Pressing the Right Buttons - RC

[Reggie Earle]

It wasn't really so much a surprise that Reggie ended up in the video game store when she was really supposed to do some grocery shopping. So what if she didn't eat for a week? Games were just that much more important.

But Pilot Ridge had a very limited gaming store and she almost never went there anymore because the shopkeeper liked staring at her. Too much. But she had heard that they finally stocked up on American McGee's Alice so of course she had to go over if only to see if it wasn't a ruse.

Sure enough, there the CD box sat, snugly in between Red Alert and Mortal Kombat. Weird place, she thought to herself since none of them were of the same genre. Unless they counted 'blood' to be its' own genre.

Picking it up, she hugged it to her chest with a beam on her face before walking around to see if anything else caught her fancy. At least the shopkeeper was a woman today.

Reggie was so absorbed in her viewing that she didn't realise someone was standing beside her. Just as she turned around to walk away from the Lord of The Rings merchandise display, she bumped face on to the person. "Oih," she squeaked, sliding one foot back to regain her balance. "Sorry!" she raised one hand in apology.

[OOC: Wow so much crap in one post, way to go Nu! And special thanks to Talon for providing me with the title ^^]

[RC Manne]

RC had spent the majority of the week trying to avoid human contact, yet it seemed human contact found him wherever he went. Lots of people had heard about Zac’s incident, but RC had made an effort to make sure that no one had heard about his little scuffle with the other teen…

…that made explaining the black eye a little difficult.

So, he’d holed himself up in his room and played video games.

He’d already beaten Assassin’s Creed and it’s sequel, and he needed something new. RC hadn’t enjoyed the walk to the store, as the air was starting to get cool and it bothered him to be out in the cold, but his trusty grey hoody kept him mostly warm…ragged as it was. He was about to turn and check out the LotR games when a something smashed into him.

A girl.

RC swallowed hard. “N-no…” He cleared his throat and managed a meek smile. “No problem.” He said after a second or two righting his breath.

He actually managed to sound sort of confident. …huh.

Surprised with himself, RC managed to muster up the courage to continue. “Mind if I ask what you’ve got? I’m looking for something new to play…” He trailed off, still managing to sound pretty lame despite himself.

[Reggie Earle]

Reggie had to look up to where the voice was coming from and a smile lit up her face. The boy looked so timid. She thought he looked adorable until she saw the black eye. "Oh my." She bit her lower lip and one hand started to move up to touch the injury but she stopped herself, realising she was in public and the boy might not be the touchy feely kind so she pulled back her hand and gave him a sheepish grin.

"Um...oh. It's an Alice in Wonderland game only...it's much darker." She revealed the CD box to him. "My friend recommended me to it. Says the graphic is lousy but the game itself is pretty cool. I usually get a game because it's fun to play, I don't really care much about the graphics and stuff so..." she was rambling and she was highly aware of that so she stopped and let the boy look at the game.

"What kind of game are you looking to play? I'm no expert but there are some I'd love to recommend for you. What console do you have?" She asked, already looking around for her favourite games, her ponytail bouncing as she moved about.

[RC Manne]

RC blinked, leaning back a fraction of an inch as the hand came towards him. Realizing what he was doing at the same moment Reggie seemed to realize what she was doing, he returned her sheepish look and chuckled slightly. “I swear, I’m not a brawler.” He joked, tucking his hands in his pockets.

RC bent over a bit to look at the box. “Oh yeah! I’ve heard of that. It’s an older game, isn’t it?” He asked idly, floating along behind her like a sad puppy. “I guess as long as the game play is good it doesn’t really matter…Says the guy who just finished Assassin’s creed.” He said, chuckling nervously. Now there was a game with graphics.

Shrugging, RC squinted over the girl’s shoulder. “I’ve got a 360, an ancient PS2, and my roomie has a Wii he sometimes let’s me use, but I try to stick to my consoles, you know?” Without really thinking about if the question made sense for her or not, RC turned it back to her. “What about you?”

[Reggie Earle]

Reggie clamped her lips together to hide a smile at the boy's answer, she ducked her head and smiled in secret. Or so she hoped. "So, you walk around town painting your eye black all the time?" She looked up, tilting her head slightly with a grin.

"It is! But I just heard it got here like a week ago. So I'm snatching it up because I never found it when it came out." She leaned in towards the boy, standing a bit on the tips of her toes to whisper conspiratorially. "This place is sort of lousy on stocking up with new games." She chuckled behind a hand before clutching her game back to her chest.

Bobbing her head up and down so he knew she was listening to him while checking for games, she laughed lightly at his little joke. "Oh, I've got a Wii. If you want, you could come by my dorm. I promise I won't be too stingy like your roommate." She crossed her chest and held up the hand without her game.

