London

[Bloodedge]

"Moe! I had a mate addicted to that one once. All he did, every day, was complain about only being able to play a small chunk of a chapter. Bloke spent a whole check just to play through a date in one sitting. He even went and mucked it all up after a few hundred pounds. I couldn't bother trying it out after hearing all that." What a hell of a tale that was, day after day from an old pal. From what he had, that game had compelling interactions with its characters, which made that friend of his want to play its story for hours on end. Alas, the stamina system within said game didn't even grant enough story tickets to play a full chapter in 24 hours.

The Aeon games may have been quite the trap, but Ozzy knew them to be incredibly friendly to free players as well. The trap wasn't so much targeting the consumers' wallets, but instead their time as an alternative. "I promise these are some of the best gachas I've ever seen. Seriously, they're very F2P-friendly... but, the catch is that you have to be playing all the time. Every update, you can at least grab a guaranteed five-star, and that's without events going," he explained. He had a rather long train of thought going regarding the game Nikki was starting, though it all came to a screeching halt the moment her lips met his cheek. Ozzy couldn't have expected to have such a reaction to small things such as this, yet his mind blanked in a single moment. Suddenly, he found himself thinking only one thing: this was actually real. Was he having a heart attack? No, certainly not─ probably just a beat skip. "Bloody hell, I feel like I've gone back to primary school," he said in the most lackadaisical manner.

Now then, there was a summoning to be done. Nikki clicked and clicked, acquiring some very solid units. It was a shame she didn't obtain the one called Tatsuya, who happened to be a very solid addition to any team composition in cooperative play... but alas, there were other characters present to fit the role. At long last, the golden glow of summoning appeared! "Five-star before soft pity; that's pog!" Ozzy announced. Anxiety overtook the lass, and her eyes closed while the character she summoned appeared on screen. Fear was very rational, considering how many characters there were to choose from. "Pausechamp," Ozzy muttered just before the character's silhouette appeared, and then... "Ohhh, that's a dub! It's not Akiko, but that is an astronomical dub!" It seemed Ozzy had reverted to how he behaved when streaming his own games, but it was simply the way he approached such situations in general. In the case of Nikki's character pull, it wasn't one from her preferred list... but Ozzy knew it to be a very solid character, and one of his personal favorites.

[Apollymi]

Ozzy told a story of a friend who found himself addicted to Moe. She could see how such a thing could happen, the 'waifu' potential of a game like that was indeed very high, especially for weebs and weeblets. "Blimey, that's a tough break. I mean, it was a fun game. If you enjoy the Otomo stylings you can have a great time with it... I personally only got really caught up in it because of clothes. I needed some new fits for my characters and thus spent way too much time rolling the gacha," she said of herself. She understood how such a thing happened, gacha games should come with warnings.

According to Ozzy, these Aeons games were a lot less of a trap in that manner. He claimed you could get a five-star for free during each update. Such a thing was almost unheard of, "Well, at least I know I won't have to spend literally all the time," she said. She could put in quite a few hours on this game, based solely upon liking the characters within it. Apparently that little peck on the cheek had changed something for Ozzy. He made the claim that he felt like he was back in primary school, which made Nikki chuckle. "Oh? Flashbacks to times of happy innocence, or are you like me and stuck in a semi-constant state of realizing how randomly great this actually is?" she asked of he man behind her as she rolled away.

But soon her own cheeky commentary was cut short. That five star came with a bit of low speech. Apparently, as her heartbeat fluttered away in her chest she was assured her go wasn't Akiko, never would have been that lucky. But she'd been given something that Ozzy called a win. She could take him at his word that this unit was good and opened her eyes to discover who it was, a blonde man by the name of Minato Namikaze. "Oh... well I suppose can't be bad... would have preferred Juri but that is my luck," Nikki gave a pause while pouting. This was genuine pouting. She didn't hate Minato, she probably should given her general aversion to blondes that she'd developed her first year to Uni. Oh well, this was definitely going to happen. "I didn't want him, guess I am spending this money then... what do the packs look like~" she said having a quick glance over the the summoning currency in the shop. The exchange rate wasn't terrible, "Blimey 80 pounds for a guaranteed five star, and that is only with the monthly bonus. I guess that isn't terrible, unless you get into the habit of spending ridiculously. This really is even friendly to low spenders..." she mused. In before she absently clicked to add currency to her own. "And that's no problem, I can definitely spend all that money I am not spending on the shoes I knicked from my sister's place~" she said in a light tone. And then the rolling would begin again.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh I'm sure it's loads of fun, but I'm frivolous enough as it stands. I'd be the bloke getting caught on a cliffhanger in the story, then boom! Empty wallet, no more new content for Twitch," he rambled. Nikki's reason for getting into such a game was fair, considering her preferences. His reasons would have been quite different, but his refusal to leave a story hanging would have left him in the same boat as the man he mentioned.

