[Friday, 16 December 2039]

As soon as everyone was settled into the new gaming house, we all fell into a routine.

Every morning I woke up to Cyan's quiet snores, knowing that her alarm clock will go off exactly three times before she turned it off. This gave me enough time to get ready before she made her way to our shared bathroom.

Hades was always the first team member downstairs, generally sharing a cup of coffee with Uncle Turtle who had earlier cooked us breakfast. Uncle Turtle would finish his cup and then leave for his day job. This left both Hades and me to help ourselves to the food before the other three came wandering downstairs. Hurtle always appeared a bit disheveled and half asleep. On the other hand, Adept generally looked slightly sore which I found out later from Hades was because Cyan usually woke him up by jumping onto his bed.

"It's one of the reasons why I'm always downstairs first… It gets a little awkward at times," Hades told me.

Then there was Cyan who looked happy with a slight blush on her face. Probably from the teasing that came from Adept.

Once everyone was done with breakfast, we all left for our respective schools. Hurtle and I walked to ours while Hades drove the rest of them to theirs. He had offered to drop us off, but we told him we were used to it. Our walks to school and back were usually my 'best friend bonding time' with Hurtle. We didn't have that much free time to hang out with just the two of us now that we lived with the others.

When everyone returned home from school, we grabbed a snack before getting into some ranked 5's. We spent time in between games talking about strategy and things we had to work on. Then two hours before dinner, we stopped playing to do whatever homework we had or study. It was really important that we kept up our grades.

Dinner was usually cooked by Uncle Turtle and we would all eat together. Adept and Uncle Turtle generally talked about our team practice and Uncle Turtle would give us his input. Since he was a former professional, he has a lot of experience with the problems we were dealing with.

After dinner was when everyone played some solo queue (or Twisted Treeline). I started to duo with Hurtle more once I reached Masters to work on our bot lane synergy. Around ten o'clock the last games were played and then we were all off League. Uncle Turtle was very adamant about this rule because he didn't want us to burn out before we even made it into the Challenger Series. Our official 'bedtime' was at midnight, so we found other things to do during that time.

Usually you could find Cyan and Hades watching anime. Hurtle and Adept would occasionally go out for nightly jogs or play some first person shooters (they were always on opposing teams). But I took the opportunity to spend some time by myself. Living with everyone was still a bit overwhelming for me.

I was sitting outside on the front porch, reading under a dim light when Hurtle and Adept returned from their jog.

"Aph!" Hurtle called out as they neared. "You're going to get sick if you stay out here." I could sense the worry in his voice.

"I won't be out here for long, just wanted some fresh air," I told him.

"She'll be fine," Adept said. Hurtle didn't look like he believed him, but didn't argue.

"I'll go inside soon," I promised, hoping to appease my best friend.

"Fine, don't stay out too long. You need to come inside so I can smash you in Hearthstone," Hurtle smirked.

"Don't get so cheeky!" I stuck my tongue out at my best friend.

"Then beat me!" he grinned, entering the house before I could retort.

"Tch…" I pouted. Adept laughed at our silly exchange. "Have a nice jog?" I asked him.

"Yeah. It's nice having a jogging partner," he nodded.

"Oh please, I bet you two are just competing to see who has the most stamina," I rolled my eyes.

"That too," Adept grinned, "We're rivals for everything."

"Ha. I can imagine you two fighting over the same girl," I teased.

"We are," he said simply.

I blinked, not expecting that response. My eyes widened when I thought about it. Hurtle liked Cyan? My hand flew up and covered my mouth. Well that could explain the…

"Just kidding Aph," Adept laughed, "Man your reaction was hilarious."

My jaw dropped a little as I could only gape at him. "That wasn't funny!" I cried out, swinging my book at him. He dodged it easily and that only made him laugh more. "Hmph," I crossed my arms and looked away from him. "I'm going inside so you can't bully me anymore," I told him as I got up from my spot.

"No wait," Adept stopped me by placing a hand on my arm. "Let's talk a bit," he suggested, taking a seat next to me. I looked at him suspiciously but complied.

"Alright then, what do you want to talk about?" I asked him. He shrugged and that only made me more suspicious.

"I don't know. Well I guess I meant to say that I don't really know much about you," Adept glanced at me. "I know Cyan well because we grew up together. I know Hades because he's my best friend and I know Hurtle because we're rivals, but I don't really know anything about you."

"I like having the element of surprise," I smirked.

"You won't be a mystery for much longer!" Adept declared.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" I ask curiously.

"A hunch?" Adept guessed.

"You're relying on your instincts?" I questioned.

"They haven't failed me yet!"

