insurmountable | how could i ever forget // outside the morning was cool and wet

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how could i ever forget // outside the morning was cool and wet

[It's not often Ajax finds himself getting his head slammed down onto the hood of a car, least of all a cop car. Usually it's him doing the slamming.

But today the young man finds himself denting the hood, the sound of metal caving in under his head ringing in his ears. Not exactly the ideal situation he was hoping for, but he figured sooner or later he'd have a run in with the cops due to the sensitive nature of his profession, but that doesn't mean he has to like how inconsiderate they are with him as they cuff him and throw him in the back of the paddy wagon. Not that he was considerate to them when he was discovered, as evidenced by the blood all over his clothing and knuckles from the fight he'd gotten into with them. How he managed to avoid getting shot is beyond him- plenty of shots were fired, but that hadn't stopped him from knocking a few of them out.

It's just too bad he'd been instructed that he couldn't kill anyone, or else he'd of gotten out of there without being caught.

The lights of the police station are bright, almost too bright from the contrast of how dark it was outside. Ajax squints as he's dragged inside, held tightly by two cops who hurry him through the station, but not fast enough that he doesn't catch a glimpse of the secretary behind the desk as they come in. Pretty, blonde, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. Gorgeous eyes, ones that catch his attention almost immediately as he's being shoved towards the back, shining with a radiance that captures him instantly. His eyes lock with hers, feeling something silent yet powerful surge through him from this tiny, insignificant interaction. He doesn't even have a moment to think further on it, before he's so rudely interrupted.

Get moving.

The curt voice of the bigger cop on his right cuts through the moment, anger welling up in Ajax's chest and something dark stirs in his core. If he wasn't cuffed and being restrained, he'd turn that guy's face into a new work of art, something so abstract some insane art collector would gladly pay millions for it.

No sooner had Ajax been ushered in, he disappears from sight as he's taken back into an interrogation room, the mysterious blonde no longer in his sights, now getting shoved into a corner of a room.]

What's with this? Don't you even have the courtesy of giving me a chair to sit in, at least?

[From outside of the room, muffled noises of a scuffle as the cops lay into Ajax can be heard, the loudest of which is a thud of a body slamming into a wall, accompanied by a groan from the ginger kid. Though little do any of them know, their real problems haven't arrived just yet, waking from their slumber right outside of the city...]

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[With all super-competitive games off the table for the night, they head to the toy store, pick up a few things, and head back. He's got a few toys himself to send back to Snezhnaya for his siblings, happy with his choices and hoping that they'll like them. As they step inside, he watches her go straight for Hanabi's tank, the little goldfish inside reminding him of her fire familiar. Ajax briefly wonders if their powers really really connected to their personalities and interests in some way, or are influenced by things that have profound effects on them- but he shakes his head. He's not training now, they're supposed to be relaxing.

He pulls himself out of it just in time for Yoimiya to turn to him and address him, getting him to sigh with a tired smile. He's not buying that look Hanabi, he knows that's how she always looks! His eyes flick to the fish and back to Yoimiya, swinging around the side of the couch to sit down on it.]

We sure will. Nothing but the best for Hanabi.

[Hopefully that's a good enough answer for Yoimiya, even if the enthusiasm in his voice is fake af and he knows that they're going to ignore the fish most of the night ^^]

[ Oh, Yoimiya can hear a fake af voice when she hears it. His voice is practically dripping with genuine fakeness. ]

You could at least PRETEND to be enthusiastic. It's no wonder why Hanabi doesn't like you.

[ Hanabi's concerns are completely valid. Rude guy refusing to show respect to the queen. HOW DARE HE! She HMPHS and stomps off to the kitchen to grab a few bottles of wine for their date night. ]

[His eyes follow that offended little butt of hers right into the kitchen, grinning at how huffy she just got with him. He calls after her-]

Oh? I thought Hanabi loved me-! She told me herself!

[And waits for Yoimiya's return, unbagging the board game they bought together and eyeing the Switch that's hooked up to her TV. He's sort of itching to play it first, before breaking into a board game...he wants to fight Yoimiya, even if it's in a video game.]

THERE'S NO WAY A JERK LIKE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND FISH!!!!!

