Insert Coin | OPEN

[logahmod]

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!))

Comments

[lunaquatic]

Feferi winked at him. "A lady doesn't kiss and tail," she said, grinning, then shrugged. "Safe enough!! Just try not to hit yourshellf in the face!! Or throw the staff!!! Isle stay behind the line and duck if you hit reely poorly!!!

"So when you hit that flashy one," she said, pointing at the blinking panel. "The game whale start!! Then you just hit the panels with your staff when they light up and make a sound. Try and remember that you have two ends to use and keep moving your feet or else you tend to wind up with your back to one of the posts and then you won't see it if it lights up!! Isle give you pointers but how about you give it a little tap right now so I can sea how you do!!!!!"

"Remember, hands in the middle of the staff, and keep moving!!" She assumed he knew she was a healer, since that seemed to be pretty common knowledge since the battle with the biclops, so he should be less hesitant about potentially smacking himself in the face. She backed behind the danger line and circled around to watch him from various angles.

[johnnynocakes]

"If you say so," John said, readying his staff. After another moment of hesitation, he prodded the lit up panel, clenching his hands too hard as he tried to spot the next one to light up.
"Uh," he said, wheeling around on a heel, the staff making a little creak, "What about hitting myself in the face?"

He spotted a bright light by his elbow with an accompanying tone and swung hard, the staff rebounding off with an almost cartoonish twang.

[lunaquatic]

"It's actually a lot harder to do than you'd fin!" she said encouragingly. "Keep your feet moving and just taps whale do it!!" Feferi cheered, circling around the game to keep an eye on him from all angles and to check out his form. So far he looked like a rank novice, but perhaps that was for the best. After all the best paintings begin with blank canvas.

"Hands in the middle! Use both ends!!" An excellent and effective coach Feferi was not, but what she lacked in useful instruction she somewhat made up for in enthusiasm and energy.

[johnnynocakes]

John did as Feferi told him, although with advice coming thick and fast, he didn't always manage to be accurate. Long before he'd ever got to Feferi's level, he'd spun enough to tangle his ankles around each other and fall backwards off the platform. The game itself gave a mocking honk as it registered a timed-out miss.

"Wow," he said, perhaps a little stunned, "... Wanna do it again?"

[lunaquatic]

Feferi giggled, as she jumped over the platform herself to lean over him, the toes of her shoes almost touching the top of his head as she loomed. "I fin this means the dragon ate you, but you were doing pretty whale up until your devouring!" she said encouragingly, though she didn't offer him a hand up. He was amusing sprawled on the ground and she was rather enjoying being taller than him. Her hair was long enough that leaning over him like this the ends almost brushed his face.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" she asked curiously, her hands clasped behind her back as she watched his upside down face, grinning down at him.

[johnnynocakes]

"You're gonna have to tell me," John said, making no move to sit up. "I'm not good at this whole-" his arms lifted in a hopeless gesture at the game, "fighting with giant Q-tips thing."

[lunaquatic]

"You fell on the floor!!!!" Feferi exclaimed, giggling, and moved to stand next to his hip and offer him a hand up. "Whelk reely what you should bulwark on is keeping track of your feet!!"

She pulled him directly into her curtain of hair as she hauled him up but grinned, tossing her head in a well-practiced gesture that flipped her hair neatly over her shoulder.

"Do you want a round two or oar you too winded?" she asked, grinning. The blacklights made her teeth glow.

[johnnynocakes]

"Gee, I never thought about that," John said, his voice dripping with flat sarcasm, "Just stop falling. I can do it."

His grumpy mood didn't really last as Feferi used her surprising strength to pull him up off the floor, and by the time he'd righted himself, he was already reaching for the staff again.

"Well, if you wanted to show me some moves..." he said, "It would be cool."

[lunaquatic]

Feferi chuckled as she reclaimed the quarterstaff from him and bounced over to plonk some more coins into the machine before hopping up on the platform.

"Turtley important to keep moving," she said as she moved to the balls of her feet, bouncing slightly as she gripped the staff firmly without clutching it before hitting the first glowing panel to start the game.

"Gotta listen and keep turning," Feferi lectured as she hit a glowing panel in front of her, then pivoted to hit one that had been behind her with the other end of the staff. "And you can use both ends of this fin! That's why it's betta than a sword."

She kept moving, rotating slowly as she hit each glowing square solidly. With her constant motions she made sure never to get stuck in one position and be caught off guard. It also kept her from thinking of any one pillar as the main one. At last she finished the second level and, grinning, let the game fizzle out, panting slightly. "And that's about all there is to it!! Ready to try again?"