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The Astral Express drifted through the stars, gliding along the cosmic rails in peaceful silence. It was one of those rare calm evenings between adventures, where nobody was chasing them, nothing was on fire, and Silver Wolf hadn’t hijacked their comms in at least 72 hours.
Which meant it was the perfect time for chaos.
"Okay, so hear me out, what if we did something totally low-stakes and fun tonight?" March 7th popped her head into the Archive Room, where Dan Heng was, predictably, reading. “Like, game night?”
Dan Heng blinked slowly. "Define ‘low-stakes.’ Last time, you flipped the chessboard and declared war."
“Emotional war,” she corrected, breezing in and dramatically dropping a tote bag full of board games, cards, and snacks onto the floor. “Which, for the record, I won."
“You declared a draw after Pom-Pom threatened to confiscate the pieces,” Dan Heng replied flatly.
Trailblazer wandered in behind her, holding two mugs of hot cocoa. "What are we doing?"
“Game night,” March declared. “Mandatory fun. No exceptions.”
A few minutes later, the crew had gathered in the lounge. Himeko had her usual mug of tea, looking entirely too serene for what was about to unfold. Welt had brought a cushion for his back and a quiet sigh that said he knew better but was here anyway.
“I’m only staying if March doesn’t try to unionize the snacks again,” he said dryly, eyeing the pile of chips and cookies.
“I never said unionize, I said strategic snack redistribution!” she protested.
"That’s literally the same thing," Trailblazer muttered.
Himeko smiled, folding her legs beneath her on the couch. "I’ll referee. Which also means I get to judge all of you equally."
“Oh, it’s on,” March said, cracking her knuckles. “First game: UNO.”
“No mercy!”
—————————
It started friendly.
The deck was shuffled, cards dealt, and everyone played normally,for about two turns.
Then Dan Heng dropped a Draw Four on March like a meteor from space.
“You traitor,” she gasped, clutching her chest. “We eat dinner at the same table.”
“You tried to Reverse me twice,” he said calmly, sipping water like it was tea in a war council.
“I did it for the drama,” March groaned, slamming her new stack of cards onto the table. “You know how boring this would be if we didn’t make it cinematic?”
“I'm down to three cards,” Trailblazer announced quietly, trying to stay neutral.
“Not for long,” Welt said, laying down a +5. “Sorry.”
“You’re not sorry,” Trailblazer said with the defeated air of someone who just realized they were about to draw 80 more cards.
Welt pushed his glasses up with a faint smirk. “Only slightly.”
“Why does everyone get scary during card games?” March demanded. “Where’s the love? Where’s the solidarity?”
Himeko chuckled from the sidelines. “This is why I don’t play. I prefer to watch friendships crumble from a safe distance.”
Dan Heng dropped another Draw Two on March.
“I’m going to write a strongly-worded letter to the Astral Council about this injustice,” she grumbled, grabbing more cards.
“I memorized the probability of most plays. It’s not difficult.”
“You’re banned,” March declared.
—————————
They switched gears, and this time, Himeko took over as prompt-giver for a round of charades.
“Team One: March and Trailblazer,” she said, handing them the bowl of prompts. “Team Two: Welt and Dan Heng.”
March and Trailblazer high-fived dramatically. “Let’s gooo, braincell squad!”
Dan Heng raised an eyebrow. “Implying we don’t have one?”
“You have a braincell,” March said sweetly.
“Alright, first prompt: go!” Himeko started the timer.
March leapt up and immediately began flailing her arms like she was throwing something. “Okay, guess!”
“Uh… Kuru Kuru spinning? Avalanche? Angry Gepard?” Trailblazer guessed.
March mimed shooting a bow. Then made a weird electric zap motion.
“…Are you Seele during an ult?”
“YES!”
From the couch, Welt clapped politely. “Well played.”
Now it was Dan Heng’s turn.
He stood stiffly and made… a movement. One arm raised, the other extended forward, like some kind of graceful martial arts gesture.
Welt frowned. “Swordsmanship?”
Dan Heng repeated the move with more intensity.
“Cloud Knight technique? Yanqing?”
Dan Heng spun in place.
“You’re… tripping?” Welt guessed. “Slipping on ice?”
The timer beeped.
“It was Kafka,” Dan Heng muttered, deadpan.
March wheezed. “That looked nothing like Kafka. That looked like... interpretive dance.”
Trailblazer snorted into their cocoa.
Himeko just gave Dan Heng a slow, amused clap. “Five stars for effort. Zero stars for clarity.”
—————————
Himeko stretched and grinned. “Alright, last round. Trivia. Everyone for themselves. Winner gets ultimate bragging rights.”
Dan Heng cracked his knuckles. “Finally.”
Trailblazer wiggled their eyebrows, clutching a pencil like a secret weapon. “Prepare to be amazed. Or confused. Possibly both.”
Himeko cleared her throat and read the first question aloud:
“What’s the name of the Aeon of Nihility?”
Dan Heng’s eyes gleamed. “IX”
“Correct!” Himeko nodded.
Trailblazer raised their hand eagerly. “Oh oh, I know! It’s… uh… Nilly?” They blinked, confused.
March facepalmed but suppressed a laugh.
Next question:
“Which celestial phenomenon causes stars to ‘twinkle’ from Earth’s perspective?”
Dan Heng answered immediately: “Atmospheric turbulence.”
Himeko smiled. “Correct again.”
Trailblazer nodded sagely. “Atmosphere… something. Like the air’s throwing a party or something.”
“Close enough,” March said, rolling her eyes affectionately.
Final question, Himeko said with a sly smile:
“Which faction calls themselves 'The Garden of Recollection'?”
Trailblazer grinned. “That’s the memory people, right? Always talking in riddles and trying to make you cry over a tree.”
Everyone stared.
Dan Heng sighed. “…Followers of Fuli, Aeon of Remembrance.”
Trailblazer shrugged. “Basically what i said! Could we perchance split points”
Himeko shook her head, chuckling. “Trailblazer, your answers are an adventure all their own.”
The game night ended with an arm-wrestling match between March and Welt (which Himeko had to break up), two spilled mugs of cocoa, and Dan Heng silently dominating a final round of “Guess That Tune” by tapping the melody of the Astral Express’s engine with chopsticks.
Welt leaned back in his chair, exhausted. “This was... surprisingly intense.”
March was curled up on the couch with a blanket and a cookie. “Best night ever.”
Himeko smiled over her teacup. “You all needed this.”
Dan Heng glanced around. “...It was nice.”
Trailblazer nodded. “Can we do this again?”
March’s sleepy voice piped up. “Only if Dan Heng promises not to weaponize UNO again.”
Dan Heng simply reached for the deck with a smile.