Today's Tom Sawyer, mean, mean pride

“Wow! This is so much fun!” Sylvia’s eyes were bright and shiny as the car she was driving in the arcade game careened off the road and into the side of the race track, bursting into flames.

“You know, the point of a driving game is to not crash at every opportunity,” Carly pointed out. “Just a little advice.” She and Dani were hanging out beside the machines, watching Sylvia and Morgana play the racing game. They weren’t racing against each other, but if they were, Morgana would definitely be the winner. Which was a surprise.

Sylvia glanced up. “Are you sure?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. “Because crashing the car is a lot more fun!”

“Are you doing this intentionally or something?” Carly rolled her eyes and laughed.

The blonde shook her head. “No. I just can’t seem to get the controls right. I’ve never driven a car before, you know?”

“Neither have I,” Dani shrugged. “I don’t even have a license. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to crash into every obstacle out there.”

“Blegh,” Sylvia sighed, getting up out of the seat. “I know! Let’s do the motorcycle racing game! That’s gonna be a lot more fun!”

Carly and Dani glanced at each other, both women wearing exasperated smiles.

“Uh-um… can I come too?” Morgana asked hopefully, getting out of her seat after completing her own race. Unlike Sylvia, she was capable of making it to the finish line.

“Sure thing!” Sylvia chirped. “Let’s ride this baby!”

She hopped onto the stationary motorcycle sensor that the game used to register movement, and gunned the engine.

“Agh! No! No the ditch! NOT THE TREE! Yaaagh!” Sylvia covered her eyes as her motorcycle slammed into the tree and burst into flames.

It seemed like most things she did burst into flames.

“…Well, those two seem like they have it covered,” Carly said, shrugging. She turned to Dani. “Hey want to try something else?”

“We could always do a fighting game,” Dani agreed with a grin. Those were the kinds of games that she liked.

Carly was thrilled by that idea. She followed her partner over to one of the machines set up for versus matches, and the two started playing.

“Hah! Yeah! Yah! Take that!” Dani shouted as her fingers glided over the machine. Carly tried valiantly to fight back, but to no avail. Her skills were good, but they couldn’t compete with Dani, who wiped the floor with her.

But she didn’t mind. And by the end of it, when Dani finished her combo move and wiped Carly’s character out completely, she was all smiles.

“Wheew! That was fun!” Carly laughed.

“You sure?” Dani didn’t look as certain. “I think I maybe could have gone a little bit easier on you,” she said cautiously. “I kind of don’t know how to moderate myself…”

“It’s fine,” Carly assured her, placing her hand on Dani’s shoulder. “Games like these, we don’t need to take them seriously. I’m just happy getting to spend time with you, you know? We need to enjoy this while it lasts.”

Carly felt like it was kind of rude to think this way, but she was actually glad that Marley wasn’t here right now. As much as she loved her sister, she was starting to become aware of how difficult it could be to have her around every day. And while technically Carly had most of the power in this situation (she could just break the ten-foot barrier, and then Marley would turn into slime) she would never do that to someone she loved.

She would just have to put up with these issues for as long as she could.

“I’m just glad I have you all to myself for once,” Dani said, blushing a little. Her words spoke to the feeling in Carly’s heart, and the cosplayer actually blushed.

“Y-yeah… I’m glad that Marley is having fun with Nick right now… but at the same time… I’m also glad we get to spend some time together, too,” Carly nodded, biting her lip and gazing into Dani’s eyes longingly.

Out of nowhere, she kissed her partner.

Dani blinked, not sure what to say. Carly seemed a little uncertain, too.

“That, uh… that was weird, huh?” Carly noted with a blush. “You know, just kissing you like that… you know?”

Carly was a spontaneous girl, but at the same time, she couldn’t quite describe the feelings that had inspired her to kiss Dani. After all, as much as she liked Dani, she didn’t feel the same sexual desire for her she felt for boys, like Nick. That kiss had been an awkward mix of romantic feelings and the mood being “right” but for Dani, well…

Her tanned face was reddening for a reason.

