ARCADE !
"ARE YOUR FRIENDS even coming?" asked Cynthia, leaning against the rail.
Tommy rolled his eyes at his sister. "It's only been twenty minutes, Cyn. Give it some time. Adults, y'know."
"Tom, I'm an adult."
He laughed, ignoring Cynthia's glare. "Listen, I'm messaging Big P and he said he's on his way."
"Big P?"
"Phil. Philza Minecraft."
Cynthia nodded understandingly. "Right, right," she mumbled.
The two had already driven out to Brighton, waiting on the beach for Tommy's older friends. Both Cynthia and Tommy were waiting near the railing that separated the pavement and the town from the beach itself. Tommy stated that he was texting Phil as he, the older man, kept Tommy updated about their whereabouts.
A new day meant a new outfit, though Tommy didn't look too different as he did yesterday. A similar pair of black shorts and the infamous red and white baseball-tee. Cynthia, on the other hand, wore a large cream T-shirt over black cargo pants, old brown Converse on her feet. The same crossbody purse ran along her torso as she rubbed the silver ring around her middle finger.
The digital clock on Cynthia's phone hit 9:00 AM and she glanced at her brother, an eyebrow raised. "You sure they aren't ditching you and you're just not aware of it?"
"They wouldn't do that," reasoned Tommy. "See, look." He handed his sister his phone and showed his direct messages between himself and Phil.
Cynthia cocked an eyebrow at a specific message that she read aloud. "'Pretty sure I just saw Vikkstar having a swim but will keep updated'?"
Tommy laughed, snatching his phone back. "Shove off, I was kidding."
"Uh-huh," said Cynthia, unconvinced. Then, her gaze traveled behind Tommy, catching the eyes of a tall guy, wearing a beige button up shirt and brown pants, glasses mounted on the bridge of his nose.
"Tom," she tapped her brother's shoulder and turned him around. "Your friends are here."
!
"YOU ARE SCARILY tall."
Wilbur snickered, a smile breaking onto his face. "Yeah? What happened to you going on about how you're 'six foot three'? Huh, Tommy?"
"Oh, piss off," he said angrily.
"Tom's definitely not that tall. At best, he's—"
The child elbowed his sister's side, shutting her up. "Oh, you little—" Cynthia yanked his hair and Tommy swatted her hand away.
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry!"
Wilbur watched, an expression of amusement and delight crossing his face. He was aware of Tommy's older sister, and Wilbur was one of the few people among Tommy's online friends who knew she existed. But, he never spoke to her.
As of right now, they were all walking to a restaurant to have breakfast. Wilbur, Cynthia, and Tommy were leading the group, Phil and his wife trailing behind, and their friends following suit. As of late, Cynthia and Wilbur bonded over how annoying Tommy is and can be along with chatting to Phil about, well, Minecraft. Because you can't talk to Mr. Minecraft without bringing up the game.
Cynthia swapped places with Tommy quickly, shoving him next to Phil and Kristen, taking the chance to whisper in Wilbur's ear. "He's actually 6 foot flat."
Tommy looked startled and tugged Cynthia's sleeve, causing her to stumble. Luckily, she caught herself and gave her brother the finger while the others laughed at the siblings. "You two are crazy," Phil commented.
"I'm not the crazy one, Mr. Minecraft," said Cynthia, holding her hands up in surrender. "He is," she glanced at her brother, who was glaring at her.
Phil along with Kristen laughed at them. "Knock it off," Wilbur said to Tommy, lightly pushing his shoulder.
He gave him an annoyed look and rolled his eyes but obeyed nonetheless. Cynthia shot him a thankful look before grabbing the door to the restaurant; a boxy and washed-out place with individual booths for each customer.
"After you," she said, opening the door for the others.
!
"YOU WANNA GAMBLE?"
"Yeahhh," said Tommy. He turns the camera around, facing Phil, who was trailing behind and laughing. "Hey, Big P."
"What the fuck..." mumbled the older man, causing Tommy to laugh.
"Let's do some gambling," Tommy continued, keeping pace with Wilbur.