[ something something pot calling the kettle black.

Yoimiya's voice is so loud that even Hanabi looks over in her servant's direction, confused and annoyed at all the disturbances. Eventually, she stomps back with two bottles of cherry wine, plopping down next to him with a huff. ]

That's it. I'm absolutely kicking your butt on Hanabi's behalf!

[ She feels the need to curbstomp this guy to the ground rising. And without further delay, the game gets loaded into the switch. ]

[Thank the gods that she's in the kitchen and he's in the living room when she yells back at him. He lets a terrible snort out of his nose and has to cover his mouth from laughing way too loud for his own safety. He must of got her goat even more than he thought he would because she's stomping back with some wine, and he's fighting so hard to make his shit-eating grin as small as possible.]

Enjoy the first few victories, because after I learn how to play, you'll never win again.

[He pours them both a glass of wine, sliding her cup in front of her and hoping she doesn't get so mad that she ends up spilling it all over her coffee table somehow. He grabs the controller meant for him, looking up at the title screen once before fiddling with the controller a bit.]

But, you have to be fair about this! You need to teach me what does what, or your wins will be nothing but hollow victories. You wouldn't want that, would you?

[ If Yoimiya were the type of person to give someone the middle finger, Ajax would be receiving two whole birdies from her. There's a first time for everything and if he tests her patience enough, he might just be in for a crude surprise. For now, she just shoves a joycon in his hands, grumbling obscenities underneath her breath as she scrolls over to the character select screen. Stupid sexy Ajax. ]

Yeah, yeah. First thing you want to do is pick a character. Some of them can move fast while others are more slow but hit hard. So it depends on your taste in fighters.

[ Naturally, Yoimiya picks the pink, round creature known as Kirby! ]

The name of the one I picked is Kirby. And don't underestimate it's cute appearance! This lil guy is tough.

[The joycon controllers are small in his hands, but he can make them work regardless. There's so many buttons on it, he can barely make heads or tails of it all. For a second, he kind of feels like a boomer...]

He looks pretty squishy, if you ask me.

[Like a little puffball, or a piece of candy or gum. Something you could chew up and spit out easily, but then he wouldn't be a character in the game if he were that easy to beat, right?]

I'll choose...this one.

[Something he views as equally as squishy. A yellow electric mouse.]

I think I've heard of this character before! It's Pikachu, right?

So you are up to date on your cartoons! You're right, that's Pikachu and that guy also packs a mean punch. I'm kinda surprised you chose something so cute.

[ Ajax strikes her as the type of guy to pick someone cool like Link, Marth, or Samus. Guess you truly can't make assumptions about someone until you get tobl know them.

With their fighters chosen, Yoimiya hits randomize for the stage and of course, the computer sends them to Zelda's castle for their first battle. Of course it would. ]

So for a quick rundown on the buttons, a is for attack, b us for special attack, you jump with x and y, shield with z, grab with left and right, and taunt with the direction pad! The goal is to knock each other off the platform until our lives are depleted. Special items also drop here and there and eventually, after you get so many hits in, you'll be able to do your ultimate smash attack.

[ Got all that??? ]

[Ajax practically beams at Yoimiya when she mentions that she's surprised with his character choice. He likes cute things, he's not embarrassed to admit it. He's got a great eye for picking out cute things for his siblings, and it's no wonder where they got it from.

He sits ready, looking at the screen and seeing that they're both on a pretty cool looking stage. He's all fired up to go, when she starts giving him the breakdown, and then:]

Uhhhhmmmm...

[That was a lot of information, and his face looks as dumb as his brain when it comes to this kind of thing.]

I get that you want to hit people off the platform, but as for the rest of it...

[He presses a few buttons on the controller. Okay, he jumps with that, he can attack with that. Yep. Okay.]

Maybe starting a little slow is in order, you know, so I can get a feel for the controls.

[ The look in his stupefied face says it all, that was too much information overload even for someone as intelligent as Ajax. She gets it, the controls are a lot for someone just starting out. ]

Then we can make this a practice round for you to get used to controls. Watch me closely.

[ She controls Kirby to walk straight up to Pikachu and PUNCH him. ]

See that? That's what you call a normal attack.

