Work Text:
Agent Three couldn’t do this.
It was one thing staying over at the Squid Sisters’ house, she’d done that PLENTY of times! It was one thing hanging out with Four and Eight every once in a while, she had also done that PLENTY of times! But it was something completely different going over to their apartment for a night to, as they put it, hang out! The suggestion just so happened to come up and Three just so happened to impulsively accept it like it was a challenge when it was oh so clearly just an OFFER .
Now she was stuck outside their doorway, hand half-raised and looking like an idiot and reluctant to even knock on the coddamn door ! It was too late to go back home, she was already here and she didn’t want to disappoint the two. Yet the idea ever so gently tempted itself multiple times by rattling her brain until it felt like complete slosh. Or was that her nerves getting the best of her again? Either way, she didn’t feel great about this and it was entirely her own fault.
‘ Okay, Three. Deep breaths. ’ She thought to herself, taking in a slow, deep breath. Yet she found herself unable to keep calm, even if she didn’t outwardly show it. It’s just a simple night with good times and relaxing games, what could be so bad about it? Nothing! It seemed like a relaxing time, one where she could get to know the two better!
Yet somehow that in of itself was the problem. Relaxing? Three doesn’t do relaxing ! She does late night patrols forcefully trying to keep herself awake! She does long sessions of ranked modes just to keep herself busy! She does NOT sit on a couch and have fun by playing board games or video games! She’s not Agent Four! She likes physical activity. This was a COMPLETELY different area of expertise that Three simply had no knowledge in.
She let out a quiet sigh before resting her head on the door. ‘ Just knock on the door! ’ She berated herself. Yet she couldn’t do it. She can save inkopolis from complete power loss, she can save Eight and Cap’n Cuttlefish from being blended into paste inside a life-size blender. But she cannot. Knock on. A coddamn. Door! It seemed like the easiest thing in the world, but she just could not do it!
‘ How does one engage in the elusive social interaction? ’ She groaned internally. This is a question that Three would desperately LOVE to know the answer to. But unfortunately, she cannot find this answer by thinking. In fact, she would love to not have to do that to find the answer.
In her frustration, she ended up banging her fist against the door. It took her a moment to realize what she just did. On the one hand, yay, she finally did it! On the other hand, ‘ ...Squit. I actually knocked on the door. ’
She took a step back as noise sounded from the other end of the door. There wasn’t any going back now. She quickly took a moment to compose herself, with the door opening not even a second later. “Hey, Three!” Four said excitedly.
Three gently waved a half-raised hand in greeting, her expression neutral. Four stepped out of the way and gestured for Three to come inside, which she did. “You’re just in time! You’re even out of your agent gear for once, I see! Couldn’t help but make a good impression, huh?” Three gently whacked Four’s shoulder, earning a giggle.
The first thing Three noticed when she entered was the living room, which was filled to the brim with all kinds of decks of cards, board games, snacks and video games. Thankfully the two couches present could still be sat on without needing to move anything, but the sheer number of things caught Three off guard.
“Eight and I did a lot of shopping to prepare for this night.” Four said, closing the door behind her. “Still within the budget to pay for rent and all that, but we did end up getting quite a few things that I think we can have fun with!”
“Regardless, I still think we should have cut a few losses.” Eight said with a resigned smile as she walked up to the other two. “Will we really use all these games again after tonight?”
“Who cares, so long as you’re having fun!” Four shrugged the idea off, “Even if we don’t get the chance to play them all tonight, it’s the chance to simply be together that matters! Besides, I already called dibs on the Wii.”
‘ How does one call dibs on keeping a console in an apartment the two of you share? ’ Three silently wondered.
“You shant question our methods of sharing.” Four joked.
‘ That’s not a word. ’ Three rolled her eyes.
“Not to you, at least!” Four ruffled Three’s tentacles, earning a glare right back at her. Four simply shrugged it off, walking over to a nearby couch. “Now come on, we don’t got all night! The sooner we get to playing, the better!”
“But… which one do we play first?” Eight asked. “There’s so many to choose from.”
“We’ll just play the first one we see!” Four smiled, grabbing a random board game. “Like this one! Sorry!”
“What are you sorry for?” Eight raised an eyebrow.
“No, that’s the name of the board game. ‘Sorry!’” Four said, holding up the board game box for Eight to see.
“Ohh…” Eight said. “That makes sense.”