"Alright, Tommy." Wilbur looked sideways at his younger friend. "How much are we aiming to make?"
"I wanna make all the money."
"All the money?"
Tommy nodded, grinning. "Hey, Wilbur. I say I show 'em my vlog gun."
"Yeah, go on," Wilbur chuckled.
"No, no," Tommy shook his head, "I'll get arrested."
Tommy turned in the direction of his sister, filming her. "What about you, Cyn? Wanna gamble with Wilbur and I?"
The lady raised an eyebrow and an amused look passed her face, catching Wilbur's eyes behind her brother's head. "Sure, of course. Are you any good at arcade games?"
"I play Minecraft, Cyn."
She stared at her brother, an eyebrow raised. "...and?"
"Of course I'm good at games."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean—"
Tommy shook his head and held a hand up to his sister. "Shush."
"I—" Cynthia rolled her eyes and looked at Wilbur, who shared the same 'are you kidding me?' look. "Okay, okay. Sure, you're good at arcade games."
"That's better!" He exclaimed, smiling at his sister.
Cynthia shoved her hands into her pant pockets, continuing to walk next to Tommy and Wilbur. The two were talking about the others joining them in the afternoon. Fundy and Niki, they said.
Sounds like a lot of fun, Cynthia thought.
!
WILBUR AND TOMMY played the ball game. In a few moments, the small black box flashed in yellow 220.
"220," Wilbur recited.
"Did we win?"
Wilbur nodded. "We won! That was really good," he said, smiling. "That was the best you can do."
"We cut to winning, uh-huh." Phil chuckled, keeping the camera on the pair.
"Mhm. Minecraft gamers stay winnin'," said Wilbur, his smile growing.
Phil faced the camera towards Cynthia and shook her head. "They didn't win," she said before turning back to Tommy.
He, the child, showed off their tickets and grinned. "I'm makin' the bank."
"That's about...that's about 10p."
Phil snorted. "Time to gamble 10 pence."
Cynthia laughed and unhinged herself from a nearby game. "I'll be at the crane game, then."
Tommy nodded after rolling his tickets and Wilbur raised a hand. "I'll come with you. I wanna try it out."
She bobbed her head and weaved her way through the people, Wilbur following close behind. Tommy, along with the others, stayed by the ball game, hoping to try once more.
"So," started Wilbur, "I assume you don't live with your brother."
Cynthia snorted and shook her head. "No chance," she said, catching the crane game in the corner of her eye and making a sharp turn towards it. "I would be appearing in way more streams, if that was the case. But," Cynthia stopped near the game, digging out a few coins from her purse. "I do live pretty nearby. I'm just visiting for, well, this meetup and to hang with the family."
Wilbur nodded. "Right, right," he said, watching her input a coin into the game. "Are you staying for long?"
Cynthia just shrugged, stealing a glance as Wilbur leaned against the glass box. "Dunno yet," she mumbled, focusing on the game. The crane game, which had an array of teddy bears littered on the ground, was a bit of a bitch to get around. The claws were shit and were difficult to use to her advantage, but she did it nonetheless. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason," Wilbur said quickly. Then, he fell silent, watching as the metal crane reached down to grab the bear by the neck.
And it did.
Wilbur watched, an eyebrow raised in surprise, as the stuffed bear was deposited out and into Cynthia's arms. She turned and grinned at Wilbur, holding up the bear. "Your turn."
He chuckled and took a coin from Cynthia, feeding it into the slot. "I bet that was just luck," Wilbur mumbled as he moved the joystick, aiming for another bear.
The red button was pushed, sending the crane down to grab the stuffed bear.
But, it didn't grab onto anything.
"Oh, that's not grabbing it."
Cynthia nodded sympathetically. "That's alright," she said, scooting him away from the machine. "I'll get you one."
"It's alright—"
She shook her head, already sliding in another coin. "I have to help the more unfortunate, let me do this."
Wilbur raised his eyebrows in surprise, chuckling at her back-handed joke. "Yeah, okay," he leaned against the glass, watching the crane move. "We'll see if you can get another one."
