Work Text:
Builderman pulled his head up from what he was doing at the sound of footsteps rushing past.
He had been engrossed in planning sheets, Shedletsky sat next to him, hunched over as well, offering advice. Something had gone wrong with the weather in The Realm, so they were graced with a free day due to the overwhelming rainstorm, and he decided to spend it trying to figure out where the weak spots were in the barrier that The Spectre had made between the two sides of the lake. That was the key to getting out, after all.
When two figures sprinted past the table, the papers nearly blew off where they were placed, and Builder had to scramble to make sure they wouldn’t go flying.
Who had…?
Builder adjusted his hat as he managed to catch sight of Taph hooking around the stair railing, being very quickly chased after by Noob.
“G-GET BACK HERE!” Noob shouted, voice caught in a laugh, “THAT WAS A CHEAP ONE! Y-YOU CAN’T JUST CALL THE GAME A-AND IMMEDIATELY GET ME! I D-DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TIME TO REGISTER THE S-SIGNING!”
…Were they playing tag?
“Y0! NO0B!” his attention was quickly drawn to Veeronica, who was standing close by to the stairs, “T4G ME IN!”
“NO SKATEBOARDING IN THE CABIN!” Dusekkar was quick to shout from the couch, “The floorboard cannot handle it if you dig your wheels in!”
“N0 prob, Pump!” Vee gave a mock salute as Noob high-fived her other hand, Vee completely ignoring the half-joking order of “Don’t call me that” from Dusekk as now she took off up the stairs after Taph, who Builder could no longer see from where he was sitting.
Oh, this was going to be a whole deal, wasn’t it?
Before Builder could say anything, Shed had shot up from his seat with the stupidest grin. Well, at least that meant he was feeling better, but Builder knew what that grin meant. That was the ever-scary “bad idea” grin. Builder stood up as well, just in time to watch Taph leap from the railing onto the couch, leaving Dusekk and 007n7 scrambling back in shock.
“N0 FAIR, YOU KN0W I CAN’T M4KE JUMP5 LIKE 7HAT WITH0UT MY BO4RD!” Vee shouted down.
Alright, maybe this game could get at least a bit calme–
“If you would be so kind as to tag me in, I believe I can pull off the maneuvers necessary.”
…Oh no. That was Two Time.
“L3T’S FREAKING GO!” Vee shouted, and after a high-five that Builder could hear but not see, Two Time leapt down from the railing onto the couch after Taph, much to the very loud amusement of Chance, who had apparently also been at the top floor. They bapped Taph on her head before they scrambled away like they had just pulled off some elaborate backstab, and Taph froze, perched on the couch like a cat.
She slowly turned to face Dusekk.
“...Epitaph. Do not.”
His pleas gone unanswered, Taph shoved a gloved hand-talon directly at Dusekk’s shoulder before they scrambled away like Two Time had done, amusement clear in the way they ran.
Dusekk immediately clambered to his feet, face somewhere between annoyed and amused.
He settled on staring at Shed, whose grin only got wider. Dusekk rushed forwards, hoof-like hand-claws tapping against Shed’s arm before he retreated.
“Oh noooo!” Shed dramatically sighed, “I’ve been tagged! Whatever will I–”
Builder darted backwards as Shed swiped at him, much to Shed’s momentary shock.
“That…was not how I imagined that going..?” Shed admitted.
Builder smirked, narrowing his eyes, “What, did ya think I couldn’t predict ya?”
“I thought I was fast enough!” Shed whined, darting forwards to try the same thing again, only for Builder to continuously backpedal, smirk growing more and more until the two were next to a very, very confused Guest.
Both paused at once, and Builder silently held out a hand to Shed, not saying a single word. Shed slapped his hand against Builder’s, and Builder immediately reached out and lightly slapped G on the arm.
“Hey, Swan,” he backed up, “tag.”
“...Are we seriously doing this?” G asked, though there was amusement in his voice and a smile on his face. He reached for where Taph was nearby again, only for her to jump back.
Just then, Jane stepped out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee, staring at the group in utter confusion.
“Why is everyone yelling?” she asked, somewhere on the verge of annoyed. Builder held back with a bit of a grimace, knowing she probably wouldn’t get involved in the game. It was sort of silly, really, for him of all people to be stepping back like a child caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.
Before he could respond, G cleared his throat.
“Hey. Jane.”
“What?”
He tapped her on the shoulder.
“Tag.”
And with that, the grizzled soldier took off running like a school child, laughing the whole way.
“...You guys are utterly, utterly ridiculous and childish,” Jane blinked, face in an annoyed scowl. She then slowly set down her cup and brushed herself off, “Whose not in the game yet?”
