[https://i.imgur.com/yEQYowO.jpg]

Part 7 - Equilibrium 

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Leaving Candace to her...herself, we made our way around to the main area which usually contained a sizable, elevated stage. A dozen laptops were connected to a fountain of cables. An edited video of some brightly-colored team competition with guns and lasers played on all the screens.

With Lina's name-tag, we managed a booth close to the action. Our server told us, "The owner apologizes for how you both were treated when you arrived and you can order anything off the main drink and main appetizer menu on your tablet over there till closing tonight."

She held her device against the tablet and entered a quick code to make that so. The selection was limited but eh, free stuff. We both hadn't eaten since the small pizza we split for lunch but, while I was eyeing the shrimp cocktail and a sweet lime margarita, Lina gazed at the competition area.

"Would you like anything to eat, Lina?"

She looked back as I held up the tablet for her. Scrolling along, she remarked, "Wanna keep my hands not-sticky, so stew and salad for now. You should get bangers." She smirked.

Sending the order through, I answered, "I do have a sausage limit." I was still gonna get them though, just later. Lina giggled and looked back at the game area.

The only girls I could see were ones with the Salty Lemon logo on their tops. No wait, long dirty-blond hair over on the right. Oh, that was a guy too. But, damn, I needed whatever salon he went to. Aside from the laptops, there were colorful devices set nearby and a bunch of wireless controllers. 

I watched Lina with her half-gloved hands up near her face. Her smile beamed through them. With a smirk, I asked, "So, having fun now?"

She giggled again and said, "I had no idea there was anything like this in Frostwell. Maybe over near Grand Rapids or Ann Arbor, where there are conventions, but not our area. And yeah! This is awesome!" I could see her legs wiggling under the table like she was swimming in water.  

With a deep breath, she declared, "I don't even mind the trouble we had getting in. You were awesome. And I was like a moment away from just declaring I was an Allwetter. Forget that it was wrong. Forget what people might say. Wear it with pride. I was but the future will be different." I smiled, though my heart gave a dull ache.

When our food arrived, Lina ate carefully and with lots of napkins as she picked out the most solid parts of her stew and the driest parts of her salad. I enjoyed the fresh tingle of my drink paired with a "shrimp" almost the size of my hand. 

The music from the competition area changed. Over speakers, they announced, "Competitors for the Salty Lemon's Gaming Admiral...get prepared to battle. Teams of six versus six for the first event. Teams will be random. May the winds of fortune be at your sails!" Lina hopped in place and clapped her hands. I downed the rest of my margarita and thought about my second drink. The Red Mutiny with rum, vermouth, bitters, and cherry sounded nice. 

"R! If your last name starts with R, as in riggings, come on and prepare to be the first challengers to the Admiralty!" Lina clapped with the others around as a few people came up. A guy with a really dense, dark beard behind thin glasses and a baseball cap. He flexed and stuck out his tongue for a group off to our left. Soon, he was joined by the guy with long hair I thought was a girl. Damn, amazing hair and a decent ass too. And then...an Amish? 

Pretty-clearly Amish. Beard like the first guy but lighter. Those clothes were obvious though. Homemade look, light colors, and slacks with suspenders. He had an old-fashioned hat in his hands. You saw a lot of Amish around town with smartphones. A lady in a bonnet off to the right clapped for him. 

The last fellow to come up looked a little like Greg. Same flop of hair I missed so bad. Same little bit of scruff. Only he seemed more doughy than beefy. 

Lina cupped her hands around her mouth and waited for the next call. 

"H! If your last name starts with an H, as in helm, get your landlubber behind over here and take up the challenge of the Admiralty!" Did they really have a different bit themed for each letter? Lina sunk her hands deeper around her mouth but still put in a few hearty claps.

This time, first up was a big guy with his eyes down and his hands clasped behind him. He was maybe in his 40s with silver, stringy hair around his face. He could use a hairpin too. The next one had no use for them. Virtually bald with just a light fuzz. Looked like some soccer player as he pumped his fists. He had a sport shirt on with a number and a name that meant nothing to me.

Next guy was jacked. You could see his pecs through his shirt and the veins on his forearms. He could probably bench the two of us without breaking a sweat. His legs were etched into his jeans. Lina paid attention to him too. On top of all that was his dense, handlebar mustache. 

He was followed by the first girl I'd seen. Her top was game-themed like Lina's. It showed a vaguely-familiar critter with a flower on its back in a field of tall grass. She had short brown hair which looked recently-trimmed. And lastly, the youngest guy of the group so far. He seemed in his teens. Dark, short hair was pasted against his face by a glimmering sheen of sweat. And he'd just stepped into the lights.

No more came up. Six on six and they already had nine. 

Lina attempted to distract herself with a bit more salad but just wound up stirring it. I was about to say something when the announcer spoke again.

"O! If your last name starts with O, then come ON BOARD with the rest of your crew and stand ready to meet the ultimate challenge!"

He didn't even need to finish his whole statement. Lina was up and out. She held onto a toothy, eager smile and waved her half-covered hands above her head at me. Fucking yeah! She was up and she was gonna play!

I cheered and clapped and generally wore myself out just a few seconds in. Two other guys came up too. Some black guy almost as short as Lina with a close-cropped afro and another guy with light-brown hair in a mop and a stringy body like John's. Smaller mop, less wet hobo though.

But, whatever, Lina was up! Wooo! Hell yea! Down my new drink!

The announcer explained the rules. Best players had an overall score for prizes. Scored on stuff in the game like kills, assists, objectives. I would just watch Lina to make sure she stayed happy.