[He silently watches Yoimiya come right up to his character and punch him. He gets that, and the percentage at the bottom of the screen changing. Right. Damage meter. Taking his turn, he hits the attack button almost immediately and hits Kirby with a headbutt, nodding his head.]

I see...you said this other button does attacks too, right?

[Instead of waiting for an answer though, he presses it expecting an attack, but Pikachu just jumps instead.]

Oh...whoops. Guess I got them mixed up.

[Unbeknownst to him, that mix up will happen a lot to him loool]

[ Perfect hit! If this was a serious game, Yoimiya might have huffed a little but in this moment, her heart swells with pride as he seems to be picking up the ropes.

Sort of. He kind of jumped instead of attacked there, oops. Looks like they might be here a while but that's okay! They have all night to try and beat each other up. Besides, this is a welcome change of pace from monster attacks and insatiable appetites for sex. It's nice to finally just spend some wholesome time with him. ]

Hahaha, that's the jump button! Don't sweat it, that's why we're calling this a practice round to get you started. Take all the time you need to get used to the buttons.

[ To demonstrate, Yoimiya presses a button for Kirby to suck up and inhale Pikachu. Before Ajax gets weirded out (or still is idk), the pink creature spits him out with a Pikachu hat sitting on top of its head. ]

Press B to do your special attack! Everyone has a move that's unique to them, Kirby's happens to be sucking in opponents and mimicking their powers. Like so...

[ SUDDENLY, Kirby is shooting thunderbolts. What is this creature???? ]

Pikachu's special attack is really similar to that! He shoots lightning too.

[Ajax's eyes go from having furrowed eyebrows while he figures it out to surprise as when Yoimiya's character sucks up his own. He frantically presses all sorts of buttons on his controller, but to no avail- he's stuck in its mouth. Did he just lose?

That's a thought that doesn't last long. Pikachu gets spit back out and suddenly her character is doing his special move, apparently...]

Which button is that?

[He starts pressing the other buttons, quickly finding the special attack button. Little lightning bolts shoot out and arc across the stage, and Ajax finally gets it. This button to do non-electric attack, this button to do electric attacks. Jump button. It's all coming together.]

Oh, okay. Is there any combos? You know, like in the arcades when you have to move and press buttons in a certain order to do a special move. You know what I'm talking about, right?

[Ajax sets his joycons down in his lap to move his hands into a hadouken pose- the only thing he knows from pop culture...]

[ Picking Kirby was the right choice, the look on his face was priceless. If he's that started just from his character being sucked in, she can't wait to see the expression he makes when she knocks him off the platform and reclaims Hanabi's honor. >:)

But before she can fantasize about her victory, she's met with the sight of Ajax doing the most silly hand gesture she's seen out of him. She can't believe it, he's actually doing the hadouken. Archons above please help her, because she's totally going to lose her shit from laughing so hard. ]

Hahahaha!! I can picture an energy blast shooting out of you at this very moment. Oh my gosh...this is the best day ever, I got to see Ajax do the hadouken.

[ Goodness, why does he look and sound like a boomer? Yoimiya figures he's not that much older than she is but still, he sounds like a guy who would say How do you do, fellow kids? as he attempts to fit in with the video game crowd.

She wipes away the tears that formed behind her eyes from laughing so hard. Eventually, she finally settles down enough to explain combos. ]

Yes! There are combos. If you hold down the A button, you'll do a series of consecutive jabs. The rest of the combos are done by pressing a or b and the directional pad at the same time. So for example, if you press A while your character is running, you'll do a dash attack. You can also do attacks while in the air, all you have to do is press A and move the left stick in various directions to perform certain attacks like forward aerial, up aerial, down aerial, and back aerial.

Hey...

[Is it really that funny? Ajax frowns as she laughs at him. He's seen videos on the internet of people doing silly poses and such like this. Maybe it's just because it's him and he's so out of the loop on the matter that it must be funny...or maybe he did it wrong? She seems to understand what he's doing, not realizing that he totally looks like a boomer.

He sighs in defeat, choosing instead to try to listen to what Yoimiya has to say while she answers his question. That's still a lot, but when he looks down at the joycons while she explains, it makes sense. He can pick a direction and hit a button...seems simple enough.]

