Franks POV
"Hey look, there's a change machine. Go change this, would you?" Gerard hands me a note, pointing over to the machine he's spotted.
I make my way into the arcade, examining the machines around us, seeing if any have prizes near the edge. The coins clatter out of the machine as I hold a pot to the pipe edge, trying my hardest to catch any trying to make a bid for freedom. While I'm collecting the coins I look up at Gerard standing outside the arcade, hands in his pockets and hunched against the chilly sea-breeze. His hair blows about a bit, getting in his face and blinding him. The lights flash around him, bringing him up in all shades of orange, yellow, red or blue. He squints as he protects his eyes from the wind as he looks up the walk towards the beach.
"Here we go!" I push the pot into his hands and smile as he turns around shocked.
"Nice!" he grins. "Now let's go get the jackpot of every machine in this place!"
A couple of hours and about a tenner later, we were no better off than when we started. We have a few measly coins sitting in the bottom of the pot.
"Hey look!" Gerard points over to a crane machine that has a few prizes sitting in a pile at the bottom. He makes his way over to it excitedly, motioning for me to follow.
"You know these things are rigged don't you?" I ask, leaning against it, gazing down into the pile of prizes.
"So? It's fun!" he grins, putting one of our last precious few coins into the slot. The claw jerks about for a second while he tries to manoeuvre it towards a prize. He presses the button, and cries out in dismay as the rigged claw automatically moves a few centimetres to the right before dropping, missing the prize completely.
"Damn it!" he gives the machine an angry kick. He puts another coin in and manoeuvres the claw back to the prize, but a couple of centimetres off to the left. He presses the drop button, grinning as the claw moves to the right and hovers over the prize. For a second it flexes its tongs, but then the machine moves it down a few centimetres before it drops the claw.
Gerard curses out loud and gives it an extra hard kick.
He growls, picking up the last coin in the pot and slotting it in.
"Close your eyes!" he says. "I'm going to get it this time, and I want to surprise you!". He moves the claw back over to the prize he's been trying to get, a little blue monster truck model.
I obediently close my eyes.
For a second there's silence, before I hear the claw moving again.
It drops, but I can't hear it catch a hold of anything.
"Can I open my eyes?" I ask.
"No!" He says, excitement in overdrive.
I hear the trap door open as Gerard puts his hand into the prize collection point. It snaps shut again as he pulls his hand out.
"Here, now you can open your eyes!"
I do, to find a fluffy white bear staring at me.
As my eyes focus, I see Gerard standing there, holding the bear out in front of my face, pride flushing over his cheeks.
"For me?" I ask, giggling at his cheeks, which are almost as pink as the teddys.
"Yep!" he pipes, waggling the bear in my face, gesturing to take it. I take hold of the bear, drawing it in close.
It's a tacky thing, one ear isn't sewn on properly, and the stitching over all is terrible. But to me, it's one of the most glorious things in the world, as the little bear is holding a small heart shaped cushion. Gerards gift to me.
"Thanks!" I smile, stroking the bears ear with my thumb.
He stares at the bear for second, thoughtful.
"What's up?" I'm curious to know what's on his mind.
"I just thought of an awesome name for the bear." He glances up at me, testing my reaction.
"Yeah?" I ask. "Go on, what're you thinking?"
He looks down at his feet, pinkness flushing his cheeks again. He mumbles some-thing at the ground.
"Huh?" I put my face down to his level, craning my neck to see him properly.
"…Frerard…" he mutters.
"That's an awesome name!" I smile into his eyes. "The bears called Frerard now, Frank and Gerards bear!" He giggles at that, and we walk together down to the pier, me bouncing Frerard around, pretending he's talking, Gerard giggling, watching the bear as it hops about, kissing him on the nose and eventually sitting in his jacket pocket to watch what we're doing and where we're going, the lights sparkling in his cheap plastic eyes.