Chapter Text
Shayne, Ian, Anthony, and Courtney sit around the game table. Courtney, giddy to play her all-time favorite board game, is first to go. Shayne holds the inflatable bludgeon above her head, ready to strike.
Courtney: “I…suck and blow…” *laughs around the table* “…this stick and it make…”
Anthony: “Cigarrette! Glass blowing!
Courtney: “It goes in lungs…”
Anthony: “Vaping?”
Courtney: “And it not clean air!”
Anthony: “Oh! Exhaust pipe!”
Courtney: “Not clean air from death stick!”
Anthony: “Cigarette smoke!”
She slams the card down: Smoke.
Pulling the next card, she says, “I hear…from…”
Anthony: “Rumor!”
Courtney: “Box! Speak!”
Anthony: “Takeout order!”
Courtney: “Tune in!”
Anthony: “Drive through! Oh, um, TV commercial!”
Courtney: “Only-oh.” The realization hits her: she had failed. Too many syllables. “Hit me,” she says to Shayne, sheepishly but also with a slight smirk on her face.
He boops her head lightly and smiles while she angrily passes the cards, as her time is up.
Now it’s Shayne’s turn. He passes Courtney the air-filled weapon, and she burps quickly before flipping his timer. He pulls a card and jumps right in.
Shayne: “Not big but…”
Ian: “Small!”
Courtney leans in to peek at his card, weapon at the ready.
Shayne: “I…use…make…good…um…” His mind is blank. His face scrunches in frustration. “Oil! Bake in oil!”
Ian: “Air fryer? Toaster oven? Microwave? Deep fryer?”
Shayne keeps repeating “small”, waving his hands. They are so close!
Ian: “Small fryer.”
Shayne: “It do! What it do!”
Ian: “Air fry? Small fry!”
Shayne slams the card down in triumph and picks up the next one.
Shayne: “Two gay guys…”
*Courtney bursts out in laughter*
Shayne: “…In film…”
Anthony: “Call Me By Your Name? Chuck and Larry? Brokeback Mountain? Pronounce?”
Shayne is getting frustrated again, his mind void of any other viable clues. He grunts in anger and waves his arms, face scrunching in concentration once again.
Noticing his change in mood, Courtney suggests, “Use synonyms!”
Shayne: “Pet! Keep in…”
Ian: “Cage…bird cage?”
Another card down: Birdcage.
Courtney giggles, mocking Shayne, “Two gay guys…”
Onto his next card, Shayne starts, “I lay…on ground…uh…white…on ground…I move-“
Ian: “Sun tan!”
Shayne: “-arm and leg…to make-”
Ian: “Snow angel!”
That makes three.
Anthony laughs and asks, “What is this accent?”
Courtney smiles and declares, “I LOVE CAVEMAN SHAYNE!”
Shayne, onto yet another card: “King of Rome…”
Ian: "Julius Caesar? Caesar's Palace! Caesar Salad!”
Just then a blanket of confusion washes over Courtney. Their mind goes blank. Their expression falls to reflect nothing but internal emptiness. Their consciousness blacks out...