Archive of Our Own ^beta

They say I’m boring because I don’t really enjoy Christmas, but that’s because all my friends get to buy presents with their partners, and I have to do it all on my own.

Like today.

I’m on my way to Hamleys in London because working at the British Museum means that, apparently, I can go anywhere in the city in a matter of minutes. Okay, that’s perhaps true depending on when I’m heading to, but since Christmas Eve is literally tomorrow, counting with me getting to the center in such a short time is… being too naive.

There is no way I can get to every place they want me to go in just one day. If they had told me about this damn presents long ago, I would have bought them all when people were still invested in Halloween. But, no, these fucking idiots had to wait till their families told them what did they get their kids, so now it’s my turn to look for the holy grails no one else has managed to find. 

And That’s why I’m heading to Hamleys, the biggest toy shop I know and the one in which, apparently, they still sell the toy Tobio and Shoyo’s kid want.

Am I happy knowing that, at least, it will be fast and will be able to move on? Yeah.

Am I also annoyed because I for sure know it will take me at least half an hour to just get to the floor where they sell the stupid toy? Absolutely.

This place is madness. I never remember how is it organized, so when I get to the door, I spend way too much time surrounded by families coming and leaving, and two workers dancing and singing Christmas songs.

“Have you already wrote your letter to Santa?”, they ask every kid. “If you haven’t, don’t worry! We have a magical letterbox that will be sent directly to the North Pole tonight!”.

Great, can I order for some book that tells my friends to stop having kids? Thank you.

It’s not that I don’t like them; I’m very fond of my friend’s children, and they love me too. But, come on, why do I have to be the cool uncle? Why has to be me the one buying always the best presents? I can do a year with the Grinch tag, really. Being the best is so tiering and expensive.

Anyway, this year is not the time. I’ve promised Tobio and Shoyo that I would get their boy a new toy released this year. It’s some kind of androgynous robot on a briefcase, surrounded by mechanical parts and some eccentric uniform. Do I even understand why does a four years old want that? Not at all. But when I informed myself about where to get it, I saw how popular it was. I mean, it looks… cool, I guess? We didn’t have those kind of dolls when I was a kid, but, that shit is expensive. It’s ninety pounds, and it’s only the main version! They didn’t order the extras, thankfully, because that would have put me into over a hundred and fifty, and I love the kid, but not that much.

Okay, that’s unfair, I do love the kid, but his parents don’t deserve me expending that much. I will leave the extras for them.

Coming back to reality, and once I get to the stairs in the center, I try to look for some indicator that tells me where I am. I should have read this before coming, but I was too busy trying not no explode at the museum today. With that being said, I decide to move to the third floor, which is the one that sells dolls and alike.

I think I spend ten minutes walking in circles trying to find that toy. Like, it’s super famous nowadays, I guess it would have its own expositor, right? It’s a possibility, but so far, I haven’t seen it anywhere.

I’m so desperate that I end up catching a worker girl off guard to ask her directly.

“Oh! They are at the basement”, she tells me.

“Wait, you guys have a basement?”. She looks so surprised I may be a little embarrassed right now. “I mean… Sure, the basement”. 

I get going and leave her behind. Damn it, I didn’t know they had a lower floor, but apparently they do and, when I get there, it’s full of miscellaneous stuff. I see blind boxes and expositors full of little collectible figurines. Ah… Perhaps I should buy one to Tadashi, I know he likes these, and I’m not one hundred percent happy with what I got him this year. 

But, no. Focus, Kei Tsukishima, you have one mission, and it’s finding the Super Space Tronic on his base form. Not exclusive, not the full extra version. We are here for the basic one, and you better find it.

After walking around the blind boxes area, I go to the opposite side of the floor and see a huge banner hanging from the ceiling that has a picture of the toy’s face on it, next to its name. It’s… strange, to say the least. I really don’t know if it’s human, animal or just a thing, but it totally looks as if it could be every thing, every gender and every… whatever.

At least, it looks creative. It comes with plenty of things on its briefcase to play, so, with that in mind, I’m happy Tobio and Shoyo told me to get this, instead of some stupid giant plushie, as if the kid didn’t have enough.

I mean, most of them are mine, because I love dino plushies, but, that’s another story.

Now, it’s time to get the Super Space Tronic for once and all, and go home to rest before Christmas Eve arrives. I get to the shelves of the damn toy and stop a few meters away because, damn it, there is only one. Literally. I see just one briefcase, which is bigger than I expected by the way, but just one. Damn it, on their website they said they have plenty of them. Are we really that desperate to get one that we have literally emptied the biggest toy shop of London? And on the last possible minute? God, I guess I’m lucky there is still one I can get, because otherwise, I would be fucked.

I pick up my phone to text my friends and tell them no to worry about the tronic, all while I reach for it as I get closer to the shelves. The briefcase has two handles, one of each side of the box itself, as if it was a spaceship, so I grab on one while I lock my phone down again. But when I’m about to start walking to the stairs, I notice a powerful strength is keeping me in place. It could be that the toy is alive, and doesn’t want to leave the shop, but this is not as magical as any kid may think: when I turn around, I see another guy grabbing the opposite handle, and trying to go away with it too.

I say trying, because now we are staring at each other, paralyzed and with a stupid look on our faces. He has a weird hairstyle going on; the back of his pointy black hair is up, but the front has some stupid bangs. I mean, he looks good, he is literally handsome even of that, but if we combine that with the black outfit, leather jacket included… He totally looks out of place. I suppose he is Christmas-shopping too, but that’s none of my problems.

We both have the phone on the other hand, so I guess he was also texting and didn’t see I already had the toy grabbed. No worries, I forgive him.

“Do you mind?”, I say, politely. “I’m on a rush”.

“Yeah, sure”, he accepts. His voice sounds kinda wicked, almost funny, so I guess he has accepted reality and seen this toy is mine.

But instead of letting go, he attempts with pulling harder and move away with it. When he sees he can’t, he turns again, totally surprised to look at me. Eh… What the fuck?

“Do you mind?”, he says now, with a tone. 

“Me?”. I make sure I’m grabbing the handle as hard as I can. “I saw it first”.

He shares a laugh that gets to my bones. It goes all through my spine, and it draws a frown on my face as I start to get anxious.

“No way”, he denies. “I was talking with one of the sellers about it for ten minutes, you weren’t even here. This one is mine”.

“Well, then you should have picked it up, because when I saw it from there” I point at the corner I took before reaching this area, “there was no one around. So, this one is mine”.

As I try to move away, he pulls on the handle again, and I step back by inertia. How is…? I can’t believe I’m really going to fight with a stupid dude for a toy. Or with a dude for a stupid toy. Or both are stupid, end of the story. 

God, I hate Christmas shopping.

“Sorry, man, but this one is really mine”, he insists. “I bet you can find another one”.

“Sure!”, I use the hand I have the phone on and point at the empty shelves. “There are plenty of options right now”. My sarcasm changes nothing, so I pull again. “Honestly, I’m on a hurry, please, let go of it”. But he does not. “Come on, there was no one around when I got here. When I grabbed it, you weren’t even close”.

“That’s totally false”, he complains. I step further against my will, because he pulls and shows he is clearly stronger than I am. “I was alone after talking with the seller. I was, indeed, right here texting my friend about it. I even took a picture, look”. He unlocks the phone and shows me a… selfie, of himself, putting faces in front of the tronic. “Ignore my stunning and photogenic face, if you please”.

“That’s photogenic?”, I mock. “Then I must be a runnaway model”.

He steps back for a second, never letting off the briefcase, and runs his eyes all over my body. What the heck is he doing? 

“I mean, you could”, he says. Excuse me? “But that wont grant you with this tronic, man. Because this one is mine, as I’m proving you”.

“You are proving shit”. I’m starting to get pretty stressed. “Just because you took a picture, a horrible picture, by the way, doesn’t mean it’s yours. I can still be in front of it for an hour that, if I don’t pick it up, it’s not mine. Actually”, I pull hard enough for him to step forward and almost crashing against me, “it will only be mine when I pay it. So, if you don’t fucking mind, just let go off it, please”.

As he is obviously not interested in doing so, he copies my attack and pulls me closer. I almost drop the tronic to bring my glasses up again, since they have fall down to the tip of my nose. Instead, I use the other hand to bring them in place, and then step back.

But I still grab onto the fucking toy.

“Okay, I’m gonna get serious now”, he says. “I was here before. Yes, I didn’t grab it, but, I was here before. And I need to buy this fucking tronic today. Otherwise, my roommate will kill me, do you understand?”.

“Well, I’m sorry for you. Two of my best friends will kill me too if I don’t bring this to their kid, so… Tell your roommate you will buy his kid another one”.

“His kid?”. He giggles in fear. “It’s for him!”. Wait, what?. “This is for my friend. God, there is no way Kenma would have kids, they would die immediately”.

“How old is that Kenma you speak of?”, I ask.

“Twenty eight”. So, he is just one year older than me? What the fuck?

