13989/Full-Contact Sports

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Full-Contact Sports
Date of Scene: 28 January 2023
Location: Main Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis: Vic makes sandwiches and plays video games.  Kaida steals sandwiches!  Kían ponders new qihár rules and Terry has the best thighs.  Another day in Titans Tower.
Cast of Characters: Victor Stone, Kian, Kaida Connolly, Terry O'Neil




Victor Stone has posed:
    Late January always drags a little.  The holidays are over, there's way fewer football games to watch, there's a whole new year to contend with—and the Titans are ten years old this year.  It's enough to make a former teen superhero feel positively ancient.  Not that Vic does, really, but he's decided to pre-emptively beat back any post-holiday blues by building himself a giant sandwich or two and sit down with a video game.  A really hard one like Elden Ring, challenge himself.
    Of course, in Titans Tower attempts to simply make a sandwich (or two) and play a video game aren't likely to last.  Who knows what shenanigans might be gotten up to while there's cheese sitting out for just anyone to take?

Kian has posed:
    Also, it's cold outside, which is not conducive to flying, especially when the wind chill is up and it cuts right through Kían's infrared cocoon.
    What, wear more than sandals, kilt and maybe a vest?  Heresy!  It's more sensible to move the Tower to a warmer climate.
    But that's probably not going to happen.
    But if the Titans ever open a remote office in Arizona or Key West, the bird will be a ready volunteer.
    So instead he's indoors, flitting out of the elevator shaft and alighting at the refrigerator.  Time for purple sugar water.  Noise from the gaming center catches his attention, and he flits over, touching down on the back of the couch without spilling a drop of his drink.  "Kié, Vic!"
    He watches the screen.  "Ah.  Another game I won't understand," he comments with a snicker.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
    "Pfft! This one is easy to understand!"  Nom nom nom  "You go to a place."  Nom  "And then someone beats you to death."  Nom nom  "And then you go again."  Gulp nom  "And you get beaten again."  Smack nom  "And eventually you figure it out and go to another area to get beaten at."
    Kaida is sitting where over half the cheese was, holding a piece of cheese of what is left of the cheese and looking to Kian with a grin that has a partially poofed out cheek with moving jaw that is still chewing on a piece of food before she looks to Vic and gives him a thumbs up.  Honestly, she wasn't there when Kian showed up.  Right?

Victor Stone has posed:
    "That's pretty much the gist of it," Vic says, nodding to Kaida.  "It's an exercise in masochism, really.  Or it's like training in the Danger Room, running through the same scenarios over and over until you've got them down."  He shrugs, and takes a bite of his first sandwich before Kaida has a chance to steal any of it.
    "Do you understand any Earth games, Kian?"  It's a half-serious question!  "But that reminds me, we totally need a qihar rematch."

Kian has posed:
    "Not your computer games, no."  Kían shrugs.  "Most of them seem to be about hurting things.  And the ones that aren't are mostly racing games that are pretty two dimensional.  I have better luck with the board games, even if those are two-dimensional too."
    Kaida gets a sidelong smile.  "I can't say I see the entertainment value in going somewhere to get beat up.  Seems to me that's what we do for real, there's no need to do it in a game too."  Shrug.  "Also, most of our computer games are immersive.  The advantage of having a telepathic connection to the computer."
    He grins broadly.  "And definitely we should play more qihár.  You should've seen it when we played while vacationing there.  We absolutely blanked my old team."

