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

[ferries]

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

Comments

[rods]

To have f-u-n. [ She's stretching the word out as much as she can. ] You've heard about it, right? As for where I am, you'll just have to--!

What are you doing in here, lady?

Ah! Hey, sh, shhh!

You're too big!

Aren't you a teenager?

Are you saying teenagers can't play too?

[ ...Though Aerith's a little distracted right now, Cloud might appreciate the hint that she's somewhere she shouldn't be. ]

[anonfantry]

[ Actually, now he's just kind of concerned. Where is she that she's getting in trouble for it!? She can't be anywhere too well-hidden, if little kids are finding her, at least...

Sigh.

Think, Cloud, think -- actually, it does sound a little echo-y. Is that a clue? Sounds are kind of muffled; she must be hiding inside something. BUT WHAT

He tilts his head back as he waits for Aerith's disembodied voice to finish arguing with the offended children, and right before his eyes start to cross from the sheer ridiculousness of this situation, he realizes he's staring right at the most obvious answer: that giant maze of tubes. He looks to the nauseatingly patterned carpet between his boots, again, hastily. Now which way to the least obvious entrance to that labyrinth of tunnels...? ]

I don't want to play this game.

[ But he's already making his way as nonchalantly through the crowd as he can, trying not to seem too suspicious. Just in case she's still watching. ]

[rods]

[ At least the worst of the trouble is being shamed by a six-year-old. ......That's still kind of sad though.

Distracted by the kids as she is, her back is to the plastic viewing bubble for now and she doesn't spot him going missing. She is holding the phone close by though, and notes his complaint. Thus, when she finally comes back: ]

Don't be so sullen! How about you tell me which game you want to play, then?

[anonfantry]

[ Preeeetty sad. Yeah.

About as sad as he feels being entirely too old for this as he climbs into the least trafficked tunnel he can spot (but only after shouldering his way through a short hall of punching bags), all the while with his phone to his ear.

Good thing he works for Shinra, where phone calls are basically always a necessary component of combat training. ]

I don't know. Something else.

[ Echo echo frustrated sound. (Man, this goes up kind of high, doesn't it?) Teenage limbs are not properly calibrated for this type of maneuvering, either. ]

The arcade games are okay.

[rods]

Well, okay, maybe--

[ ...Cloud what is that shuffling noise. She looks out her bubble and where is that distinctive set of blond spikes she's pretty sure his mom never lost him in a crowd

then again Nibelheim really doesn't have crowds but Aerith can't imagine that. ]

H, hey, where did you go?!

[ ...

AHHHH should she move? She should start moving, yes. He's coming after her! She gets up and, crouching, starts moving through one of the low passageways. ...Slowed down by the fact that she's keeping the phone open. She is not used to using one while nearly crawling and yet it seems rude to just hang up even now. He might not find her... even though her moving is jostling the tunnnel... ]

[anonfantry]

I didn't-- Go anywhere. What're you talking about?

[ Cloud, you are not good at lying, so that doesn't sound very convincing -- but he's making pretty good time, here, in spite of the barely having enough space to move part of this and a mild stroke of claustrophobia every now and then (mostly when he has to flatten himself to the side of the tube to let some much smaller kids pass).

She must've been somewhere where she could look out, and he's pretty sure he saw a big, round juncture with windows or something like that around here somewhere. And, really, it can't be easy to be too big for this and trying to crawl around in a dress. Right now, he kind of likes his odds. ]

[rods]

Either you moved or you changed your hair, and I didn't think you were vain enough for that! [ Well. It'd be vain considering if he didn't move, he'd be primping himself in a crowd, which...yes... actually he doesn't seem like he could be vain at all.

Crawling around in a sundress and wedges. Sob. Someone hasn't learned to dress sensibly yet, which is sad since she's the one being chased around by Shinra already. (Good thing Tseng likes her!) In fact, she's turning a corner--quickly quickly quickly! (or not so much) when-- ]

Oh... Timeout!

[ LOST A SANDAL, SHOOT. But don't take her timeout too seriously, Cloud, she wouldn't if you called it.]

[anonfantry]

[ Oh, Aerith, today your snappy dressing will surely be your ultimate downfall.

He does slow down (a little), at her behest, but by no means is he going to give up pursuit so that she can handle whatever situation it is she's just gotten herself into at her leisure, before taking off entirely again. This game could go on forever, if he doesn't end it soon. And he's not sure he wants to find out where they could possibly escalate to, after these ridiculous tubes. ]

There are no timeouts if I'm not playing. And I said I wasn't playing.

[ Better hurry it up -- he's rounding a corner past the window bubble, now, and is that... a shoe...? ]

[rods]

[ Pooout ] Spoilsport.