“Are you really trying to take this away from me and give it to a grown ass adult?”. His eyes move side to side before focusing on me and nodding with quite an obvious expression. “Is this some kind of joke? Because I’m starting to get frustrated”.

“I’m pretty serious”, he says. “You don’t know my friend; if he doesn’t get what he wants, he will be acting like a grumpy cat for a whole year straight”.

“Not that I care”, I mock, and then try to take the box away from him. “I have to gift a four years old. As you can imagine, that’s more important”.

“It’s not”. He sound serious when saying that. I can’t believe it. “They won’t notice if this toy is missing under the tree, mean. Get them something different!”.

“He wants this”, I insist. “His parents want me to get this, and that’s what I will do”.

“Get them a Funko; they won’t see the difference!”.

“Are you even serious?”. God, this guy is insufferable. “I’m gonna call security if you don’t fucking let go off this briefcase”.

“Security? You? The model?”. 

He bursts out laughing at me all of a sudden. He is mocking me again, I suppose.

“I’m not a model, you fucking idiot”. I’m so angry right now I don’t mind insulting him.

“Models are not that furious; that would add wrinkles to their forehead, and that doesn’t help their careers”. We are pulling from both handles, I start to fear we are going to break it. “You must be some kind of lawyer. All act as if smiling was forbidden”.

“I’m a fucking museum guide, you prick. I work at the British Museum, so, trust me, a jackass like you won't stop me". There goes another insult. “Drop it, or I swear I will call security so they take you out of here”.

“Hello!”. Unexpectedly, a short girl appears by our side with a huge smile on her face… plus a drop of sweat falling from her temple. “Can I help you?”.

“Yes, please”, I’m fast and speaking first. “I saw this toy, picked it up and, when I was on my way to leave, this man tried to steal it from me”.

“You haven’t paid it yet”, he says, “Therefore, there is no thief done”. 

“Oh, shut up”. I try to focus on the girl. “I’m in a hurry, I really need to go, and this toy is the last of my list. So, please, if you could tell him…”.

“Actually”, she starts talking. “There shouldn’t be a…”.

“There is nothing to tell me”, the guy insists. “This toy is mine, can’t you just look for some other anywhere? Man, I come from Chelsea, I can’t go back there without it”.

“You are talking about Chelsea, not Budapest”. Once again, I pull from the handle. “I don’t care where you live; I grabbed it, you weren’t here. That’s enough”.

“Actually”, the girl says again, “it really shouldn’t be a problem, cause…”.

“Look, let’s do something”. He brings his free arm up but doesn’t let go off the handle. “Let’s play. Let’s play and see who gets it. There is no way you are gonna give up on it, and I won’t, either. I highly doubt they are gonna check on security cameras for this, so, we can stay here forever if we don’t decide who takes it”. 

I start frowning even before he finishes talking. Playing? What? He really wants to play to see who gets the toy I saw first? This is stupid.

“I’m not playing with you”, I say.

“Why, you scared already?”. His stupid and smug smile annoys me to the bones.

“I can’t be scared of something that looks so harmless”.

My pun gets nowhere, because he sighs and continues talking.

“Then, I take the tronic”. He uses his strength again and pulls me so hardly I almost fall against the shelves right now. Fuck, he is really not letting it go.

“Okay, fine!”, I complain. He is right when saying that Hamleys won’t take sides on this unless we start fighting, and, to be fair, I don’t see myself beating this dude. He’s not a gym bro at all, but he clearly is fit and strong. At least, more than me. “What do you want to play? I want to be done with it already”. 

Hopefully, I still have time to try to find one somewhere else. I’m aware there are none in London, but, if I need to go to Chelsea… Wait, he comes from Chelsea, so I guess there are none there either. Fuck, I see myself taking the Eurostar and going to Paris at this point.

“I mean, we are at Hamleys, aren’t we?”, he says. “There are plenty of options”.

“Wait, I thought you meant something like rock, paper, scissors”. I’m starting to get scared. “You want to play actual games?”.

This toy shop have some booths to try out games, toys and discover stuff they sell by first hand. Therefore, I guess he means that kind of playing… Which will take longer.

“Of course”, he admits. “I’m not risking losing this toy to your lucky hands”.

Well, that’s because he doesn’t know I always pick the same in rock, paper, scissors. But, still, I suppose this is better, because I doubt I would have won at a hand game.

“Fine”, I accept. “How do we proceed? Because I’m not dropping the briefcase”.

He takes a few seconds to think for himself, and then turns to the seller girl, who is still between us, full annoyed and with tired eyes.

“She will keep it”, he decides. “We give it to her, she can take it to the cashier already, and only the winner is allowed to buy it”.

“Huh, so you want me to drop it, right?”. I got it. “So when I do so, you will still be grabbing it, and you will say I quit”.

His gaze gets so annoyed, his eyes narrow so much he almost closes them. 

“You sure are a pain in the ass, museum guide”. And just like that, he brings the briefcase closer to the seller and offers her the handle. The one he was holding onto, and that now, he has let go. “You see? I’m trusting your fairness”.

He really did. 

Right now, I’m the only one touching the toy, apart from the seller. If I say I don’t play, then the toy is mine, unless he jumps on my back and starts hitting me, which is clearly an option. One that doesn’t help me at all, because even if Hamleys gets on my side, I will be in the hospital when that happens. And the toy would be for sure sold out already.

Damn it, do I really want to risk it? Should I be fair and play the stupid game he wants?

I let out a deep sigh and then free the briefcase. Right when I do so, and without me being ready to stop it, he takes it away from the seller and laughs, running in circles like a fucking child. I’m wearing a long dark green coat, and I’m about to take it off to run after him if he really leaves with the toy. But I don’t even have time to assume he is a trickster; he is giving it back to the seller.

“Sorry, sorry, I was kidding”, he admits with a huge smile on. “You should see your face, you were about to pass out”.

“I was going to kill you”, I fight back.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it”. He gets closer to me for some reason and wraps my shoulders with his right arm. I try to move away, but he keeps me closer. “Let’s play, museum guide”. Then he turns his face to the seller. “Keep it safe, please!”.

She starts fussing around totally annoyed, but she keeps the briefcase safe, at least while we go to the stairs. It’s there where I can finally move away from him.

“Don’t touch me”. As soon as I step aside, I make sure I still have my wallet and my phone. I do, so he is not a thief. Only a toy thief, but that won’t be for long. “Okay, what do you want to play. Choose quickly, because I need to leave”.

Truth is, I have no plans. Once I’m done, I will go home, where I live alone, and order some dinner and play some movie. But the sooner I get back to my boring routine, the better. I will have enough tomorrow, surrounded by all my friends and their partners or kids on a neverending dinner. And also on Christmas day, giving presents to full families, while I will get receive more dinosaur related items that later on will take to my lonely flat.

Damn it, I hate Christmas. I want to leave this toy shop right now.

“I mean, the fairest would be you choosing one, and me choosing another one”, he offers. “Because, what if I’m a beast at block building? That wouldn’t be fair for you”.

He’s really having the time of his life, isn’t he?

“If we play two games, we could tie, you moron”, I remind him. “It makes no sense”.

“Then, we play three”. I thought he would say this.

“Or just one”, I offer back. “I don’t mind if you choose it, come on. I want the tronic and go home”.

“Weren’t you on a rush?”, he says. “Going home doesn’t sound like one”.

“My three husbands and twenty kids wait for me, so yes, I am”.

Being sarcastic while in pain only helps my rival, but still, I really need to get moving. Not because I have anything else to do, but because I don’t want to be here.

“One game wouldn’t be fair either”, he says, pretty insistent. “What if the winner gets lucky? It won’t…”.

“Fine! Fine”. I start massaging my temples. He is going to give me a headache at this point. “Three fucking games, come on, choose the first one”.

The sooner we get going, the faster we will be over it.

I let him space to think about it for a bit. When I’m starting to get anxious at how long he needs to make a decision, he brings an index up, and there is only missing a lightbulb on top of his head to prove he got an idea. 

“Got it!”, he says. “Let’s go, first floor”.

Okay, that’s not further away from here. We get on the stairs and I start wondering what kind of game could he chose for this. He seems quite into energetic stuff, I don’t see him doing Sudoku on his free time, that’s too relaxed and, so far, he is bouncing on the step he is on, because this stupid idea excites him so much.

God, is he also one year older than me? Two perhaps? He acts younger. Not than me, that’s obvious, but than Tobio and Shoyo’s kid, even.

When we get to the first floor and I follow him around, I see that I was completely right when imagining his kind of game.

“So, scalextric”, I say.

There is a huge track on the car section, and two kids are having the time of their life playing with the seller. Still, this guy seems way more excited than them.

“I love scalextric”, he confesses. “I used to play it a lot when I was a kid, and got mad as fuck because Kenma always beat me”. 

There it is the Kenma guy again. The asshole that want’s my toy.

“You know that guy for quite a long time, don’t you?”. He says he played with him while being kids, so… I take my guess.

“Yeah, besties since school. Well, it’s actually because I moved right next to his house, but yeah. Best of besties”. Okay, not that I care. “That’s why getting this toy is so important. He really wants it”.

