2-Day Shipping [Gidd & Shouhei]

Gidd yawned heavily as he sat on the living room couch, still in his pajamas, watching anime on the big TV. It was a lazy Sunday and he was home alone, his mom had left before he woke up so he was unsure of where she was, though he wasn't exactly worried. He was mainly burning time while waiting for a special package to arrive that day.

The package in particular was a first edition playset of a card for his trading card deck. While he already had a set of that particular card, the card being a magical girl sidekick to his deck's main playmaker, the first edition was mistakenly printed with the Japanese artwork which sported a shorter skirt and more pronounced chest, compared to the censored artwork of later releases. The printing itself was fairly hard to come by, costing Gidd most of this month's allowance, leaving him with a slight sense of buyer's remorse due to the lack of funds he'd have for a while.

Once the episode on TV ended, Gidd decided it was high time for him to actually get stuff done around the house and to get out of his PJs and fix his hair, which was noticeably messier than normal. "I think I need a haircut..." He commented to himself before turning off the TV.

Another day, another delivery route to make.  This particular stop had Shouhei at an apartment complex in Vista Square, a District he hardly traveled to.  One thing caught his eye upon inspecting the package.  The company was one Shouhei was well aware of, made infamous by a card game he used to play a lot when he was younger.  It was all the craze amongst youths in Japan at one point.  An air of nostalgia swept over him and actually pleasant childhood memories.

Those same vibes lingered with him as he knocked on the recipient’s door.

Gidd fiddled with his hair for a few minutes before hearing a knocking on his door. He got up and answered it, still dressed in his purple Pajamas and bunny slippers. "Oh hello." He greeted the person at the door. He was holding a package in his hands, leading Gidd to assume this was the courier for his package. "Oh that must be what I ordered! Do I have to sign anything?"

“You know the drill,” Shouhei smirked at the package’s recipient while handing him the device to sign electronically.  This was always one aspect of the job he found interesting.  He got to peek very briefly, and intimately, into someone’s home.  He got to see someone at their most comfortable and vulnerable.  The purple pajamas and bunny slippers nearly made him want to burst out laughing but Shouhei would maintain a level of professionalism.  At least a bit before he would ask his burning question.

“Pardon my nosiness, but this package… it’s from that gaming card company, yeah?  I used to play this game of theirs back in the day, and I’m just wondering if it’s the same one.”

"Oh... Uh, yeah. Are you talking about King of Duels? I play it after school and just needed a playset to complete my deck." Gidd explained as he signed for his package. "The game is probably unrecognizable to someone who quit years ago though, since we've had some master rule changes." Gidd prepared to fall into a bout of nerd talk about the various changes the game had gone through.

“You don’t say…” memories flooded Shouhei of that game, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.  He briefly peeked at his watch and noticed he could spend some time shooting the breeze; he was well ahead of schedule, and would oblige Gidd’s enthusiasm about the game.  

“I remember using the Chromatic Dragons in a set, and they were pretty strong.  Did those get a nerf or something? What did they change?”

"Oh chromatic dragons are in a pretty good spot right now, especially since they got new support last year, unfortunately they added a new bond mechanic that completely destroyed their Bonus Units so they have to rely on the primary deck for the most part." Gidd explained, though it occurred to him that the courier might have played in an era when the Bonus deck wasn't a huge part of the game. Regardless he was enjoying having someone to talk to about it, even if it was a complete stranger. "My deck was hit pretty hard by the changes as well so I'm attempting to adjust my build a bit to not be affected by the rule changes."

True to Gidd’s thoughts Shouhei wasn’t entirely following.  The concepts of Bonus decks were almost completely foreign to him, but he nodded politely and smiled while pretending to understand.  

“...Feels good to hear after all these years, my primary set still maintains play to this day,” Shouhei always liked picking the winners, and a proud smile cast his features.  He pointed to the box that was now outstretched for Gidd to take.  

“...I take it this delivery is your equalizer?  What’s your plan regarding this meta?”

"I'm running a rogue deck, build to counter the most commonly used meta deck at the moment Zodiac Flames." As he explained he opened his package to show him the play set of cards he ordered. "This is Apprentice Mirage Mage. Her ability is when she hits the field she can search for her master, the Mirage Mage, which is a center piece to the deck. Mirage Mage can stop Zodiac Flame cards from pulling off their big combos, so having more ways of getting him in my hand is really helpful." He showed the card to the courier, completely omitting that there was a much more modest artwork variant he could have chosen for her, but didn't.

“...She can stop more than ‘big combos’ from what I can see,” Shouhei stated in regards to the obvious scantily clad and buxom illustration on the card, accompanied with a loud catcall.  A coy grin and a waggle of the eyebrows clearly suggested what he was implying to Gidd.  

“You sure you only got this for mechanical benefits?”

"Um.... I can't answer that" His face turned a slight shade of pink as he was caught red handed. "I did indeed need the card for a strategy though."

“...Come on now, we’re both big boys, no need to get shy about it,” snickered Shouhei as he continued to tease Gidd.  “So you wanna win the game with a smokin’ card, I’m totally down for that.  Hell, I’m thinking of picking up the game again if there’s more art like her.”

Gidd's face remained a tad red as he spoke. "W-well if you really want to get back into the game IdolMasters are a pretty good place to start. They're fairly cheap, have an easy to learn strategy and can be upgraded for more competitive use down the line. Plus they have the Pop Idol aesthetic which makes them a pretty popular choice for beginners."

“...Did you, say ‘idol?’”  There was a certain twinkle, or even gleam in Shouhei’s eyes.  “Sold.  Take my gotdamn money already.”

He handed Gidd his phone, already set to his contacts list.  “...Name’s Shouhei Kagawa.  Gimme your digits and I’ll get back to ya on this game, or if you wanna hang out even.”

Gidd was taken aback by how quickly the conversation escalated after idols were brought up, though he was at least slightly happy to have made a new friend. "Uh, sure. Just gimme a second." He took the phone from Shouhei and punched in his contact info before handing it back. "The name is Gidd by the way. Gidd Melack."

He held out his hand to Shouhei for a handshake. "I know a good place you can get cards to start an IdolMaster deck if you have free time some other day. Aside from that, it was nice meeting you Mr. Kagawa"