Innocent gaming? [Irazehl/Nella]

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Nella was once a regular to a local arcade, named Gunther's Arcade. Unassuming really, at first. Not many customers, but enough to keep it from bankrupting itself out. It had its regulars though, the brown haired, green eyed wiz at the arcade games, was one, until she suddenly up and left, not a word to the owner whom she got along with, or any of the workers about moving. Nor to her friend, Irazehl, whom played with her, or against her, or simply near her, in their favourite Arcade. They'd probably get an influx of thrill seekers, if it was advertised the villaionous Blacklist played games here once upon a time.

However, the familiar small figure of the girl came in, the small ding announcing the rare gamer that came with a small bag of coins. It was Rena, of course, but disguised as what she had so originally named, (Cara)Nella. A glance told her the one worker was busy with a phone, someone she didn't know. She supposed it was too much to hope for, that she could see the gamer boy she'd grown fond of over their times spent pushing quarters into these machines. Or, though he wouldn't know, the times they fought, Blacklist versus Green, Villain against Hero. "Change for 20?" she asked, laying the crisp bill on the counter.

Greeted with actual work, the employee sighed, and popped the register open, giving her 2 rolls of 40 quarters each, matching the 20 dollars. "Is that all, miss?" it was almost forced from the teenaged worker, but luckily, Nella posed little threat to his clearly tight schedule. She had already flipped out her phone. Literally, as she used a flip phone, not finding much need in the newer, more expensive ones. Rena, and therefore Nella preferred cheap flip phones, never had to use real information involving them, for one, and there was no gps installed to track you straight down.

There were few numbers saved in there. An out-of-business pizza place that she had enjoyed. The number of a Doctor that still worked, an unconventional one that was known as the Surgeon of Death, that practiced various forms of surgery, and medicine, and took on villains and runaways alike, treating wounds, and giving new faces to those that need to hide, for a hefty price that is. And Irazehl... The number still worked even after a time, though last time she used it, was before she knew Irazehl was Nightshade. She hit the talk button, and it took a short time for it to move to voice mail, he never answered back then, now she knew the reason behind it.

"Hey Irazehl, It's me, Nella." she into it, moving away from the louder machines, doing her best to keep her voice calm, which was a hard thing lately for Rena to do. "I'm down at the Gunther's. My treat?" she asked, and hung up in the voice mail. He'll show up, or he wouldn't. But she really hoped he would. In the meantime, Nella moved outside, sitting on the curb.

It was a hot day out really, and she could feel the small beads threatening to form on her forehead, but wouldn't reach up to wipe them away. Currently she word a pair of shorts, and legs bare, skipping socks, and using sandals to stave off the heat in part. A sweatshirt adorned her top, and she gently tugged the sleeve down to its proper place at her wrist. Rena wore bandages, covering her entire right arm and shoulder, her alter-ego Nella, was little different, though was a bit less conspicuous, than full bandages, even if a bit odd in the heat. A full length sweatshirt covered her arm in the stead. "Maybe not?" she wondered aloud softly.

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Atop the brick buildings of mainstreet, almost gliding over the rooftops, was a shadow. If one had a bit of luck and knew where to look, they might catch of glimpse of the dark blue guy of nightshade as he made his rounds. Behind the hood and cloth mask was Irazehl, average joe extraordinaire who happened to be bored out of his wits. Nightshade sat on the edge of the two story building, throwing pebbles at the cars that passed on the street below. He was filled with a small bit of joy with each ding they made on the roof of the passing vehicles. Another point.

Absolutely no mentionable crime tonight. Pity, Irazehl thought. It was a strange thing to want to hear the soothing sounds of sirens, screams or even gunshots ring out through the night air. It was a bit too much to ask, Irazehl thought, for a super villain to make his or her move. Not entirely impossible, seeing as Blacklist was back in town.

*bzzzzz bzzzzzzz bzzzzz*
Speak of the devil.

Grabbing in the darkness for his TT communicator, Irazehls excitment was quickly dashed, It was coming from his cell phone. It wasnt blacklist at all, it was the mundane Nella leaving a message. Knowing his phone was supposed to be off when he was on patrol, he flipped the low end 'dumb' phone open with his thumb.