Kaida Connolly has posed:
    "Because that was the most memorable moment," Kaida says even as she eyes that sandwich being taken away from her reach.  Surely that wasn't the worst thing as it wasn't hers but it was a sandwich and it wasn't hers.  This is something of a travesty.  Does no one understand that one must leave sacrifices appropriate to the mouse gods?  Some people's children.
    "I wouldn't mind finding a way to be involved but I really can't see there being a way without me using my abilities given I am my abilities," Kaida states even as she stands up and eyes Kian.  "I mean, you'd be basically saying, 'Stop being a mouse!' and I'd be like, 'Umm, no?'"  She laughs and shrugs before casually blinking and pointing at Kian.  "Hey now!  There's a lot of games that aren't about hurting things.  Subnautica is all about things trying to hurt you while you try to figure out the mystery of an alien ocean!"  She waggles her fingers at him.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic fiddles with the controller for a moment to adjust the camera so it shows off a giant golden tree in the sky; it's night time in the game, so the tree is glowing, while golden leaves fall through the air.  "Yeah, but—look.  It's so pretty."  He grins at Kian for a moment.  "She's right, though.  Lots of non-violent games out there.  You've just gotta find them."
    He considers for a moment, then reaches out to break his second sandwich in half and offer one half to Kaida.  Is it an appropriate offering to the mouse gods?  Hopefully.  "Man, sorry I missed it, that would've been fun," he says to Kian as he does so.

Kian has posed:
    Kían looks faintly horrified.  "I can't think of anything less relaxing than pretending to be underwater," the birdman says with a feather-fluffing shudder.  "I mean… under water!  That's…!"  Another shudder.
    "Actually, Kaida," Kían says, "I passed along a request to the qihár rules committee for how to play with rhy'thar'yw.  There really should be a way.  And besides," he adds with a chuckle, "I'm tired of hearing Donna whine about not being able to play with her full abilities.  I don't think she's thought about the fact that if she can use her full powers, I can use all of mine… and so can Terry and Gar and and all the rest of you."

Kaida Connolly has posed:
    "I mean, she can actually tone it down.  I'm very tiny, Kian!"  She gestures to herself and casually takes the sandwich half from Victor and grins widely at him even as she sits back down in her spot.  She is clearly sated by this glorious offering.
    "Thanks, Vic!" she declares even as she takes a bite through the sandwich top and into some of the insides, cheeks poofing out as she chews happily upon her newly acquired sandwich before she sucks in a breath and lets it out happily.

Victor Stone has posed:
    "No, see, knowing Donna, she has and that's part of it.  She wants the challenge of trying to deal with Terry's Rabbit Holes and Gar changing forms mid-game," Vic notes with a grin.  "An exhibition match where anything goes would be a lot of fun.  Probably a mess, but a lot of fun."
    Vic gives Kaida a thumbs-up and then goes back to fiddling with his game.  He's distracted by trying to take another bite of sandwich and gets laid out by some enemy charging on a horse; he grunts in frustration as his character revives but starts running back out into the game world.

Kian has posed:
    Kían chuckles, and takes a healthy pull on his sugar water.  "I think any game where Donna and Caitlin and you, Vic, were allowed full use of your powers, I would rather officiate than play in.  I have hollow bones and those don't play nice with people with super levels of strength.  And I can't keep up with super-speed like Irie and Wally have.  "But," he finishes brightly, "no one on Earth knows the rules better than I do!"

Kaida Connolly has posed:
    "You died!" Kaida makes the Dark Souls death noise somewhat well before looking over at Vic with a grin before she shakes her head and looks to Vic.  "I don't think this game and eating is a good combination."  She chuckles before looking then back over at Kian.  She listens to him and takes in Vic's points as well before she nods her head.
    "I mean, there's no reason to get into a super powered fight if you can just watch when the stakes are… I guess winning a game."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "I mean—I gotta eat.  I'll get my runes back, it's fine."  Vic seems fairly sanguine about it after his initial irritation; he's contemplating Kian's words.
    "Could work," he muses.  "Maybe we should do something like that for the big ten-year celebration, huh?  A qihar match, Titans on Titans, with Kian officiating.  Could be fun."
    He glances at Kaida.  "I wonder if we could throw you at people to grab the flags.  Is that allowed in the rules?"

