing it with other people and she feels especially good because it's Cloud and Cloud doesn't play enough. Or smile enough or laugh - ever. So that just makes everything better and when he goes down, a sudden shock of wide blue eyes and blond hair, taking her down with him because she'd forgotten to let go, she doesn't really mind either, the escaping:} Whoops! {sounding more cheerful and surprised than upset. It's a bounce house. It's not as if the ground's going to hurt. So she doesn't really fight going down in a tangle with him, more helpfully concerned with not gouging him with a knee or elbow than catching herself. Falling's part of the fun of a moon bounce after all.}

[ It was a devastating crash.

Thousands of casualties.

Property destruction everywhere.

Puppies and orphans dying left and right.

Which is to say, nothing really awful happened at all, they just sort of collided with the rubber floor, bounced a little, and then settled in a heap of awkward teenage limbs.

Unfortunately, the moon bounce's constant jostling is somehow even worse, sitting down (or maybe he's just gotten over his momentary infatuation), and Cloud is definitely starting to look a little green as he pushes himself up, letting go of Tifa's hand. ]

Urgh... Are you-- Okay?

Yep!

{she lifts her head with a grin, pushing up on her own arms.}

I guess that was tie, huh? We'll have to play for best two out of - {oh. He - doesn't look exactly healthy. Did she accidentally knee him or elbow him? A quick mental check of the parts of them that are still together doesn't give any indication of bodily harm. Still - } You look kind of funny. {the polite way to say puce. She's already scrambling to her knees.} Should we call a truce? Maybe try again later?

[ Maybe that's... A good idea...

Cloud just nods, afraid that if he opens his mouth and tries to force out something resembling words, he'll end up fulfilling the nightmarish premonition he had before setting foot inside the moon bounce. Time to go -- time to go!

He starts shuffling back toward the entrance, nausea and embarrassment locked in a dead heat to see which'll eventually come out on top. ]

{she slips a hand under his elbow as much moral support as physical. He's not hunched over - well, not like he's in pain - and he's not holding any body parts so she guesses that's not what's bothering him. Slow, it finally dawns on her - }

Motion sick?

{she's heard of it but it's not as if there are a lot of thing in Nibelheim in motion, much less that give you the chance to get sick. Poor Cloud. He should have said something! And she hadn't even thought about something like that when she'd dragged him into a bounce house.}

You know, it might be silly but maybe if you jumped your way out of here instead of walking it would be better? Because then it's not the floor that's moving you, it's you. And it's not like you get sick when you're jumping normally. Right?

[ When she figures it out, he freezes up for a second, already painfully ungraceful movements turning jerky as he fights to keep his balance without leaning on the arm holding his. It's not something he really talks about, and he's certainly never been confronted (when you throw up on a mission, guys just assume it's nerves).

So he reacts the same way he would were he hidden safely beneath the identity-erasing shield of his standard issue helmet. He shakes his head stiffly and keeps going on doggedly forward.

Well-meaning as her intentions are, he doesn't think jumping now is going to help even him out any more than just escaping the moon bounce as quickly as possible. ]

{of course to Tifa, Cloud having motion sickness doesn't mean anything but that Cloud has motion sickness. It's just the same as noticing his eye color. Except of course, his eye color isn't going to make him throw up if someone jostles him wrong. So she keeps her hand under his elbow and fends off kids that look like they're going to bounce too close until they're both safely on solid ground again and steered safely over to the side and out of the main path of the moon bounce. Then she lets Cloud go, just in case he wants to sit down -

or make a made dash for the nearest trash bin.

She feels pretty bad for doing that to him, tucking one arm behind herself to catch at her opposite elbow self-consciously. He had been having fun though. Just for a minute. She's sure of it.}

Stay here. I'll got get our shoes. I'll be right back and then we can try to find somewhere quiet you can sit down. Okay? Oh {she stops herself.} You don't have to answer. {an encouraging smile.} Be strong. I'll be right back.

[ He manages to hold it together enough not to need to bolt for a garbage can or the entirely too distant restrooms, but the way solid ground almost seems to dip beneath his feet, the whole of reality catching in the sway, isn't exactly encouraging.

How embarrassing.

All he can do is stand on the spot looking dumb while she rushes off to collect their shoes, breathing as deeply as he dares in hopes of regaining some semblance of equilibrium. The crowds and the noise are a little dizzying, unhelpful, but he likes to think he's gotten somewhat used to a lot of the same, from the city. He can definitely do this. He isn't going to be sick.

Or not right now, anyway. Not in the open. Not in front of (or on) Tifa.

