Sebastian kept his eyes on Bas this time. He was curious about what the vampire was doing, since he figured out he wasn't actually looking for a book. Curiosity was something Sebastian used to feel a lot, but these days, not so much. Isolating one self would make them not really care about anything, after all, but Sebastian
was curious about the other housemates he was forcing himself to be with. Which, he was trying to change, so that was a good thing. There was also the matter of his depressing thoughts. His fellow housemates distracted from those, at least. He watched the amber liquid being poured into two glasses. He recgnoized it as scotch. He had tasted it in his travels, though he didn't know the true taste of it. He could barely recall anything from his human days. If possible, his eyebrow went higher as Bas continued to talk. He didn't quite understand why the younger vampire spoke the way he did, but Sebastian did have a more proper way of speaking. So, anything that wasn't proper always caused slight confusion in Sebastian. Obviously, he ran into a lot of that in this day and age.
Brooding? Sebastian almost snorted. He couldn't disagree. He had been brooding, after all. Perhaps Bas was more clever than he originally thought. He picked up the glass of stotch, swirling the liquid around like he had seen humans do before, and took a sip. It almost felt pointless, but he found eating and drinking gave him something to do. And, if anybody needed something to do, it was Seb. He listened to Bas, sipping the stotch carefully, as if it could have an affect on him. Some amusement thrummed through him at the younger vampire's little speech. Again, Bas wasn't wrong. That was getting almost annoying. He was more insightful than Sebastian was anticipating.
He looked down into his glass, not saying anything. Sebastian
was stubborn enough that he hadn't communicated
that much with the other housemates, but there was something about not replying at all to Bas that entertained Sebastian. Perhaps because Bas tried really hard to get a reaction out of him. It was cute sometimes. Most of the time, it was annoying. But, Bas said something so foriegn to Sebastian, that the older vampire's head snapped up. "
Mario Kart?" he repeated in his rough voice, actual emotion in the form of confusion in his voice, "
What is this Mario Kart?"
Excellent, it seemed that Seb had taken the bait, and with the older vampire’s interest peaked Bas attempted to reel him in. He wasn’t surprised that Seb was unfamiliar with Mario, honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if the guy had never driven a real car before let alone a virtual one. Bas, on the other hand, tried very hard to stay modern but having lived through so many decades he always remained behind enough to stand out, and as the years went by there was so much more to learn than in decades’ past.
So, Bas was usually a trend or two, or in the case of his music taste a decade or two, behind. He had a variety of consoles but his newest stuff was already outdated, and he still used a record player in a completely unironic fashion to listen to music. He enjoyed video games even more than movies or the television because they not only entertained but involved him making the experience more immersive. He detested playing online with stranger who constantly brought up the fact that his mother was a whore; how they knew this and what it had to do with the challenge was beyond him, but he found it aggravating. He preferred to play against someone who was physically there and most vampires found the activity childish, and Kyle was better than him so he got frustrated and broke too many controls playing against Kyle.
It was Kyle who had helped him hook up the games and consoles to his television and advised him on things to buy. Currently he had the Mario Kart for Wii, which he really liked because it had motorcycles which Bas thought were fun, and the little steering wheel controls which made the cartoon-y game feel a bit more real. He doubted Seb had a lot of experience with modern games, which meant he’d be an easy target for at least of few races, but also meant that he’d suggested a good one for his first game.
“Well Seb-bro, I’m glad you asked. It’s a game, human children play it so a vampire of your advanced age and, I’m assuming here, intelligence, should be able to catch on in a snap. Basically, Mario is a plumber who competes in races with a gorilla, a princess, even his own brother, across a variety of tracks for who the fuck knows why. It’s an entertaining test of dexterity, strategy, and concentration, plus so much better than brooding alone in a dark room. I have everything set up in my room, plus a wicked sick record collection, unless you think a game for human children might be too difficult for you?” Bas half joked and half taunted, challenging the other vampire.