And, she did.
Cynthia held up the stuffed toy triumphantly as Wilbur looked at her, eyes squinted in a disbelieving fashion. "For fuck's sake, man! Why the hell are you so good at this game?"
She smiled, handing him the bear. "A magician never tells their secrets."
!
TOMMY AND THE others reconvened near the ticket deposit, chatting about the future plans of the day. They were to get lunch and meet up with the other two people, Fundy and Niki. The child was inputting his tickets through the machine as Cynthia stood to the side and watched, an eyebrow raised.
"Why's it...like, y'know, growl at me?"
Wilbur laughed, Cynthia following. "What?" Tommy asked, looking at the two oddly. Then, he glanced at Dave, the cameraman. "How are you finding this whole experience, Dave?"
"It's great, mate," Dave said. "I'm lovin' it."
A couple of minutes later, the group filed into the line, ready to get their prizes. Cynthia hung back, her brown bear still in hand. "We could get my vlog gun!" Tommy was saying, grinning at the camera.
"Nerf jolt ba—" Wilbur's eyes widened and he looked at the camera, Tommy doing the same.
"We could get the vlog gun," they said at the same time.
The cameraman chuckled. "This is good—he's gettin' a gun."
"I'm gonna buy a gun," said Tommy, laughing. "Don't—I shouldn't say that out loud."
A few moments later, Tommy was called up to the front as Wilbur walked ahead, Cynthia following. She leaned on the railing, glancing at Wilbur. "How long have you known Tommy for?"
"Oh," Wilbur looked up from his phone, shoving it in his pocket. "More than half a year, I'd say. Not entirely sure. But, he's a good kid. Though, he's definitely a wild card sometimes."
Cynthia chuckled, nodding. "Definitely." She glanced at the bear in Wilbur's hand. "What're you going to do with the bear?"
He shrugged. "Keep it, of course. You got it for me."
The lady smiled and bobbed her head. "Right, right. So, d—"
"Will! Cyn! Look how powerful I am now," Tommy said, holding up his new toys. "Will..." Cynthia snickered as Tommy glared at her. "I really don't want these."
Wilbur laughed. "C'mon. Let's go."
!
"CAN'T BELIEVE I'M hanging out with Niki Nihachu. God, are you proud of me now?"
The German girl snorted, lightly pushing her new friend's shoulder. "Be quiet, you."
Cynthia grinned and chuckled. "Never."
"Jesus, Will," Tommy leaned over and mumbled under his breath to his older friend. "I think this was a mistake bringing her."
Wilbur laughed, raising an eyebrow. "Which one?"
"Both of 'em."
Wilbur doubled over, earning a look from Niki and Tommy. "Wh-huh-at?" asked Tommy, chuckling slightly. "I'm serious."
Cynthia looked at the pair oddly. "Tom, what did you do?"
"Nothing!" He exclaimed. "Will is just acting weird."
Wilbur regained his composure and shook his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it, Cynthia."
She raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off, leaning back against the chair. It was around noon and the group decided it was a good time to get lunch. Phil and his wife called it a day, while Niki and Fundy tagged along. So, it was Cynthia and Tommy, Wilbur, Fundy and Niki, and Dave.
Wilbur started to get up, taking his mask out of his pocket. "I'll be back. Gonna head to the restroom."
"Oh," Fundy raised a hand. "I'll come too."
After the two men scooted out of the booth and were out of eyesight, Tommy held up a thin, dark box.
A wallet?
"Dave," he glanced at the older man, who nodded. "Look."
Cynthia looked at her younger brother oddly. Niki wasn't paying attention, instead she seemed to be scrolling through Twitter. "What are you two planning?"
Dave looked at Tommy, an eyebrow raised. "Are you going to tell her?"
The younger kid shrugged. "I guess so." He started to take out his phone, "I'll text it to you, Cyn."
She raised her eyebrow before her phone buzzed in her purse. A new message from her younger brother. Oh, who would've thought?
tom aka gremlin now
We're going to steal Will's office key and sneak into the office LMAO