Alright, I think I get it. If I keep asking questions, I might find myself being made fun of more than playing.

[And to that, he presses his special button a few times to zap Kirby and add that percentage up on the bottom of the screen. Ajax turns to her, proud of himself.]

Shouldn't let your guard down.

[ Truthfully, she can find other ways to make fun of him that don't involve asking questions but she'll keep that thought to herself for the time being. Now that he's getting serious, she can't afford to lose to this newbie.

Kirby's percentage is rising a little too high for her liking. This might be a practice round but her pride is at stake, especially not when he looks way too proud of himself for his own good.

As luck would have it, her savior drops from the sky, in the form of a white paper fan. ]

Oh yeah? You better take your own advice.

[ She controls Kirby to float up in the air to grab the fan. As soon as she gets ahold of it, her character dashes down to give Pikachu a good smack. ]

Here's another tip for you, newbie. Try to grab items as they fall from they sky, they can be a game changer.

[He sees the item on the screen too, and he tries to jump up to grab it, but he doesn't really understand the mechanics of how any of this works in practice yet and fails spectacularly. Kirby comes down and hits his poor character, returning the previous blow back to him and knocking Pikachu back a few feet. It puts Ajax in battle mode- even if he isn't sure of what he's doing.]

Alright, then, thanks for the advice- you better hope I don't get a good item the next time one comes down. Let's go for real now!

[And he's ready to back his words up with action, directing Pikachu to start to move towards Kirby...except he doesn't know how to make Pikachu dash so it's just normal running at Kirby. To top it off, he doesn't even manage to hit either of the attack buttons, instead hitting the jump button on accident and sending Pikachu directly over Kirby's head...]

[ Here he comes! As Yoimiya braces for some kind of counterattack, Pikachu just...... flies past Kirby's head. It's a good thing she's holding onto the controller because she probably would have doubled over with laughter. There's a part of her that almost feels bad about challenging him to Super Smash Bros, it kind of feels like taking candy from a baby.

Almost. She'll justify this easy win as payback for not taking poor Hanabi seriously. ]

What happened to [ She clears her throat and attempts to do her best impersonation of Ajax's voice. ] because after I learn how to play, you'll never win again.

[ It's not a very good impersonation at all because her cute, high-pitched voice can only go so deep. ]

If you're trying to dash, flick the analog stick in the direction you want to run. And remember, you press A to attack. X is jump.

[Oh, shoot. He definitely hit the wrong button, he meant to attack and accidentally hit jump. He's lucky she doesn't punish him for it, instead opting to do a little mocking instead. Ajax turns his mouth up at his own mistake, huffing a little as his character lands and he repositions himself.]

See, if you still have to give me tips, I haven't learned how to play yet. You can cut it out with the squeaky impression there.

[He waves his hand dismissively at her, determined to figure this out as quickly as possible so he can get himself a dub on one of these fights. He's already resigned that he will most likely lose quite a few before he really gets used to it, but he won't be a loser forever!

But he does take the advice, making Pikachu dash at Kirby, when he hits his special button right as he's getting near Kirby, resulting in the spinning electric headbutt move- which surprises Ajax completely. He wasn't expecting that at all.]

Oh! What did I just do?

[ In one ear and out the other it goes. More impressions? Got it! When it comes to Yoimiya, she's great at doing the opposite. She's already plotting all sorts of squeaky impersonations of Ajax.

But in a surprise twist, he actually manages to shut her up for a brief moment as Pikachu nearly headbutts Kirby off the ledge. She's quick to react by controlling her pink blob to puff up like a balloon and land right back on the platform but, oh boy, seeing Kirby's percentage go up is an eye-opener, a reminder that she should not underestimate Ajax. ]

Hey, not bad at all! Looks like you're slowly learning the ropes.

[ Even though she knows she cannot underestimate him, she still can't help but want to poke fun at him. Shittalking him and riling each other's competitive sides is such stupid fun. ]

I believe you did Pikachu's special dash attack. It can be a pretty nasty move in the right circumstances... like just now! You kinda caught me off guard with that.

[He looks pretty proud of himself. It feels like he unlocked a secret weapon, and in some ways he's not wrong. But he still has a long way to go, and no one is more cognizant of this than Ajax himself.