“I don’t mind weird,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “After all, I mean… we’re together here, right? So…”

Carly knew what she was getting at. But she also saw Sylvia and Morgana out of the corner of her eye, and knew that it wasn’t exactly the best time to be making moves like the ones Dani so obviously wanted her to be making.

And the moves she partially wanted to make, at least for Dani’s sake.

“How about, um, we play some more games?” Carly asked awkwardly. “You could kick my butt at another fighting game!”

Dani blinked, and realized why Carly was pausing. She laughed. “Oh, okay. I see what you mean. Um… actually, in that case, do you want to play something different?”

Carly blinked. “Different? Like what?”

Dani looked around at the massive assortment of arcade games all over the room. She shrugged. “Well, I mean, there are all sorts of games around here, right? Which ones are you good at? That’s what I’m trying to get at here.”

Carly blinked. Then her face lit up. “Oh! Okay, I understand now. Sorry, I was a little confused. So… a game I’m good at… hmm…”

“Yeah,” Dani said, cracking a grin. “I mean, I’ve been kicking your butt at fighting games, don’t you think it’s fair that you had a chance to play a game you’re good at? I mean, this is your day off, Carly! You don’t have to drag your sister around everywhere, we can do whatever we want to do! Don’t you think that’s the best opportunity?”

Carly nodded and cracked a smile. Dani raised a really good point. “You’re right,” she nodded. “Let’s find something we can do together to have fun!” She winked. “And where I can finally win a game for once today!”

The two girls shared a laugh.

Carly knew the perfect game. She just had to hope that Dani would go for it.

“Well? What do you think?” She asked, gesturing to the game in front of her.

To say Dani was surprised would be an understatement.

“A dancing game? Seriously?” Dani shook her head incredulously as she looked at the colorful arrows spaced out on the metal platform.

“What, you don’t like these?” Carly asked, trying not to sound too disappointed. “This is one of my all-time favorite games, you know!”

“No, no, it’s not that!” Dani shook her head quickly. “Of course it’s not that! I like dancing games just fine, I’m just surprised you would suggest one. After all… I still have my transformation active, you know?”

“…Oh, really?” Carly smirked and crossed her arms under her chest. “Sounding pretty bold there, aren’t you?”

Dani cracked a grin and shrugged. “Hey, look, all I’m saying is that my transformation boosts my strength and stamina, that’s all. And you want to compete at a physical activity?”

“You want to talk strength and stamina?” Carly snorted with a smile on her face. She leaned forward and flexed, causing her large chest to bounce. “Try walking around all day with boobs like these, and no magical transformation to boost your back strength! I’ve been on multi-day camping hikes up mountains you know!”

A bold point. Perhaps Carly was a worthy challenger after all! Dani scratched her chin and frowned contemplatively.

“…Very well,” she agreed with a nod, narrowing her eyes. “Let’s see who can really master the dancing game!”

“Waagh! Whoa! Come on, no fair!” Dani exclaimed. Her body just wouldn’t move where she wanted it to. It seemed like her boobs were bouncing all over the place, and one even smacked her in the chin because of her movement.

At the same time, Carly effortlessly glided over the dance floor, shaking her body like it was completely natural. Her sweat-glazed grin glowed in the light of the machine, and she rose her hands above her head like she was at a rave, hooting and hollering as she followed the sequence on the screen with perfect accuracy.

Dani was completely wiped out.

“That… that was so much harder than I imagined…” She sighed, leaning against the railing of the machine for support.

“What, have you never done these before?” Carly was surprised to hear that. “I thought it was right up your alley! And you were talking such a big game, too!”