Finally finding the game she was looking for, she grinned and showed it to him. "It's a really old game but it's hilarious to play when you're bored." She grinned.

[RC Manne]

RC’s huffing laughed continued at Reggie’s quirky mannerisms. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, shrugging. “Nah. Would you believe I fell?” He only half-lied. Technically he did fall. It was just…assisted.

Meeting the shorter girl half way, RC crouched a bit to hear her whisper. He burst into laughter, which he quickly hid by turning to face the shelves. “Yeah, that’s definitely true. I usually buy most of my games online.” RC explained.

He paled a little when she non-chalantly invited him over. “Dorm?” He managed to squeak out without sounding like too much of a loser. RC surveyed her, wondering instinctively if she was a meta. “Are you at Hammel?” He asked cautiously. Sometimes he didn’t like to ask, seeing as the non-meta population wasn’t really sure what was up with his school…but if she went to school with him…

Well it would just be awesome.

He took the game from her hand and flipped it over, nodding enthusiastically. “Oh yeah! I remember my big brother and his best friend playing this game when I was younger.” He laughed, nodded again. “Yeah…dang! I don’t think I’ve ever played this.” He looked to her and tilted his head.

“Good choice.” He commended.

[Reggie Earle]

She let out a tiny giggle and shook her head at his answer. "Kidding," she said soon after as she shook her hand a bit. "I'll get a straight answer from you just yet." She looked at him as threateningly as she could before letting out a chuckle. "Just kidding. Okay, I'll believe you."

Reggie smiled when the boy laughed at her comment and nodded at his sort of suggestion. "I should learn to do that. But my dad handles all my accounts, I don't think I want him to know I play violent games." She waved her CD and grinned. "He'd wonder what I was thinking, slaying things in my spare time."

Not noticing the change of palour on the boy, Reggie nodded and turned to the boy at the mention of her alma mater. "Not anymore! I graduated two years ago." She turned with a smile. "I'm living in the dorms at U of V. Although they won't allow boys after hours so you have to come in the mornings or the afternoons." She paused, gnawing at her bottom lip. "We'll have to see, my schedule is mostly open and I only have a few classes in a week so..."

"Really?" She enthused, a big beam on her lips. "It's such a fun game to play! My preference is Crash of the Titans but the first of the series is a pretty solid one too. The graphics still look good on PS2." She nodded as she looked around some more to find anything new. "Thank you," she smiled over her shoulder at RC's compliment.

"I'm Reggie by the way." She extended her hand for a shake with a wide smile.

[RC Manne]

His laughter became a bit more nervous under Reggie’s scrutinizing gaze, but he managed to skirt the subject when she changed it. “Well if it’s a problem you can always raid my collection.” He offered. “Since you’re sharing your Wii like a proper human being and all…I guess I can reciprocate.” Rubbing his palms absently on the sides of his jeans, RC tilted his head. “Is your dad protective?” He asked off-handedly, wondering if that was a weird thing to ask.

Girls were confusing.

RC actually managed to look excited (rather than his default freaked-out look) when she mentioned she’d gone to Hammel. “Really? You are! I mean…you did? I’m there now…I’m a senior.” He rambled, letting the unspoken excitement of meeting another meta bleed out between his words. “I was going to graduate early, but my little brother manifessss---“ he trailed off on the ‘s,’ clearing his throat. No need to talk meta in the town. “My little brother started there too. I decided to stick around to look after him.” He explained slowly, trying to reign in his excitement.

“But anyway…There’s curfew on campus. And I hoof it everywhere. So you wouldn’t have to worry about after-hours.” RC scratched his head again. “I can give you my number and you can just let me know?” He offered, surprised at his boldness, but letting it go nonetheless.

RC blinked, then stuck out his own hand. “Oh! RC. I’m RC.” He introduced, laughing again. Nice work, forgetting to introduce himself. Everything had sort of happened backwards…He’d been invited to her place, offered to exchange numbers, then learned her name. Weird. He kept the shake firm, but short, lest she get weirded out by the sheen of moisture that was pretty much always apparent on his hands.

[Reggie Earle]

"I could!" She exclaimed, squeezing his arm lightly before turning away, completely unaware of her touchy actions. Distractedly, she looked over her shoulder at the teenager's question. "Oh, well not really. Daddy Earle's sorta chill but I don't think he'd take it too well if he thought I was into violence." She chuckled, her fingertips scaling the stack of games in the bins.

Her eyes widened as her smile did when he suddenly grew enthusiastic about her prior attendance in Hammel. "Really? So you're graduating next year? How exciting!" As he continued on speaking about his brother, Reggie giggled a little when his tone lowered. He probably realised, just as she just did, that not everybody was welcoming of meta talk even in Pilot Ridge.

