Zaid was having a very good week so far.

First, he moved into his new apartment. It was a fixer-upper, but with Jude around, the work was going to be an adventure they could enjoy together. Second, he started his new job. His boss was a bit frightening to begin with, but the man had taken a liking to Zaid and had started teaching him every trick he knew in the kitchen. While Zaid was tired after so much learning, he was feeling like himself again. There was even a little of his old sass coming back, something that had been hard to find after the kidnapping incident.

Today, Zaid even managed to find an arcade on the way home. The old school video games were like a flame to a moth, and Zaid couldn't help but try a few. Jude was working for a bit longer, or he would have tried to drag his boyfriend out to meet him. In the meantime, he would just have to pick something to familiarize himself with to show off.

After several rounds of Wreck-It-Felix, a noise from one corner of the store drew his attention. A group was gathered around the Dance Mania machine, and they were trying (and failing) to make it past their first level. Zaid wasn't normally one to join in when there was a crowd like this, but watching their terrible attempts was too much.

"If you keep your feet on the arrows instead of standing in the center, you'll do better," he told one of the kids, who looked like they were in their teens.

The kid looked over, and scoffed at him. "Like I'm going to take your advice, long ears." Creative. Zaid snorted a laugh. The kid tried again and didn't make it two verses in. With an irritated look, he stepped down, and waved to Zaid. "Let's see you do better."

Ah, why not?

Zaid stepped up, clicked on a song (The Day: MHA opening). And hit start. The second the arrows started scrolling they were twice as numerous as anything the other kids had chose. Zaid had a distinct advantage here: he was a bunny. He was very quick on his feet, and hard mode was something he had mastered in his younger years. He was on a perfect run, not missing a beat, when he felt his ears lose their muscle control and flop down along his head.

This feels...familiar...

There was only one thing Zaid knew that caused this, and that meant an adapted had walked up. Only muscle memory let him finish the song without messing up. When he did, he tried to look for the new arrival.

Booker loved video games. There was no mistaking that. When he was a kid he used to love to spend his allowance in the local arcade, plugging in quarters on his Saturday until he had nearly drained his pockets. It wasn’t the most financially sound decision but, as a kid, it was something that he was willing to live with. After all, there was no greater achievement than reaching a high score, grinning in satisfaction, and selecting your initials for all to see: BBB (sometimes ASS when he wanted to be sassy).

Of course, as time went on, the time spent in arcades diminished. Not because he didn’t like them anymore but because that world had evolved to entire his own home. Gaming consoles, gaming computers, they made it possible for him to enjoy some amazing games in the safety of his own home. How could he refuse? Especially when school got harder and he had to focus on his studies.

Now that he was an adult, Booker still loved arcades. Now it was “retro” and “cool” to pump in a few quarters into these machines and it was decidedly less creepy for someone of his age to partake again. Arcades were now full of a mixture of youth being ironic and adults desperately seeking nostalgia. However, Booker wasn’t on the hunt for a nostalgia fix; today he was here on business.

With his sister back in town, he was asked if he wanted to partake in a few of her upcoming videos for her gaming channel on ViewTube. He had guest starred a number of times in the past, usually for prank shows or just PvP games with his sister and crew. Some people recognized him, but not as much as Nessa was. Which was fine. He didn’t often care for fame, but he could easily ignore it when he wanted.

No, while quarters would be spent today, that wasn’t his sole purpose for being here. He and Nessa were supposed to be filming a challenge on location and right now he was scouting for a good arcade. This one was decidingly proving to be one of the best and was high up on the list. But before returning to her with his findings, he wanted to explore it just a little further.

Just off of his shift for the day, the towering librarian looked every bit out of place. His beige shirt, his dark brown slacks, and his nice shows. He looked more like a fast food manager than anything else. But the one thing that helped to ground him to his setting was the Intruders bowtie he wore, inspired by one of his favorite, old time arcade cabinets. As he milled about, quarters in his pocket, he heard shouting and cheers and immediately went to investigate.

Dance Mania. He knew this game. There was a craze of dance games a few years ago but while most of those died off, this one managed to maintain itself. It was nice to see that there were still so many people interested in it. And hey, the guy in the spotlight was doing an amazing job! Booker had to stand there, watching his arms crossed over his chest and smirking as he nodded his head in beat with the song.

