(2018-05-22) Dizzy Ninjas!
Dizzy Ninjas
Summary: Lily, hankering for some group gaming, finds herself stuck with two lovey-dovey technophobes instead.
Date: 2018-05-22
Related: NA
NPCs: NA
Scene Runner: Who ran this scene, NA if no-one or mutual
Players:
lily..oliver..fionnuala..

Billiard Room, Winbarry Estate
Tue May 22, 2018


The Billiard Room has no pool tables. Although someone has made some efforts and there's a few board games and a deck of cards with some books on a shelf along the wall. A half finished puzzle with basset hound puppies takes up one of the tables.

A few small sofas and wingback chairs make conversational areas, throw rugs decorating those little areas. An entertainment center with a TV, Blu-Ray player and a gaming console system has been set up. A pair of French doors lead to the back patio.

===

Lily must have run up to her room as soon as classes where over because its just about 3:30 in the afternoon, she definitely hasn't changed out of her school uniform, and she already has her desktop hooked up to the big TV in the Billiard Room and is starting to log in. She also has a stack of three laptops sitting on the floor next to her corner of the couch

<FS3> Fionnuala rolls Solarkinesis: Success.

Finals are starting to get to Fionnuala. Between that, what happened to Besa, what happened to Ashton (whom she promised Besa she would 'look after') and EVERYTHING… could the ebullient girl be showing some wear-and-tear? She is confident that she will kick solid ass in literature and arts… but the looming finals in anything related to mathematics and the sciences: doom. Doom doom doomity doom.

Thing is, studying for math involves working on problems and mincing numbers and formulas, not reading passages and facts. This sends poor Fee's artistic brain into an absolute tailspin. She left her books in her room and with intent to just decompress for an hour, made her way — still in uniform — to the billiard room. She pauses in the doorway, spies the setup. "Oh..!" Is she interrupting a Thing? The question shows in her eyes: moderately bright today, more of a yellowish tinge to the irises. She hasn't taken in much sun. "What's shaking here?"

Oliver is trying very, very hard not to succumb to 'Senioritis'. He's taken the Driver's Ed class and is pretty much all set to get his license when he has time. It's definitely something new not to have a guardian sign papers for him. He's borrowed a school laptop and has moved it into the Billiard room to escape the stress of the Library and all the cramming going on so that he can try and focus some on filling out an online application. It's slow going as he has to 'hunt and peck' with his clawed fingers and his attention gets pulled first by the setup going on and then by Fee's appearance. The latter gets a sharp-toothed smile and a little wave before he looks back to the laptop screen to try and find his place on the webpage again.

Lily looks over her shoulder and smiles a bit at Fionnuala, then waves at the TV. "I just wanted to play Fortnite on a bigger screen than the one I have in my room." She says this in her typical low-volume voice before waving a hand at the stack of laptops next to her, "I thought other people might want to play too so I brought some spare laptops, just in case." Then she returns her attention to the wireless keyboard and mouse she's set up on the foldable table she placed in front of the couch to start up the game.

As Fee struggles with the motions involved in upgrading herself to Junior status next year, she can only imagine how it feels to be at the jumping-off point for a Senior. Case-in-point Oliver, whose iridescent self Fee's eyes settle upon. Suddenly Fee's Galdalf-vs-Balrog'esque battle against math (in her head) isn't quite so consuming, and she pads over toward the alien boy as he tries to negotiate with a laptop. "Hi Ollie," She says kindly, pressing a kiss into the crown of the boy's dark hair. The gesture is very familiar and easy, signifying that she is both close to this alien student and used to this form as well. "Everything going okay? The heat is on, huh?"

Fee, whose wings are also manifested (sorry the player is a derp), turns now to watch Lily as the other girl responds to her. The setup is given an earnest but mildly confused smile, "What's.. uhm," Blush. She rubs at her chin pensively, feeling out of the loop. "What's Fortnite?" The shifter asks shyly. Nope, she's no gamer.

