perfectmatch | week three

Edamura and Rom are taken to an arcade. It's loud, it's chaotic, it's incredibly fun.

Highlights

There's slushies.
And giant stuffed animals as prizes.
Please game responsibly!

[. . . somehow, this feels targeted!! but he doesn't seem too bothered as he roams from machine to machine, at least openly curious. video games aren't his thing but he does not hate them]

I bet arcade games are a bit more difficult to stream online. . .

[ Rom's demeanor is largely the same as ever as he trails along a few steps behind Edamura, but there's like, 2% more light in his eyes than usual when he leans in to respond. He's clearly kind of pleased with the location for this date. ]

Certainly. It's much harder to get in any practice on arcade machines, after all, taking into account things like cost and when arcades actually open. But that makes for a fun challenge, doesn't it?

Iiiiii guess so?

[it isn't as if Edamura knows any better, so he accepts that assertion with ease. the way he hovers from machine to machine is a bit hesitant, like he isn't sure which game to pick first]

I guess a challenge is more exciting for your viewers?

My viewers, certainly, but it's also more fun that way!

[ We're up to a whole 3% more eyeshine now. ]

There's not much to just steamrolling an opponent, after all. Don't tell me you're the type to find entertainment in just winning an easy match, Edamura-san?

[3% eyeshine. . . cute. . . can we get it to 5%]

That depends on the match. If it's a matter of— [life or death is what he almost says, but that's far too morbid for this conversation and most certainly not what Rom means. he only thinks it because his mind is drifting towards. . . other challenges. just as fun, just as thrilling, but not nearly as harmless] — winning or losing some cash, then I'd take an easy win any day.

[eventually, he stops in front of a Pac-Man machine. Pac-Man is eternal!!]

. . . but for no-stakes games like this, then yeah. I guess it isn't very fun to play without a worthy opponent.

[ His gut instinct tells him that Edamura was about to say something else, but ... he'll let it slide for now.

There's something much more important he needs to address first, after all: ]

Your tastes are kind of old-fashioned ...

[ Seriously? All the modern machines around them, and he's going to go for Pac-Man? A little exhale, not quite a sigh. ]

Well, I guess retro games do have their evergreen charm. But I get to choose the next game, okay?

[. . . HEY. . .]

Only if I get to judge your tastes just like you judged mine.

[slotting a few coins into the machine! it's the two player version (I googled it to make sure there was one), so once the game is loaded to gestures to the second set of controls]

Deal.

[ And as he taps his fingers at the buttons, getting used to the tactile sensation of it and waiting for the game to start up, he pipes up without looking over: ]

How about we raise the stakes a little more while we're at it, then? Would you be up for betting something on these games?

[flexing his own flingers over the buttons, tilting his head towards Rom with gaze narrowed in a suspicious squint]

Something tells me making bets with you is a bad idea.

[. . .]

What are we wagering?

How about ...

[ He gives a prolonged hum in thought. ]

Secrets?

[ Right as the game actually starts. Rom, with almost freakish speed, gets moving the instant the bippy music starts up. ]

[-- ?!]

[an effective move, to hold onto the answer until the game starts up, ensuring that Edamura is distracted enough so that Rom could take an early lead]

Whoa-- hey!

[immediately hunches over the console, moving his little Pac-man across the screen as fast as he can. but his is no gamer, and Rom probably didn't even need the head start to win]

[Edamura lags woefully behind, and will up until the game ends]

[ Hehe. He knew he wouldn't even need the handicap, but that was fun.

Truth be told, Rom's only good at Pac-man, not excellent -- it's been a while since he's playing something older like this. But he still handily comes out as the winner, and leans against the machine as the victory jingle plays. ]

So you owe me a secret now, yes?

[ They never agreed on any terms to this wager???? ]

[YOU LITTLE SHIT!!]

[Edamura makes a frustrated noise as the machine sings at him, giving his joystick one last smack before he turns to face his companion, features glowering]

I don't remember actually agreeing to those terms.

[you!! little!! shit!!!]

