How Green Becomes Wood

"Thanks, dude. I told you, I have quick reflexes. I've got to. I'm a gymnast." Sloan replied, and then turned, recognizing the twins and Milo were there for the first time since the game started, and she jumped slightly, "When did you get here?" She asked, flipping her ponytail back, "did you see me absolutely demolish him?"
 
Alec laughed and patted her shoulder. "That was excellent! Nicely done! You put up a good fight, Tom."

"I did my best, but I fell short," Tom shrugged.

"Come on, let's see what else we can do that actually wins tickets," Alec grinned.
 
"Do you think there's a game all of us can play together?" Sloan asked, looking over her shoulder, "Oh! Do they have laser tag here? I know some arcades do. We could all be on the same team. Oh, but that also doesn't win points. I'm trying to think of what we can all do."

As she spoke, she walked with them around to games. Both she and Milo tried their hands at games, and it turned out that at the majority of video games, Sloan was average at best, which she laughed off as having too much of a life to stay at home gaming. Milo still spoke little while they were in the full group, but he turned out to be pretty skilled at purely-skill based games, especially when it was a 'classic' arcade game. But all the while he watched the luck-based gambling ones.
 
Tom turned out to have very good hand-eye coordination and good aim, meaning he cleaned up at anything where he had to toss anything into, through, or onto anything else. Peter was average at most of the games, but good with anything to do with rhythm and timing thanks to his drumming. Becky was not good at pretty much any of them, but she did her best, and she still had a lot of fun.

When they came across a dancing challenge game, Alec talked Xander into trying it. Alec was great, but anyone who knew him could see that he was holding himself back a little so that he and Xander were barely separated in points. Xander talked Alec into trying out a shooting game where the goal was to hit little red targets. Just as Alec had held back in the dance game, Xander held back in the shooting game so Alec would not lose too terribly.

Finally, tucked in the back corner, Peter found a laser tag arena. The problem was, no one else wanted to play, and they had an uneven number. The twins instantly ruled Dark out, so it was down to deciding who would sit out the game so they could do a three-on-three game.
 
"Yeah, it'd probably be unfair to let him play," Sloan said, not thinking for a moment why else the twins may have ruled him out, "He's so tall, he'd probably be a really easy target, and if he is actually good at obscuring himself, then I think whoever is against him is screwed." Milo said nothing, he didn't really know much about Dark at all, and wouldn't guess about a person without having any more information.

"Is there anyone who doesn't want to play?" He asked instead, wiping off his glasses with his shirt. It wasn't necessarily something he was sure he was right for, but he was pretty good at finding dark corners to hide in, and some part of him wanted to look cool, for once, even though he knew more than likely he was going to be shot to pieces.
 
After a bit of hemming and hawing, Becky reluctantly said, "Well... Sloan and I are in skirts... I think we could still move around, but it might be awkward."

Peter stepped forward, holding a fistful of drinking straws. "I cut one of these in half. Whoever draws the short straw sits out. Deal?"

"That seems fair," Alec agreed.

Peter passed around the straws and let each person draw one.
 
"I might run to my car to put my leggings on underneath this," Sloan said, "the real problem will be trying to figure out who is on what team. I know there's no way to separate them," she nodded towards the twins, "But I for one think it's only fair they do, so each team has one of them, since it is both their birthdays. Plus, if they're both team captains, they can choose who they want for their team."
 
"Agreed!" chirped Becky while Xander and Alec groaned.

Tom got the short straw, so he stepped out and good-naturedly promised to earn more tickets while they played. Xander picked Peter and then Milo for his team while Alec chose Becky and Sloan, unintentionally almost making it boys against girls. Then they headed inside to get the game started. Neither Alec nor Xander had ever played, but it was simple enough to figure out how. Peter and Becky had both played, but it had been a while for Peter. Becky sweetly promised to wipe the floor with him.
 
Sloan had some experience with laser tag, but Milo didn't, really. What he did have, though, was an expert ability to find little areas to stash himself away in, and from these vantage points, he was able to score a good number of points. He was also pretty fast, and so was able to dash away from the enemy team. At some point in the game, when he and Xander were near to each other, and everyone else seemed to be at a distance, he made a little comment like, "If Laser Tag were really good, there'd be a way to heal, then I could heal, you could tank, and Peter could be DPS." Then he dashed off again, trusting Xander understood him.

Meanwhile, on Alec's team, Sloan did absolutely no strategizing, and just tried to shoot and run as best as she could. At the end of the game, when the timer beeped, both of them walked out and hung up the guns, tired but pleased, and excited to see which team had won.
 