“Who would want a toy like this being twenty eight?”, I ask.

“Well, he is a collector. He is into robotics, and freak stuff. He’s a nerd”. 

If he wants me to feel bad about a grown ass man, I won’t.

“Whatever”, I say. “Let’s play this shit, and get onto the next one”.

“Hey!”, he yells. “Shit?! This is no shit. This is pure adrenaline”.

I get behind the kids to check on how this works. It’s look like an electric one, the most modern ones, because there are more than one car in the same line, and they go on different speeds. Back in the day, as I remember, the energy used to be on the track line itself, so sharing one would imply both cars would do the exact same. But they work separately. 

Okay, I think I get how this works.

“Hey, guys, you up for a race?”, the seller asks us. It’s a woman all dressed as a pilot, which is pretty cool, but I bet she is sweating. I am, because of this stupid coat and my turtleneck jersey. In my defense, I didn’t expect to be here so long.

“Yeah”, I say. “Please”. 

“I’m so excited!”, my rival says. I clearly can’t come up even closer to his excitement.

“Good, good!”, she says. “Okay, guys, you had fun?”, she asks the kids that are already done. They both nod. “You know, you can come back at any time!”. But they leave, so far, and now it’s our turn. “So, which car do you guys want? The white one is mine”.

“You choose first”, he offers me. 

I get closer and take a look. The race before was won by the blue one, and both kids were doing equally bad, because they are kids. Still, I don’t know if the cars are tricked… But it could be. She always picks white, I guess she never wins so guests can have fun, but…

God, why am I taking this so seriously?

“I choose blue”, I say.

“Great, I wanted the red one!”. Whatever.

“Okay, guys, the race will be five laps, okay?”. The track is pretty small, so five sounds not a lot to maneuver in case…

“Can it be ten?”, my rival says. “We are fighting for a toy, please, This is really important”. That’s the only clever thing he has said so far.

“Just because there is no one waiting”, she accepts. “Okay, since you chose the car” she says about me, “he should pick up the line, fine for you?”.

“Fine for me”, I don’t care.

“Time to choose, then!”, she offers him. And he goes for the outer line. Then, I go to the inner and last one. She places her car right behind my rival’s. “All ready?”. We nod. “Just so you know how the remotes work, the big button is for speed, the circle on top is to break and the smaller square is to change lines”. Ah, yes, I’ve seen there are at least three changes of road ahead, I need to think of that. “You wanna try out before starting?”.

“Nah, we good”. He says for both of us.

I’m not going to be the kind of guy who will say he wants to try out first.

“Fine”, I say.

“Your names?”, she asks. “I like to comment on the race, as if I would be on the BBC and this would be a Formula 1 race!”.

God, they take it seriously in here.

“I’m Tetsuro”, my rival says. I didn’t expect a name like that, to be fair.

Now they are both waiting for mine.

“Kei”.

“Great. Tetsuro versus Kei, are you ready?”. Again? God, can’t we go on already? I’m getting…. “Three, two, one, go!”.

Fuck! I wasn’t even paying attention!

As I press the speed button, they are already ahead of me. Both, damn it! I should have taken the try on. I don’t even know the fastest corners, nor the aerodynamics. Yes, this is a scalextric game, but, for fuck’s sake, I need to win. So I get closer to the track to get serious at this. I need to control every side of the road, and also my rival’s movements. 

Tetsuro, he said he is called. Then, Tetsuro, I’m about to beat you.

I’m behind both of them for the whole first lap. But when the second one starts, I’m already following them closely. They are having fun between each other. Both laugh, like idiots, but I’m so tense my jawline starts to get way to firm. That will cost me a headache, I see that coming. Fuck. No time to regret; I have to win.

I need that freaking toy!

Almost reaching the third lap, I use the square button and move to their line. Finally, Tetsuro notices I’m catching up.

“Wow, you woke up!”, he says. “Be careful, man, or you could get out!”.

“Leave me alone”, I complain. “I know what I’m doing”.

“You sound like Kimi Raikkonen!”.

“Who!?”. The fuck is he talking about now.

“Don’t you watch Formula 1?!”. As we get to the four lap and the white car moves to the other line, I’m right behind his red car. We are clearly nervous, because our voice has gotten louder all of a sudden.

“No”, I try to calm it a bit down, but I sound angrier. “I don’t watch sports”.

“What?!”. He does the opposite, actually. “What do you do to have fun, then?!”.

He really is a grown ass kid, isn’t he? Damn, I’m too old for this. I don’t want to play games to get a fucking toy. Why is he so contagious, then? Why his happiness is a clear dare to me? I need to beat his ass. I need to win.

“I watch moves, tv shows, read a book”, I defend myself.

“Oh, come on, don’t act all nerdy now!”. I decide to change lines so I can go side by side with his car. “Just because you do those things doesn’t mean I’m less than you for watching sports. I like movies too!”.

“I never said you are lesser than me; that’s your whole saying”. 

Actually, I used to enjoy sports back in the day, but people around me take them so seriously I started to hate them. Plus, I don’t enjoy pressure. I used to play volley in High School, and quitted because of it. I like peaceful activities… and then there is this scalextric race that will be the death of me.

I know I’m sweating, and it’s not because of my clothes.

We are side to side, but I know I will be leading in the next lap. Which is the seventh.

“Fuck!”, Tetsuro complains when I overtake him. “How?! I’m driving so well!”.

“You are not risking”, I say, because I am. “You can’t win in life without risks”.

And just like that, I press the square and then the circle, so I change lines and break for a second before speeding up again. What do I get with it? That he gets scared because he thinks we are going to crash. Therefore, he changes lines too, but he has lost control of the race and his car drops away of the track.

“No, no, no!”. Just now, I notice that the girl has been commenting on the race all the time. How is that I didn’t hear her? She is literally screaming. Tetsuro tries to place his car back in track, but he is already half a lap behind me. “That’s not fair, man! You know? Being dangerous in the road doesn’t make you look any prettier”. Whatever, I don’t care. “You drive like Verstappen, all dirty”.

“I prefer to be compared to Hamilton”, I say. “Clever and cunning”.

He looks at me a few times; he has given up on the race and, ten seconds later, I cross the line in the leading position. So, I won. First game is on my side.

“So you watch Formula 1”, he says.

“No, but I know that one”. Just because my friends are into the sport, and Hamilton is the local driver, or one of them, so… Whatever, I just said it to annoy him.

Why? I have no idea, but… it was fun.

Fuck, it was fun, actually.

“Hey, congrats on the race!”, the girl tells me.

I hold back a smile, because for some reason I want to share one, but that’s stupid.

“Thanks, I guess”. I pick up the car. “Were both of them the same?”. I still think mine was faster somehow.

“Totally equal. No tricks here! There are cars that we sell that are faster, of course, but the try on has the two same ones”. Okay, I hope she doesn’t try to sell me a scalextric now. “So, what did you win?”.

“Nothing yet”, Tetsuro defends his integrity. He sounds annoyed, so I give him a side eye to make fun of him. My brows are already frowning in cockiness. I can’t help it; I’m the worst at playing, because I rejoice my victories way too much.

“But soon”, I say.

Then, I walk away from the area and he follows me around. Ah, victory feels so good… I can’t even hide how much I enjoy whenever I win at anything.

“Okay, Kei”, he says. It feels weird to hear my name on his lips, because I still find his voice quite wicked, and it makes it sound… interesting. “What’s your pick?”.

“I don’t know what kind of games are in here. Is there a place where I can check?”.

“Yeah, on each floor”. I stop walking and turn towards him. He bites his lower lip to not laugh at me, and I fist my hands to not hit him in the face. “Sorry”.

“You better”. As we are on the main floor, I try to go to a seller that is at the entrance and ask them directly. “Hi, excuse me. Could you please let me know what kind of try ons or games can be played in here?”.

“All kind of games!”, he says. “For all ages and preferences, we have different floors…”.

“Yeah, yeah, but could you give me an example?”. I really appreciate their hard work. I bet they are tired of repeating those things, but, I need to keep going. “We just tried the scalextric. What more is there to try?”.

“I mean, you have the droneplanes in this floor”, he points to the opposite area where the cars were. Drone… planes? Remoted airplanes, I guess. Not my thing, not without a track helping me out. “Also the boxing ring with old style mechanical toys. Or the beauty saloon for dolls. Or the LEGO construction section. Ah, and a pool where you can dive super cool eggs and see dinosaurs coming to live!”.

“Wait, dinosaurs?!”. I’m excited all of a sudden, but that’s not a fucking game. “Okay, wait, leave that aside”. I will check on that later. “LEGO construction, you said? That sounds good to me. Where is it?”.

“The basement!”, he says.

Wait, we come from there, how is that I didn’t see it?

Anyway, I say thank you to the seller and then go to the stairs again. Tetsuro comes after me, pretty fast.

“Okay, why do you expect us to do with LEGOs?”

“I need to say first what they have, and then I will tell you”. 

