xp_logs | Dani & Angelo, Dani & Shiro, DDR

Danielle and Angelo talk while watching the Dance Dance Revolution competition craze. They are entirely too amused by it.

Angelo was sprawled out on one of the couches in the rec room, watching the Dance Dance Revolution tournament with amusement. He'd even brought popcorn.

Being drawn by the noise, Danielle wandered in cautiously, wondering what was happening. Everything felt okay, so she was going to risk joining in. "Mind?" she asked, indicating the open seat on the couch.

Angelo looked up at her with a grin, shifting his feet to make more space. "Nah, go ahead. I'm Angelo, good to meet you in person."

"Danielle," she replied, smiling. The loud music and crowd of people around the TV seemed odd as they stomped around on the pads in socks, "What's that?"

"Dance Dance Revolution", he answered. "It's a dancing competition game thing."

Nodding slowly, she watched the people stomping along to the music, "Okay..." she replied, clearly Not Getting it. "Why aren't you playing then?"

"Because I'm havin' more fun watchin' them play", he answered cheerfully.

"Good point," she agreed, settling back to watch, the dancers had changed when the song stopped, providing a momemtary lull in noise, "It is so weird."

"Shiro says people play this for hours at a time in the arcades in Tokyo", Angelo mused. "Which is just... strange."

"Very," she agreed, wondering what kind of person would do that. "Obviously someone with more money than common sense," she answered her own question.

"So how're you settlin' in?" Angelo asked.

"Pretty good, I have to go to classes now," she rolled her eyes, "Which means homework."

"Ah, the classes aren't so bad", he answered easily. "Interestin', most of them."

She shrugged, "Then you've got different classes than me. They aren't bad, just a lot of work," she was complaining to be cranky more than anything, half her classes she liked and the others she could tolerate. There was even a break in the middle so she could rest or do homework. "It's different."

"I guess if you're not used to it, yeah. I wasn't so much when I got here, but that's been over a year now."

"That long? Where you from anyways?" she asked, curious. "I didn't think there was any school like this or nothing."

"I'm from LA. Not goin' back, though. I don't think there is another one like this."

Nodding again, Dani turned to watch the dancing for a minute, "Can I have a bite?" she asked, nodding at his popcorn. Normally, she avoided foods like that, but it smelled good.

He nodded with a smile, snagging another handful then holding out the carton. "Sure."

"Sorry," she apologized, taking a handful, "I'm not hungry until I see food. Then I want it all."

"Not a problem. Eatin' for two now, an' all."

"Yeah, yeah," her eyes narrowed for a moment, "I'm just not used to snacking. Or wanting junk food. I don't normally eat it."

He shrugged. "Gotta go with what the baby wants, I figure. Could be weirder."

"I'm sure it will be eventually," she replied, getting up. "Well, I'd better go finish my homework."

"Aw, you can't stay a little bit longer?"

"Maybe a few minutes," she agreed, sitting back down. Watching everyone jump around was amusing.

After everyone leaves for the night, Danielle heads back to look at DDR some more and Shiro shows her how to play it. They DDR.

Finishing her homework, Danielle headed back into the common room to see if anyone was still playing that game...Dance Dance something. She'd spent longer there than she'd intended earlier, but it was fun to watch. No one was around anymore, but she picked up a paper explaining how to play and whatnot.

Shiro had spent a good part of the day spectating as well, and had even been inspired for the final piece of art for his college portfolio. He had worked on it after dinner, but an hour or two of work left him hungry again. Making a note to thank Lorna for cooking like crazy, he took his re-heated leftovers (from the oven, of course, not the microwave) and went to the rec room to watch TV as he ate. He was a bit surprised to see someone else there. "Oh, sorry. I did not mean to interrupt."

Danielle turned around, startled, "Oh, no, I was just looking, I mean..." she gestured randomly, "I don't know how to even turn it on."

"Press that button with the triangle on it to open the disc tray," he said, pointing at the PS2. "The game is in the box over on the shelf there. You just need to put it in, press that button again to close the tray, and then press the button on top of it."

"You play?" she asked, following the instructions, nothing seemed to happen. "Um...What's your name?"

"You have to turn on the TV first," Shiro said, and put his plate down on the coffee table to do it for her. "And no, my skills at this game are sorely lacking. I am Shiro. You are Danielle, correct?"

"Yes," she laughed, covering up her embarassment, "Oops. We never had a fancy TV like that. Or a game system."

Taking a seat on the couch, Shiro waved off her concern. "Do not worry. We all have differing levels of technological know-how here. Even the really smart of us, like Doug, do not know how to program the VCR."

"I don't think anybody can program the VCR," she agreed, turning the volume down on the TV, "So...you want to try?"

"It will be the ultimate test of Forge's prowess if he can do it without breaking anything." He took a bite of his snack and looked up at Dani. "Well, I take it that you are a beginner, so my pride will not suffer such a horrid blow if we play. I am decent, but certainly nowhere near the level of some of the people this afternoon."

"They have too much time on their hands!" Dani laughed, remembering Manuel and Jubilee's competition, "It looks like fun. Maybe one try?"

"One round cannot hurt." Shiro put down his plate, kicked off his shoes, and joined Dani in the cleared space for the mats. "Do you remember how to choose your game settings?"

She looked at him blankly, "Choose what?" she repeated, pulling her socks off. "I don't know..."

"I'll do it." A few taps on the mat, and an easy game was selected. "The game is ready for you whenever you are ready for it."

