“All right,” Demeroven says, allowing Beth to lead him back to one of the courts.
Bobby forces himself to focus on Gwen, rather than continue trying to figure out what the hell just happened. “Are we teaming up so we’ll win and you’ll start smiling instead of grimacing?” Bobby asks.
“I’m perfectly fine,” Gwen says, her arm tight around his. “Are you trying to distract me from whatever heated moment we just interrupted?”
“Oh, get off,” Bobby says, nudging her. “He’s a bit difficult is all.”
“Seems like it, doesn’t it?” Gwen agrees as they reach the pitch.
Bobby stoops to grab rackets for them and they separate to face off against Beth and Demeroven across the net.
“But perhaps he’ll grow on you,” Gwen says, lowering into a ready stance.
“Like fungus?” Bobby wonders, smiling as Gwen lets out a loudhah.
“Like big mushrooms, yes,” Gwen says.
“Are you ready to lose?” Beth asks loudly.
“Yeah, right,” Bobby says, winking at Gwen. He’ll shake off his encounter with Demeroven by wiping the floor with him. “As if you could beat me and Gwen. We’ve decades of experience.”
“Against each other,” Beth agrees, serving the shuttlecock. “But James and I are unknowns. We have the element of surprise, don’t we, James?”
“Right,” Demeroven says, seemingly caught between bemusement at his cousin’s competitive edge and pride at being included. “We’re, um, crafty.”
“Ah, yes, the craft of badminton,” Bobby says, returning Demeroven’s rally. “Did you study that at Oxford? Learned the art of the shuttlecock?”
He’s not exactly sure why it comes out quite... like that, but the way Demeroven’s gaze darkens begs a challenge.
“Not as well as you did, apparently,” Demeroven returns.
Bobby clenches his jaw. The chip on this guy’s shoulder...
“Is there really a course in badminton at Oxford?” Beth wonders as she and Gwen trade hits.
“No, no. But some colleges were more interested in it than others,” Bobby says, watching as Demeroven’s face flushes.
“And some halls in particular. Badminton boys had their own little clubs and everything, really,” Demeroven says.
“Been to a few of those, have you?” Bobby asks, hitting the shuttlecock a bit too hard so it sails out of bounds.
“Not nearly as many as you. I’m far more discerning about where I spend my time, and with whom,” Demeroven says stiffly, waiting patiently as Beth retrieves the off-sides shuttlecock.
“Have we missed something?” she asks Gwen. She serves the shuttlecock across the net again.
“It appears so. Albie’s never mentioned anything about... badminton clubs.”
“He wouldn’t,” Demeroven and Bobby say together.
Demeroven narrows his eyes at Bobby, almost missing Gwen’s volley. But not quite. He sends the shuttlecock careening over the net and Bobby has to jog backward to hit it, only narrowly sending it back. Beth vaults forward and hits the shuttlecock, but tumbles to the ground in the process.
“Must you always be so reckless?” Demeroven exclaims at Bobby as he goes to help Beth up.
Bobby stands gaping. It’s not like he meant for her to fall. Gwen hits the shuttlecock over their heads to land in the back third.
“Hah!” she crows.
“That’s just low,” Beth says, sticking out her tongue.
