Chapter Text
Hometown can look terribly sad at times. Not necessarily because of a gloomy atmosphere or a lack of hustle and bustle, but the severe lack of places and… things to do around here drives you a bit mad. There’s only so many times you can interact with the same objects and people, and you know Kris hates you for it; acting like it’s their first encounter more often than not.
You wonder if Kris gets bored, too. They have to be, right? Sure, the nonsense shenanigans they pull often—a prime example being yesterday’s detour—mean that they could be rather entertained when left to their own devices. Their old reputation precedes them by a long margin on that front. But it has to reach a point, should it not?
Yet, you get the feeling that this is a thought that’s stuck with Kris too, more in tune than you realized. Things have been getting so much more interesting lately, for you and for them.
Kris thinks this is because everything new has set into place.
Dark worlds, quests, Susie.
You thrive off the inclusion of that last thought.
“We need something to do, man.”
Susie rocks back and forth on the fence outside someone’s house—you don’t remember and Kris is not telling you—thrumming her fingers on the beam with a click-clack, Kris sitting nearby.
“We’re chilling,” Kris says flatly, halfway in this world and halfway with their head in the clouds. You think the former part’s just you.
“We’ve been chilling for like, an hour.”
“Just an hour.”
Susie blinks. “An hour of doing nothing. Not entertaining enough.”
Kris muses over that for a minute, lowering their head to stare at the grass. Where Susie’s legs drag across the grass, Kris’s feet can barely reach it. Sitting just emphasizes the massive height difference, and you don’t actually know whether Kris envies or minds it.
“Nothing’s not boring if it’s you,” Kris mumbles.
"Okay, sappy," she bites out, shoving them lightly in the arm, no harm intended. "Seriously." She hops off the wall, looking around with her hands digging into her pockets, and you wonder how they don't tear. Kris jumps off too, trailing behind where she's heading off to with no particular direction.
They're behind the rest of the houses and shops, trudging through the grassier, unkept areas behind ICE-E's. There's nothing back here, they know that much, and you can't seem to find anything remotely interesting.
Save for a beat-up looking box at the sad corner of the wall.
"What's that?" Susie asks, voice piping upwards as she sees it too.
"Old arcade machine." Kris pauses, like they need to recollect or wade past your lack of knowledge. "Think they used to put it inside, but the kids keep breaking it. And they keep fixing it after ages."
"Heh, do those kids include you?"
"Maybe." Kris gives her that lil' smirk they always do.
Susie darts toward it, hopping over mossy rock and going underneath the dripping air conditioner parts that whirred above them like they're threatening to snap off at any moment.
You recognize what it is when Kris decides to get close with their sweet, sweet time. The claw machine's claws look slightly rusted, every slice of ICE-E's merchandise skewed about ranging from plushies to surprise balls to itty-bitty keychains that would be a nightmare to try and collect. Is it still operational?
The kick Susie gives to its side and the slow, whining rendition of the store's medley it croaks out answers your question.
"It works!" Susie grabs Kris by the arm, drags them into the face of the machine where the lights are slowly flickering back on. The dials' LEDs rotate around the two buttons like a dusty blue halo, the medley winding down to a buzz that's barely audible. "Come on. We gotta win something."
Kris looks over the plushies, filling a general disinterest in… well, any of these, and you feel the same. Those uninteresting plushies don't seem nearly as worthy of a prize with how hard claw machines are.
But, it's Susie asking, so…
"Got a coin?"
She roots around her pockets—finds nothing. You root around your pockets, and luckily enough, there's some spare, almost pitiful amount of change Kris has at the bottom. Just two coins, and you reach for one, holding it out.
"Sweet!" She swipes it, plugging into the machine and watching it whirr, and Kris doesn't need to ask to know she's gunning for the plushie. Two tries.
* You play first
* Gimme gimme gimme
Kris cheekily slides forward, moving underneath Susie to cover the dials with their comparatively smaller hands.
Susie laughs above their head. "What, this a competition?"
"You betcha."
They confidently tugs on the lever, and that confidence rapidly depletes when the rust around the knot makes it so hard to tug. They have to grip it with both hands and pray Susie doesn't start laughing for it, moving the slow damn thing above the plushie at the corner of the glass.
Move, move more, drop it.
The plushie's arm tugs lightly on the claw, then falls off.
"Damn it."
"Hah!" Susie looks triumphant, lightly moving Kris aside. "My turn."
Her attempt at moving the lever is annoyingly better, only needing one hand to rotate the claw above. She's locked on the same one they were aiming for, moving closer—
Her finger accidently taps the "drop" button, and the claw does exactly that, scooping up a fistful of air before shooting back up to the top.
"HEY!" Susie barks, kicking the machine with her foot. "I wasn't ready!"
Kris does not make any attempt to hide their chuckles. Susie comes forward and gives them a noogie, laughing all the way. It's those little things that keep you going, and you're so keen, watching how high their laughter is in a way that makes you feel joyous. Adorable.
Then she releases them, and her grin grows sheepish. "Uh, got another coin?"
They do, and Kris hands it over, not before swiping it underneath her fingers and plugging it in themself while she's watching, mouth agape.
But the lever is still brutally hard to move. You try to help, wrapping your whole hands around it and tugging to save Kris' pride, but it's harder the second time around, for some reason.
Susie snorts, then comes near enough their hair slightly moves with her coming close. "Need a hand?"
* Take her hand
* I CAN DO THIS BY MYSELF
Why not take it literally?
You move your hand slowly, lifting one from the lever and moving it towards hers, and she doesn't move away. You wrap your fingers around her hand, guiding it toward the lever until hers is neatly above your own.
You look up—or rather, Kris frantically looks up—and Susie is blinking, slightly bewildered, but makes no motion to let go. Until she grins.
"Let's do this," she says. She moves closer to them, other hand wrapping around Kris and settling at the base of the machine as they prepare to lock in, both pairs of eyes locked in at the singular plush. It's so much easier to move, in sync, Susie's concentrated gaze so close that Kris feels her warmth so very close to their face.
It's just above it now, and in perfect tune, you both press down on the button, and—
It lands. Perfectly wrapped around the torso of the plush, dragged upwards and deposited as Susie lets out a whoop of joy.
"Hell yeah!" She practically digs it from under the flap, waving it around. "Nice teamwork, man."
Kris only nods, mentally staring at the hand that took hers.
They stay like that for two seconds before Susie tilts her head. "So… what do we do with this?"
Disappointingly ugly plush. "No idea."
"Oh." Susie just props it back on the machine, still happy. "Whatever. That was fun."
She turns around, beckoning Kris with a hand. And when she's walking away, you don't have to prompt Kris into keeping the plush for the sake of it. They are already doing so.
When Susie turns around and asks where the hell it disappeared to, you only say it was a ghost.