How Green Becomes Wood

"We are here for fun, not profit, I believe," Dark said, walking over towards the cars. It was his way of saying tickets didn't matter.

When they were there, looking down at the sparkly tiny cars, he said, "I suppose I must remain neutral, I cannot root for one twin over the other. Would you like me to hold anything while you play?" He hoped the twins would team up to defeat Declan. Or that he would otherwise lose. This he didn't even try to rationalize as anything other than petty, but he wasn't ashamed of it.
 
"No, we're good," Alec assured him as he and Xander tucked their tickets into their pockets and proceeded to climb into the cars.

"How about a nice, three way battle, then, gents?" Declan challenged, picking his car with care.

The answer to his question was both twins slamming into his car hard. It took a bit, but they jostled themselves out into the middle of the arena and started banging into each other wildly. Alec was clearly the least skilled of the three and soon got himself stuck wedged between two unused cars sitting at the edge of the track. Once he eventually got free with Xander's yelled instructions, he wobbled to and fro, never really managing to catch up to Declan and Xander. Or maybe he wasn't actually trying to catch up and was, instead, just enjoying the ride.

Xander, on the other hand, was out for blood! Figuratively. He chased Declan around as Declan avoided him with surprising skill. The pair bumped and banged their way from one side of the area to the other, neither really seeming to be the better driver.
 
Dark watched them, occasionally saying something encourage to Alec or Xander, but he really wasn't much of a yeller. He was glad to see they were having fun, though, and was relieved nobody asked him why he wasn't playing, and just intuitively understood there was no way he could fold his long body into one of those cars.

Watching, the fact he had literally outgrown the game didn't bother him. Maybe he was just old but it looked to him like the object of the game was to get as much whiplash as possible. Dark truly could not determine who was winning or if there was a real winner.
 
When time ran out and the operator - a kid not much older than the twins - yelled for them to get out, they guided their cars to the edge and climbed out. Alec ran straight to Dark.

"Did you see that?" he demanded even though he knew full well Dark hadn't moved from his spot. "I was driving! Like actually driving!"

"Driving badly. You only bumped us like twice," Xander grinned, joining him.

"Or am I a better driver because I didn't hit you a bunch?" Alec pointed out.

"Wait, you two don't know how to drive yet?" Declan asked in surprise. "I thought you should be in driver's ed by now."
 
"I did see!" Dark replied, bending slightly so he was closer to Alec's level, "You did great! I told you, driving is not that bad, and on the real road, nobody is actively trying to hit you."

Then he straightened back up, and looking down at Declan, he replied, "The school puts them into Driver's Ed their sophomore year, they just finished their Freshman year. We had been planning to get their permits over the summer, and then things became a bit hectic," He looked at Declan, "but we will get them soon." He didn't have great experiences at the DMV, historically speaking, since there were no records of him dating before the time he was already a young teenager, and he was sure that there would be some confusion considering he did not exactly look like he should be responsible for them, but he had the paperwork in order so it would be fine.
 
"Huh. I thought it came sooner, but I must not be remembering right. My teen years were a bit of a blur," Declan said with a shrug. "Anyway, that was a lot of fun. What's next?"

"There was a jug toss type game back there," Alec said, pointing the way. "All you have to do is toss it into one hole instead of trying to roll it up a ramp like in skeeball.

And unlike skeeball, it had roped sides which kept the small balls from going everywhere and also kept anyone from trying to drop the balls directly into the jug. It was brightly colored and circus themed with a clown holding the jug out for whoever wanted to give a toss. Declan agreed easily enough and went first. He did really well, though not phenomenal. Xander went second and actually beat Declan's score by a few points. Alec went after that and didn't do great, but he did his best and still won a few tickets. Last was Dark's turn, and the twins watched him expectantly. He'd surely blow all of their scores out of the water!
 
Dark watched the three others go silently and with his arms crossed. He had, of course, seen similar games at the many carnivals he frequented, although this was the first time he seen a mechanical version in an Arcade, but he doubted it would make a difference. When he walked up, he tossed the balls differently than any of them had done. He still threw it underhand, but palm down rather than palm up, to give the ball backspin. Since it was his first time playing on that particular style of game, his first few tosses missed the jug and landed in one of the lesser point holes in front of it, but all of his subsequent tosses landed perfectly in the jug, leading to a much higher score than the rest of them.

Internally, he was rather impressed with himself, because even though he had more or less worked out how to beat all Carnival-style games, it still felt good to succeed at them, and he had never grown complacent about it. But he also wasn't one to boast, so just as with skeeball, he took the tickets and split them evenly in half to distribute between the twins.

"That was fun," he said, "I am glad they have more of the traditional games here. When I went to school in New York, at least once a month, and more over breaks, Cooger and I would go to Coney Island. I got a lot of practice in."
 
Xander and Alec took the tickets without complaint this time and started trying to decide which game to do next. Alec wanted to try the rather garish-looking dance game that was good for one person against a computer or a competition between two players. Xander wanted to try more of the shooting games. There were several different styles, though most of them seemed to function more or less the same.

"I'm a horrid dancer," Declan said, finally stepping in, "so how about I face off against Xander in a shooting game, and Dark here can go with Alec to the dance game thing? Then we should have pizza before I try to eat a ball or something."

Xander snorted, only partly amused, but nodded in agreement. "Seems fair."

Alec looked up at Dark questioningly. He wasn't sure about splitting up, but he felt a bit more comfortable now. Besides, they would still be in the same room and able to see each other. Kind of. Dark would be able to see over the various things in the way. Alec had to crane his neck.
 