“Heh, really makes you wonder who came up with these names?” Four wondered, before clearing her throat and motioning over, “Now get your butts over here so we can play!” Four set the game on the table, opening it up and beginning to set out a few pieces.
‘ I’ll just watch. ’ Three gestured, sitting at the second couch.
Four and Eight looked at Three in unison, looking surprised, with Eight hesitating for a moment before asking, “Are you sure? It would be better with three players instead of just two.”
Three nodded. Before Eight could say anything else in response, Four piped up, “Alright! But just so you know, you gotta play at least something before you leave. Otherwise we’ll hold you hostage.”
‘ Yeah, sure you will. ’ Three rolled her eyes, crossing one leg over the other.
“We will. I have my ways of keeping you here.”
‘ Like what? ’ Three raised an eyebrow, resting her cheek on one hand.
“Well, for starters.” Four raised a bag of jumbo marshmallows.
…’ Squit. ’
…
It had been only an hour.
“Check.” Four says, moving her rook across the board. “And once I have all three Um’ami god cards, you’ll have no choice but to pay the rent for landing on Atlantic avenue!”
Eight looks at her cards before smiling and placing one down, “I don’t think so! I play the Ace of Spades. You lose your turn and I roll a d20 to attack your rook!”
“Agh, noooo! Not the Ace of Spades!” Four groaned.
Three’s gaze traveled across the table in confusion as the other two made their moves. She had no idea how it had gotten to this point. Nor did she have any idea on how this worked. She didn’t have the courage to ask at this point. At first they swapped from board game to board game, then Four had the wonderful idea of combining games. From there, all shell broke loose.
They added all kinds of things. Regular playing cards, Uno cards, Pokemon cards, Yu-Gi-Oh cards, tarot cards, Trouble, The Game of Life, Monopoly, Chess, the list went on! At one point they somehow added Mario Kart Double Dash into the mix! She could still see it playing on the TV, even though it was currently on the character select screen.
Three grabbed the pack of jumbo marshmallows Four had bargained to her in exchange for her stay and began to eat them one by one. While she may not have been a part of the chaos, sweets were always a good thing to have to spectate. She watched as Eight rolled a 20-sided die. “Nat 20.” Eight said.
Eight gently took Four’s rook and set it on her side, off the board, as Four sadly watched it go. “My turn again, I draw!” Eight said as she drew a card and her expression turned confused as she looked at it. “Uhhh… Not sure how I can use this.”
“How about don’t?” Four jokingly suggested. “That’d be pretty cool.”
Eight lightly shook her head in response, setting the card in with the rest of her hand. “May use it later, we’ll have to see. For now, I play a +2 and add two more pawns to my side of the board.” She said as she placed two white pawns on her side of the board.
“Very well, my turn!” Four exclaimed, drawing a card before smiling devilishly. “Haha, finally! I use polymerization!” Four slams the card she just got onto the table, a Yu-Gi-Oh card. “Then, I tribute a wild draw four, a three of spades and Mega Rayquaza to summon my computer!”
Three physically recoiled as Four suddenly brought out a laptop. ‘ Where did you even stash that?! ’ She gestured, dumbfounded.
“When will you learn that I am not one to be questioned, Three?” Four said, opening her laptop and turning it on. Three dragged her hands down her face in defeat, leaning against the couch cushions.
“What are you even going to do with it?” Eight asked, confused. “I do not think a laptop belongs in a game of boards and cards.”
“Neither does Mario Kart, but we made that work.” Four countered, tapping away at the keys. “Okay, I have the perfect thing to add!” She turned her computer towards the other two. It was minesweeper.
“...I don’t get it.” Eight said. Three pointed to Eight as if in agreement, her mouth slightly agape and eyes narrowed in confusion as she struggled to follow along.
“BASICALLY, every turn you have to click on a tile. You lose when you hit a mine.” Four explained.
“Ohhh. Heh, you’re on!” Eight smiled, “My turn! I advance my queen to capture your bishop!”
Eight picked up her queen and gently knocked over Four’s bishop with it, setting it on the tile that the bishop once stood at. Eight then turned over to Four’s computer and ran a finger along the trackpad, clicking on one of the spaces after a moment of hesitation. She froze, staring at the screen in silent shock.
“What’s up? You hit a mine already?” Four raised an eyebrow, smiling.
Eight closed her eyes, solemnly nodding her head as she turned the laptop to Four. The cursor was currently hovering over one of the now many tiles that showcased a mine, which meant that Eight had clicked on it.
