Work Text:
“Take it in!”
Matt threw his hands into the air, breathing in the not-so-fresh scent with a smile on his face and closing his eyes. “The smell of the floor wax, the smell of the ball polish, the smell of the shoe spray! Whole lotta smells.”
“You forgot the overpowering stench of feet.” Tom scoffed, glancing to the side where a kid tripped and started crying. He smirked, maybe agreeing to come here wasn’t the worst he’s ever said yes to. Matt turned to him, brows slightly furrowed. “What? No!- Oh. I smell it now.” His hands shot up to cover his mouth, gagging. “Cheesy…” He whispers, his voice sounding almost haunted.
Suddenly, he heard a loud crunch, and turned to see Edd munching down on some nachos as he surveyed the place.
“Where’d you get those?” He asked, pointing towards the paper boat holding nachos. Edd smirked, shoving a cheese covered chip into his mouth. “Nacho business” His words muffled as he chewed loudly. Matt blinked.
“Mmm.. thirsty.” Edd continued after swallowing, reaching up and pulling a blue soda cup out of thin air. Matt blinked a few more times and brought his fists up to rub his eyes, glancing around the area to make sure he wasn’t crazy. He looked back at Edd, eyes wide with shock and confusion, but Edd just shrugged and looked over his shoulder at a counter with a blonde man behind it handing a lady a delicious looking banana split. “Ooh, banana splits!” He threw the cup over his shoulder and rushed to get in line.
A few feet away, Tom stood in front of the ball return, staring down at a navy blue bowling ball with white circles, eyes wide. His brows furrowed, his mouth agape as childhood memories flooded his brain. Though blurry, he distinctly recalled the look of his mom.
“...M-mother?.."
“Am-nam-nam.” Came suddenly from behind him. He shouted and jumped, turning on his heels as his arms flew up in a defensive position. Edd stood there, banana split in hand and a spoon in the other. “What's up with you? You’re being weird.” He poked Tom’s chest with the spoon, eyeing him up and down suspiciously. Tom blinked, taking a short moment to reply.
“Don’t worry about it!” He waved his hand and smiled, trying to act normal.
Edd chose not to worry about it.
“Okay so. Everytime I go…” Tom leaned in, speaking through his teeth. “..bowling… something bad happens!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. Edd’s mouth went agape in shock and he stood there for several moments, before bringing his hand up and shoving a spoonful of ice cream and banana into his mouth. Tom sighed.
“Besides, bowling is stupid . Only idiots love bowling.” He crossed his arms, glancing over at Matt who was somehow juggling bowling balls with a wide smile on his face. “I loveeee bowling!”
“See?”
Suddenly, the ginger lost control of the bowling balls and a red one collided with the side of Toms head, sending him to the floor where another green bowling ball landed smack on his face. Matt leaned in, both him and Edd standing over Tom while gazing down at him. “Was that the bad thing?” Matt asked, and Tom groaned as he leaned up. “No…”
Edd fell over onto one of the neon yellow chairs in front of the alley, crossing his legs and bringing his hands up behind his head. “This is just what we needed. No giant monsters, no unnecessary side stories, or competitions!” He smiled.
“Uhh, you might wanna rethink that last part.” Tom leaned over the back of the chair, looking off to the side at something. Curious, Edd followed Toms gaze and met eyes with
“Eduardo…”
Eduardo snickered, his arms crossed across his chest while Mark stood to his right.
“Well, well, well! What’re you losers doing here?” Eduardo questioned, his tone patronizing. Edd narrowed his eyes, standing up and resting his hands on his hips. “We’re going bowling, not like it’s any of your business.” He shoved his finger into Eduardo's chest, who promptly smacked his hand away.
“ Bowling ? Only idiots do that!” Mark smirked.
“That’s what I said!” Tom appeared next to Edd.
Edd turned back to Eduardo. “Then what’re you doing here?” He asked unimpressed. Eduardo’s eyes widen for a short moment, and he shoots an angry glare back at Mark, before turning back to Edd. “We’re just here to watch you fail.”
“Hey! I’m great at bowling.” Matt walks up behind Edd with a bowling ball in hand.
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”
“Are you challenging us?” Edd raises a brow suspiciously.
“Maybe, if you’re up for it.”
Edd shot a glare at him, and he snickered. “We’ll see who’s better at bowling.” He turned and walked away, Mark following close behind him. Edd crossed his arms and turned around, pushing past Tom and Matt and stomping over towards the kiosk. Tom hung around for a few more seconds, before turning and walking over towards Edd, who was clicking the keys with a stupid grin on his face.