Not having to spend money for success and enjoyment had always been one of the biggest appeals to the Aeons' game franchises. Each game quickly gained a massive following as a result of this positive, breaking numerous records in the gacha genre of games. Speaking of records though, there was a record currently being broken on how long Ozzy could be silenced by something that shouldn't have even surprised him. Nikki was absolutely correct in her assertion. Coming to terms with the reality of their current situation was going to take a great deal of adjustment, though the adjustment would itself be great as well. "Something like that, yeah. I'll probably get my life together eventually, some time after I've gone mad."

Nikki didn't want the character Namikaze Minato. That was a shame; he was one of the more versatile units as far as Ozzy was concerned. Alas, everyone had their preferences, different reasons for wanting different characters and so on. "Well it's got a bright side, right? He combos well with Akiko's Bankai. One of his moves is some flashy Devil May Cry type shit that can hit loads of enemies with little input if you have them grouped up. If you go for maining Akiko, that's a good team!" he assured as Nikki went about topping up her account's currency. He was much the same in these early moments of a gacha─ dumping a starter amount of money into the game for a comfortable, fun starting experience. Interestingly though, she mentioned being able to spend a bit of money because she stole the shoes she wore from her sister. "Bloody scoundrel you are!" he said with a laugh. "Well, I'm sure they work better on you anyway~"

[Apollymi]

According to Ozzy he'd play a game like that and go broke not wanting the cliffhangers at the end. A chuckle escaped her, she understood the potential there, "Bloody hell, the Aeons' manga must leave you upset all the time then, huh?" she asked of the lad who would have been upset by cliffhangers in an Otomo game he should have had a very serious problem, with the writing whimsy of the Aeons. Whatever the case, his extended silence was soon broken by the idea that yes, he was also suffering from realizing how nice such moments were between them. He even went on to comment that he'd probably get his life together after going mad. "Well, take your time. It's been like twenty-four hours, I bloody well don't blame you for going a little mad~" Nikki responded. She'd been on several small spirals since meeting this man, but had very easily come to terms with it.

What she wasn't going to come to terms with was her current rolling. Apparently, Namikaze Minato had some nice ability to team up with Akiko whom she was currently rolling for. She gave only a small smile and nodded. "I don't hate him or anything. It is simply exactly my luck to get the character I am not looking for in stuff like this. It's never half bad though, and I usually grow to love them through their unlocks," she said of her own general habits in games like this. It was also nice to know that the Aeons games treated their fanbase as well as the Aeons treated them. As her rolls started she was pushed to some ninety before seeing that golden light again. In the meant time she picked up some more random characters while chatting about her shoe thievery. "They've been sitting there for three months. I liberated them... I'm a bloody hero!~" she chided back with mock indignation. "Besides they weren't even her size. She likely won't even notice they're gone. Sister rules dictate if it fits you and they don't call you on it, it's yours." There was always something strange about this sort of thing too. Even though he didn't know who her sister was he claimed that those shoes looked better on Nikki a chuckle would escape her. Soon enough that final roll got her Akiko and Tatsuya which made her smile. "Bout bloody time. Making me wait forever..." she said taking note of left over rolls.

Ah and then came the actual pull of gacha games. She had some left over and knew she could earn more before it was time for the next banner. Best case scenario she got something off banner that she wanted and had a guarantee on her next. Worse case she ended up with a copy of Akiko and that led to... Her gaze shifted as she clicked on Akiko's character shifting it to the start of her first party set up. After she'd place Baiken, Benihime and then Tatsuya. "Oh, 12th Division is pretty nice as a group. This one is nice..." she said clicking on Ayatsuki and checking to see how multiples of characters worked in this game. "Hm, if I get an extra of her... it unlocks her Lollipops. Oooh, that'd be alright a bit of self-healing and energy replenishment." she mentioned before going back to the wishing screen. Why shouldn't she... why shouldn't she roll for broke here? she asked herself while pushing the button. "No regrets," she mentioned. On her immediate next pull she saw that golden glow again. What was it this time. Her heart beat sped up again and she covered her eyes. "Bloody hell, my heart can't take this.... who is it?" she asked with her eyes closed tightly. She couldn't even say what she wanted more but with her list in tact there were very few losses to take here.

