Oddly Close [Gayle and Nonie//Ask to Join]

Gayle was walking down the streets of Death City, looking in awe at the various shops and cafes that lined the roadside. They had been here for a little while, but the place never stopped amazing her. There was always something new to see. Currently her right hand was clasped around her sister's left, and she was making her best attempt to pull her twin through the crowd without bumping into people. She wasn't entirely sure where she was leading Nonie... Or why... She had just felt like venturing out today. Besides, she didn't really go anywhere without Nonie. Maybe they'd meet someone interesting...? That'd be fun.

Her sister followed along without complaint, seeming generally bored with situation while at the same time appearing like she was very much screaming internally. Nonie was never one for crowds, a fact that her sister was more than aware of, but often disregarded in favor of venturing out. Unlike Elnora, Abigail was easily prone to becoming stir-crazy, and leaving her cooped up for too long spelled disaster for anyone within a five mile radius, or at least hearing distance... granted, those two were occasionally one and the same. Still, if it was for Gayle, Nonie could handle just about anything, whether she wanted to or not; mostly, the correct answer was "not," but her say in things often became drowned out. Looking straight ahead but fully aware of everything around her, the weapon, or axe, to be more precise, dodged every incoming person as though she were choreographed, expertly avoiding the passers-by as they moved around. Busy streets were no fun, but pretending she was playing a game like Frogger made it a little easier to deal with. Altering focus, she pulled out her cell phone and began browsing the web, still moving with an ease that seemed completely inhuman. Soon, Gayle's phone would buzz, a simple, plain text reading across her screen: Where are we going?

Gayle froze herself in place. Her phone had just vibrated, she was sure of it. With her free hand, the girl reached into her pocket and glanced at her phone. She glanced over the message and typed one of her own in response. She was used to her sister doing this to her. Beats me. I'm just bored. See anything interesting around...? Glancing around, Gayle decided to search for herself. One of them was bound to find something, right? Besides, if they didn't then what kind of interesting people would they be?

Oddity shops are obvious. We can try one. Maybe an arcade? You like those, and DDR hasn't been replaced yet. Even as she typed, her eyes were elsewhere, staring with an almost bored expression through the crowd around them. Honestly, she looked almost like she was high or otherwise tranquilized, so disinterested did her appearance seem. That was the sort of thing that she heard, oftentimes, but it never bothered her. Sometimes, Gayle would be irritated by it, slightly, but it had become such a norm at this point that neither really bothered to protest it, much. As it stood, though, Nonie was more worried about keeping her sister entertained than what anyone else happened to be thinking about the pair, positive or otherwise. Who knew, maybe they would be able to find something exceptionally unusual to hold their interest for a while.

Gayle paused, turning to face her twin. "Nonie! I love you! Let's go!" She exclaimed, hugging her sister tightly before turning and practically dragging Nonie towards the nearest arcade that she knew of. Dance Dance Revolution had always been one of her favorites, and Nonie knew that. That's why she loved Nonie. Nonie always had a good idea or two up her sleeve when Gayle was bored, and that usually lead to her being... well... not bored. Which was good!

The twin allowed herself to be dragged, finding nothing unusual in any bit of the situation. Smiling just the slightest bit to herself, she slowly picked up her pace just in time to not have her arm dislocated by the other girl. Before long, they'd made it to the arcade, and Nonie gravitated to the exchange machine almost instantly, sliding in a few fives and coming away with quite a few tokens. Splitting them in half, she offered the others to Gayle, wordlessly motioning towards the other games, sliding her own tokens into an interior pocket that she zipped tightly. "DDR first?"

Gayle pocketed most of the coins that were handed to her, keeping a small amount in her hand for using now. She thought a moment before nodding in response to her sister's question. The girl made her way towards the machine, hopping over the hind bar of the machine rather than going around. Leaning against the bar, Gayle took some time to think while waiting for her sister. It would be interesting to see who got the highest score this time. Gayle had fast feet, sure, but Nonie was better at actually following the machine.