Hearing her voice made him smile a bit. Pressing '7' to dismiss the message, he sent a text back.
"sounds great- be there in a few"

If he was caught playing hooky he'd never hear the end of it, but he wasn't completely abandoning his job. sticking his communicator in his backpack, which had been safely stored high on the clocktower, he changed using its shadow for privacy on the top of a diner before discreetly making his way down to street level.

Irazehl all but kicked open the door of the arcade triumphantly before pointing at Nella almost accusingly.
"Five bucks says I kick your ass at mortal combat" Irazehl said with a smile, stepping inside. He had been practicing the entire time she was gone and was sure he could finally beat her.
Irazehls plaid shirt glowed in cool patterns underneath the blacklights that lit the place at night. The exposed white threads in the rips of Irazehls jeans tempted the eyes to look down. Luckily, after having the scar on his lower right arm faded by a healer in the city, he rolled his sleeves up to the elbow with confidence. He threw his backback, containing his 'work clothes' and TT communicator at the feet end of his favorite pinball machine.

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Nella rose to her feet, pushing off the ground with her left hand. Okay, so he was coming, it didn't think to her to actually turn on any sort of indication on her phone. It was either annoying ring tone, or completely silent. She chose the latter unless she actually needed to wait for a reply, which was usually never.

Excitable, happy, and competitive. She felt the smile twitching at her lips, different from her smirk as a Blacklist. There wasn't a dangerous game behind it, well unless you count Fox News' coverage of how gaming turned kids killer. Irazehl was always something that ate up her time in the past, as she wasn't out there every day messing with the city. This had been how she'd caught her breath, dealing with fun, that didn't exactly hang on the point of a dagger, or the spray of a bullet. Who knew before, that it was the same Hero as the boy that she fought with.

He came from nowhere, a lot, and now she knew why. Of course Irazehl would have the skills to pop up from thin air. It didn't matter if he was currently wearing a mask or not. Nella had found out the hard way, assuming there was an easy way to find out your 'normal' friend was in fact the Dark Hero of Jump City, not just some gamer boy that went to the same arcade as her. "hm... Taking on my specialty?" she affirmed he had said right, her tone playful. The game was on, and he may have just lost the draw.

Before he could answer though, she tossed the roll of quarters at him in her left hand, arcing it high. "You're on, just don't cry when I win." she declared, though she didn't let her wavering confidence show. While she knew he stalked the streets, she also knew he played games quite a bit, or at least had. Over the last couple years, she hadn't played a single game, though she might be able to relate to this one in particular.

With a gentle shake of her head, Nella banished certain images from her mind, turning away going to the machine, their faithfully, well used but still running, Mortal Kombat arcade machine. She won't run away again. Well 'Run Away' is what she'd call it, the lie of her moving off for familial problems was already cooked up in her head, after all, she did have a northern accent and that was pretty far.

Nella kept a watchful eye to her soontobe opponent, unwrapping her roll of quarters. She placed a few on the screen, in that handy little 'dip' between the actual screen and the casing that held the whole game. Tuled as a sort of 'line' on more popular games, or a universal symbol of you plan to keep playing. In any case, it was just plain easier to pick a quarter from there, rather than from a pocket.

Kaos would be disappointed in her, she could hear his voice in her head now, just imagining what he'd say. Probably a patronizing chuckle, you can barely speak, Blacklist. Pathetic. "Hey Irazehl?" she half asked, goaded by her imaginary Kaos. "It's good to see you again." Had her green contacts always been so bothersome? She looked away, watching a scene play out on MK while they prepared the quarters.

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Irazehl stepped up to the machine with confidence, a bit of bounce in his usually lazy step. Irazehl was quite pleased with his scheme. If he won he could always just let her pay the entire night without guilt; if he lost he could give her a fiver and yet again not feel bad. A win-win way out of the social conundrum of not wanting her to pay for his company when she could have gotten it for free.

Irazehl, like Nella, had turned to video games for a sort of escapism. Living and clashing about a conflicted world gave a certain charm to the fake senseless violence that flashed across the screen.

"Taking on my specialty?"
Irazehl pulled the plain black bandanna that had been hanging from his back pocket and promptly turned it into a headband, which then served to hold the blonde hair out of his eyes. With his game face on, he gave back an intense stare right back like a 8 year old taking a game of marbles way too seriously as his hand shot up to catch the roll of quarters.
"You're on, just don't cry when I win."