Sebastian didn't bother to correct Bas on his name; he had done it the first few times it happened, and it seemed to only encourage Bas. If Sebastian's eyebrow stayed lifted any longer, it may never come down, but Bas' explaintion of the game caused it to stay lifted as high as it would go. After the younger vampire finished, Sebastian took a moment to take all the information in. Slowly, his eyebrow went to its normal spot, and he gave a long blink. In all honesty, he still wasn't sure what the game was about. He had seen Kyle and Bas playing a video game once, but had refused to try it himself. He didn't understand how it was a test of all those things. It just looked... intimdating, like the computer. Bas might have well spoken in a lanauage he didn't know.
"
I do not see the point of partaking in something that children enjoy. Especially human children. The fact you find humor and entertainment in it concerns me," he said, staring at Bas with no trace of concern on his face or in his voice, "
Do tell, what is the enjoyment?"
Bas was growing impatient, even the way the Seb blinked was slow, he wasn’t used to having to wait this long for things. Generally, when bas wanted to do something it happened immediately, and right now, and the more he talked about and thought about Mario Kart, he wanted someone to play the game with him. He wasn’t used to vampires this behind on things and for a second he wondered if this was how Kyle felt every time the rest of them needed help with technology or the modern world. He’d never really thought that much about why he enjoyed video games he just did, Bas wasn’t much of thinker in that respect.
“Dude this is probably the least concerning thing I’ve been up too but the enjoyment is, huh, I guess it’s like a movie, or like books but less boring and dusty. Your part of the game, the outcome is based on how well you do, you gotta earn it. Plus you gotta develop skills to get good. But I guess winning is the most fun.” He said pacing as he talked, standing still for too long made him antsy and continued to try and explain to Seb why some things were fun.
“To really get it you’ve gotta try it, like sex I mean just explaining it to someone it sounds, whatever, but then once you pop that cherry you realize it’s totally fucking great right? Full discloser it’s not as great as fuckin’ but there’s not much else to do around here during the day.” Bas continued, kind of enjoying hearing himself talk.
Sebastian
was intrigued by the sound of this... game. If he was going to change here, he had to be open to new things. Perhaps learning how to play a video game was one of those things. After all, what did he plan on doing? Sit around all day and read? While he could do that, obviously the other members of the house weren't huge on the idea. He was here to form bonds, to find a reason to continue living, and not fall back into murderous habits. Locking himself in the study was a way he centered himself, but he coudln't keep hiding out here. It was about time he learned how to do something in this modern world, even if he felt a little intimdated. It was but a little toy, though. Sebastian could handle that.
He found some amusement in the way Bas began pacing. He wasn't sure if it was from agitation or impatience. Sebastian's eyes followed the other vampire as he explained this game. "
You have a crude way of explaining things," Sebastian deadpanned, a little thrown by the mention of sex. He can't even remember the last time... he mentally shook his head. He can't even remember when he first had sex, let alone the last time. He wasn't going to tell Bas that, though. "
Perhaps I can try this... game for children. Though I still do not quite understand the appeal, perhaps I will after learning," he stood up from the chair, tiling his head at Bas, "
Lead the way, young one." he kept his face blank, but he was grinning on the inside.
Relief and elation flowed through Bas, finally something to end his boredom. Being over three hundred years old he wasn’t accustomed to being called young one people had called him a lot worse in his days and he didn’t mind nicknames. He lead the way to his room, a place that was full of dark colors and drawn curtains so hopefully Seb would feel fairly at home, even with the lack of books. The walls of his room were a adorn with pirate flags, posters, swords, antique guns, and movie posters. The floor and table surfaces were littered with a few empty blood bags and bottles of alcohol, and most of the surfaces in his room had a decent layer of dust. His coffin, an official KISS casket, drew the most attention out of the variety of kitschy objects in the room, black and adorn with flames and the members of the band KISS it wasn’t exactly what one expected to see a vampire rise from.
“Welcome to my lair!” He said proudly as he flung the door open to his room and excitedly booted up the Wii and turned the television on. Bas shoved a control already nestled in a plastic steering wheel into Seb’s hands and gave a very basic rundown on the controls of the game as he searched the general vicinity for the disc itself. Eventually he found it in the wrong case and popped it into the system.
