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The 14th Letter of the Greek Alphabet

Summary:

Bunny challenges Henry's word in Scrabble. He's very determined to make Henry lose his turn.

Work Text:

Bunny and Henry were down to their last few tiles in their game of Scrabble, while Richard was working on a translation. Bunny was actually starting to get excited; the game was close and he actually had a chance at winning. He was sure that he was up a few points until Henry played the word "xi," the X landing on a triple letter bonus tile.

"Xi? I'm challenging that," Bunny said, shaking his head. "Xi isn't a word."

"Yes, it is, Bunny," Henry said flatly. "Xi is a word."

"No, it's not!" Bunny exclaimed. "Hey, Richie. Is xi a word?"

"Please stop calling me that," Richard began to say, glancing over at the pair. "And I—"

"Why are you asking him?" Henry asked bluntly, cutting Richard off. "He isn't playing. Also, he is the most likely to not know the definition of that word." Richard sighed as he heard that. "And, Bunny, really? You should know that xi is a word. You use the word xi practically every day."

Bunny ignored Henry's words. "Xi is not a word. Why would I be saying xi every day? I don't think I've ever said the word xi! We need to find a dictionary," he declared. "Richard, do you have a dictionary? You must have a dictionary, don't you? Give me your dictionary right now."

"I, I think I do. I have no idea where it could be, though," Richard told Bunny. "It's not worth the trouble, going and finding it. Xi is a real word. I was actually just thinking about that word."

"No, you weren't!" Bunny denied. "Why do you always agree with Henry? Everyone always agrees with you, even though you have the dumbest ideas!" Bunny whined, pointing at Henry.

"It's not kind to point at people," Henry said childishly. "People agree with me because I'm smarter than you."

"You're not smarter than me. You dropped out of high school!"

"Well, I didn't do that because I was dumb. I got into an accident, Bunny," Henry answered, unamused.

"Yeah, you were dumb enough to get into an accident," Bunny huffed.

Henry sighed, looking over at Henry. "Could you just get your dictionary and show Bunny that xi is a word? So he'll stop harassing me?"

"Well, believe me, Henry, I would, but I honestly have no idea where it is. I might not even have one," Richard answered, closing his Greek textbook. There was no point to try and study when these two were in a mile vicinity of each other.

"It doesn't even matter. Xi is a valid word, you should know that," Henry told Bunny. 

"No, no, it's not. I've never heard that word in my entire life." Bunny stood up and brushed out his clothes. "Come on. We're going to the library."

"The library? We're in the middle of a game," Henry said disappointedly. "You're such a terrible loser, Bun. Are you really quitting because I'm going to win?"

"No! When did I say I was quitting? I am not a quitter or a loser!" Bunny shot back quickly, already toeing his shoes on. "We have to go to the library to find a dictionary."

"That is absolutely ridiculous, we're not doing that," Henry ordered. "We're not going all the way to the library so you can prove me right. I know xi is a word, Richard knows... You could even call Charles or Francis right now and they would tell you, yes, xi is an actual word. Really, they'd laugh at you for not knowing that."

"That's only because they're biased towards you. You're probably payin' them all to be your friend," Bunny blabbed. He began to pull on the collar of Henry's jacket. "Let's go, let's go. I don't have all day for you."

"Yes, you do. You have nothing better to be doing and you love me."

"Yeah, yeah. I got my boyfriend check in the mail the other day. Richard, did you receive your friend check yet? Was it adequate? I can get Henry to pay you more," Bunny dragged on, glancing at Richard. 

"You guys should go to the library," Richard said exasperatedly. He really needed to get these guys away from him if he was ever going to finish his work.

"Wonderful, the boy finally has a good idea!" Bunny praised sarcastically, clapping his hands. "Henry, you'll have to start paying him more; he's rebelling! Now, let's go."

So, Henry trudged through the halls with Bunny all the way to the university's library. He helped Bunny find the dictionary, which took a ridiculously long time considering they were right near the entrance. He snatched the dictionary from Bunny before he could mess with it and paged through the book. Eventually, he set it down on the table silently. He pointed smugly at the page.

"Xi," Bunny uttered in disgust, staring down at the page, "is a noun, and it's the fourteenth letter of the Greek alphabet."

"It is the fourteenth letter of the Greek alphabet," Henry repeated. "That's why I told you, you should know that xi is a word."

"Well," Bunny began, stammering. "Well, you're not smart. This is a letter! It's not a word!"

"It's in the dictionary, is it not?" Henry said back. "You were so eager to find xi in the dictionary, and there it is. Give up."

"Well, we didn't agree upon which dictionary to use before the game started," Bunny argued.

"I can guarantee you that every dictionary in use has the word xi in it."

"No! It's not, this is not fair!"

"It is. You challenged me and you didn't succeed. Your turn is now mine, and I'm down to my last two tiles. I know exactly where I'm going to play. I'm going to win," Henry taunted. "And you'll have to buy me dinner. That was the agreement."

"I made that agreement because I thought you would lose," Bunny grumbled. "And actually, that proves you're not smart. All I can buy you is, well, nothing."

"There are other ways you can repay me," Henry said in a sing song voice. "I'm very excited to celebrate my win."

"What a fucking fag you are."