I don’t want him to start working on a strategy, to be fair. I will keep it secret for now.

“Fine”, he complains. “So, dinosaurs”.

“What’s with that?”. I try to ignore him as we walk, but his tone has changed to something more… cocky, and I hate it because it makes me nervous.

“You like ‘em”.

“Who doesn’t?”.

As he remains silent, I turn around on the lower step of the stairs. I look at him over my glasses, and he brings both palms up, in surrender sign.

“I do, I do”, he says. “Long live the Trex, or whatever”:

“Trex are boring”, I say. “The movies gave them way too much power. Yes, they were big and strong, a great predator, but they weren’t the best. They are just seen like that because Americans say they discovered them in their territory. So, they glorify them”. 

“And it’s not true?”, he asks.

“As I say, they are cool, and some of the most influential dinosaurs of their time, but I prefer others. Raptors were indeed life changing. Brachiosaurus are quite popular because of their long neck”. I see the LEGO area as we get down. I clearly missed it when coming here the first time. “I don’t know, I guess I got annoyed at how they tried to make the Trex sound better than it is, but I of course love it too”.

“Damn, you know a lot about this”.

“I’m a paleontologist, so I guess I do”. 

“Shit! That’s so cool!”. He celebrates. “What’s your favorite dinosaur?”.

“Triceratops”.

“Ah, I love those. Their head is spectacular”.

“Yes, and the best thing of them is…”. I stop walking as we get to the LEGO section. “Why the fuck are we talking about dinosaurs?”. 

Why is he following me with the conversation at all?

“Dunno, man”. He shrugs as he speaks. “You seem to love the topic”. Yeah, I do, but that’s not a reason to… Whatever.

“People normally don’t talk with me about dinosaurs”, I point out, quite angry and ashamed. “They say I’m too intense”.

“I mean, you seem to hate Americans”. 

Fuck, I want to laugh to that. Thankfully, I hold it back.

“Not hate, but I’m mad about how they try to make everything about them”.

“Dude, you work at the British Museum. You get paid by thieves”.

God, that’s…

“Fair point”. I admit. “But that’s not what matters now”. Leaving the chat behind, I point out a huge table full of drawers filled up with LEGO pieces. “Time to play”.

“Okay, dare to explain how are we supposed to fight with… a construction set? If you want to play Jenga, I bet they have the proper game around; LEGO pieces are piled on each other, so none of them will fall at all”.

“I don’t want to play Jenga. If that would be the case, I would have looked for Jenga”.

“Then?”.

I get closer and pick up some pieces. There are some kinds building stuff around, but the space is huge enough for us to be able to work just fine. Also, there are plenty of pieces to choose, so that shouldn’t be a problem. 

“We are going to build a tower”.

“A… tower”, he says.

“Exactly”. Like that, it doesn’t sound hard at all. “With the same base and structure, the one that manages to build the tallest one without it breaking down, wins”.

“But that’s so easy”. I suppose that’s fair. “They get suck, you know? That’s the whole point of LEGO, sometimes you can’t even put pieces away from each other”.

“Well, but not all the pieces are the same”. I get down to one of the drawers and bring some up. I have one that has four holes, another one of ten. One is a huge square, and the other is a rectangle. The options are endless. “And once we run out of the same ones, we will have to improvise”.

I’m pretty good at building LEGOs. When I started working, I took part of a series of activities for kids in a History Museum that had a building up sections. We created dinosaurs, pyramids, planets and stuff. So I know I can easily do a tower.

“Okay”, Tetsuro accepts. “Any kind of tower, or do you want one in which the prince saves the other prince?”. He winks an eye at me, and I try to ignore it.

“Just one that doesn’t fall”.

“That can take a long time”.

“Well, then you can give up”. He takes my offer pretty seriously, but not to consider it but to act offended. As he passes by my side, he gets down to find a spot.

“No way. I want that tronic”. 

I find myself laughing when he rolls up his leather jacket sleeves, especially because you can’t do that on such a thick clothing, but, still, he tries. Since I’m apparently more clever than he is, I take off my coat and place it between us. Then, I do roll up my jersey’s sleeves.

For some reason, he stares at me while I do so.

“Damn, I thought you hated sports”.

That’s a weird, ass and random comment to make.

“And I do”, I say.

“But you play some, don’t you?”. He starts looking for something on the drawers. These tables are made for children, so it’s not really comfortable trying to stretch out to pick anything. “You are strong”.

“I’m what?”. I’m so shocked I can’t move. “Me?”.

Then he nods as he side eyes my shoulders. Oh, okay, I know what he means. 

“I’m not strong”, I clarify. “It’s just… I move my arms way too much when working, and I used to take part in local excavations, so, my lower back is more developed than the rest”.

Why the fuck am I explaining this to someone I’ve just met? I have no idea, but, at least, this is not like the dinosaur talk; he lets it go pretty fast, so I’m fine with it.

“I do”, he says, then. Damn it, so the chat wasn’t over. “I go to the gym”.

“Congratulations, I guess”. 

For some reason, now I’m thankful he keeps his leather jacket on.

“So, a tower”, he repeats.

“I think I made it quite clear, man”.

“Okay, but that’s too simple, even if there are not enough pieces”. With that said, he gets on his knees and leans over the table to look for the further drawers. That… brings his ass right on scene, and I do as I can to ignore it, because, for some reason, I start to think on gym routines that he clearly does to keep it fit. 

Shit, Kei, focus. I know you are too lonely, but you need that toy, not a prick that is clearly the gym bro you thought he wasn’t.

“Here you have”. He is back at his spot. For some reason, he has picked up two square bases of LEGO, both the same size, a seven x seven. “We will use the same base, so we start in equal terms. Okay?”.

“Why are you picking rules on my game?”, I complain.

“You chose the car on mine”. To that… I can’t say anything, to my disgrace.

“Fine, we use the damn base”.

It’s not that it affects me in any way. If so, it helps me, but so does it help him, and that’s why I don’t like. Still, I’m confident about my skills. I’ve done things way more complicated than a tower, so, this should be easy.

With that in mind, I take a deep breath and look left, where he is. He waits for my order.

“Ready?”, I say. God, how did I end up doing this today?. “Go”.

We start building, and just his beginning is already quite different from mine. I go for long pieces, seven blocks long, to make an outline of the base. Tetsuro, on the other hand, picks up shorter ones and starts creating figures till he reaches a few floors up. He has left some squares empty, but so far I don’t think that will affect him at all.

The issues will appear once he starts going up, and up. Because, as I said, we have plenty of pieces to choose… but not all of them will be useful.

“Shit, I thought we had more of those square ones”, he says as he tries to find some. He means the classic two x two blocks. And, yeah, he is right, there aren’t many of those and, the ones that are not in our tower, are sadly on the hands of some kids not far away from us. “Do you think I could…?”.

“Leave the kids alone, you idiot”, I can see in his eyes that he was considering.

“Fine! Fine. That wasn’t a rule, but, I will stay here”.

“We can only use pieces at hand, how does that need any rule?”.

“I don’t know!”, he starts fussing around with clear nervousness. Damn, he is starting to see this on my side pretty soon; I’ve only built ten floors or so!. “Okay, think, Tetsuro. Think! You do harder things for a living, how is this any difficult for you?!”.

“What do you work at?”. If I ask, it’s just because now I’m curious about his chosen words. If LEGOs are a pain in the ass for him… I really wonder why he works in.

“I’m a regional director on a microbiology lab”. Wait, what did he just say?. “It has nothing to do with building towers, but, damn, sometimes I need to be careful”.

“You are a microbiologist?”. 

I have stopped building just to look at him.

“Yeah”, he says. But he looks so focused while biting his tongue as he tries to place some pieces on that I really think he is lying to me. “Surprised?”.

“I don’t even believe you, so, you tell me”.

He pauses just a second. The one he uses to separate to pieces stuck together.

“What do you expect from a microbiologist? We have a life, you know? We like games, sports, movies. Dinosaurs, even if they are not micro at all”. 

He winks an eye to me and I feel clearly uneasy. 

I turn my face to my tower, and try to ignore the heat I feel on my neck.

“I just thought you would be teaching sports on some High School”.

“Judging people by their look is not wise, Kei”, he mocks me. 

“I was actually judging you by your attitude, Tetsuro”, I fight back. 

His appearance tells me nothing about the job idea I had in mind. If so… it tells me that he is quite alternative dressing, even if he doesn’t seem to have earrings, tattoos nor nothing alike. Yeah, perhaps that’s not the image I picture for a scientist his level, but I also didn’t relate his clothing to a teacher. Even if it was a sports teacher.

“How is my attitude any different from anyone else’s?”.

“I don’t know”. I try to ignore how ridiculously stupid I’ve been by placing more pieces on the tower. “You are too childish. Not in a bad way, just… I didn’t think that would be your profession. That’s all”.

“Well, you are clearly a museum guide”, he says.

And now the one shocked that stops building is me.

“Why?”, I ask, quite annoyed. “Because I’m bored, serious and too snob?”.

He is so impressed that he stops building, too.

