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The pouring rain outside was the only noise heard in the Qiu Lin household, despite there being more people than usual present. Qiu, Tamarack, Ren, Vianca, Serenity, and even Baxter were all hanging around the living room, but none of them had spoken up in the past few minutes, creating an awkward silence. Qiu didn’t even know why they all had decided to gather at their place.
Ren stood up, catching the attention of everyone else in the room. Without a word, she started walking away from the living room, causing Qiu to raise an eyebrow curiously.
“Where you going, Ren?” At Qiu’s question, Ren paused and grinned back at them as she answered, “I’m gonna raid your closet for a board or card game we can play!”
Serenity hopped out of her seat, eyes sparkling, “Oooo! I love those types of games!” They happily walked out towards Ren, a spring in their step as she did so, “Let’s go!”
Before Ren could reply, they grabbed her wrist and excitedly dragged her out of the room, getting a chuckle out of the older teen before they disappeared from view. The remaining people in the room exchanged curious glances, wondering what game they’d bring back for them to play. Qiu began to think about what games they had in the house. There was UNO, a classic that they thought no one would oppose playing. They also had regular cards, but they doubted that everyone would have fun playing with them. For board games, there was the game of life, which they guessed would be fun enough.
“Qiu…” They were brought out of their thoughts by someone calling their name, glancing up to see that Ren and Serenity had returned. They both were grinning, Serenity trying to hold back laughter. As Qiu saw what Ren was holding, their eyes widened and their face flushed in embarrassment.
“Why do you have Despicable Me Monopoly?” Ren asked, giggling. Baxter snorted in amusement, and Tamarack was doing a poor job of stifling her giggles. Vianca gave Qiu a disappointed look, which Qiu only saw for a second before they buried their face in their hands.
“... Shut up…” They mumbled into their hands, “I was young when my parents bought it for me, and I completely forgot it even existed.”
Ren and Serenity exchanged amused glances as they sat down on the floor, setting the board game box down, “This board game came out a year ago Autumn… you were thirteen when you bought minion monopoly-” Serenity’s sentence was interrupted by Qiu throwing a pillow at them, electing a yelp from her. As the two on the floor began to unpack the board game, Qiu’s eyes widened in horror.
“No. We are not playing minion monopoly,” They huffed, face still hot with embarrassment, “None of us even like monopoly! It’s boring as hell!”
Baxter chuckled, sitting down on the ground next to Ren, “I like monopoly. I find it entertaining.”
“Your opinion doesn’t count, rich boy,” Qiu groaned, “Of course you would like the most boring game ever,” Baxter only smirked at Qiu’s annoyance.
Tamarack walked over to the growing group of people on the ground, shyly smiling, “I think it could be fun!”
Vianca sighed, but the smile on her face betrayed her annoyed act, “Fine. I’ll beat you all easily anyways,” She sat down next to Tamarack, leaving one more spot available for Qiu. They all looked up at them, waiting for them to join the group on the floor.
Qiu pouted, crossing their arms and looking away, “No. No way. I’m not playing the stupid minions monopoly game.”
“Come on, or are you too scared of losing horribly to me?” Vianca teased, getting an unamused glare from Qiu.
“No, I just…” They sighed in defeat, doing their best to look annoyed, “Fine. I hate you all though,” They sat down in between Baxter and Tamarack, looking at the box with playful disdain.
Serenity quickly began unpacking the board game, but paused as she looked at the player pieces, “... There’s only five player pieces…”
“Oh no… what a shame….” Qiu's voice held heavy sarcasm, “I guess that means I can’t play… oh nooo…”
Vianca smirked, standing up, “Nope, you have to join us. And I have an idea,” She gestured towards Tamarack, “Tama, come with me.” Tamarack looked at Vianca, confused, but stood up and followed her out of the living room and into the kitchen.
“Why do people keep going through my house?” Qiu grumbled, although they did nothing to stop the two, “You better not steal any of my shit!” They called out, getting a laugh from Serenity and Renee. A few minutes later, the two girls returned with arms filled with snacks, spreading them out around the group.
Qiu took the bag of spicy chips, staring at Vianca with a confused look as they began to munch on the snack, “Thanks for the snack but how does this solve the problem of us not having enough play pieces?”
“Wait until you’re done chewing to speak,” Vianca chided, rolling her eyes before explaining, “And, you can use one of the chips or any other of the snacks to represent your player piece.”
Qiu stared at Vianca, eyebrows still furrowed in confusion, “You could’ve just grabbed a small object, like chapstick. Using food seems…. a bit inconvenient.”
Ren smirked, leaning behind Baxter to nudge Qiu playfully, “Oh, we didn’t know you cared that much about the minions monopoly board. We wouldn’t want to stain your precious board game~”
Qiu responded by playfully shoving Ren, face flushing once again out of embarrassment, “Shut up, I’ll use the stupid chip,” As they spoke, they dug out a spicy chip from the bag. With that issue resolved, Serenity continued to unpack the board game, and soon everything was set out.
“This board is.. unusual,” Baxter commented, poking the minion spinner in the middle, “But I doubt that’ll stop me from sweeping the competition,” He smugly grinned.
Vianca’s eyes had a competitive sparkle in them as she crossed her arms, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, monochrome man. I haven’t lost a game of monopoly yet.”
“Neither has Baxter,” Ren commented, stretching her arms, “Two titans face off in the most competitive sport, monopoly,” Jazz hands accompanied the last word, getting chuckles from the group.
“I’ll probably lose horribly…” Tamarack sighed, smiling, “But that’s okay! We’re still gonna have fun and that’s what matters!”
Qiu rolled their eyes playfully, “Monopoly? Fun? Those are two things that can’t exist at the same time. But for some reason, you all want to play it so we’re stuck in this monopoly hell until one of us wins.”
“But we’re stuck in monopoly hell… together,” Serenity teased, leaning over to put their hand on Qiu’s shoulder, “With the power of friendship, we’re going to have the best monopoly game ever!”
“Yeah Qiu, accept the power of friendship into your heart,” Ren teased, nudging them again.
“... All of you shut up and let’s just play the stupid minion monopoly.”