Kian has posed:
    Kían considers a moment.  "I… don't really know.  I haven't heard from the rules committee yet.  Generally speaking, no contact is allowed, it's too risky.  So I don't know if you could actually throw one player at another.  Usually anything past accidentally touching someone while grabbing a ribbon is a foul."
    He thinks a little more about it.  "But I suppose it might be all right in Earth-rules qihár.  If it's safe for everyone involved.  There's a difference between a touch and a hit, after all."

Kaida Connolly has posed:
    "Hmm, not sure I like that idea or not…."  Kaida considers Vic's suggestion and then looks to Kian for his review of the situation and then she sighs and shakes her head.  She casually finishes another large bite of sandwich before just squinting to the side.
    "I mean, honestly, the more rules I hear of this game, the less I find it interesting."  She shakes her head.  "There's just so many rules.  Full contact qihar needs to exist!"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    ~I'll dance, dance, dance
    With my hands, hands, hands
    Above my head, head, head
    Like Jesus said
    I'm gonna dance, dance, dance
    With my hands, hands, hands above my head
    Hands together, forgive him before he's dead, because…
~

    That's the song that plays from the dorms.  Soon, coming from that direction, a phone floats in mid-air, blasting the song.  It is soon followed by Vorpal, who is, indeed, doing the 'Wednesday Dance' and doing it rather well.  Who says cats don't dance?  The Vorpal Tiktok had been a long time coming, but so far it was successful.  The internet loved two things: cat videos, and dance videos, and when you combine the two?
    "Oh—"  Vorpal stops, staring at the gathered group.  "Ooops, sorry, was doing a—nevermind."  He reaches for the phone and plucks it out of the air.  "Nobody told me there was going to be A Thing.  What's The Thing?  What are we doing?"

Victor Stone has posed:
    "The thing is a ring and the ring is Elden and also there's sandwiches," Vic says, before popping the last of his first sandwich into his mouth.  Really, now, there's only half a sandwich since Kaida has absconded with the offered second half.
    "Full contact qihar would be great—but I'll settle for Earth rules," he says to Kian.  "We're discussing a Titans-on-Titans qihar game, powers allowed."

Kian has posed:
    "Full contact qihár means everyone who's breakable can't play," Kían says sensibly.  "Which is why I volunteered to referee.  Most of the team I would prefer to not be bodyslammed by.  I think we can figure out a way to allow powers without allowing contact.  That's always been one of the main rules, no deliberate contact.  Throwing Kaida at a ribbon is one thing.  Throwing Donna at, for example, me would be bad.  Especially for me.  Especially if thrown by Cait."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "Funny, you don't object getting bodyslammed b— Oooh, sandwiches!"  Thank goodness for short-attention-span hunger, right?  He plucks a sandwich and finds an empty spot on the couch to sit on.  "I don't think that's a good idea, powers allowed.  I'd win in, like, three seconds."
    To demonstrate, he opens a tiny rabbit hole and slips his hand through to snatch Vic's next sandwich out of his hand.  If successful, he'll just give it back—as it was intended to drive a point.
    "I think we should probably make a chart of which powers can be used.  Rabbit Holes and portals of any kind are right out, as is teleportation—which Rae can do.  Though I don't think Rae would play qihar…."  And suddenly, he grins.  "Unless Donna convinced her…."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic glares at Terry as sandwich is snatched—but it's only a momentary glare.  He deliberately stuffs the rest of the sandwich into his mouth and then sits his character at a bonfire while he gets up to make more.  It's only polite to share, after all.
    "Trying to figure out how to stop Rabbit Holes might be interesting—but you've got a point.  No teleportation.  Although—super-speed kinda counts for the same thing.  Irie or Barry would just be able to grab flags super-fast."  He considers that thoughtfully while he pulls out sandwich supplies.  "It's a conundrum."