[ ...fff. Cloud's heavier than her, so when she starts hearing sounds approaching that sound too careful for a kid she can sort of guess--caught. Curse those snappy sandals!

so as Cloud rounds the corner, there are sounds like THUD THUD BAM and Aerith squeaking a bit.

There is no Aerith, but... the shoe is by a slide leading to the ball pit...

All it takes is one look down it to spot Aerith holing herself up inside it, watching the entrance with a smile that's both exhilarated and flustered as heck. Last ditch hiding spot! (This is very much a downfall, which makes it a good thing Aerith doesn't have too much shame. But then, if she had a bit more shame, she probably wouldn't have started this...) ]

[anonfantry]

Aer-- rith!?

[ Mildly horrified. A MONSTER IS COMING FOR HIM

oh wait no, that's something retreating. Forgetting to be freaked out (or worried, perhaps, about the structural integrity of big plastic tubes not meant to hold kids more than half their size), he forges on ahead, also forgetting to keep his phone to his ear any longer.

He collects the familiar shoe, first (because she'll probably want it back and how do their meetings keep ending in her losing footwear seriously Aerith invest in boots), before taking a cautious look down that slide. Even if she wasn't doing such a poor job of disguising herself as a mountain of colorful plastic balls, he might've taken the out, anyway. It's stuffy, up here, and he doesn't have any idea how she managed to bear it for so long.

Cloud slides down arms first, because there ain't no turning around unless he backtracks a considerable distance, but is spared a painful (for his dignity) face plant into the pit by the gradual slope of the slide. And the fact that even he is way too big for it.

Hanging up his phone with one hand, he holds out her sandal in the other. ]

You dropped this.

[ Again. ]

[rods]

[ Hanging up her phone too! Also who lost his boot on their first meeting hmmmm they are not always the superior footwear!

Just. Usually.

Aerith's in good spirits as usual though, laughing as she wades through the ballpit to reach the proffered sandal. ] Thanks! I was wondering how I'd get that back. Guess you caught me.

[anonfantry]

[ Thaaaaat's not the way he's choosing to remember it.

Or the way anybody but the Hedgehog Pies will be telling it. ]

No problem. [ It was just on his way, okay.

He does have a bit of a problem wiggling out of the end of the slide, though, hoisting himself up only to drop unceremoniously into the ball pit with what amounts to a splash. ]

But can we not do that again?

[rods]

[ ... pft, yeah. Way to make her start laughing again, Cloud. Not that it's hard to do... ] Guess we'd better not! You're getting too big for this! [ on the other hand SHE WILL ALWAYS BE SMALL ENOUGH--in heart. in body she's not as big as Cloud but yeah she really shouldn't be in there either. ]

You said you liked arcade games, right? Oh--hey. [ lol guess who is now attempting to pull you out of the ball pit by the arm, Cloud. ] We'd better get out before an employee sees us! [ She has experience in this. It's hard for employees to really see someone in that maze of tunnels once they're in there. The ball pit, on the other hand, is shielded by mesh but otherwise pretty visible. ]

[anonfantry]

[ He's getting too big for this? Oh, come on, she's older than he is! He balks at that, but doesn't actually manage to come up with a good argument in his favor, as he's presently far too busy keeping his balance as he wades through the sea of brightly colored plastic balls in her wake.

Luckily, it's gross employee negligence day, here at the park, so nobody seems to notice a couple of gangly teenagers spilling out of the ball pit (Cloud picking a few out of his uniform on the way -- clearly not intended for recreational wear). They're pretty much home free.

So long as Aerith doesn't try to cram any more unorthodox fun into today. Where it clearly doesn't belong. ]

I haven't had a chance to check it out, yet. [ He nods, vague as ever, toward the flashing lights of the arcade. ] They might not have anything good.

[rods]

[ That's why she can talk to Cloud like he's a little kid since he's going to end up calling her mom anyway!!!

Gross Employee Negligence Day is a great day that's probably celebrated 6/7 days of the week. Aerith checks around for anyone while Cloud picks those balls out, then oh-so-surreptitiously kicks one that trailed behind her back in with her foot.

And--really, Cloud. Does it still count as "cramming" when the fun is plenty orthodox? Aerith's shaking her head at that gloomy forecast. ]

Won't know until we check it out. Maybe they have something new. C'mon! [ /skipping ahead~ ]

[anonfantry]

[ It's a trick question, see, because all fun is unorthodox when you hate fun. He is the enemy of fun. Fun is like poison to him.

Or at least admitting to the fact that he might be having it is, anyhow.

So he is sure to remember to look plenty uncertain as he follows her along on this exciting adventure. ]

Hey, wait up! Um... [ Falling into step next to that skipping is kind of awkward, but not any more than trying to have a normal conversation while she's doing that. ] So, what kind of game do you want to play?

