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Reki and Langa weren’t dating per se, but they did go on dates all of the time, without even realizing they were dates. They’d go to the movies and share popcorn and a large soda, they’d go bowling (Langa even lets Reki win sometimes) and they’d go out to get food together almost every day. Today was no different.
They were skating towards the arcade downtown, racing to see who could reach the parking lot first. Reki won, which meant that Langa had to pay for their first round of tokens.
They played a few games of air hockey, a basketball shootout game, and even had a ski-ball competition. No one was truly keeping score of who won the most games but they made sure to tease the loser after a win before moving onto the next game.
While they played ski ball, Reki couldn’t help but look over at Langa and notice how the neon glow from the surrounding machines lit up his features. The blues of his eyes and his hair were practically glowing.
Air hockey wasn’t much different. The reflective light off of the white tabletop made Langa’s teeth the brightest white Reki had ever seen.
Reki felt like life was moving in slow motion during those moments, his heart beating heavily in his ears. He had to admit that some of his losses were due to Langa’s unintentional distractions.
When they first walked in, Reki had noticed a few claw machines lined up against a wall and was determined to win Langa something. After telling Langa what he was going to play, the two split up for a little bit.
Reki surveyed the claw machines as he walked past, looking for one that had a prize Langa would like. One had bouncy balls, another had Angry Birds stuffed animals, and another had various expensive items like phones or speakers. One of them caught his eye, it was a blue and white snow mountain-themed machine full of cute yeti and snowman stuffed animals.
It was perfect.
There was a handful of white yetis with blue fingers and toes that Reki was determined to win.
His first attempt was a failure, having just caught the yeti’s arm before the claw slipped away and went back to its starting spot.
His second attempt was closer, but not by much. He managed to get the yeti off of the pile of other stuffed animals, but only for a moment before it fell again.
With a huff, Reki pulled two more tokens out of his pocket and shoved them into the machine, this time using his allotted time to position the claw exactly where it needed to be overtop of the yeti. He would peek around the time of the machine to make sure the claw was lined up and took a deep breath before pressing the drop button. The claw slowly dropped, closing around the yeti’s stomach before lifting up. “Yes!” Reki cheered, fits happily flying into the air, before watching the claw snap against the top of the machine and lose its grip on the stuffed animal. “No!” He whined, slapping his hand against the glass.
Reki dropped his head and took a moment to compose himself. This was just a claw machine, there was no reason to get so worked up about it.
Until he played two more times and hadn’t managed to win the yeti yet.
At this point, Reki was mumbling angry words under his breath and was sure he saw a little kid who had been at the machine next to him scurry away in fear in his peripheral.
Reki only had enough tokens left to play two more times. He peeked over his shoulder to make sure Langa wasn’t nearby, he wanted this to be a surprise. He took a deep breath and inserted the tokens, watching the claw throw itself into the middle of the machine and the timer began counting down from 25. He slowly moved the claw inch by inch until he was directly over the yeti’s head (he had figured out after many attempted that the head was where the claw would have the best grip) and waited until it stopped swinging. With 5 seconds left Reki pressed the drop button, holding his breath as he watched it clamp down over the yeti’s head. It jerked towards the top of the machine, only slipping a bit, before swinging violently towards the drop corner. With each swing, the yeti was slipping in the claw’s hold. Reki’s breath hitched with each swing and finally, it fell, hitting the edge of the plastic of the drop corner.
Reki saw red. He balled his fists at his side, holding himself back from punching the machine. He dropped into a squat, holding his head in his hands, internally cursing the stupid claw machine out in his head.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his last two tokens. He only had one more spot at this. With a deep, calming breath he inserted the tokens and got to his feet. He had moved the yeti right next to the drop corner so all he had to do was pick it up correctly. Easy.
After lining up the claw as perfectly as he could he waited until the very last second before pressing the bright blue glowing button. It dropped and snatched the yeti’s head, just like Reki planned. It rose to the top, slipping a bit before moving the short distance to the drop corner and released.
He did it.
Reki yelled out and jumped in a circle in excitement, earning various dirty looks from the parents near him, but he was too excited to care.
He finally calmed himself down and dropped into a squat to collect his hard-earned prize.
“Reki, why are you yelling?”
Reki let out a surprised squeak and jumped, tipping forward against the machine. He quickly got to his feet. “Langa! How long have you been standing there?” He rushes out.
Langa looks at him oddly. “Uh, not too long. I heard you yell and got concerned.”
Reki’s heart fluttered. He scratches the back of his neck. “Oh, sorry. I’m all good!”
“What were you doing that made you freak out?” Langa asks.
“Oh!” Reki quickly turns and crouches down to grab the yeti from the cubby it was sitting in. He kept it hidden behind his back when he faced Langa again. “I um,” He can feel his cheeks heat up. “I wanted to win you something.” He brought the yeti out from behind his back and hid his face in his shoulder.
Langa was quiet as he looked at the cute white and blue yeti stuffed animals in Reki’s hands. It matched his skateboard perfectly.
Reki refused to look up, too scared of the possibility of Langa rejecting his gift. His heart was racing and could feel his hands tremble slightly with nerves.
It felt like an eternity before Langa moved but he took the yeti into his hands and examined it closer. Reki looked up when the stuffed animals were taken from him. “I-If you don’t like it I can keep it! Maybe Koyomi will like it.” He chuckled nervously.
“Reki,” Langa says, his voice sounding light and airy. Reki looks up. “I love it.” Langa beams, a soft smile across his face and a light blush covering his pale cheeks.
Reki smiles back and lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Oh, thank god! You have no idea how stressful it was to win that.” He laughs. “I used all of my tokens and-” He doesn’t get to finish the would-be long-winded rant about the ridiculousness of claw machines before Langa has his lips pressed against his.
Reki froze. Langa was kissing him right now. His best friend was kissing him. His heart was beating out of his chest but he kissed back. The yeti stuffed animal squished between them, Langa’s hand tightly squeezing its arms. Reki brought his hands up to cup Langa’s cheeks.
Their kiss was gentle, with no desperation or need behind it. If anything there was relief bleeding through their lips, they both had wanted this for so long and hadn’t even realized.
They pulled away after what felt like an eternity, foreheads pressed together. They just stared at each other, wet lips and pink cheeks. Reki moved first when he moved his hands down to rest over the tops of Langa’s, he lets out a soft chuckle and hides his head in Langa’s shoulder. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” He mumbled against the fabric of Langa’s shirt.
Langa smiles and nuzzled his head against Reki’s lightly. “Me too.”
They don’t stay like that for too long, both remembering they were in a public setting and most likely being stared at. Reki pulls away. “Wanna go get lunch? I can call Joe and ask if he’ll cook for us.”
Langa nods.
They make their way outside, hand in hand until they reach the edge of the parking lot and set off on their boards, racing towards Sia La Luce.