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“You know, of all the places I thought Jon would want to go for his birthday, I didn’t think he’d pick an arcade .”
The neon glow of the claw machine and the lights overhead lit up Sasha’s face, a smile crossing her lips that momentarily broke her expression of determination as she gripped the handle of the machine and skillfully plopped the pink dinosaur plushie into the slot. Tim couldn’t help but grin, not just because of the demonstration, but the shocked expressions of the two kids who had been watching her work her Sasha magic. She picked up the plushie and handed it to the younger of the two before moving for another token.
“Are you upset that he’s moving in on your gamer reputation?” Her lips twisted into a playful smirk.
“A little. A reputation is all a man has, after all.”
She rolled her eyes, reaching over to give his shoulder a friendly squeeze before returning to her game, gesturing for the other kid to point to the toy he wanted. Tim wasn’t paying attention though, focused more on how her fingers had left a hand-shaped imprint in his sweater. Her grip was warm, but not uncomfortably so and her hand fit so perfectly-- oh god, what was he even thinking about? He recoiled, feeling his mouth go dry as his eyes remained fixated on her. The way she bit down on her lower lip while she was concentrating, the way he could tell that her mind was going a million miles an hour even though she hadn’t said a single word, the way a loose curl had fallen out from behind her ear that he was just close enough that he could tuck it back in its rightful--
“Whoa!” The exclamation from the older boy snapped him out his thoughts as Sasha beamed proudly, plopping the stuffed dragon into his hands.
The two scurried off, leaving her to turn with a smug look on her face. She was probably waiting for some kind of witty retort, as was his specialty, but he had to remember how to talk again first.
“You just changed those kids’ lives.” He managed eventually, a smile breaking across his face. “They’re going to be at some awards ceremony where they solved world hunger or something and they’re going to be thanking the pretty nerd who won the claw machine and taught them that people can do impossible things all the time.”
Sasha laughed, a sound he could never get tired of. “They’ll remember me as pretty?”
“And a nerd. Don’t forget that part.”
She rolled her eyes and he found himself tilting his head closer, still unable to tear his gaze away. But she didn’t move away, so their faces remained just close enough that Tim was worried she might be able to hear his heart pound in his chest. He found himself stiffening up when she patted her hand against his chest, right over his breast pocket.
“Maybe you should go check on Jon. We kind of abandoned him on his birthday.” She grinned, pushing off of him and moving back to the claw machine.
That was probably for the best. He had started to wonder where the little guy had wandered off to. Most of the time they’d gone out as friends together, he’d stayed pretty close to the two of them. Now Tim was starting to feel like the one out of place. The Pacman machine didn’t exactly compare to fighting over who got a turn on the TV with Danny.
Maybe he could convince Sasha to teach him how to use the claw machine. He could picture her now, wrapping her arms around him and having her hand over his, guiding him to victory, just like in all the silly movies they watched. He’d offered to teach her how to kayak that way in a joke, but she had correctly pointed out that trying that would probably end in them tipping the boat over. Ever the realist, she was.
Jon was hunched over a cabinet for some obscure 80s science fiction game, his glasses slipping off his nose and reflecting a tiny spaceship shooting at pixel aliens. He wrinkled his nose once and then twice, attempting and failing to scoot his glasses back into place as best he could without his hands or eyes leaving the game.
Tim leaned against the cabinet with a light thud, almost startling Jon but not enough to make him blink. “Whatcha doing?”
“Not now, Tim.”
“Trying to get a high score? You know, if this was Mario, I’d be kicking your ass.”
“Yes, now go away. And Mario doesn’t have a player versus player mode.”
Tim withheld any snippy remarks about Jon being a complete and utter nerd, pursing his lips together and making a pop sound.
“ What , Tim?”
Hook, line, and sinker. “Nothing! I just thought you might want to spend your birthday with the people that brought you here.”
Jon let out a groan and rolled his eyes, though not long enough to properly tear his eyes away from the blinking screen. “And what did you have in mind?”
“Birthday shots, of course.” He grinned.
He pursed his lips, clearly thinking it over. “You have to be the designated driver and take me home after.”
“I would never let the birthday boy take a taxi home on his special day!”
Jon gave another longing glance at the screen before taking his hands off the cabinet, followed by the sound of what he had imagined was the little spaceship dying. The scoreboard popped up, showing a line of high scores. He had spotted at least one “JON” amongst the high scores, right under “ASS”. That was kinda funny, but Jon hadn’t noticed it.