He didn't think that he'd be able to knock her off the platform just yet, as it's becoming more increasingly obvious that this is the goal of the game. But now he knows what else Kirby can do to get back on the platform. That's a good start.]

Ahhhhh...I think I'm starting to get it. If I stand still it does one attack, if I dash it does another...and if I press backwards...

[He starts muttering to himself as he tests out his theories, slowly going through all the motions of forward, up, down, and backward while pressing buttons.]

Oh, you're in trouble now. I never would have thought so many combinations were possible, and I'm going to practice them all on you until I win one or you pass out from exhaustion on the couch.

[ Oh gods, if she wasn't determined to kick his butt, she'd be laughing at how serious he sounds while muttering theories to himself about Super Smash Bros. Does Ajax realize how unintentionally funny he is? She makes a note to point it out to him after they've had their match. Or to be more precise, after she's kicked his butt. ♥ ]

Right, right. You can mutter to yourself and practice all you want because, at the end of the day, I'm still leagues ahead of you in Super Smash Bros. Even if we're trapped on this couch for a week, I'm determined to make sure you don't ever beat me.

[ And now that the practice round is over, it's time for Yoimiya to get a little more serious. She immediately goes on the offense as Kirby kicks Pikachu in the air and suddenly, whips out a hammer to slam down onto the poor rodent. ]

I'll show you that you still have a lot to learn.

[Wowowowow. She's pretty bold to say that to him straight to his face. He turns his mouth up at her, but before he knows it, she's comboing him right into the ground with one of Kirby's moves. He gasps in surprise, not having expected her to go and do that so quickly after taunting him.]

Hey! I wasn't ready. That wasn't very honorable, Yoimiya.

[Now all fired up all over again, he starts going at her, jumping around like a crazy person while hitting attack buttons with almost no rhyme or reason. He still doesn't really know what he's doing, trying to headbutt Yoimiya or charge attack her without much rhyme or reason as he's learning how his fingers are supposed to hit buttons to do certain things.]

Can't hit me if you don't know what I'm doing next~

[Though this isn't very true at all..]

[ Since when has he been known to preach righteousness? But she'll keep that thought to herself, she's got a game to win, after all!

At this rate, he might actually pull off an upset......... due to her nearly doubling over on the couch from laughter at how all over the place his attacks are. Can't hit me if you don't know what I'm doing next~ those are the words of a man who has absolutely no idea what he's doing. Yoimiya is forced to bite down her laughter as she sneaks glances at him, he looks like he's pressing random buttons on her end. Welp, he's getting a few hits off her, even coming dangerously close to knocking Kirby off the ledge with that headbutt so it seems to be working. ]

More like, I think you don't know what you plan to do next.

[ OOOOOOOOOH No, it's not that great of a roast, Yoimiya. Suddenly, from the sky emerges the most coveted powerup of all; the smash ball. ]

Alright newbie, I'll give you one last lesson before I crush you for good. You see that big ball of energy in the sky? That's a smash ball and whoever destroys it first gets to unleash their ultimate move. Last one to the smash ball is a loser~!

[ Yoimiya furiously begins tapping away at her joycon to control Kirby to fly upwards, she's determined to get her ultimate move because god knows it'd be embarrassing to lose to a guy who mixes up the jump and attack button. ]

[She's hit the nail on the head- he has absolutely no idea what to do, but he's learning. He's learning that if he dashes and presses a certain button, he can do a dash headbutt, and he can do it in midair too. No down airs or up airs yet on his part, but he's figuring out that direction of the stick matters very quickly. With every moment, Ajax feels more confident in what he's doing even if he can't string anything together at all, but all that confidence is about to go out the window when he sees the flashing ball coming down.]

Ha! Don't think you can get to it so easy!

[He makes Pikachu jump, and then jump again, trying to get to a platform higher up so he can try to get to the ball...

...but fails, missing the platform and falling back down, giving Yoimiya ample time to get to the smash ball long before he could ever dream of it. He looks on in abject horror, knowing that he wouldn't get there in time, and not knowing what comes next after someone gets it.

Oh no, he thinks to himself. This might be the end of this match.]

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