Nytin took the coins and stared at the game, “Are you sure we can play this...? Can you see the goals?”

Avery paused, “I mean, for the most part, I know where they are... If I don’t hear the ball roll back, I’ll know I scored...well...probably anyway.” She crouched down and found the coin slot for the machine. “So…you ready?”

Nytin hummed, putting the coins in simultaneously, and the game began. Nytin kept missing, only able to get the balls into the bigger score area. Avery, on the other hand, had been quietly scoring into the middle ones, granting her more points even though she missed a few times.

Nytin was astounded. He wanted to ask Avery if she was truly visually impaired, but he held his tongue and tried harder. In the end, he still lost by a few thousand points. 

Avery turned to him excitedly once the game was over, "Who won?"

Nytin grumbled and crossed his arms, "You did…by around four thousand points." 

Avery raised her hands in triumph. "Yes! That's one for Avery...and zero for Nytin. I guess now I'm the queen of the arcade... but..." she held up the half-empty cup, "Would you like a rematch, or do you want to play something else to redeem yourself?" Nytin's answer was almost immediate.

"Rematch." He refused to believe he had lost; surely, it must have been a fluke, but he soon found out that as the game began, it wasn't. Nytin was simply terrible at the game. He kept trying to go for the bigger point areas in the upper corners but would miss. On a few occasions, the ball never landed in any scoring area and rolled back to him pitifully. 

Avery remained victorious and made sure to pour salt in the wound, teasing him and asking if he wanted to try again. After losing for the fifth time, Nytin gave up. They decided to play other games that Avery could somewhat see, though on some occasions, and she would make Nytin play games she could not and simply be a cheerleader of some sort. 

Soon, they were out of coins but had collected a fair amount of tickets, which were in several plastic bags that the arcade supplied. 

Nytin held up the tickets and shook the bags around, "What do we do with these? Do you...keep them? Maybe trade them in?" 

"We can pass them off to a little kid. The prizes are usually pretty bad- for adults anyway, and we already have a few stuffed animals." she said with a small laugh, motioning to a large bag full of small and large stuffed animals that Nytin had helped Avery win when they hadn't been competing against one another.

Nytin hummed and looked around. He saw a little girl who was crying at the prize counter. Her parents were trying to calm her down, but she was rather persistent about something Nytin could only assume was a prize she wanted. The prize clerk looked guilty but was still trying to help calm her down, but his input was brushed aside, making her even more upset. 

Nytin tapped Avery to get her attention, "I think I found a winner. I'll give these to that little girl over there, and then we can go."

Avery smiled and watched Nytin's blobby figure approach the little girl's parents. She couldn't see what happened but heard a high-pitched shriek of excitement, and Nytin let out a startled 'woah.' After that, there were a few laughs and apologies before Nytin came back with a smile on his face.

Avery looked up at him, "I take it that it went well?"

Nytin chuckled, "When I handed her all the tickets, she got very excited, I'm sure you could hear...she jumped right into my arms and called me her new big brother." He said with another laugh. It had a twinge of sadness tied to it, but he cleared his throat and continued speaking with a small smile,  "I forgot how silly kids could be."

Avery smiled, "Do you like kids? I know some people think they’re too much or too noisy, but they’re so cute!" 

Nytin took the bag of stuffed animals from Avery and paused at the question. He smiled a little more and began leading the way out of the arcade. "Mmm…I’d have to say yes. I do find kids quite enjoyable to be around. It reminds me of when I was young and free of responsibility." His answer made Avery curious. She wanted Nytin to talk about himself more. The more she knew, the more she could try to help Nytin feel better.

Avery hummed and leaned close to him. "Kids are fun. I helped Amirah babysit her nephew once." She laughed a little. "He, uh...kept calling me his mom. He was really upset when he had to go back home."

Nytins’ smile widened slightly, and he couldn't help but chuckle, "That's adorable. Do you even look like his mother?"

Avery shook her head, "Nope, she's almost identical to Amirah. It was really weird. I'm not sure why he would say that." She shrugged, "She has darker skin than her, but that's really it. Other than that, you could say they were twins. They even sound the same. That's sisters for you."

Nytin hummed, "Maybe you just felt like a mother figure to him. You have that kind of... erm..." he snapped his fingers, trying to pick a good word, “You emit those kinds of feelings if that makes sense.”

Avery let out a small laugh, “I'm like a mother to you?”

Nytin opened the front door of the building and let Avery walk out, pausing as Avery spoke, "Well- no, I-" his cheeks turned red, "I mean, you're comforting- as a mother would be." 

