logah | Insert Coin

Insert Coin didn't look like much from the outside: dark tinted windows and a large green and black sign over top. Nevertheless the bike rack out front was almost always full and finding parking could be quite a challenge.

It lay several blocks north of the park, nearer to Skaia U than Crocker U and well nestled in the heart of the area where most Skaia students who lived off campus tended to settle in a more densely packed area with apartments and eateries. It didn't bother advertising much since it had become a staple of college life in Sburb and business was booming.

Inside the place was dimly lit with scattered neon and the comforting blue glow of abundant screens. Most of the floor space was devoted to games that ran the gamut from pac man up to the more modern games with motion capture so you could duck your character behind cover and several DDR machines to trick people into exercising.

A long glass counter stretched to your right as you came in, complete with the full range of prizes that you could redeem your tickets for, all the way up to the 100,000 ticket replica light saber that gleamed in its own case behind the counter. The employees generally looked bored as they exchanged cash for tokens and tickets for prizes.

Farther in was another counter that the owners had had the brilliant idea of making available to food truck vendors. The menu varied drastically depending on the day and regular customers tracked Insert Coin's social media feeds to find out which food trucks were scheduled for which days. There were some tables and chairs clustered near that counter as well as the more active games like DDR for entertainment while you ate. The water fountains and bathrooms were near there as well.

There was also a more enclosed area upstairs, with private rooms for karaoke and private parties, where you could reserve a room and a particular game ahead of time for a few hours. The owner often said that putting in a service elevator had been his smartest investment and a large chunk of the arcade's income came from people setting up soulcalibur tournaments or bringing in their own consoles to take advantage of top of the line projection and sound equipment to game on a screen the size of a wall.

For clients of age they also sold beer and some basic cocktails, though if you spilled you were banned for a month with second offenses earning you a lifetime ban.

Have fun!

((Mod note: The arcade and food trucks will be wholly staffed by NPCs for now so feel free to set future threads here for parties or hang outs. It has any arcade game you want. The areas so far are: Main Arcade, Prize Counter, Food Counter, Karaoke, and Party Rooms. Let us know if you want other areas! Also this isn't leading to plot or anything, we just felt the time was right for a new neutral space and an open thread!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dave had been more than thrilled to hear from Terezi, excited to get out of the house and do something that felt a little more normal. After he'd regained his ability to speak, he'd gone back to work and had been swamped. Damn hipsters and their vintage records.

The arcade was familiar, a place where he'd spend countless hours since moving to the city. So much so, in fact, he had most of the games memorized and down to an art. He was in the high score chart of a good number of the machines, not that anyone would know who 'SBAHJ' was. The older machines that only allowed three letters as a name were lovingly given names like 'ASS', much to the irritation of the employees. Dave enjoyed the giggles from younger kids when the high score chart came up and "1 ASS 696969" was waiting for them. He was particularly proud of that score, it had taken a lot of practice to die at just the right moment.

The Jurassic Park game, Terezi's favourite apparently, was one he'd played ad nauseum when he'd first arrived. His preference was, of course, for swords, but a fake gun was his second love. He knew she couldn't really see how well he was doing, but he still felt the need to show off to his friend. With pinpoint accuracy, he took out every single one of the dinosaurs on the screen -- save for the ones she took down.

Not only was he good at the game, he couldn't help his running colour commentary. Giving the dinosaurs backstories and romantic interests. Telling her all about each one's daily life and their ambitions. They got more and more absurd as the game carried on and he wasn't even sure if he made sense anymore. It just came out of his mouth in an endless stream, so happy as he was to have his voice back.

"Aw shit, TZ," he said when the final boss approached. "Momma T-Rex is hungry for flesh. She's gotta pay her mortgage this month and doesn't have shit left for food, then us tasty pink morsels come along on a silver platter shaped like a Jeep. Best day of her damn life. But shit, we got these little pea shooters, those don't feel too nice. Oh well, she's gonna try. We just look too damn tasty to resist. 'Specially me, this plush rump is some fine dining..."

On he went, unaware of if anyone else was listening to his vaguely inappropriate descriptions of everything.

Terezi couldn't help but laugh along with Dave on his commentary on the thrilling lives they were mercilessly taking away in the game. She tried to stifle her snickers while trying to shoot at the T-Rex that was fast approaching their make-believe Explorer. "Your rump must be one of the top picks for millionaires like obese duck liver; she's hauling tail just to reach us. I might be saved to live another day if she manages to catch us because we both know she's going to savor your flavor.' In response to her own quirky reply; she licked the top of her lip to encourage her point. Terezi leaned against Dave, not putting too much weight against him to ruin his struggling chance of survival. Since her perception with a fictional plastic gun was already questionable; she tilted her head sniffing his neck.

"Is that sweat I smell, Dave?" She teased, "Don't worry about some cougar-Rex who's drooling over your plushiest of rumps." Moving back to sit her spot, she pushed her arms forward as if it was going to help her win the game and save Dave's butt. Literally. "She might be a dinosaur but I'm a dragon." Terezi smirked, "So therefor I'm far superior."

"Damn right, most expensive rump roast on the menu," he drawled, smirking. "People are fighting over this one of a kind delicacy. There's a bidding war on it, up to billions of dollars. The auctioneer's sweating, even he can't speak fast enough to keep up."

He laughed when she leaned into sniff him, even as a blush crept up onto his cheeks. "Hmm, you gonna be my dragon-knight in shining scales?" he teased as he landed a shot right in the dinosaur's eye. "I'm fuckin' swooning."

"That's what I'm saying," Terezi snickered through her teeth; she turned her head when Dave got the T-Rex in the eye. It howled in pain and a good chunk of it's health depleted. She pulled the trigger and luckily hit it's head taking another damaging hit. The dinosaur staggered back but was still chasing them. The Ford Explorer bounce and jerked as if it was picking up speed on the uneven ground. "When she's down, I'm going to carry you bridal style off this jeep so prepare your best swoon face as I take this dinosaur down." She tried shooting again but wasn't doing as well. The fictional dinosaur took damage but not enough to bring it down. Still she didn't give up and smiled brightly through it; her perseverance had proven useful as one of the fake bullets shot it between the eyes and it roared in agony. The T-Rex fell down to the ground with one last weakened roar and the vehicle drove off with victory music playing. They had won the game and a little keyboard appeared to put in their 3 initials to broadcast their score to the next fool hardy player to go against blood thirsty reptiles.

Terezi threw her arms in the air in victory, "Yeah, take that! Call me Booty Patrol because I just saved your ass literally."

Insert Coin | OPEN

Dave: Own This Shit

Terezi: Be the Dragon

Dave: Be the Meal

Terezi: Try to Hit the T-Rex