“Whoof, that’s some bad luck. Wanna omit and try again?” Four asked, but Eight shook her head.
“No, I think it’s best if we start a new game. Besides, I… may or may not have lost track of where we were.”
“That’s fair, I’d been lost since we started.” Four shrugged, before turning to Three, “Yo, Three, you wanna join?”
Three took a moment to register that she was, in fact, being talked to. But when she did, she simply shook her head.
“C’mon, Three! I guarantee you’ll have a good time! It’s gotta be boring just sitting and watching, right?” Four said.
‘ Not particularly ’ Three shrugged. While she did feel a slight temptation to join in, she didn’t really know how to play. If anything, she’d probably just make herself look like an idiot. She’d rather not have that happen.
“You don’t gotta know how to play, if you’re worried about that. We’ve been winging it since we started, in case ya haven’t noticed!” Four said. Three remained firm, crossing her arms as she sat.
“...Three, your limbs are tense.” Eight pointed out. “Did you… have a rough day? Stressed, maybe?”
Three hesitated, before shaking her head. Her day was fine, really. But her mind flashed back to how nervous she was when she first arrived at their apartment. But even then, she had to take a moment to really think about it. She… hasn’t been very relaxed since she arrived here.
“You hesitated.” Eight said, concerned.
Three raised an eyebrow, confused. She may have hesitated but it doesn’t mean she was lying! The only thing that happened today was her constantly stressing about being here.
…Well aside from her recent losing streak in ranked, the random headache episode from her sanitization scar this morning, which she could have sworn she should have stopped having by now, it had been almost a month since her last! Not to mention the stares she keeps getting because of that damn scar! Oh, and there’s also rent being due in a few days that she’s barely making enough to scrape by since it got raised last month and trying to get her sleep schedule back on track which somehow BACKFIRED -
…Okay she gets the point. She is kind of stressed.
“Mhm!” Four said, “And don’t think we haven’t noticed how tired you’ve been looking, Three. Even when we first met, you looked dead on your feet! Looking at you right now, I see zero improvement.”
‘ Gee, thanks. ’ Three bit the inside of her cheek as she stared at Four.
“You’re welcome!” Four said, not realizing Three was expressing it sarcastically.
“I mean… she’s not wrong.” Eight set her cards on the table, “You look like you haven’t even gotten a good night’s rest since we met you.”
‘ And? ’ Three raised an eyebrow, gesturing, ‘ Maybe I just always look tired. ’
“Yeah, I don’t buy that.” Four smiled, “Would you like me to recount every time I’ve seen you almost doze off when meeting with the rest of the Splatoon? Of course, not counting the times I’ve seen you outside of those.”
Three glared at Four, as if to say ‘ Don’t you dare. ’
Eight giggled, “Yeah, it’s probably best you don’t, Four. We don’t want Three getting upset, do we?”
“Right, right!” Four nodded, “Though just saying, ya could unwind by playing a nice game of Complete Chaos!” Four smiled, holding up a set of cards for Three to take.
“Complete Chaos- we are not calling it that.” Eight shook her head, smiling.
“What’s wrong with Complete Chaos? It fits!” Four said, lowering her arm.
‘ Complete Chaos describes you more than it does the game. ’ Three raised her eyebrows, smirking.
“Hey!” Four said, pouting. Three raised her hands defensively, but the smile remained on her face.
“She’s not wrong.” Eight said. “It does describe you rather well.”
“It does not! I am more than just a bundle of chaos.” Four pouted, though Three could tell she wasn’t completely offended by it. Four cleared her throat, turning back to Three, “Anyway! You in or nah?”
Three exhaled, closing her eyes. She could just stay on the couch and keep spectating, but at the same time she didn’t want to just do that the whole time. She was there to play games with them, not watch them play games. She opened her eyes again, holding out her hand and beckoned with her finger, as if to say, ‘ Fine, I’ll join, give me a few cards. ’
Four’s smile widened, “Yes, woo hoo!”
Eight handed a few cards to Three, along with a smaller deck of cards that were mixed and matched from different games. Looking at what she had in her hand, she had quite the variety. A Monopoly property card, a red six from Uno, a Zapdos pokemon, a Blue Eyes White Dragon and a King of Hearts.
She just stared at her hand in confusion, before looking up at the other two, who each had their own cards. “Alright, I’ll go first!” Four said, before placing down a Dark Magician, “I summon Dark Magician in attack position! I then play a wild draw four, allowing me to add four more pawns to my side of the chess board and set the color of cards to any of my choosing!”
