[Gift] Event | Step Right Up

Phaeniss was riding high on winning over his two partners. He was following behind them with a big grin on his face. He hadn’t taunted them back as they taunted him. Both Kormal and Ferdinand had a tendency to just shrug off his taunts and it wasn’t worth ruining his good mood with a failed remark. Most likely if he said anything towards them at this point they would find a way to bounce it back at him instead and he would end up mad. He was quite happy instead to just silently walk behind the pink and orange raptor as they tried to decide on the next game. They clearly both wanted to choose a game where they could win. Or at least where Phaeniss could lose. They walked by a few models of different planes. Two of the models were coloured in a murky green colour that out in the wild would probably have melted in perfectly with the forest but in here stood out against the cold grey walls around them. Between the different models of planes there were different types of games. Mostly games that were played one by one that could fit in the tiny spaces between the air planes. Either they had managed to move some of the plane models away from the opposite side of the big space or there just was a lack of models over there. There were many dinosaurs gathered over in that direction that were all doing some game requiring teamwork. 

Kormal looked back at Phaeniss as his eyes had glanced over to the more open area with more dinosaurs. Could they cooperate? Yes. It was mostly when hunting of course. And it was only when Phaeniss could control his more dark hunting urges. But in a game like this it was unlikely. Of course the yellow and green raptor mostly did what they said but it would only take a few wrong moves and he would lose his cool completely. They could maybe do those competitions at the end of the day. When they were ready to leave. If they got thrown out now they would miss out on so many potential prizes and he really wanted to beat them both at least two, maybe five times. The pink raptor stopped. It was a game not unlike the bean toss just a few games away from it. There were small plastic rings instead of beanbags and there was no way that Phaeniss could use his little crested tail trick to try and win over them both at this game. 

“How about we do this game?” Kormal asked the other two raptors. Phaeniss had to stretch his neck to try and get a glimpse at the game that the pink raptor was gesturing towards. Ferdinand looked a bit disinterested at first but when Kormal gestured again towards the tiny rings Ferdinand understood why he had picked the game. It would be pure luck if Phaeniss managed to use his brain to actually win this game after all.

“Yes, I think this is the perfect game.” Ferdinand nodded, and in a surprisingly kind tone he added: “What do you think Phaeniss?” It was rare for Ferdinand to use such a kind tone towards him. It was also quite weird that he would ask Phaeniss for his opinion. Usually they simply taunted him. Phaeniss first squinted at the two raptors, moving his gaze from Kormal to Ferdinand. They still had their grins plastered on their faces which surprisingly enough calmed Phaeniss a bit. At least they hadn’t completely switched their personalities around. He preferred them like this. It was easier to deal with the way they grinned like they were better than him.

“Yes.” He tried to hide the way his voice sounded unsure as they moved closer to the game. 

“You first this time,” Kormal added. At least the pink raptor was unable to hide the taunting way his voice sounded when he was talking to Phaeniss, “show us how it is done.” Phaeniss didn’t know what the two raptors snickered about but it did fuel his will to defeat them both in another game. 

“Fine.” Phaeniss said as he walked up to the game master, holding his head quite high. The yellow and green raptor looked over all the pieces of the game. Even he could tell that the rings of the game were way too small to use his tail to fling. They would fly everywhere. It would probably be like flinging leaves at this point. He glared behind him. Kormal and Ferdinand nodded encouraging, but their grins felt more like taunts. It was confusing the colourful raptor. He gave them a quick snarl as he turned back to the game master.

“Do you know how this game works?” The dinosaur asked him, his tone was kind. Phaeniss didn’t like it but the word behave echoed in his head and he shook his head to indicate that he had in fact never played this game before at all. The game master explained to all three of them at the same time the basics of the game. It wasn’t a long game. It was rather self explanatory. Get the rings to stay on the tiny bottle necks. Got it. Phaeniss picked up his rings. Unlike the last one where you got three beanbags and three tries total, this game had five small, small rings that felt lighter than feathers in his fingers. 

“Comon, show us how it’s done now.” Ferdinand snickered behind him. Phaeniss scowled. He really wanted to show them that the first time wasn’t luck but actually skill on his part. But this game felt even more like it was completely based on luck. He sighed as he threw the first ring. It wasn’t even close to any of the bottle necks at all. It just landed in the middle of four of them. The game master tried to encourage him:

“Take your time and aim. There is no need to hurry here at all.”  Phaeniss wanted to snarl back at him that he had taken his time but he had never before played this game. He instead once again heard the word Behave echo in his head and he calmed himself down. An act that surprised even himself. The second toss wasn’t much better, it almost landed in the exact same place as the first one and before the game master could give him any encouragement he unintentionally glared over at him causing him to swallow his words instead.

