fandomhigh | 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!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

There might also be some jello involved.

"He's stubborn." Because Tony wasn't.

Or at the very least, oil.

"He's lucky he ain't dead," Alec said flatly.

And there was a happy place in that fight.

Tony nodded insistently. "Right? Right?"

"He needs bodyguards," Alec declared firmly.

No, boys, that was a terrible--

"We should build him some."

Actually, that idea wasn't as terrible as it could be. Carry on.

Tony's eyes widened at that idea. "Yes. We totally should."

BOYS, NO.

BOYS, YES!

"Nobody's gonna pick on him if he's flanked by two giant robot dudes who know karate!"

Big words from the one kid who gets his ass kicked this weekend.

"Like some knights!"

Oh, Hardison. Maybe they should build those for him next time this happened.

Or just have them on standby, ready to fly to any one of them in danger during these weekends.

"Sir Verr and Sir Vlett!" Alec declared, going for the nerdiest joke spoken today.

"I was thinking Gawain and Geraint." Wow. The nerd power contained between the two of them.

"Ooh! Oh! Andúril and Narsil!" Alec suggested, because ain't no nerd like a Tolkien nerd.

Re: Team Red, Assemble!

imafuturist - 2018-06-12 01:51 (UTC) - Expand

geniuswithasmartphone - 2018-06-12 02:28 (UTC) - Expand

imafuturist - 2018-06-12 12:31 (UTC) - Expand

geniuswithasmartphone - 2018-06-12 20:21 (UTC) - Expand

imafuturist - 2018-06-12 20:33 (UTC) - Expand

geniuswithasmartphone - 2018-06-12 21:34 (UTC) - Expand

imafuturist - 2018-06-12 21:38 (UTC) - Expand

geniuswithasmartphone - 2018-06-12 21:52 (UTC) - Expand