"welcome, one and all, to fun night," lolly put her hands together, addressing the group of friends before her. "here, in our have cots humble abode, we shall spend the night having... can you guess?"
"popcorn," gelatin answered, his mouth full. "oh! and some cupcakes too. pin baked them."
pin smiled. "leafy helped! they were fun to make. oh!" she exclaimed. "fun!"
lollipop shook her head and grinned. "yes. we will spend the night having fun. i should add, however, that having popcorn, having cupcakes, and having fun are not mutually exclusive."
"speaking of which..." leafy started. "the cupcakes are done! now, firey, if you please..." she opened the oven and retrieved the cupcake tin that her flamey friend was holding.
"hey! one is missing!" coiny elbowed her. "firey, did you eat it?"
"it got burnt!" firey explained. "i don't suppose you would've wanted to eat some cupcake-shaped ash."
"anywho," flower rolled her eyes. "we should be starting the activities now, right?"
"little teardrop is just getting the game ready," lollipop patted her shoulder. "they should be down any moment."
"what are we playing anyway?" pin asked.
"you'll see," gelatin chuckled.
soon enough, td toddled into the room, box in hand. she dropped it on the floor in the middle of the shag rug.
"oh! we're playing monopoly!" firey went over to her. "i rule at this game."
"not when i'm playing," coiny smirked.
"oh put a sock in it," flower bapped him on the head affectionately.
"either way, we're not playing monopoly," lolly pointed out. everyone gasped.
teardrop had started to take out the contents of the box, which did indeed say monopoly on its cover.
"then what are we playing?" leafy asked.
td stood up and struck a confident pose.
"we're playing... teardropoly," lollipop announced.
everyone gasped again. "teardropoly?" firey looked at lollipop incredulously.
"in teardropoly," gelatin explained, putting his arm on td's shoulder. "everything is the same as monopoly, except... teedster has ultimate power."
"you see, she gives out the community chest and chance cards - among other things," lolly continued. "it's up to them what happens to you, basically. in a way, your loot in life - rather, loot in this game - is dependent on whether or not teardorp wants to give it to you."
td grinned evilly and started dealing money to their friends who were seated around the game board on the rug. she gave the typical amount of money to coiny, firey, leafy, pin, and flower, but gave an extra hundred bucks to her brother and sister.
"hey!" leafy blinked in surprise. "why do you guys get more money than us?"
"it's called teardropoly for a reason, my dear," lolly patted td's head. "they can favor people if they want."
the game began, and gelatin started chowing on a cupcake. "ooh! park place! shoot... i don't have enough cash..."
td pulled a big spinning wheel out from behind her. on the top was a label saying "spin for the chance of a deal!" it had wedges labeled 'free', 'quarter price', 'half price', and 'double price'. they raised an eyebrow at gelatin.
"do it do it do it do it," firey and coiny chanted behind him.
"i'll do it!" gelatin exclaimed, pointing at his sibling. she nodded and spun the wheel. "free! free! free!" he repeated, watching it slow down. "or quarter price! or... half..."
teardrop grinned and put out their hand. her brother had to pay double the original price. "noooooo!" gelatin cried. "i have to mortgage, like, half of my properties now!"
the game continued. gelatin was in debt, leafy had a ton of cash, and pin had a surplus of properties.
"hey firey," coiny whispered. "hit me really hard, wouldya?"
"with pleasure. but why?"
"if i land with heads up then you'll have good luck! i am a penny, y'know."
"ah! good idea!"
it happened to be lolly's turn at the time, who was being forced to auction off the electric company.
"do you really need another property, pin?" flower raised an eyebrow. "you own half of them."
pin shrugged. "it wouldn't hurt."
"ow!" coiny yelled out of nowhere. "that hurt!"
he was lying face up on the floor after hitting it with a thud. "yes!" firey pumped his fist in the air.
"are you finished, sir?" lolly leaned on her arm, glancing at the rather loud spectacle. "i'm trying to sell my property against my will."
"yup! just getting a pinch of luck, that's all." firey elbowed coiny. "thanks, buddy," he whispered.
td smiled inwardly at this. it'd be amusing to make him unlucky, on purpose.
"it's time for chaaance!" leafy sang. teardrop picked up the deck of cards and rifled through them, before placing one of her liking at the top for leafy to draw.
they put the cards back down with an innocent smile. staring at the top card she had just taken, leafy's eyes widened. "choose... someone else to go to jail? and if they pass go not have them earn $200?"
teardrop nodded and motioned to the friends before her. "i pick... i pick..." leafy bit her lip.
"pin! you won't be too mad at me, right?" she glanced hesitantly at her friend, who smiled.
"of course not, leafy. and if i do have so many properties, staying in jail will prevent me from buying more. lol."
gelatin pointed at pin. "haha! you go to jail! sucks to be you i guess."
at that moment, td drew another card and handed it to him.
"what? go to jail too? noooooo...." he wailed pitifully.
"alas, you are confined by the same shackles you ridiculed her for! what a shame," lolly smirked.
gelatin looked up at her as he moved his piece next to pin's in jail. "i like your funny words, magic man."
firey thumped the floor with his fist in frustration. "i keep paying double! what a sham!"