“Are you ready to join the rest of us into the twenty first century, Ol’ Seb? I call dibs on the gorilla by the way.” He added as the screen loaded up.
Sebastian paused in the threshold of Bas' room just to take it all in. It was... different. Sebastian's own room still looked like nobody had moved into it, the only thing getting use the very plain coffin in it. He noticed the
messiness of it, and felt a frown taking over his face. Sebastian had spent plenty of times in disgusting messes and now that he was trying to gain back some sort of humanity, he found he really liked clean spaces. But, this wasn't his room, and he wasn't one for telling other people how to live. Honestly, he didn't care. If Bas wanted to be a slob, then okay. Sebastian eyed a few of the pirate flags on the wall. Ah, he remembered that time. He had traveled with quite a few different pirate groups before. He eyed Bas, wondering if he was a face in his past he didn't remember, but he was pretty sure he had never met the other vampire before.
Sebastian stared at the KiSS coffin, not sure who the men were, or why they looked that way. He was distracted when a controller was shoved at him. His fingers wrapped around it automactially.,and he looked down at it with slightly widened eyes, though he got control of his expression quickly. "
It's a steering wheel," he deadpanned, eyes taking in a bean bag chair in front of the TV, before he slowly sat on it. It sunk down strangely, and he shifted some, curious about the noise it made and how it felt. "
I assume so," he answered Bas' question, and glanced at the other vampire. Once it was on the character screen, he titled his head, eyes darting between the different characters. It took him a second to figure out how to, exactly, choose one, but he finally landed on Princess Daisy. "
I believe I'm ready," he said, looking down at the controller again, remembering how Bas told him to play.
Bas was slightly amused that Seb had chosen Princess Daisy, he hadn’t pegged the older vamp for a princess but then not everyone could be as predictable as Kyle. At least the out of touch vampire knew what a steering wheel was good, he’d rather not have to explain how to drive. Once characters were selected, a course was chosen and the game began. Bas took it easy at first, simpler tracks and holding off on the items while Seb started to get the hang of things. But ultimately the fun was in the competition so once it seemed like the guy was getting the hang of it Bas went ham, taking him to the rainbow bridge and throwing shells as day started to fade into night.
It didn't take long for Sebastian to get the hang of the game to be okay at it. It wasn't as complex or complicated as the older vampire had been expecting. It was almost laughingly easy. Until... Bas wasn't going easy anymore. Sebastian heard the plastic of the little steering wheel creaking when he gripped it harder as he was hit with yet another red shell. He was enjoying the game less and less as the day continued on, without him even noticing the passing of time. Usually, he was very aware of where the sun was in the sky, impatiently waiting for the moments he could step outside. In Bas' room, though, staring at a strange box and playing a actual video game, it slipped his mind.
The only thing indicating Sebastian was annoyed was how hard he was gripping the poor controller. Besides that, he was a blank slate. Though, as time went on, cracks began forming in the slate. His eyebrow would twitch upward when he'd get last place again. His teeth would briefly latch onto his bottom lip when Bas would laugh at him. His eyes would narrow for a moment when one of the "computers," as Bas called them, knocked him off the road. By the time night was falling, Bas was grinding his teeth together, his eyebrows furrowed some. He was managing to not outright snarl at the game, though.
Then, he
won his first race. Satisfaction and elation coursed through his veins, something that had been long forgotten, and he threw his head back to laugh. "
Finally!" he said, slumping back into the bean bag chair, and letting out a breath. "
That was..." he trailed off, glancing at Bas, and clearing his throat some. He was
almost embarrassed by his outburst, but honestly, that was well-deserved. It felt like it took him quite a few races to finally win a game. "
Enjoyable," he finished, a bit late, and looked away. He still felt strange, being around his own kind, expressing himself, learning new things. But, this had truly been... fun. Something that he realized, in that moment, he had quite missed.