[Bloodedge]

A question came, and oh boy did Ozzy have an answer for it. Cliffhangers were a notorious feature of those damn manga, but they were all so compelling that he couldn't even think of putting one down. "It never stops! There's no telling when I'll get around to the next chapter of Naruto. I spend half the time waiting as long as possible before I read a volume, just to shorten the time before the next. I know it doesn't really make a difference, but screw it right? I've already adjusted to waiting after the last release─"

His struggles with series continuation aside, Ozzy's eyes were just about glued to the screen ahead. Nikki's luck was about as terrible as his own, based on what she had to say. He had many characters in this very game that he didn't care much for, and he had to sort through them all to get what he wanted. As for the theft of various clothing articles, it seemed to simply be attributed to... well, sisters in general. Ozzy could definitely see that, albeit with some caveats. "Is there some missing clause when there's a brother involved? I've called Bree on her shit half a dozen times, and I'm still missing some of my favorite jumpers from years ago!" he announced. Well, maybe Aubree herself was the exception in this case. He doubted she would have returned his articles regardless of whatever 'rules' sisters had.

At long last, Nikki had what she'd been looking for: Ayatsuki Akiko! It was none too soon, but she seemed satisfied to have it nonetheless. Ozzy, too, was elated. It would have been terrible to start on a sour note, but she would now be able to have a fair bit of fun from the start. "That's the stuff! We don't take Ls here~" he chimed. "12th Division gives a good bonus too, see? You'll get mad buffs from using gadgets and stuff!" Ah, but there was always yet another curse to the gacha experience. Nikki looked into the benefits of receiving multiple copies of the character she wanted, and decided... to spend the rest of her in-game currency. She did this with the statement no regrets, which prompted Ozzy to repeat yet another phrase he often said to his chat. "We go again!" And with that, the summoning began anew. One more click, and that golden glow reappeared, causing Nikki's fear reaction to return as well. Ozzy laughed, and his eyes widened as the silhouette flashed. "No way!" he yelled excitedly. "You might not be excited, but what the actual hell?! That's a god damn Kogara! Best Burst DPS in the game, that! Absolute dub!"

[Apollymi]

Ah, a nerve was struck. It seemed that Ozzy did indeed have a problem with the multiple cliffhangers presented by the Aeons in their works. Naruto in particular was notorious for its tension heightening stopping points. "I did the same thing. It never works though... I always tell myself, I'll just read a bit and stop and the next thing I know I've crushed a volume and am filled with dread cause bloody hell what do we have to do to find out how a single scene ends in the whole goddamn series?" Nikki ranted away as well, of course the stories were among her favorites. "I technically stopped last right after the revival of Kanna... I've been putting off the next volume because I'm antsy and they already bloody cliff-hangered the Gaiden," she mumbled about her own situation and not being quite caught up on Naruto as of yet.

When asked about the nature of clothing theft. Apparently his younger sister stole a great number of his clothing items and never returned them even when called on having them. A laugh escaped Nikki as she thought it over, "Well, I don't have a brother or anything, but I imagine it works more like boyfriend clothes. Where once you take them, they are yours forever... no arguments. Not like a boy needs a 1000 jumpers or anything. Besides, you should be nice and share those roomy pockets with your sister. Girl clothes are notorious for not having 'em, and it's bloody inconvenient. Like really what's a lass gotta do to be able to carry her phone, wallet, and keys without needing a whole handbag? The answer currently is to steal a much more comfy jumper from a man and appreciate all of the pocket space he takes for granted! Fuck all of a problem of putting pockets on clothes or anything, it doesn't take much or even change the bloody lines or anything. It's like three seconds...." Oh... that one had gotten a little out of hand. Actually, most articles of clothing Nikki designed for women featured pockets. Even her dress from the previous day did, because she was so furiously against the lack of real pockets on women's clothing. It was one of the few things that could get her worked up, and one rant which she found herself cutting out of her videos because she thought it was a bit too much for regular consumption. She had the nerve to look a bit abashed by her outburst but by the time it happened they that golden glow had already returned. And she was covering her eyes again.

Ah, what did she get? Kogara. Kogara Satoshi Captain of the 8th Division, one of the 'old' generation. Powerful without a doubt, his character seemed a bit shady Nikki's own standards but... that wasn't really the problem here. Ah, plus there was Ozzy here, hyping her up. She imagined by his actions that his stream was full of random happiness. She really would have to check in on one. "Bloody hell, I get that he's good but my luck is contrary. I guess I'll be waiting on that rate up for the characters I actually wanted but... I can at least work with him. I don't hate him... And you aren't half convincing with that excitement of yours..." she said with a minor pout, which seemed to be a bit of a flirty smirk at the end. She asked for Inuzuri or Tamao and got... Kogara. She'd wronged someone in the universe or something. Whatever the case. She pulled up her party menu and built another set. "Hm, these 5 stars are pretty good too. Ayatsuki, Minato, Kogara... Oh, right I got Megumi as well. Good well rounded team that. I guess if this is one of those where I just wanna rush something I could use that one. Ah... but which one to raise first?" she found herself wondering. She had time now, and was relatively content.