The third and fourth ring toss actually managed to land on top of two battle necks. At this point the game master didn’t say anything. His eyes darted to the two raptors behind him. He had thought the three raptors were friends or even more when they arrived at his game but now he wasn’t as sure anymore. They seemed to thrive in each other's misfortune and scowl when the other did good. They didn’t cheer when Phaeniss did good but rather huffed when he managed to hit one of the bottles with the ring.

The fifth ring toss Phaeniss made didn’t even land close to the bottle, it managed to twirl itself in the air and land on its side on a bottle and with more force that seemed plausible it bounced towards the game master and landed at his feet.

“Two- Two rings is good you know!” He tried encouraging the colourful raptor but he had already turned around and with a scowl on his face had taken his place to stand behind the other two. 

“My turn.” Kormal said, his tone and face was neutral despite the fact that he had been both grinning and scowling just minutes before. The game master handed him the five rings and double checked that he had understood the game. Kormal, who was fairly bad at hiding his facial expressions when someone asked him a stupid question, simply looked at the game master until he told him to start.

“Go- go ahead.” 

Kormal's first toss was quite similar to Phaeniss first toss. It didn’t land anywhere near the neck of a bottle. It didn’t even bounce off any bottles at all and instead just landed itself in the middle of it. 

“Good start!” Ferdinand laughed behind him. Kormal turned his head towards him with a smirk. He would taunt him when he missed the first toss for sure. Instead of saying anything now he instead turned back to the game. The game master mostly just wanted these three creepy raptors to leave his game and had decided to say only the bare minimum at this point instead because when he spoke it seemed to mostly just get a distasteful stare back from two of them and a scowl from the third one. 

Kormal’s second toss barely made a sound as it fit itself snuggly onto the bottle neck. He couldn’t help but to stretch his neck proudly. He was well off at beating Phaeniss. And he doubted Ferdinand would do much better. It would actually be really funny if he managed to do worse than Phaeniss. Then Kormal could taunt him for ages.

His third toss wasn’t better, it bounced off a bottle after almost managing to land so that it could’ve fit around the bottle neck. He still had two more tries. He only had to hit those two and he would be best. The fourth toss hit one of the bottles perfectly. It made a clear sound as it circled its way down the neck of the bottle. He couldn’t help but to smirk as he imagined the looks on Phaeniss and Ferdinand's faces. He would with the last toss beat them both. He was sure of it. 

The fourth toss. Even the game master looked surprised as it bounced between three bottles and then hit the plane model, causing it to fall outside of the area. 

“Another double, like I said good-” Kormal’s scowl once again made him swallow the rest of the sentence.

“Show us how it’s done now then.” His voice had a tiny growl in it as he spoke to Ferdinand. Ferdinand grinned as he passed him towards the game master. He once again asked to make sure that Ferdinand also understood how the game worked. He was surprised to see that Ferdinand was smiling rather than scowling. Maybe he wouldn't be so bad to have as a player compared to the other two raptors.

Ferdinand’s first toss was clinking against the neck of a bottle as it made its way down in a spiral moving motion. It jumped a few times around the neck of the bottle as it fit itself snugly against the glass. “See, that’s how you do that.” He hummed towards Kormal and Phaeniss. Both of them glared at him. If they were impressed by how he had managed to hit his first toss then they didn’t show it at all on their faces. 

“Do it again. I dare you.” Kormal taunted him. 

“Easy.” Ferdinand said as he tossed another ring. It hit the bottle next to it, bounced in a gracious arch and managed to land on another bottle farther away from him. “I don’t understand how you both could find this so hard. It’s very easy.” The game master was encouraging him. He didn’t seem as bad as the other two. 

By the third toss however the small plastic ring decided that it would not give him the satisfaction of three in a row. It bounced wildly between a few bottles before it landed in between them.

“I have to keep you all entertained after all. Can’t hit them all perfectly, that would be boring.” Ferdinand joked with a wide grin as he prepared to toss his fourth ring. It seemed to hit the bottle right but in the last second it bounced away and landed on the ground. Ferdinand's smile started to falter as he prepared his last toss. He only needed to hit that last one to win over both Kormal and Phaeniss. It was easy. The odds were in his favour right? One more well placed toss and he could gloat for hours over the other two.

The ring seemed to take its sweet time as it flew in a wide arch. It had started to spin in the air but almost seemed to even itself out when it started to its descent. It didn’t hit a single bottle as it landed. Ferdinand scowled as the game master once again announced the results to the group.

“Three doubles. I suppose you all won then.” His voice slowly got weaker as he watched the three raptors clearly disappointed over the fact that they all did equally good. They didn’t say goodbye as all three of them immediately decided to go and try and find another game to decide who actually won this match. Because neither Kormal nor Ferdinand could possibly let Phaeniss keep this surprising lead he had managed to get himself. It almost didn’t matter if Ferdinand or Kormal won. As long as it wasn’t Phaeniss who won the most games. 

The game master sighed in relief as the three raptors left his little area. He hoped he wouldn’t be seeing them again. Good riddance.

2222 words.