Three’s confusion only grew. ‘ How on earth did Four get all of that from one card? ’
Four turned to Three with a smile, “That’s the power of Complete Chaos! You just make up whatever you want!”
Three rolled her eyes, pointing at Four with a look that said, ‘ So what if I wanted to win? ’
Four shook her head, “Well, whatever you want except that. There has to be a clause for it.”
Three tapped her cheek, as if to say, ‘ Okay, so if I played a card and said I have six turns until I win, would that still count? ’
Four opened her mouth to speak, before pausing, “Hm… We’ll just say no to that! Maybe like a six turn no drawing penalty for someone, instead. But I think I know what one of your cards is now.”
Three paused, eyes wide with an expression that just read as ‘ Squit. ’
“Yeah, you kind of gave yourself away there.” Eight said, drawing a card, “I go next. I summon Pot of Greed, to draw three additional cards from my deck!”
Three watches as Eight draws three additional cards from her deck, confused. She gets absolutely none of this. Eight stared at her cards for a moment, before picking two out and playing it, “I summon Pikachu, along with one face down card and end my turn.”
Three looked back to Four, who was just staring right back. “What are you waiting for, it’s your turn!” Four said.
Three’s eyes widened for a moment, before turning to look at her cards once again. ‘ Uhhh… ’ She thought. She really had no idea how to play this game. There weren’t any rules, but even then there wasn’t really any goal that she knew of, either. Was the goal to just play until they got bored?
She hesitantly picked her Blue Eyes White Dragon out of her hand and set it down on the table gently, turning her attention to the other two, who still had their attention on her. Four gave a thumbs up, “Sweet!”
Three gulped, nodding as if to say, ‘ Okay, good start. ’ But her nerves quickly grew as she looked at her hand, then at the card she just played. ‘ ...What do I do now? ’
She had to really take a moment to think, tapping her finger against the table. ‘ Guess I’ll just… end my turn? ’ She raised her finger, but before she could do anything, Four spoke.
“You forgot to draw a card.”
Three hesitated, looking at the small deck of cards at her side, she reached over and picked up the card at the top, looking at it. It was another Monopoly property card. She didn’t know what to do with it, so she just set it in her hand. She didn’t know what to do with any of these cards.
“Remember, Three, anything goes here! Use your imagination!” Four said, smiling.
‘ Imagination, right. ’ Three thought, before panicking, ‘ I don’t do imagination-! ’
She took in a deep breath, ‘ Okay, deep breaths. Think, Three. Maybe you could do something based on what the other two did earlier? ’ She thought, beginning to recall earlier in the night.
It took her a moment, before remembering, ‘ Right! Four said something about making Eight pay for landing on Atlantic Avenue. That… has to be a Monopoly card, right? ’ She looked at her two Monopoly cards in her hand. Neither of them were Atlantic Avenue, but one of these could make a good substitute, right?
She picked up one of the two Monopoly cards, named Atlantis Street , and set it down, before pointing to Four and motioning, as if to say, ‘ Pay up. ’
“Nuh uh.” Four said simply.
Three recoiled from Four’s straight up denial, as if to say. ‘ The shuck you mean, “nuh uh”?! ’
“I’m not paying the rent from Atlantis Street, that’s what it means!” Four’s eyes narrowed playfully. “If you want the money, you’ll have to come get it!”
Three slammed her hand against the table, glaring at Four, who remained composed with a squit-eating grin.
“...I feel like the tension has just risen quite a bit.” Eight said nervously.
“Perhaps it has, but that just means things are getting interesting!” Four said, pulling out a pair of lensless glasses and putting them on, pushing them up in a comical fashion with one finger.
Three shook her head, as if to say, ‘ You keep too many things on you. ’
“You say too many things, I say not enough useful items!” Four giggled, drawing a card, “Alright, my turn! I activate the Ace of Hearts and attach it to my Dark Magician, giving it the ability of splash damage! I then attack one of the pawns that Eight has just set down, with the damage connecting to adjacent pawns!”
Eight smiled innocently, “Oh, but that is where your attack ends, before it can even begin! I activate my trap card, the Ace of Spades!”
“Not the Ace of Spades again!” Four groaned.
