[Right now, communicating would mean taking her hands off the joystick or buttons. That's not a priority right now! She presses down on the button to accept as it all flares back to life again. There may be no reason for it but she simply wants to succeed.]
[The second try her movements are a bit more purposeful, less flailing, but it ends just as fast.]
[It's only then that she takes her hands off the joystick. She quickly starts to sign before remembering this wasn't one of the people in her coterie. She'd defaulted to the wrong form of communication. Her lip tugs down in a scowl as she taps the appropriate buttons on her Watch to actually say something.]
If I switched back it would not be as satisfying. It would be condescending.
[ He'll at least catch her attempt, and consider that thoughtfully as she stops. It's not like he knows any form of sign language, but it's also not as if Gen doesn't have too much confidence in his own ability to quickly learn a new language.
As if it won't take years to perfect, but he is tragically a fast learner and academically inclined. It really only adds to how obnoxious he is.
She does have his attention now with that take though, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. Okay then... someone who gets it. ]
Alright then. Tip for you. You're going to die in this game. A lot. But get down the movements first, then the attacks, and you can start figuring out patterns of their attacks from there.
[Clara has no expectation of anyone learning sign for her. The coterie had been enough of a surprise but they at least had the relevant resources. Anyone here would have the struggle of learning it and learning her specific kind and year. That's not even to mention the words she'd improvised to deal with kindred terms.]
[And if he did surely it just meant they'd have two avenues to argue. Charlie would talk while he signed, quite stressful to follow along with.]
[She's still adamantly staring at the game over screen while she listens. Movement, then attacks, then patterns. She nods, hovering over the option to restart.]
[It seems like she takes his words to heart- in that the next round she makes very little progress towards the actual goal of the game. Instead, she prioritizes seeing how long she can escape the enemies. Any points acquired along the way were incidental. This does mean her attempt isn't over immediately.]
[It's still pretty fast but she's able to move the joystick more smoothly during it.]
[ It may surprise people to know that a man like Gen is actually pretty academically inclined, and there are a number of topics he could give a pretty decent layman's explanation of in a pretty expansive number of fields. It really suits his jack of all traits approach to life, though it does mean that someone is still better off consulting an expert if they really want to know more.
There are two things, however, that someone would be wise to listen to his specific advice about. The first is combat, whether it's on the field itself or during training drills, the man does know what he's talking about no matter how cocky and self-aggrandizing he is.
The second? Video games.
Gen's smiles stretches wider, pleased to see she's taking his advice, and noting the time difference between her last attempt and this one.
[It's likely for the best the other man's true academic ability stays hidden for now. Clara would be all the more frustrated by his lack of focus and seeming inability to do things without praise. Even if she was used to people overwhelmingly not being what she wanted of them!]
[He is, at least, the only video game expert she knows and thus she defers to his knowledge. It is still frustrating to lose but she can tell his advice will yield results. Her eyes flicker over to where he's looking on and the smile on his lips makes her feel conflicted. She can't roll high enough to tell if it's a smug look for being right, possibly sincere praise, or just a smirk for the sake of smirking.]
[The insecurity of not knowing is a bit like a flutter in her heart. Just a little.]
[She types,]
How long are you willing to wait? If there are other things we should look at I understand.
[Otherwise she will absolutely turn this date into labbing the arcade game. Clara has a skill that is essential for niche gamers: the ability to sit down and hyperfocus on executing one task for several hours.]
[ Gen choosing to be the way he chooses to be often causes people frustration, so she would be far from the first. At this point it doesn't even bother him anymore, as long as he can get those same people to reluctantly admit he's incredible at what he does do.
That's part of what the smile is about right now too. She's got to be realizing right now that he's right, and there's a satisfaction in that, but there's also a satisfaction in seeing his advice actually panning out as well. It's self-centered regardless, though it is at least him being pleased to see some real progress from her.
As for the question, Gen offers her an easy shrug. ]
I come here all the time anyway, so it doesn't matter much to me. Besides, I'm not a big enough asshole to rob you of the ability to complete master this game.
[ The ability to hyperfocus on one thing until you get good is a shared trait. His smug satisfaction of seeing her take his advice is self-centered. His willingness to stand here and let her get better at this game because he understands the satisfaction of that is less so.
... However it is largely because there are other games in the immediate area, so he can start playing some of them if he gets too bored while waiting for her. ]
[They all had different priorities. She would gladly pour herself into organizational tasks or research. It was possible she also had the great capacity for things she didn't care for. Now they were both in a place where some of their greatest talents weren't valuable. Instead, it was their social skills, where they were both... lacking in certain ways.]
[Clara watches, takes in his response, considers.]
I see. Not a big enough asshole.
[The tiniest bit of a smirk on her own lips. It was less a dirty joke and more a commentary on his asshole status... but it does double as both, doesn't it.]
I will continue playing, then. I may not master it in the time before dawn but I will aim for improvement.
[She types it all very professionally but the energy with which she turns back to the screen is a bit like an eager child. Clack, clack, Retry!]
[ As a Certified Top (in his own mind only), he will go ahead and ignore any dirty implications a comment like that might have, and instead scowl a little at the main meaning she has there. He'd meant it lightly as in he wasn't an asshole at all, even though he knows that he is. She doesn't have to make it clear that she also knows that he is one though.
It's a short-lived scowl though, because her own teasing is short lived as well, his expression eventually relaxing into something more thoughtful. ]
For something like this... sure, why not? The end results are what matters, but it's not like I really expect everyone to immediately be good at everything they attempt for the first time.
