The lights and noise of the machines clamored for attention as they strolled hand in hand through the arcade, making detours occasionally whenever a game caught their eye.

Driving, shooting, air hockey, pinball, they might not have used every machine in the place but from a category standpoint they pretty much played them all.

"Aww, that's cute." Trish exclaimed suddenly as they passed a claw machine filled with stuffed toys.

"Do you want it?" Nicola asked, fishing into her pocket for some tokens. Before she could protest, Shepard had already begun maneuvering the joystick.

Despite her reservations that the machines were always rigged, Trish couldn't help feel a small thrill of hope and anticipation as the claw descended around the purple penguin plushy, replaced by a wave of disappointment as the talons scraped over the toy rising empty handed.

She released a soft sigh, preparing to walk on, but Nikki was already slotting in another token.

...

"Are you always this stubborn?" Trish asked as she leant against the glass of a neighboring machine. They were nearly out of tokens, or at least, Nikki was almost out.

She had offered the other girl a chance to use some of her tokens a couple of times but had been declined. She was pretty sure if she was here with friends or family she would have walked off in frustrated boredom by now.

"Probably" Nikki shrugged, waiting for the empty claw to rise once more before glancing over, a guilty look suddenly shooting across her face. "Sorry, this can't be much fun for you, what do you wanna do?"

Oh it's not SO bad, Trish found herself thinking. At least I have something cute and adorable to look at... and I'm not talking about the stuffed animals. She nearly said it as well, but what came out was: "Can I have a go?"

Surprise flashed across Shepard's face, she hesitated a moment as if she was about to say something before shrugging and waving her forward.

"Stand there." Trish commanded, pointing to a specific spot. Suspicion flashed across the youngster's face but she did as she was told, just so happening to cut off the security camera's view of Trish as she activated her omni-tool.

"You're not!?" Nicola's eyes jumped wide in surprise.

"What? It's not really stealing, we paid more for the tokens than the toy's worth."

Nikki couldn't think of anything to say as a blue and cream striped tiger arose in a metal embrace, making its way across the container and dropping into the reward chute. Trish knelt down to claim her prize, large grin plastered across her face. It faded as she stood, turning towards Nikki, noticing the incredulous look frozen on her face.

Perhaps she'd gone too far hacking the machine, was it the questionable morality of the act? Or did Nikki think she was showing off? Or showing her up when she'd just spent so much time and money trying to win the traditional, legal way? Or... While her brain careened around at a hundred miles an hour her body continued functioning alone. An eyebrow raised and she shook the toy, all of a sudden a laugh broke out, her girlfriend's face collapsing into a smile.

"Well I could have got the tiger, I thought you wanted a penguin."

...

They fell panting and laughing onto their backs at the top of a hill. Even though she'd been the one to start the trouble Trish was struggling to understand how quickly things had escalated, how easy it had been to get caught up in the thrill of the illicit.

When the arcade's security finally cottoned on to them and she'd yelled to run she certainly hadn't expected Nikki to throw the giant pink bunny at a guard. The rest of the plush prizes had quickly followed suit, thrown into the air to provide a distraction as they legged it.

She let her head drop to the side, taking in the heavy rise and fall of Nikki's chest, her face flushed with exertion. The youngster's head likewise twisted to face her, smiling as she lifted her far hand up, showing off the purple penguin gripped victoriously within.

...

"You keep looking at it, does it bother you?" Nick was still on her back but Trish had rolled onto her side, she forced her gaze away from the cut eyebrow from the fight last night. She hadn't realised her stares had been that obvious.

"Not really. Does it hurt?"

"Not really."

"So... do you enjoy getting punched in the face?"

Nikki chuckled faintly.

"I like boxing, usually I try and do this thing where I avoid getting punched back too much."

"What went wrong?" Trish asked, reaching out a hand and lightly tracing the cut. Nikki's breath hitched slightly at the contact.

"I got distracted."

"So are you saying this is my fault?" They both seemed unaware of how the distance between their bodies was slowly reducing a fraction at a time.

"I wouldn't blame you exactly." Nikki's heart was racing as she gazed into bright blue eyes.

"No? You just think it would be safer if I wasn't there in future."

"I think it was more 'cos I wasn't expecting to see you. Why? Do you want to watch me get beaten up?"

"That depends how distracting you think I'll be, you could always try doing that thing where you don't get punched." Trish teased, closing the remaining distance and placing her lips to the wound. "There, all better."

It had been perfectly chaste, more of a peck than anything sensual, but as she pulled away she noticed an unfocused look to Nikki's eyes.

"You know they have medigel for that right?" Nicola murmured quietly but she didn't sound entirely with it.

"Hey, you ok?" Trish asked softly, suddenly worried. Nikki had been so confident and sure all day that she'd forgotten about the younger girl's inexperience and nerves. The full extent of the physicality in their relationship so far had been hand holding, arm punching and shoulder nudging. She watched as the shock slowly faded into a smile.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine..." The smile suddenly changed from shy wonderment to a cocky grin. "Next time I'll have to try for a busted lip!"

"That can be arranged!" Trish laughed in relief, cocking a fist and winding it back playfully before opening it back up and laying the palm against Nikki's cheek. She tilted her head, gaze flickering between brown eyes and lush lips as she asked the silent question.

Heart pounding so hard she felt sure it was trying to escape via her throat, Nikki swallowed nervously, giving a slight nod of consent.

Trish was slow and cautious as she closed the gap once more, searching the younger girl's eyes for hesitation or discomfort, any sign she'd changed her mind.

There was a moment of rigidity as her lips pressed against the sophomore's, no more response than if she were practicing against a mirror or arm, just as she wondered if she'd made a mistake there was movement as Nikki copied the elder's actions, hesitant and uncertain but very much willing as they gently pressed their lips together.