They went bowling.

Ivy drove them in the fanciest car Sun Fang owned (although he only owned two cars they were both worth a fortune), the ride smooth with such an experienced and talented driver. Sun Fang and Mianmian rode in the back, Mianmian showing him the new pictures of Casey that Deng Xi had sent. There was a video too, and it was actually kind of adorable. Casey was beginning to look like a person, even.

She was still tiny, though.

”Here,” Sun Fang pointed to the bowling alley out the window as the car rolled to its final stop. Mianmian stretched his neck to see. ”That’s the best bowling place in this city,” he preened, absurdly proud of a place that he only went to once or twice a year.

Mianmian let out a bark of laughter, the sound effortlessly filling up the car. Sun Fang didn’t look at him, keeping his gaze on the bowling alley as Ivy opened his door. Stepping outside, Sun Fang smoothly put on his sunglasses again. His sandal-covered feat met the pavement gracefully, and he closed the door behind him. Mianmian exited on the other side.

”Come on, then,” said Sun Fang and led the way. Today, he was wearing long, thin pants that went all the way down to his heels. In contrast, the shirt he was wearing only covered his shoulders with thin bands and he had a wide hat on his head. The purse hung over one shoulder and gleamed with the (fake, he wasn’t that stupid) gold studs on it. Mianmian and Ivy followed after him as he walked the distance from the parking lot (that Ivy had reserved in advance, otherwise there wouldn’t have been room for them, the place was packed) to the bowling alley’s entrance.

The double doors were wide open, letting people in indiscriminately. Sun Fang slowed down so that the other could catch up, pulling off his hat and pushing his sunglasses up on his head in the same motion as he stepped inside. ”You get us set up, please,” he asked Ivy, looking around for a waiting area to sit at.

”Of course, Young Master,” Ivy said and walked off to talk to the receptionist. Technically, they could go right in since all the payments had already been taken care off online, but Sun Fang liked to ensure that there had been no mistakes.

Like that time his hotel-room had been double-booked and he had ended up sharing it for two weeks with a complete stranger.

They still followed each other on Stargazer. Hm, maybe he should check on up on the guy? He’d been nice, after all.

Shaking his thoughts off, he smiled at Mianmian and allowed himself to be pulled up off the seat when Ivy returned. ”Everything is in order,” it said. Ivy’s gaze was still as stone as it watched Sun Fang smile at it in gratitude, tilting his head slightly to properly convey it. 

”Thank you, Ivy,” Sun Fang said, grinning. He almost felt like bouncing on his toes, his fingers restlessly tapping on his purse. He smiled at his companions, an unexpected excitement stirring within him. It had been over a year since he last went bowling, and perhaps he’d missed it more than he’d thought.

Something to think about, maybe.

They picked up their shoes and proceeded to their lane. Mianmian beamed at him and patted him softly on the shoulder. ”You’re gonna regret this,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes.

Sun Fang snorted. ”Please, I am the best at everything,” he shamelessly bragged, straightening his back. He turned to face Ivy and demanded, ”Right, Ivy?”

”That is correct,” Ivy said, ”Young Master can master any skill.”

Sun Fang narrowed his eyes, trying to see if there were any pitfalls in that sentence that he’d missed. When he couldn’t find any, he grinned and threw an arm around Ivy’s shoulder, squeezing ti in a quick hug. ”You’re up first,” he nodded to Mianmian as he pulled Ivy to sit next to him on the chairs in front of their lane. 

Mianmian grinned. ”Watch me,” he said and picked up his bowling ball, weighing it in his hands with a considering gaze. He blew a kiss to Sun Fang, smiling mischievously as he stood before the lane and threw the ball. And so like that, they began to properly play.

Two hours passed by seamlessly. Sun Fang did more than well, his natural ability to shine in any situation making up for the times the ball fell down into the gutters. Every time this happened, he would pout theatrically at Ivy until he got a comforting pat on his shoulder. Ivy, in return, perfectly knocked down all the pins with an AIs expert precision. Sun Fang was too delighted at the fact that Ivy was playing with them to be bothered by the cheating.

He sipped cold, sparkling soda in between his attempts at knocking over pins, watching passively as Mianmian and Ivy duked it out—Sun Fang wasn’t good enough to be a serious contender for first place. But it was fun watching Mianmian scowl at Ivy every time Ivy effortlessly knocked down all the pins in one go, meanwhile, Ivy just stared back expressionlessly. 

Sun Fang snorted a little under his breath as Mianmian succeeded in knocking down the last of the pins, only to turn around and look smugly at Ivy. Ivy simply clapped its hands in congratulations, like it’d done every time Mianmian knocked down a few pins. Then it was Ivy’s turn and as expected, all the pins were obliterated in one attempt.

Standing up, Sun Fang said, ”Hold this, Ivy, it’s my time to shine,” and handed the cup of soda to Ivy. He cracked his knuckles and picked up his ball, feeling the heavy weight settle in his hands. Giving Mianmian a smug look, he walked forward and threw the ball.

It landed in the gutters after only two meters.