“Chance 4nd Sev ar3n’t involved ye7!” Veeronica yelled down from the upper floor.
“Elliot isn’t either!” 007 abruptly yelled before he slapped his hands over his mouth for throwing Elliot under the bus.
Elliot, who was observing the game from one of the booth-tables that existed in the cabin for some strange reason, suddenly stood up on the booth like a startled animal as Jane turned to stare at him like a ruthless predator hearing the sound of prey in the brush. He squealed in a panic as Jane darted for him, and Builder had to hold back his laughter [noting that Shed did not hold back his own laughter] as Elliot fumbled over the booths to try to escape her.
“SEVEN I TRUSTED YOU!” he yelled out as Jane tagged him by grabbing him by the back of his shirt, both saving him from falling and pulling him into the game.
“SORRY!” 007 called, his apology then turning into a shriek as Elliot came sprinting after him, leaving him bolting off of the couch.
“GET OVER HERE OLD MAN, I’M INVOLVING YOU IN THIS!” Elliot dove after him, catching the very end of the ex-exploiter’s tail as he perfectly thudded into a chair.
Upon realizing he’d been caught, 007 stood staring wildly around at the group for a moment. Builder cleared his throat, drawing 007’s startled attention.
“Chance still isn’t in the game,” Builder nodded to the upstairs, delivering a joking command without actually delivering one.
“Don’t make the poor old man chase me, Doc!” Chance called, “You’re gonna make his poor joints so–”
As Chance spoke, 007 had begun to slowly narrow his eyes, and, while most of the group was distracted by Chance’s taunting, he had flung up a GUI panel, silently tapping on it. Chance shrieked as that ‘poor old man’ was suddenly right in front of them, presumably casually tapping them.
“Tag, you’re it,” and then, with a smugness that Builder hadn’t heard from him since he still was a rogue exploiter, “Next time, don’t underestimate this ‘old man’.”
“YOU CAN’T JUST USE A GUI PANEL TO TELEPORT TO ME! THAT’S CHEATING AT TAG!” Chance shouted, then leaned over the railing to look down at Builder, Shed, and Dusekk, who were all desperately trying to hold back their laughter, “ADMINS!! THE EXPLOITER IS EXPLOITING!”
“Never took you for a sore loser, my good luck,” Two Time hid a smirk behind their hand, though Builder could obviously see the edges of it.
“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE!” Chance shouted, faking sounding incredibly distressed and hurt.
The group burst into strings of laughter, and in the middle of it, Chance suddenly turned and lightly hit Vee, who was still upstairs next to them, then sprinting away down the stairs as Vee took off running after them.
“CHEAP SH0T!”
“I DEAL IN CHEAP SHOTS, THAT’S HOW I SURVIVE HERE!” Chance cackled, darting behind Noob to put them directly in the line of fire, which Vee happily obliged to, flicking them in the shoulder as she darted past.
Noob, much to Builder’s surprise, immediately sprinted for him. Before he could backpedal, his hat had been nearly knocked off his head. He stood shocked for a moment.
“Nice one, kid!” Shed congratulated. Before Builder could tap him, he quickly ran back, shoving Dusekk into the line of fire like Chance had done to Noob. Builder went along with it, going the extra mile to go so far as to jump up to hit one of Dusekk’s antlers to tag him. Shed suddenly grabbed him by the back of his hoodie, sprinting away with him like a woman with a clutch purse. It was wholly undignified, but Builder couldn’t care less, because it was hilarious.
Dusekk immediately snapped around to sprint for G and Jane, who were now equally in a very strange sort of stalemate, neither wanting to run to a side and risk Dusekk catching them out.
“Watch yourself, deer boy,” Jane laughed, the nickname one Builder hadn’t heard in years, “I know how you move. I know how you fight.”
“A decade apart fools the brain,” Dusekk’s flame was flickering in clear amusement, “Best watch yourself, Jane.”
He suddenly darted for Jane, and at the very last second, pivoted to tap G, who instinctively blocked instead of running away. G blinked in surprise as both Jane and Dusekk skittered away. His next immediate target was Shed, who was busy setting Builder down. Before Builder could warn him, G had placed a hand on Shed’s shoulder before running away. Shed froze for a moment, clearly giving an expression like he was calculating his next plan of action, and then Builder saw him pivot to face Jane.
“I think you have less of a shot at tagging me than Dusekk did,” she blinked at him.
Builder immediately picked up on something Jane did not.
