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[notsolomon]

This is William Twining. I shall reply to your message at my earliest convenience. Thank you. ***BEEP***

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[notsolomon]

and I appreciate that. A lot.

[He does actually. And well yes, he will tone it down.]

But fine, I will try not brag too much.

[babermetrics]

. . . Heh.

[He eases off, leaning to bump up against William's shoulder, companionable. Good answer.]

Thanks for comin' over! . . . For me to kick your ass!

[Can't get too touching now, can we?]

[notsolomon]

Glad to see you in the spirit then!

["Because it will be so much more satisfying to beat you then." But he did promise to chill a little.]

But we should get started. It will take a bit to get used to this one.

[babermetrics]

So you're admitting you ain't perfect! Heh, we'll see how you handle this . . . go!

[He says, and presses his button to confirm.

Of course, William needs to press his too, so it's not as cool and dramatic a moment as Leon was hoping for.]

[notsolomon]

Oh I am about as close to perfect as any human can be.

[Since human beings were inherently imperfect, he was admitting to nothing.

But he's presses his button and wow this is a lot more nitty gritty.

But he's going to try a few punches and kicks first just to get a feel for the game.]

[babermetrics]

[Wonder if this guy's ever met Togami . . .

he thinks. Sounds like it would either be hilarious to watch, or torture to be in the same room as. Well, right now, Leon's got to focus on not getting totally owned this first round, because how embarrassing would that be? He advances on William's character from the other side of the screen—better get one of those punches in soon.]

[notsolomon]

[The feel of the game is pretty different and it's taking him some time to adjust and he's probably pretty wide open.

Wow blocking is terrible in this. So terrible. He's probably gonna get punched.]

[babermetrics]

[Yep. He sure does. Leon doesn't gloat too much; he's pretty aware of his advantage right now, and savoring it while it lasts. It'd be overdoing it to act like he just totally got in an awesome hit.

But he does grin over at William. He can't help it.

(That leaves him open, too.)]

[notsolomon]

[Smile while you can Leon. Revenge is coming.

Like right now, where William manages to land a really good kick. He's beginning to get the hang of this, though he still has a way to go.

so he's going to resist the urge to get smug for a bit.]

[babermetrics]

Ow, hey! I totally let you have that one! Don't make me get serious on your first try!

[Please don't, that'd be embarrassing. But he can tell that time is fast approaching, and turns some of his attention back onto the screen to launch a counterattack.]

[notsolomon]

Do not take me so lightly then.

[No please take him lightly. It makes it easier to win.

He isn't able to block the counterattack fast enough. It doesn't connect entirely, but it still does more damage then William would like.

He needs to rally and quickly.]

This is trickier though.

[babermetrics]

You do know this's supposed to be for fun, right?

[Spoken like someone who just got a hit in, of course. He doesn't relent this time, since William was kind enough to ask him not to! and immediately moves in for another low sweep of his lady's lovely legs.]

But yeah, 'course it's trickier when this's your first time!

[notsolomon]

Hah, I am having fun.

[Competition was inherently fun for him. Well losing not so much, but he wasn't a person to forgo a challenge. Even when it was something trivial like this.

And that wasn't fair to tripping him up like that. So William's going to take the moment his character gets up to do a running charge.]

Fortunately I am a fast learner!

[babermetrics]

It'd be no fun if you weren't any challenge, y'know? I had enough of that in my life, ha ha!

[Not that he likes losing, either. But baseball . . . well, okay, maybe he'd liked baseball some, like just a little, the teeniest tiniest bit, but it sure wasn't because it was "fun" to completely destroy every opponent the world could send his way.

. . . Mostly.

He tries to jump to dodge the charge, but he's half a second too late. WOMAN DOWN.]

[notsolomon]

Oh? You must have had it pretty easy up until you came up against me.

[Yeah the egotism is going a bit strong right now, though it's not meant maliciously.

That was a good opportunity and William's nails Leon's lady hard. He'd almost feel bad about it too, but he's going to go at this with a bit more relentless enthusiasm.]

[babermetrics]

I wasn't talkin' about video games—ah, shit! Shit shit shit shit shit one sec—

[Dammit, he needs to concentrate! Stupid prodigy William! It's time to get serious. It's time to bust out . . . a special move.

Well, first he's got to get close enough to William's character, though. That's the downside of the Special Move.]

[notsolomon]

[Fortunately for Leon, William isn't thinking about any special moves, so he's pulling in closer than he should.

He's aiming to finish this now.]

Don't sound so desperate.

[babermetrics]

[Aha! As soon as William's within reach, he makes the grab and connects, flinging the dude off across the screen in a shower of blood. It's not enough to entirely take him down, but that health bar just plummeted to close to nothing. HELL YEAAAAAAAH!]

Ha haaaa! Now who's desperate, huh?!

[He pumps a fist, rocking back against the couch with glee.]

[notsolomon]

[He's kind of shocked and not just because that happened. But because whatever just happened was really gross. But also looked really flashy.

And then he gets past that and is now annoyed.]

I am going to turn the tables around! Right now!

[He has one chance so he's going to work out a combo that he's sure has a low chance of being dodged. But it's a long shot. So William's just going to rush in and risk it all on potential death run.]

[babermetrics]

[SORRY DUDE. Leon almost panics at that sheer display of balls, but Ninja Fan Girl has a medium-range attack with her Ninja Fans, and he throws one once William is within range but before he can connect, taking him out.

Thank god, that might have been really embarrassing.

He doesn't get the badass gory special ending, though.]

Ha haaa! Gotcha! Man, that was cool! You totally catch on quick!

[notsolomon]

Dammit!

[But he's staring at the game over screen now, annoyed and mentally going over all of his mistakes.]

I am going to redeem myself.

[babermetrics]

Hell yeah, that was just number one! Don't think I'm gonna let you get away yet! I dunno about redeem yourself, though . . .

[He laughs, all bright smiles, and then the doorbell rings. Whoops. Pizza has good timing. (Maybe CERES is watching them and deliberately waited until they didn't have to pause the game? Don't think about that . . . )

He hauls himself off the couch to go grab it.]

[notsolomon]

Just you wait. Things will soon be on the right course.

[But fortunately the pizza is here. Revenge can always wait for food.

He's just going to watch from the couch though, trying not to look too sulky. Which is hard right now.]

[babermetrics]

[He grabs the goods from the 'bot and then turns to get back inside and set it on the coffee table, laughing when he gets a look at William's face. Dude.]

Did you really think you were gonna beat my ass your first time? You're just gonna make all your future defeats even sweeter for me like that!

[notsolomon]

I will concede this first loss as a necessary part of the learning curve. But like I said, the future will be different.

[But he's just going to grab a slice of pizza and and start eating in order to soothe his bitter disappointment. He'll probably be less childish about his as the evening wears on. Probably.]