[Bloodedge]

"Tell me about it. It only gets worse when you're into multiple series of theirs. One's always basically on hiatus so they can push a few volumes of another, yadda yadda. It's like following a damn novel series," Ozzy commented, though he couldn't at all complain about the content received once a new volume of something was released. In the same way, he couldn't really complain about his sister stealing his jumpers to wear around. As long as she wasn't parading herself around in a string or something, he could avoid having a literal heart attack. . . "Well, at least she makes it work. I'd have to disown her if she didn't make my good shit look good!" he insisted in jest, though he truly would have been rather cross if she ruined the look of things he'd purchased.

Nikki went on quite the tangent, all over pockets (or a lack thereof) in women's clothing. Ozzy was dumbfounded, though he couldn't fault her for taking issue with it. The more he thought about it, the more he even came to realize how atrocious living day by day would have to be without pockets. A lass with a nice, size-conscious handbag matching her outfit was attractive and all, but that was a massive inconvenience not worth the extra trouble. "Sounds like motivation to me. Just don't go stripping your male line of pockets to get revenge, eh? Us modern blokes didn't do that to you lot~" he joked. Since she seemed so worked up, Ozzy's arms shifted from her midriff, his hands taking their place atop her shoulders instead. "Oh, and... breathe~" he concluded with a press of his lips against her neck.

As Nikki went through her full list of characters, she shared her opinion about the latest five-star pickup. It wasn't an amazing pull, but good in terms of effectiveness. That was about what he expected with powerful units in general; there were a few whom Ozzy looked upon the same way. The question though, was who Nikki would be providing levels and other such things to first in this newly-constructed team of hers. Considering what her general approach had been thus far, he thought to suggest what he considered the obvious choice. "You spent money because you were hyped for Akiko. I say give her a go. Definitely not the strongest you've got there, but she's one of the funnest technical characters there is, so you probably won't get bored of her mechanics or anything. I'd say Kogara last for the same reason; he's sort of just a nuke at the end of it all."

[Apollymi]

Ozzy was right, waiting on the Aeons was like waiting on a novel series. "You know they teased something like that a while back. If they actually are working on a legitimate novel... we're all gonna suffer. Well, until the extra content comes back~" she said with a knowing smirk. Of course the Aeons could do such things and their loyal fanbase would always wait around and snatch up whatever new content they could get their hands on. Nikki herself was guilty of eventually going to their more obscure series when she read her favorites and ran out of material. Whatever the case, the lad jokingly claimed that he'd have disowned his sister for not owning the looks he claimed for herself. "Disowning for that, for shame... well, I can't think of anything she wouldn't look good in. And I spend a lot of time thinking about it~" she said of his younger sister, in a completely platonic non-stalker manner.

Moving on from such a moment her entire tangent was met in a very strange way. Though she normally didn't allow things to get to her, the lack of pockets on women's clothing was indeed a hot-button topic. Ozzy for his part in this, expressed nothing but joking concern, and made a plea for her vengeance to not be taken upon men who buy her male clothing line whenever that was to come back into focus. Before she could speak on that though, she was told to breathe, while the lads hands moved from around her midriff to her shoulders and a gentle kiss was placed upon her neck. Something so very chaste did very strange things to Nikki's person, giving her more than brief pause. "Blimey..." she said initially only to have something more to say after allowing her eyes to shift from the screen to the lad behind her. "No worries. It's not like I would remove pockets from men's clothing. I just got into the habit of adding them to various types of women's clothing, at appropriate sizes. I'm a designer... I'm not vindictive," she mentioned happily. "Well, I'll definitely not be now," she added with a chuckle.

Moving right along, she was bound to be more surprised than anything else. Her wondering aloud about what character to build would lead Ozzy to telling her she should build the character she'd spent her money to get. She couldn't help but find that attitude refreshing. She'd already found him to be very interesting in how he didn't judge her gaming preferences. Now he was telling her to just go full into the character she favored regardless of her viability as a damage dealer. What was more he did this while knowing she possessed one of the more powerful units that the game had to offer. "Oh, you're really kind of strange... I don't think I've ever had someone recommend me just to build my favorite in a game before..." she said softly. "You're really bloody perfect aren't you?" she asked him genuinely surprised.