“No?”, he answers, offended even if I was talking about myself, not him. “Because you seem clever, passionate, and enjoy talking about stuff you like not in a pretentious way, but somehow… generously? As if you liked to share and teach. That’s charming”. That’s… stupid, because we have only talked about dinosaurs so far. “Actually, I thought you would be a teacher instead of me, but working on a museum does the thing, too”.

Feeling as my cheeks start to burn, I decide to ignore him and focus on my tower.

“That’s ridiculous”, I mutter.

“You know what would be ridiculous?”, he says. “Losing, and you seem close to do so”.

Wait, what?

My tower is still standing. Yes, his is too, and is a few floors higher, but that doesn’t matter if, at the end, his breaks down to the ground.

But if he says so, it may be because he has some plans in mind, and I don’t like how that sounds. Damn it, I was the one choosing the game, why is he making me nervous all of a sudden? Was he good building LEGOs too? Come on, he is a microbiologist. Pieces are tiny, but not that much. He works better with smaller things. Some you can see only on a microscope. So this is my field. This is my victory and, if I win, the toy is mine.

As it should be.

I start picking up pieces and hoarding them aside. On my knees, I place them on the tower little by little, trying to make an strategy out of the mess that’s starting to exist. As I expected, not having a regular amount of blocks implies that, at some point, the tower won’t be straight anymore.

In my case, there are a few overlapping edges already. On Tetsuro’s, though, the structure is starting to look pretty weird.

“Hey, no hoarding allowed!”, he complains.

“Who said that?”. I push the pieces away from him. “I don’t want to lose those”.

“That’s unfair! Come on, you really are a British Museum worker, aren’t cha?”. 

God, that was clever, but I’m not going to laugh at his pun.

Instead, I try to focus, but he is taking advantage of my own tricks and he is moving to the further side of the table to look for pieces.

“No, wait!”, I say. “That’s not fair, either!”.

“Whatever you say!”. He ignores me and continues hoarding.

Then, out of rage, I decide to place a random piece on his tower. Carefully, because dropping everything would be too obvious. But now the top floor has a random seven blocks long piece halfway out.

When he gets back and starts separating pieces, the moment in which he looks for his tower is quite reveling… but, sadly, not on my behalf.

“Hey, I needed one of those!”, he says as he picks the piece I just placed on his construction. “Where were you, little bitch?”, he says. 

I see how two kids stare at him totally mesmerized, but I say nothing about his cursing. I’m pretty shocked at how helpful I was to him, surprisingly. Because just like that he only needs to bring up three floors of his tower to place the seven blocks long piece I gave him on an empty space he had.

Then, he goes on. And I back to my tower totally frustrated… especially because, when I see I need the exact same piece I’ve given to him, I want to kill myself.

“Are you kidding me”, I complain. “Come on”. But I can’t say why, because he would know why I’m mad now. 

If he doesn’t know, already.

“Looking for this?”, he mocks me, with the piece I want in hand.

I start frowning as I remember him clearly placing it on the tower. Wait, how is that he has another one? It’s even the same color: blue. Did he…?

“You stole it from me?”, I say.

“No way”. He is so fake I can’t even believe he is trying to get away with his. “Are you missing some? Perhaps you lost it, or placed it on the wrong tower”.

Ah, damn, he knows.

I bite my lip as he giggles, back to his construction. This jackass… He knew from the beginning, and instead of complaining, he just used my trick for his own good.

“Give it back to me”, I say. “You stole that one, didn’t you?”.

“I did”. He admits. “But, since you also tricked me, we are equal now”.

“It’s not the same!”. Come on, it’s actually the opposite. “I gave you one, you took one from me. How is that fair?”.

“Well, you wanted to ruin my tower, didn’t you?”. I hold my breath. “It’s not my problem that your attempt of destroy my beautiful creation became a helpful addition, Kei”.

“Stop calling me by my name”, I say out of frustration, and go back to my tower. “You are so annoying, of course you are a scientist”. 

“Wow, wow, wow!”. He starts chuckling. “You are one too! A cute one, who is unusual, but one anyway”.

What does he say that all of a sudden?!

“I’m not the same”. I’m totally not. “Paleontologist are scientist too, but some become one after studying a mix of History and Sciences, not only Sciences”. And that’s my case. “It takes longer, but their knowledge is better formed like that”.

“So, you are better than me because you studied History?”. He mocks me.

Damn it, he really loves to fight.

“I’m better than you simply because I don’t show off in front of others”.

Which is… not true, but whatever.

“You were laughing your ass off when racing me on the scalextric!”, he says. What? I was… What? I don’t even remember that. He is coming up with that, right?. “I’m a lab director, did you hear me? Director!”.

“Regional”, I clarify. “You still have bosses over you”.

“Man, you even have managers over you”.

Okay, this is stupid. Why are we fighting over who is more clever than the other? He is a fucking microbiologist, shouldn’t he be worried about losing this game and not being able to bring the tronic to his friend, the nerd collector? 

Goddammit, if I don’t get that toy for Tobio and Shoyo’s kid, they will kill me.

I decide to stand up and copy his movement; I go to the nearest corner of the table, and look for pieces. Then, I go back and start placing them as fast as I can. I need to make the tallest tower already, I don’t care about anything else. If I win, the game is over. The toy is mine, and I can move on from this prick. 

And think I’m close to beat him, because as I start building while standing up completely, he is still crouching somehow. Since we are more or less the same height, which means, I’m on the lead. That gives me a boost of serotonin. I’m close to win. Finally, this nightmare will be over. The tronic will be mine, and…

“Why are you laughing?”, I say, because I can hear him giggling.

“Nothing at all”. He is still crouching. “Aren’t you going too fast?”.

“Exactly”, I admit. “Scared?”.

“Nope”. Sadly for me, he actually doesn’t look threatened. “Keep going, it looks good”.

“It totally does”. Because the tower is already taller than myself, and there are not many pieces left around. Even the kids have stopped playing to look at us, and some others have come closer to see our job. Mine. The one of the victory. “You can give up, Tetsuro. We are running out of pieces”.

“I’m fine”. But he is like fifteen floors away from my height. “We will be over soon”.

“Yes, because you are going to lose”. I’m so confident I even smile now.

“Sure, Kei”. He laughs again. It’s annoying me pretty much. “By the way, since you are paleontologist, can I ask you something?”.

“Yeah, I guess”. What’s that about now?

“Did dinosaurs suffer from some kind of avalanche when the steroid crashes against the Earth?”. That’s the most stupid question I’ve heard.

And he doesn’t seem to care about it a lot, because he moves away from the table and goes to the shelves we have not further away from us, where they do have small figurines of animals and, apparently, dinos too.

“Why would you ask such nonsense?” I say, as I continue building.

“Because…”. He comes back and places a triceratops right next to my tower. “This looks as if you were recreating history, Kei”.

“What the fuck are you…?”.

As soon as I try to place another block on top, I don’t know how, my tower falls down making a hideous noise and, of course, smashing the triceratops beneath at least fifty blocks of LEGO. I’m… frozen. As I hold a piece in the air, one I didn’t manage to place, I see my creation totally destroyed.

I would love to blame him, but he didn’t touch it when bringing the dino. This was… me. It was me. Fuck. I did it. How? I don’t even know what I did wrong!.

“Ah, so I guess I won”, he says.

“How?”, I complain. I’m talking to the air, because even if some dudes and kids are clapping to us, as if this was a public game, I’m annoyed as hell. “How did you…!? I was on the lead, my tower was taller!”.

“Exactly”, he admits, next to me. “Which wasn’t a good strategy, my dear friend; the key was being the last one standing, not the tallest one”.

“No. The game was the tallest…”. Ah. I know. Yes. Fuck. He is… right. “I can’t believe it”. I look at the mess I’ve made and cover my eyes beneath my glasses. “I can’t believe I fucked up like this”. He is giggling again. “Stop with the laughing, you idiot! You were lucky”. Actually, he was clever, but I’m not going to give him that.

“I was just waiting, man”. Exactly. “You started to go so fast, it seemed as if you were on a rush for real, so it was about time that your tower would collapse”. That’s exactly what happened. “I didn’t even place a block for the last seven minutes. You were five floors up and I was still on mine, just checking at the colors of each piece and…”.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it”. I stop him right there, I don’t want to listen any more. “Whatever, congratulations. You won at building LEGOs”.

“Don’t me harsh on yourself. We are tied, you can still get another victory”. For some reason, he crashes his hips on mine, and I jump to a side. Why did he…?. “Ready for the last round, dino lover?”.

“I have a name, for fuck’s sake”. 

I get down to pick up my coat, but he is faster. He, then, hands it to me and I grab it.

I turn around to put it on (even if I’m still warm as fuck) because that’s the only thing I can do to hide that I’m blushing. Again.

“You said you didn’t want me to use it”, he reminds me. Which is true.

“Whatever, just don’t call me at all. Let’s go”.

“Wait, we need to pick all the pieces up!”.

“Do it yourself; it was your fault my tower fell”.

