RP: Hannah hosts a Yuletide Party

[shh_hannah]

Date: December 25, 2004
Character(s): Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan, Wayne Hopkins, Megan Jones (and Ben?), Lisa Turpin, Cedric Diggory, Roger Davies, Hestia Jones, Susan Bones
Status: Private
Location: Hannah's House on the Hill
Summary: Hannah hosts a Yuletide Party

Comments

[shh_megan]

Megan waved after Wayne and turned her attention back to the boys and their toys. Ernie's attention was wrapped up in a stack of comic books, and Roger and Cedric were busy with - an Xbox, from the looks of it. Megan's eyebrows raised. She took a step closer and peered down at the stack of games.

Her own father had fallen in love with the console style games on one memorable visit to Megan's maternal grandparents' house, and Megan had picked right up on the system as well. She tended to favor the sports games - sports were very big in the Jones household, but she had no physical talent - but she recognized the game of real interest in Cedric's stack.

"Oh my God, they came out with a Halo 2?!"

[shh_ernie]

Ernie paid little attention to what was happening with the videogames. His attention had been completely captured by the comics Cedric had brought.

There were a few Batman comics he'd never seen. And a Superman he'd been dying to get his hands on.

"Where--where did you get these?" he asked, tearing his eyes away for a moment.

[shh_cedric]

Megan's enthusiasm about the game made Cedric smile. It was good to know they weren't going to bore her with the games. Picking up the case, he tossed her the game. "It got awarded something like 'Best game of 2004' by more than one gaming magazine. Should be wicked, yeah? Haven't played it yet, either

[shh_roger]

Roger peered at the comics Ernie was holding. "Never been into comics, really, myself. Except Batman. Got into that a bit ago, actually."

He turned his attention to the game. "Halo's pretty good, I hear. Great action and strategy elements. I'd like to give that a shot, definitely. Although I usually go for racing games, as well. I like cars, and planes. This one"- he picked up the box-- "Gran Turismo. I love this one. It's like real driving simulation, which is neat, beacuse I never learned to drive a car. Makes me almost feel like I could drive a real one. And you can customise them, and race them around the globe, and get more and more exotic ones."

He broke off, and ducked his head. "Anyway, I like it."

[shh_megan]

Megan scanned the box eagerly and then opened it up. She couldn't help but notice that there were enough controllers for all of them to play - though Ernie didn't look like he was about to set that comic book down. She popped Halo 2 into the console and sat down on the floor with the others, hitching her skirt up a bit to get comfortable.

She felt a bit of a pang at this - her mother would have been in the kitchen or helping with the set-up or something - but that didn't stop her from deciding to stay in here with the games.

"I haven't played that one," she said to Roger. "But my dad had a steering wheel with his Playstation he used for the driving games. I'm not sure I would know how to do it with one of these." She smiled and held up the gamepad.

The game was loading, and Megan hesitated just one second more before plunging ahead. Why not? She was among friends, and she wasn't feeling like the shy wallflower tonight. "So you guys want to play multiplayer? The split screen mode is easier to get used to if you start out that way."

[shh_ernie]

A loud noise broke Ernie's concentration. Slightly irritated, he looked up at the television to find that there were aliens and guns and loud explosions. Maybe there was something to this videogame thing after all. It seemed like a loud Muggle movie. And he loved those.

He set down Superman and moved closer to the others, taking a seat on the couch behind Cedric and Megan. Somehow he didn't think Roger would appreciate him leaning over.

The controller seemed a bit complicated. There were several buttons and a couple of stick looking things. He concentrated harder on matching the actions on the television to those of the buttons. If he could master Transfiguration, surely he could master a Muggle toy.

[shh_cedric]

Cedric was delighted that Roger seemed to have heard of Halo too. And Megan looked just as eager to get involved as he and Roger. She'd settled in between them and when they began to play, he leaned over a few times to elbow her and harrass her in fun. "Woops!" he'd say, laughing.

She was a lot better than the two of them. "I should probably be vaguely disturbed by my fondness for blasting the bloody hell out of aliens," he said in between directions about the game. "But somehow, I can't be."

It had been over a year since he'd really played a videogame, and at first he was all over the place. Plus having other players to concentrate on made it harder. So many things happening at once; he was having a hard time following. But he knew he needed the mental exercise, so to speak. He just hoped he didn't accidentally shoot one of them. He could tell he was missing more than hitting, and once or twice, he walked his player into a wall or -- once -- right into enemy fire instead of away from it. "Fucking hell," he muttered. "

[shh_ernie]

Cedric was speaking to him. He blinked, trying to process the question.

"Oh...mostly DC," he answered. "Batman. Superman is my favorite. Clark Kent and all that." Remembering the last time he'd referenced Superman and Clark Kent and what had happened, he grimaced slightly.

He pushed that thought out of his mind. "Alright, can someone please explain what all these buttons do?" He hated asking for help, but everything was moving too quickly. And Cedric's actions were a bit confusing.

[shh_megan]

Megan was surprised when she turned out to be the best player at a brand new game. She was too used to getting her clock cleaned by her dad and her older brother Alex. She was even more surprised when Cedric bumped her elbow the first time - on purpose! - just like Alex used to do. Well, she thought with a grin, she knew how to handle that.

When Ernie asked for explanations, Megan let the other two characters roam ahead while she showed him how to move and fire. "There are all kinds of more complicated moves, but these are the basics. You just shoot the aliens and pick up the - oh, Roger got it - he's the one outlined in blue, there - try to watch just your corner of the screen, it's confusing otherwise."

It was tremendous fun when all four of them were playing. Megan had played a lot of other one-on-one games with her brother, but four was much more chaotic, and it was impossible to take anything too seriously.

[shh_cedric]

"Bugger," Cedric said when he died for about the fifth time. It was a good game, but four people plus aliens was getting to be a little too much for him to handle. He felt distracted and confused and he kept hitting the wrong buttons or moving the wrong directions, and once or twice, he was pretty sure that he must have said something that made no sense whatsoever, given the odd looks Megan and Roger had sent him. His brain -- or what was left of it -- was going into a meltdown.

He set down the controller. "Megan, you're pretty good at this. I'll be back in a minute; I need to use the loo."

Truth was, he needed a break and to get off alone for a little bit so his brain could calm down.

Rising, he headed out. "Back in a bit."