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[ between the dizzy spells, the hard hitting impact of losing his second or third winds and the laundry list of symptoms always ready and waiting to rear their ugly heads in the back of his mind, stiles is often brought out of his good, easy moods when a reminder of his condition takes him by surprise. that happens here and now, too, once they're staring down a screen prompting them to enter their names - stiles can read it all just fine, none of the letters are falling out of sight or blurring into each other in incomprehensible shapes, but when he stares at the first row of letters and feels a panicked jolt in his chest as he runs his eyes over them to make sure they're right, it's...

well, it's kind of depressing, and that display back at the prize wall doesn't really mean all that much anymore. stiles darts his tongue between his lips and curls his fingers around ten and two, watching billy input his name before following suit. he's tempted to just write AAA and be done with it, but clearing his throat, he goes for the far more engaging ASS instead. any connection that might have to the first high score billy set here is completely coincidental.

the game gets started and stiles handles himself pretty well, avoiding the pitfalls billy drives headfirst into whenever the poor kid ends up smashing his car into the wall. he's played this game before, so the reflexive muscle memory comes in handy when he's battling the incomprehensibly slippery steering controls all racing games from the 80s seem to have, but even if he was new, roscoe's seen better days. knowing how to drive an old car despite all of its imperfections is just part of being a man. ]

Oh - uh.

[ billy distracts him once he strips that first lap, asking about a grizzly bear that stiles only has vague recollections of mentioning. stiles is gaining enough traction on the competition that he'll probably be on billy's ass in a matter of minutes, and if he feels guilty enough to slow down and take it easy on the poor guy, well. hopefully that won't be obvious. ]

So there's this guy I know from home - Derek. He showed up here around the same time I did, I think? He's been crashing on my couch for the past, uh...

[ stiles slows down a little too much, and the yellow AI-controlled car starts shadowing him a touch too closely for stiles' liking. stiles frowns, mumbling a distracted oh no you don't as he steps down on the pedal beneath the machine, followed by another mumbled come on, baby as he picks up speed. ]

I don't really know how long? He just kind of showed up one day. But, uh, yeah... he's kind of a hardass. Big, beefy. All body hair and teeth. I've told him to be nice to my guests, but. You never know how it's gonna go with that guy.

[ stiles wets his lips, chancing a few seconds away from the screen to look at billy, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. he's just teasing, it's obvious in his tone of voice, but - ]

Did you... maybe think that I had a real grizzly bear in my living room?

[billiam]

[ ASS might just be coincidence, but billy still squints a little and cuts a sideways glance toward stiles anyway, his mouth pinching a little near the corners. when they first met, stiles had the decency not to point out his grave spelling error and spare him his dignity, but this obviously has to be a callback to his ten seconds of panicked embarrassment. billy isn't particularly bothered, though. if anything, he finds it kind of funny in a self-deprecating way and huffs a quiet breath out of his nose.

the game is a mess, though - or rather, billy is garbage at it, which is hugely disappointing and definitely embarrassing for someone who prides themselves on being good at video games, among other things. to go from a high score to crashing into walls and falling an entire lap behind because he can't quite get a grasp on the lag in the controls is just... a bad look. terrible for his reputation. he leans on the pedal under the machine a little harder, as if he can somehow push it past its limits, and splits his attention between trying to navigate around potholes and listening to stiles, lips pressed together into a thin line as he stares at his little pixelated car zooming around the track.

he doesn't know why he's a little surprised to learn that stiles has a friend from home here, but he is. his eyebrows lift slightly, and he almost looks away from the screen to pay closer attention to stiles, but he can't afford to fall anymore behind than he already is, so he just tilts his head toward him a bit instead to indicate that he's listening. intrigued.

billy's got someone from home here, too. plenty of someone's, actually, though he's more familiar with loki than all the rest. that being said, loki isn't exactly his favorite person, considering all the lying and manipulating he did, the things he told teddy, the things he didn't tell any of them. they're certainly not close enough for loki to just crash on his couch whenever he pleases.

it sounds like stiles is at least pretty decent friends with this derek guy, if he's able to just come and go as he pleases. billy's glad for him, happy that he's not entirely alone in this messed up town, even if derek does sound like he has the potential to be a little bit of a jerk. what does billy know, though? not derek, so maybe he's wrong.

billy hasn't touched any of the buttons near his wheel since he stepped up to the game, but he presses one now while stiles is mildly distracted, unsure what to expect. it says 'nitro' right above the button, but seeing his little car launch forward leaving a little pixelized dust cloud behind is enough to kind of amp him up. his eyes light up and he murmurs a confident come on, come on, you're so close under his breath. only half a lap behind stiles now, but only by pure luck.

it's maybe a stupid move to look away from the screen when he's only just managing to make up the distance he fell behind, but billy lifts his hands off the wheel like he's part of a stick up shoulders rising up in a shrug as he looks at stiles. ]

Look, I— [ he immediately realizes what he's going and clamps his hands back around the wheel, whipping his head back around to the screen. the yellow car has overtaken him again. he considers using nitro again, but somehow that feels like cheating. ] I don't know! Craaap.

[ he laughs at his own stupidity though, both at having let go of the controls, and also for even entertaining the fact that stiles could have had a wild bear for a pet. kitty pride's got a dragon, so. ]

... Maybe? Or maybe just a big dog, like a chow chow? Or... one of those rugs. With the head still on it. I have no idea! 'Yeah, sure, come over, but just watch out for the bear downstairs'. Like I was supposed to know you were talking about your - big, beefy friend.