Dani glared at her and pouted. “Well, I figured-! I mean, it’s a fun activity, and the kind of thing that you can just do, you know?” She shrugged. “I’m in good shape, so…”

“It’s not just about physical qualities, Dani, you need the rhythm! You need to follow the beat, and always be moving!” Carly explained. “You can’t just expect to power your way through it, you know? You need to work it!”

“I know, I know,” Dani said glumly, standing up straight. “But wow, you’re way better at this than I am, Carly. I’m impressed.”

“I’ve been doing dancing games like this since I was a kid,” Carly said, flashing a toothy grin. “It’s sort of like these are my favorite games at the arcade!”

“Rigged from the start, huh?” Dani couldn’t help but smile back.

Carly shrugged. “You wanted me to pick a game that I thought I could beat you at, so…”

“Hey now, I’m not complaining!” Dani held up her hands. “It’s just going to make the victory taste so much sweeter when I finally do kick your butt.”

Carly glanced at the scoreboard. Her point total was a lot higher than Dani’s. But she still hadn’t made it to first place on the rankings. Apparently, there was some threshold you had to meet before you beat the first place record, even though they were the first people to test out these machines.

“Let’s do it, then,” Carly nodded, looking back at her partner. “See if you’ve got what it takes to take down the queen!”

Dani laughed. That was the spirit!

The two girls got back into the swing of things, and started competing with everything they had. They danced their asses off, shaking their bodies in rhythm to the music. And even though Carly was obviously the superior dancer of the two, Dani wasn’t going to go down without a fight. She was gaining in skill on the other girl, and still had her transformation’s stamina to keep her going longer, too. Carly wondered if they might eventually reach a point where Dani actually WAS better than her at this game after all!

“Damn it! Shit! Fuck!” The tomboy cursed, slipping on her own sweat and landing on her ass.

…But that would be a long time coming.

“Hey, come on, that was your best score yet!” Carly said when the music stopped, reaching down and extending a hand to her girlfriend. She helped Dani to her feet, and Dani couldn’t help but look up at her with a sheepish smile on her face.

Both girls turned to look at the screen. Dani’s points were definitely gaining, but Carly still have a very healthy lead. In fact, she’d done so well on that last one that she’d actually made it to first place on the leader board!

“NEW HIGH SCORE!” The machine sang.

Carly: 7600 BP + 1000 BP = 8600 BP

“Huh? Wait, what?!” Carly’s jaw dropped as she felt a shift in the BP totals run through. She checked her screen again just to make sure.

It wasn’t out of nowhere. She really had just gotten an extra thousand BP. And for what? She didn’t understand.

Carly looked at Dani questioningly, and Dani shrugged.

“You don’t have some passive, right?” Dani asked. “There aren’t any transformations that would just give you random BP out of nowhere or anything?”

Carly shook her head. “No, I don’t. I don’t know where this came from! Although…” She glanced back at the machine. There was only one answer that made sense, even though… it didn’t actually make that much sense.

“Do you think I got those points because I beat the machine’s record?” She wondered.

Dani didn’t know what to say to that. But before she could share her own thoughts on the matter, the sound of clapping caught the ear of both girls.

“Very well done! I’m surprised by your intuition! Although, I must admit, it was pretty obvious when it happened, so maybe not that impressed?”

Carly and Dani turned to see Dakota walk up to them, her cane tucked beneath her arm as she applauded. Even though she was smiling, it seemed like she couldn’t give a compliment without being condescending.

“So that’s it, then?” Carly asked, her eyes widening. “I actually did get BP from that machine just now? Why?”

“Is that the case for every machine?” Dani looked around at the other games that covered Carly’s room. There were more of them than you’d find at an arcade!”

“It is, yes,” Dakota said, narrowing her eyes with a sly smile. “This room isn’t just the biggest room out of the six, to fit in all these fun games… it comes with a special ability of its own. Consider it a benefit of sorts.”