Wordless, her sister made her way over, ducking under the side bar and taking her place beside Gayle. Her eyes wandered about the screen, but her hand had already moved to insert the necessary amount of tokens. Glancing over, she gave her sister a look that meant she was waiting on her, before grinning just the slightest bit.

Gayle seemed deep in thought, pulled out only when she glanced over at her sister. Her attention was caught. That look on Nonie's face.

Nonie's smiling. Nonie's happy. Nonie's waiting.

That was all it took to wake the girl up. Gayle pushed herself off the bar, sliding her own coins into the machine. Coordinating with her sister, the pair would select a song and for the first time since waking, she was still, eyes fixed on the screen, a smile sliding onto her lips. She was in her element. She was in control. It was their time to shine. All that was left now was to wait for the song to begin... Wait for her permission to move...

Nonie's smile faded as quickly as it came, disappearing when her eyes left the girl beside her. Locked on the screen, her expression returned to the sort of drugged-up-haze it usually held, but her eyes were keenly focused on the display before her. Song selected, she altered her balance, hands loosely at her sides while the music began. Ready when you are. She thought to herself, catching the directional instructions as soon as they flew up.

The arrows scrolled up the screen, and instantly Gayle was on the move. With almost inhuman looking precision, the girl began to move, literally dancing across the four buttons. Occasionally she'd miss one or two beats, but instantly she'd correct herself and re-sync. At this point, the outside world was gone. People didn't exist. Just Gayle, the beat, and the machine. Like always, she was having fun. Even if one couldn't tell by looking at the serious expression on her face. She may have been enjoying herself, but gaming was serious business. Gayle and gaming had a certain... mutual respect for each-other. At least... That's what she'd like to believe.

In general, there were two types of gamers, when it came to ones such as Dance, Dance, Revolution. Gayle was the first: the zone-out, all-in dancers that seemed unable to stay still. Nonie, however, was the second. Far more boring than the first, she was all precision, not moving anything but her feet. She barely missed a beat, only doing so when she broke rhythm slightly enough to mistime herself. Still, her eyes seemed to be dancing with all the light of the game, shining with the joy that Gayle's movements expressed, even if her own seemed disinterested, in comparison.

Gayle's feet would glide across the buttons gracefully until the song ended, when she came to a complete stop and her expression changed back to it's typical goofy smile. She leaned back against the bar once more, gazing at her score. "93 percent, double A." She stated, glancing towards Nonie for a response. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that they had attracted a little bit of a crowd with their dancing. She knew Nonie wouldn't be too content with that, even though she enjoyed it. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps they should go play something else...

Beat for beat, their scores were the same, 93%, Double A shining on her screen, just the same. Smiling softly, an expression all but masked beneath the usually dull mark of her almost high base state. Looking to Gayle, she nodded, gesturing loosely towards the Ski Ball ramps, away from the crowd that seemed to be begging for more. Nonie didn't want more. More DDR meant more people, and people were high on her "Avoid" list.

Gayle gave a light nod, waving her goodbye to the disappointed crowd as she hopped the bar once again and headed towards the Ski Ball ramps at the other end of the arcade. As she passed, she eyed the prize counter. It was the usual bout of trinkets and bobbles that one would find at any arcade. She wasn't too interested in anything, but some candy or whatever was always nice. It seemed like whenever she left an arcade, it was like a second Halloween should they have no better prizes...

Nonie, as was customary for her, paid no apparent mind to most things going on around her, focus seeming honed in on the task at hand. When Gayle drew closer, attention still on evaluating the value of the trinkets at the prize corner, she took her hand with her left, still playing almost a perfect game with her right. Drawing her closer, Nonie's hand rested partially in Gayle's sleeve as she held her out of the walkway, where her twin had almost been practically run over by another patron. When the first game was done, tickets spitting out between their feet, Nonie looked to her sister, her expression unreadable by anyone but her.

Play with me?