“Why do you look so pleased with yourself?” He questioned suspiciously as he stood next to Edd, rubbing the side of his head that was still tender from being smacked with a bowling ball. Edd glanced at him, that grin still plastered on his face. He furrowed his brows and looked up at the screen that (should’ve) displayed their names, but they were replaced with ‘Big Baller’, ‘Blockhead’, and ‘Poopfart.’ Tom furrowed his brows. “Oh. I bet you think you’re really funny.”
Smirking, Edd stepped back and gestured toward the console. He thought for a moment, decided he couldn't pass up an opportunity like this, and stepped in front of the console with an evil smile. A woman gasped behind him as he typed, and a little girls voice followed soon after. "What does **** mean?" She asked her mother. Edd tilted his head a bit.
"..Yeah, what does ***** mean?"
"*******" Tom looked up, repeating the word back to Edd.
"Well you typed ******."
"Whoops, typo."
Tom smirked, deleted the word up until the typo, and continued tapping away. "That's so much worse!" The woman behind them exclaimed, bending over and picking up her daughter. "Shame!"
Soon, Matt walked up behind Tom, looking up at the screen and reading the vulgar words. "Hey! You know that's a medical condition, not cool!" He crossed his arms, looking off to his side where Eduardo was reaching for a bowling ball, but turned and met eyes with Matt. "Hey Butt face, you're up!" Eduardo shouted, noticing the name. Matt turned around with an angry expression. "Hey!- wait," He looked back at the screen, reading the name Tom had given him. "Wait- Hey!" He angrily glared at Tom and Edd. Mostly Tom.
Eduardo snickered, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting. "Are you losers gonna play or what?!" Edd rolled his eyes at the man and handed a purple ball to Matt. He took a step towards the alley, winded up, and threw the ball with impressive accuracy. Even more impressively, he managed to land a strike. He grinned and looked up at the monitor, which said "You Are Striking!". Matt blushed and threw a kiss to the monitor, but the words quickly switched to "Umm.. Sorry But I'm Seeing Someone...". Matts smile fell and he sadly walked away from the alley, where Edd now stood with a green bowling ball in hand.
He winded up and shot the ball much like Matt, and the ball managed to hit all pins but two. He heard Eduardo laugh from somewhere behind them, and he glanced back angrily before turning back to the pins and glaring daggers at them. Arms suddenly grew from the pins and they held them up in mercy, pleading an apologizing before getting onto the floor and pretending to be knocked down. Edd smirked and turned back to Eduardo, who just rolled his eyes and grabbed a ball.
Next was Tom. He grabbed a ball and walked up to the alley with his hands sticking out as if he was allergic to the ball. Didn't wind it up or anything, just dropped it. The ball started to roll, but it soon went off track and fell into the gutter. The monitor above flashed green, the words "wow... You SUCK!" appearing. Tom made a confused gesture and shook his fist at the screen. Mockingly, the words "What are you going to do about it.. LOSER!" appeared, and Tom raised an eyebrow, slightly confused how the monitor was communicating to him. Suddenly, a green ball came flying out of nowhere and hit him straight in the face, bringing him to the floor. He groaned and sat up, looking a few lanes over to see Eduardo laughing and turning away to let Mark have his turn. He narrowed his eyes, but stood and went to sit down.
Matt, after betting Edd £10 that he could get a strike if he turned around and blinded himself, walked up to the alley, turned around, and tied a grey piece of cloth around his eyes. Confidently, he tossed the ball overhead. Shockingly, he actually managed to knock all of the pins down, and he smirked when he heard the pre-recorded "Strike!" audio play. He pulled up the blindfold up and smirked at Edd, who rolled his eyes and went to pull out his wallet. Matt grabbed a ball and walked over to Edd, handing him the ball. Edd looked up at him and smiled, taking the ball and standing up to play his turn.
Edd winded the ball back and took the stance of a 'Kamehameha' from "Dragon Ball Z", an anime he remembered watching when he was younger. Throwing the ball, he immediately landed yet another strike, and the monitor lit up with "Hot Stuff!". Edd smiled and batted his eyelashes, but next to him Matt's mouth fell agape as his eyes flickered between the monitor and Edd.
When it was Tom's turn, he looked sadly at the bowling pins a few feet ahead, but suddenly got an idea and perked up, running off for a moment and returning with a giant canon, one that you would find on an old pirate ship. He walked around and hopped into it, and seconds later shooting off with such speed that he flew right through the wall of the lobby. Edd cringed as he watched from afar, the question "Am I gonna have to pay for that?" immediately flying through his head. Tom groaned as he pushed through the rubble, reaching up and rubbing the top of his head painfully. Though, he looked up and he turned to the screen, which displayed "Gutterball!". He stood and speedwalked back to the alley, patiently waiting after Edd and Matt turn before grabbing the ball and tiptoeing toward the lane. He leaped slightly and threw the ball towards the last two remaining pins, but the ball split in half and went right past both pins. He clenched his fists and blew a heavy breath from his nose, walking away while he was fuming inside.