Oliver moves a hand to touch Fee's when she offers the kiss to the top of his head and glowing blue-green eyes look up at her, "It's going ok. I've at least been assured I'll graduate unless I pretty much botch all my finals," which he won't let happen. "It's just time to start doing the job applications." Since working at the coffee shop alone may not be financially viable. "You? You look a little stressed," for Fee. He then glances over to the other girl and blinks, "Is that a computer game thing?" He doesn't seem to be a technophile either.

Lily slowly turns around to look at the two older students, frankly dumbfounded at the fact that neither of them knows about THE game right now. As the game loads up behind her she tries to explain, "Its a base building, battle-royal game. You have a zombie invasion going on so you have to build a based to protect yourself from the zombies and from all the other players. Its the most popular game out there right now. Tons of people are playing it."

"Of course you'll graduate. You're brilliant." Said firmly as if this is a fact to be known by all; even printed in books. That and Fee is just confident in it. Her hand gives the back of Ollie's head a fond stroke and she's stepping back some, never one to be too crazy with PDA (though Fee, herself, is affectionate) for the sake of being respectful. Fee herself doesn't carry a thing with her, perhaps having anticipated a lonesome viewing of some trashy show on Netflix. She looks back to Ollie at his question, "Yeah.. I'm a bit out of sorts. I hate finals, I really do." She looks down at her fidgeting fingers, "But they're a necessary evil." There's more to it, it shows in her body language, but the girl doesn't want to rain on any parades with so many heavy thoughts. Fionnuala instead smiles reassuringly. "Anything jumping out at you, for work?"

But yes… Fee doesn't know the game and she surmises in Lily's glance that astonishment. Her smile becomes a bit crooked with sheepishness. "Heh! I'm under a rock, I guess… but zombies automatically spice things up. OK if I watch for a bit?" She asks, pulling up a chair to seat herself close to Oliver.

"I'm not brilliant," Ollie admits, "And you'll do great on your finals. If I still have my notes from my other years, I'd lend them to you," but they probably got destroyed by the dinosaurs and subsequent flood. He'll happily make room for Fee next to him and there's a gesture to the screen, "The new vegan restaurant looks promising." He then turns his head to look at Lily and she gets another blink, "I don't really play computer games. Never really had a computer or console to play them on…" so he never let himself try.

Lily's expression clearly says, 'Ummm, ok…" but she doesn't express it verbally. Instead, she smiles a beat late and then nods enthusiastically, "Sure. You're more than welcome to watch. And if you want to play you can grab one of the laptop and I'll get you all set up with an account. They're free, after all." AS a freshman that's not really even taking classes yet because of her mid-year arrival the conversation about graduation is of little interest to her so her focus quickly shifts back to the game log in and character selection.

The winged girl looks unabashedly, openly confused on the whole matter. Now seated, she looks sideward to Oliver, then back to Lily. Back to Ollie, whose offer brightens her eyes, "If you have anything about the mathematics curriculum for 10th year! It's really throwing me… bugger it all, I would be happy to add, subtract, divide and multiply for all my days but then they have to go and throw variables and letters and fractions and…. cripes, the whole dog's breakfast into the mix." Spoken like a true artist! Fionnuala smiles again, "You're busy though.. don't rush. And don't worry if you can't find anything, with how things went on their ear last year and all."

In response to Lily, Fee giggles, "I can watch for a bit, then maybe you can help me out. I can picture zombie heads as math symbols. Then I can go on to be a prodigy!" At least she has a sense of humor about her being back in the stone age, "I can play a mean Gameboy though."

Oliver looks down at the laptop and at his hands at the odd reaction from Lily regarding the lack of computer-game skills. He's quiet and somewhat still for a moment before Fee gets a little smile, "I'll see if I can find anything. If it's Algebra, I might be able to help, but not sure about Geometry. I'm sort of barely remembering what I need for my own class…" but he's going to try and help as best as he can. There's a brief glance to the gaming setup before he looks back to the borrowed computer. "I'm not that busy. I'll look for the notebooks when I'm done with this."

