dear_mun | forever homeless but voice test ohboy what am I doing

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forever homeless but voice test ohboy what am I doing

Well gosh. I appreciate y'giving me a voice here young lady. Guess telling yourself not to pick up any more muses isn't going to be enough to get yourself to slow down.

Life is fast paced enough as it is. Heh...Trust me on that. When you're workin' the same job day in and day out, time seems to go faster than a car onna' racetrack. I wouldn't have it any other way, personally, but ahh...'spose it's not for everyone.

Can't be stayin' here too long though you know. I'll have a lot of disappointed youngsters on my hands if I'm not around to open up the arcade.

[OOC: Just a heads up, Mr. Litwak's backstory here is inspired by this fic! It's a good read, I highly recommend it <3]

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[The man nods in agreement, the smile that's on his face bright enough to match Ralph's own.]

I can't say I'll have room to keep every console around forever, but some- like yours- I won't be getting rid of if I can help it.

[Poor Litwak still regrets letting Turbo Time go. ...but it's too late for that now.]

Having to unplug Q*bert was unfortunate, I'll tell ya. Game just didn't wanna start up anymore, and boy were the kids upset about that..

They really like that new level you guys added in though.

[Ralph nods.]

Right, right... Uh, you know, if there's any games that need to be unplugged and you're gonna keep them safe, could you let us know somehow? Like maybe a little note on the back of the 'Out of Order' sign or something? Otherwise, you're gonna be stuck with a game that doesn't have any characters and there'll be people left homeless that didn't have to be.

Hey, making the gamers happy is our job, you know. I'm glad we were able to help everybody out by letting them join our game. They get a home and something to do, we get more popular, and you get more quarters.

By the way, what exactly do you do with all those quarters you get, anyway?

I don't think it would be too much trouble to do that. It's the least I can do, really. Wanna give you fellas the benefit of the doubt if something ever does go bad with your cabinets, after all.

Well, them quarters you make are what help me run the whole operation! Power bills, maintenance- most of my profit goes to keeping the arcade in tip top shape. If you guys didn't do the work you do, well,...there wouldn't be an arcade for much longer.

Thanks, I appreciate it, we all would. Yeah, sometimes things just happen, but we all try to behave. We all know what happened, er, what we thought had happened to Turbo.

[Ralph thinks this over, nodding slightly.]

Without you, we don't have homes or jobs, but without us, all of us don't have a place to go, huh... Well, we're all doing our best for the gamers, but I'll try to put in a little more effort for you. I mean, without you, we wouldn't have jobs or anything!

Yeah, right...I'm glad uh...most of you behave, at least. Else I'd be unpluggin' consoles left and right....and then what?

[Litwak rubs the back of his neck uneasily at that, avoiding Ralph's gaze. He can't help it- just thinking about Turbo Time, even for a brief moment, fills him with regret.

Then he looks back with his own nod.]

Looks like we all help each other out then. But thankya Ralph. It means a lot to not only the kids, but to me as well.

After the whole Turbo...thing, everybody got scared pretty straight, even to the point where some people thought that wanting more outside of your job was a bad thing. Considering everything that's gone on, you won't be seeing anything like what happened back then, or with me, again.

It's no problem at all, Mr. Litwak, after all, you're the one who believed in us and kept us around after all these years! I know a lot of games have been swapped out over time, but you left Fix-It Felix Jr. in, even though some days we're lucky to get a handful of quarters.

Uh, also, if you could take as much care of Sugar Rush and Hero's Duty as you did my game, I'd appreciate that. I've got a friend in Sugar Rush, my best friend, actually, and Felix's got, well, somebody important to him in Hero's Duty.

I'll believe it. That's good to hear though. One incident like that is...well, enough for several lifetimes, I'll tell you that much. And I'm getting too old for too much excitement.

[He chuckles softly.]

Well besides Turbo Time, your console was one of the first few I ever brought to the arcade. I don't mean to pick favorites, but I couldn't just let you guys go that easy.

Yeah? Well sure, I can do that. Those two are mighty popular games, so I doubt they're going to be having any trouble getting business for a long time. Don't worry though, for you I'll make sure they stay in tip-top shape.

[Ralph chuckles as well.]

That makes two of us, though, if there isn't any excitement at all, things get a little boring.

[He grins.]

Favorites, huh? I'm still getting used to being anybody's favorite, but I'm glad you like our whole crew as one of your top picks.

Thanks! Yeah, I can see how Sugar Rush'd be popular with the kids, but I don't get how anybody likes Hero's Duty, it's violent and scary, and those darn Cy-Bugs have caused more than their fair share of trouble.

Video games sure have changed a lot, huh? First Pong, and now...well, Hero's Duty. I never thought that things would go as far as they have, but well, I'm stubborn and set in my ways.

...Is it true that people play video games in their house, too?