"I guess not, seeing as you're still alive," I agreed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adept looked confused. I grinned at him as I thought about my best friend. If Hurtle was here, he'd say it was a miracle that Adept survived Cyan for such a long time. It wasn't that I disliked Cyan or anything, but it seemed like Hurtle was rubbing off on me.

"I see. Still trying to stay mysterious by not telling me." I nodded in response. In reality I was just too busy imagining the situation, but he didn't have to know that. "C'mon Aph."

"I don't really know much about you," I retorted.

"It's not my fault you fell asleep during my story time," Adept smirked, bringing up our first meeting. I cringed at the thought.

"It's not my fault you put me to sleep!" I defended, but he laughed. It didn't seem like he believed me.

"Sure, it was my fault you fell asleep."

"I'm glad we agree on something," I stuck my tongue out at him. It was his turn to roll his eyes.

"Ha ha," he muttered, "But really Aph, since we know nothing about each other…"

"I know your name?" I interrupted him.

"That doesn't count!" Adept pouted, "But as I was saying… why don't we play 21 questions?"

"Really? You want to play a game?" I rose an eyebrow.

"We're both gamers and we're both trying to get to know each other, so it seems appropriate," Adept explained his reasoning.

"We play video games, not question games," I shook my head, "but alright, since you're so insistentthat we get to know each other, you can go first."

"Favorite color?" Adept threw out.

"You're kidding me, right?" I looked at him in disbelief.

"What? We're starting out easy and slow," he defended.

"Alright then. My favorite color is China Rose," I answered.

"What?"

"It's a shade of purple."

"Your favorite color isn't red or pink?"

"What? No. Why would you think that?"

"Aphrodite? Goddess of Love?" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Irrelevant."

"Okay fine. My favorite color is blue."

"How generic."

"I'm a simple guy. I don't have a fancy color like you do."

"Peasant," I mutter under my breath.

"Sorry your highness," he grinned at me. "Now you ask a question."

"Hmm…" I tapped my index finger on my lip as I thought about what to ask.

"Don't think too hard," Adept teased. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Why did you want to go pro?" I asked.

"If you keep asking questions like this, Hurtle is going to kill me."

"If you keep stalling, Hurtle will definitely kill you," I pointed out.

"Touché," he nodded his head in agreement. "Alright, but first put on my jacket. Don't want you getting sick," he said as he took off his jacket and tossed it on my lap.

"But you'll get cold!" I complained. I had a sweater on which was a lot more than just his t-shirt.

"I'll be fine," he insisted. I let out a dramatic sigh before putting it on.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"Alright so it all started when my parents took me to my first LCS game when I was six…" he started his story.

"You knew you wanted to go pro when you were six," I repeated.

"Aph! Let me tell my story!"

"Sorry sorry."

"Anyways, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…" he smirked. I stuck my tongue out at him once more, but didn't say anything. "… My parents took me to my first LCS game and during the first game I fell asleep." He paused and waited for me to finish giggling.

"But my parents woke me up just as the game was ending. The audience was cheering and the winning team looked so happy. They all jumped out of their seats and their fans crowded in front of the stage to get a high five. That was when I knew I wanted to become a pro," Adept finished. "Oh and after the second game, I begged my parents to let me run up there to high five the pros," he added.

"Awww!" I squealed, imagining the scene in my head.

"Yeah, I was pretty cute."

"Uh huh."

"You can ask Cyan!" he sounded a little offended. I didn't want to tell him that Cyan would be completely biased, so I just smiled at him.

"Since you already know my story, it's your turn to ask," I told him, changing the topic.

"If you were stranded on an island with one of us, who would it be?"

"Hurtle," I answered immediately. 'Seriously… these questions.'

"Excluding Hurtle."

"Hades," I answered in the same speed. I was pretty close with Hades from all the duo queuing.

"… Excluding Hades?"

I took a moment to think about it. If I was stuck on an island with Cyan, I'd probably die. If I was stuck on an island with Adept, Cyan would probably still find a way to kill me.

"Uncle Turtle," I concluded.

"He doesn't even count!" Adept exclaimed.

"Fine…" I sighed, thinking about it. The obvious answer would be to say Adept, but… "Cyan."

"…" the look on his face was priceless.

"She wouldn't make me play question games," I shrugged, rolling my shoulders.

"Well you weren't my first choice either!" he shot back.

"Real mature," I giggled. This time he stuck his tongue out at me.

"I'd probably choose Hurtle too."

"Back off, he's mine," I said overprotectively, crossing my arms.

"I bet I could steal him," he challenged. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Your turn to ask!" he said quickly before I could retort.

"Team. Sleep. Marry. Kill. Go." I said, remembering the question from a video I watched.

"…" Adept looked a little conflicted. "I'm not gay, Aph."

"That wasn't my question, Adept," I rose an eyebrow.

