Jack sat in the corner of the arcade thinking about what Blaze had said, and wondering if what he said was accurate. He wondered if he was really just playing the part of an innocent boy for sympathy. He held his head as the voices in his head began screaming his insecurities and how worthless he was. He wanted to block them out, block them all out, but somehow he wasn't able to. Tears formed in his eyes as he hugged his knees. He wondered if it was still raining outside and he wanted to go watch it, but he knew if he left alone that the employees wouldn't let him. The employees believed he was a danger to himself and wouldn't let him go without a buddy. Jack wanted to watch the rain alone and didn't want a buddy or someone being near him.
He looked up and saw his friends laughing and playing the numerous video games and attractions that were in the arcade, and he should be playing with them but he felt like he didn't belong. He didn't feel happy and he didn't want to have fun. He wanted to crawl into a hole and just die. He sighed and buried his face into his legs and he heard footsteps approach him and he instantly shot his head up as he stood up quickly becoming defensive. This caused Zack to jump from Jack's quick movement and he clutched his chest as he tried to calm down.
"Jack, you scared the living shit out of me," He muttered looking at Jack who looked at him in a defensive manner, "It's okay Jack. Bobby wanted me to ask you if you wanted to join us in a game of this really cool role-playing game. Daisy didn't want to play and we needed a fourth person," Zack asked and Jack looked down. He had never played a video game before, but he watched a lot of people playing. He gripped his head as another memory of his past came back.
Twelve year old Jack sat silently in a dark room of a man's house. This man was friends with his father, and Jack couldn't remember why he was in this man's house, but he was in nothing but a button up shirt and a pair of boxers. He silently watched the man play one of the Final Fantasy games, and he seemed really into it. Jack just silently watched and then he saw as the man's characters' died in a battle and he got really angry and turned to Jack.
"What are you looking at? The boss was really hard! Do you think you can do better?" He said yelling at Jack who just sat there stunned and shocked as the man grabbed his arm and threw him into the chair where the man had been sitting and forcefully pushed the controller into Jack's hands, "If you're so good then play! Beat the boss!" The man yelled and Jack.
Jack didn't know what he was doing, but he decided he had to oblige. (A/N: If you haven't played Final Fantasy 13, please disregard the terms I use. And just take it at face value, thank you.) Jack pressed 'x' to initiate the retry button. He watched the screen as he realized he was controlling Lightening, the main character. He opened the menu and saw that his party was Lightening, Hope, and Fang. He had been watching the man play for hours now and understood how the game worked. He looked at the paradigms and realized the one that was set was Lightening as a Ravager, Hope as Medic, and Fang as a commander. He realized that the man had set up Fang as a Ravager, but didn't have a paradigm with her as a medic so he decided to set one. Ravager/Medic/Ravager.
"What are you doing?" The man asked curiously wondering if the boy actually knew what he was doing.
He scrapped most of the paradigms that the man had made because they were all terrible. He made his made paradigm to be Ravager/Medic/Ravager, which happened to be the most efficient in his opinion. Then he made a Ravager/Ravager/Ravager paradigm which was great for power loading. He realized that he lacked something if his characters got severely hurt so he made a Medic/Medic/Sentinel paradigm for quick recovery. Then he made a paradigm so that they could launch opponents into the air, so he made Commander/Medic/Commander. Finally he made something to debuff the enemy and buff up the team by making, Medic/Synergist/Saboteur. He realized that this party would be perfect for this boss.
The man watched curiously as Jack started the battle and Jack instantly switched paradigms to buff up the party so they would be protected against elements, have their defenses boosted, and attacks boosted. Also, he made the enemy slower and become poisoned. Then he switched into his double commander and medic to get some color into the stagger bar, and then he switched into his double ravager and medic paradigm to get the boss to stagger. From there he switched back to launch the enemy into the air and from there he switched to his tri ravager which kept the enemy in the air while launching magic at him. Soon with this tactic he had defeated the boss and with five stars.
"You little brat! How dare you upstage me?" The man yelled and Jack prepared for a beating, but the man stopped and smiled, "I should hit you, but you helped me and I learned something. So you'll just suffer later when I'm ready for you," He said and soon Jack snapped back into reality.
Zack was staring at him with his head tilted trying to realized where Jack had gone, and Jack slowly nodded saying he would play. Zack was sort of surprised and he led Jack over to a large television with Bobby and Cody sitting getting ready for them, and Jack sat next to Bobby looping his right arm through Jack's and Jack let him. Bobby took out four controllers.
"Alright, we're playing Tales of Vesperia (A/N: Again, ignore) and here are the four controllers controlling the four characters in the party. One is for Yuri, the second is for Estelle, the third if for Rita and the fourth is for Repede. Pick your poison, boys," Bobby said laying out the controllers. Zack instantly went to the red controller because it looked the most manly.
"Alright, I got the red one!" Zack said happily pressing start realizing it was Estelle's controller, "AWEE C'MON! I have to play the healer? This sucks. I want to change!" Zack said reaching for another one of the controllers, but Bobby slapped his hand.
