"Thyme is getting ready to make the announcement, you might want to head out," said Mint, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Oh… um thanks? Do you want us to do anything with the plates?" asked Kat.
"No, I can return them for you both. Hurry, you don't want to be late," said Mint.
Accepting the help, Kat and Lily shared a quick kiss before they both jumped out the window. What? It was the quickest way out of the building. Thyme was sitting on a tiny stage that had been set up on the middle pier. It barely lifted Thyme above the rest of the group. A few people were already there, including Kress who was the first of Kat's group to arrive.
She slid in beside him, and as they were waiting for the rest of the competitors, Kat decided to have a bit of fun… with the truth! "Hey Kress, so you know that demon guy on the other team, Stan?" asked Kat.
"Not that Stan was his name, but I've seen him, why?" asked Kress with a strange look.
"Well, he's decided to try and seduce you. So… good luck with that?" said Kat with a grin.
Lily was in cat form curled up in Kat's arms, and desperately trying to hide her laughter, even as Kress just stared back. After a few moments of staring where Kat's mask didn't crack in the slightest he looked around at the other groups carefully. When Kress' eyes landed on Stan, the demon through a wink Kress' way. Kress didn't react, other than to slowly turn back to Kat. "Did you put him up to that?"
"Nope," said Kat making sure to pop the 'p' as much as possible trying to get a reaction from Kress.
"I can't say I believe you," said Kress with a deadpan stare.
Kat shrugged, "Well, I can't lie, and I can easily state the following as the truth. I did not encourage him in any way. Stan approached me by himself, questioned me about your relationship status, and I simply answered his questions as truthfully as possible,"
Kress pondered on the admission for a few seconds, "I don't really know how to react to that, and I'm not really looking for a partner… plus isn't he a demon? Can he even stick around here?"
Kat made a 'so-so' gesture, "I mean, I think we can set new home dimensions? So… probably? Especially if you guys start something serious? I don't really know, it's not something I've looked into much,"
Kress tapped his foot a few times on the loose sand as he considered Kat's statement for a few seconds. "You know, you've made this much more awkward then it needed to be. If you'd just left me in ignorance I could've pretended I was too dense to notice the flirtations before. Now that I know, and I've given the game away enough that he knows that I know, I can't pretend I don't know, unless I want to pretend I don't know he knows, but that's even more awkward,"
"I fail to see how that's my problem," said Kat.
"Yeah, it sounds hilarious to me," said Nixilei seemingly materialising from behind Kat. *How did I not hear her? Well no, probably the ocean. Let's just assume I didn't hear her over the crashing waves.*
"I don't need your advice on romance Nixilei," grumbled Kress. "Look, I think it's best to just… leave this to the side until the round is over, that way it's less likely to result in bad blood,"
"Ah, but Stan doesn't exactly like his team much," whispered Kat, "And his Contract had a pretty major loophole in it… so distracting him is a very valid tactic,"
"I am not going to be a damn honey trap!" hissed Kress. "I might not be the killjoy I was three days ago, and I might stay happier in general now my eyes have been opened a bit… but I have standards! I'm a bodyguard not Nixilei!"
"Rude, I've never gone on any real seduction missions you know," said Nixilei with a huff.
"Obviously. You'd never be able to pull one off," returned Kress.
"I got top marks in my classes!" shot back Nixilei.
Kress managed his best look of pity, and said, "I'm sorry," as best he could manage, though his slightly twitching lip from his attempts not to laugh was a massive give away for Nixilei, and a decent one for Kat.
Green and Gareth rocked up to see the stare down between the two, but they just rolled their eyes, it wasn't an unusual sight, so neither bothered to ask what it was even about. The glaring contest didn't last long though, because Thyme clapped their hands, setting of a series of comedic sound affects playing instead of a normal clapping sound. At least it got everyone's attention.
"Welcome back everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your lunches! Now, the theme of the rounds this time will be 'vacation games' and I'll be keeping everything pretty casual and fun. Quite a few rules will be about encouraging people to not go overboard. The first round will be known as the 'Inside Games' round. It will have three different tasks, all set up inside the building behind you!
"The first game, table tennis," Kat noticed that the game technically wasn't called 'table tennis' but the game was functionally the same and the translation treated it as such, "where two competitors will be set on either side of a tiny table and be required to hit the ball back and forth across an even smaller net. If the ball doesn't hit your opponent's side of the table before it hits the floor, you lose a point. First to five points wins however, you need to win by at least two points.
"This means that the games can potentially go on forever, but I want to prevent that. So, I'm adding an additional rule that if both players get to twenty it counts as a 'win' for both teams in that case. The format will be round robin style, and the person with the most wins will earn 2 points for their team, while second place will earn 1 point. While there will be playoffs if there is a tie for first place, having a tie for second place is acceptable. Oh, and it goes without saying but no magic, and you have to stay on your half of the table."
Thyme paused, letting that little bit of information sink in before finishing up with, "Though… there is one more rule. If you're responsible for breaking anything during the game. This includes, but is not limited to, the paddles, the table, the net, the floor or the ball, then you're immediately disqualified and put in last place for the round. So… don't go all out and risk breaking things!"
*Well that complicates things doesn't it.*
[A bit yeah… if Thyme hasn't made the paddles any stronger then they'd be on Earth then EVERYONE is at risk of breaking them. I think we'll have at least one accidental destruction. I'm not sure who would be best at this game.]
*Green perhaps?* Kat's internal conversation was interrupted by Thyme continuing to speak, "Now, the second game, will be dodge ball," once again the name was different, but correct enough. "This one will be a free-for-all game where everyone is thrown in a circle and provided a rubber ball. You'll need to throw them at other contestants.
"Everyone is allowed to be hit twice, and on the third hit you're out. However, if you manage to catch a ball, then it counts as a hit for the person who threw the ball. Same rules about breaking things apply, and while magic IS allowed, you are not allowed to cast directly at your opponents, nor are you allowed to make physical contact with anything that isn't a ball, so be careful about that,"
*Simple to understand and probably the event I'd do the best in, especially compared to table tennis.*
[Perhaps, but your wings make you a bigger target.]
*Hmm… you're right on that… I wonder if I could catch a ball with my tail though?*
"The final game, has a complete ban on attacks, and magic. Though, some application of force is acceptable. You'll be able to figure it out. See, this last game is called, 'Twister'" it wasn't, Thyme's game was actually called 'Stay on the Dots' but it was very clearly Twister, "I'll be laying out a mat I've done up, and it will be another free for all. Everyone will start standing in the middle of the mat, and then based on a spinner I'll be keeping off to the side, you'll need to put a certain body part on the correct colour! If any of your limbs are on the wrong colour, you'll be eliminated,"
*You know… I'd probably be best at twister. Not only am I flexible, but I have a tail, so I could probably trip people up with it.*
[Yeah… but I'd rather you didn't join in that one. Though… maybe we can get Kress to play that game with Stan?]
*Hmm…*
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