Three couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile as Four complained, though hid it by covering her mouth and pretending to be thinking. Eight spoke up again, “Using the Ace of Spades, I negate your attack! Then I roll a d20 to attack your own pawn!” She rolled a dice, with it landing on a 1. “Well, you get to keep your pawn. For now.”
“Uh huh, we’ll see about that! I now cast mirror force!” Four set down a Yu-Gi-Oh card, “My chess pieces and pawns are now protected from any and all non-chess related attacks! Even from your blasted Ace of Spades! For my final move, I set one card face down.” Four sets one card face down.
“Hm, that’ll be hard to counter.” Eight thought, drawing a card. “But oh well, my turn! I advance my pawns by one space through the use of a Blue One!” She set down a blue uno card, before moving every pawn up a space.
“Well that doesn’t seem very strategic.” Four chuckled, only to then be proven wrong as Eight set down her next card, a Queen of Hearts.
“For my next trick, I promote one pawn to a queen. I choose this one.” Eight picks up the centermost pawn and sets it at her side, before quickly replacing it with a Queen of the same color.
“Aw shell, a Queen up there this early?” Four said, dejected. “Why do you get all the good cards?!”
“Um… luck?” Eight shrugged, genuinely not having an answer. Three’s smile only grew, but it dropped as Eight turned to Three, “A-Anyway, it’s your turn, Three.”
Three cleared her throat, picking up her hand once again. She didn’t even realize she’d set it down at some point. Thankfully remembering to draw another card this time. Another red six. She only has one goal right now: get Four to pay rent.
She looked back at her hand, wondering just what she could use to get an upper hand in that situation. There was the blue eyes white dragon she had, but so long as her chess pieces couldn’t be attacked by outside forces.
Three’s eyes landed on the Dark Magician that rested on Four’s end of the table. But then they traveled to Four’s deck. Four could be expecting an attack on her dark magician, which meant…
…A smile grew on her face, with her taking out both red sixes and setting them on the table, pointing to Four.
“What, are you trying to set a deadline on my payment? Hah, as if! I’m not giving up my Dark Magician for anything!” Four smiled, reaching for her card. But Three shook a finger and Four’s expression turned to confusion. “What? Then what could those sixes be for?!”
Three just smiled. Four’s expression turned horrified, “No- y-you can’t be serious!”
Three crossed her arms, as if to say, ‘ Oh, but I am. Now hand over the top 12 cards from your deck. ’
Four gulped, reaching into her deck. But before she drew anything, she suddenly flipped over the card she had laying face down, “I activate my trap card, The Wheel of Fortune, reversed! Any negative effect or requirement given to me is now directed back at you!”
Three audibly gasped, before slamming her hand on the table once again. Four only smiled a devilish smile, “Well, you know the rules, Three. Hand over your top 12 cards. ”
Three sucked in a deep breath, before reaching into her deck and pulling out twelve cards, handing them to Four. Four set them into her own deck and shuffled it, “Thank you for your patronage.” She joked.
“Three.” Eight said. Three turned to face Eight, who simply nodded in Four’s direction. Three nodded back.
“My turn!” Four said, drawing a card. “Haha, yes! I can perform the ritual once again! I tribute my wild draw four, three of spades and Dynamax Eternatus to summon my notepad!” Four pulls out her notepad, writing something on it and handing it to Three. “You have three attempts to figure out what this hangman game spells out. Fail and you’re out!”
Three looked down at the notepad. Two words, one with six letters and one with four. She looked back up at Four, as if to say, ‘ Do I have to guess this all at once? ’
“Nope! You get one attempt on Eight’s turn, one on yours, then your last when it loops back to me. Whether it be guessing a letter or figuring out what it says in one go! But if you try to guess it in one go, you won’t get a second shot.”
Three exhaled, gripping the table but looking at Four with resolution. ‘ Guess we’ll have to beat you before that time is up, then! ’
Four smiled, “Haha, bring it on! For my final move, I set one card face down.” Four set one card face down on the table, turning to Eight.
Three and Eight nodded in unison, with Eight drawing a card, “My turn! First, I will advance my queen to capture your rightmost pawn!” Eight held out her hand, moving her queen and gently knocking over Four’s pawn at the edge of the board. “Next, I summon Celtic Guardian in attack position!” Eight sets down a Yu-Gi-Oh card. “I then set down a red two, multiplying its attack stat by twice the amount! Using my empowered Celtic Guardian, I attack your dark magician!”
“Noooo!” Four yelled, dejectedly taking it off the table. “Not my Dark Magician!”