"Bitch, you don't have enough badges to train me" Irazehl said dropping the act with a chuckle. He hoped she would remember the inside joke or else that might actually be pretty offensive. It had been such a long time since they had hung out on the regular and any attempt by the disgruntled young adult to find out why was returned with more questions and unanswered texts.
Still, at the end of the day he was just happy to have his friend back, as made evidenced by the small smile forming on his lips.

"Hey Irazehl? It's good to see you again."

Irazehl wasn't surprised to hear that was the case; rather, he was surprised that she would say so out loud. It wasn't like her to be so straight forward and genuine. Just as Irazehl was piecing together a response he turned to look her in the eye, only to find himself gazing at her ear as she focused intently on the machine in front of her.

"Haha, you can see me any time you like" Irazehl said weakly. DAMN, he never was good at flirting with girls he liked. Resisting the urge to place his foot tenderly into his own mouth, he placed his attention on moving the P2 square over scorpion feigning confidence.

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She smiled, hearing the reference to a game. She'd never gotten big into it herself, but it was easily quotable, from the various jokes about it. A healthy reminder, really, despite being called a bitch. That was in just good humour at least, though she was sure many thought Blacklist to be a bitch. "Got all 8," she declared.

Rena, and Green, had both used a certain amount of guile when talking to each other. That held true, when it came to Nella and Irazehl. It had been Irazehl, whom slipped first, showing his true face to Blacklist at the graveyard, even if it was possible he thought he had been talking to a ghost, or apparition. After all, he had been one of those present on the day they found her body.

As such, it was rather rare one would be so forward with another, as Rena was to admitting that she missed Irazehl. "Really?" she asked, hovering her cursor over Raiden, though she switched away after shutting her eyes for a moment. A lapse in composure, surely. When she'd reopened them, she had already switched to Sub-Zero, securing the character for herself.

She barely even feigned the confidence, stealing glances towards him, whenever she had the chance that she didn't think he'd notice. Hard to do, even with precognition, when she wasn't sure if she wanted to meet his eyes, or not. She still felt the hand on her shoulder, when he had tried, in vain in the end, to comfort Rena. Her confidence, in game, was low as well, after all, Irazehl was a good player, very good. And well, she had other business, besides video games, classic or non.

"So..." She began, eyes flicking towards him, her heart hitting against her ribs. It was an awful feeling, but also good. Nervousness, she declared. It was a much different sort of anxiety, than she was used to. Rena didn't really know how to deal with it, and so, like she often did when she was overwhelmed, threw caution to the wind. "Even like... on a date then?" she asked, her eyes behind their green lenses stared at him. Would Gauge, the great hero, even be interested in some nobody girl? One of the few times in her life, she wished she had a fuller figure... THen at least she'd have a heavier physical attraction.

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Irazehl was actually a bit relaxed, popping his knuckles one at a time shamelessly and with a possible but unintentional intimidating effect. He was only half listening to Rena, instead focusing on the countdown timer to the games beginning. To be honest, his queer intent on the game was to prevent himself from doing something awkward. He felt vulnerable around Nella, in a most familiar way. In the same way that a worthy opponent may put him on edge where one slip up could mean taking a bullet, one slip up around Nella could easily give him away and if the feeling wasn't mutual it could ruin their friendship.

Was this what it was like to be a normal person? It was exhilarating. Then again, that's what he was really doing after all- pretending to be normal. When most of his peers were busy putting on masks to become superheros he had put on a metaphorical mask to become more mundane. A chance at a normal life away from the world of Teen Titans he had carelessly immersed himself in. Here, in the arcade he could finally just -

"Even like... on a date then?"

Had Irazehl been drinking something it would be all over the screen of the arcade game. Not like he would follow rules but he respected the owners enough to abide by the no beverages rule, which now was lucky. He hadn't expected her to be so... forward. Masking his surprise, he knew he had to give an answer just as straight forward while still being able to abort the notion, writing it off as a bad joke in the case that she was joking.

"Of course! What did you think this was?" He quiped, catching her eye as she snuck a peek at him he gave her a wink. Irazehl silently did a mental fist pump; nailed it. Without looking away from her gaze he pressed right twice and right kick button.

Scorpion sent a flying high kick at the possibly distracted sub-zero player. It was cheap, cunning, and perhaps a bit inapropriate for the situation. But Irazehl was competitive; very competitive. Little did he know, such a strategy may not work on someone who already knew about it 5 seconds ago.