And, surprisingly, he does as I say while I annoyingly wait for him a few meters away.

I don’t even know what’s on his mind for the last game. God, I just want to put an end to this and take the toy back home. Why did I even accept to do this? I can’t believe I’m taking this so seriously after all. But now, I can’t quit. If I do so, I will lose the last tronic of the shop. And my friends would kill me, even if it’s their fault they told me to get it today.

Whatever, it’s not the time to get mad at anyone. I need to think clearly, cold mind and wise moves from now till the end.

And when I see Tetsuro coming towards me, without his leather jacket… It’s as if I remembered why my coat is so warm, apparently.

“Any idea for the last game?”, he asks. 

Since he is wearing a thing black hoodie, I can say that he clearly hits the gym. What are those biceps? What are those pecs? For fuck’s sake, and I thought he was just fit. I’m so stupid. It’s obvious I don’t get with a man in so long, I don’t even know how they look like anymore. God, this game is being a real nightmare for me.

“Whatever”, I say. “You choose”.

“Man, you’ve said whatever at least a thousand times”.

“Yes, because I want this to be over already”.

“You weren’t that pissed when you won the race”, he mocks me. 

When I look at him, I see his smug smile and I hold my breath. 

Why does he enjoy provoking me so much?.

“Can you pick one game already?”, I say.

“Fine, fine! Lemme think”. And he starts doing so. “It has to be something none of us is good at, or perhaps something we both are great at”.

“I think the first option is easier”. At least, considering we both failed at our selection. “Let’s go to the other floors, maybe we see something”.

We go up again, and so far we see nothing that looks appealing. The only good thing I see that catches my eye is the dino-egg pool the guy downstairs told me about, but that we can’t use for a game. To be fair, nothing around us can be actually used properly. Other than the droneplane think I refuse to do, our only option is dressing up some dolls, trying out some action figures or boxing. And… Boxing is not that skilled. We need something that proves one is better, other than hitting buttons. We did that already with scalextric.

But there is nothing that really fits our necessities.

“I have an idea”, he says. “But I don’t know if you will like it”.

“At this point, I will take whatever you give me”. 

I’m not aware of how that sounds like till I look for him and I see his cocky brows and eyes staring right at me. God, no, why is he taking this out of context?

“You know what I meant”, I point out. I’m sure I’m flushed again.

“Yeah, but it was fun anyway”. I roll my eyes and he sighs. “Okay, my idea: have you seen the plushie section on the third floor?”. As I try to bring my memory back, I picture the area in my head. So I nod, even though I don’t remember any game zone close to that, other than the make over for dolls. “What about that?”.

“That?”. I’m lost. “What’s that? You want to play with plushies? Because I don’t know it that has a way of proclaiming any of us as a winner”. 

“No, you dumbass”. My proposal was funny to him, because he is trying not to laugh. Man, I really am not that entertaining. “But didn’t you see the factory?”.

A factory? On a plushie section? Not at all.

“I have no idea what you are talking about”.

“They have different covers, clothes and materials to create stuffed animals”. Oh, that I know, yes. It’s called something like Dream factory, so I guess he meant that. “I thought we could create our own plushie”.

“And who wins? The one who doesn’t destroy it in the process?”.

Because then, I for sure will lose.

“No, the one that gives it away the fastest”. Wait, what? I don’t get that. “Let’s create some, and then we offer them to kids. The one they choose, it wins”.

“That’s nonsense”. 

“Do you have a better idea, Mister Whatever?”.

That’s worse than Kei and dino lover, but he’s gonna run out of nicks to give me if I continue forbidding him the ones he chooses. As if him choosing one wasn’t enough.

“No, I don’t”. Sadly for me. “Can’t it be something different from kids? I’m horrible with them”. Actually, I’m the cool uncle just because I make good presents, and I’m the best nanny for them, since I let them do all they want. But my friends hate me; I’m a horrible influence, they say. And I don’t really get along with kids I don’t know.

“I’m the worst, too”, he says to me. “They normally run away from me, scared of how cheerful I am. Too much for them, apparently”. 

So, I’m the boring one, and he is the funny one, and, still, we are both in disadvantage for this game. Sounds… fair, I guess.

“Okay, fine, let’s do that”.

We go to the third floor, right to the factory of plushies, and we do the queue so we can get ours. It takes less than five minutes, thankfully, because we have to select the cover and the stuffed material before heading towards the machine, so… That goes pretty fast.

“Wait, we have to pay?”, I say.

“No worries, I pay for this”, Tetsuro clarifies. 

“No way you are paying for my plushie”. 

“Man, it was my idea, I don’t mind”. These plushies are thirty pounds each, plus clothes. Is he really going to pay over fifty pounds for this? Is he crazy? 

“You get paid pretty well, I think”.

“I can’t complain”.

Then, I won’t either. I will let him do it, if he is so interested.

So far, I start by choosing the covering. He has selected a white bunny, and I go for a classic beige teddy, simple because I’ve seen the hats sections already, and I think its head will work better for placing one. Then, I move to the insides, and I pick a good amount so the bear is soft but not so soft it can still fall apart. I used to have one which neck was almost empty, and his head was going back and forth all the time. No, this one will be filled up.

When I get to the machine, I tell the girl there to not hold back. She lets me touch it a few times, just to make sure I like how it feels, and when I’m okay with it, I move to the last section: the clothing.

Tetsuro is already there, but he seems confused. I, on the other hand, go for a classic look that can suit every taste: I pick a yellow striped shirt, some light blue overalls, and a straw hat. Also, I give him a small green backpack. I don’t know what, that looked cute. And for the shoes, I choose some white trainers. 

I’m scared of how expensive this shit may be, but I prefer to not look back once I’m done. Ignoring the price tags, I go after Tetsuro, who is almost finished with his bunny and has his leather jacket back on again.

“I’m ready”, I announce.

“Me…”. He is biting his tongue again, like before. I notice because, well, for some reason I prefer to check his expression than the plushie I’m fighting against. He is my rival, after all, right?. “Too!”.

He shows me the bunny with so much happiness I even feel bad for him not being liked by kids. Okay, the stuffed animal looks… Cute. Way too cute. He put it on a pink dress with strawberry pattern, a red backpack in heart shape and some red sandals. Since it has long ears, he couldn’t pick a hat, but he added too flowery hair ties and placed them on the base of each ear. Okay, that sounds painful, but it looks cute. 

Damn it, so cute.

“I called her Margarita, because those are daisies”. He points at the flowers.

And daisy in Spanish is margarita, yes. Okay, cute. Fun. Whatever.

“Mine, eh… John”. 

“Wow, slow down, you are being too original, my friend”. 

“We are not…”. We are not friends , that’s what I’m about to say, but, fuck, that would be me stopping him from referring to me again . I think he notices and, just because I don’t want to be ruder, I decide to let go. “John Beary”, I change my decision. “Is it any better?”.

“Ah, that sounds cute”, he says.

The face he makes when saying cute is so annoyingly pleasant I decide to turn around.

“Fine”. I was going to say whatever. Really, I need to chill. “How do you want to do it?”.

“I asked the sellers if they mind we do this, just in case it looks weird, and they were fine with it. I’ve paid already, so, they don’t really care if we give them away”.

“Wait, when did you pay?”.

“You were choosing the overalls”. What? That’s a few minutes ago. “I told them we were on a duel, that we were picking clothes, and they made a fix price for us. Don’t worry”.

“How much was it?”. I really need to know.

“Sixty pounds each”.

I press against John Beary and he turns into a fluffy ball.

“For fuck’s sake, that’s a lot”, I say.

“It would have been way more, but they lower it down a bit”.

“Yeah… Fine…”. I feel dizzy. “Let’s go do this”. We move from the dressing area and get to the front of the factory. “How do you want to proceed? One turn each?”.

“I think it’s better if we just let the kids approach us. It’s less… intimidating. And awkward”. That’s fair. “If someone gets closer, we can chat to them. But, please, beware their parents are around. I told the seller to inform clients, but if they come from a different section, we can look quite badly”.

“Damn, you seem to have everything prepared already”.

“I’ve given courses in schools for kids, so whenever I had to interact with them and show them something from a closer distant, I learn how to do so”.

I frown as I crash John Beary again.

“You said you were bad with kids”.

“I am, but I’m experienced”. He winks an eye to me and I already want to kill him.

When I’m about to stamp the plushie on his face, a small girl comes with her mom and a seller, and I stop right in site. 

“Hey! Hello!”, Tetsuro says to the kid. “Do you want to meat Margarita and John Beary?”. Wow, he’s been decent and has reminded my toy too. As the girl nods, I try to find a way to intervene too. So far, I have nothing… and he seems to have everything. “Look, you can see them from up close”. 

He crouches so he can reach the girl’s height, and then he gives her Margarita to play. The mother and seller talk with Tetsuro about how cute and fun our supposed idea is, but I can’t bring myself up to say I didn’t think of anything. I just listen how he talks, with his not too big eyes shining now as bright lightbulbs, and a prominent smile on his face that looks way too good on him. I’m obsessed with how he explains the creating process to the adults and how he then goes back to the little girl with a soft voice and a, indeed, cheerful attitude that overwhelms her a tiny bit.

