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“Steven, are you sure you don’t want to just watch some TV instead?” Layla bit her lip, trying not to laugh.
Steven didn’t notice, struggling as he was with a chess piece somewhat taller than himself. “No! This--is--game night. I’m not letting Jake ruin it.”
‘I didn’t mean to get in the way of your date, Patojo.’ Jake sounded sullen. ‘But it was either this or--’
“Yeah Jake, I know, I was there.” Steven panted, setting the queen down. “Maybe a different game.”
“Well, cards are out.” Layla smothered her amusement. “As is anything that involves a lot of pieces like Monopoly.”
“Yeah, Monopoly’s never going to be my first choice anyway.” Steven wrinkled his nose. “The whole point is how much everything sucks under capitalism. We’re aware, thanks.”
“How about Trivial Pursuit? You should be able to manage those cards.” Layla suggested. “And the pie wedge pieces are pretty small."
“Actually, yeah.” Steven brightened. “That sounds brilliant.”
‘Don’t you two start fighting if the history cards are inaccurate.’ Marc put in.
‘Or pop culture. A lot more people have played Batman now then when it came out.’
“Look, if you two want to get in on this, fine. Otherwise, shut it.”
‘So-rry.’ Jake huffed. ‘Just trying to help.’
‘You gonna be okay if we take off?’
“Yeah, I’ve got this. It’s bloody games night, not…taking down a bunch of ninjas or something.”
‘Kid, I have never fought a ninja.’
‘Me either. Khonshu said something about them having a code once.’Marc added. ‘Sort of a grudging-respect thing, I think.’
“Great, thanks for that all-important knowledge.” Steven muttered.
“They giving you trouble?” Layla picked up the chess pieces.
“No, just trying to help. Such as it is.” Steven got off the board so she could put it away.
“Well, they’re not allowed to feed you answers.” She teased.
“I wouldn’t cheat!” Steven did his best to sound scandalized. Jake and Marc would be better suited for the sport questions. But that wasn’t really keeping in the spirit of things.
“I know.” She rummaged around the small games stack they’d accumulated. “You sure you don’t want to curl up on the couch with me and watch something?”
“Maybe later. We could do Cluedo, it’s at least a game movie.” Steven tried to meet her halfway. Snuggling with Layla did sound appealing, even if he was relegated to her shoulder for the time being.
‘I really am sorry.’ Jake’s voice was a lot softer than usual. ‘This ain’t how the night was supposed to go.’
“Yeah, I know.” Steven matched his tone. “Shit happens. We made it home in time anyway, that’s what counts.”
‘If you ever sneak into a random cab like that again--’
‘Keep your hat on Spector, it turned out fine.’
Steven took a deep breath as the argument faded into the background. Layla returned to the table and spread the items out before him.
“Ready?”
“Yeah, Love.” Steven picked up the toaster-sized die with both hands, ignoring the small whuff of air from his girlfriend. He'd looked silly in front of her before, and probably would again. No reason to get in a snit. "Let's go."