#alfie cabrera & serissa branwell

[gccdwitch]

“Well, good,” Alfie retaliates, simply so she doesn’t get the last word in. “I called you over for help, anyway. Not for chit-chat.” Though he’s wondering if they’ll ever get to playing the game, with how hell-bent Serissa seems on bothering him. Maybe he should have just played it all by himself and prayed for the best, that might have been more productive. “Yeah, actually. Plenty of people.” Alfie shrugs his shoulders. “But honestly? I don’t give a shit. I think I’m attractive enough as it is. Like, imagine the catastrophes that would occur if I shut up and got hotter? People would crash their cars to try and catch a glimpse of me.” He flashes her a smile that’s a lot more forced than he would like to admit. “That would be a safety hazard. I’d feel bad.”

If her previous words have been only slightly annoying, her next are downright blasphemous and offensive. “Okay, woah, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone be so wrong in my entire fucking life.” Alfie holds up his hand, shaking his head in disapproval. “Pikachu is not overrated. He’s popular, yeah, as he fucking should be. I mean, look at this guy, he’s adorable. And he’s a main character. He’s appropriately-rated so don’t ever speak on him again.” He huffs, still peeved that Serissa would even say that. “Ridiculous. What’s next? You think Hello Kitty is overrated?” Surprisingly, he goes quiet for a couple of moments, maybe enough to fool anyone who hasn’t spent more than an hour around him into thinking that he was possibly following along Seri’s previous advice. He’s not, of course. He's just processing all the shit she’s talking. “Stop it,” he grumbles out, waving a warning finger at her, his mouth settling into a frown. “I’ll start saying flirty things back and it’s going to get weird as shit.” Alfie toys with the button of the machine for a couple of seconds before turning towards her again, clearly not ready to put the topic to rest. “Meowth is certainly… a choice. If I wanted to ask someone out, I’d get them a Piplup. And—you’re supposed to be helping me out! Stop distracting me with your controversial takes.”

Why did Serissa agree to this? She should have known from the second she’d acknowledged him that he’d be insufferable. But now that he had his sights set on her, and she’d made the unfortunate mistake of offering to help, she doubted she’d be able to rid herself of him now. He’d probably follow her around like a dog begging for steak until he won the plush. Did he have to speak, though? A small laugh slips from her lips when he asks her what kind of ice cream she eats, and for a moment she wonders if it’s even worth the energy to correct him that she was referring to his offer of something else she’d want. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to tell you anyway.”

Did he really have to be this dramatic, though? Her eyes roll as she hears the words coming out of his mouth, and as he bows he debates just turning and walking away just to spare herself the headache. If she left, Balo would probably tell him to play nice if she ran to her. “Has anyone ever told you that you’d be hotter if you just stopped talking occasionally?” She asked, shaking her head as she moved to stand next to him. Although she supposed that men didn’t have to hear they were supposed to be seen, and not heard, and to just stay quiet and look pretty, growing up. No wonder why so many were obnoxious, but still, she was willing to just let it slide until she got him out of her hair.

That is until he brought up the basketball his childish fit caused her to lose. “Awww, Alfie! You’re not even going to try to mansplain that Pikachu is the overrated yellow electric rodent first? You know, if you keep this up, I might start to think you have a crush on me or something.” She smirks, circling around the machine to scope out the best angle to direct Alfie from. “Don’t worry though, I’ve got this. If you get too flustered to follow directions, I don’t mind taking over and winning it for you. Although you know, if you wanted to ask me out, you could have just won me a Meowth instead of pretending you’re horrible at claw machines. Like I don’t mind being the knight in shining armor saving the prince in distress for once. Who knows, maybe it’ll be more fun then playing the damsel! But just an idea for next time.”

[gccdwitch]

Momentarily distracted by watching Serissa lose the game (which brings a mischievous smile to his lips, though he manages to resist the urge to chuckle) Alfie almost gets startled when she actually speaks to him. Then he scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Right. What kind of expensive, rich people ice cream do you eat?” Though just briefs moments later, he frowns and shakes his head. “Wait, you know what? Never mind. I actually don’t want to know.”

He doesn’t really expect her to actually stay and help him. Maybe snap at him for ruining her game and then leave to find some puppies to kick or whatever it is that Serissa did in her free time. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers and he might as well accept her help. “Oh wow, I am feeling ever so grateful, you decided to abide my wishes and provide me with your aid, Your Majesty,” the theatrics are completed with a dramatic, swooping hand gesture and an even more dramatic bow before he stands back to his full height, his game face on. “Okay, so you just have to look at the Pikachu from all sides and tell me where to move the claw to. Simple enough, right? You can manage it unlike the basketball?”

Serissa still wasn’t sure why she’d let the rest of the girls drag her into this. It’d be fun they said, and sure perhaps she was having a good time, but they were off playing cooperative games at the moment and she was trying to entertain herself by speed-shooting basketballs on the machines near the claw machine. Just as she was about to hit 75, moments before the timer ran out, Alfie’s cursing distracts her and the ball misses and she loses the game. Her head whips in his direction, a flash of rage overwhelming her as he pleads with her for help now he’s gotten her attention. “Alfie, unless you won the lottery recently, you can’t afford me.” She says, tone sharp before she tries to take a deep breath and shove the emotions down.

Still, she steps away from the machine she was playing at to join him in front of the claw machine, examining the machines around them. At least he wasn’t clueless enough to pick one of the rigged machines, this wouldn’t be a complete waste of time. “But I suppose you can have my attention until Balo notices I’m missing and collects me. I’m in a charitable mood today.” @gccdwitch