They found a booth by the bar, tucked away from the music and lights that they would be able to talk over the music. Sasha found them relatively quickly before Tim had a chance to go look for her himself, holding a triceratops plushie in her hand. Jon seemed to perk up when he saw it.
“Happy birthday, Jon.” She grinned, holding out the plushie to him and giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. A peachy lipstick mark was left on his forehead which he was quick to try and rub away with his tie.
“...Thanks, Sasha.” He murmured eventually, cheeks darkening.
She sat beside Tim, nudging him over with her hip so she could get a little more room. The thought occurred to him that it would be so easy to move his arm around his shoulder, even pretend he was just yawning or stretching. He’d used the moves on girls before and they’d always seemed to be charmed, but Sasha was far from any girl. That and he hadn’t tried moves like that since he was a teenager. So he just let his gaze fall on her, propping his head up against his hand.
He’d lost count of the number of shots they’d gone through, but it didn’t matter. Even though he was paying, he knew his two companions weren’t wild party animals. Jon was especially a lightweight and he already seemed to be ready to turn in for the night after two. While Tim had been content to sip from a paper water cup, Sasha in all her wisdom had gotten up with the guise of going to the bathroom and had returned with a Shirley Temple just for him.
She was so thoughtful. She’d always been that way and even when they were just starting out their beautiful friendship and she seemed annoyed with his joking and messing around, she’d kept him out of trouble and saved his life more than once when his computer decided to throw a fit. If it weren’t for her being the buffer in between them, he wasn’t sure if Jon would have even given them a chance.
While Danny had been the reason he came to the Institute, he was certain they were the reason he didn’t quit.
Eventually the night grew late and most of the families and patrons had filtered out, leaving them to hobble out of the booth. Jon held his dinosaur gift under one hand while leaning on Tim with the other. The night air was pleasantly warm when they stumbled out to the pavement with only the distant sounds of cars going back and forth. It was as peaceful as the city ever felt.
Sasha waved over a taxi and Tim’s shoulders drooped with some disappointment. Well, the night had to end eventually. He didn’t know what he had hoped for, maybe being able to drive her home and talk over the music while Jon probably fell asleep in the back. There would be other nights for that though. He was already looking forward to the next movie night or night of drinking.
“I thought I’d save you the trip.” She gave a half-smile, pulling her purse over her shoulder. “As fun as it sounds to carry Jon inside, I think you have it handled.”
Tim glanced back at Jon who looked like he might doze off at any moment, arms still wrapped around the dinosaur she had gifted him. “I wouldn’t have minded. Driving you home anyway.”
Her smile grew as she moved to pat him on the shoulder and he could only hope she didn’t hear how his breath hitched in his throat. “You’re sweet, Tim. Never change.”
She reached up to press a kiss to his cheek, her hand tightening around his shirt for balance. He held his breath, if only so she wouldn’t be able to tell how fast his heart was beating. She was so close and so warm and then she was gone, moving to get into the backseat of the taxi. Of course, she rolled down the window and waved to them until it turned around the block and she was out of sight.
“Alright, Jon. Let’s get you home.” Tim let out a wistful sigh, draping Jon’s arm over his shoulder to lead him to his car.
Jon tumbled into the backseat, struggling to click his seatbelt into place until Tim helped him sit up straight. It didn’t last long and he tipped over onto the seat, dinosaur plushie in hand. Well, he’d be fine. The rest would be good for him and the mother of all headaches he would soon have.
The ride to Jon’s was quiet for some time, the radio turned to a dull static murmur. It was peaceful, or as peaceful as London streets could get at that time of night.
“Sasha looked nice.”
Tim tipped his head back slightly. “I didn’t know you were awake.”
“A little.”
He paused, pressing his lips together. “Yeah, she looked nice.”
“She left a mark on you.”
Tim felt his face heat up. If Jon of all people could see that, then it must have been obvious to everyone else. If Jon could see it, then there was no way Sasha hadn’t seen him fall all over himself for her.
“Her lipstick. It’s hard to get off, isn’t it?”
Relief washed over him. “...Yeah.”
Jon faded back into silence, presumably falling asleep. The conversation wasn’t missed though and he imagined that Jon wouldn’t even remember it in the morning. Tim caught his reflection in the mirror, spotting a peachy mark left on his cheek, burning brighter than the rest of his face.
It made him smile.