Shed flicked a head-wing, drawing it in and at a strange angle before he fluttered it out. To anyone who wasn’t in the group for long, it was a simple movement one would make when thinking something out. Builder, however, was one of those in the group who also had head-wings, and he knew exactly what that motion was.
Usually it was used to warn of someone being direly hurt in a situation where communication could not be made, usually in the case of hiding. Out of the corner of his eye, Builder could see the equally silent flutter of a response from Elliot’s own head-wings.
In one burst of movement, Elliot sprinted from the chair he had landed in, slapped Shed’s hand in a high-five, and darted at Jane with a speed clearly no one in the cabin had expected, considering the various shouts of surprise. Jane merely had a moment to react before Elliot darted past her, tagging her on the way. She turned to face Shed, mouth open in shock.
“Now you’re outsourcing your job to pizza boys?” she asked, voice incredulous.
“Very smart and resourceful pizza boys,” Shed nodded, that stupid smile that Builder loved on his face.
“Excuse you, I am a pizza man,” Elliot declared, having crashed into a beanbag, his voice cracking at just the right time to embarrass him, leaving him mumbling what Builder could only assume were swears into his hands.
Silently, Taph slowly walked up to Jane. Builder stared, puzzled, as did Jane, clearly equally puzzled. Taph offered out a hand, clearly asking to be tagged, and Jane obliged, gently tapping her fingers to their palm.
Taph snapped to face Two Time, and though her face was not visible, there was clear determination there. Builder glanced at Two Time, seeing them staring right back at Taph, eyes wide. Builder immediately had to put everything into not bursting out into cackles as Two Time spoke, clearly without thinking.
“Spawn save me.”
Dusekk hummed, then shook his head, speaking in such a beautifully casual way, “Nah, you’re on your own.”
Two Time looked at him like a kicked puppy.
Taph darted at them, and they opened their mouth to make a sound that did not successfully come out. Builder had to leap back to avoid the two of them sprinting up the stairs, Taph avoiding literally everyone else and honing in on solely Two Time. Before anyone could stop either of them, they had outright climbed into the rafters, much to the shock and concern of those on the ground.
“You can never hope to catch an assassin, Demolitionist,” Two Time laughed after ensuring they’d steadied themself, “You may know exactly how to dart and where to place traps, but I have trained myself to avoid even the most close of shots, to make up for how frail my cards have been dealt, to ensure that every movement of mine brings me closer to victory, to…”
Two Time trailed off as Taph casually held up his middle fingers at them.
“...You are quite rude, you know that?”
“Y’ should prolly get down from there b’fore y’ hurt yerselves!” Builder shouted up, and now it was his turn to get looked at like a kicked puppy by Two Time.
“But dearest engineer!” Two Time whined, “to get down, I must concede defeat!”
“Lose the battle, win the war, Times!” Chance called, “We’re not in a round, if you take a fall from that height you’re gonna break something!”
“You have no faith in me!”
“Ten bux says they break at least one bone!” Elliot called.
“We’re not b-betting on people breaking bones!” Noob stared at Elliot.
“Tw3nty says it’s a7 least fiv3 bones,” Vee nodded.
“V-VEE!” Noob shouted
“...can I start betting on Taph, or is that going to get me in trouble with the big bosses?” Chance added.
“CHANCE!” Noob turned to face him.
“It’ll certainly get you in trouble with me,” Jane huffed, though it was clearly good natured, and she cracked a smile when Taph made a little heart-motion at her with his hands.
“Kids these days,” 007 laughed, looking at Dusekk with a look that seemed to ask “Am I right or am I right?”
“I am almost thirty!” Two Time declared, “I am not a kid!”
Instead of climbing down safely as instructed to, Builder watched as Two Time leapt from the rafters and neatly into a beanbag. Taph was about to follow them, only for Builder to shout at them to not, backed by Shed and Dusekk yelling the same thing. Jane seemed like she wanted to see if they could actually do it. Taph huffed what was clearly the loudest huff they could muster, climbing down the same way they’d climbed up.
The game continued on and on from there, each member of the cabin passing around who was ‘it’ and who wasn’t, until they all sat exhausted, each of them dropping out of the game one by one as the fast pace of it left them too tired to continue. At the end of it all, Noob ended up as the second-to-last one ‘it’, Taph slowly coming to sit down next to them as they tried to catch their breath, offering out a hand to let them tag him, leaving him to be allowed to restart the game at some later date.
It was only as Builder was settling down to sleep, tucked into a nest Shed had made out of beanbags and pillows, that he realized his plans for the day had been completely abandoned in favor of the game.
…He supposed that bonding together was also a very, very important part of the plan of escape.