Lily turns back to the game as characters in colorful costumes start falling from the sky towards an island surrounded by deep blue sea. Parachutes open and the characters start drifting apart. Once Lily's character reaches land she starts running around with a pick, destroying everything in sight and gathering up resources she uses to start building up a base. The action is frankly frenetic, especially for anyone not used to video games.

It appears, in this day and age of flashy games and realistic graphics… Fee is better watcher. Her look is akin to a cat following a laser pointer. "H'okay… this isn't Tetris." The girl croaks in a whisper. "It's Algebra," Said sideward to Oliver; Fee has given her demon a name! She leans into him a bit, but not enough to jostle or otherwise inhibit his work with the laptop. "Thanks a lot for even looking. It's going to a great cause. Me passing." Fee grins, before turning her head back toward Lily's cause. Even the networking of these computers to allow for other players just fascinates Fionnuala. "I wouldn't know where to begin." A blink, she perks. "Look at some of these designs! I bet they would be great muse fodder for sculpting!" NOW she's excited! Yup: art nerd.

"If you can pause the screen long enough," Oliver points out before looking back to his own online application. He goes back to hunting and pecking for the keys as he continues to type. He -could- just switch to more human fingers, but that sort of defeats the purpose of getting used to this form and thinking of it as being 'natural'.

<FS3> Lily rolls Mobas: Success.

Lily shakes her head, "Can't pause. There's lots of other player in the game and if you pause you die. Better to look up screen shots online." Suddenly a shot pings off the structure Lily is building in game, her character jumps and spins all in one more, multiple guns flashing through her hands as she goes. She lands already shooting in the direction the shot came while walking sideways and a second late a message pops up to let her know she's eliminated an opposing player. "It takes a little getting used to everything that's going on but its easy to pick up."

"OH! So those aren't…" Fee squints, one wing twitching involuntarily. "So like.." A pause again as she tries to follow. Her loosely braided hair sways and twitches as she manages to catch the action from where she's seated. "The zombies are computer controlled but the people——oh! All those people are others playing this game too! I see! What do they call that…" Deep thoughts here, Fee. She can't be that oblivious can she? She perks, "Sandbox! It's a sandbox game?" OH dear GOD miracles do occur. What echelons of her eccentric mind did she dig THAT one out of?!

Even as the two shapeshifters are yet Lily's present company, surely the sounds will attract the odd curious student or two. Fee looks mesmerized, but the 'plink plink'ing of Ollie's claws on the keys brings her back, she turns to him. "You're doing really well with that typing… did you send in an application to that vegan eatery yet, or are you able to? They're open now, I think?"

Oliver's fingers pause and he blinks to Fee, "That's…the one I'm working on now…?" Didn't he mention that earlier? Maybe he didn't. "At least I know that if I ever have to type anywhere else, it won't be with claws. I don't know how some people do it with long fingernails," as it has to be something similar. There are a couple brief glances to the game on the larger screen but he doesn't watch it for very long.

Lily stops in the middle of building a tower and squints at the TV. Then with an evil little smile she makes her character pull out a sniper rifle out what seems to be thin air and she shoots a character that's almost invisible without the use of the rifle's scope. However, she seems to be able to keep her attention on the game while still following the conversation behind her, "What kind of work are you looking for?"

Then Fee goes and does a random Fee thing, because aren't Fees just good at being random? And no, the player doesn't mean random bills. Those who know Fionnuala know that rarely, very rarely will she curse in English. It takes a great travesty for Fee to drop anything approaching an F-bom.. like schools being overrun by dinosaurs or nearly having a limb blown off. Instead, she will curse in Scots Gaelic. Which she does. The single word, 'dona', simply means 'damn' and the way her voice takes on a different inflection, Fee was speaking another language. She looks to Ollie ruefully, "You did mention. See, math has my mind shot. I'm sorry, Ollie," The girl smiles crookedly. "I can't wait for this all to be over with, and everything else to sort out.. maybe then I'll be able to think straight."

She silences, watches the screen again as Lily poses her question.