"No! You will play Estelle and like it. Now Jack, go on and pick one," Bobby said smiling.
Jack looked at each of the controllers and tried to see if there was an order. Zack picked the third one and that was Estelle who was the second one in the line. Jack wondered if the line up was opposite to that of the screen. He didn't want to play Rita because spell casting was too hard for him, and Repede was quick and efficient but wasn't his type of character. He wanted to play Yuri, and so he tried out his thesis and grabbed the last controller in line. Pressing start he was sort of relieved to realize it was Yuri. Bobby and Cody cursed to themselves as they realized Jack took the best one.
"Alright! Jack you'll play Yuri then, and Cody already decided he'll play Rita and I'll play Repede. Jack are you alright with leading?" Bobby asked and Jack nodded his head.
They were about to enter the ruins to where the thief had escaped to. Jack slowly moved Yuri in and engaged in the first battle. This game was different from the one he's used too, but he instantly got use to it. As they engaged in battle Jack ran forward and started attack the virtual enemy, and somehow this act of killing evoked a feeling he never felt before and he just kept on killing and killing. Hours had passed and they weren't done with the ruins left and everyone was getting a bit annoyed with him. Bobby decided he should speak up.
"Jack, I think we've leveled enough, can you just lead us to the boss so we can move on?" Bobby asked nicely and Jack realized he had been fighting a long time and he nodded as they went into boss battle. Since at this point they were way over the recommended level they were able to beat the boss fairly quickly and level up once more. Jack felt as if there was a large weight lifted off of his shoulders. He then guided his digital character out of the area and sat back as a scene occurred.
"That was odd. Jack wanted to fight those monster for a long time. My hand actually got tired of pressing buttons," Cody said grimacing a bit as he began flexing his fingers.
"I know, it was him probably trying to get some frustration out, and maybe some pent up anger," Bobby explained as Jack just sat their focused intently on the scene going on.
"I don't know about that, but I enjoyed watching you guys play and the comments all of you make," Daisy said giggling referring to Bobby's please for Zack to heal people and Bobby looked away embarrassed.
"Well, the scene is almost over, shall we continue?" Zack said as they all focused on the screen.
They continued playing the game for a while and actually got pretty far. Jack was getting used to playing the lead character and playing the sword fighter. He was also getting used to having to rely on others just as much as himself. Even though he never could do it in real life he could allow these digital characters to help him. So far he noticed that Bobby had always protected him when he was low on health points, and Zack would heal him afterwards. Daisy stared intently on the screen not really understanding the complexity of how hard it is to fight. She was more interested in the plot.
When they got to a really good point of the game, Bobby saved as a precautionary and they all took a small break as they went to the cafeteria. Lunch was always a free time, meaning unlike dinner, breakfast and Lunch were always up to the patient to decide where they wanted to eat. There was this nice Japanese restaurant on board and they all had decided to go try it. Jack had never had sushi and he was less than interested in trying it, but he wanted to stay near Bobby so that involved him going to this place. He felt nervous and he didn't particularly like going to new places.
They walked into "Kawaī Kiti airashī resutoran"(Cute Kitty Adorable Resturant) which was a ridiculous name for a Japanese restaurant, and Zack commented on how ridiculous the name was. Jack gripped Bobby's arm more tightly and they walked inside. Jack thought it was unnaturally cold in here and he looked around seeing air conditioners. He wondered why a ship needed so many air conditioners.
"Kawaī Kiti kawaī resutoran e yōkoso kon'nichiwa, anata no pātī ni nandesuka?" The Asian woman hostess said cheerfully. They all gave her a confused look and Daisy stepped forward.
"Um, we don't understand Japanese," Daisy spoke softly and she bowed politely and smiled.
"Many apologies. Most people who come to our restaurants are Japanese. How many are you?" The woman said with a thick Asian accent.
"Uh the five of us," Bobby said smiling.
"Very good! This way please," She said as she led us to a booth towards the back and they were right near a large window where they could see the outside and they frowned realizing it was still raining, but they got to see the cities they passed.
"Oh no, it's raining," Cody said with disappointment as they were handed their menus.
The booth was set up like a semi-circle. The table was very large and the large chair was positioned like a semi-circle around the very large table. Zack sat on the left end and Daisy sat next to him, Jack sat in the middle of the table, the most protected spot, Bobby sat next to him, and Cody sat on the opposite end. Jack hadn't let go of Bobby since they arrived at the restaurant. Bobby truly liked Jack holding on to him, he felt that Jack needed to let go just so they could eat. Another waitress came and she was this drop dead beautiful Asian woman who looked their age.
"Hey, I know you, you're in the room next to me," Daisy said and the woman looked at her sadly.
"Yes, my name is Mizu, and I am a patient on this ship and to pay for my stay my family opened a restaurant here. Also, I have to work here occasionally," Mizu said looking at Jack and Bobby, "Awe, are you two dating?" She said pointed to Jack and Bobby.
