istandwithmycancelledwife | labyrinthium inbox

Huh? Why? Is it distracting you?

[ Swish swish, BAP-

She's snickering even while she dances. ]

Kinda, yeah–!! Ack–

[ He spits out some fur. He is definitely losing this one. ]

Haha-!

[ Another dance battle, another well earned definitely not cheated victory. Hey, it's all the same to her. ]

That makes two, what next, best of five?

[ She's got the definition of an impish grin. ]

Aw, man!

[ He's not going to accuse her of doing the tail thing on purpose, but... it doesn't feel good losing because of that! He pouts a little. ]

Just one more...?

[ Don't worry Kalim, once you get to know her you won't feel bad at all for calling her out on being sneaky, if anything she's proud of it. ]

Haha, sure, you can pick this one. Then we can go play something else.

[ He's been designated "the fun person" so good luck I guess. ]

Heh heh, okay!

[ He scrolls through the songs briefly before picking something bright and upbeat, with slightly more challenging steps – he's not really paying attention to the difficulty at this point, though, just choosing based on what he thinks sounds good. ]

Let's go! But...pleeaaase watch out for your tail this time?

[ pleading face emoji ]

Uhhhh, no promises. But I guess I won't play dirty this time.

[ All but admitting it herself, she shrugs, flashing a fangy grin his way before she turns back to the screen.

Complex moves are where Kalim's more likely to pull ahead, missing a beat every so often when the pattern doesn't match what she's expecting. Wh! Talk about rude, rhyhtm game!

Perhaps surprisingly, she's having fun even if she starts losing this time, keeping her tail mostly to herself outside of the odd spinning move where it bumps against his side. Dancing the time away until the song finally comes to an end. ]

Hah, a few of those got me! This is kinda fun though, it's way better than the training rooms.

[ A smile's back, glancing over to Kalim. ]

So what next?

[ He doesn't remark at all on her admission that she was doing it on purpose – if she's not going to do it this time, that's all that matters! Without her tail biffing him in the face he does manage to beat her this time, and he's clearly pleased about it. (But not as pleased as he is that she's still enjoying herself.) ]

Haha, I'm glad you're having fun!

[ He grins at her and steps off the DDR machine to look around for what to do next. ]

What're the training rooms?

[ Something about that... it throws her off. Why should he care how much fun she's having? Not that she's complaining but it's so genuine it's like a knife in her heart that twists.

Not that that thought lingers long, her ears twitch, and then she shrugs, moving on like she always does. ]

It's a simulation room for combat training, we'd train in it every day back ho-... at the base.

Sometimes it was fun, but it was training.

[ Her ears twitch once, not that fussed about it it seems. Catra's already looking around again, catching all the flashing lights with a slightly excited flickering. ]

What kind of place did you come from? Before here.

Hmm, okay, so I guess you don't wanna play something about fighting...?

[ He looks around thoughtfully for a moment before her question catches up with him. ]

Oh, uhh... Well, before I was here I was at school! Do...you have school where you're from?

[ He doesn't seem as troubled by the possibility that that isn't a thing in Catra's world as he could be – he never thought he was going to get to go to school until NRC. ]

Fighting's fine. But I'd probably be better in person than in the game.

What's a... school? We probably didn't, though. Just basic military stuff. Learn what you need, train, and rest. Kindof boring if you don't make some fun for yourself.

[ Something she became particularly good at. ]

School is, like... a place you go with a bunch of other people to learn stuff! So it's kind of like the thing you're talking about, I guess... But it's way less boring than that sounds, hah hah.

[ He leads her through the arcade, vaguely looking for something that will provide fewer opportunities for her to smack him in the face with her tail. ]

The school I go to is great! It's a magic academy for people from all over the world.

Still sounds kindof boring.

[ Like force captain orientation, which she 100% skipped. Every so often her head turns, flickering over to see something that might catch her eyes, and then turning back to Kalim and either observing him in that cat-like manner or just listening. ]

So wait, everyone there is magic?! Ugh, I can't get away from it!
What's your magic like?

No way, it's really fun! Getting to learn magic is awesome, and so is making new friends, and... Ah, do you not like magic?

Kindof, yeah.

The only people who can use magic where I'm from are the enemy.

[ Her ears fold back, It's hard to break that association. ]

Aw man, really? That sucks, magic is so cool!

Yeah, they just use their magic to rule some kingdom or something dumb like that.

[ He's right there at least, and Catra's ready to move on, passing a glance around before nudging Kalim's arm.

Her attention's been caught. ]

Hey-
What's that?

[ She's pointing at two different co-op shooter style games. The first one looks tropical themed and a bit sillier, with a seat for players and a weird little compatibility meter on the side, huh, odd, best not to think about that too much.

The other game looks far more intimidating. But which one is more Kalim's style? ]

Oh!!

[ Kalim is obviously drawn to the one with the shark and toucans on it, even though he's definitely going to be kind of sad when the game demands they shoot a shark. ]

I haven't played one of these before! I think it's about shooting stuff! Do you wanna try?

Uh, YEAH, C'mon!

[ Now it's her turn to be enthusiastic, his hand's getting pulled along to the strange tropical game, sitting down next to him and at least trying to tuck her tail to one side as she figures out how to start it. ]

Do we get to drive a tank as well!? I haven't done that in ages!

[ Though the plot of the game is a bit farfetched, at least it's co op, so they can laugh and mess around and still work together.

The game even gives them a rating after each section based on how well they worked together, how neat! Nevermind that the better ratings are all couple themed due to the story. How well are they actually going to work together anyway, right? ]

Whoah, you've driven a tank before?

[ Kalim enjoys co op SO MUCH. He's not very good at the gameplay, though, so they're probably not getting any of those ideal ratings. Sorry, Zack and Beth! He's really rooting for them, though. He gets like embarrassingly into the plot. ]

Uh, yeah. Army, remember?

[ Cue a light little nudge to his side while they're sitting together. Catra's got pretty good aim, but the game totally needs both people to be good AND working together.

But also, the 'boat' they're sitting on actually moves, which does earn a few surprised noises from Catra.Swaying on the seat in between the shooting adventure.

This is actually a blast though! She'll be in good spirits by the time it ends. Though it might take them a few extra credits to finish the story and see Zack and Beth get off the island. ]

[ Kalim is not in the habit of frugality: he gladly forks over as many credits as it takes to get to the end because he wants to see these janky looking 3D heterosexuals get their happy ending!!

He does improve somewhat as they keep playing, at least, but this is simply not a skill he has ever even vaguely nurtured. ]

Wow! I've never played a game like this before!

[ That's fine, Catra's never going to complain about being better than someone in a game. If anything it makes her tail swish just a bit more proudly. They can shoot all sorts of odd enemies, and work together occasionally, occasionally ignoring when the game gives them a rating that even suggests couple suitability. Pffft, silly.

By the end of it she's had a few good laughs, got to shoot down some giant bosses, and just relax a little, a kindof rare treat. While the credits roll she leans back, turning to Kalim with a grin. ]

Hah- I can tell, guess you'll have to practice, huh? Next time we're beating that score for sure.

[ She stretches, sliding out from the seat to hop up, stand, and flex just a bit before glancing his way. Surprisingly cheerful. ]

This was fun, we gotta do it again sometime! But man, I'm starving now-

[ They have been in there for a while, after all. ]

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