Cedar and Finn

Chapter 5

Cedar walked into the apartment Rowan, Vega, and Finn all shared, right behind them, already wanting to die. They were tired from work and now they were being subjected to playing Monopoly with some random guy who they knew nothing about, a guy who's been borderline harassing them, and their only friend, Vega.

"Cedar, take a seat at the table, we'll get everything set up," Finn said, filled with excitement while Vega went into the kitchen to grab snacks with Rowan and Finn went and grabbed the board game. Cedar hesitantly sat down awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable in the new space. It was strange seeing an apartment. They lived on campus in the dorms, so this was all new.

Finn came back with his stupid dorky grin that Cedar had become accustomed too and he sat down right beside them. Oh God, he'd be sitting beside them all night. Finn started to set up the board game and then held out his hand with the different game pieces in his hand. "Which one do you wanna be? Guest picks first."

"What? No! I always play as the thimble! Don't let them pick that!" Rowan exclaimed, overhearing that Finn was letting Cedar pick first. Finn silently giggled and set the piece aside, knowing it was important when Rowan had something he didn't like to change, that he got it.

"Other than the thimble. Vega and I aren't as serious about what pieces we play as," Finn explains, and Cedar carefully picks up the top hat from his hand, flinching a bit when their fingers grazed the palm of his hand. They were waiting for the onslaught of yelling about how gross they were touching him. But nothing happened. He smiled at them and then set the pieces down, creating four stacks of the starting money everyone got.

Cedar stared at their hand for a moment, taking in the fact that no one was angry at them. No one was pretending to like them to gain their trust, at least from what they could tell. Usually when people pretended, they couldn't hold back the laughter and would be snickering often. "Alright, Cedar, do you want any wine? Rowan and I usually drink a glass while we play."

"Or when we read," Rowan cut in and Finn started to smile a bit, trying to hide it.

"Or just for fun, honestly." Finn snickered a bit, thinking it was funny how much the two of them drank wine. It wasn't in an alcoholic way, but in a wine-taster way. It was always a new kind, except their favourites. They had all sorts of fancy glasses for different types, and they critiqued every bottle they got.

"Oh, I'm good. I'm actually sober." Rowan and Vega froze, feeling bad that they had alcohol in front of, who they now thought was a recovering alcoholic. Cedar realized that their phrasing wasn't the best and started to panic. "My medication doesn't mix well with alcohol, so I must stay sober! Sorry," they apologized, feeling embarrassed as the two let out a sigh of relief, not knowing the truth.

"Oh, okay. That makes more sense. You made us freak out a bit," Vega said, speaking for her and Rowan, who was nodding in agreement. He may have been a condescending asshole and didn't care that they were there, but he didn't want to be the reason someone relapsed because he wanted to have his fancy glass of wine.

"It's alright. I get it. I said it weird," they said, and then they started to play, reminding Cedar of the rules as they went, since they hadn't played the game in forever. Everything felt natural after Cedar unlocked their jaw, less afraid to express themself, like they did for Vega.

"Cedar, I would like to make a trade so I can have your railroad," Finn said in a professional tone, really getting into the game. He had the other three railroads and was now attempting to bargain with Cedar.

"Fat fucking chance. I'm not giving you the power," Cedar replied, looking at him through the side of their eyes, flashing a small smirk. Finn giggled and started to grab properties he was willing to give up for that railroad and held them out to Cedar.