Kian has posed:
    "That's why I made it the rules committee's problem," Kían says smugly.  "And until then, we'll just have to play it the correct way."
    He reaches down to give a scratch behind Vorp's ear.  "Kála said we might be able to play the clan team next time we visit.  The next higher level of play."
    He spreads and re-folds his wings.  "That would be awesome."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    Vorpal grins and leans into the scritching.  "We could actually make our own rules.  Like, do you KNOW Caitlin?  She screams 'spreadsheets.'  I don't think there's anyone on this team more reliable than her to come up with a measurable scale for powers, and then elaborate rules for 'leagues' based on those powers, so that we could have several different qihar teams based on those scales.  In fact, I insist that Vic and Caitlin get together and elaborate a model.  The two greatest science nerds in the team aside from Nadia—"
    He holds up a finger.  "But I don't think Nadia should be in that task force because she gets carried away by ideas and I will REMIND YOU that she used me as a bottle rocket in Wonderland."
    He takes a bite out of his sandwich.  "I still can't look at hedges the same way."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "I will remind you that we both used you as a bottle rocket, because it was awesome," Vic notes, grinning.  "But—sure, I could work up rules with Caitlin.  I mean, I think about quantifying powers sometimes anyway.  And we've got Danger Room recordings to give us data without having to do any new tests."
    Spreading mayonnaise and then mustard on bread, he looks thoughtful.  "Really we can probably outlaw throwing people, though.  Donna can bodyslam people all on her own without help from Cait."

Kian has posed:
    Kían drains off about half of his drink… then plucks the sandwich out of Terry's hand, tears off a chunk, and hands the larger portion back.  "It'd have to be divided up so comparable powers face comparable powers, I'd think.  You have the breakable league, where I would play, and the more or less unbreakable league for Donna and Cait.
    Chomp
    Swig.
    "I think I still like where everyone plays to the same level, though, with the Da… Practice Room making unbiased judgments on what's too fast."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    Vorpal smirks, and glances at the game.  "So why is Vic paying alone?  You're not going to join him?"  He peers at the screen.  "…Elden Ring.  That's kind of like Souls, isn't it?  I'm absolutely terrible at those games, admittedly.  I like JRPGs.  Their stories are a lot more grounded compared to my life."
    He leans in and nuzzles Kian's neck, "You haven't met our new guest, have you?  She's in the Medbay.  She's still suffering from shock… she could use a visitor who has been there."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "It's exactly like Souls.  Same company, except the Game of Thrones guy came up with the world, so there's more dragons.  Also, it's pretty."
    Vic peers around at Terry.  "No, I haven't.  Who is it?  What happened to her?"  A visitor who has been there… makes him frown in concern.

Kian has posed:
    "Who has been where?  In shock, or in medbay?  Or both?"  Kían finishes both his purloined sandwich chunk and drink, freeing up both hands, which he applies to Terry's shoulders.  "I mean, I'll be glad to see her, if you think it would be helpful.  And the reason Vic is playing alone is because not only do I not know how to play this game, but your controllers are really uncomfortable for my hands.  They're made for someone with more fingers than I have."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "We'll get you playing some point-and-click adventure games.  They only require the mouse to play and they're not as violent or as fast-paced."  He nods in the direction of the screen.
    "As for the visitor—her name is Kimi.  She is a civilian… or, well, more or less.  We had that incident at the Jules Verne museum where a group of aliens tried to steal an artifact, they attacked, and we responded, and Kimi jumped in as well… she moves fast and seems to have some sort of wind-based powers.  But she was in shock afterwards, so we brought her with us and she's been in the medbay recovering.  I think Kate went up to see her."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "I'll make sure to go see her," Vic says, tone more solemn.  "That's always a hard thing, that first instance of… powers."  He sighs, putting together the sandwiches—a whole plate of them now, some with ham and cheese, some with tuna—and bringing them back over to the couch.
    "Are you thinking she'll be a temporary resident or maybe more permanent?"