They gave her and everyone else white-and-red headphones. Then, they were seated at the laptops. Lina sat about in the middle between mop guy and handlebar. Baseball cap was talking a lot. Team stuff? Lina nodded and looked relaxed. On the near end was the small black kid with Amish guy on the other side.

Some more stuff from the announcer about cycling games and fighting matches. Lina told me all that before. I ordered up something called the "Stormy Night" and the "Crusty Dog".

The game looked interesting, but I had no idea what I was watching. Lina picked a blond, angel/robot-looking lady as her character. 

Finally, the competition began. I whooped it up for her. I sat on the edge and clapped for whatever. Music with a nice beat filled the air. Lina had her eyes locked on the screen and a grin on her face. 

Baseball dude was barking orders and so was the Amish. Lina's character had a stick that glowed yellow and blue, but it was also a gun or...I had no idea. But she was quick. And she just had a laptop keyboard and a mouse. It went over my head right there how to do all that stuff with a keyboard. She was kicking butt or healing butt or both.

With the Stormy, my mind wasn't as clear on everything as before but they were playing in a factory. Sci-fi factory. Pastel colors. Kinda pretty. 

"Go, Lina!" 

The overhead screens kept switching but I was happy whenever Lina was up. One was for the running score. Lina was in the middle but still had a big number. And she flew! That was so cool. More shooting. A lot of jumping. I just cheered and tried to figure out what made my dog crusty. Oh, garlic-and-cheese-crusted bun. I liked dogs in buns. Nice, hot meat. 

Oh! A big score flashed on the screen. Go, Lina! She was hunched close to the laptop now. I'd never really seen her like this before. Well, we played a game but she was teaching me and, with the cards, she was distracted because I pulled out my dicks. 

The black guy was so stoic. Hard to see the other side of the table but I heard the other girl say something. Mustache was kicking ashe...hehe. It was sweaty. No, I was sweaty.

High five between Mop and Lina. Aww, I wanted a high-five from Lina. From Greg too. More than five. Greg was much more than five. Mmm, I could use a pickle too. Hehe, use it... 

Wow. This Storm was turbulent to finish. I felt more with it last Friday. Those drinks had more water. Beer. I needed an ale or a beer. And a glass of water too. No. Just the beer. 

Lina's screen was all glowy. Right on! Big claps! She saw me. Yeah, you get that other team of robots, ghosts, and apes! Mop was getting close, leaning right next to Lina. I couldn't hear him. Nooo...don't get in on my man. She's...he's just temporarily t-temporarily inde-ind...shortly an innie.. yeah.

Mopper fucker. Keep that cleaning utensil away. Okay, I was starting to get back to myself. I hit those drinks hard and they hit me. Definitely beer. Okay. Tablet. Very slippery tablet. 

Drinks. I need more. More but less in more. Less that, more other so I don't pass out. Geez, they don't water them down here. Yeah. That's why I come. But very pricey. Their specialties were like the same as doubles at any other place...oh. Oh. I'd had three doubles.

Crap! Something loud happened. Big tank? That wasn't Lina. Big thing though. Better clap cause her side was happy. Go, girl! Wooo. 

I needed fish. No. Fuck fish. Not literally. Bread, I needed bread. Yeah. Okay, play nice little tablet. No flopping around. Ordered for the longboat of beer and a mug of bread. I can do things. 

Lina was doing so much. Her light stick was all over. But don't lean over on my man, Moppy. Hmm...if I bet him to beat Lina and he loses, he can be a girl too. Hehe. And Lina gets a playmate without an active joystick. But, if Lina wins, she can bet she becomes both Lina and Greg. Then they split in two, break physics mass laws, and I have my bestie and my man. 

Can you take that, fuckers? Take that bet. Lina wants to BE. She can live. Other Lina gets the confident twin sister to help her be stronger and a player-two who understands her totally.

But you fuckers don't do anything worth goddamn real shit. You just gudking...fucking make dumb bets happen that troll people and take my man away and doom my friends and fuck me over. Pub guy scrammed...scammed you, didn't he? Made more of a little bonus and fucked you hard. That's why bets don't really do much. Teasing us with real magic but just enough to excite. No finish, ya limp dicks.

"Ma'am, are you alright? Here's your order."

Oh god, how long had I been muttering? No one looking at me but the server. I made sure the beer wasn't a double beer. The taste of vomit wasn't a good taste. He got me a water and that longboat too. Good work.

Oh! A match won. Not Lina's group but she was really high overall. Best of three? Cheering again! Aww, she smiled then raised an eyebrow. Sipping the beer. Take it easy. 

She was still the angel but the others switched. One a robot and a smoke gunslinger. Not like I can even see their faces. Why am I bleeding on my arm? Oh crap. I scratched something too hard. It was the tablet. Machines rising against us! Gotta go scare Deb.

Ugh, bitter swallow. Ok, dab a napkin in the water and clean up. I didn't want to miss Lina winning. Mop was still horning my man. 

Last strike. You're gonna get it. First, gonna cheer, then imma gonna make you one less. The betdicks can take away a man, so can I. I bet I can do it. Wanna take that?

Ok, watch. Oooh, look at that. Moppy. Oh poor, Mop. Your mop is all sleek like brownie on the other side. You two can share hair care. Bands of tans and brown like a wet-dry mop. Your wide smile is with swollen, red lips. You're the smaller friend now. Don't worry your prettied-up lil head, your new game-friend is gonna show you dicks that'll make you not pine for adapters on your new buttons but a long, hard joystick sliding in. You're not gonna mop about it, hehe.

Cheers on this side. They approve. Siiiiip. This tastes like ass and water. Siiip. Still does. Siiip...

"Go, Lina! Kick butt!"