Mary and Regulus had been at the arcade for a few hours now, and she was determined to win the Kuromi plush from the claw machine.
She had tried multiple times, but each attempt had failed. With furrowed eyebrows, she tried her fifth attempt.
Sweat had started to form on her forehead as she kept trying, lost in her own world.
Regulus watched, amused. She looked adorable with furrowed brows and her mouth in a straight line.
They had evidently decided to go out today, spending the day wandering in muggle London. It had been several hours, and they'd played a couple of games. Mary had been excited to teach Regulus how everything worked. She liked having something over him (not for long, though; Regulus was infuriatingly good at everything he did), and she also liked that there was no hiding; they could kiss and touch as much as they wanted to.
"I give up; this thing is rigged." Mary gave a heavy sigh. It was the fifth time, and still she hadn't managed to get the plushie she had been eyeing the whole evening.
"Or maybe you're just bad at it; here, let me try," she turned her head to look at Regulus, who gave her a cheeky smile.
He looked beautiful with his dark hair framing his face and his stormy grey eyes.
"Are you sure?" she gave him a skeptical look. He only grinned in response. Mary pouted for a second; he probably won't have much luck either, but she stepped out of his way.
Regulus pushed the catch button on the crane. The white shirt that he was wearing clung to his biceps, tucked in his black trousers. It was unfair for someone to look so good it had to be illegal.
They both watched in anticipation as the crane jerked down, picking up the kuromi plushie, which was balancing very precariously in the claws of the crane. The crane brought the plushie to the prize slot, triumphantly dropping it right in the slot.
Regulus pulled out the plushie from the prize slot, turning to look at Mary with a confident smile; his eyes twinkled. "Guess it wasn't broken after all," he says smugly, handing the plushie over to her.
"You probably just got lucky," still Mary beams. As much as she hated losing, there was also something very romantic about him getting the plushie for her, and she couldn't be too mad about it.
Leaning up at him, she looked at him; her eyes flickered down to his full mouth, and the urge to kiss him overtook her. It was like everything moved to the background, and it was just them there. Arcade and other people were long forgotten.
Regulus's hand slowly reached out, softly brushing a curl out of her face, cupping her cheek. The room felt suddenly all too hot, and Mary licked her lips. His eyes flickered down immediately to her mouth; slowly leaning down, she closed her eyes. "Ahem," someone coughs behind them.
"Are you done?" A young girl is standing in front of them. "I want to use it," she nods at the crane. Embarrassed, Mary tries to free herself from his embrace; without looking at him, she's sure he's relishing in her discomfort. "Of course," turning back, she adds, "We should find a new game as well."
There wasn't much time left having wasted most of their time at the crane, Mary looked around they had to choose wisely. She scanned the room for something interesting until her eyes landed on a dancing game. Mary grabbed Regulus's hand, and she led their way to the row of the rhythm game as he interwove their fingers.
Despite there being other and better games in the arcade, rhythm games had always been Mary's favorite.
Mary followed the colorful arrows and stepped onto the corresponding buttons. Each step she made was a joyful bounce. Her arms swung loosely at her side. She had a beaming smile on her face as she danced. Losing herself in the game as she was having fun. Her joyous mood was infectious, and Regulus found himself smiling as well.
She truly looked beautiful like this, curly hair bouncing and her flowery dress matching her movements. He found himself to be the luckiest to have her in his life.
The song came to an end, and Mary faced him again. She didn’t step off the platform immediately but lightly tugged on his arm.
“It’s your turn; you should try as well."
"No."
"Afraid you're going to lose to me," Mary raised her eyebrows.
"Just pick the song you want." She didn't give him any time to rethink and pushed him, but he didn't budge.
"Come on, it's just one dance, for me, please?" Mary wrapped her arms around his neck. Regulus let out a long-suffering sigh; this was going to be a long night. He particularly hated dancing. But he was also not good at refusing Mary. Still he made no attempts to move. He didn't honestly mind (not if it was Mary who was asking), but it always was fun to work her up. She had an adorable pout on her face.
"Fine," he sighed, "but after this we're going back to the race cars." Mary pulled a face but nodded nevertheless, "If you manage to break my score."
"Bet."
☆
"Did you have fun today?"
Taking a bite out of her ice cream, Mary peers up at him. Regulus looked down at her. He hums contently, squeezing her hand. Butterflies flood her stomach, and she feels giddy.
"The cars were fun," he gives her a teasing smile.
Oh, don't even remind me, Mary shudderes.
She rolls her eyes in response, but she can't help the smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "Of course you did. Dont get used to it though next time i will win."
Regulus gently takes her hand and spins her in a circle. Once they were facing, he wrapped his arm around her, holding her securely. In response, Mary wraps her arms around his neck. They were close, and he felt his breath
against his lips. Butterflies erupted in her stomach.
“I had fun as well," she says softly. He leans down, kissing her slowly.