xp_logs | Angelo and Jane

Angelo was sitting alone in the rec room, playing Tomb Raider II. Video games were always more fun with company, but there'd been no one around when he arrived, and he needed the distraction.

Jane had some free time before her next class and she didn't feel like studying, so she was wandering around the mansion trying to find something to do. She poked her head inside the rec room and saw Angelo sitting in front of the television, doing something with an oddly shaped... thing. It had buttons on it and was connected to a box that was connected to the television. "Hey, Angelo! Wha'cha doin'?" She came into the room and sat down next to him.

Angelo glanced up at her with a smile. "Hey, Jane. Just playin' video games."

"Uh huh." She stared at the back of the woman on the screen, who appeared to shooting at huge spiders, then she glanced down at Angelo's hands. "You control her with that?" she asked, pointing at the thing in his hands.

Angelo nodded, giving her as much attention as he could without getting Lara killed. "Yep. You can make her jump, or kick, or run or punch or shoot."

"Neat." Jane sat and watched him for a bit. When the woman on the screen jumped into the water, she was afraid that she was going to drown, but the game woman just swam down a hole and then out. Now she was in a place that was 'outside' with boats and docks and stuff. "What are you supposed to do in this game?"

"It's kind of an adventure", Angelo answered, lowering the controller for a moment since Lara was in a safe place. "The goal at the end is to get the treasure, but on the way you gotta fight enemies an' avoid traps an' solve puzzles. That sort of thing."

"That sounds fun. Can you show me?"

Angelo nodded with a grin. "Sure thing."

Jane gingerly took the controller he handed her. There were four buttons on the right side with shapes on them and four buttons ont the left side without shapes. Angelo explained to her what the buttons did and she tested them out. She made Lara get out of the water and walk around and climb things. She even had Lara get out her guns and shoot at the walls. "Where is this supposed to be, anyway?"

"It's set in Venice", Angelo told her. "Canals an' stuff, see?"

"Okay," she said. She didn't know where Venice was, but now she knew that Venice had canals. "Can you and I both play at the same time? It's not fair of me to take away your game."

Angelo shook his head. "No, this game's single-player. But there are plenty of others." He bent down and started poking through the scatter of cases on the floor. "What sort of thing d'you like?" he asked absently.

"I don't know, this is the first time I've played video games." She looked through the piles of cases. "Um, that one looks interesting," she said, pointing. "Can two players play it?"

Angelo looked to see which one she meant. "Bomberman? Yeah, that one'd work." He picked it up and slotted it into the machine, putting Tomb Raider back into its case.

Jane took kept hold of her controller while Angelo hooked in another one. As the game started up, it played happy music and they watched the opening animation. It looked funny, with people with big heads and funny costumes setting bombs and blowing stuff up. While it was loading and Angelo was setting the options, Jane looked through the instructions so she would know which buttons to press.

Angelo, having set the game to two-player mode, quickly chose a character, opting for Great Bomber, before bringing the screen back up so Jane could do the same.

Jane chose to play Honey, since she had a neat hat. Then it was time to choose where they would play. Angelo let her choose. She picked the one with the trees and they started to play. After clearing a few blocks, she came across an item in her path. It was a little flame with a happy face. Jane stopped her character in front of it uncertainly. "Angelo, what does that do?"

Angelo glanced over at it. "Oh. You wanna pick that up - it makes the flames you throw stretch further."

"Okay." Jane picked it up and set another bomb. Unfortunately, she didn't get away fast enough and so killed herself. "Awww!"

Angelo grinned. "You're doin' pretty good for a beginner. Wanna try another round?"

"Yes!" It was interesting. Who would have ever thought up a game like this? And the next time, she was determined not to kill herself.

Angelo chuckled. "Sure thing". And he cued up the next round, concentrating on the screen.

Jane concentrated on playing. They played several more rounds in several different levels. Jane liked it best when she found an egg. She started screaming "eggy, eggy, eggy!" every time she saw one, bouncing up and down until she got to it and her character was riding on one of the creatures. She heard Angelo laughing at her, but she didn't take her eyes off of the screen. Angelo still won the majority of the games, but she got better at not blowing herself up and won a few herself.

When they completed the last round, Angelo sat back, grinning, and flexed his hands. "You were doin' pretty good there. Learned fast."

"That was fun! I liked it when they tossed the winning character in the air and cheered, especially when it was my character." She grinned at him.

Angelo chuckled. "Yeah, 's always nicer when you get to be the winnin' character."

"Speaking of which, I heard that Amanda chose you to go with her to Los Angeles. I don't think I could throw you up in the air, but I can cheer for you! Or is this a non-cheering event?" She watched him as he put away the games. He'd told her about what had happened to him with his not-really-friends in LA and she was worried about how he'd react to going back.

Angelo paused for a moment in mid-movement, then continued with what he'd been doing, if perhaps with a little more concentration than the task really called for. "Kind of a bit of both, I guess."

"So I can cheer for you while at the same time worrying?" Jane asked, only partly joking.

Angelo nodded, trying to smile. "Sounds about right, yeah."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Angelo shrugged. "It's just me bein' dumb. Everythin's gonna be fine, I know that."

"Knowing something here," she tapped her forehead, "is not the same thing as feeling it here," she said, pointing to her chest right above her heart. "There was a girl at the institution who knew nothing bad would happen to her when she went outside, but she still couldn't bring herself to do it. She'd scream and cry if any tried to make her. And you don't even have that assurance, do you? I mean, something bad did happen to you where you're going, so it's no wonder that you're feeling weird about it!"

Angelo glanced at her, with a faint smile. "Yeah, I guess. It'll be fine."

Jane gave a mental shrug. It seemed like he just didn't really want to talk about it. All she could do was be there for him, then. She got up and gave him a spontaneous hug.

Angelo, used to this by now, hugged her back, smiling more genuinely. "Thanks."