Lunchtime Arcade

Aaaaaargh. One day back at school and Katsu felt like his mind was turning into butter. Hell... How could school be so goddamnly boring? His lack of sleep did not help much and his ADHD... Well, we don't speak about his ADHD here.

After getting his portion of today's meal (which he wasn't entirely sure of what it really was and perhaps it'd be better not to ask), he found an empty table and sat, with his backpack at his side. Hm. Perhaps Katsu could play a little at lunch before the start of the afternoon classes...

...Cecil was realising a lot of things right now. They said they'd meet at school, but not where at school they'd meet. Katsugiya was going to lend him a game, but he had no idea if he even had the systems necessary to actually play it in the first place.
Well...alright, not that last one, he'd ended up looking that up in a panic the moment it occurred to him only to find he needn't have worried, but still! It was reckless!
Well...all he could do now is keep an eye out, and expect to spend lunch alone agai-

Wait. Wait, was that-

Cecil tentatively walks closer to get a better view, and beams at who he spots. Moving at a brisk pace that was barely held back from an outright jog across the room with his food, Cecil sets himself down opposite Katsu with a smile on his face. "Hey! Good to see you! I...thought I'd be..." He shakes his head. "Not important. How are you?"

"Hi Cecil!", Katsugiya smiles for a second "I'm alright, thanks. And you? How you've been?", the japanese lad asks as he looks his acquaintance.

"Oh, yeah, right" he said as he remembered something "The game" he adds with a brief smile before going to his backpack and retrieving something from it.

"Let's see... Here!", the white-haired smiled as he got back a PSP memory stick and handed it to Cecil.

"I do really hope that you enjoy it as much as I did."

"Fine, fine..." It was a fairly automatic response, regardless of how he was actually doing at any given moment. It tended to do the job it was needed for, anyway. "Nothing much going on, really."

Cecil perks up again at the mention of the game. "Oh, right!" He looks over to see what he's handed, to spot a...memory stick?
He turns his gaze over to Katsu, just to laugh briefly to himself and shake his head as he takes it. "I hope so too. Not sure what you were planning to do if I didn't have custom firmware, though. I was expecting a UMD."

"Most people tend to expect that in fact", Katsu gives off a brief laughter, "It's kind of good to surprise people in that fashion. It makes me feel somewhat... I dunno... Amused?", he suggests "I don't quite know the right word for that, I'll admit, but I think you got the general idea."

"As for that, I know a guy who's selling his for a pretty low price, so I could help you get it", the japanese adds.

Cecil quirks an eyebrow. "Of course they'd expect that. Unless you were about to fork over account details or something, they wouldn't be able to play something off a stick like this without cracking into their system - or, well, buying it in the first place." He shrugs. "...alright, maybe someone else might not have known that and that'd have worked on them, but it's just not satisfying if you can't get their reaction." You live in a house like Cecil's, and you picked up something of a taste for winding people up...good taste and not being the victim permitting.

Cecil waves it off. "No, no, this is fine, this is fine! I can work with this." He stows away the memory stick. "...is there anything else on there, actually?"

"Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well", Katsu laughs for a second "That's the thing about humor. That's why we tell jokes and play pranks on people. It's not for the sheer prank or whatsoever. It is about the look on the faces of people when they fall for it. The big prank. The great illusion."

"Oh yeah!", Katsu remembers "There's some other games there, but I think you'll like them. You can play if any of them strikes your fancy and then give me your feedback later."

Cecil's lips quirk up into something of a smirk. "That's a grand way of putting it...can't say I disagree with the sentiment, though. These things just aren't worth it without a good subject. Of course..." He holds up the memory stick. "The initial premise has to be solid as well. And that's where this one falls short. Better luck next time, Katsugiya."

"Sounds good." Cecil nods...though his mind isn't particularly on the games any more at this point. Katsugiya fancied himself something of a prankster, did he?
Even if it was a bit different to the verbal poking and prodding he was used to, he still couldn't help but wonder..."Say, Katsugiya? You got any tricks you're particularly proud of?"

