Evaline:
I blinked in surprise, my gaze shifting from the velvet box to the man holding it. "Draven..."
"It’s not a ring," he teased. "Relax, Love."
He then opened the box, and inside was a silver charm bracelet, looking delicate and beautiful. There were two charms already on it - a tiny wolf and a moon.
"Just a little reminder," he said as he clasped it on my wrist. "Of what you are, and what you an to ."
I looked up at him, feeling my eyes stinging. Ever since my mother left , no one had ever treated this gently, until I arrived at Silver Moon and got to know so of the nicest people ever... including my mates.
"I don’t deserve this," I whispered.
He reached out and cupped my cheek gently. "You deserve so much more, Evaline."
I watched him in silence, as my heart felt surrounded with a rare feeling of warmth.
Though the dinner was over, there were still more than three hours left before curfew. And Draven soon made it obvious that he had more plans in store for the night.
He brushed a strand of hair from my face as he asked, "Can I take you sowhere else? Sowhere fun?" His voice was hopeful, just like his eyes as they waited for my response.
I smiled at him before whispering, "Wherever you want."
That made his smile widened. "Then let’s go to my favorite place."
In a blink, we were weaving through the town. I was wondering where we were heading until he pulled in front of a bright neon glow - an arcade. My eyebrows lifted in surprise, delight, and nerves.
Inside the building, a symphony of lights and sounds greeted us - coin drops, bleeps, cheers. I glanced at him as I spoke. "I have never done this before."
He took out a card from his wallet and showed it to . "Who cares? Win or lose, it’ll be fun."
It turned out the card was for playing gas. Since he was a usual visitor to this place, he got a custom card to pay for the gas instead of using regular coins.
Our first stop was an area filled with claw machines - so had plushies in them, so had snacks, and then there were ones with DIY sort of things.
I watched as he scanned his card and guided the claw to snag a plush bear. It dropped with a thunk and he lifted it, handing it to with a boyish grin. He tried again and this ti also succeeded, getting a chocolate bar.
He made it look so easy that I was feeling pretty confident... until I tried and failed miserably. Not just once but three tis in a row.
"Here, let help you."
I turned to glance at him, and my breath caught when I realized just how close he was. His chest was nearly brushing against my back, and I was able to feel the heat radiating off him like the soft hum of sumr sun.
My hands tightened instinctively around the claw machine controls. I was suddenly too aware of everything as he stepped behind fully and reached around with both arms. His hands closed lightly over mine, guiding my fingers to the buttons.
"You are moving the claw too fast," he murmured, his breath brushing against my temple and sending an involuntary shiver down my spine. "Go slow. See that little blue bunny in the corner? Let’s try for that."
His fingers were warm as they steadied mine. My pulse was thundering in my ears, louder than the beeping of the machine. I was barely able to concentrate on the claw. All I could think about was the feeling of being wrapped in his arms like this, even if it was just for a silly arcade ga.
"Okay, now - press."
We moved as one. I was holding my breath as the claw dipped, caught on the bunny’s head... and lifted it. I watched as the bunny swayed dangerously before landing safely in the prize chute.
A squeal escaped . It was part relief, part excitent, part... sothing else. I heard him laughing. It was a soft, happy sound right by my ear, and I turned my head without thinking. As our eyes t, I realized he hadn’t moved away yet.
"See?" he said, still smiling. "You are a natural. Just needed a little help."
I nodded, dumbly, feeling my cheeks flaming. I wasn’t sure if it was from the win or from how my heart was practically doing cartwheels in my chest.
With the bunny tucked safely in my arms, we continued with more gas. And he was good at everything. Literally. There wasn’t a single ga he tried and lost. He was winning like he was a professional.
But he wasn’t playing only by himself, he was making sure that I too was having a good ti. He motivated whenever I lost and congratulated on my small wins.
When we finally stopped over an hour and half later, we had earned enough tickets to exchange them for a week’s worth of snacks. Not only that but I had six different plushies and a chocolate bar from the wins as well.
It was... clearly overwhelming. "I-oh my goddess-" I let out a little laugh while shaking my head.
We loaded everything in the backseat of his car before we finally headed back. I was expecting him to drop off at the Academy, instead, he drove past the road leading to the main gates and entered the dense woods surrounding the Academy.
I was confused but I didn’t ask anything, just waited. About ten minutes later, we pulled up at the foot of a cliff.
"Where are we?" I finally asked as I climbed out of the carbwhen he opened the door for .
"This is another one of my favorite places, a place just for . I have been wanting to show it to you for a while." He was looking at with excitent filled eyes, and it made feel curious to know what else was in store for tonight.
"Alright," I said, slipping my hand into his waiting one, "Show what it is."
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