Eight smiled, before setting one card face down. “...I can’t do much else here. I end my turn.”
“Not yet.” Four said, pointing to Three, “You’ve yet to guess.”
Three gulped. She looked back to the notepad, tapping it with her finger and trying to come up with a letter. She made a C shape with her hand.
Four nodded, writing down a single C on the notepad. Okay, one letter down. But that wasn’t close enough! Eight got rid of her dark magician, that was a good start. Three picked up a new card. An Ace of Diamonds. Three glanced to Eight, who had her face down card slightly lifted with her finger so Three could see what it was.
A Queen of Diamonds.
Three turned her attention back to Four. Hopefully she could pull this off correctly. She placed down her Zapdos next to her Blue Eyes White Dragon and pointed at Four’s King. Four giggled, “Oh, trying to attack my king directly? You seem to have forgotten about my Mirror Force!”
Three just slapped her Ace of Diamonds onto the table. Four stared at it in shock, “...Well, squit. Always the Aces that screw me over. ”
Three snapped her fingers twice, pointing behind her as if to say, ‘ Now get it off the table. ’
“Now hold on, since you’re trying to remove my Mirror Force, that leaves you quite undefended! I activate the Jack of Clubs!”
Three stared at it in confusion, looking up to Four and pointing at it as if to say, ‘ But isn’t the Jack of Clubs inferior to an Ace? ’
“Not here it’s not! Because this, my friend, is Complete Chaos! And the player makes the rules! As a resident player, I say the Jack of Clubs outranks your Ace of Diamonds, removing it from play!”
“Not so fast, Four!” Eight says, reaching over and flipping her own card, the Queen of Diamonds over, “I counter your Jack of Clubs with the Queen of Diamonds!”
“What, impossible!” Four exclaimed, “You’re not being the targeter or the targeted in this situation!”
“Alas, but it is as you say. The player makes the rules. Anything goes, so I say I am allowed to play this card!”
“Grr, fine then. So! What’s your ruling?” Four said.
“Well, that should be obvious, would it not? It would be awful to eliminate our friend so early, so I say you must reveal the answer early, with no penalty towards Three for doing so.” Eight said while looking towards Three, who gave a thumbs up in response.
“Ahh, I see how it is.” Four said, as if enlightened, “An amazing play by you two, truly! Very well, I concede. I will now reveal the answer!” Four grabbed a pen and took the notepad back into her hands, writing for a short moment before handing it back to Three.
Three stared at the notepad in bewilderment, hardly able to comprehend it. The answer wasn’t anything she had expected it to be.
Gotchu Good.
Even as the answer stared Three in the face, she couldn’t help but be shocked that that is what it spelled. It was so simple, so stupid ! It was such a Four move that she should have expected it from the beginning!
…Yet for some reason, Three found it hilarious . As much as she tried, the stupidest grin couldn’t be kept off of her face. The other two stared on in slight confusion, not sure how to react to how Three was reacting. But that all changed when they finally heard it. It was faint, but with the silence in the room, it was all they needed.
It was Laughter. Three was laughing.
For a long moment, her quiet laughter was the only thing that filled the room. Three leaned back against the couch cushions as she struggled to find a moment to breathe from how hard she was laughing.
It took at least a minute for her to calm down enough to look at the two again, though she was still silently giggling to herself. She turned to Four with an eyebrow raised and a noticeable smile, as if to ask, ‘ So, was this your plan? To make me laugh? ’
Four quickly shook her head, as though snapping out of her thoughts, before saying, “Uh, not really! Our goal was really to just get you to relax, we weren’t expecting you to start laughing like crazy.”
“Yeah, it was quite unexpected.” Eight said.
Three raised an eyebrow, as if to say, ‘ “Our” goal? ’
“Uh, duh.” Four said, “What, did you think I wouldn’t get Eight in on it? Shell, she’s the one that came up with the hangman scenario!”
Three’s jaw went slack, looking to Eight and pointing to Four. Eight simply nodded, confirming what Four had said. Three quickly closed her eyes, clearing her throat, as if to say, ‘ Well played. ’
“Couldn’t have done it without ya playing right into our hands, Three! Despite the clear imbalance, it’s nice to just kick back and just do whatever, ain’t it?” Four said. Three could only nod in affirmation, leading to Four holding up her hand of cards. “Of course! Now, ya ready to continue?”
Three nodded, holding up her own hand.
This time, she was ready.