Survival Of The Fittest

"Right." Claude responded casually, followed by a chuckle even though he himself couldn't relate since he didn't have parents.

Bah!

Now was not the time for such melancholic thoughts. He quickly pushed them to back of his mind since now—and most days—was a time for joy and happiness. Claude looked at everyone after they all played their cards, and with a deep breath of preparation, he flipped the first card to reveal what it was.

"Life's pretty tough in the fast lane. That's why I never leave the house without The French."

That got him to chuckle a bit. But that was it, Claude really wanted to actually laugh at one of these. Quickly, his hand hovered over to the next card, flipping it over and revealing what it said.

"Life's pretty tough in the fast lane. That's why I never leave the house without being a fucking sorcerer."

Wow that was... something, to say the least. Clarissa's card made him chuckle, but Sylvie's really only just made him feel bad for her. Claude hoped that Sylvie would have better luck next round as he went to flip the last card over.

"Life's pretty tough in the fast lane. That's why I never leave the house without Announcing that I am about to cum."

For the smallest nanosecond, Claude was straight faced, but right after said nanosecond passed, a wheeze escaped his gritted teeth as buried his face into his palms. His body shook repeatedly as he laughed and went red in the face. One of his fingers pointed at Marcy's card and–in between his fits of bellowing laughter–Claude declared, "Marcy wins..."

The ebullient little flame of Clarissa's mood- evil plan laugh, so on- flickered when Marcy took her call. She saw the darker shadows dragging over Marcy's features and had to look away. She focused on the opening notes of a song she'd heard on the radio back in the auto shop before- one she didn't like much, so she didn't really remember what it was called.

A long moment passed until she was sure she was no longer disrupting Marcy's privacy, and until she was sure she no longer felt like she was doing something wrong by being there and listening to it. In that amount of time the round had ended! Another L, but like. Marcy's combo had been genius and Clarissa was burying her face in her hands for a long moment, so.

"Ehhhahaaa...! What- the- f-hhahafuck, ahaheeheehe..."

Ws all around, really.

Clarissa once more calmed down and once more was a bit too red. She shot Sylvie a thumbs up, if it was time to go then it was time to go.

"If Sylvie's got to go in a bit then I'm her ride home. And for the two of you as well, because rideshare prices are not fun, so on." Getting to drive her friends around... the pinnacle of life in the quiet suburbs of Sin City. Always has been... etc. "Sylvie's got more homework than can fit in the observable universe sometimes so like, prio. Once we drop her off I can take you guys wherever you wanna go."

In Clarissa's mental map everyone actually lived pretty close together since they all lived in sections of Silver Springs. From Sylvie, 8thleft2ndleftnextright5thleft Marcy, 2ndright5thleftnextleft Claude. Clarissa was the only one who needed to take the main road back home. Apt 602, Skyline Heights. Tangerine Grove Avenue, 89532. Parking slot 638, right next to her parents 639.

While her the neurons in her mind were still operating the powerful huge overhead electric lines that brought to life her encyclopedia of cars and addresses and people's names and faces she remembered. Text Johnny:

JohnnyB
Did you see the new article on CAD about the Silverado boat collab
That's fucking hilarious lol amazing dumbness to start the year
Also dad said one of our clients this week is bringing in an 86 Pontiac 2/2
If you wanted to swing by and look at it before i start
Its legit ugly tbh but its rare this might be the only one in the whole city etc
should be sunday morn if u have the time

Clarissa had impressive texting speed. Cheerleader, auto mechanic, etc.

"It was fun to hang out today guys! We should definitely do it again sometime."

Clarissa smiled, bright of eye and tooth. She meant it, she always meant it.

[Clarissa Shoemaker, Pregame Thread 2 Concluded]

The-

Oh, Clarissa, you rat. That one got the bigger chuckle out of her. Her and Claude's second nationalities were always easy targets, but that wasn't even the part she found that funny out of the sentence produced. If only she and Claude could accompany her everywhere, like a pair of shockingly contrasting bodyguards. Man, what Sylvie would give to always leave the house with Claude at her side... DAYdreams aside, it was her turn now. She didn't have many good options, but she thought the one she picked would land well with the audiences present, and

The striking silence from Claude broke her heart a little but we don't need to get into that okay good times wide smiles don't look sorry for yourself

After a little bit of failing to not look a little sad at Claude's non-reaction (she did her bestsst) she perked up noticing Clarissa's thumbs up shot towards her. Go time? Go time. She grasped her cup in her hands and daintily finished the drink off in one fell sip, letting out a satisfied sigh as she put the cup back down. Snickering at Marcy's comment to mask the fact that she was gonna agonize over that fucking algebra in the comfort of her own room, she hopped off her crate-chair and slung her things™ over her back.

"Ahh, the unfortunate truth... at least we get to ride together one more time. We should go out like this more often..."

She not-so-subtly eyed a specific person, making that remark. Little red in her face herself, though one who *was* observing could observe a substantial decrease in total panic since the hangout actually began. Maybe this ride around she could let Marcy have shotgun...

[Sylvie Rattray-Aubert continued elsewhere...]

Marcy wasn't one to brag...

Ok, that was a lie. She fucking LOVED to brag. Nevertheless she did her best to restrain herself, only punching the air once with a muted woo of celebration.

With everyone getting ready to head off, she finished off her milkshake with a satisfying ssssslurp, feeling a slight buzz as she put her empty cup down. It wasn't enough to make her feel outright tipsy - god forbid, she wasn't THAT much of a lightweight. But she was certainly feeling that initial fuzziness one gets after their first drink of the night.

Would it be her last? Who knows. Probably not, come think of it, if she was heading back home. Unless they dropped by a 7/11 on the way back... Food for thought.

Regardless, at least the afternoon ended on a high note. She got to hang out with the girls, get her hands on a tacky pair of shades, piss off her mom and set Sylvie up with a 6'7" studasaurus rex. All things considered: Mission Accomplished.

Oh, and she was DEFINITELY calling shotgun this time.

((Marcy Valerio continued in Public Service Announcement))

Incidentally - Not long after sending that text, Clarissa received a response.

No kidding? Sure, why the hell not. Never thought I'd ever see a Pontiac outside of a museum, lol
Seeya Sunday!