strangetrip | Video Game Challenge (OTA)

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Video Game Challenge (OTA)

It was a shame not a lot of people seemed to like renting the various video game consoles the makeshift library had to offer the Madonna Inn. Quill was a frequent visitor to the library, but rather took out a book. Gamora would be annoyed with him, but the video games held more interest to him. A lot of the games were new to him as they had come out after he left Earth. Quill was delighted to explore them.

Multplayer games were much more fun with people. He dragged a TV into the lobby and set up a Super Nintendo. He sat on one of the ostentatious couches and was currently playing Super Mario Kart while he waited for some challengers. On the coffee table there was also a cartridge for Donkey Kong Country and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

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Curnen stared at the thing, then slipped down, almost flowed down to the empty seat so she could use her hands to accept the controller instead of keep balance. Sometimes even now, there was something that felt right about going on all fours rather than walking upright, and... she didn't want to think about why right now. "Well, sure," she said, holding the controller in one hand so she could point at it and then the machine it was connected to with the other, "but what is this?"

"Oh." He said. Oh. Good job, idiot. "This is a video game. It's... like a computer, but just for playing games people have programmed. Like a board game on TV... sort of."

He wondered if there was a better way of explaining a video game, but Quill was confident that he got the idea across.

"The controller you're holding tells the person on the screen what to do and depending on what they do, depends if you win the game or not." He explained.

"I dun really know much about computers, neither," Curnen mused, leaning hard into her drawl as she studied the controller in her hands. Nobody expected a backwoods hick to know much of anything; the Beverly Hillbillies were still the beginning and the end of what the wider world knew about where she came from. "Though I figured out my phone, I guess, an' everybody said that was the same thing."

"Ah, see!" He said encouragingly, pointing at her. "Your phone is basically a smaller version of this. And it probably has games on it too."

Quill had learned all about Smart Phones just recently, but he liked them a lot. He could picture Groot being obsessed with them too.

"In this game, basically you want to be first," He said. "And you can grab things to hinder the other people, like banana peels, so you can get ahead."

Quill then began to explain each button on the controller and what it does. It was a Super Nintendo, so the controls were relatively simple.

Curnen listened, touching each of the buttons as they were explained with her thumbs. She furrowed her brow at the whole thing between the controls and Mario and the premise of the game. Really, the racing part was the only part that definitely made sense, but okay. "This sounds kinda nuts."

"Right!" He said excitedly. That's the best part. "I mean, a racing games racing, but this one you have strategy."

He leaned over and pointed to the 'start' button.

"Just press that and give it a try." he said. "What's the worst that can happen?"

That hadn't been trepidation on Curnen's part so much as she just couldn't make all the ideas come together in her mind. It was difficult for anybody to put together a big idea when even all the little pieces under it and making it up were unknown, but it was still especially difficult for her. It wouldn't come together.

So she pressed the button without hesitation. No teacher like just jumping in. "Let's do this."

"I like your attitude!" He chuckled. "I've learned throughout the years being successful mostly means throwing yourself into it and faking it until you make it."

He watched the screen.

Curnen had been cursed long before Mario had ever become a thing, and as such this was her first exposure to anything to do with the franchise. And yet as she watched the screen she couldn't help blurting, "This is fucking adorable."

Looking at the character select screen she asked, "Does it matter which one I pick?"

Quill was all smiles. He thought gaming was a universal language more people needed to respect. He would never admit that to Groot who was currently obsessed with games.

"Nah. It's a preference thing." He answered. "My favorite to pick is Mario or Toad. Toad is a super under-rated character in my opinion. That little dude's got heart."

Not knowing any of them other than the fact that the game had the same name as the red one, Curnen just went for Princess Peach. "Yeah girl one!" Why was there only one girl one? Oh well.

"Peach is cool too," He said sagely. "She's been kicking my ass on the solo game for a while. The biggest thing is to try to get the power-ups when you see them. Other than that, have fun."

It had been a very long while since any woman every expressed desire to play a video game he was playing. For a minute it made him feel like he was back home on his mother's couch with his friends before he had been abducted into space.

Quill may have said that, but when the first race started, Curnen's first concern was learning how to steer as she seemed to either over- or under-do it. This didn't concern her, though, even as she was swiftly in last place. She only laughed at the silliness of it all.

The spirit of the game for Quill was to play to enjoy it. He only got competitive when the other person did or because he was trying to impress someone.

"You're starting to get the hang of it," He said encouragingly. This is sort of like watching my mom try to figure out the Gameboy.

"I'm shit and you know it," Curnen shot back, but it was in laughter rather than frustration. She remained pretty firmly in last place, but she'd somehow managed to pick up some kind of power-up.

"Huh. What's the little cartoon lightning do..." she mused as she pushed the button to find out.

"Dude!" He said, "You got like, one of the best ones right now."

Quill leaned forward while he watched. Even if she wasn't the best, he really liked her spirit. Gamora would have shot the screen by now.

"Yeah, I am a drunk driving god!" Curnen whooped as she managed to flatten one of the CPU characters and at least make it to seventh. It wasn't like this was going to last, she was sure. Not once the power wore off, but it had been deeply amusing.

"So how long you been playing this?" she asked, attempting to manage conversation more now that she sort of had the hang of the controls.

"uh... A couple of days." He answered. "Okay, well, not all hours of those days. But I discovered this game and it's the best and I'd have totally owned one of my own if I was back on Earth."

He wanted to show Groot and hoped he would get the chance.

That took Curnen a little by surprise. "You know a lot about this for somebody's who ain't even played this for a week."

"I'm kind of a quick study," he said. "Plus I've logged some hours. Still haven't beaten all the levels, but I'm confident I'll get there soon. Have a friend who'd have beat this already. Groot. He's a tree alien."

It took Curnen some effort to keep her eyes on the screen, this idea honestly more interesting than the game (even though it was cute and entertaining). "No shit, I've met some tree people. What's yours like?"

"He's great." Quill said fondly. "He's helped save the Galaxy a few times. He's sort of going through puberty right now so is a little stubborn and talks back a lot, but he's the best. Got a big heart, you know?"

Curnen snorted and started to giggle. Good to know that puberty made everyone and everything an asshole. Sentient species weren't as different as they often thought they were. "Sounds more fun than Jessup. But he's old, and he's got a swollen root. When he's a man, it's gout. I'd be cranky, too."

"wait," he said, looking to Curnen. "Your tree dude can turn into an actual dude?"

He wondered what Groot would look like as a human. It was hard to picture.

Curnen lifted her left hand from the D-pad long enough to waggle in it a 'close enough' gesture. Her steering was already bad, this didn't hurt. "He's like the tree's spirit, I guess you could say. Two parts of the same being."

Edited 2018-08-25 23:10 (UTC)

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