"you should really join the rest of us in jail," leafy smiled. "you're missing out. we're playing patty cake in here."
"well, i'm out!" flower yelled. "5 properties and a box of popcorn for bail, like teeds asked for. also, the secret handshake to seal the deal."
flower and td retreated behind the couch for a little while.
"teedster," gelatin sang. "if you don't come back soon i'll eat aforementioned box of popcorn!"
a pause.
"great!" flower stuck up her head. "you interrupted us. now we gotta start over!"
td also popped up, sticking out their hand. gelatin sighed and gave her 20 bucks and the box of popcorn.
the game eventually continued, and eventually all of the properties were bought. pin made most of these transactions, unsurprisingly.
"can i leave jail please," firey asked, monotone, rocking back and forth. "at least tell me what crime i committed this time."
td retrieved yet another wheel and spun it before anyone could see the different possible outcomes.
as it showed its spin, firey squinted his eyes to see what it landed on. "gay crimes. you went to... gay baby jail?"
coiny started rolling on the floor laughing. he flopped over onto his face.
"your tails is showing!" pin exclaimed. "that's bad luck."
td rubbed their hands together and grinned. now, firey would have good luck.
"my turn!" gelatin rolled the dice and moved. "community chest? hope it's good..."
teardrop snatched the cards and shuffled them, putting a card on top. she laid the cards out for her brother to pick.
"you die. go to jail?" gelatin read. "sigh..."
as he moved his piece into the jail space, a lightbulb flashed over his head. "teedster, are these bars made of... cardboard?"
they smiled slyly at him and nodded.
"then boom! freedom!" he raised firey's hand into the air.
the game edged on into the night, and it seemed as if pin was going to win. flower, lollipop, and gelatin had gone bankrupt, coiny had fallen asleep, and firey and leafy were trying to buy the newly available properties before pin could.
"aw phooey," leafy bit her lip. "there are still so many properties we can't get! pin has them!"
td then blew and airhorn and put up a sign.
"auction time?" pin groaned. "again? which one is it this time..."
teardrop pointed at boardwalk and smiled.
"...what's the starting price?" pin looked up at her fearfully.
with a toothy grin, td waved 30 bucks in front of her face. pin gulped.
"okay, you two, the starting bid is 30... 30 dollars..."
firey and leafy glanced at each other.
"i bid 40!"
"50!"
"60!"
"wait!" firey widened his eyes, then leaned in towards leafy. "teeds is probably gonna do a ton of these auctions, right?"
"yeah," leafy nodded.
"if i let you win the bids early every time, you could get pin's properties for cheap and make her lose all her cash!"
leafy looked up at him and smiled. "you're willing to do that for me?"
"sure, leafster! it's the least i could do. now c'mon, i'll stop here."
"going once?" pin looked at them. "going twice? sold... to leafy... for sixty bucks..."
and the game went on. gelatin and lollipop started doing patty cake in the background, with flower enviously watching them. firey was on the brink of bankruptcy from landing on boardwalk so many times and having to pay rent.
"nooo! firey!!" leafy called out dramatically as he spent his last dollar.
"see you on the other side, pal! you win this!"
it was between pin and leafy. it was 9:30 at night. it was getting dark. it was on.
td frowned, not being able to make auctions any more - there were only two people left, after all. teardropoly was coming to its climax.
"c'mon, leafy," pin smiled sheepishly. "alliance, remember? we can just break it even. a truce."
leafy scoffed. "i won't let you give up that easy. we're in it 'til the end, pal! just you see how much rent i can make you pay!" she threw a 5th hotel down onto boardwalk.
"but - you spent your last money on that hotel," pin said. "then you'd have to mortgage tons of properties if i need to make you pay me rent..." she motioned to pennsylvania avenue, which had 6 hotels on it.
"that's a risk i'm willing to make, old chum! let's see how this all turns out."
and teardrop was willing to let them go on by themselves. no rigging, no string-pulling, just authentic friend-against-friend economic warfare. she smiled as she watched them go on.
"ohoho we're nearing the dark blue spaces! get a bad roll and you're bankrupt, pal!"
"the same goes for you, my friend. be prepared to be broke!"
"not if you're broke first!"
it truly was a gamble. tossing the dice in her hand, pin cast them upon the board. she picked up her piece and moved it hesitantly. "one, two, three, four-"
"and five! that's game, set, and match, pin!" leafy exclaimed. "hand over the cash, please. mm... 10,000 bucks, i think?"
the night was still. most of teardrop's friends had fallen asleep, dreaming of who-knows-what as the game reached its conclusion. td themselves had been watching the finale with a smile.
pin giggled. "good game, buddy! perhaps i should give you one of my win tokens."
"no, no, i couldn't!" leafy gently punched her shoulder. "you got those fair and square. me? this was all teardr-" she cut herself off.
leafy bent down to be level with the little droplet. "hey td, why did you stop controlling the game at the end?"
teardrop smiled, and pointed at pin and leafy; then she brought her hands together.
pin beamed. "i guess it was nice, just you and me going at it."
"yeah, it really was," leafy looked at her friends fondly, the shadows of night already present on her face. she brought the two together with her in a hug. "thanks, teardrop. you're the real winner."