Maybe his self-deprecating mantra is finally starting to take effect. He's the slightest bit less green by the time she returns, nodding and taking his boots and not making much of an effort to not look completely miserable. ]

{Cloud looks utterly miserable as she comes back to him. He also looks utterly adorable, which she's old enough to realize is not something a girl should tell a guy - even if it is true. Instead, she gives him a sympathetic smile as she hands over his boots and even reaches out to gently push his hair back from his face because if he does feel like throwing up, his hair's probably the only safe place to touch him that won't set him off and besides, who doesn't want the excuse to touch Cloud's hair?}

Sorry about that. I didn't realize it would make you feel sick. {her own boots get dropped to the ground so she can expertly push her feet into them, arms out at her side for balance as she does. Her brows stay down over her eyes though, intent on making it up to him and trying to think of how. He needs somewhere he can sit down that isn't the greasy smelling food court. Not mentally complaining if he takes his time this time, she waits until he stops looking like he's going to make a dash for the trash can or pass out before she reaches out and takes his hand again.}

Think it's okay to walk yet? I bet the pool hall's pretty empty this time of day.

[ It's a pretty obvious miscalculation, on her part -- the hand brushing back his hair sends his stomach into a near violent lurch, no help for the nausea he's already wallowing in. As his throat tightens further, he only shakes his head once more. She seems to understand, at any rate, and maybe isn't really expecting him to say anything, anyway.

With his boots in hand, he drops into a crouch to pull them on, about as graceful as can be expected. It's a marginal improvement on his mood.

He's clearly surprised when he stands back up and she takes his hand; he's falling down ill and why isn't she making some convenient excuse just to lose him in the crowd, already? Who wants to waste their time hanging out with a guy who can barely hold onto his lunch, on their birthday, of all days? ]

It's fine. [ He's mumbling, sullen again in the face of obvious pity. ] I'll go on my own.

{her brows come down in obvious confusion and she squints at him, just a little, as if that's going to help whatever nonsense he's saying more be understandable.}

Why would you go alone?

[ Why would you want to go with me? is the kind of thing he'd ask if he were the kind of person who asks that kind of thing.

But he isn't, so he doesn't, just shrugging and searching listlessly for something faraway and definitely to his left to be interested in. ]

Don't you want to go do something else?

Well, sure. {After all, her day's not up until that last bit of sun goes down and it's the one day she gets to be selfish and only have to worry about what she wants so she's going to pack everything in until the very last second (and maybe pretend she doesn't realize right away when that last second has passed too).}

But I haven't decided yet. So we'll go catch our breath and relax first and by the time we get done with that I'll know what comes next. Please, Cloud. {Part of it's instinctive and part of it's that even as a teenager she's empathetic but a big part of it is simply that she doesn't like the way it makes her feel inside when he withdraws. She winds both of her hands around one of his for emphasis and gives him a light tug with her best hopeful smile.} Come sit with me?

[ Well, that's not exactly how he meant it -- but close enough that he can't exactly argue without having to actually admit to something embarrassing. Instead, he gives her another of those lolling, noncommittal nods, sans eye contact, and allows himself to be pulled through the crowded playground.

At least the return of his nervous self-consciousness (outwardly more like surly disdain) is taking the edge off his sickness quick; there's gotta be an upshot, here, somewhere.

Once they're out of the throng, all the screaming and electronic bells and whistles slightly muffled, now, with a bit of distance, it is a little easier to breathe. But it looks like he's twice as tense, anyway, quietly beating himself up for not having simply put his foot down, before.

...'Course, if she had needed to pull out the face she has on, now, to convince him to try it, in the first place, they'd. Probably be right where they are now, regardless. ]

{Tifa's not entirely unaware of the power of that specific look of hers. After all, she's a teenage girl with a father that sometimes needs prodding in the right direction to make what she feels are the best decisions regarding her. So she only uses it sparingly but Cloud really had needed a bit of influence in the right direction she'd thought. He still wasn't relaxed or smiling - or as close to smiling as he usually got though and so she was determined to fix that too. Was he upset she'd dragged him into the bounce house? She'd have thought that except he'd gone and even more than that he'd been having fun for half a minute in there. She knew he had! So she wasn't sure why he'd gotten moody again but it was her birthday and she was going to find a way to help him enjoy it again.

That's right! The arcade! She'd seen a dance revolution machine in there.

It would be just what he'd need to cheer up.

First though they could take some time to just relax and catch their breath - or in his case, his stomach. She stopped clinging to his arm once they were inside the empty room but kept her hold on his hand with one of hers. She liked the way her hand felt when his was wrapped around it and it was her birthday (her mantra excuse for being bad today) and so she wasn't going to let go until he did. Besides, she didn't need both hands to hop up to sit on the edge of one of the pool tables.}

This is nice. I didn't realize how noisy it was out there until now. I guess I got too carried away. Have you ever been here before?

[ Oh, great, dancing -- the one way he could possibly look more awkward in his own skin. Tifa, wouldn't it be kinder just to plot to kill him in a normal fashion!?

Taking a vested interest in the rather ratty felt surface of the pool table she's taken up a seat on, Cloud shakes his head, for now tolerating the persistent hand-holding. No matter that it's kind of weird, like this. ]

No.

