Raj springs out of the armchair and goes to stand next to the TV.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he begins, adopting the tone of a TV host about to introduce the contestants of a beauty pageant. “We are about to commence-”

“That’s exclusionary, Raj,” Ripley interrupts, tucking his feet up beneath himself on the couch. “Not everyone is a lady or gentleman, you know.”

Raj thinks about that for a minute, then comes back with: “Honored dignitaries.”

“Much better,” Ripley laughs.

“Esteemed - citizens?”

“Now you sound like an alien trying to blend in among the humans,” I tell Raj, who tosses his hands up in the air. “Or, like - a dictator, maybe?”

“We’re all dudes in here,” Noah points out. “You could just say gentlemen.”

“Aren’t you forgetting someone, Noosh?” Aiden asks.

He nods down at Nikita, who is fast asleep in his huge arms.

“Oh, true, bro. My bad. We’ve got a lady present.”

“Well - not necessarily, right?” Raj asks. “She’s not old enough to tell us what the deal is yet. Could be we are all gentlemen in this room, we don’t know.”

Ripley bites back a laugh. “At the very least, we’re all honored dignitaries.”

“Right on, dude.” Raj points at him, nods in agreement. “That’s what I’m running with. Honored dignitaries! Let the ceremony begin!”

Raj swivels to face the TV, where the main menu of the game we’re playing is pulled up. It’s a retro-style game called CREATURE TERROR!, which blinks in giant, bright red letters across the screen. It turns out that there’s a pretty dope character creator option, and since none of us could agree on what kind of monster to make -

“We’ve each had fifteen minutes alone with the character creator,” Raj says. “Now we’re gonna take a look at everyone’s monster, then vote on the scariest two, who will then battle it out.”

“I’m about to sweep you clowns with mine.” Noah lounges back against the couch, tucking his arms behind his head. “The only question is, who’s gonna be chosen to battle me?”

“Please,” Ripley scoffs.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that, Noah,” I add, taking a sip of my beer.

“Aiden, you’re up first,” Raj announces, and uses the controller to select Aiden's monster. It pulls up onto the screen, to a collective gasp of laughter from the group.

Aiden chose to go with a massive squid. The monster waves its poison tentacles in a threatening way that’s completely undercut by the tiny captain’s hat on its head, and the pair of goggles it’s wearing.

“Um,” Ripley laughs, “What - what?”

“I call him the Sarge,” Aiden informs us.

Noah’s shoulders are shaking with laughter. “Bro, you went for a sea creature, but didn’t choose the Megalodon?”

“He’s half Kraken, half giant squid,” Aiden continues, ignoring him, “But still big enough to easily crush a cruise ship.”

“A loveable mistake of nature,” Raj chuckles.

“Sounds like you, Noah,” Ripley says, and Noah laughs, reaching over to swat his arm. Ripley dodges him, then turns back to Aiden. “Why the goggles, man?”

“Night vision goggles, for nighttime attacks.”

“And the hat?”

“From a battle against a heroic sergeant, which he won, obviously. Also where he got his name. Now he wears the hat to instill fear.”

Ripley presses his paint-stained fingers over his mouth. “Okay, but why is the hat so tiny?”

Aiden blinks at him. “You can change the size of stuff?”

“Oh, babe,” I say affectionately, as Noah, Ripley, and Raj dissolve into laughter. “Video games are just - really not your best thing.”

“The Sarge is so cute,” Ripley says, grinning. “Is it weird that I want to hug him?”

“Oh, come on,” Aiden protests. “He’s intimidating, okay?”

“Yeah, totally, Aiden.” Noah shakes his head, unable to keep a straight face. “The Sarge is mad intimidating. Like a newborn kitten, or a dust mite.”

“Alright, enough,” Raj laughs, then picks up the controller again. “Jamie, you’re up.”

My monster bounds onto the screen with a vicious snarl.

Aiden huffs out a laugh when he sees it. “Unsurprising choice.”

It’s a colossal grizzly bear. I gave him a red mohawk, huge demonic eyes, and brutally jagged teeth. His claws are scary enough, but I equipped a weapon, anyways.

“Harpoon gun, huh?” Noah says. “Things are looking bad for the Sarge. What’s his name, Jamie?”

“Hellbender.”

Noah nods his approval. “Badass."

I fight down a laugh, resisting the urge to tell him why I thought of it. Hellbender also happens to be the name of a species of salamander that Ellen and I talked about in last week’s class.

“Look at those mitts.” Raj points at the screen, impressed. “This thing has paws the size of the doors on my truck.”

“Sounds like Aiden,” Noah laughs, and Aiden makes a very rude gesture at him with one giant finger.

“Honestly,” Ripley says, “Sorry, Jamie, but - Hellbender is kind of adorable, too.”

“What?” I twist to face him, astounded. “No, he isn’t, he’s terrifying! He’s a bear, what’s fucking scarier than that?”