That and his darker clothes don’t stop him from being approachable. The looks nor the behavior are enough to push her away, though. If so, it catches her attention even more, because as Tetsuro starts explaining why is the bunny called Margarita or why he chose the strawberry pattern’ dress, she seems to really enjoy the story.

A few seconds go by, and an even smaller boy comes and joins the girl. Tetsuro starts over, as the parents surround us and the incredibly well done exposition. He has come up with a stupid story of how Margarita picks up strawberries in her garden, and how much she loves to place flowers in her hair. 

At some point I remember I should be doing that too, because even if he always talks about John Beary, the bear is still in my hands, and I haven’t said a single word.

“So, do you like bunnies?”, he asks to a little girl that has come the last, and that is staying a bit further from the group. She nods, and her mom looks pleased. “Is it your favorite animal?”. The child shakes her head. “What is it, then?”.

But the girl is too shy to talk, even if she is totally mesmerized by Tetsuro.

Just like everyone else.

“She loves bears and wolves”, the mother says. “We came for one bear, actually”.

“Oh! Then, meet John Beary”. Tetsuro looks for me so I can take the lead. 

But I’m completely petrified. I’m… I’m terrible with kids, I never know what to say because I hate when people treat them as if they were stupid. He is doing so great, being just a friend to them, as if he would work with children as a daily basis. But I don’t. For fuck’s sake, I can’t even speak to my cousins nor nephews, and my brother hates me for that. 

I wish I would be different. I never thought of having kids myself, but I of course would love being a father some day. But, it’s just so out of my comfort zone, I guess I will never be. Unless I find a guy that is wonderful with them, that can offer what I lack, I don’t think I will have a family of my own. Someone that can really understand them.

Someone like, well, Tetsuro himself.

“Kei”, he mutters. But I’m still standing like a statue with the bear in my hands. As he notices I’m not going to talk, he asks me for the plushie and I give it to him. “Look, this is John Beary, a farmer that lives next to Margarita. They are super close friends, and he always brings her carrots in exchange for her strawberries!”. The girl seems to love John Beary, actually. “Do you like his hat? It’s so fun”. She nods. “You know, if you like it, you can take it! We gift it to you”. 

So far, even if they all have loved both plushies, no one has wanted it because parents prefer their kids to create their own one. Understandable, we are just two weirdos dueling for a toy, so, I won’t accept it even if the sellers were next to us. Or perhaps I would. If Tetsuro tries to sell it to me… Perhaps I would.

And I think that’s what happens to the little girl, because she turns around to her mother, asking her to take the teddy with them.

“You want it?”, Tetsuro asks. As he confirms the mother is fun with it, the little girl nods aggressively, and he gives it to her. “Then, it’s all yours! But, take Margarita too, they are close friends, you can’t separate them!”.

The child goes away bouncing with two new plushies. Which, even if it’s a beautiful outcome, doesn’t change a fact.

“You won”, I say. And I’m not ashamed to admit so, even if I’m hurt.

“But she took John Beary”. He is still calling the teddy by his name. 

“Because you showed it to her, not me”. He doesn’t deny, and I’m glad he accepts it, because I don’t need pity. “Look, I’ve lost, that’s all. I suck with kids. And you are a fucking liar, because you are incredibly good with them”.

“Hey, I promise you this is not the usual”. He sounds sincere as we leave the area towards the stairs, but I’m still pissed off. “None of them wanted the plushies till that little girl came in, you saw it. Parents were scared of me”.

“But not the kids”.

“Yeah, well, but if you had talked to them, perhaps you would have won”.

“I guess we will never know”.

Damn, am I sounding too harsh? I guess I am, because we go down two floors, and he doesn’t share a word with me till we head towards the basement again.

“Well, then, I’m sorry”, he says. And I turn around because that surprises me. “I didn’t expect to be so good at selling plushies, perhaps I should quit my job and move here”.

“You would be the seller of the month”, I joke. “I highly doubt you are the microbiologist of the week, even”.

“But I’m one of the best regional directors”, he follows my pun.

He really doesn’t care if I make fun of him, because he does so himself, too. Still with the same shine in his eyes, as if he would enjoy this as much as telling stories to kids. Just because he seems to have fun. That’s… 

Fuck, I know I’m smiling now, but I won’t let him see it. 

“Yeah”, I say. “I guess you are”. Also, he is the winner. So we finally arrive to the basement and I feel the pressure of telling Tobio and Shoyo I didn’t find the stupid toy. “Anyway, congratulations. I hope your friend enjoys it”.

“Hey, what if you take it instead?”. As surprised as I am, I stop walking. To be fair, I don’t even know why I came all the way here; he won, I can go home already. But since I came, now I feel like he pushed me down here to tell me that. “It was your plushie, after all. The game was giving them away, and the one chosen, was the winner. Not the person giving them”. Which is… true.

But now I feel bad. Really bad, because it’s not even fair.

“No”, I say. “It’s still you who got it given away. You paid for it, even”.

“Come on, that wasn’t relevant to the game”. True, but I still feel horribly. “Take it, please. Kenma will understand it better than a four years old”.

“But a four years old won’t even remember what he asked for after tomorrow”.

“Yes, but it’s still Christmas. Kids matter more than us”.

“Which is not fair. I don’t have kids, I matter to me just as much”.

“Yes”, he insists, “but in this case…”. He stops talking as we get to the area where the Super Space Tronic was, and since he seems shocked, I turn around scared of finding out the seller has given away the toy to someone else and didn’t take it to the cashier.

But I think she could have done so and it would have mattered, because the shelves are now filled up with at least thirty new tronics on each side, including the front.

What the actual fuck?

“Are you kidding me?”, I mutter.

Tetsuro is pretty fast at walking towards the area. I follow him, trying to find the seller. When we see her, she is just rearranging some other shelves till see finally notices we are back. She looks alarmed, but also… mad? What?

“How is that?”, Tetsuro complains. “You had more?! That one wasn’t the last one?!”.

“Of course it wasn’t!”, she says. “I tried to tell you three times, and you guys ignored me! So I guessed you would discover anyway”. Oh, my, God. “When you came down to build the LEGO towers, my colleagues already filled up the shelves, you could have seen them!”. But we didn’t even pay attention.

Not a single time. I didn’t even care. Oh, come on, did I really lose my time playing a stupid game for nothing? Just so now both of us can have their own toy? 

This is stupid. This is annoying. And this is…

Funny, apparently, because Tetsuro starts laughing like a maniac next to the girl, who seems also pretty amused by the context.

“We are so fucking stupid!”, he says. “Oh, my. It’s true, we didn’t even ask  if they had more!”. No, we didn’t. And I could have, since I knew from their website they had plenty of them. God, we really are a bunch of idiots. I feel so silly right now. “This is incredible”. He brings his hair back, suffocated, but his smile remains intact. “I think we deserve it, literally. For being such jerks”.

I want to defend myself, tell him that everything would have been faster if he didn’t try to take my toy away from me, but… At this point, I don’t know who was right, who saw it first, or who claimed it faster. All I know is that, instead of complaining or getting mad… I just start laughing. 

I take my glasses off and pinch my eyes as I shake my head. And chuckle, still. Because this is nonsense. This is so fucking stupid and, still… I’m not even mad. Not at all.

“Damn, man”, he says. “That was fun”.

It actually was. Somehow, it was.

“Yeah, I guess”, I admit.

“Can I leave knowing you guys will take a toy each and go out peacefully?”, the girl asks us. We both nod, because we are too ashamed to talk to her again, and then she goes away.

As we stay here in front of the tronics, I just wonder if I will ever find the time to tell Tobio and Shoyo’s kid how I got his tronic. If he will keep it long enough, before he gets bored of it and chooses a new entertainment. 

I suppose Tetsuro’s friend will remember if he tells him, but I suppose he won’t remember about it himself in the long term. It wasn’t that serious, after all, just a stupid game. One I know, surprisingly, that I won’t forget, anyway.

“Okay, then”, he says. “Congrats, Kei, we both won!”.

I still laugh at this, damn it.

“We totally did”. What else can we say?. “Come on, let’s take one and leave before they start complaining about us destroying…”. As I reach for one tronic, Tetsuro does the same and, of course, we grab the handles of the same briefcase. As we stare at each other, I bring my brows up in a dare and he lets go of the toy.

“All yours!”. Thank God, I don’t want to fight again. Not even if I know I won’t find it that annoying this time. “Pick the one you want”.

“I’m fine with this. He is four; he won’t notice if the box is damaged”.

“Yeah, Kenma will”. He starts analyzing the briefcases till he finds one. “I think I will pick this one, seems better”.

“Okay”. So, it’s done. “Then, I should go. I was in a hurry, remember?”, I joke about, and he nods as I turn around ready to part ways, finally.

It feels weird doing so all of a sudden, but we weren’t friends after all. Nor anything.

Even though, when I give my back to him, I feel somehow strange.

