Minutes after Gold dissapeared down the hallway, he returned; a girl shorter than all of the other kids following him.
She met eyes with everyone warily, her mouth curved up in a half smile. She didn't seem bothered that she was the shortest one in the room.
"So..." Gold said, breaking the small silence that had formed. "Why don't you guys hang out in here? Talk, play video games, get to know each other... while all the adults hang out in the kitchen. I got this new wine-" he paused and let out a sigh "- it's the best thing I've ever tasted."
"Don't you mean the adults and you will hang out in the kitchen?" Freddy asked, nudging his brother with a laugh.
Gold scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm an adult," he said indignantly.
"You sure don't act like one, Dad," Skylar chimed in with a laugh.
Freddy let out a chuckle. "Smart girl," he said, winking at Skylar, who smiled and winked back.
The adults all filed into the kitchen, talking and catching up, while the kids awkwardly flopped odwn on the couches as Skylar booted up the gaming system; a Wii U2.
"I have some racing games, Mario Party, and something with zombies that my dad likes to play all the time," Skylar said as she sifted through the games. She set out all the multiplayer games and tured to face the others, who had still said nothing. "What?" she asked. "I don't bite. Well, unless I'm hungry."
Sylvia sat like a perfect statue on the chair. Her eyes kept sweeping around the room.
Belle shifted in her seat and finally spoke up, trying to break the awkward silence. "Let's play the racing game. Toss me a controller," she said, holding out one hand.
Skylar smirked, obviously pleased that someone finally started speaking. She slid in the disk and threw Belle a controller. "Anyone else?" she asked, holding up the controller and brandishing it for everyone to see.
"I'll give it a shot," Elliot decided, grabbing the controller from Skylar.
"Eh, why the hell not?" Edd said with a shrug, accepting a third controller. "What about you, Silv?"
Sylvia shook her head, looking afraid of the controller as if it was going to grow large teeth and bite her.
Edd sighed. "Alright, sis. If you want to play just say something, okay? Or you can just poke me in the arm or something." He turned to Skylar. "Can you keep an extra controller out in case she wants to play? Thanks."
Skylar nodded, set out another controller, and sat down next to Belle and Elliot, holding the Gamepad. She started up the game, but Sylvia didn't move a muscle.
Skylar beat all the other three in the first race and whooped loudly, throwing up her arms.
Edd snorted. "I was in second, prepare yourself, female!"
"What does my gender have to do with this?" Skylar asked with a smirk. "You sayin' girls can't play video games?"
"Sexist!" Elliot yelled in a sing-song voice, and everyone started laughing, except Edd, who just smiled and rolled his eyes, clicking the next button on the screen and plunging them into the second race.
They all played in silence. Edd and Skylar ended up neck and neck on the last lap. They both leaned forward, urging their cars forward in hopes of winning. Closer, closer, and finally passing the finish line.
The game counted Skylar as first place and Edd as second.
"Gah!" Edd growled, slamming his controller into a pillow. "This game is rigged!" he declared, crossing his arms.
Skylar let out a loud laugh. "You're just a sore loser!" she teased, poking him in the arm.
Edd rolled his eyes. Out of nowhere, Sylvia spoke up. "I'll play in Edd's spot," she offered quietly.
Everyone turned to look at her, since she hadn't spoken up to that point. "Go for it," Edd said, handing her the controller. He seemed to be containing a smile and Skylar wondered incredulously what was going on. "Kick her butt for me, Silv."
"Ha! Kick MY butt? I'm the reigning queen of this game! There's no way you'll beat me!" Skylar said with a smug smile.
Sylvia said nothing, just blinked at Skylar and gave her a small grin, like she knew something that Skylar didn't.
The race started. Sylvia ended up way in the back about half a lap behind everyone else, and Skylar laughed to herself.
Edd and Sylvia exchanged a look. Sylvia pressed a combination of keys and jammed the A button. The screen froze for a second, and when it went back to normal, everyone was in the same place, but Sylvia's lap count had gone up one, making her a half-lap ahead instead of behind.
"What? What?!" Skylar shouted, shaking the gamepad in an attempt to make her car go faster, to no avail. "That's cheating!" her voice was full of surprise and anger, but had an underlying tone of awe.
"No it's not," Edd replied. "It's a glitch in the system. Saw it online once. We don't have a Wii U2 so we never got to try it out."
The race finished, with Sylvia in first by a landslide.
Skylar sighed. "Well, whatever. I was getting tired of this game anyway..."
"You're just a sore loser!" Edd said, mocking Skylar's voice and failing, poking her in the arm.
Belle laughed. "Hey guys, why don't we forget about the games for a while?" she asked. "We can just talk or something."
"Talk?" Skylar asked. "Who does that anymore?" She laughed and nudged Belle with her elbow. "Joking," she assured her.
"But video games are fun!" Elliot insisted with a wide grin.
"Especially when my sister is kicking everyones' butts," Edd added with a cocky smirk.
Skylar snorted. "Whatever. She totally cheated," she said indignantly and crossed her arms, finality obvious in her tone.
"Okay, whatever you say," Edd said, holding his hands up in surrender, his smirk still plastered on his face, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
The five children lounged around and talked about a little bit of everything - school, their friends, their crazy parents, and so on.
"I think we can all agree my dad is the craziest," Edd said.
"No way!" Skylar retorted, cocking one eyebrow. "You haven't been around my dad long enough. He has a toast song!"
Edd let out a laugh.
"Our dad runs around the house and runs into walls," Sylvia added with a small smile.
Belle cracked a smile as well. "Ours wears the weirdest shirts," she added, exchanging a glance with her sister.
Elliot giggled silently, shoving a pillow in her face to muffle the noise.
"Okay, whose mom is the weirdest?" Skylar asked, her finger flowing between the other four.
"Chica," the other four said in unison, and then they all broke out into laughs. They continued talking for another ten minutes until the adults migrated into the room, causing the teens to fall silent, waiting for them to say something.
Gold ran a hand through his hair, smiling at the kids. "Goldie Gold is takin' us all out to the best Macaroni Joint in Manhattan!" He told them excitedly.
"What place would that be?" Elliot asked, curious.
"Macaroni Joint," Gold and Skylar said at the same time.
"That's the name?" Edd asked with a smile. "Pretty silly."
"But their macaroni and cheese is to die for," Skylar told him.
Gold nodded. "It is really good. And, after that, I have a surprise for you all."
Everyone, including Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy looked interested. Belle guessed he hadn't even told them what the surprise was.
"Alrighty then!" Elliot chirped, excited. "Let's go!"