Raj presses a button on the controller. “Ripley’s monster, maybe?”

The bear disappears, and Ripley’s creation pops up.

It’s an upright frog, wearing a newsboy cap and a sharp suit, both of which are stained with splashes of blood. He’s chewing on a toothpick and holding a blunderbuss, which he raises and aims as part of his idle animation. He’s sort of - really cool, actually. Ripley gave him a scarred-over knife slash down his face, and one glass eye.

“I call him Blood Spatter Boy,” Ripley says, to a whistle of respect from Noah.

“Feels appropriate, Ripples,” I laugh. “You’re the Paint Splatter Boy, after all.”

“Went with a small guy, huh?” Aiden asks.

Ripley shrugs, smiling. “Never underestimate the small guy.”

“That’s the other winner,” Noah says firmly. “That’s the one that should fight mine.”

“You haven’t even won a slot yet, Noosh!”

Raj clicks the controller again. “Yeah, let’s see yours, Noah.”

Noah went humanoid, surprisingly. His guy is a cyborg, with some kind of machine instead of a brain. He’s wearing rippy overalls. Steam issues from his joints, and sparks fly from his ears. He’s got the stub of a burning cigar in his mouth, chainsaws instead of arms from the elbow down, and - for some reason, a gigantic bug-zapper on his back.

“Boys, meet Hooligan,” Noah says, with a satisfied smile.

I guess you can apply tattoos onto metal in this game, because Hooligan has a lot of them. But Raj has zeroed in on the bug-zapper, which he’s staring at with narrowed eyes.

“Noah.”

“What’s up, Raj?”

“Did you peek while I was making my monster?”

Noah shrugs innocently, biting his pierced lip. “No.”

“So it’s just a coincidence,” Raj says slowly, “That my monster is a bug, and yours just happens to have a gigantic fucking bug-zapper strapped to his back?”

“Yeah, man,” Noah says, his composure swiftly falling apart. “Total - total coincidence.”

“Oh, you bastard!” Raj seems ready to start shouting - as we often end up doing when video games are involved - but he glances at Nikita, and changes his mind. “You cheated,” he whisper-shouts, “And clearly you knew that mine was gonna be the best, or you wouldn’t be preparing to fight it!”

“Doesn’t even matter,” Ripley points out, matching Raj’s volume - “Because you two are both going to lose. Hooligan, really? We’re supposed to be afraid of him? He doesn’t even have a brain!”

“At least he’s scarier than a bear!” Noah hisses back. “And he might be dumb, but he’s fucking gorgeous!”

“Sounds like Aiden,” I chime in, and Aiden slides down in his seat to try and kick me. I dodge it, then add: “You’re honestly gonna tell me that you’re not scared of bears, Noah, you imbecile? One swipe from a bear, and you’d be the Blood Spatter Boy!”

“That’s no way to talk to an honored dignitary, Jamie-”

“All of this is moot!” Raj interrupts. “The game is compromised, I didn’t even get to introduce my monster! Who was a beautiful, badass, dragonfly slash whip-wielding Fury, by the way! Named Whipfly!”

“Oh, she sounds hot,” Aiden says, reaching for the Xbox controller. “Let’s pull her up, I wanna see.”

He dodges as now I try to kick him, and suddenly all five of us are having an argument entirely in heated whispers. Raj comes to stand by the couch so he can stab an accusing finger in Noah’s face. Ripley grabs the controller to scroll back to his own monster, to back up the point he’s trying to make. He overshoots it, and ends up back on the Sarge. We all let out another burst of laughter at the sight of the tiny hat perched on its head - then all shush each other at once, looking down at Nikita. As soon as we’re sure we haven’t woken her, the argument resumes in full force.

“Um,” someone says.

We all twist to see Melanie standing in the doorway, one eyebrow arched.

“What’s happening, right now?” she asks. “Is this a - whisper fight?”

“M!” Raj beckons for her. “Can you take Nik, please?”

“Why?” Mel asks, stepping into the living room. “Aiden looks comfy holding her.”

“I want to shout at Noah, but I don’t want to wake her up.”

“Oh, well, in that case,” Melanie says, reaching for Nik. “Give her here, Aiden.”

“Wow!” Noah makes a betrayed face, clicks his tongue. “I see how it is!”

Raj whips around to answer him, but I’ve stopped listening. My attention is caught on Aiden’s expression as he gives up Nikita to Melanie. He looks sort of reluctant, sad to hand her over. He was happy holding her, and he very obviously loves it when she grabs his finger with her tiny hand.

I’m struck with the sudden mental image of a little Guardian of ours, cozy in Aiden’s arms.

His eyes flick to me in a searching way, and I blink in surprise, wondering if he’s thinking about the same thing.

He smiles, then glances away quickly.

I get to my feet and head towards the kitchen. Supposedly to grab another beer, but really to hide my face. I'm unexpectedly in hopeless heart-eyed idiot mode, and my cheeks are burning like crazy.

