All In The Game of Love

[topmeup]

WHO: Max Carson and YOU
WHERE: De Chima and Heropa
WHEN: Throughout February (with a 3-day stop in Heropa)
WHAT: Max is checking out his new homebase city, De Chima, and also taking a trip to Heropa for a date visiting friends an ad campaign for his Energy drink sponsor! Very busy first month.
WARNINGS: Puns and terrible flirting. Really he should be ashamed. Other CW will be added if needed.


De Chima : Various Public Locations (Throughout Month)
[He was touring the city. He'd had an offer from his boss to show him around so he could get used to the major spots they used for marketing and "face-time" with the public, but Max likes experiencing things like this for himself. He wanted a more organic view of the city that wouldn't come with a guided tour.

So he does his own thing. He buys groceries, hits up the mall, especially the clothing and electronic stores. Purchases a high end portable charger which will work great for him being so on the move considering he doesn't even have a generator set up in his room in Double-Oh Five yet. Then he hits the movies, because how could he miss the big poster advertising the Rom-Com-Palooza in honor of Valentine's Day coming up?

It's like it was made for him! And if he happens to see anyone else possibly eyeing that poster or loitering nearby, he may just go up to them and try to coax them to join him. Movies are always better when you have company after all.

And he doesn't miss the chances to pass out ad postcards, either. Don't be surprised if you suddenly find yourself having a shiny postcard held up in your line of vision with a lightning bolt striking the top of a mountain on it.

Take it to the Max All Day Long with our new and improved energy formula! Receive one free 20 oz can from any participating retailer by presenting this ad coupon.

Gotta make sure he's making himself useful since he did talk his boss, Mr. Andre Nalyn, to do a photoshoot and ad campaign out of Heropa so he could visit some friends down there.]


Heropa : Outdoor shopping center and other public locations (02/08-02/11)
[FLORIDA. He may live in areas often pelted by snow in the winter but that did not mean he couldn't embrace the absence of it. Especially if they were going to get this photoshoot done early so he could have the free time for a date doing fun things until their return flight. They wanted pictures of him doing physically active things while holding and/or drinking different MAX drinks. Which was cool with him, although he swapped the energy drink out of the can and replaced it with water part of the way through. No need to cause him to have a major crash on the first day.

Part of the marketing is him going up to different people around the outdoor shopping center and asking them if they would be willing to do a dare in return for a gift card. Not even a MAX coupon, but an actual $100 gift card. His boss knew how to go all out.

What is the dare? Well he's not going to tell you before you agree to it. What kind of fun would it be if he gave you the chance to say no first? But he promises it won't be anything dangerous. Probably.]

Comments

[beyourzoomer]

[She watches him pass the quarters onto the boy he'd been playing with and tries to imagine Billy ever doing anything like that -- for her or anyone else -- and nope. Nope, never going to happen. Whatever.]

Sure. Pick a machine.

[She's already familiarized herself with most of them.]

[topmeup]

[Max looks at her, then looks over at the row of multiplayer cabinets. Then he looks back at her.]

You know I'm making you play Donkey Kong, right? We can't not play Donkey Kong.

[beyourzoomer]

Sure. We can play Donkey Kong.

[She beat that one over a year ago. She almost feels bad about this, but maybe he's better than she's anticipating. Dustin hasn't beaten her yet, though, and he's got the second highest score on most of the games back home.]

How's De Chima? You like it there?

[Because she hasn't visited her friends yet and that's where they are.]

[topmeup]

[If Li'l Max is as good as she says she is, he's expecting her to beat him out with speed and familiarity, but that's not enough to stop him from wanting a go at it. It's one of the first games his dad ever taught him how to play. There's a lot of nostalgia factor pushing his choice.]

De Chima's cool, but colder. I'm used to cold, grew up in PA, but man is the weather in Florida nice right now in comparison.

[He steps up to the cabinet and pops some quarters into the slot before stepping back so Max can put in her own. No sense in playing chivalrous when he knows she's got a bunch of her own money to spend.]

I'm calling Player One.

[beyourzoomer]

Yeah I'm not a big fan of cold weather.

[She'd only been in Hawkins for a couple weeks and it hadn't taken long to discover that fall in the Midwest? Not a good time. It hasn't even snowed back home yet, and while she does kind of want to see snow just because she never has, she's dreading the cold that comes along with it. Basically she'd rather live at the beach.]

Be my guest.

[She grins at him even as he steps away and she slides her quarters into the machine.]

Good luck.

[topmeup]

[Max steps up to the cabinet, hand on the joystick and ready to go.]

Luck is for people who don't have skills, Li'l Max, but I appreciate the sentiment. [He hits start. The music changes up and he's ready.]

[beyourzoomer]

[Max smirks at him in response. If anyone else had dared to cal her "Li'l" anything they'd probably be facing a glare. But it doesn't bother her with Max for some reason. She just rolls her eyes and leans up against the machine, eager to see how he is at the game.]

[topmeup]

[They can't both be Just Max, so Li'l Max she's gonna be for the undetermined future. The game starts, path set and ready. He's got Mario running down up the levels and stairs, jumping over the barrels. He even makes it all the way to the top before a barrel gets him in a line of five he couldn't time well enough. He tsks at himself for the miss but now it's his opponent's turn.]

I'm a little rusty, but you better not go easy on me.

[beyourzoomer]

[That actually makes her chuckle as she moves in front of the machine.]

I wouldn't even know how to go easy on someone. [Especially not when it comes to gaming.]

[topmeup]

[Max chuckles.] Knew you were my kind of gamer.

[The kind that take no prisoners even if they do it with the most polite of intentions. It's all for the fun but there's fun in winning. He steps back so he can watch and see what moves she uses.]

[beyourzoomer]

[Oh, Max, you have no idea.

She focuses her eyes on the screen, hands on the controls as she makes her way through the game with ease, confident. If there's one thing she's sure about, it's her gamer skills. It doesn't take long before she's claimed the top score on the game, grin on her face as she turns to look at him.]

Well?

[topmeup]

[Max watches her go, definitely impressed by her skill. Not that he expected anything less since she didn't come across as someone who would make claims she couldn't back up, but it's still really badass to see someone with such complete mastery over their craft. Like watching Vicksa work the console in their HQ and run all the data through her fingertips like an artist painting a masterpiece. Competence and creativity.

But then she's got the high score and Max knows he's gonna have to step up. He cracks his knuckles.]

Not bad at all, Li'l Max. Almost more fun just to watch you work. Almost. My turn again.

[beyourzoomer]

[Max has made it a practice never to brag about any skills she can't back up with confidence. She grins a little at his words, shrugging. She's had plenty of practice, mostly because after her mom remarried, her stepbrother had scared off her friends. It had left her with a hell of a lot of free time. She'd spent most of that either skateboarding or in the arcade.]

Don't hold back.