She glanced at Dani. “Just like how your room allows anyone who’s staying in the room to choose any article of clothing to wear temporarily, this arcade, like any good arcade, offers prizes to those who can win at the games! Of course, that only applies to people who are actually living in the room, of course. We can’t let just anybody win free BP here.”

“Okay, I think I get it,” Carly nodded. “So because this is my room, if I win at one of the games- well, beat the high score on record, anyway- I get some BP as a bonus?”

“Exactly!” Dakota nodded. “Consider it a kind gesture from me, to get you playing around! Of course, it won’t be 1000 BP every time. It could be less. It could even be more! Or a reward that isn’t related to BP at all.”

She nodded over at the untouched crane game in the corner. Carly had wondered why all the prizes in the game were round capsules instead of the usual stuffed animals, but now it was all starting to make sense. She glanced warily at Dakota.

“So… what? I just keep playing or something?” She asked hopefully. “And keep winning prizes?”

“Not quite,” Dakota said, shaking her head. “We can’t just have unlimited payouts, you know! There are two rules to cap how much BP you can earn. For one, you can’t beat your own record. That’s just not fair. You have to either beat one of the pre-established records from the room itself, or someone else’s high score who already did beat them.”

“Makes sense,” Dani nodded. “You need to clear that threshold first. Otherwise it would be really easy to **** that rule.”

Carly nodded. That made sense to her, too.

“The other condition is that you only have the chance to break a record once a day. Once you’ve cleared your first record for the day and get your prize, that’s it. It doesn’t matter how high you score on any of the other games, we won’t be handing out any prizes to you.”

“I guess that’s pretty fair, too,” Carly acknowledged. “After all it would be a little dirty to just win every game in a rush. This way, it’s kind of limited.”

“That’s right!” Dakota nodded emphatically. “But keep in mind, even if you can only win one prize a day… that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. No, no, you remember how high that record on the dance machine was, don’t you?”

Carly glanced back at the screen, seeing her name flash with her score on it. She couldn’t remember perfectly, but she was pretty sure that was the highest score she’d ever gotten on a game like this one.

“…Yeah, you’re right,” she said, turning back to Dakota. She nodded. “Something like that… yeah. I guess it would be pretty challenging.”

“By all means, play the games! That’s what they’re here for!” Dakota said, waving her hand across the arcade. “But it’s not going to be easy to get the rewards you want, make no mistake.”

She winked. “But if you can… there’s nothing better.”

It was a good method for Carly (and Rose, technically) to accrue more BP. Which was good! But whether or not they could do it was a matter of skill.

Carly nodded. She could get behind this.

“Dakota? Why are you here?” Sylvia and Morgana approached the girls, both having uncertain expressions on their faces for different reasons.

“No matter,” Dakota said, barely giving the two of them more than a cursory glance. “I was simply explaining the rules of the room to Carly here. I’ll be off now.”

Before Sylvia could say anything, Dakota flicked her cane and she vanished.

Sylvia sighed. Well, so much for that…

“Um…” Morgana bit her lip, looking up at Dani and Carly on the platform, and then over to Sylvia. “Sorry… did… did we interrupt something?”

“No, she was already done,” Dani assured her. “What’s up?”

“Um… I… I should be going,” Morgana said, glancing towards the door. She was fidgeting, and shifting from one foot to the other. “I need to write in my diary… Sylvia said it was okay to write a dream for her, so…”

“Yeah, go for it! Have fun!” Carly nodded.

Morgana hustled out of the room, and Sylvia followed her with her eyes. Then she turned back to Dani and Carly and smirked.

“I should probably be going, too,” she said, flashing a knowing expression at the two of them. “I’ll leave you two alone to have some… fun.”

Dani turned red.

“Fun?! I mean… stop teasing!” Carly sputtered in embarrassment.

Sylvia skipped off with a merry laugh, leaving Dani and Carly to look at each other.

“Well, uh… want to play some more games?” Dani offered.

Carly nodded shyly. Now that they were alone together, this had all the makings of a date!