With you ~ ?????? ????????? ? ???! ??

21. Picking Sides? Not Tu's Thing P1

"Got it!" I gave him a thumbs up and a silly smile.

They flew away, leaving the five of us alone. "Okay, I think the first team building exercise er should preform is that of going back to sleep. I mean, as a team, of course." Tuff offered.

"Couldn't agree more." Ruff smiled. "What say you, Astrid?"

"We have to go hide this." She held out the Dragon Eye, motioning between herself and I. "And when we get back, I expect you to be sweating profusely from hard work."

"Let's go." I said, grabbing my girlfriends hand.

"Uh, what do I do?" Dahlia look at me.

"Go make sure the twins don't kill themselves." I answered.

With that, Astrid and I walked off. "I mean, it's not so bad being with you." She said.

We were stacking logs. Ruff and Tuff wouldn't shut up. "Quit talking." Astrid called back. "You lose focus when your lips are moving."

"There's a thing called multitasking, babe." I called, helping Dahlia move a log. On the other hand, Tuff started to mock my girlfriend.

"Real mature, guys." Astrid said, unimpressed.

"We've done all of these already?" Tuff looked at the pile for logs. "Man, er are kicking some serious-"

Astrid cut him off. "No, no, no. That's your first one. All the others, Talulahh and I did. Go team." The twins tossed the log at the pile, causing all of them to roll off the edge. I started a new pile and sighed.

"You know what?" Astrid asked. "Talulahh and I will get the rest of the lumber ourselves. You three start lashing together some poles for the first level of stairs. Do you think you can't handle that?" Astrid walked away.

"She didn't let us answer." Tuff said.

"That's what they call a 'rhetorical question'." Ruff told her brother as I left to follow my girlfriend.

Dahlia and the twins tried to set up poles as Astrid and I gathered lumber. We came back to see the twins gone. I heard yelling and looked up. The two were riding a zip line to our watch tower.

They hit the base of the watch tower and fell. Right onto our fresh stack of lumber. Once again, it went plummeting into the ocean.

"Guys, you have got to try this! I know that landing a little tough, but..." Tuff trailed off.

"We know this wasn't what you were planning, but we really think we're on to something here. The stairs have they're own use for sure, but the can truly come in handy." Ruff explained.

Astrid dropped the logs she was holding. "It can, huh?"

"Yes. In the right situations-"

"And what situations would these be exactly, Ruffnut?" Astrid cut her off.

"Well, I mean, we could..." Ruff tried to come up with something.

"You have no clue, do you? Didn't think so." Astrid said, her anger rising.

"Is that a retalkrical question?" Tuff asked.

"And do you know why? Because, the two of you don't think. You don't plan. You just come up with these crazy ideas and you forge ahead, with no regard for logic or what your even supposed to be doing. What am I gonna do with you guys? Seriously. Tell me." Astrid ranted.

"Well, you can start by being kind." Ruff bit back. "Oh, wait, you can't do that because kindness is nowhere in that scrawny little body of yours."

"What?"