"So I just move like the arrows point?" she double checked, it was what everyone else had been doing.

"Right. Step on the arrows on the mat when they reach the top of the screen." Shiro brushed some hair away from his face and got into a ready position. "It is more difficult than it looks."

"Okay..." she agreed and the music started. It was much harder than it had looked. After a few minutes the song ended, the words FAILED, coming up on her side of the screen. "How do they do it?" she asked, panting slightly.

"You should see people in Tokyo who play this," Shiro said, and then shook his head. "No, they do not play it, they devote their lives to this game. They are very highly coordinated, I suppose. Maybe it's a mutant power."

"Don't they have jobs or anything?" she asked, the music for the second song coming on and she started to bounce.

"They are mostly students," Shiro explained, quickly tapping the proper combination. He swore when he missed one step. "They go to the arcades after school, or sometimes during school, and waste their allowance on this game."

Danielle shook her head, unable to imagine having the money to waste on games like this, without even buying them. Again, the words FAILED appeared on her screen, "Forget this," she panted, sweating. Without thinking she lifted the hem of her shirt to wipe her face. "I'm no good."

Shiro tried to hide the faint blush that crept up on his face with a chuckle. "I prefer my video games to be more of the violent variety."

"I've never played any video games," she replied, "Well, I guess this one. The TV didn't always work."

Taking a seat again, Shiro resumed with his snack. "You are Indian, correct? I mean, American Indian, or whatever it is they call the peoples whom the Americans exterminated."

"Right, Cheyenne," she replied, pleased that he had the correct meaning, even if he had phrased it awkwardly, "And you are Chinese?"

Shiro reminded himself that Dani was a poorly educated, and that few Americans, Indian or White, were able to differentiate East Asian peoples, even though it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain. And then he remembered that most Americans were not even halfbrains. "Japanese, actually," he corrected darkly.

"Sorry!" she corrected quickly, understanding, "I keep getting told things about people I havne't met and forgetting them, so many people here, ain't it?"

Shiro just grunted as he took another mouthful. He would let it pass this time. "We are a regular melting pot here. One big fucking rainbow, really."

Snorting softly, she looked at the DDR pad, "Right. Only if you're colorblind."

Shiro gave Dani a lookover as he finished up his meal. She was kind of pretty, although pregnancy was obviously starting to have its way with her. And she seemed to be resisting assimilation to the laidback yet uptight way of life so many of his peers and teachers had. And that was admirable. "How is the culture clash going for you?"

Smiling, she couldn't help but chuckle a little, "There's a rez story, probably so old you're the only one who doesn't know it. This boy is leaving the rez for the first time, he's a teenager and as he's getting on the bus, the driver asks for his passport. He boy is confused, he says he's American, from the reservation. And the driver says no, he may be American, but it's a whole different country off the rez."

Shiro smiled and nodded. That sounded a lot like passing the border in Hokkaido between proper Japan and Ainu territory; it was that different. "Land of the free, home of the brave, and headquarters of the intolerant. Welcome to White America."

"Ain't that a song?" she asked, trying to remember, she could've sworn she'd heard it before, "Oh well. Like it or not, we're living in their world."

"It should be if it is not," Shiro agreed. He decided he liked her. Finally, someone he could share certain sentiments with. Bonding over mutual disgust for American food with Marie-Ange just wasn't as significant. "Yes, we are. You know, when I was young, I used to dream about attacking this country. When my powers first manifested, I thought about flying here and destroying the Capitol building."

"But you didn't," it was a statement, not a question.

Shiro almost smiled nostalgically. Things were so much simpler back when he was a child. "As personally satisfying as that may have been, no, I did not."

"Thank you," Danielle said, looking at him. Surprisingly, she had not yet tried to steal a bite of food, "This land...it was my people's before the whiteman came. I would be very sad if you destroyed it."

"No, I would not have destroyed the land, just the institutions and establishments. As angry as I had been at the American people, it was their government and their leaders that needed a lesson taught."

"And what of the people then? The ones who tried to do good and go about their lives? My grandfather, he fought for America, to defend it. Because even though we disagreed with the people in charge, it is still our land," unable to resist, she reached over and spiked the last bite with his fork. "I'm sure your government is not always perfect all the time."

"Hey!" Shiro protested. That was his lasagna. "I was twelve. I was not thinking much beyond blowing things up for the fun of it. I will grant you that Koizumi is as much of a jackass as other politicians, but at least he would never consider as horrid a bill as the Mutant Registration Act that Senator Kelly promoted."

"It's passed before," she said quietly, "Registration. I'm registered, Cheyenne."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "You have to register? For what, to live?"

She shook her head, "Government money. Scholarships if you're lucky. Things like that. Reservations are supposed to be like little countries, independent. There ain't jobs, there ain't nothing, though."

Shiro scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Nice," he replied sarcastically. "Aren't you supposed to have a casino? I thought that was part of the deal."

"Not all Ind'ans have casinos. Oklahoma isn't exactly a gambling mecca. You're thinking Arizona." She was marginally surprised he knew that stereotype, "and I left my scalp collection at home too."

"What a shame. That would have looked lovely over by the mantle." Shiro glaned at his watch and nearly boggled at the time. "Damn. I have early classes tomorrow, and I still have not yet completed my homework. I should return to that."

Danielle followed his gaze, shocked, "I should to go to sleep. See you tomorrow!"