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The six of them had been drifting around the upper levels of their local mall, a knot of teenagers that were definitely being monitored extra by security. Right now, they were in an arcade huddled around a claw machine.
“Guys, when are you ever going to learn that claw machines are rigged,” Snowbird sighed, watching as Gotoga slid another four quarters into the machine.
“We already know dude, just let us have fun,” Rotation fired back, his gaze fully fixated on the claw as the other maneuvered it around.
Snowbird groaned, exasperated, as the claw dropped the plushie once again. “Told you.”
“Shhhh I'm going to get it whether this thing likes it or not,” Gotoga said. “Flux, I know you have more quarters, gimme.”
Flux reached into his hoodie pocket, rolling his eyes as he pulled out half a handful of loose change.
“This is a horrible idea,” Flux said, although he was dropping more quarters into Gotoga’s open palm. “If we don’t get that stupid frog in three more tries I'll tip the whole machine over.”
The bad quality speaker resumed its music as Gotoga began another round, lining the claw up and dropping it down. It picked up the frog, only to lose its grip halfway through retracting.
“Oh my god I swear this is a you problem,” Thomas cut in, pushing Gotoga away from the controls to take his place. “I bet I could get it on the first try.”
Flux felt a light tap on his shoulder. “I’m kind of thirsty, do you have any water?”
He turned his head, his attention shifting away from Thomas, who was already aggressively slamming his palm on the glass of the machine. Saps was standing next to him, slouching slightly to match his height.
“Water?” Flux echoed, his heart skipping a beat as Saps leaned down, trying to hear him better. “I don’t have any, sorry. We could go buy a drink or something.”
“Yeah sure, thanks dude,” Saps said, smiling.
Flux turned back to the group. “Hey, me and Saps are gonna go get something, we'll be back in a bit.”
“Kay sure, try not to get distracted,” Snowbird said, him being the only one not fixated on the claw machine.
Flux offered a quick wave, already walking away. “No promises.”
Saps followed right behind him, slowing his longer stride to match Flux’s pace. The noise around them dropped by half as they stepped out of the arcade and toward the food court.
“I’m genuinely so glad to be out of that place,” Flux said. “I forgot how it felt to talk without having to yell over the machines.”
Saps gave him a grin, throwing an arm around him as they walked. “I genuinely thought Thomas was going to break the glass in a fit of rage.”
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Flux laughed, leaning into the weight of Saps’ arm, the touch sending a warm tingle down his spine.
The food court was reasonably noisy, especially being around dinner time. They bypassed the longer lines, settling for a smaller juice shop near the back of all the restaurants. Flux grabbed a cold bottle of water for Saps and a lemonade for himself.
Flux handed the water over before unscrewing the cap and taking a sip of his own drink. “Better?”
“Much better,” Saps said, a content smile breaking across his face. “Come on, let's head back before Snowbird loses his mind with the others.”
They turned back to the same direction they came from, making their way through the mall back to the arcade. Although their original plan was forgotten as Saps spotted a vintage-looking photobooth and dragged Flux inside before pulling the curtain closed.
The space inside was limited as they sat on the small wooden bench provided. Flux pulled a wrinkled bill from his pocket and slid it into the machine, and the screen flickered to life, acting as a mirror. A glitchy digital clock appeared in the corner, counting down ten seconds before the first shot.
“Oh sweet, they actually give us time to think,” Saps said half to himself, setting both their drinks on the ground.
“Don’t get too comfortable, ten seconds goes by fast when you don't think of poses beforehand,” Flux muttered back, a smile tugging at his lips as he looked at the camera.
Three... two... one...
The flash went off, Flux giving a relaxed, happy grin while Saps held up a peace sign, winking at the camera.
“Your turn to pick a pose,” Flux said.
“Let’s just do this,” Saps replied, reaching over to grab Flux’s collar, playfully pulling him an inch closer.
Flux let out a surprised laugh, bringing his hands up in mock surrender as the flash went off.
The timer reset, going back to ten seconds, except this time, neither of them moved. Flux’s laughter died down into a soft, dazed smile, his eyes dropping down to Saps’ lips for a split second before rising back to meet his gaze.
“Saps,” Flux whispered, his voice barely audible over the hum of the world outside the booth.
“I know,” Saps murmured back. He shifted his weight on the wooden bench, leaning in fully as he pressed their lips together, lifting his right hand up to shield the lower part of their faces from the lens. The flash went off, his hand completely covering the actual point of contact, only leaving the soft, relaxed shape of Saps’ eyes and the unmistakable shock on Flux’s.
They pulled apart as the machine kept counting for the fourth photo. Flux’s face turned crimson almost immediately, the colour spreading from his cheeks all the way past his collar, his pulse pounding in his head. Saps wasn't in a much better state with blush creeping up his neck as a flustered laugh escaped him.
The final flash caught them completely uncoordinated. Flux was looking sideways with his forearm over his mouth, looking anywhere but the camera while Saps was staring straight into the lens in disbelief.
The machine whirred as a glossy paper slipped out into the slot near the bottom of the machine. Flux picked up their drinks and practically stumbled out of the booth with Saps following a few seconds after pulling their photo strip from the dispenser. He stared at it for a while, a small smile tugging at his lips.
“Give it to me.” Flux hissed as he tried to snatch the photo away, his face still the same color.
“No way,” Saps countered, stuffing it into the pocket of his hoodie. “This is going straight into my wallet.”
Before they could argue any further, a voice sounded down the hall, both turning their heads to see their friends walking towards them. Rotation was carrying the frog, looking triumphant.
“There you guys are!” Gotoga called out. “What took you guys so long?”
“We got a bit distracted,” Saps said, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his sweatpants.
Thomas tracked the movement, his gaze landing on the paper peeking out of his pocket. “Woah woah woah is that a photobooth strip? Gimme that, lemme see.”
“Thomas, don’t–” Flux started, but Thomas was already lunging forwards, stealing the strip from Saps’ pocket before he could react.
Thomas squinted at the pictures, the others huddling around him. “Hey these are kinda sick- wait what’s going on in the third one?”
“Is Saps’ blocking the camera as if we can’t tell what's going on?”
“Wait lemme see,” Snowbird said, taking the strip from Thomas’ fingers. “Oh wait, that's actually kinda cute.”
“Hey wait, look at the 4th one,” Gotoga called over his shoulder. “Look at Flux, he turned into a tomato!”
“Shut up you chuds.” Flux muttered, pulling his collar up as high as it would go.
“Hey at least this means you guys finally got it together!” Rotation cut in. “Took you guys long enough.”
“Give it back to me,” Saps laughed, reaching out to take the strip back from Snowbird, tucking it deeper into his pocket this time. “Let’s go get food, I'm starving.”
As the group turned around, Saps dropped back a few steps to walk next to Flux. He reached down, fingers finding Flux’s and lacing them together, tugging on their interlocked hands.
Before Flux could ask what he was doing, Saps leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
Flux froze, the color returning to his face as Saps gave a light laugh.
“You’re such an idiot.”