Kian has posed:
    "The Gods know I understand the shock of suddenly having powers I didn't have before," Kían says, helping himself to a ham and cheese sandwich.  If anything, he sounds more resigned about that now; he used to sound a bit resentful.  "If I can help her adjust, I'll be happy to."
    Someone's come a long way.
    "Vic, I thought I was only going to be a temporary resident when I came here, so it's probably way too early to know for certain."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "Precisely.  She may only be temporary, but it wouldn't be the first time someone has come by and stayed.  We are a team of stray cats, after all."
    He smirks and reaches over to pinch Kian's cheek.  "Or is it just me?  In any case, Vic, if you're up for it—find yourself a save spot and see if you can beat the Chun Li Master at a round of Street Fighter."
    He grins.  "Kian can be the cheerleader, he already wears the miniskirt."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic snorts.  "Nah, 'stray cats' fits.  We—"  He stops and shouts, "Oh, come on!!" as some enemy on the screen runs a sword through his character and he's staring at a loading screen.
    "Guess that's the save point," he says after a moment with a smirk.  "Gimme a second to swap over, then, and Chun Li is going down."

Kian has posed:
    "Street fighter?" Kían asks mildly.  "You're going to beat up pavement?  Earth games are even weirder than I thought."  He winces at the screen.  "I bet that hurt.  I wouldn't want to experience that in one of our games, since they're completely immersive.  Ours are mostly cooperative anyway.  Ours kind of have to be without a randomizer like dice.  Like the one you saw me playing with Raká, Terry, you remember, when Cait put her foot down about Akiár dress codes?  Even though it wasn't her planet?"
    He is smirking about that.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    Vorpal smirks as he settles down.  "Oh no, Chun Li goes down for no one, the mistress of the Spinning Bird Kick has a boot with your name on it!"
    He glances back at Kian and snorts, "Oh, I remember all right.  Bless her soul, she deserved milder team-mates whan us.  I'll give it to her, though—she only looked slightly like her eyes were going to pop out of her orbit when Raka casually mentioned that we had spent the night together."  He giggles despite himself.
"I swear she probably has considered joining the Fearsome Can't Count several times already because of me."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "She what?" Vic snorts and rolls his eyes.  "Why am I not surprised?"  He's got Street Fighter up and running; he shakes his head as he chooses Dhalsim.
    "I'm a little surprised Cait wasn't better at diplomacy but she insists everyone has to follow her rules, so…."

Kian has posed:
    "A spinning bird what?" Kían asks, faintly horrified.  "Oh no, if this game is about birds fighting each other, you let me know now so I can turn around and not watch!"
    Vic's incredulity brings a chuckle out of the birdman.  "Raká and I were playing shírak—it's a board game—on the balcony.  And I was dressed perfectly normally for an Akiár casually relaxing in his own home and she took one look and went back into her room and refused to come back out until I put something on.  I mean, what happened to the Earth phrase, 'when in Rome'?  She also threw Gar over the balcony, but you know that's not even a challenge for him."
    Someone has changed a lot in his nearly three years on this planet.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "It's a martial arts move, Kian," Vorpal laughs, "It's all cartoony violence and over the stop stuff anyways.  I always play Chun Li 'cause we're thigh siblings, we've got legs for days!"  He smirks and turns back to the screen.  "And Kian, you are never going to change Caitlin being prudish.  It's the Catholicism thing, I'm afraid.  It instills a fear of naked bodies," he says with a grin, and nudges Vic.  "All right, old man, are you ready to lose to the new generation?"

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic snorts.  "You wish.  You have to get in to hit me first."  He leans forward a little, letting the conversation about Caitlin die down.  He's got to focus.  He can screw around in Elden Ring—but Street Fighter (or really any competitive game) is important.
    Hence the idea of full-contact qihar, see?

Kian has posed:
    "There is nothing wrong with a naked body," Kian says prudishly—no, really, he does.  Well, one world's normality is another world's obscenity, and vice versa.
    He settles in to watch the grand battle, none of it making any real sense, except for one thing.
    "You're wrong, Terry, your thighs are much nicer."