“Hey”, he calls me, and I spin so fast I even feel dizzy. “I dare you to another game”.

I… I didn’t expect him saying that. Therefore, I frown and stay quiet as I analyze him. Also, the briefcases. Did I pick some special edition or something? Apparently, mine looks fine, and so does his. Why playing again, then?

“What for?”, I ask. “You got the toy, I got it too. What do you wanna win now?”.

“Your number”, he says.

And just like that, I know I’m all flushed again, and now I can’t do anything to hide it.

He really said that? Is he being serious? Nah, he must be joking, right? He must have seen how I was looking at him before. And I mentioned I had three husbands, kidding, of course, but just like that he knows I’m into boys. No straight man would joke about being gay nor into man at all, so… That’s, he is just making fun of me. This is not…

“Okay?”, he asks.

“What?”, I go back to square one. “My number?”.

“Phone number, to be precise”. He is so unserious. “Just in case you think I’m asking to your shoe size or something”. 

I’m so embarrassed right now I even hear the word suicide instead of shoe size when he speaks. And I can’t blame his accent at all, it’s just me being stupid.

“And why would you play a game for that?”, out of curiosity, I ask.

“Because you don’t even let me call you by your name, Kei”, he jokes, “so I suppose you would say no that”. He is right, but simply because this feels… Surreal. And weird. 

It’s been years since a guy asked me for my info. My friends say some approach me, and since they see I’m not collaborative, they leave before they even try to. It can be, actually, but I don’t know. This guy seems too forward. Am I really that stupid and I haven’t noticed anything till now? There is no way he has been flirty or something. Other than mentioning I look strong, he hasn’t said anything…

But, he has. And now I feel stupid.

Oh, my God.

“So?”, he comes closer, all confident and smiley. “A last game?”.

I take a deep breath and tell me that I have nothing to lose. If he is kidding, then I only need to win and go away. I’m not asking for his phone number, not at all. I’m too ashamed to do that kind of things, and… Well, if I pass, I think I will regret it.

Somehow. As if, deep inside, I wouldn’t mind losing this time.

“Okay”, I agree. And since I know what I’m about to say, I make sure he listens. “Whatever”.

He shares a laugh right behind me, and then I let him guide us to the last game. I don’t even mind what he chooses, and he doesn’t seem really fond of anything either. Therefore, we end up on my nemesis in this place: the planedrones. And as we get there, we only need to share a side eye to know that, this time yes, we both suck at this.

That doesn’t stop him from telling the seller to let us try. As he hands me the controller, I’m trying to not lose my shit as he tells me what to do. There is a short area to use them, so we can’t do a lot, but he ha decided that we have to take the planes to the further shelf, and bring it back. Which seems easy, but we don’t even know how to make them fly.

“Are you ready?”, he asks me.

And the answer is that, no, I’m not.

“Wait”, I say. And he looks for me. “I know what you get if you win, but what do I get if I win?”. It’s a tricky question, because I actually know the answer.

“My number”, of course, he says so. “Isn’t that a pleasant reward?”.

I prefer not to answer, because there is no way I can give it an use if he decides to share it with me. Still, I decide to nod and let it go. Again, the sooner we are done with this, the better. And since I can’t barely put the plane in the air, I think this won’t last long.

Tetsuro, on the other hand, is trying pretty hard to get the drone up. I fear he may break the controller but, somehow, his toy is in the air when mine is still trying to stop spinning around. Damn, I don’t want to lose, not because of the rewards but because losing itself. Still, I’m so caught up by how much is he enjoying this that I can’t even compete. 

I don’t know when is the moment in which I let go off my plane, but he doesn’t notice and makes sure of bringing his to the shelf, and then back. Since the game was doing that, not fighting, he cheers because he has indeed won.

Which means, I have to give him my number.

“It’s a fair victory, isn’t it?”, he politely asks.

I sigh. He is pretty annoying when he wins, I must admit. And I’m a horrible loser.

“Yeah, yeah. You got it”. He then brings his hideous and destroyed phone up, all excited, and waits for me to give him my number. I do so, and before he can confirm I gave him the real one, he calls so he can see my phone, almost new compared to his, is vibrating. Now… Now I have his, too. “You didn’t waste time, did you?”, I point out. “It’s as if you took this more seriously than the previous games”.

“Well, I did”, he confirms as we leave to the cashier, finally.

I would say I’m surprised, but the truth is that I’m so embarrassed of asking about it.

“Why?”.

“Because Kenma would be fine without the toy, but I knew that, if I gave you my number instead of you giving me yours, you would never call me”.

Oh, fuck. Well, yeah. He… He got me. 

God, am I really that obvious? I can’t even fake it.

“Well, you have it, then”, I say. “Are you happy?”.

“I will if next time I call you, you don’t reject me as you are doing now”.

I suppose he means that I’m not even looking at him. He is right, though. I’m not used to this kind of conversations, so I don’t really know what do or say. That’s why, when we get to the cashier, going separated ways to pay is quite helpful. Not as much as noticing he is waiting for me right outside Hamleys. I suppose… we still have to say goodbye.

“It was nice to play with you, Kei”, he admits. “Pretty fun. I promise I won’t tell anyone that Trex are the best, ever again”.

I’m grateful, and therefore, I smile to my feet.

“Thanks, that’s nice of you”. I suppose that chat was the beginning of him trying to get closer, and I didn’t even notice. “I will say I know the director of a microbiologist lab”.

“Regional”, he clarifies. “It’s not that cool, but it’s accurate”.

That makes me laugh. Ah, damn it, I feel so stupid.

“Yeah, I guess”.

“Whatever”, he quotes me. And I bite my lip out of shame.

“Yes, whatever ”. 

Then, as if we didn’t beat each other playing scalextric, LEGO and selling skills, we stare at each other for longer than usual. At least, for me, since I’ve been avoiding him for the last ten minutes. Now, stupidly, I can’t look away.

I can’t believe someone as handsome and… physically appealing is really hitting on me. This must be some kind of joke, and I guess I will never discover the outcome.

“I’m leaving, then”, I say. “Hope your friend likes it”.

“I hope the kid likes it too”. 

We talk about someone else other than us, and I still feel as if this was about him and I. “ I hope you call me ”, I translate my own words. “ I hope you call me too ”, I do the same with his. Still, I let it go, and then I start walking on the opposite direction, with my Super Space Tronic on one hand, and my phone on the other, inside my pockets. 

God, I feel so fucking stupid right now. I don’t even know what I want or feel, other than agony and anger. I’m really the worst when it comes to relationships, right? That will never change. I will die alone, surrounded by dino plushies I couldn’t even sell to kids because…

I stop walking. I literally do so when I notice my phone is ringing and, as I bring it out, I see it’s Tetsuro’s number in front of my moon phases background. I haven’t even saved it, but I know it’s him. I remember the last digits. He is calling me? He is…?

I answer the call and turn around. He is right at Hamleys, still, with his phone on one ear.

“Hey”, he says.

“Hi”, I answer back, idiotically. 

“I’m glad you answered”. 

He thought I wouldn’t, right? It was that. I was wrong, thinking he meant for me to call him. No, it wasn’t that at all. “ I hope you call me ”, I said, somehow. “ I hope you answer if I do ”. And I did. Somehow, I did.

“Yeah”. My voice is shaky. “I’m glad I did, too”.

I see how he smiles, but I feel my face burning red, so I can’t copy him.

“So, you said you were in a hurry”, he starts saying. Okay, his tone and also his words are stupid, I want to laugh already. “But was going home to do nothing a real hurry?”.

“I mean… For some, it is”. I try to joke back.

People walk by between us, we must be twenty meters away, not more.

“Is it for you?”, he asks, but I don’t reply. “Because I’m free, and I was thinking, since you answered my call, that perhaps you would like to go for a drink”.

“With two Super Space Tronics in our hands?”.

As nervous as I am, I try to make him laugh, and I do. God, he laughs, he really does.

“Of course. I think I will buy one for myself, too”. 

“That sounds great, actually”. I think I want one for me, too.

“So?”, he insists after we stare at each other for at least twenty seconds in complete silence. “Do you accept?”.

Me, going for a drink with a random guy I’ve met at Hamleys while fighting for a toy. 

Me, the worst guy ever to exist when it comes to flirting, about to go out with a hot dude that, surprisingly, is interested in me. Even after listening to me talking about dinosaurs. He still wants to. Somehow, and I don’t understand.

But I’m fine with it. I’m so fine with it.

“Yeah”, I say. “Why not?”.

“Fine”. I see how he gets on his tiptoes out of excitement. “Where’ you wanna go?”. So far, I start walking towards him. That’s something I can do. That I want to do. And I don’t answer till I’m right in front of him.

“I don’t really mind”, I confess. 

And then I hang up. 

He still takes a few seconds with the phone up till he does the same.

“Whatever, I guess”, he mocks me.

And I laugh, because right now I don’t even care being too obvious.

“Yeah, whatever”. 

We will find out where we go, I suppose. As we start walking, all I care about is that we go on the same direction.