Xander had absolutely no idea what Milo was talking about, nor did he particularly care. He was too busy trying not to get shot. His usual black attire would have done well here, but, no, he just had to be dressed semi-colorful for once! He was a shockingly good aim with the laser guns, though, despite his apparent inability to hide, so half the time he was able to shoot his opponent before they shot him. Peter stuck to the middle of the course and seemed to be doing middling well and having an absolute blast!

Alec was a terrible shot, but for once, he was in black, and it was helping him to blend in just a little. Also, he was an excellent spotter. He could spot, and then he'd tell Becky, when they were close together. Becky, as promised, was a phenomenal player and racking up the points. The game brought out a competitive streak Alec hadn't seen before, and she was taking special joy in targeting Peter, though she did manage to tag Milo a couple of times and Xander a few more.

At the end of the game when they walked out, they found that Alec's team had won - mostly thanks to Becky - but only just! Only a few points separated them. Alec had scored the least, but Xander had done well. Becky begged to go again and make it a two-out-of-three, but Alec and Xander both pleaded out of it, and Peter had banged his knee somehow, meaning even if he wanted to go again - which he did - he couldn't.
 
"I feel like an unbeatable champion," Sloan said cheerfully, having been a helpful but not necessary part lf the team, "Good game, guys," Milo quietly murmured a 'good game,' here, but it was half spoken over (accidentally), "That was close, closer than that air hockey match, anyway. Speaking of, we should probably find Tom and your parents. It's probably about time to eat, right?"
 
Alec happily sang "We are the Champions" with Becky as they half-danced their way in the general direction of the food area. Tom was actually not far away playing one of the classic arcade games and not doing too badly, at least as far as "normal" players were concerned.

"Yeah, I could eat three or four pizzas on my own after all that," Xander grumbled, pretending to be more upset about the loss than he actually was. It had been fun, and it was a new experience.

"You could eat three or four pizzas after sitting on the couch all day," Peter pointed out. "You're like a neverending stomach!"

Xander shrugged. "I have a high metabolism. What are you eating, Sloan?"

Peter turned to Milo as they walked. "Good game! You're really good at this."
 
"Probably pizza too. Although I shouldn't, but I love the kind of trash pizza places like this have. It's not great but it's always good, you know?" She said, happily walking along with them.

Milo looked at Peter a bit surprised, and putting his hands deep into his pockets shyly asked, "You think so?"
 
"I know exactly what you mean," Xander nodded. "It's just... got a different flavor and texture that is unique to itself. Like the McD's dollar burger."

"Sure," Peter smiled. "Most folk are so busy charging forward and shooting that they forget to do any kind of dodging or tactics. Hiding is important."

Alec spotted Dark and Daizi and ran toward them. "My team won! We won! Becky, Sloan, and me!"
 
"It's one of the few things I'm good at," Milo mumbled, looking down at his shoes as they walked.

"Did they?" Daizi asked excitedly, and tried to turn towards him but got the angle wrong, which was unlike her, and really just faced the wall, "Congratulations! What did you win at?"
 
"It's a handy skill to have," Peter assured him.

Alec got closer and put a hand on her arm so she could tell where he was. "We did laser tag. It's a game where you have two teams and try to 'tag' each other's vests with laser beams. Becky's really good at it. I'm not, but she was on my team."

"What's for food?" Xander asked, wandering over.
 
Upon being guided more accurately, a fleeting but visible feeling of insecurity passed over Daizi, "I know about laser tag! I think I'd be good at it, if only I could aim. Who was on which team?"

As Alec answered her, Dark answered Xander, "Whatever you would like, I suppose. There is the whole cafeteria, it did not seem strictly necessary to order one thing for the whole group."
 
At some point while they ate, Daizi had to excuse herself to feed Ivy, who was getting a little bit fussy from her schedule being thrown off anyway, and Dark had to walk them out, since the arcade was too disorienting for Daizi to navigate on her own. But, knowing how long, on average, it took Ivy to nurse, he came back to the table in the meanwhile. Then, after helping them back to the table, they had the arcade staff bring out a cake for the twins so they could celebrate properly (and this, of course, had been prearranged).

They intentionally set the cake so that both ends had candles so both were able to blow out their own independent set.
 
Alec and Xander both stared at the cake in shock and awe. Xander pulled himself together and tried to be more nonchalant. Alec was completely unabashed in his delight. They both made their wishes and blew out their candles. Alec gave Daizi a little hug of thanks before helping to distribute the cake. Xander gave Dark a little nod privately.
 
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