How Green Becomes Wood

"Claire, your turn!" Sloan said, which made her friend huff a bit.

"You know I'm bad at this game," She said, curling up on the trampoline.

"Hey, you're the one who joined in trying to pop me, this is your penance!"
 
"You can do it, Claire!" Alec encouraged her. "You can't be any worse than me!"

"Did you forget whose side you're on?" Xander drawled. "You're supposed to be trying to get her to pop open."

Alec stuck his tongue out at him. "I can still be supportive."

The pair started bouncing, not immediately going into anything too rough and following Sloan's lead.
 
Claire shrieked much more easily and quickly than Sloan had, and from very early on struggled at staying unpopped. She did ultimately last longer than Alec had, but only by a few minutes. When she did pop, her headband fell off and a few strands of her bangs fell into her face.

Laughing, she tucked the strand back while Sloan retrieved her headband before anything happened to it, "See, I'm awful at it!"
 
"Oh, you're not that bad!" Alec assured her. She was cute with her bangs in her face... He blushed softly and shook his head. Bad boyfriend!

"You're terrible," Xander agreed.

Alec pushed him over. "You're turn, Mr. Bold!"

Xander let himself fall and rolled up into a ball.
 
"Bring it on! Let's see what you've got!" Xander challenged them.

Alec sighed. "You are so dramatic!" He started off a little slow just because he was uncertain, but he tried to match Claire and Sloan.
 
Xander was used to falling and getting thrown. Not from this height, of course. Honestly, the scariest part was floating in the air, not the fear of landing. He stayed tucked, keeping his chin protected, and his arms locked around his legs. Over and over he flipped, but he wasn't letting go! Until it was starting to hurt. There was only so many times you could hit the ground and get the wind knocked out of you. He lost all track of time, but, finally, long after Sloan had popped, he let go deliberately and waved for mercy as he wheezed.

"Not even a squeal!" Alec said in disappointment.
 
"In my defense," Sloan said panting, "I didn't know to prepare for three people, you all just started on me without warning."

"That's true," Claire said, dropping back onto the trampoline.
 
"Do you want a second try?" Alec asked, dropping down into a cross-legged position and bouncing in place. "In a few minutes. Once we catch our breath."

Xander lay on his back in the middle, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm a little dizzy now," he admitted.
 
"Sounds good. I'm just going to lay here a minute," Xander said, drawing in a few careful breaths. He remembered and raised a fist. "But I win!" He hesitated, honestly not sure. "Right?"

Alec patted him delicately on the shoulder. "Right you are. Very good. You did an excellent job. You are the most stubborn person here." He winked at Sloan and Claire.

"Darn right," Xander muttered, letting his arm fall.
 
"Basically," Claire answered. "There's a trampoline leading up to it and you can jump right in. Sometimes there's also a rope above it you can swing on, but I can't recall if they have one here."
 
"Oooo! That sounds like fun!" Alec cheered, clapping. "Let's do that! Are you ready, Claire? Xander!" He got up and bounced Xander a little.

"I'm up! I'm up! Just give me a minute," Xander grumbled. He got to his feet and stretched.

Alec offered a hand to Claire and Sloan to help them up.
 
Claire accepted Alec's help up and then awkwardly pulled her hand away, "It's a blast, you'll love it."

Sloan got up on her own, "I had such fun as a kid in gymnastics when we got to jump into the pit."
 
Claire gladly ran-hopped along with Alec, and since Sloan refused to lose to Xander again, Sloan did too. Soon enough, they made it to the big, rectangular pit full of foam blocks. At opposite ends were a long trampoline leading too it, and hanging across it was a knotted rope, allowing for someone to attempt to swing from one end to another.
 
"Wow, that's pretty cool," Xander said, coming in last. He trotted over to the long trampoline closest and tested it out briefly. "Alright, this looks like we're really cooking now!"

"Says the frog," Alec told Sloan with a smirk.
 
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