Katsu gave a quick smile... Yet long enough to be able to notice that there was something more beneath him. "I have some in mind, but I've never played any of them.", the white-haired one says "I believe pranks are something you play on friends, because other people often misunderstand those pranks. Since I've never had someone close enough to, I've never actually played pranks on anyone, even though I'd like to"

"Sorry I got off-topic. I tend to stray from the topics on hand at times. But, yeah, I do have a few I believe that I'm rather proud of." he gives a brief smile "And you, Cecil? Are you a fan of practical jokes too?"

"I see..." Interesting. Normally people were more indiscriminate with these things...or at least, he thought so. "I can get that. It'd be all too easy to do these things to unsuspecting people you don't know, sure, but there's a lot to go wrong there. It's a lot better as good-natured fun between people closer to each other...even if that is probably going to make things harder for you. Less hard feelings."
And better personalised setups.

Cecil shakes his head. "No, it's fine...and, ah..." Cecil scratches at the back of his head. "I can appreciate that sort of thing, but it's not something I really do myself..." He chuckles nervously, and then pauses. "...alright, I managed to rickroll someone a couple of times recently, but that's about it."

"Now that's something!", Katsu laughs "Can you tell me about it?", the japanese asks "I mean it must be a nice story to hear and all. Plus, it is cool having a story of a prank to tell people... Even if you fell for it, you'll laugh at it someday." Katsu says it like a proverb.

"Even so, I'd also like to share some of my ideas with someone I can talk to, you know? I'm mostly at my place minding my business, but it'd be nice for us to hang around and talk about things in a regular fashion."

Cecil waves it off. "It's nothing special...someone new had shown up on a music forum I visit, and made a thread asking what sort of music people liked. So, I engage with them, we throw a few songs back and forth...and then I slip in the rickroll for the next track. Got them easy enough." He gestures out with one of his hands. "Then, while I'm playing an MMO, I find someone and party up with them. Music somehow comes up, I slip the rickroll in again..." He grins. "Turns out it was the same person."

Cecil's eyes widen for a moment. "...Y-yeah! Th-that'd be great!"
Was...again? Was this happening again?
Cecil's heart was aflutter. Since coming to Seven Stars, it seemed he'd actually had some luck finding friends - and even if it was sheer luck, the fact was, he'd had more chances at this than he'd had in a long time. And now, here was another shot right in front of him at starting something.
It was honestly more than he would have ever hoped for before, and now...!
He couldn't help it. He was giddy, and hiding it poorly.
"I'm free whenever right now if you want to meet up again. -I mean, if you really want to." Hope and anxiousness waged war in Cecil's mind. He hoped he hadn't blown this, he really hoped he hadn't blown this.

 "Damn, that one was quite simple and really good", Katsu laughs "And the fact that you tricked the same person twice with the same trick makes it even better!', the japanese lad adds, still laughing. "You've got some great ideas from what we've talked, Cecil."

 "And, yeah, I also have a great deal of free time, so almost any time that strikes your fancy, I'm most likely to be free, so we can hang out, no problems.", Katsu finds the last words of Cecil's phrase odd. Why wouldn't he want to meet up again with Cecil? "You seem to be a nice guy, we have many similarities and common tastes as well as a great deal of free time. Why wouldn't we hang out?"[/color]

"Great ideas? Really?" The confusion showed on Cecil's face. "It's just one idea, executed when I got the opening. Not sure what else you could be on about."

"I - I ah - I, a, ah, umm..."
He didn't actually have an answer for that.
"I...got nothing?" He smiled awkwardly, looking away. "So, um...yeah!"
Dear god, this feels awkward.
Whyyyyy?
Why meeeeeee?

"It surely was a great idea. Plus, some of the best pranks are rather simple... And they are so good tat they become cliché since everyone knows about them... And yet guys like us are still using the same pranks around so we can see people's expressions when they fall for it... And they always do. I'd say that this is the heart of pranks. You know, the fundamental concept of making a practical joke that everyone, even the unfortunate fella who fell for it, will laugh."

Katsu laughs once again.

"Hey, relax. We are just talking and having a good time, so why don't we make the best out of it?", Katsu points. "Oh yeah! Can I get your phone number? So I can call you and all to, y'know, make some small talk and share memes."