"Gather round folks because Warehouse family fun night is about to begin!" Claudia skipped into the living room of the B&B with a box behind her back and a mischievous smile on her face.
"Claud, are you sure that's a good idea? There are so many games we can't play due to near homicidal incidents. Do we really want to push our luck with another one?" Myka asked barely looking up from her book.
"Yes. I'm sure. I've eliminated anything regarding trivia of any kind. No literature, no science, no pop culture. No card games. No more BS due to someone's unnatural and annoying ability to tell when someone is lying." She side-eyed Steve quickly. " But I promise you, it's fun. Now come on Debbie Downers! Let's play!"
"Can it wait until this episode is over? I really want to see what happens!"
"Pete? You've seen this at least five times. Even I know how it ends." Myka again responded without looking up from her book.
Pete groaned and turned off the television. "Fiinnnneee. But I demand cookies later. What've we got to play?"
"Oh! Is it game night again already?" Helena asked as she plopped down on the sofa next to Myka and politely removed the book from her hands, making sure to place a bookmark before placing it on the table. Myka pretended to pout but ended up smiling half-way through.
"Glad you asked, HG. Tonight we are playing – drum roll please!" When she was met with silence she shook her head at the adults and continued on anyway. "TWISTER!" With a flourish she whipped the box in front of her.
"Oh this should be hilarious. I'll tell you know, I plan on winning this right now." Steve said as he stood and stretched.
"I'm a bit lost. What is 'Twister' and how does one play this game?"
"It's pretty simple really." Myka answered Helena's question as Claudia set up the mat in the center of the room. "We put a mat on the floor that has rows of circles, each row a different color. One person spins the spinner that will tell the others where to place their hands and feet. If you fall, or your elbows or knees hit the ground, you're out. We'll go through the first few rounds slowly. You'll see."
"Shot being spinner! You know, wrestling injury and what not. Can't really do the bendy twisty pretzel thing."
"Excuses excuses old man." Claudia poked Pete in the stomach. "Are you sure it's not because someone has been eating a few too many cookies? I might have to start calling you Pooh Bear instead of Artie."
"Hey this is all muscle and I can prove it!" Pete went to lift off his t-shirt when everyone else in the room simultaneously yelled at him to stop.
The first few rounds went slowly and smoothly. HG quickly picked up on how the game was played, agreeing it was simple yet fun. Ten minutes in Claudia decided to make things more interesting and took the spots closest to Steve, forcing him to reach for more difficult spots.
"Right haaaand... Yellow!" Pete called out. Unfortunately, for Claudia, her plan backfired and caused her to fall to the mat first.
"Frak!" She tried to crawl away without knocking any one over. "How does the young one end up out first? Shenanigans I say." Claudia sat down next to Pete to watch the rest of the game play out. After a few more spins Claudia was getting bored. It was then that she realized just how she could make this a lot more interesting. Pete had just called out the next move. As the others struggled to reposition themselves, Claudia whispered her plan to Pete. With a smile and a nod, the game really began.
Pete continued to control the spinner, but where it landed didn't really matter as Claudia was making it up as they went along. The first step was to eliminate Steve and after five strategic "spins" he landed on his butt.
"What was that about winning?"
"If I recall correctly, I lasted longer than you, Claud." Steve sat down next to Claudia as he stretched his arms above his head.
"Ehhhh... whatever. Pete, spin." The plastic spinner stopped on left food red but Claudia called out "Right hand blue!" She could tell Steve was about to call her out so she elbowed him, quirked her head towards Myka and HG, and raised her eyebrow. Steve squinted, unsure at what she was indicating but looked at his coworkers, and then back at Claudia as realization dawned.
"Ohhh!"
"What was that, Stephen?"
"Oh, nothing HG. Just stretched out a kink in my shoulder. Guess I'm not quite as flexible as I thought."