[Bloodedge]

The Aeons, writing a novel. What was anyone going to do with that, if that was going to be added to their other works? Ozzy had also seen some information on said novel series, and... he was definitely going to be reading it. "One with the vampires, yeah? That one's supposed to be their rework on an old manga series, turning it into a proper story. You know, sort of like the other things they redid but... more in-depth I reckon. We should read it together when it comes out; we'll make a day of it!" said Ozzy, easily falling into the habit of considering his every future endeavor as if Nikki would undoubtedly be involved.

Ah, it worked both ways! Ozzy wasn't the only one heavily taken aback by simple gestures between them. One day, these things would be normal. Until then though, it was worth enjoying these moments of shock and realization. "Weak spot in the neck, is it?" he inquired, as if to tease that his effort had been the determining factor of Nikki's decision to leave men's pockets in her clothing line. It was a fun little thought to play around with, even knowing this entire part of the discussion was just playing around for the sake of it. He'd even go on to confirm this notion for himself. "Hell yeah. I might fancy abusing that to get everything I want!"

Ozzy's recommendation was sure to be taken, right? It only made sense to him that Nikki would have the best experience using the character she was excited for─ especially given the fact that said character was nothing if not mechanically diverse to be enjoyed by most who liked her already. Apparently though, her unspoken acceptance of the suggestion was only to come alongside surprise. She'd never been advised to build a character specifically for her own enjoyment? That was not surprising. "Oh piss off, I hate the load of crap coming from people who look at numbers and pick based on that. Anime games aren't made to be sweaty; they're made so us fans can watch our favorite characters do all that good stuff we like seeing them do! If anybody says anything else, I'll have them!" Ozzy was firm on this matter. While Nikki took great issue with the lack of pockets in women's clothing, Ozzy had gripes with gatekeepers in video games and other such sources of entertainment. He refused to allow that sort of madness in his Twitch chat, in his community in general, and his moderators were cleared to ban anyone who tried to go against that little rule. "Besides, all that dumb stuff does is make everybody play the same, and that doesn't even work. I've done speed runs in a couple of games before, and it's only fun when you're high on copium or actually just some sweaty wanker."

[Apollymi]

Oh? It seemed that Ozzy too was in the know about the Aeons' upcoming works. Though she'd met other nerdy men before in her life, never had she met one who was so open with his as Ozzy was being. Beyond that there was something outwardly inviting about him. Normally when she had conversations like these, it became a Q&A of the most extreme form. She was drilled about how she knew this information, called an unreal fan and made to just feel generally unwelcome within the space of such nerd activities. Even though she'd been this sort of nerd most of her life. Ah, and there was extra, Ozzy was really taken with the idea of being a long term part of Nikki's life. All of his statements were implications of their future together and this was no different. "Bloody hell, that still takes some extra getting used to, I haven't been grilled once since talking to you... I am really not used to this," she said softly. "And yeah, we can definitely make a day of it. Especially, if they keep their split perspective writing. We could actually read it together~" she mused. She imagined a future day with the book dropping and the pair of them seated not so differently from this, taking turns reading aloud what would be the most intense romance novel of the modern age.

Whatever the case, that slight reaction to the kiss of her neck, brought more from Ozzy as well. He claimed to have found her weak spot and he wasn't necessarily wrong. "I, will neither confirm or deny this..." she said while looking sheepish. Of course, such a statement would only make it more obvious that this was indeed the case. Actually, given his current positioning and access he could talk her into just about anything. As for him actually doing so, she could only shrug. "Just take it easy on me, yeah?~" she asked as she got around to start playing.

Ah, and here it was. Accordingly, Ozzy wasn't much surprised by what she had to say about her previous experience getting into games. That being said, his statements on the matter were again, refreshing. He claimed a certain amount of freedom was necessary in this matter. And he also stated that anime games weren't about numbers but instead about your favorite characters doing all the things you love. "Blimey," there were practically stars in this lass, eyes. Ozzy had to be the least toxic, non-wanker nerd she'd ever met. In a sea of crap she'd found an absolute gem. "I really like that attitude. I where have you been all my life?" she asked rhetorically. Encouraging variation, not claiming that everyone had to do the same thing in games. Just wanting people to have fun, Nikoleta was practically swooning. It was one thing not to judge her Sims life, it was a completely different thing to encourage her whole likes and dislikes. "Hm, I don't understand what copium is, but I've never found speed running fun like that. Besides, skill thresholds are different in games... I'd rather do what I like, and would do... but it's nice to confirm that not everyone is a bloody wanker."