"Aww, what a sweet big brother you are." Reggie tilted her head slightly and beamed at him. His number offer was welcomed as she whipped out her phone and handed it to him. "Just type in your number and I'll do the rest." She smiled, figuring not everybody actually remembered how to use old phones. It's all touch screen here and smart phone there.

"Nice to meet you, RC." Reggie beamed, not really thinking too much about how their meeting was sorta backwards. She moved to the cashier and set her video game on the counter. "Would you like to have a joint receipt? Saves paper and you can pay me back later?" She asked of RC.

[RC Manne]

Now RC was starting to revert back to his old basics. She was handsey. And adorable. Like really adorable. “Makes sense. I…guess I wouldn’t want my baby sister into violence or something.” Was that even comparable? RC had no clue. Also he was starting to lose track of all the siblings he’d mentioned.

Nodding quietly, RC pocketed his hands again. “Yeah. I’m still kinda unsure of what I want to do with my life…so I guess the extra couple semesters will do me good. I might try and take some math classes dual enrolled at the college.” RC rambled, squinting a bit in thought.

RC blushed (which was rather a feat in most cases, given his skin tone) “Sorry. I’m right in the middle. I just love ‘em or something.” He joked, taking her phone after staring at it blankly for a moment. He tapped in his phone number and handed it back. “I’ve got unlimited text. So you’re good to go.”

Having already set his game on the counter when Reggie offered to pay for both. RC blinked at the shorter girl. “Only if you let me like, take you out or something.” He replied in a slightly confused manner. Realizing that he’d basically just asked a strange girl on a date, his eyes widened slightly. “I mean, i-if you’d like to. Of course I’ll pay you back either way.” He added hastily.

Smooth operator, this one is.

[Reggie Earle]

At the mention of a baby sister, Reggie giggled. "You have a big family don't you? That's pretty awesome. I've got my big brother and that's it." She never saw Carter as anything but a big brother and she was proud to introduce him as such. "And yeah, I doubt he'd actually like it if he found my collection." She pressed her palm on her face and shook her head in embarrassment.

"Math. Are you good at Math? I'm horrible at it. But at least I passed enough to graduate so yay me!" she patted herself on the head. "Are you thinking of enrolling in U of V then? I know nothing about the Math department there though, since I got in by the arts." She shrugged.

"Aww, I'm sure they appreciate it!" She smiled sweetly up at him, patting him on his forearm. She took back her phone and saved the number under RC's name before sending him a quick text. "Okay, I've sent you a text. You must call me, kay?" She made him promise, pocketing her phone.

RC asking her out was a surprise, a welcome surprise but a surprise no less. She turned to him, her cheeks heating up. "Um...yes. I'd love to." She couldn't contain her smile as she beamed up at the boy. "I...well, you have my number." She pursed her lips in an attempt to hide her smile but to no avail.

She turned to the cashier, not believing her luck. Cute boy just asked her out, even after seeing her geeking out over games. She paid for the two games, sliding hers into her sling bag and giving the plastic bag to RC. "Um...so," she breathed, not knowing if they should go their separate ways or get coffee now or something. Ew no, she hated coffee.

[RC Manne]

RC nodded, never having a problem talking about him family. “Huge.” He agreed with a little chuckle. “I’m the third of seven. All adopted.” Something else he’d never had a problem with.
“I’ll, uh, show you a picture sometime? We’re quite a motley crew.”

Shrugging sheepishly, RC examined his shoes. “I like math. Well. I like physics. I don’t really mind math, I guess.” He scuffed his chucks against the floor, shrugging again. “I tutor in French. I’d say I’m good at that.” He looked back to her when he mentioned college. “I think U of V, yeah. It’s close to home, and my big sister teachers near by. Seemed like a good choice, y’know? Especially if I can get the swim scholarship.” Chewing his cheek in thought, RC sighed.

“Probably not though, since Hammel never competes or anything. There’s always some like, award requirement.” He wrinkled he nose, then pulled out his phone to check her text. His mouth twitched up into a lopsided smile as he saved the number under name. “Got it.” The
wobbly smile turned almost triumphant when she accepted his offer. “Awesome.” He breathed.

Then he looked at his texts, and his smile fell.

“Aw, crap.” He grunted, looking up apologetically at Reggie. “I forgot. I’m supposed to help Jean—my little brother?—with his science homework.” He took the bag, his expression screaming out the groan that stayed soundless in his chest. “I’ll text you tonight, if we get done early enough?” He offered apologetically.

He hated to say goodbye to her so soon, but he couldn’t leave Jean hanging. After agreeing to text her later, RC awkwardly lingered. Hugging her would be awesome. Really, really awesome.

Instead he offered a shy “It was really cool to meet you Reggie. Can’t wait to see you again.” Before slipping out the door.

It was painfully difficult not to do a victory lap around the town.

[OoC: Wrapped?]