Logs:Boing Boing

Boing Boing
Dramatis Personae Roscoe, Tok
In Absentia	2024-07-24 "You'll never see it coming."
Location <XAV> Rec Room - Xs Second Floor
School this may be, but life for Xavier's students certainly isn't all studying. Outside classes, this is a popular spot to find students in their downtime. An enormous tribute to slacking off, this room is a wealth of fun and relaxation. Comfortable armchairs, couches, and beanbags offer plentiful seating scattered throughout the room, and the cushioned windowseats by the high windows offer a cozy nook to curl up and look out on the grounds. The room is often filled with the noises of gaming -- whether it comes from the big-screen television (tall racks of DVDs beside it, if nothing can be found on the multitude of cable channels), tricked out with consoles from retro to the latest releases, or the less electronic clatter and thump of the pool table, air hockey, or foosball. For those a little more subdued in their gaming, the cabinets hold stacks and stacks of board and card games, ranging as classic as chess and go to as esoteric as Dixit, Catan, and Gloom. More days than not, there's some variety of snacks to be found on a table beside the gaming cabinet -- quite often in the form of fresh-baked desserts. It's later in the evening Wednesday night, around the time when students might begin to turn in for the night, especially with the impending doom of midterms looming over their minds. The rec room has a few students scattered around, not as popular as it would be during a regular school term, but still filling the room with a low hum of various games. Tok sits curled in a bean bag chair, tail hanging lazily over the edge of it and brushing against the ground in a content sort of wave. Their curled position might look uncomfortable to most, but if it is, Tok gives no indication of it. They're dressed comfortably, as they usually are: sweatpants, grey t-shirt, socks, but both their shirt and socks are turned inside out today--and had been for most of the day. They've (stupidly) challenged Roscoe to a Super Smash Bro's match, which predictably, is going extremely poorly for Tok. They're playing Ridley, but by the way they kinda just spam the buttons, it doesn't seem they know how to play him. "How are you good at every game?" They ask incredulous more than annoyed, and take a second to take a bite of the cookie they'd snagged from the table, "There's gotta be one game that exists I can beat you in." "I'm not good at poker." This may not be true -- Roscoe's poker face is a little too good to gauge. On the screen, Kirby (labeled 'VOSCO') is curbstomping Ridley, delivering swift, darting smackdowns and then leaping back out of reach. In contrast to Tok, Roscoe is very precise with his controller, sitting cross-legged on the couch, dressed in loose flannel pajama pants and an undershirt, a blanket draped around his shoulders to fend off the almost-nighttime chill. The effect is very zen. "Maybe you just suck at every game," he suggests, as Kirby boots his opponent off a ledge. Tok grins, "That's what someone whose good at poker would say." They spam the buttons faster when they revive. They end up falling off the edge. They spam some more when they come back, "Nah there's gotta be at least one!" They argue, "And that's when I'll make The Bet of All Time. And you won't know how-" They nearly fall off the edge again, "how- great I am at it until it's too late." They ramble, sitting up a little straighter in the bean bag but not by much. "OR! I take another two years off school to become the greatest Games Player of all time. You'll never see it coming. Fool proof plan." On the screen Kirby is trying to smash Ridley with a hammer. Roscoe says, very indulgently, "Uh-huh. You know, calling it a foolproof plan doesn't automatically make it foolproof. How many your plans actually never got fooled?" Tok has figured out which buttons let them dodge and is just spamming that in a panic. They splutter, “I’ve got so many plans you don’t even know about. You just don’t hear about’em because they were successful.” They say cheekily. A hesitant grin twitches on their face, “Kinda bold to criticize my plans coming from the guy whose crew failed the heist of the century to steal the-“ They jerk the controller, as if that might help them dodge the hammer better, “-The Pentagon’s top secret paper clip collection made of vibranium. You were the getaway driver—of course.” Tok’s tone is light, joking, but they do cast a quick glance back towards Roscoe with raised eyebrows to check the reaction, “It’s later right? That’s my first guess, how close is that? I totally got it right?” They ask, sarcastically. Kirby's hammering is getting a little bit less controlled and Roscoe is getting a little less zen, leaning forward in his criss-cross applesauce to prop his elbows on his knees. "First step in a foolproof plan is keep ya fool mouth shut," he says approvingly, as Kirby abandons the hammer attacks and soars up to the top ledge, bounces back and forth (with every leap and bound Roscoe mutters "Boing... boing...") He pulls a long face. "Come on, I was thirteen, I couldn't drive. Serious guesses," he says. Tok’s ear flicks, “Well that’s the thing you got caught