Mmm?

[ A little tilt of the head, playing at being curious. ]

I didn't think you'd be such a sore loser, Edamura-san. It's pretty embarrassing if you're refusing to admit defeat like that, and with a game you chose, even ...

[god sometimes this guy makes it easy for bean to open up and be honest with himself for a change, and SOMETIMES bean just wants to KICK HIS ASS!! this whiplash!!]

[now is one of those latter times]

. . . you really want secrets that badly?

[jabs!! a finger at him!!]

Then try to keep up.

[which is. . . all the warning Rom gets before Edamura just. turns towards the cameramen. gives them a wink]

[and then bolts, ducking and weaving his way through the nearby arcade machines! he is not particularly athletic, so it isn't too hard to keep up with him physically. . . but the cameramen are so shocked at his sudden departure and need to take a moment together up their equipment that keeping track of where he is going maaaaaay be a little harder]

Ah --

[ Oh. He -- admittedly hadn't anticipated that. Maybe he'd gone a bit too far with his prodding? And while he actually doesn't care too much about a silly game proposed on a whim ...

... well, the spirits he'd noticed haunting the place hadn't seemed too harmful at first glance. Hopefully there won't be any problem if he's a few seconds late to catch up to Edamura if he runs into one.

He'd briefly just been standing in place, blinking in mild surprise, but Rom goes trotting after his 'target' after a moment, deliberately weaving in between the rows of machines to lose the cameramen and catch up a little more efficiently. For his lav mic: ]

Haha, to think you'd be pulling a cheap stunt like this, Edamura-san ...

[with their clunky machinery in tow, the poor crew stands no chance in keeping up with either contestant. and by the time Rom finally catches up, Edamura has tucked himself away into the corner of the arcade's prize shop, hidden behind a few aisles of random stuffed toys. he leans against one of the shelves, his own lav mic dangling uselessly in his hand, the cords swaying freely in the air]

[he knows they'll only have a few minutes of "off-air" time before they're found, but. . . well. that'll be enough, he thinks]

Sorry about that. [not sorry at all] I just don't like talking in front of the cameras.

I'm a little shy, you see.

[ For as puzzled as he is about Edamura's chosen path of action, at least Rom's as quick on the uptake as ever. As he slips around a row of machines to make his way to the little corner Edamura's tucked himself into, he unplugs his own mic as soon as he spots Edamura's with wires dangling free.

Sure, this works just as well. ]

Oh? I didn't take you to be the type to have such stage fright.

[ Said as he. Casually sidles his way riiiiight into the little hiding spot they're now sharing, a hand rising to touch against Edamura's shoulder as he shifts closer. ]

Now, if you'd please hold still for just a moment.

[-- ?!]

Huh?

[half-instinct, half-obliging Rom's request, Edamura freezes in place when that hand touches his shoulder, his confident features melting into open bemusement. and then open worry]

-- it's not a spirit, is it??

[DID HE CHOOSE A HIDING PLACE WITH A SPIRIT?????]

[ He'd been fishing his other hand through the pocket of his jacket, but Rom pauses in that endeavor for a moment upon Edamura's words. Looks at him for a moment.

Then smiles. ]

If I recall, you wanted to think there aren't any spirits around that you'd need to worry about? So what's gotten you so concerned?

[ hehehe ]

[resisting temptation to shove a hand into Rom's face. . .]

T-- the fact that you're looking at me like that, for one. . .!

[and sliding in so close?? hand on his shoulder?? Edamura does, in fact, want to think that there aren't any spirits around he needs to worry about. but at the same time, if there is one, he would probably also prefer Rom to take care of it??]

Hmm? This is just how I usually look.

[ Leaning in. Just a little closer. Looming riiiiiight over him.

Hand at Edamura's shoulder squeezing a little tighter to keep him in place while his other hand slowly rises before Edamura's face. ]

Though I wasn't aware you were paying such close attention to me, Edamura-san~?

[ That sing-song cadence is followed by sudden movement -- ]

edamura and rom

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