Oliver shrugs, "Almost anything that pays decently and will still let me work at the Mug Shot. I don't really want to drop that now that they've trained me how to be a barista. But I don't think I can support myself -and- try and save money with just the one job," especially since he isn't sure they'll put him on the schedule for full-time. Fee gets another smile then, "It's ok. And I'm sure you'll be fine with math…I bet you know more than you think you do." Isn't that always the case with that sort of stuff? "I like the way you think. Don't change it."

Lily nods as she listens to Olive, her eyes still glued to the screen in front of her. She continues to build walls around her tower, from time to time ranging away from it to destroy pieces of scenery to get more resources or to gather weapons and ammo from the supply drops that fall from the sky on parachutes, or to chase down other players that wander too close to her 'territory'. One thing that becomes obvious as she plays is that there's a storm coming closer and closer so her frantic building kind of happens in a zig-zag pattern toward the middle of the map. And then, as she's building a wall the floor disappears from under her in an explosion. Her character falls for a few seconds then splats on the ground, disappearing in a cloud of resources and equipment that is swarmed by other nearby players. Her screen shows a message that she's been eliminated by DizzyN1nja25. "Damn." Turning to Oliver she asks, "Have you check to see if the school has any work?"

"It's the way, to work two jobs… it seems nowadays anyway, at our age and with where we're at." Fee admits thoughtfully, "It's what I'll have to do eventually, too." Said easily, then. Graduation and secondary education are yet a galaxy away and all she can do — to keep her sanity — is focus on the immediate few months. Ollie's vote of confidence and latter words about her thought process has Fee reaching out with an arm to give him a side-hug at the lower back. "Thank you.. even if I just eke by with a passing mark in the maths, I'll be happy. I know where my skills are. Hopefully by next year I can have a bit more freedom to pick and choose classes." She muses. "For now, it's like Da always says… if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullsh…. poop."

Sounds like an Ailbeart Reid mantra.

She's watching Lily's progress and eventual descent into being clobbered by a dizzy ninja (c_c) and she just.. can't help but wince. The other player could've have a much more nefarious name.. but ninjas… can be dangerous? Even dizzy ones apparently.

"Considering I'll be graduating and they'll probably want to keep those school jobs for the students who need work, I haven't really bothered. I worked for the school while I was going here, so they know what's going on. Besides, shouldn't we go out and experience more than just being sheltered here? Or…the new building…" whenever they move there. Oliver smiles at Fee's hug, "I know you'll do better than fine, but I'll try to help if I can. It's a good saying though…" he'll have to remember that if he gets in a pickle.

Lily doesn't say much more about jobs since she's in a bad place to comment. She has one, and has had one since she was 6. One that pays better than most adults with higher education degrees get paid now a days. Instead she focuses back on the game, which has now shifted to spectator mode, letting her see what's happening with the last 5 players, since she was one of 6 when she went down. After a few minutes of watching she does think about one job related thing, "How good are you at doing voices? Any good at impersonations and such?"

The shifter seems to really glow — literally — with Ollie's praise. Sure she's not packing much solar energy, but what she does wield is trickling and sparking amidst her feathers like tiny warm will-o'-wisps. "You're really just too sweet. I'm really just gonna do my best and see where I end up. I should be updating my resume next year, though… I haven't since I got hired on with Ruthie and, uh.. she really didn't require a resume." Fionnuala rubs the back of her neck. "So what I do have hasn't been touched since I was about… fourteen, maybe going on fifteen." Cough. Outdated.

She is quiet to allow for Lily's question and as the other girl focuses on her game for a bit, Fee turns back to Ollie. She looks as if she has a question but is biting back on it in order to be proper. It could be what's been eating at her beyond finals, beyond friends dying and being abducted… it has been for awhile. "I need to be getting into town in awhile.. I want to get some flowers for Ma. She's been having a tough go with some things so I think Algebra can wait patiently for me."