[ He certainly wouldn't have come to a place like this of his own volition, and definitely not alone -- so that's an easy answer. Maybe when he was a little younger, he might have really wanted to, at least, but these days he's got bigger and better things to focus on. Or. He wishes he did, anyway.

Leaning back against the edge of the table, he turns to study the toes of his boots. No help there. ]

...You don't have to (apologize) say that, either.

{don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Cloud! Dancing's fun! Besides, you can pretend it's for training. One of these days ~~when you have to perform parade exercises for Rufus Shinra on an infiltration mission~~ you'll thank her.

She's not surprised he hasn't been here before. It's hard to imagine Cloud voluntarily ending up in the ball pit. But she'd thought it was possible that his friends had dragged him here before. She can't imagine being the only teen in the world that would goof around in a place like this if she had friends along with h-}

Hm? {he's staring at his boots though when she turns her head to look at him and she glances down at them automatically herself.

He has some really nice long legs. When did that happened?}

Say wh- oh. {it takes her a second to catch up. Obviously he isn't talking about her question and she can't imagine him just shutting her down about observing that she's been enjoying herself so... Her boots swing a little self-conscious, heels tapping softly against the solid side of the pool table. Voice a little more subdued without the pep she's been unintentionally infusing it with, she peers at him from under the fringe of her dark bangs as she says:} Well, it's my fault you got sick, isn't it? So - you know. {her fingers twist a little bit against his.} ...don't want you to feel mad at me. Because I won't do it again. No more moon bounces. I promise.

~~what you do in your own time in the pursuit of huge materia and a crazy chain smoker is your own business~~

[ Weeeeell, if it's for training... ~~And thanks but when are you going to help me learn to march in formation so we don't get sent a grenade in the mail again~~

See, it's that part about friends that kind of trips up her logic, here. Cloud has acquaintances, and friend, but all of them are coworkers and does she really expect he's branched out any more than he used to, back in Nibelheim, since leaving town?

A little belatedly, this time, he shakes his head once more, doing his best to hide under the fall of his hair as he holds his hand perfectly still in hers. ]

It's not. [ Or it wasn't. He's the one who let it happen, so it isn't her fault. He starts to shake his head again, stops and shuffles his feet. ] I'm not. Just forget it.

~~he'll infiltrate brothels for you, Tifa, but he'll only go to space for old men and magic rocks REEVALUATE YOUR LIFE~~

{~~one thing at a time, Cloud. She's saving that for the next incredibly awkward incident.~~

Her brows come down, the sure sign of stubbornness in her young face that will be just as strong as an adult but better hidden.}

No. I won't forget it. Friends watch out for each other and that means knowing how.

{her fingers shift restless in his hand again and she works at her lower lip. Her voice comes out quieter but just as determined.} Besides - Besides, you promised you'd protect me and it's only fair I do the same.

[ ~~they are really just one long incredibly awkward incident~~

Oh. Oh, no, she didn't just try to shut him down with rubbing his promise in his face. He pulls his hand out of hers as quick as if she's tried to cast Fire between them and burned him in the process, fingers curling into fists at his sides as he takes a few short steps away from the edge of the table. And her.

To treat what he'd said, then, as something even nearly so trivial as his stupid, irritating motion sickness -- it's offensive, in the sudden, irrational way only the very young find things so. Because he still isn't strong enough to protect her at all, and it hardly matters that she didn't mean to remind him of it. ]

I said drop it. [ The damage is done; he's withdrawn. It's over. ] Let's just go.

{she doesn't -

but -

what just happened?

She's not sure but he's suddenly gone standoffish and cold and meanly ordering around and - did she say something wrong?

Does he want to take back his promise?

That hurts and has her chin tucking, arms folding protectively over her chest. She's not thirteen anymore. She knows she bullied him into making that promise in the first place. Has suspected for a while now that he resents her making him do that in the first place. It's just -

it's just that she wants him to be her hero. Every girl gets to have a hero and she -

she wanted him to be hers.

Because he isn't afraid to go after the difficult to catch dreams. Because he's so much braver than her that way.

Maybe she should tell him it's okay. That she's not going to hold him to a promise she forced out of him anyway.

-except she can't. It's selfish but - it's her birthday. She's allowed to be selfish for a little while longer.

...

right?}

Go where?

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Where a kid can be a kid...or something

Something terrible, doubtless. Isn't that what we specialize in

touche

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someone tell Zack that he's bragging about realizing that he's not as smart as the girls

naaah, let him figure it out on his own.

You're right. He's so happy. I don't think I want to be the one that harshes his squee

That's my job, right. :c

nah, bb. The best lessons are the ones he has to learn on his own.

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/keyword btw

DOOMED. no one will ever pay his ransom /sob

maybe that's been her plan all along...

I should really start to expect this kind of thing, given her long record of evil deeds

she'd devious, Cloud's oblivious, its a beautiful team

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