fandomhigh | Summer Games, Wednesday Morning

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summer games

Summer Games, Wednesday Morning

Today the park was set up with the normal bleachers for observers, and also thoughtfully provided cheap plastic rain ponchos for people who wished to observe without being in the blast zone. There didn't seem to be a single adult manning any of the food stations, which could explain the choices: heavy on super spicy junk food and no salad to be seen anywhere.

The most noticeable difference from last week, though, was probably the weedy teenager with the, frankly, hilarious haircut wielding the megaphone today. He had a little ponytail and a braid looping down over his right ear. It was a lot of look. "Right!" he yelled. "So I woke up today with this set of instructions next to my bed: apparently I'm in charge of doing paintball today, which sounds surprisgly not-stupid for a school event! We're going to be in two teams, so listen for your name since I don't recognize...most of them."

He shrugged that off. Must be another weird Fandom amnesia day or something. And paintball was way more important than giant gaps in his memory, right? "Okay, this is Team Red: you wear the ugly red jumpsuits over there--" he pointed helpfully, "--and your paintball guns and don't forget your eye protection and blah blah don't poke your eyes out, etc. Team members are: Ahsoka, Verity, Kaidan, Miguel, Paris, Aloy, Vanessa, Peter, Jaylah, Peridot, Tip. Alec, Amaya, Steve, Cara, Seivarden, Tony, Sabine, Jason, Summer, and Theron."

He waited for those team members to get moving. "Okay. Team Blue is: Aphra, Astrid, Rosa, Jaina, Kanan, Eliot, Beaker, Liam, Hannibal, Manfred, Hera, Kathy, Sidon, Magnus, Uma, Cristina, Breq, Bobby, Wade, Reno, and me." He consulted his paper again, then made a face. "Okay, we were supposed to just stay in the park, but that sounds incredibly boring, so I'm going to give us five minutes to make a quick plan with our team and then say that the entire island is fair game for as long as it takes one team to take out the other team."

Complete anniliation. Surely that boded well for his future life choices! "Last man, woman, or--" his eyes drifted to Beaker, confused, "--other...standing wins for their team and gets to take home the--" he squinted at the paper again. "Terrifying fish thing?"

On cue, the fish flew into his hand. Over the past week, it had been modified again: now to smell like pumpkin spice, put off small fireworks and holographic projections of flowers with smiley faces as it flew, and telepathically project "The Song That Never Ends" into the minds of anyone too close to it.

Anakin hated this thing on sight.

"For the first time in my life, I'm considering losing," he said, staring at the fish. "Anyway! Teams, get together and plan! You have five minutes and...go!"

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Well, not so new now. As this painful conversation with Tony was proving.

Alec reached into his back pocket and produced his own. "Got one already," he said.

Why did you collect fragile nerds, Tony?

Because he was one. Deep down inside.

"Awesome!" Tony said brightly. "Stick with us and we'll have each other's backs."

Alec really should have listened to that advice. It might have saved him from getting beaten up at Luke's the next day.

"Sounds great, man," he said, holding out his fist for a bump. "Nerd squad best squad. Err...not saying you're a nerd or anything..."

Oh, Hardison. Noooo. Don't get into a fight.

"I'm a nerd. Just, like, one of those cool nerds. The nerd who will totally take over the world with technology."

No, he was just straight up a nerd who hid it better later on in life.

It was less a fight and more of a beating if that helped?

"Hell yeah!" Alec said, trying not to look as starry-eyed as he felt. "Our time is coming, too! With the internet and all--it's gonna be the age of the geek, baby!"

"That's what I keep saying!" Tony said with much, much too much eagerness. "My dad's totally stuck in the past."

Alec's smile went a little flat at the word 'dad.'

"Yo, I practically had to beg my Nana for a year until she'd let me have a computer," he said. "She still calls it a 'newfangled contraption' like something outta some Ye Olden Times or whatever."

Tony glanced away quickly at that, completely under the assumption that this friendship was working because there wasn't any mention of the Stark name and he went and screwed that one up.

"I've got some computers at the place I'm staying," he said, trying to make it sound like, you know, if Alec wanted to check them out it'd be no big.

"Oh yeah?" Alec asked, eager to put the whole notion of fathers away entirely. And, you know. To talk about computers. "Me too! Such an amazin'--amazing--setup! I can't wait to hack my way in and see what's there."

And then, belatedly, he realized that Tony's idle comment might have been an invitation. His eyes went a little wide and his voice cracked. "But, umm...I'd love to see yours, too. Your setup, I mean. Of computers. Yeah."

Oh god.

Computers were a much easier thing to talk about, it was true.

"Awesome!" Tony said. "There's this super rad AI there too."

That was a quick way to get Alec's mind off of haphazardly flirting.

"No way!" he said, eyes huge behind his glasses. "You have an AI? You don't have an AI! Why are we here if you have an AI?!"

Tony beamed at that. "We're gonna have a party I think. If you wanted to come by and check it out then?"

At least there wouldn't be any Bud Lite Lime there?

"A party?" ALEC HAD NEVER BEEN INVITED TO A PARTY BEFORE. You were the coolest, Tony! "Yeah, I'd like to come." He grinned for a minute before suddenly turning shy. "You sure though? I mean, I could come by before your friends do, check out the AI, and then leave. You know. If you wanted."

He hadn't yet gotten that burst of confidence that had come with being all-star hacker and Oscars attender.

Bold of you to think he had friends, Alec.

"You gotta stick sround after!" Tony said, then had to come up with a totally cool reason. "I mean. Steve'll get all weird. He's old fashioned about some stuff."

And Tony was just really chill. Sure.

"Old-fashioned about what kinda stuff?" Alec asked, just to be safe.

"Manners stuff," Tony said quickly. "Like an Ask Amy thing."

"Who's Amy?" Alec asked, looking around.

"It's... it's a newspaper thing." You know, back when print papers were still a thing.

"...Like Dear Abby?" Alec checked.

That one he knew. Because she was usually in with the comics.

Tony was so old, wasn't he?

"Exactly!"t

Maaaaaybe a little.

"I asked if he was Amish cause he'd never heard of computers before," Alec said, shaking his head a little. "Guess not, though. Is he, uhh, always ready to throw down or is that just 'cause of the game?"

"He's got this thing about bullies."

If Eliot hadn't decided to live in the Preserve like a hermit, what were the odds Steve would have gone after him? The narrative was putting them at 100% but is willing to go higher.

"Nobody likes bullies," Alec pointed out. "Except other bullies."

At least they weren't fighting as normal adults. Though it was possible that if they did, it would involve Hardison and Tony cheering them on with dollar bills being waved.

"But, like, extra bad. Doesn't even try to avoid them when he can."

And no shirts allowed. For reasons.

"Doesn't try to avoid--why the heck not?" Alec asked, disbelieving. Bullies were natural hazards that you just had to keep your head down and avoid, like hurricanes and quicksand.

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