[ The unsaid "unlike me" hangs in the air, though he puts in a lot more effort into improvement on a variety of fronts than he'd be willing to fess up to. ]
[Clara is a specialist at enduring terrible personalities. Her only price for it these days was that she got to make it quite clear she knew. Narumi has not wronged her in a way that she truly dislikes him, he's safe from that right now. However, if he wants her to pretend his personality is something praise-worthy that, too, is beyond her acting capabilities.]
[And there are some aspects that match up. Clara's own personality has its own ugly bumps and bruises. She fully agrees that end results are what mostly matters.]
[His unspoken challenge, though, his assertion that he was built different? Well, responding to that would mean looking away from the game at hand. It's not worth it to challenge as she works on getting the turns as sharp as she needs them to evade the monsters. With a monster chasing her and one approaching she just narrowly manages to escape up into the last fork of that T-junction. How satisfying.]
[Like, she does lose, she's still not any kind of prodigy. At this continue screen she will type into her Watch:]
Every victory is simply an application of resources.
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no subject
[The second try her movements are a bit more purposeful, less flailing, but it ends just as fast.]
[It's only then that she takes her hands off the joystick. She quickly starts to sign before remembering this wasn't one of the people in her coterie. She'd defaulted to the wrong form of communication. Her lip tugs down in a scowl as she taps the appropriate buttons on her Watch to actually say something.]
If I switched back it would not be as satisfying. It would be condescending.
no subject
As if it won't take years to perfect, but he is tragically a fast learner and academically inclined. It really only adds to how obnoxious he is.
She does have his attention now with that take though, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. Okay then... someone who gets it. ]
Alright then. Tip for you. You're going to die in this game. A lot. But get down the movements first, then the attacks, and you can start figuring out patterns of their attacks from there.
no subject
[And if he did surely it just meant they'd have two avenues to argue. Charlie would talk while he signed, quite stressful to follow along with.]
[She's still adamantly staring at the game over screen while she listens. Movement, then attacks, then patterns. She nods, hovering over the option to restart.]
[It seems like she takes his words to heart- in that the next round she makes very little progress towards the actual goal of the game. Instead, she prioritizes seeing how long she can escape the enemies. Any points acquired along the way were incidental. This does mean her attempt isn't over immediately.]
[It's still pretty fast but she's able to move the joystick more smoothly during it.]
no subject
There are two things, however, that someone would be wise to listen to his specific advice about. The first is combat, whether it's on the field itself or during training drills, the man does know what he's talking about no matter how cocky and self-aggrandizing he is.
The second? Video games.
Gen's smiles stretches wider, pleased to see she's taking his advice, and noting the time difference between her last attempt and this one.
Not bad. ]
See what I mean?
no subject
[He is, at least, the only video game expert she knows and thus she defers to his knowledge. It is still frustrating to lose but she can tell his advice will yield results. Her eyes flicker over to where he's looking on and the smile on his lips makes her feel conflicted. She can't roll high enough to tell if it's a smug look for being right, possibly sincere praise, or just a smirk for the sake of smirking.]
[The insecurity of not knowing is a bit like a flutter in her heart. Just a little.]
[She types,]
How long are you willing to wait? If there are other things we should look at I understand.
[Otherwise she will absolutely turn this date into labbing the arcade game. Clara has a skill that is essential for niche gamers: the ability to sit down and hyperfocus on executing one task for several hours.]
no subject
That's part of what the smile is about right now too. She's got to be realizing right now that he's right, and there's a satisfaction in that, but there's also a satisfaction in seeing his advice actually panning out as well. It's self-centered regardless, though it is at least him being pleased to see some real progress from her.
As for the question, Gen offers her an easy shrug. ]
I come here all the time anyway, so it doesn't matter much to me. Besides, I'm not a big enough asshole to rob you of the ability to complete master this game.
[ The ability to hyperfocus on one thing until you get good is a shared trait. His smug satisfaction of seeing her take his advice is self-centered. His willingness to stand here and let her get better at this game because he understands the satisfaction of that is less so.
... However it is largely because there are other games in the immediate area, so he can start playing some of them if he gets too bored while waiting for her. ]
no subject
[Clara watches, takes in his response, considers.]
I see. Not a big enough asshole.
[The tiniest bit of a smirk on her own lips. It was less a dirty joke and more a commentary on his asshole status... but it does double as both, doesn't it.]
I will continue playing, then. I may not master it in the time before dawn but I will aim for improvement.
[She types it all very professionally but the energy with which she turns back to the screen is a bit like an eager child. Clack, clack, Retry!]
no subject
It's a short-lived scowl though, because her own teasing is short lived as well, his expression eventually relaxing into something more thoughtful. ]
For something like this... sure, why not? The end results are what matters, but it's not like I really expect everyone to immediately be good at everything they attempt for the first time.
[ The unsaid "unlike me" hangs in the air, though he puts in a lot more effort into improvement on a variety of fronts than he'd be willing to fess up to. ]
no subject
[And there are some aspects that match up. Clara's own personality has its own ugly bumps and bruises. She fully agrees that end results are what mostly matters.]
[His unspoken challenge, though, his assertion that he was built different? Well, responding to that would mean looking away from the game at hand. It's not worth it to challenge as she works on getting the turns as sharp as she needs them to evade the monsters. With a monster chasing her and one approaching she just narrowly manages to escape up into the last fork of that T-junction. How satisfying.]
[Like, she does lose, she's still not any kind of prodigy. At this continue screen she will type into her Watch:]
Every victory is simply an application of resources.