Avery swatted her hand away playfully, opening the bag and pulling out a long box of assorted macaroons and a dark blue weighted blanket covered in constellations big enough for Avery to see and read. To finish it off, there was a large jacket inside that was decorated beautifully with galaxy-like colors and dotted with stars. The hood was very soft and fluffy, to the point that you could lay on it as a substitute pillow.  

"Holy shit, dude." Blaire blurted out. Amirah was simply amazed at such an unexpected gift, and Nytin seemed almost indifferent to it, having offered to return anything Avery didn't like. Amirah had to stop Blaire from stealing a macaroon and dragged her away to the other snacks to give them some privacy for the moment. 

Avery blinked and then looked at Nytin. "Wow, are you sure? This is a lot. How much did this stuff cost?" She wasn't sure how to react properly. From what she could see, it all looked expensive. The blanket was heavy and warm, while the jacket was soft and cool.  

Nytin was about to nod but quickly spoke up instead, "Yes, for the strudels and washing my clothes, oh and for letting me wash my hair.." he trailed off, "As for the price.. not much, I made the blanket and jacket so.. uh.." he paused at the last comment but it seemed to make Avery relax, he rubbed his neck nervously and smiled, "So don't worry about it too much, it's the least I could do-" 

He was cut off by Avery, who hugged him tightly. He was unsure what to do with his hands, standing there stupidly with his hands hovering over Avery's back. Nytin could feel his ears burning, but he slowly accepted the hug, gently putting his hands on Avery's back, still at a loss. 

Avery squeezed him a bit tighter before letting go. "Thank you so much. This is soooo amazing. I can't believe you made this." she said, returning to the jacket. She put it on, and it fit perfectly. It wasn't tight, and it wasn't overly big either. "How come you never mentioned being able to make clothes? Is that why you've been gone for so long?"

Nytin had been staring at Avery as he excitedly put on the jacket. His ears still burning, he coughed and answered, "You could put it like that… it's  just a small hobby of mine, is all."  

Amirah perked up. "You made something of this quality, and it's 'just a hobby'?" She had been feeling the blanket. It was soft and not too heavy, like a warm, gentle hug. "That's really impressive." 

Nytin's ears turned redder at the compliment. "I-it nothing really," he said sheepishly. He was not used to getting compliments like this. 

Avery moved closer to him and tugged at his cloak a bit, "Since you're here, do you want to join us for game night? We have a lot of snacks."  

Nytin hesitated but quickly agreed upon seeing Avery's almost pleading face, which immediately improved her mood. She brought Nytin over to the couch and happily sat down next to him. The group decided to play uno to start the night and added a penalty for whoever had the most cards by the end. Avery had to explain to Nytin several times how to play the game, and Nytin frequently leaned over to ask her what a card could do, but eventually, he got the hang of it and played just fine.  

Suddenly, Blaire slammed her final card down, "Uno out!" she shouted, "Now count your card losers!"

Amirah flipped hers down on the table, crossing her arms, clearly upset, "I have seven left."

Avery sighed in relief, "I have five.." she looked over at Nytin, who had gone silent, "How many do you have left?"

Nytin looked as if he were going to flip the table, "I. Have. Fourteen. Cards." he said through gritted teeth.

There was immediate laughter from Blaire, "You loser! Now you gotta eat one of those disgusting jelly beans!" She was practically crying from laughter just from the look on his face.

Nytin was livid about losing and his situation. He hadn't ever had a 'bad' jellybean, but Avery had tried to describe it and was unable to finish without shivering in disgust. He grabbed the box and reluctantly shook one out. It was completely brown. He hesitated, staring at the bean in his hand, a bead of sweat rolling down his chin. He truly did not want to eat a liver and onion-flavored jelly bean. Then, he felt a light tap on his shoulder and looked down to see Avery looking up at him with a small, reassuring smile. 

"You don't have to eat it, it's just a game." She tried to be reassuring, but on one hand, she did want to see Nytin eat it, and on the other, she wanted to be a good person. 

Amirah and Blaire both 'booed' loudly, putting their thumbs down, and began obnoxiously chanting, "Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" over and over. 

Nytin nervously looked at the small but deadly bean that lay in the palm of his hand. He felt doubt creeping up on his shoulders, telling him to just chicken out, but his pride said otherwise. He quickly popped the jellybean in his mouth, prompting loud cheers from Amirah and Blaire. Avery grimaced, sticking her tongue out in disgust as Nytin crushed the jellybean between his teeth, letting the flavors pour right onto his tongue, and at that very moment… 

He gagged. Hard. 

Nytins eyes watered. He clenched his fists, keeping his teeth clamped down tight on the jellybean, but as he squeezed it, the more the rancid flavor seeped into his mouth and spread over his tongue. He felt his stomach twist, and he doubled over, slapping his hand over his mouth as he gagged once more. From the corner of his eye, he saw Avery move forward to attempt to help him in any possible way, perhaps to comfort him. He wasn't precisely sure or able to find out as his entire body shuddered involuntarily. He felt something rapidly rising in his throat, and at that moment, he abruptly stood up and ran to the bathroom, almost tripping and falling in the process.  