”Awesome…” he said to himself. However he stopped when he noted the long, floppy ears that were now hanging by the sides of his head. Oh! That wasn’t an accessory, was it? He winced, looking a little uncomfortable. He really hoped that he wouldn’t ruin his run. But, upon seeing his hi score and completion, Booker clapped with everyone self. ”Nice!” He was a fan already.

It was actually fairly easy to figure out who the adapted was once Zaid stepped down from the machine. The guy with the invaders bowtie had not been there before he started dancing, and Zaid smiled slightly as he made eye contact. A few of the kids scrambled to try to dance the next level, dropping it back to easy mode.

Somewhat winded still, Zaid lifted one ear and let it fall with a knowing expression. "I'm guessing this was you? That actually made things more fun though." He could feel his pulse slowing back down, glad his athletic body compensated for his current lack of powers. Beyond his ears and tail, his legs felt a little heavier than normal, but it was nothing unreasonable.

"I'm Zaid. You game here often?" It would be useful to know. Now that he had experienced the first mid-dance power flop, he felt confident he could handle it in the future if the guy visited here frequently. Not that Zaid spent a ton of time dancing in arcades. But, it felt good. Being able to hit the right arrows, execute the song moves and stay on point was a sort of rush that was hard to explain.

When life generally had little that you could control, video games had a way of giving fulfillment. There was something tangible to attack, defeat, win. If personal monsters were just game levels, they would be so much quicker to knock down.

Booker was all smiles as he watched the younger guy dance. He was a damn good dancer! There seemed to be a slight stumble or miscalculation but it didn’t take him long to pick up the pace again. Now the librarian watched him dance his little heart out and he certainly made a show of it, ending the routine strong with a new high score. Wow. Booker wished he could move like that but while he had some rhythm, he was a bit too tall and too wide to be an effective dancer, at least not like that.

He had been all ready to turn and walk away, maybe find a game or two to play before heading home with his findings. However, before he would even turn away, the young man with the floppy bunny ears immediately caught his look and approached him.

He surmised something about Booker that the librarian wasn’t expecting. Picking up one of his flopped ears, he showed it to him before letting it once again fall flat against his face. It would have been comical if it weren’t the accusation that followed it.

”Umm…” he started to say. This could go one of many ways. The most likely being upset at having his powers taken away. It wasn’t the first time that Booker’s presence disrupted another’s life like that. But the other wore a smile...then shrugged off the incident as a minor problem. A sigh of relief passed his lips before he smiled and responded. ”...I guess...guilty as charged?” he said with an innocent shrug.

Being an adapted was a secret to him. He didn’t want to go around, blabbing to everyone that he could just turn off mutant powers. It was bound to get some bad attention. But when he came across something as chill and relaxed about it as this guy, well, his sweet nature shone through.

”Booker,” he beamed and added a small wave. ”Every once and awhile,” he said, gesturing about. ”If only to maintain my high score on a few of the games.” he then gestured to the dance game. ”You had some good moves out there. Glad I didn’t throw you off.”

Zaid watched the adapted react to his comment, glad he didn't seem to upset that Zaid called him out. He had been considerate enough not to let them be overheard, but he was also not going to pretend he hadn't encountered this before. Heck, it was feeling like this city had a secret society of the power swipers he had not known about.

"I'm new to this area and I am already stoked to know there is an arcade so close. I'm sorry if I have to kick your score off any machines though..." he looked thoughtful then grinned. "And thanks. I used to play a LOT of Dance Mania when I was younger. When you live in Japan they keep a high standard on dance moves for this thing. I'm still no where near the level of some of those guys!"

The other kids were drifting away after spectacularly losing. Zaid jabbed a thumb at the game. "Did you want to try yourself? You look like you may have a few moves in there somewhere..." Something about the guy seemed to suggest he could dance, whether it was the arcade game or just in general.

Admittedly Booker was impressed with the kid’s dancing. His skill was obviously unrivaled and that was even with his mutation kicked off. Not that Booker could really decipher what his mutation was. He saw the floppy rabbit ears but nothing else. Still, it seemed to him that he wouldn’t have brought up the adapted thing if he didn’t lose more than just a set of rigid ears.

