Archive of Our Own ^beta

Anyone looking in on this scene probably thought she looked pretty silly right now. 

With her face and hands pressed right up against the glass of the claw machine, she stared down at one particular plushie inside it. Yes, this might be childish, but she didn’t care how she looked to other people at that moment. “That one. That one right there.” Momo jabbed her finger against the glass, turning to look behind her. “I have to have it.”

The looks she got from her boyfriends varied a bit, but they all boiled down to amusement. “Which one?” Xavier asked curiously as he looked over her shoulder. She jabbed the glass again, pointing. Xavier’s eyes zeroed in on the pink fox plushie sitting in the sea of wasabi octopus inside the machine that she was pointing at. “Ah, I see. Matches your hair.” He said, twirling a lock of pink around his finger for a moment.  Foxes were her favorite animal, so none of them were surprised at the stars in her eyes as she looked at it. If she had any say, there would be a new addition to her plushie collection when they got home.

“I’ll go get us some tokens.” Zayne tried to sound resigned, but it didn’t quite work, because of the grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. He came back a few minutes later with a bowl full of the obnoxious gold tokens, unsurprised when Rafayel stuck his hand in and grabbed a few with a gleeful Me first!

Rafayel and Momo hogged the machines a bit, but he and Xavier didn't mind all that much, just happy to see them having fun. It wasn’t until the two of them got either frustrated or too sad that they saw fit to step in. It was mainly Zayne stepping in, but hey, Xavier had his lucky moments with it too. And this time was no different. 

Roughly twenty coins in, the two of them turned their, frankly pitiful looking, gazes to Zayne. “Giving up already?” He tried to sound sympathetic, but was only partially successful with how the corner of his mouth was tipped upwards in amusement.

Rafayel pouted at him, that petulant look on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It's definitely stubborn.” He groused. 

“Don’t glare at it, Raf! You’ll scare it even more!” Momo’s voice was half teasing, half serious as she looked forlornly at the plushie. “Why don’t you two give it a try before we use all our coins?” She said, turning away from the machine and to Xavier and Zayne. 

“Couldn’t hurt too much, I guess.” Xavier said with a shrug.  Xavier’s luck turned out not much better than Rafayel’s or Momo’s. So much so that he joined the others in looking pleadingly at Zayne. They were all so invested in getting it now, that Zayne couldn’t bear to say no to them. (Not that he would’ve anyways, but that’s beside the point.)

“Alright, alright. You three can stop looking at me like that.” He said with a fond sigh, stepping up to the claw machine. Momo lingered the closest, latched onto his arm not on the joystick, and clearly tried to contain her excitement. A glint of ice flashed around the claw, and when she looked at Zayne in surprise, he simply gave a subdued smile, pressing his index finger to his lips in a shhh motion. Momo pressed her fingertips to her mouth to stifle her giggles, nodding in understanding. Managing to get the claw around the plushies head, Zayne’s ice made sure it didn’t fall out until the claw opened, dropping it in the chute. Momo let go of him to eagerly dig it out, nuzzling it happily against her cheek. 

“Thank you, Zayne!” She chirped, shifting her prize to one arm so she could hug him with the other for a moment. 

“You’re welcome.” His voice was quiet, but endlessly fond. When the two of them turned and saw their other boyfriends pouting, they both ended up bursting into laughter. 

“Don’t pout! You tried your best!” She said amidst giggles as she latched onto Rafayel, pinching his cheek with her free hand until he smiled again in exasperation. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the way Zayne wrapped his arms around Xavier, pressing affectionate little kisses against his cheek until he cheered up as well. 

“Come on, I want a picture!” Momo cheered, digging out her phone with her free hand and setting it down on the panal of the claw machine, facing them. The timer ticked down as they all squeezed into frame around her, Zayne behind and Xavier and Rafayel on each side of her. Xavier and Rafayel shared a look before they clasped their hands together, using them to scoop Momo off the ground, her weight resting on their arms like she was sitting in a swing. Zayne’s body behind her steadied her so she didn’t lose her balance when they did, a bright laugh escaping her.  Zayne’s chin came to rest on top of her head, his arms wrapping around Xavier and Rafayel as the artist flashed an obnoxious fingergun with his free hand, and Xavier a peace sign with his. 

When the click of the camera went off, they carefully put Momo down, and she quickly went to grab her phone and look at the picture. “This is so cute!” She hummed, pleased with how it turned out. After quickly making the photo her phone background, and sending it to their group chat, she slipped the phone back into her pocket, that same, bright grin on her face. 

“Alright, the plushie conquest continues!” 

The words got a mixture of rolled eyes and fond smiles, but ultimately, none of them really minded, if the way they spent the next few hours in the arcade was any indication. 

Anything for her.