He made it over to where the bumpers retract and bent over, tugging at them angrily until they suddenly flew upward and sent him into the air. He landed on the floor a few feet away and huffed. Matt walked over to him, staring down and blinking.
"Was that it?"
"No."
A few feet away, Edd picked up his ball and was about to throw when Tom slowly walked up next to him, bruised and dirty. He looked up at the screen and read the numbers, gasped, and pointed at the monitor. "Holy sandwich on a trampoline, you're about to roll a perfect game!"
"I am?" Edd blinked, following Toms finger and staring up at the display. Matt gasped from behind them, shoving his hands up to his face in a shocked manner. "Okay, everyone be cool! Just- be cool. Be cool!" He gripped a random guy's collar and shoved him away, before turning and staring back at Edd with his fingers interlocked and brows furrowed in concentration. Edd narrowed his eyes and went to wind up, but he stepped on his shoelace and fell forward, the blue bowling ball falling out of his hand and bouncing off the ceiling, on the floor, the wall, and off of a giant shiny bowling ball, and then another slightly smaller bowling ball.
Edd's head shot up, his eyes wide in panic as he stared up at the alley. The ball fell back down onto the lane and started rolling forward at a steady pace. Edd held his breath, Matt bit his nails, Tom gritted his teeth. The ball managed to knock down all pins except one, which wobbled around unsteadily for moments after being hit, but not falling.
"F***!" Matt screamed, which was quickly followed by an "Oh my!" As the same woman from before jumped onto her daughter to stop her from hearing such language. Edd sighed and stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking away from the lane. Tom soon joined next to him, and so did Matt.
"Don't worry Edd, you'll get in next time." Tom said with a smile.
"Really?" Edd smiled hopefully, looking up.
"I don't care." Tom replied, looking over and placing his arm around his friend's shoulder. Edd's smile fell and he looked down at his feet. Matt, who stood to the right of Edd, seemed to remember something and turned to look at Tom. "Hey! At least that bad thing didn't happen to you." Tom gasped and stopped, his lips pulling into a smile. "Hey, that's right!"
Suddenly, a jet ski crashed through the ceiling and landed right on top of Tom, sending him to the ground with a groan. Edd and Matt stared down at him.
"It was that, wasn't it?" Edd asked.
"Yep..." Tom grunted.
In the lobby, Matt grabbed his shoes from the man behind the counter and struggled to put them on for a moment. He sighed frustratedly, when suddenly someone appeared next to him. "What, can't put your shoes on?" Eduardo peered down at him with his arms crossed. Matt looked up and made an annoyed face.
"Leave him alone, Eduardo." Edd turned his head to look back at the two as Mark walked into the lobby. Eduardo turned his attention to him and smirked. "Says the one who tripped over his shoelace and ruined his perfect game. Seriously, how dumb are you guys?" Edd rolled his eyes and looked back at the guy behind the counter, grabbing his shoes and going over to sit on the bench behind him to change them out from the ones provided to him.
Though, there was suddenly a loud announcement from the monitor above the alley they had used, and they all looked up to see the big, bold word "Strike!". Edd looked down at the lane and saw that the one wobbly last pin had fallen and counted it as a strike, giving him the perfect game. Eduardos face fell, and he slowly uncrossed his arms as they went limp by his side in disbelief. The man leaned over the counter to see, before turning back to Edd with a smile on his face.
"Hey, you got a perfect game, Congratulations! Would you like to take a picture and hang it up on the wall?" He gestured over to a wall where there were only about twenty framed pictures and a hanging sign above that read "Scored a perfect game!". Edds eyes widened and he nodded, rushing over to a small photo op with a backdrop and a camera set up in front of it.
"Ooh, ooh! Can I get one too?" Matt turned to the man behind the counter. The man shrugged and motioned over to where Edd was standing, and Matt practically tripped over himself running over and taking his spot to the right of Edd. Tom crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, just planning to watch their photo get taken, but Edd noticed and frowned as he gestured Tom over. He sighed and grumpily shuffled over to Edds side, where the other smiled and wrapped his arm around Toms neck, bringing him closer to the other two. The man walked out from the counter and stood behind the camera, adjusting a few things before taking the photo.
"Are you ready? Say 'cheese'!"
"Cheese!"
