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“Do I roll the dice now?” Hana asks.
”Yup!” Esraa smiles. The pup reaches out to pick up the elemental dice as the door clicks open.
“Welcome home!” Hana calls out from the dining room. Haruto walks over to the source and a grimace makes it way to his face.
“Not you too…” He murmurs in annoyance. Debating whether to go back, Haruto sets a stack of cards on the nearby coffee table. He settles on the divan, reaching for a book.
“Everything alright?” Hana asks.
“Hey Hat Guy!” Esraa greets him.
“Everything’s fine. Just ran into some pests on my way home. Hello,” was the reply while turning to the next page. “Say… What sounds better, ‘Big-Eared Hat’ or ‘Hat Ears’ for a nickname?”
”For who?” Hana excuses himself from the table and walks over, looking down at the cards.
“Hat ears… Oh! Do you mean Cyno?” Esraa asks, walking over as well. “Hey! Do you play TCG as well Hat Guy?”
”Not in the slightest. The Hat Ears guy and Green-Eyed Desert Guy just gave them to me going on about ‘high hopes’ and some other nonsense,” Haruto sighs with a slight shake of his head.
“Would you like to learn how to play?” Hana smiles as he holds up the deck of cards.
”There’s some pretty good cards here. I can show you and Hana how to play together. We were in the middle of a round, but we can start over,” Esraa offers.
“No thanks. I’m not interested in childish card games. Do whatever you want with those cards,” Haruto waves his hand to shoo them away. “Continue what you-“
”I’m home!” A cheery voice calls out.
“Welcome home, Chibi Durin-kun,” Hana answers.
“What are you all doing over here? Ah! Hello Esraa!” Durin flies over to the trio by the divan.
“Hey Chibi Durin!” Esraa smiles.
“What are those?” Durin asks looking down at the cards in Hana’s hands.
“These are TCG cards,” Hana holds them up for Durin to see the pictures.
“TCG?” He asks.
“The full name is Genius Invokation TCG. As for TCG, it stands for Trading Card Game. You can play one on one or in a group. It’s a really popular game,” Esraa explains.
“A card game! That sounds fun! Can I play too?” Durin asks, twirling in the air.
“Of course! Anyone can play. I was teaching Hana earlier. I can show you both more if you’d like. We still have plenty of time before I’m expected home,” Esraa offers with another big smile.
“I’d love to! Oh but… I don’t have any cards to play with,” Durin says visibly deflating.
“Well today is your lucky day. You can have the deck Hana is holding,” Haruto says closing his book and standing up from the divan.
“Aren’t those Hana’s cards?” Durin asks.
”Mine are in the dining room. You can have these Chibi Durin-kun,” Hana smiles, holding the deck up to him.
“Really? Thank you Hat Guy! Thank you Hana!” Durin happily spins around the group.
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and play to your hearts content. I’m reading in my room,” Haruto walks off to avoid any further discussion.
“Come on you two. We’ll start over and I’ll explain everything I know,” Esraa says waving them back to the dining table.
“Thank you Esraa-sensei!” Hana smiles.
“Thank you Esraa!” Durin flies alongside them.
Thus the three played Genius Invokation TCG until late into the night. In which Haruto scolded Esraa for overstaying his welcome and made him head home before scolding the other two for staying up way past their usual bedtime. Hana tried to feebly argue back that he was an adult that can handle a few late nights, but he did apologize for keeping Durin awake. The little dragon still needed plenty of food and sleep to grow big and strong. Thus everyone headed to sleep.
While poor Esraa arrived back home and suffered through another lecture as well as scolding from Tighnari.
As the Forest Watcher was delivering words of wisdom about games in moderation and trying not to worry others when out too late, Esraa wondered if Hat Guy had a nickname for Tighnari.
Wait… What was his nickname?!
He’ll have to ask Hana next time they meet!