Jack's eyes widened and let go of Bobby instantly and Bobby knew something had set him off, "No, of course not. He's just very clingy towards me because I promised I'd protect him like a brother. He's very emotionally frail," Bobby responded to Mizu in a very polite and concise manner.
Mizu nodded and understood with sorrow, "I see, what can I get you all to drink?" She asked politely, but they could tell she was fighting back tears.
"I'll have a diet coke," Daisy said politely.
"I'll have a Sprite," Zack said eagerly.
"Jack and I will have Mountain Dews, if that's alright," Bobby said turning to Jack who nodded with agreement.
"I will have a virgin Shirley Temple," Cody said and Mizu nodded slowly before leaving.
They all began to study the menu and Jack looked at all his options and he thought there were a lot of different types of sushi. He looked at something that looked interesting. It was called: "Menzudinābokkusu no tokubetsuna" (Man's Dinner Box Special) and it was a box with three rolls of any type of sushi, chicken or shrimp teriyaki, a salad, white rice, and Miso soup. He poked Bobby and Bobby looked over as he pointed to the picture of what he wanted, and then pointed to "Philadelphia roll" for the sushi he wanted, and "Chicken" for the teriyaki he wanted.
"You sure you want that Jack? It's a lot of food," Bobby asked and Jack nodded slowly as Mizu came back with the drinks and placed them on the table.
"Are we ready to order?" Mizu asked.
"I will have the vegetable Udon with some cheese wontons and one yellow tail roll," Daisy said smiling.
"Please give me, three yellow tail rolls, three Philadelphia rolls, one thing of cheese wontons, one thing of shrimp lo main, and some French fries," Zack said and they all looked at him shocked, "What? A man needs to eat."
"Anyway, I'll have one thing of seafood udon, two Philadelphia rolls, and one spring roll," Cody said ordering.
"I'll have one dinner box special with the California roll and chicken teriyaki, and Jack wants the Menzudinābokkusu no tokubetsuna with Philadelphia rolls and chicken teriyaki," Bobby said and Mizu looked shocked.
"You sure he wants that? It's a lot of food," Mizu said trying to reason with Jack, but he shook his head, "Alright."
She went away for a while and they began having small conversation. The reason Jack ordered so much food is because it had been such a long time since he ate anything he wanted. It was such a long time since people actually listen to him that he actually lost control. He was so happy of the freedom of he had that he might have went a little too far in what he wanted. He held Bobby once again and Bobby let him. The conversation went from recent movies, to super heros, to the recent wars, and then to video games before the food came back.
Jack looked at the large black box in front of him with all the food in it. He picked up his chopsticks and picked up one of the rolls of sushi. Everyone seemed to look at him for his approval and Jack put it in his mouth. First it tasted sweet because he tasted the cream cheese and then it tasted so good he picked up another piece and put it in his mouth. Everyone took this as that the food was good and that he didn't have to worry about it being poisonous or anything.
"Jack, you seem to like the sushi. Have you ever had it before?" Daisy asked him and Jack shook his head, "Me neither, my….parents never let me have anything beyond the essentials," Daisy said looking down beginning to get depressed.
"How about we not talk about our pasts? Jupiter said that group was the place to let go of our emotions and now I think we should just have fun. Don't you agree?" Zack said who obviously wanted to avoid the fact of talking about his past.
"Yeah, Zack is right, we shouldn't have to talk about our pasts, let's just get stinkin' drunk and do some stupid shit!" Bobby said and they all looked at him as if he was insane, "Just kidding. Let's just enjoy our stay on the ship," He said smiling and they all laughed. Everyone except Jack.
Jack looked at all of his friends and felt some sort of happiness surge through him, he hadn't been happy for a long time and he forgot what it actually felt like. He watched as his friends began to laugh and tell jokes and he felt his face move as he smiled, and everyone took notice to it, but pretended that they didn't. Bobby smiled to himself because he had finally gotten him to smile. After such a long time Bobby felt that he had done it.
Jack's smile instantly turned into a scowl as Blaze, Melody, and a couple of other people who they didn't recognize came in led by Mizu. Melody and Blaze stopped in front of their table and chuckled.
"My, my Bobby what a loyal pet you got there. How many times have you fucked him?" Melody asked laughing.
"You bitch," Bobby said as Zack held him down.
"Zack, keep on holding him down, because that's the only way you'll get what you want, you little faggot. Why do you think Jack is getting himself a little fuck buddy?" Blaze said secretly winking at Jack.
"Go away you two before we call security," Cody said and Melody walked off and Blaze turned to Jack and whispered.
"This isn't over, Blaze gets what he wants," He said smiling before walking off and Jack stood their utterly confused as to what he meant as to what he wants. Bobby pulled Jack closed and Jack buried his face into Bobby.
A/N: People, I have noticed a lot of people coming to read the story, but not reviewing and I think that's just awful. I mean if you're going to read my story at least have the humanity to review it or favorite it. Thank you. :D