Dark frowned and silently looked between the twins and Declan. All at once it occurred to him how every time Declan made a comment regarding the boys, it was about Xander, and how it was the two of them who had stayed back while he and Alec went to look at the prizes. And now once more he was suggesting to split up along the same lines. If Xander wanted to spend time with his biological father, that was one thing, but what stood out to Dark was how it seemed more like Declan wasn't particularly interested in spending time with Alec. That bothered him. The most Declan had really said about Alec was how he was "more of a follower" and remarked about his "mother issues."

Still, he didn't know if Alec would even be comfortable being alone with this stranger, so he wasn't sure if he should offer splitting up differently, because he didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

By then, the twins would know well Dark said nothing while he was thinking, but to Declan it may still be a strange thing. Eventually, though, he asked, "Are you afraid to embarrass yourself?" to try to have a little bit more time to figure out how Alec felt about everything.
 
Declan was starting to squirm in the verbal silence - the arcade, of course, was never actually silent - and seemed to be trying to decide if he should say something by the time Dark spoke. "More like I like to choose how I embarrass myself," he said with a quick grin. "I am no stranger to embarrassment! Dancing is not something I like to do, nor is failing miserably."

"Failing is how you learn," Alec piped up.

"Wise words, little man, but not in this case," Declan chuckled. "Losing is fine, but I hate losing by a mile. I'd rather lose by an inch despite what Dominic Toretto says."

The twins exchanged confused glances. Who was Dominic Toretto? Xander shrugged it off. "If you want a partner, I could play against you, I guess."

"You hate dancing," Alec pointed out. "That's alright. I can play against the machine. You two should go shoot random inanimate objects. Right?" He looked up at Dark, seeking guidance. Was he right?
 
"I will play with you. I do not mind losing by any amount." Dark told Alec, smiling in his eyes but not his mouth. He was still uncomfortable with it, but he and Daizi were trying to show some trust to Declan, right? And at least if he was alone with Alec he could talk to him privately and ask how he was feeling about everything. And at least if he played with him, the younger twin wouldn't feel left out, because he wasn't. He lightly put his hand on Alec's shoulder, and looked at Xander trying to gauge if he was okay with everything too, and suggested, "Or we could stick together and just do both? Games only take a few minutes to play, I thought."
 
"Nah, it's alright, let's meet up at the pizza pit over there," Xander said, pointing toward the little restaurant. It was completely empty. "The shooting games can take longer depending on how good you are."

"Let's go see what kind of songs are available!" Alec said happily, heading straight for the dance machine.

Declan grinned at Dark. "Don't worry, after pizza, you can pick the next game, or we can call it a day."
 
Dark did not reply to Declan, and instead followed after Alec. He knew he should be pleased the twins were willing to seperate from each other, but it just... bothered him. And it bothered him he couldn't keep an eye on what Declan was doing.

But Alec was happy, and Xander was happy, so that had to be enough for the moment, "You can choose whatever song you like," Dark said, "It has been a long time since I played a game like this."
 
Alec eyed the song selection carefully. "Hmm, how about Stamp On the Ground? It has a nice beat, and it's not too fast. Nice and steady." He reached out to select the song and then paused, looking up at Dark. "You don't have to play," he said earnestly. "Not if you don't want to. It's enough that you're here. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
 
"No, it is okay. I would not have offered if I was not willing to. It is not like people do not already stare at me," He chuckled, knowing his fate as a tattooed, muscled, giant, "and remember, I take Tarot dancing often. And," he couldn't believe he was about to say this, "they say, you can dance if you want to. You can leave your friends behind."

The joke visibly harmed Dark's soul, and after a beat said, "...you should press play before I leap from a bridge."
 
Alec laughed a genuine laugh, staring at Dark in startled delight. "I never thought I'd hear that from you," he said through a fit of giggles. He cleared his throat and took a couple of breaths to calm himself and pressed play.

The steady beat of Stamp on the Ground echoed through the tinny speakers, and arrows popped up on the screen, challenging them to step on their respective buttons at the right speed. It started out slow at first, giving them a chance to get a feel for things, and slowly increased in difficulty. Alec hit all of the beginning points perfectly, missing only two once it hit the mid-level, but the highest level was definitely challenging and required his entire focus.
 
"No, I never thought I would hear it from me either." He wanted to make a joke that he must be dying, but didn't want to risk poking a wound.

Dark didn't do as well as Alec. Better than one might expect, but his biggest problem was the spacing of the squares. His legs were a bit too long, so he had to take tiny almost shuffle steps to avoid accidentally missing the cue by stepping too far in one direction. Still, he had fun, not at all minding that his score was less than his kid's. None of his levels were perfect, but that had never been the point for him.
 
Alec stumbled a little at the end, messing up his score, but he still came out with his best score of any of the games so far. "That was so much fun! You did so awesome, Professor!" he cried, grabbing Dark's arm in a hug, a little overexcited. After all the high tensions, it was nice to let it out into something he enjoyed, but it also meant he'd gotten a little overstimulated. Normally he liked to give Dark the space he preferred.

Over at the other game, Declan and Xander were still going at it. It was a sort of zombie survival game, but the pixeled graphics toned down a lot of the violence. Declan was actually giving Xander pointers on how to better his aim, and they both seemed content to keep going.
 
Dark's eyes widened when Alec hugged him, but he didn't pull away, and instead briefly hugged him back, "You did much better than I did, I watched. You were very impressive." He took the string of tickets from the machine and handed them all to Alec, figuring Xander was earning enough on his own.

When Alec let go, Dark asked, "Would you like to play again or would you like to go find your brother?"
 
Alec instantly turned and got a visual on Xander. Once he was satisfied he could see his brother, he looked up at Dark. "We don't have to play another one. I know it's too small for you," he said, "but if you want to go again, you should pick the song this time."
 
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