Once he made it, he slammed the door shut and immediately wretched into the toilet. The other three sitting in the living room grimaced as they heard the muffled pain from behind the door.  

Avery looked at the beans and let out a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad it wasn't me…pft...hehe.." 

The three were able to hold back their laughter for about two seconds before howling in laughter. Blaire was smacking the couch, tears running down her face, while Amirah was gasping for air and letting out tiny squeaks of laughter. Avery was coughing and covering her face, which had turned bright red from laughing so hard.  

Nytin eventually emerged from the bathroom. He was out of breath, wiping sweat from his face with one hand and clutching a bottle of mouthwash in the other. His eyes narrowed on the three laughing toddlers on the sofa, and he took one last swig of mouthwash, spitting it out into the sink before walking back to the couch and sitting down silently, clearly upset.  

He caught his breath and finally spoke when the other three had finally quieted down, trying to hold back their giggles, "Why would anyone create something so wretched?"

That very sentence sent the three right back into their fits of laughter, which were interrupted with coughs and gasps, their lungs begging for a break. Nytin couldn't help chuckling softly along with them, covering his face with one hand. He was embarrassed, to say the least, but he was having fun, a lot of fun.

Avery sighed happily, calming down, and leaned back against the couch, looking up at Nytin. "I told you that you didn't have to do that, " she said softly, still with a small smile on her face.

Nytin smiled back, "I’d prefer not to be a bore and to save face for my first time playing Uno." 

Blaire raised a brow, "What are you, eighty? What's 'save face' supposed to mean?"  

Nytin shrugged, "Just something I picked up a long time ago, just means I didn't wanna ruin the fun."  

Blaire shrugged, "Whatever, let's just see if you lose again. I want to see what happens if you get 'used bandaid.' That ought to be the greatest thing I'll ever see. " She grabbed the Uno cards again and began shuffling them. She definitely wasn't the best shuffler, as Amirah was the best shuffler, but Amirah had busied herself with a honey bun and a can of soda, leaving it to her to shuffle the cards. 

They all waited patiently for their cards to be handed out, and then the game began, with each player trying out different strategies. Nytin was determined to win, or at least not eat another jelly bean, and he thought he was doing reasonably good until he heard Avery's soft voice shout next to him.

“Uno!” Avery smacked down a card, now having a singular one remaining. It immediately caused tension between the other three players, and they were all hoping that Amirah, the only person who could get her to draw cards, would make it happen. They all nervously played their turns, scared that if Avery won now, they’d have one too many cards, as they all had over five cards, while Avery had been lucky the entire game, forcing them to draw or skip over them entirely.

Amirah slowly placed down a card, and Blaire and Nytin watched in horror as they realized it wasn't a draw card. She took a breath before announcing, “Blue..f-five.”

Avery immediately slapped down her card, “Uno out!” It had been a yellow five, meaning she won the game, “Count your cards!” 

The other players shouted in frustration and began counting their cards reluctantly.

Nytin groaned in dismay. He had fewer cards this time, but still a lot. “I have ten.” He dropped his cards on the table in frustration, sighing and glaring at Avery, even though it didn't work. Avery innocently smiled, too happy about winning to care about the distress she caused amongst her friends.

Amirah gleefully said hers after Nytin, “Thank god...I have nine.” She tossed her cards down and leaned back, the tension leaving her body completely.

Blaire had beads of sweat forming on her head this time, “I..I have eleven.” 

Nytin shouted triumphantly, surprising Avery as he had never heard Nytin get so excited. She laughed a bit as Nytin did a small fist pump in the air. 

Blaire was quicker than Nytin in her punishment and didn't need any comfort or reassurance to complete the challenge. She quickly popped a jelly bean in her mouth and almost immediately ended up running to the bathroom, lasting no longer than Nytin did. Everyone erupted into laughter as Blaire flew into a frenzy of cursing incoherently. She put her head under the sink and tried to wash her mouth out using both mouthwash and water.

Avery had laughed so hard she fell against Nytin, who hadn't laughed as hard and was chuckling to himself and making sure Avery didn't somehow roll off the couch. Amirah had fallen back against the couch, curling into a ball, clutching her sides as her girlfriend suffered alone in the bathroom. 

After Blaire returned, she demanded they play a different game, and so they chose “bullshit,” Avery once again had to explain to Nytin the rules once more. This time, he quickly caught on, and the game went by rather quickly, with some minor, playful insults thrown occasionally from everyone but Avery.  Overall, they played many games and got along just fine, even if it didn't sound like it at times, as Blaire and Nytin seemed to have formed some sort of competition while Amirah and Avery simply watched them, occasionally making comments to make them upset and try harder or do something drastic just to make a point.

In the end, Avery could say that game night was rather successful, and she’d remember it for years to come, and one would agree that the others felt the same way.