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Notes: a bit of a short post but reads like gold to me
Words: 390

[Deleted]

Had Rena been drinking? WEll, maybe a bit, and even the smell of a bit of punch could be loose between her lips at the moment, as she'd gotten into a bit of the nectar last night. The keys should be taken away from her, but she wasn't beligerent, and she hadn't exactly drove here... or walked. She had used her own means of transportation, the means of which broke a few laws, and not societal laws at that.

Of course! What did you think this was?

What a dork... she thought, though smiled at him. Rena decided she probably shouldn't answer that. Humouring some pathetic girl like her? Would that mean she just called him pathetic?

Hugh! The audio from the game confirmed the hit, and Rena, Nella, broke eye contact. "Ah what, low blow!" she said turning to the game, and went on the defensive. Down, forward, low punch, and Subzero launched out his freeze ray to the similarly dressed, but differently coloured scorpion.

"So maybe... after we can... do something?" she asked, all traction gone, not really sure where to go from here. He said yes, or at least tried to seem on top of it. She knew he wasn't, but that was okay, neither was she. She had imagined it a few times, dating Irazehl, dating Green. The latter was an impossibility, as long as she was Blacklist. A semi-normal life with Irazehl, she wouldn't care if he had to do his hero thing. Maybe she could just live as Nella, now?

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The faint smell of alcohol had a grip on Irazehls nostrils, present most clearly whenever Nella was speaking, and he felt a little bad to determine that she may have been drinking. Not far too odd, for it was the weekend after all. He quickly dismissed his guilt remembering the flask full of Irish cream in his bag. Still he couldn't help but feel like if he won, he wouldn't consider it a proper victory. Socially he didn't feel like he actually had that much of an advantage. two or three shots ago, maybe, but what on earth would she want with just some loser nobody boy? He dismissed these thoughts; it was the normal reaction, they were probably thinking something similar. He felt like he was betraying his own instincts however. True he had it bad for blacklist, and it was time he admitted it, but Nella seemed a bit more within his reach. Realistic, comfortable.

Irazehl returned his attention to the game, recognizing his adversary performing the combo for the freeze ray. He had been caught one too many times by the attack to not recognize it. Up scroll right block button up- teleport was the perfect counter. Having just practiced the combo during her abscence he had to take his time to get the combo right. As scorpion just disappeared, the freeze ray seemed to hit the remaining hitbox and he took damage anyways.

"Ah, bull!" Irazehl exclaimed though he didn't pause to debate the games logic, instead trying to perform the two button grapple now from behind his target to prevent the coming counter attack.

He seemed a bit distracted, which may work to portray aloofness as Nella seemed to nervously press him to his intentions.
"YES. You. Me. Some espresso and a Hookah bar. The city. The stars. Let's do it." He rattled it off confidently, as if he couldn't be more clear. He clearly had no intention of 'pussy-footing' the concept.

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Words: Shamefully short
Notes: Dont be a wuss
Tagged: Shei

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Had Nella been too forward? She had put him on the spot in a way, asking him on the date like that. But he had said that this was as well, so she decided not to try and look too far into it. Just revel in the moment and the chance. And of course, kick his butt in mortal kombat.

"No bull to it!" She replied, turning her own attentions back to the game. Possible dates being pushed from her mind. Dig in and deep, right? No regrets, and so far, Nella had very few regrets even concerning some of her past deeds towards those once close to her.

"Oh man, it's been years since I've had espresso!" Nella said. THough she didn't exactly know what Hookah was. She did know what bar meant though, and she also knew most bars had a sort of pop. She learned her lesson once already, on the whole alcohol thing. And while it didn't scare her off entirely from the nectar, presently obvious from her night before. She would certainly make a great attempt to not attack the nearest bottle at the bar.

Probably easy when it came to a bar and her situation. It wasn't the hardest to keep from drinking for Nella, something about a fake wig, and eye lenses, even convincing ones. She would bring it up to Zachary later, she doubted he would have any problems with helping on that. After all, she was pretty sure she was old enough to go to a bar, and it's not like the good doctor was exactly a law-abiding citizen.

"Come on, that the best you can do?" Nella asked, though a bit strained. The attack hit, and her hand slipped on the joystick. Rusty she was, since she hadn't touched a video game in a long time, and futuresight could only do so much against someone who'd been practicing their delicate little hands off to win.