Declassified

Declassified Part 29 Fight Night

      "I would have guessed flute." Dan smirked. "Soprano?"
      Thalia shrugged. "I think so. I wasn't any good." She admitted.
      Dan made a face at her. "You're good at everything. That's probably the reason you chose choir instead of instrumental."

      Thalia didn't respond. "What did Alex play?" She asked, changing the subject.
      "Guitar." Dan told her, pointing. "And then bass because he sucked at guitar."
      Now Thalia made a face at Dan. "Alex is good at everything."

      "Not music." Dan told her, happy to share his brother's shortcomings with her. "And not math either. Have you ever noticed he always tips really well? It's not because he's such a great guy. It's because he sucks so bad at math he just wants to make sure he tips enough."

      Thalia shook her head as she followed Dan back into the hall. "You live off of tips." She pointed out. "You should like that your brother is a good tipper."
      "I do." Dan acquiesced. "I just thought you'd like to know he's awful at math."

      "You know, you don't have to compete with him." Thalia said, looking up at him. "You're both great on your own. You don't need to compare yourselves to each other."
      "Don't psychoanalyze me, Thal." Dan told her, smirking. "I just think you should know what you're getting yourself into." He teased.

      Thalia rolled her eyes as they went into the living room. "I'm not dating Alex for his math skills." She pointed out, smiling as she sat on the couch beside Andy. "So, did you guys all go to school together?" She asked, looking at Becca, Kevin, and Berg.

      Kevin nodded. "Max and I were in the same kindergarten class." He told the redhead as he and Becca sat on the love seat. "And Berg became friends with Dan and Alex in... what? Grade seven? Grade eight?"
      "Alex and I were in grade seven, Dan was in grade eight." Berg told him.

      "I met them in University." Becca told Thalia. "And Kevin and I started dating when I was a senior, a couple years after he graduated."
      "It's nice that you are all so close in age that you can share the same friends." Thalia observed, smiling as Dan sat on her other side.

      Kevin laughed. "Yeah, it was nice when we were kids and I was still able to pick on Max's little brothers." He joked, picking up one of the peanut butter balls.
      "You used to be able to pick on Andy?" Thalia asked, innocently looking between average sized Kevin and oversized Andy.

      "Well, maybe not Andy. But Andy always went along with whatever Max and I did or said." Kevin told her, taking a bite of the dessert. "Hey, this is good."
      Dan shook his head. "You've never been able to pick on me either." He grumbled.

      "We used to pick on you and Alex all the time." Kevin reminded him. "Max and I used to make you do everything for us."
      "Yeah, because we were afraid of Andy, not you." Dan pointed out.

      "No, I was bigger than you until like the sixth grade." Kevin told him, laughing. "Those were good times."
      "That's a long time ago." Dan added, wrinkling his nose.

      "I've never been afraid of Andy." Thalia pointed out, smiling at him. "I guess I'm just a lot tougher than you are, Dan."

      "Look at this scrawny arm and tell me you're tough again." Dan teased, grabbing her pitiful bicep roughly as his friends laughed at her teasing. When Andy turned towards him, one arm on the back of the couch behind Thalia, his face serious, Dan let go of her arm abruptly, holding his hands up in playful surrender. "I'm just saying, you might want to use those purple weights of yours, Thal."

      "You can borrow them any time." Thalia teased. "If you want to catch up to Alex, that is."
      Berg laughed. "I know what you mean, Thalia." He said, smiling at her. "It's pitiful the way he struggles to even carry a six pack of beer at work. Takes forever to load the fridges."