[rods]

[ She can go to a slightly more normal pace, as long as Cloud is good at keeping it. Drag those feet and she's a-skipping'. ]

Mmm, I like... cute games. Not really scary ones. [ Headcanon that adult Aerith's favorite Gold Saucer game is the one where you feed a moogle nuts until he can fly to impress a pink moogle girl and then they have a brood of cute moogle babies. ...Yep. That one. ] But racing games aren't bad!

[anonfantry]

[ Oh, Mog House. How many hours of his adult life will be wasted trying to win that fat bastard a girl

I mean, for the GP. He definitely isn't invested in the storyline. ]

Okay. Then... Let's race.

[ But what to race? Virtual chocobos? Dangerously unsafe sports cars? Snowboards!? The choices are so many and varied. ]

so excited to have a chocobo icon, I forgot it was the wrong account.

[rods]

[ Cloud must feel a lot of sympathy for that sorry moogle

While there are a lot of options, it's really no surprise what Aerith gravitates to given her love of cute things. ]

Look! They let you pick the color of your chocobo. [ Ahhhh she is already navigating over for a mutated flamingo pink chocobo. All it takes is inserting the tokens. ...Well, and for Cloud to come over and get into playtime. ]

But it was so cute. I don't even blame you

[anonfantry]

[ Why else would he adopt all those children

Just trying to make his real life more like a video game he played once.

And really he should have known; that pink chocobo is just entirely too well-suited to her. So he'll just grab the purple one on her left and try not to put too much thought into that as he drops a few tokens into the game and joins the race. ]

Ready?

[ The giant, blinking START button beckons... ]

I might blame you if I die from Cloud's cuteness 8|a

[rods]

[ Oh no Cloud

And Tifa thought you were done with your flights of fancy!

Aerith is actually not quite yet ready since she's rearranging her dress to make sure things stay neat (and more importantly modest) while she's riding that chocobo into the dust

but she manages to get this done and reaches for that START button. ] Ready!

[ A little animation of their chocobos walking up to the starting line, and the countdown begins! 3...2--Hey, the game's theme music sounds a bit different from the normal fare...

I'm sorry, I had to

Anyway

1--Go! ]

Well, I can't make any promises there. You might just have to deal with it

[anonfantry]

[ SHE THOUGHT WRONG.

And boy that sure is either the single worst song I've ever heard or the greatest dear lord some loud, angry music. Cloud has never been more uncertain near a pack of giant plastic birds in his life.

He hastily makes up for nearly missing the start as the camera pans in dramatically over their neatly lined up chocobos, though, by making entirely too serious a face as he leans forward into his battle-ready position.

And they're off -- into a world of crazy rainbows and random underwater scenery and for some reason one poor unfortunate guy in a kayak going over a waterfall. Cloud's fighting to bust through the confused mess of colorful animated chocobos right out the gate; it's a total madhouse over here, no time for talk.

But plenty of time to make all those unflattering sounds of effort. He still has a lot of misplaced aggression to work out, too. ]

Cloooud you are supposed to be in the army stop that cuteness now

[rods]

[ Well with all that misplaced aggression, it seems the loud, angry, best trolling the fanbase music really suits Cloud! Aerith's not quite so aggressive; she's trying to go fast, but she also wants to see the sights of the game (that poor man in the kayak!). When she gets crowded, instead of trying to fight her way through she tries going around. Sometimes this works, sometimes it's just slower. Still, she's staying in the race and laughing, enjoying herself. ]

Isn't this fun?

[ Of course trying to talk to Cloud in a competition might be fruitless, but she doesn't know that... ]

But the infantry is the cutest part of the army. He's just doing his job

[anonfantry]

[ He is dead to the world, Aerith.

Trying to shake this jerk on the red who won't stop ramming into him attempting to trade feathers and staring intently at the back of that black chocobo way out in front -- he clearly has no idea where Aerith is, beside him or in the context of the race.

He does manage to (kind of) nod at her question, but otherwise all of his precious concentration is completely occupied. Because the NPC in the lead is obviously cheating. And that makes this personal. ]

...true. Zack has to carry all the cute for SOLDIER on his lonesome

[rods]

[ That NPC must be holding all the shoulder buttons down.

It's okay that Cloud doesn't know where Aerith is in the context of the race; she doesn't either. It's not first place and it's not dead last, though it's probably in the lower half.

She does miss the nod though, since she's looking ahead at the screen--this is why we have words, Cloud! Given the seeming lack of response she looks over to her left curiously and...

...

...

Oooohhhh. (So this is the look of a man possessed by a video game...)

Of course, being distracted by Cloud's Intense Concentration actually does cause her to fall into last place, getting a yelp from her when she notices before she redoubles her efforts. She's not coming in last! Eat dirt, blue chocobo! ]