"I know," he fidgeted, "b-but…"

"You're the one who wanted to play this game," I rose an eyebrow.

"Fine," he sighed, "Hades. You. Hurtle."

"In that order?"

"In that order," he confirmed. It got quiet after that. 'Okay, maybe that wasn't the best question.'

"Not Cyan?"

"That's like sleeping with my sister!"

"I didn't say you had to sleep with her," I smirked. He could have easily replaced any one of us with her name.

However… poor Cyan. Adept had brought it up before, but Hurtle and I thought he was just in denial. He probably still was.

"Do you like Hurtle?" Adept asked, changing the subject.

"Of course I do." Again, what was with these obvious questions?

"I mean like-like." Oh.

"Ah…" So he was throwing my own question back at me. Hurtle was like a brother, but most importantly he was my best friend. Sure our parents joked about us getting married in the future… but we were only 17. We had plenty of time.

"Maybe one day," I shrugged.

"What do you mean by 'one day'" he made air quotes.

"He's special to me. I think that if I'm still single by the time I'm in my late twenties, I'd consider it."

"So he's like your back up?"

"I guess you can put it like that."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"Nah, I'm sure he feels the same way."

"How do you know that?"

"We've talked about it, briefly," I admitted. It was during one of my mental breakdowns about the future. I started spurting a bunch of nonsense and Hurtle was trying his best to calm me down. The topic sort of came up and we decided we'd be each other's back up. This way we wouldn't be alone for the rest of our lives.

"Would you marry Cyan if you were in that situation?" I asked.

"What, you don't think I'll find myself a wife?" Adept joked.

"I guess you're capable…"

"Ouch. The doubt hurts, Aph."

"You haven't answered."

"Do I have to answer?"

"It's my next question."

"I-it would probably make her happy," he said quietly. So he did know. 'Guess he's not as dense as we thought he was…'

"That doesn't exactly answer my question. Does she know that you know?"

"No."

"And you're not interested?"

"I told you she's like a sister."

"Hurtle is like my brother," I pointed out.

"It's different."

"Oh really? How so?" I asked curiously. It seemed like the same exact situation to me.

"She… has always struggled to make new friends. I grew up with her so I was always there and I guess she figured that it was enough. But I want her to make new friends, to 'spread her wings' ya know?" Adept gave me a small smile, "The team was supposed to be one of the ways for her to make friends."

"Look, I know she hasn't been the nicest to you and Hurtle, but I know she's trying. She told you guys her backstory, and that's more than she's ever told anyone. She never had time for friends."

I stayed quiet. Even though I've known Cyan for months now, I didn't really know her. I didn't even really know Adept. We even had that first meeting where we had 'real talk' (even though I did fall asleep during Adept's story…). My parents had told me that when they first joined their team it was all work. They didn't know much about their other teammates even though they were considered as friends. That put a strain in their teamwork and friendships. Hell, Doublelift even thought that Aphromoo's favorite food was hot Cheetos for the longest time.

"I'll come inside soon she said!" the front door opened. "Don't worry Hurtle, I won't stay out too long. I'm just getting fresh air, not trying to get sick, nope."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Hurtle to interrupt the moment.

"Sorry Hurtle," I said sheepishly when my best friend stepped out with his arms crossed.

"No, it was my fault for keeping her out here," Adept said, getting off the ground and offering me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up.

"I trusted you with her!" Hurtle said in mock horror.

"At least I gave her my jacket?"

"Hm… I guess that's fine, for now."

I rolled my eyes, there goes Hurtle's dad mode.

"Ha. Ha," I scoffed, "Let's just go inside." I pushed Hurtle back into the house. "Oh, and Adept? I feel the same way, thanks for telling me," I smiled at him. I'll try my best to be friends with Cyan.

"W-wait what?! What are you talking about Aph?" Hurtle complained.

"Oh just go inside," I pushed the resisting Hurtle. He was trying to get back outside.

"Thanks Aph," Adept grinned, realizing the misunderstanding I just caused.

"Aph!"

"Oh c'mon. Smashing you in Hearthstone is long overdue," I taunted.

"Oh puhlease – wait don't change the topic!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said innocently.

"AGH ADEPT!"

What a drama queen.

13/07/2015

Hi. So originally I was going to post this late April, but then I figured I'd make the chapter longer. Well it's July now, and I cut off all the extra stuff because I've been traveling so much that I never got to finish it. I still have one more plane ride to catch so I decided I'd just post it as it was supposed to be, just months late. So yeah... whoops? I'm also going to start dating in the chapters so the timeline is a lot clearer :)

- Adam218, thanks for reading! The plot is going along rather slowly, but I want to try to develop the relationships between the characters before I toss them into the Challenger Series.