For just a moment, no sounds were heard, and then....

BAM!

Headshot!

And that was that.

Max: Got em!

Ken: Hmph.

And right after that, the game's ending screen started playing.

Max: Woah! That was the last guy?

Ken: It would seem so.

Max: Awesome!

Rose: You guys won?

And Max turned around with a big smile.

Max: You know it!

Ken: Yeah, we did.

Rose: Oh my gosh! That's amazing!

Luke: Yeah, good job.

Tiffany: Yeah...

And Julianne started to check her pocket for her phone.

And the screen started to show the statistics for the match.

For starters, the collaborates won. That meant Max and Ken had won.

And among other things...

Ken: It would seem that I won.

Max: What!?

He turned around only to see that his score was lower than Ken's.

Max: But....

Ken: You know the rules.

Max: Oh... yeah....

As the statistics showed, Max had more kills. However...

Rose: Hmm. Ken won?

Max: (slightly upsettedly) Yeah...

Even though this pair of teenage boys had been playing on the same team, it had not stopped them from competing against each other.

Luke and Rose shared a perplexed glance.

Luke: Wait... if Ken died, then how did he win?

As with every game of Warring Dimensia 2...

Ken: It was all the support I was giving, as well as the sacrifice.

Luke: The sacrifice?

Ken: Indeed. Warfare is about more than just kill counts.

And of that, he was correct. Warring Dimensia 2 was the kind of game to have the monster of an A.I. that could even count sacrifices, let alone detecting them, and give points accordingly.

Max: Yep. That is Warring Dimensia 2.

Luke: Hmm. I see.

Rose: That's amazing!

Tiffany: Yeah... (thinking: This game is pretty incredible. A game that rewards one for sacrificing yourself for your allies...)

Max: Well... at least we got over 50

Ken: Hmph. Agreed. It was a good game.

And then suddenly...

Julianne: Say cheese, everyone!

Max: Huh?

They all turned to his mother, who at that point had her phone out, prepared to take a photo.

Rose: Mrs Hunte....

Max: Mooooooom!

Julianne: Whaaaaaaat!? It's just one photo.

Max: But....

Ken started smirking, and Luke almost chuckled.

As it is with all mothers, she couldn't help herself.

To Max, it was an annoying and childish touchy-feely thing.

But to Julianne, it was a momentous occasion in more ways than one.

When was the last time her son had had friends over?

When was the last time she'd seen him smile with people like this?

And after all, she was his mother.

Every moment of growth and of joy her son had... was something of a milestone in her life as well. A milestone she had to commemorate.

And what better way to commemorate it than with a photo.

Max: Ugh.... Fine.

To Max, it was silly.

But to Julianne, it was everything in that moment.

Max began to stand up, as did the others...

Julianne: No. No. Stay right there!

Max: Ok.

And Julianne promptly walked a few feet back... and, with her phone, began to slowly take a few feet back.

It was a moment she wanted to commemorate, and also, it was a moment she didn't want looking bad.

Julianne: (thinking: It's just abouuuuut riiiiiigggghhht... There!) Say cheese!

Max, Rose, Ken, Luke, and Tiffany: Cheeese!

And with a snap, the photo was made.

Julianne opened it up on her phone and took a moment to admire it. It truly was an incredible piece.

In it, Rose was smiling brightly, Ken and Luke were smiling conservatively, Tiffany had an expressionless face, and Max, he looked quite a bit upset.

However, the mother smiled.

Julianne: (thinking: That's ma boy...)

Rose: Oooh! Oooh! Can I see it?

Julianne: Sure.

As she walked on over to show Rose the photo, Max simply started another game of Warring Dimensia 2.

He had little to no interest in the photo.

Rose: Oh my gosh, we look so great together!

And then she noticed Max's scowling.

She was about to say something... but then noticed that Julianne didn't seem bothered at all, and so assumed she was fine with it.

Julianne: Mmm hmm! Anyone else wanna see it?

For a moment, there was a pause...

Luke: I do.

And then following that...

Ken: I wouldn't mind....

And because of social contagion, and not because she wanted to...

Tiffany: (slightly begrudgingly) I will to...

Julianne: Alright then.

She bought her phone closer for all of them to see, and Ken, Luke, and Tiffany all came closer to see it.

Luke: Hmmm. I look pretty good.

Tiffany: Hmph.

Rose: Yeah, we all look really good.

Ken: All except...

And that point both him and Luke smirked.

It didn't take the wisdom of a great king to understand what they were laughing about.

Max: Shut up!

Ken: No worries.

Be it because they were right next to his mother, or because of something else, who knew?

But neither Ken nor Luke would laugh.

And with that, Ken, Luke, and Tiffany returned to their seats

Rose: Could you send me that photo?

Tiffany, Luke, and Ken all paused.

Could it be that this woman had somehow given Rose her number? Really?

Julianne: Oh sure. What's your number?

Had any of them had weaker hearts, perhaps they would have sighed in relief.

But instead, they all managed to keep their shock to themselves.

Julianne: Aaaaaaaand done! There you go

Rose: Great! Thanks, Mrs Hunter.

Julianne: No problem.

Rose grabbed her own phone and opened it, making sure to send the mother a message first.

Julianne: Oh. Hi Rose.

And the pair shared a short laugh after that.

Rose: I'll send it to all of you guys, too.

Luke: Sure...

Ken: Yeah...

Tiffany: Thanks...

And with that, Max and Ken returned to the game.

And Julianne, she herself marvelled at the time.

It was already late.

Extremely late.

But... could she stop it?

Should she stop them?

Should she tell them to go to sleep?

One could call them motherly instincts, that nudging in her heart, telling her to tell the kids to go to bed.

However, seeing her son having so much fun....

She decided to quiet that voice down.

After all, what was the harm.

It was Saturday night, after all.

He had all of Sunday to get ready for Monday.

And so, she sat down again.

She would not force the kids to stay home. She wouldn't even mention it.

Given how late it was, or rather, how early in the morning it was, ... it was pretty likely... that they would decide to stay all of their own.