After a few more "spins," Claudia had managed to maneuver Myka and HG so that HG was in a crab walk position, struggling to keep her butt hovering above the ground. Meanwhile Myka was bridged over her, her hands on the green dots just outside of the ones Helena was on, and her feet on the red dots just inside of the dots Helena placed her feet. Needless to say after playing for so long, their muscles were getting tense. Helena pushed up and stretched out to release some of the tension in her muscles but inadvertently caused another kind of tension to rise.
Myka was very aware of the currently compromising position they were in. When Helena stretched upwards, she caused their chests to press together and Myka had to bite her lip to prevent a groan from slipping out.
Steve whispered to Claudia. "I really thought they would've cracked by now. You need to step this up. I swear their competitive nature is going to ruin your devious little plane." With that Steve coughed a little and excused himself as "nature was calling." As he left he signaled to Pete to leave as well.
"Speaking of nature calling, I hear some cookies in the kitchen calling my name. 'Peeeeete. Come eat us Pete. We taste so good. Put us in your mouth immediately.'" Pete shuffled his way towards the kitchen. All the talk of cookies actually made him crave them.
"So do you guys want to keep playing or should we just call it a tie?"
Myka looked down at Helena. "Do you surrender, Wells?"
Helena quirked her brow and smirked. "Darling, you know me better than that. Keep spinning, Claudia. I'll win soon enough."
"Getting cocky? This is your first time playing."
"Cocky? No. Just confident. And while this may be my first time playing Twister, I can assure you this is not the first time I've contorted my body for an extended period of time." Helena winked as she stretched upwards once more to playfully bump her hips against Myka's.
Myka's arms and legs buckled slightly. "Spin. Claud. Now."
"Gotcha." Claudia could barely contain her smile as she spun the board. "Left hand yellow!"
Myka was in the middle of moving her hand when she felt Helena's fingers lightly graze the side of her breast as her hand moved to its new spot. Her initial reaction was to lean into the touch but instead she pulled back quickly, disrupting her balance and forcing her to fall to her knees.
"Oh snap! The old lady wins!"
"Claudia, dear, do remember what happened the last time someone called me 'old lady.' Perhaps you should go work on our redux of the time machine."
"But I thought you said I couldn't wo-"
"Claudia! Go. Now." Claudia knew when Myka resorted to one word sentences it was time to get the hell out of dodge.
"Gotcha. Time machine. Warehouse. Going!" In a flash, the young techie was gone and Myka and Helena remained in the living room. HG finally lowered her body to the ground, leaning back on her elbows, still cradling a kneeling Myka between her legs.
"You play dirty, Wells."
"Oh you have no idea, darling." Helena swayed her left leg, then her right, to tap Myka as she spoke.
"I demand a rematch."
Helena looked at Myka, a bit puzzled. That was not where she anticipated this conversation going. "Well without a spinner that seems highly improbable and real-"
"Oh. We don't need a spinner." Myka's smile turned devious as she leaned down, an arm on either side of Helena's. "I have an entirely different game in mind." She brought her face closer to Helena's. "And I do believe you said something about being adept at contorting your body for extended period of times. Well now... it's time ..." She moved even closer, until there was barely any space between their lips and breathed out "... you prove it." before she closed the distance and pressed her lips against Helena's.
Helena moaned into the brief kiss. "Well, what a delightful turn of events. Though I think it's only fair to let you know, the others were scheming for something along these lines. I do believe Claudia was behind it."
"How do you figure that?"
"The framed picture behind the sofa. Quite a reflective surface from this angle. I could easily see what Pete was spinning and Claudia was not calling out the proper directives... And Steve doesn't know how to properly whisper. I may be old but my hearing is quite good."
"Well look at you. So clever. Such cunning should be rewarded." Myka leaned down for one more quick, teasing kiss, before she jumped up and started walking towards the stairs. After climbing the first few she paused to turn towards Helena and ask, "Coming?" before she continued her ascent.
Helena shook her head and chuckled as she stood up and dusted herself off. "Oh I will be. But not before you do, at least twice."