He had to issue a hearty chuckle at the mention of his hi-scores being knocked off some of the machines. Admittedly he didn’t ear high ranks on all of them, but a majority of them were definitely his domain. He would have to check to ensure that his scores weren’t completely removed, but even then, he wouldn’t have cared all that much. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

”Hey, just means I have a proper challenge to overcome,” he smiled proudly. ”So don’t get too comfy if you happen to luck out and get first place.”

Gamer trash talk. It was more innocent and fun than what it has evolved into. With online games it has become a lot more angry and aggressive. Sure there were those people who didn’t take a loss well in the old days, but space and distance from the cabinets made it easier to get over. Not so true anymore. Still, Booker held no ill-will. He wasn’t the time to engage in it like that. He just smirked and shook it off like water from a feather.

Booker knew he wasn’t the best but he was fairly confident in his ability. That was until Zaid pointed a thumb at the dance machine. Ugh. Okay so his hand-eye dexterity was very good, but his feet were...didn’t share that comradery. He memorized moves and he loved to dance when it was unfiltered and free, but in the confines of a game? Yeah, he knew that his lumbering stature would be his downfall.

He winced, gently shaking his head. ”Probably not the best idea,” he chuckled. ”I would hate to topple over on top of you and squish you to oblivion.” He chuckled. ”Then I’d definitely be enemy numero uno for crushing a cute bunny.”

The trash talk was normal. Heck, in an arcade was one of the few places Zaid could hear it and almost feel a bit happy over it. There was a bit more fun in the banter, and the desire to meet and overcome an opponent. Plus, even if you lost there was the general 'better luck next time' mentality. High scores were never final scores. The game would always continue.

Booker turned down the dance game, so Zaid turned and pointed to a nearby racing one. "Anything else strike your fancy? I mean, you can always try to defend your honor while I'm still in the building. I haven't had a chance to actually game against anyone in awhile. It would be a good experience." Experience, challenge, they both were valid.

The race game was a candy themed Go Kart adventure with various characters in bright colors. It wasn't as much fun going against the computer, but with another racer you could use power ups and sabotage to your delight. You could drive well and miss the opportunity for the weapons, and be taken out by a well placed taffy torpedo. [/font][/font]

Booker loved to dance but he knew, even with the aid of his adapted aura, that he wouldn’t be able to beat this kid. He was younger, more agile by nature, Booker didn’t stand a chance. Not that he was a sore loser but really he didn’t want to tink $20 worth of quarters into a single game cabinet in hopes of getting a score remotely close to Zaid’s. That wasn’t going to do either of them any favors; it was better to just squash that idea now and concede victory to him.

But he really seemed to want to play. Rather than press on a dance game, he asked if there were any other games that he would be willing to play? Admittedly a fair amount of them had Booker’s initials (B.B.B.) in the top ranking scores. Some of them even had him at 1st place. It was a good feeling but one he knew would eventually require having to defend.

He smirked as he looked up, tucking the clipboard under his arm and looking across the arcade. There were a number of games that he loved, and some that would hopefully allow him some sort of edge since it wouldn’t require dancing. His eidetic memory and dexterous fingers should be enough to balance against this youthful upstart.

”Hrm…” he said as he looked about. ”I have a little time. How about…’Lead Slug’?” He pointed to the arcade cabinet with cartoon commandos gunning down armies of villains. It was a 2-D side scrolling and though the two wouldn’t be battling against one another, each player had their own score bar. He smirked. ”First player to 20,000,000 points is the winner?”

Zaid looked where his companion (or competitor in this case) pointed and studied the game. It wasn't one he had played often, as it involved a lot more buttons and violence. But Zaid was a gamer and would not turn down from a challenge. He nodded and smiled in the end. "Sure, a good challenge would be fun!"

Stepping up to the machine he did the usual check for any unsuspected sticking or jams. It would be unfortunate to get into the challenge only to find out he had one of those machines some kid spelt soda on. Which, happened a lot.

"Are you ready for this? We can go on your mark," Zaid announced, trying not to fidget like the rabbit he was. Contests could bring out his nervous inner anxiety. He wanted to have fun, so he made sure he focused on the excitement and not that desire to win only.