There's another blink at Lily's question and he does a 'take' to Fee before shifting into a female, human form with curly blue hair, "Uh, yeah. And I guess it depends on who I'm trying to impersonate? Why?" There's a shift back to the alien form and he offers to Fee, "Do you want to get a new job? What would Ruthie do without you?" His smile fades some when she mentions her mother's having a rough time, "Is there anything I can do to help? And what is it?" Maybe he knows her well enough by now to read that querying look on her face.

Testament to how accustomed Fee is to Ollie's ways: the shift from alien to blue-haired girl barely has her batting an eyelash. No, not out of boredom or in 'been there done that' sort of way; she appreciates the boy-sometimes-girl's ways and is just straight-up comfortable with them. Fee smiles as she watches and waits patiently throughout the brief demonstration. "No, I couldn't leave Ruthie.. not now. I'm staying on but she can't give me full time. I will have to find something to supplement it, in my Junior year. Even just a day a week. Ruthie has been great and flexible… I may have to start flying into Thunder Bay if I get really desperate."

She looks down at her knees at mention of her Mom. "She's fine overall, just sad. They don't let on much but they had trouble getting pregnant with me. Ma wants another baby, she's still young enough, but it's been harder for her to catch." Fee blushes at such an achingly adult topic. She's undoubtedly mentioned to Ollie her own fierce desire to be an older sister. "I really feel bad for her. It's something that we can't do much with, other than to reassure her. They're not above adoption but it's such a long process, too."

"Could you work at your dad's restaurant? Maybe as a hostess?" Easy to get and easy to do? Maybe? Oliver has thought about asking her father about a job but he's not quite there yet. "The Mugshot might be hiring by then too…" and he can certainly put in a good word for her. Oliver quiets as Fee mentions why her mother's down and his expression turns a little more sober. After a moment of silence he offers, "I know it takes a long time, but…maybe I'm biased…but there are kids out there who need loving parents and a steady, solid home life."

"I might lose my marbles working there, but I should consider myself lucky to have to opportunity. I'm not putting it past myself." Fionnuala remarks of working for her father. Don't let the man's mannerisms at home fool you: at work, he's nearly prodigal in his ability to cook and take command! Fionnuala wonders if that would be a good or bad thing to be around. c.c

She reaches out to touch Ollie's shoulder at the sobering of his tone, "Don't worry though, or feel bad. If it's meant to happen, it will.. if not, there are other ways. Adoption, for sure. Some kid would be so lucky to find their way into our family, but then we'd be the lucky ones, wouldn't we?" She asks as she taps her chin. "I just hope it doesn't take my folks too long to decide that route.. or get discouraged." Those who know the Reids well would know, however, that being discouraged isn't a frequent thing with their lot. Eccentric and persistent! Fionnuala stands up and stretches slowly, wings quivering.

She smiles at Ollie, "I had better get a lick and a promise in at the books before I go into town. We can watch a movie later on, if you're up?"

"Any kid would be lucky to be in your family," and whether they'd be the lucky ones…he can't answe5r that. Oliver reaches out to take her hand briefly and give it an affectionate squeeze, "Things happen for a reason and I know that you guys will figure things out. Let me know if there's anything I can do." He gives another little smile, "And I bet your dad would love having you there…even if he didn't always show it." He'll let her go, however, "A movie would be nice, and I'll look for that math stuff. If I have it, it's yours."

"You are beautiful," Fee says, not for the first time and definitely not for the last. She leans forward to give Ollie a not-too-chaste-but-not-too-showy kiss to the mouth, even in his alien form. Being used to it, she takes the care that is necessary, even pressing that kiss to the corner of his mouth. It all gets the point across. Then of course there's the squeezing of her hand, which she returns. "Thanks for everything, Ollie. I know deep down that it'll all work out as it should, and someday be okay. You'll be kept in the loop every step of the way."

Reluctantly she must let him go, and she turns to wave a fond goodbye to Lily as well. "Thanks for letting me watch! Don't get killed by anymore dizzy ninjas!" Said with pure innocence, and with a flourish the shifter girl pads out of the billiard room, sunlight sparkling dimly in her wake.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License