Sure thing! I remember back when Fix-It Felix Jr. first came out, and I got your console into my arcade for the first time, right alongside Turbo Time and Tapper. My son was the first person to have a go at it, and he enjoyed your game so much I knew it was going to stay.

Yeah well, things do change a lot over the years. An old man like me can tell you that much. Nowadays it takes a lot of fancy graphics to impress the kids, and some of them like things even more violent than Hero's Duty is. Can't complain though. It's all harmless fun, and in the end they seem to enjoy just about every game in the arcade.

[Litwak smiles, nodding.]

It is! Though the games people play at home are a bit different from the games here in the arcade.

[Ralph smiles at the memory, nodding slowly.]

Yeah, those were some good times, weren't they? How's your son doing, by the way?

[He stares at Litwak in shock, his mouth hanging open slightly.]

What?! You're telling me that there's games worse than Hero's Duty? Man...and I thought they had it bad there. There's one guy, oh man, he was really freaked out about it, and he has to deal with it every day. ...That is if he managed to get out of Tapper. Whoops, uh, hopefully somebody found him and that that person wasn't Calhoun.

They are? I mean, it's hard enough imagining them playing games not at the arcade, but there's all sorts of games here... Though, the programmers are always coming up with new stuff, that's for sure. Nobody's been able to tell what Q*Bert even is.

He's doing fine, thanks for asking! He's gotten on up there, definitely not the little tyke he was when he played your game for the first time. Though he does still play games, just not up front here.

[No, mostly computer games nowadays.]

As shocking as I'm...sure that is to you, it's true. Games keep getting more and more violent because there are some kids out there who actually enjoy the thrill of being frightened half to death. Makes me happy some kids still have sense and enjoy the nicer games still hanging around.

Game companies are always coming up with new and better things. ..Makes me worry that, before long, this arcade won't be able to keep running if....well, if I'm beaten out by bigger and better games.

I'll keep an eye out for him, anyway. Maybe he'll decide to come back and visit what's left of the crew soon.

[Ralph shakes his head.]

Well, if it's what the gamers want, I guess it's fine... It's just...man...do I feel sorry for the characters stuck in those games.

[He gets a determined look.]

Don't worry, Mr. Litwak, we're gonna do our best to keep the gamers coming back here, instead of staying at home. We'll give it our all and really show them what we can do here!

I bet those home games don't have half the heart we do!

He might sometime. He does come through here now and then, so you might spot him.

[Heck, that's why he's happy he's on the OTHER side of the screen, and not a video game character himself.

He gives Ralph a small chuckle.]

I really do appreciate it, Ralph. I mean...even if this arcade went bust and I never got another customer...I'd find something to do with you guys. I don't know what, but I won't just let you go away or get unplugged. I promise.

[Ralph grins.]

Send him our way some time, and I'll give him a good challenge!

[He gives Mr. Litwak a resolute nod.]

Thanks, but as long as I'm around and wrecking things, I'll make sure you've got a full house every day.

[Ralph gets a little less serious and a little more worried.]

Though, uh, if it does come to us being put out of commission for good, you'd give us fair warning, right? Accidents happen, you know, and some of those kids play a little rough with the consoles...

[The arcade owner nods sagely, his expression becoming somber as he mulls over everything Ralph said.]

Don't worry. I'll do everything I can to warn you all first. And I promise, if I do have to unplug any consoles to move them, it won't be forever.

[Ralph smiles.]

Thanks. We're pretty lucky to have a great guy like you keeping an eye on things and watching over us. I really do appreciate it, we all do.

You don't know how happy I am to hear that. It really makes my job worthwhile.

[Ralph beams.]

You're pretty great by everyone's books, Mr. Litwak! Without you, who knows where'd we be at! Some other arcades might not have given some of us a chance or even kept us around as long as you have!

Heh, you really think so huh? I dunno, I just love this place so much, I'd hate to see anything happen to it OR to you guys.

[Ralph nods.]

I definitely think so! And we all feel the same way about the place.

[He grins at him.]

After all, we've all been on your team for years! We've got your back, Mr. Litwak.

[Litwak grins back, adjusting his glasses.]

Let's hope that you're on my team for thirty more years then, yeah?

Here's hoping! And if we're lucky, maybe even longer!

You'll have to keep our cabinet in good shape, though, there's only so much we can do on the inside. We work together, you take care of the outside, and we'll keep things working on the inside.

Don't you worry about that, I will. I'll have your cabinet maintained once a month if I have to to make sure everything stays in working order!

Thanks! And can you keep an eye on the kids? Sometimes they're rough with the buttons or shake or kick the cabinet if things go badly. Most of them are well behaved, but a few of them, well, seems like they've got a temper as big as mine.

Oh yes, I'm well aware of that. I'll do my best to make sure they cool it. Most of the time though, other kids who actually respect the cabinets a bit more can get them to knock it off.

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