“Aw, that’s adorable!” Melanie smiles at the Sarge, who is still pulled up on the screen. “Look at that precious little hat!”

“No,” Aiden groans. “Seriously, Mellie?”

The conversation is quieter when I step out of the living room. I set my beer down, looking at Aiden across the kitchen counter - then turn in surprise as Ripley steps into the kitchen, too.

“Hey,” I say. “What’s up?”

“Hey.” He’s typing something on his phone. “Just need to text my mom to ask if I can stay later, and the Kraken discussion in the other room is a little distracting.” He lets out a helpless laugh. “Guess I’ll just tell her that we haven’t even started playing yet, even though I’ve been here for four hours? Sorry, mom, we're still arguing about which character to pick.”

I laugh, and Ripley grins at me. He slips his phone back into the pocket of his jeans, then comes over to stand with me at the counter, glancing out at the living room.

His eyes grow thoughtful, and he gets quiet. I get the sense that he’s working his way up to saying something, so I wait.

“You know,” Ripley murmurs, after a minute, “Seeing how happy you and Aiden are - and now Raj, Mel, and Noah, too - it’s got me thinking of talking to Alix, seeing if she…”

I guess that’s all he’s willing to say, because he stops himself, fidgeting with the small black stud in his ear.

I absolutely beam at him, caught totally by surprise.

“Aw! You should, Ripples! I think she really likes you. Aiden thinks so, too.”

“I know, he told me.” Ripley’s cheeks start to color. “We talked about it when we were working out. All of the girl advice he’s given me so far has been solid, so. Maybe he’s right, I don’t know.”

I didn’t realize that Aiden was handing out girl advice, but it makes me smile, to picture him and Ripley working through this together.

“Why don’t you talk to Alix, then?” I ask. “I have a serious feeling that she’d say yes if you asked her out.”

“I just…” Ripley is avoiding my eyes. His lips are pressed into a thin, anxious line, and he’s blinking rapidly.  “She would be the first girl I’ve asked out since I started going by Ripley. Can’t help but be really fucking nervous, even if you guys think it would go good.”

Sometimes I forget how shy Ripley is. He’s just so not shy around us, not anymore. I actually have to remind myself that there was a time when I could barely get him to say anything at all, and what little I could coax from him mostly consisted of one-word answers. He wouldn’t look at me when he said them.

It’s hard for me to remember Ripley like that. He’s come such a long way. He even looks different, now. His growth spurt gave him some more height, and while he's still slender, his gym time with Aiden is starting to show a little. He’s faster to quirk up his mouth in that devious smile.

But some things are still the same. The bright green curls, the paint-stained fingers, and the very shy look currently on his face.

He pulls the sleeves of his black sweater halfway down his hands, then rests his elbow on the counter, and his chin on his palm.

“Even if Alix says yes,” he mumbles, “I’m - nervous about that, too.”

I put my elbows on the counter next to him, thinking it over.

“Well, dude - you don’t have to do anything you’re not ready to do,” I tell him. “But I wouldn’t worry about Alix turning you down. I’m pretty sure she’s been after you, like - ever since you took the fall for her, when she obliterated the coffee maker at City Hall.”

Ripley looks at me sharply, then lets out a surprised laugh. He covers his smile with his fingers, but grows serious again quickly.

“Just wish I knew for sure what she thinks about me.” He bites the inside of his cheek. “We’re working on the exhibition together, too, so - if everything gets fucked up between us…”

He fades off and turns away from me, rubbing his arm.

I take a second to consider my response.

“Trust your instincts, Ripples. If you want to ask her out, you should do it. You’re such a brave one, you just need to find a way to tap that source, and - put it towards this. Towards her.”

Ripley looks over at me, and I smile at him.

“As for what happens after you ask her out, and if she says yes... I think you two probably just need to figure it out together. If you trust her with that, then - you should go for it.”

Ripley stares at me a moment longer, clearly thinking hard. Then he straightens up, tossing his green curls out of his face.

“Wise words, Hellbender,” he says.

I drop my face onto my arms, both groaning and laughing, then lift my head when Ripley gently pokes me in the ribs.

“Thanks,” he says, more quietly.

I open my mouth to answer, but stop as Noah appears in the doorway.

“Results are in, gents. It’s Blood Spatter Boy versus Hooligan.”

“Oh, yes,” Ripley says, breaking into a grin to match Noah’s.

“I maintain that these results are bullshit!” Raj shouts, his voice muffled from the other room.

“You sure you want to face me down, Ripples?” Noah dramatically stretches his arms over his head, rolling out his neck. “I have a feeling that Blood Spatter Boy is about to get his ass kicked. Poor 'lil frog.”

Ripley fixes Noah with his devious smile, arching a blonde eyebrow.

“We’ll see,” he says, and leads the way into the living room.

I follow after him, smiling to myself. Something tells me that Ripley will find a way to put his courage where he needs it.

After all, he always has before.