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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He glanced to Stark. Figures he'd pick Mario.

"So what's your deal anyways?" He said. "We didn't exactly have a lot to chat about before Ugly showed up."

"My biography's a best seller, go hazard a look." Tony sat back and waited for the stage selection, tapping each button to remind himself what was what.

"Short version? I'm a superhero and soon-to-be trophy husband who ended up in space, apparently."

"Two very desirable things," He commented back.Doesn't really answer most things though.

Quill picked a stage as he thought about what he knew of Stark.

"From New York, right?" He said. "Never been. Heard it's nice."

He watched as the coloured count-down began.

"Who gave you the shiner?" He asked casually.

"You know that last one isn't really pertinent to my backstory." Tony tapped the A button restlessly as the countdown started, bouncing his leg.

Quill smirked as he started to play.

"Alec broke my nose," He said. "You got off lucky."

So Alec had a face punching track record. Good to know.

"Anyone tell Slim Shady to please stand down?" Tony mashed the acceleration button, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.

Quill didn't get the reference, but he wasn't going to admit that to Stark. He understood the jist of what was being said.

"Man holds a grudge, I guess." He said with his eyes on the screen. "Excuse me if I give the kid some confidence about the future, right?"

"What?" Tony glanced sideways at Quill for just a brief moment, not wanting to take his eyes off the track now that he was getting into the game proper. This stage was set in some sort of flaming castle with weird jumps and turns every-damn-where.

"He broke your nose over giving some kid a pep talk?"

"Not a kid." He said. "Pete. Doubt that guy cares about the others."

Kind of like how Rocket really only cares about certain people.

He took a hit from a shell and swore.

"Anyways, yeah." He continued. "Pete wanted to know how I knew him so I told him how we all met on Titan to kick this dude's butt, you know? How we had this amazing plan and he was totally going to help save the world from a purple alien Nazi."

More aliens. More space. More Peter getting wrapped up in things he had no business in.

Tony's heel hit the floor at a rapid-fire pace, and he hissed an expletive when he went careening off the unguarded ledge. It was getting increasingly difficult to focus on the game when his thoughts were wrapped up in a future he supposedly was going to march blithely into whenever he saw his escape through.

"And then you got punched. For that."

"I know, right?" He said with a half eye-roll. "Like why would Pete being excited to fight and save the day be a bad thing? I chalk it up to him not being a superhero like us. He doesn't get it."

Quill was now in third. He was determined to get further in front.

If Quill was reading his anxiety as solidarity, so be it. It could keep the man talking.

"I don't know. I don't know the ki--the guy." Tony was in last, but he utilized the blue shell with a vengeance the moment he got it. "What's your, ah, superhero thing?"

"Mine?" He asked as if to say 'it should be obvious.'. "Space superhero, basically. Kicking ass, finding things that need to be found, saving entire planets from blowing up. That sort of thing. Have a whole group I lead. Guardians of the Galaxy. We're kind of a big deal."

He sat up and looked proud as he talked about them.

"One of them is here, actually." He said. "You probably already seen him around. Talking raccoon. Hard to miss."

"Never heard of 'em." Tony deadpanned, zipping right past the 7th, 6th, and 5th racers.

"No you wouldn't have," he said, somewhat defensively. "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy. Earth hasn't really figured out how to join the rest of us in space travel yet. You guys are behind in the times."

"Earth not included in the galaxy? Which galaxy we talking here?" Tony dropped the controller when he finished fourth with a tsk.

"Your name implies you're the guardians of just the one."

Quill came in second, but he took solace in the fact he beat Stark. He looked smug.

"Oh, it's your Galaxy. It's just really big, you know." He replied. "And you guys got it covered with the whole Avengers thing and up until Thanks didn't really have it so bad."

'Thanos.'

There it was again.

"You're pretty hip with the times, right?" Tony picked his controller back up. Might as well go for round two. "You should show me what you got sometime."

"Show you what I go, how?" He asked, looking to Stark. "Youesn fighting or are you asking for some awesome pop culture references. Which, for the record, I could totally do both."

"Fighting. Go ahead with the references, it can't just be me all the time, I guess." What Tony didn't admit to was he was starting to feel a bit lonely in making them with few, if anyone, to catch.

"Alright." He said. "Let's just say I shoot better than Han and fly better than him too. I'm also half Celestial. Totally did some The Force type stuff back home when I stopped my dad from taking over the entire universe."

Quill managed to sound casual the entire time as they sat there and discussed.

Next stage--some weird beach? Alright.

"Celestial. Huh. That'll get you ahead with Affirmative Action." Tony tossed a smirk at the air, idly messing with the controls while the countdown began. "So a, uh, space cowboy."

He wasn't sure if this Star-Lord wasn't just a loon, but he had some know-how that corroborated with everything he had heard from trusted sources thus far.

"Hope you shoot as well as you race."

"Uh, of course I do." He said as if offended. "I'm one of the best shots in the galaxy. I can show you sometime if you want. You bring your fancy armour suit thing?"

Quill was a braggart, but he was a good shot nonetheless. He felt a big desire to prove this fact to Tony.

In an instant, Tony had transformed into Iron Man from the nanites converging into his armor. He kept assuming his nonchalant slouch as he toyed with the controls.

"You got a spot? I'll meet you there. I could give a shit about wanton destruction but I don't feel like getting an earful again."

Quill tensed, but was happy not to be more startled than that. He saw it before, but in the setting of the inn, it was somewhat jarring.

"Yeah. There's an open spot in the desert." He said. "Why? Who gave you an earful?"

Re: Tony & Quill

st_arkravinghazelnut - 2018-09-11 03:22 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Tony & Quill

st_arlord - 2018-09-14 01:14 (UTC) - Expand

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