for—driving without a license. The heist was the part that went off without a hitch.” Their sarcastic tone mellows out just a little, and then they let out a long breath “You want my serious guess?” They ask, warily. “I mean- I don’t think you actually did anything.” They spam the same move a few times in a row, in a way that makes the controller click satisfyingly. They spam it a few more times, “Probably a wrong place wrong time kinda thing if anything, and they didn’t stop to ask questions.” They begin mirroring Kirby with Riley, now distractedly bouncing back and forth, forgoing their attempts to knock kirby off the stage and now instead very focused on attempting to hop in sync. “Or if you did do something, it was probably somethin’ small that got blown outta proportion.” They shrug a shoulder, “Usually seems like how these kinda things go.” They glance over, and lose the bouncing sync, “Hot or cold?” Roscoe tilts his head at their bouncing synchrony, now also trying to keep their coordination going. "Cold, it was extremely deserved. I mean --" he drops just as Tok breaks their synchronized bouncing, and rather than crushing Ripley from above he has to boing back into the playing field. "Not the evil mutant experimenting part. You were closer with the heist thing." Tok shifts positions in the bean bag chair, so their back is against the couch near Roscoe, legs still curled up to their chest. They loll their head back, but keep their eyes on the screen. From their angle, Roscoe might be able to see the way their eyes widen at the mention of ‘evil mutant experimenting.’ Their ears tilt downwards, “Oh shit- You were in one of the labs?” An involuntary shudder runs through them, and the fur on their tail raises slightly. They spam a taunt a few times, before they begin attempting to have Ridley chase Kirby around, but not really attacking when they get close. They tilt their head back and forth in consideration, like they’re debating their next question, what exactly to focus on. Eventually they decide and speak up again, “I looked up a lot about those. Are you like…” Good? Okay? goes unasked, but the concern that drifts in their words probably implies it. “Those labs sounded freaky as hell.” Is question time over? Roscoe seems loath to break the silence first; he's just playing the game now, throwing Kirby somewhat relentlessly after Ridley in a barrage of attacks, a tiny pinchy crease forming between his brows -- "Don't be fucking weird." Tok’s tail twitches, “I ain’t being weird- how am I being weird?” Ridley goes flying off the stage and loses another stock. “I mean- what about y-” They begin impulsively, and cut themself off, clearly thinking better of it. Their leg bounces. “Nevermind. Am I outta guesses?” "Just don't be weird!" Roscoe repeats; Kirby slips off a ledge, then also vaults offscreen and dies. In the time it takes them both to respawn, Roscoe is totally silent, mouth pressed very flat, until Kirby drops back into the game; he huffs out a breath and mumbles again, sort of perfunctorily, "Boing, boing, bonk," as Kirby somersaults to the top of the screen and then drops down like a ton of bricks. "You can keep guessing if you want. I never said I was gonna tell you." Tok snorts when Kirby vaults off screen, and raises their hands in surrender, “Alright alright, I’ll stop being weird or whatever.” They clamber up onto the couch, suddenly no longer satisfied with the bean bag chair. “Boing boing bonk.” Tok echoes, almost automatically after Roscoe. “Boing boing. Bonkbonkbonk.” They make a clicking noise in the back of their throat twice, then bend down to grab their controller and resettle into the couch. They continue talking, despite their own interruption, “Even if I get it right? Damn. Sucks.” They tap the controls to make the newly respawned Ridley dart back and forth before picking up a stray gun on the ground and spraying at Kirby. “Alright, If it’s close to heist…You break in somewhere? Maybe broke some shit? That’s gonna be my guess.” Roscoe leans sharply away when Tok joins him on the couch, almost toppling over; the blanket slips off his shoulders and he lets Kirby die again to fix it, draping it up over his head this time -- "You're still being weird," he grumbles, though all the vehemence has bled out of his voice. Kirby boings out of range of the gunfire. "Sucks," he agrees, his grin maaaaybe visible past his blanket hood. "Jeez, what kind of ruffian do you take me for." He's kidding, right? He's probably kidding. Kirby jumps and whips out a hammer again -- "Bonk," he says again, determinedly. Tok grins, and some short, high pitched laughs bubble out at Roscoe’s maneuvering. “Well I dunno how to stop being weird, so that means you’re the guy hangin out with the weirdo. Sucks.” They punctuate that last word. They sprawl out—in the opposite direction of Roscoe at least, to keep the space between them—and continues spamming, “And hey you never know! I could see some hidden ruffian in there. Maybe you were the muscle.” Their voice has lightened again, “Honestly, you asked for my serious guesses, and maybe I’m still sold on my vibranium paper clip heist theo-“ The hammer blasts Riley off screen, and Tok huffs as GAME! appears on screen. “Best two outta three?”