His flustered reaction made Avery laugh a little more, "I guess that makes sense. You're a little like a father but an old-fashioned kind of one." 

"’ Old fashioned? ’" Nytin echoed. He was slightly confused but found this description humorous. He'd been called many things, but old fashioned was not one of them, "You're calling me old now?"

Avery laughed and covered her mouth with her hand, "No, of course not. It's just that the letter you wrote was a little old-fashioned, which isn't a bad thing, just…like an old man," she snickered, "I'm sure you probably love music from the 1950s or something from back then." 

Nytin hummed, "You..guessed correctly, I do prefer older music." He said slowly, getting lost in thought, "I also enjoy Mozart or Gioachino Rossini. It's all very beautiful music...I was even there for one of Beethoven's performances, and it was spectacular...I'd go again...if...um…" Nytin trailed off and glanced down at Avery, who had been listening to him but was clearly confused.

Avery raised a brow, "Isn't Beethoven… dead?"

Nytin winced and cleared his throat, waving his hand dismissively, "What I meant by that is, I went to a performance not too long ago, and they played his music is all…" 

Avery was silent for a few seconds before a sly smile spread across her lips, "You really are an old man."

Nytin let out the breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding and let out a chuckle, "I guess so, but you're friends with an old man...I'd say that would make you old, too."

Avery laughed a little, "What? That's not fair. I'm only twenty-five! I don't do old people things." 

Nytin grinned mischievously, "Taking a walk to a clearing and going to a bakery every morning is fairly old-fashioned, wouldn’t you think?" 

The two continued to playfully jab at each other about their age and hobbies for the remainder of the walk to the bakery, laughing and overall having a good time. 

Once they had arrived at the bakery, Nytin insisted he pay for everything, much to Avery's displeasure. In the end, Nytin managed to convince her to let him pay and bought them both a coffee and treat. Nytin bought himself a fresh blueberry donut while Avery got bagel bites. They sat down and talked for a long while, simply enjoying each other's company and being interested in what the other had to say. By the end of this, Avery noticed Nytin seemed in much higher spirits than he was that morning.

Eventually, they left the bakery and were walking in a random direction together. Avery glanced over at Nytin, remembering that he was still carrying the bag of stuffed animals. She had asked him before they'd left the bakery if he was fine with holding them, and Nytin had said he was, but she still felt a bit guilty.

Nytin suddenly stopped again, "I didn't know there was ice skating near here." He watched the people below skate around, stumbling, laughing, and skating with their children or partners. Nytin watched them for a few seconds before turning around. "I haven't skated in a long time. I wonder if I still can."

Avery's interest immediately peaked, "Oh? You know how to ice skate?" She walked closer to Nytin, "Is it fun?"

Nytin shrugged, "I'd like to think it is. Some say it's scary, but to me, it’s relaxing–…when you aren't stumbling about that is." He looked down at Avery, "Though I am surprised you've never been, especially since winter lasts so long here."

Avery pointed to her eyes with a raised brow, causing Nytin to immediately backtrack on his words, "O-oh no, I didn’t mean—I'm..sorry." He felt awful, but Avery just laughed a little, which helped Nytin relax slightly.

"It's okay. It was just a small joke…" she giggled, "Um..Do you think you could teach me how to skate?" She was a bit nervous about asking this question; she had never even touched a skating rink, much less an ice skating rink, before due to his eyesight, but she felt that if Nytin were there, she'd be safe. 

Nytin seemed to find this idea plausible and smiled, "Sure, that sounds fun—and don't worry—I'll make sure nobody bumps into you, and I’ll protect you, Starshine.”

Avery smiled at him, her cheeks reddening, “Thank you…” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears nervously before following closely behind Nytin.

The two headed to the ice rink's entrance and walked up to the service desk, paying a fee and getting their skates. Nytin left the bag of stuffed animals off to the side where people had placed their personal belongings and then led Avery to a bench where people were putting on and taking off their skates. 

Nytin sat down on the bench and began reluctantly putting his skates on. They looked as if they'd been passed down from generation to generation. Had he known they'd be doing this, he'd have brought his own. He noticed Avery was struggling and quickly finished putting his on, standing up and moving over to her.

"Mind if I help you?" Nytin didn't wait for an answer and bent down to help Avery put on her skates. After about a minute or two, he was done, "There we go, now...try standing and taking a few steps. You can use me as support if you need to." 

Once Nytin was finished, Avery said a small 'thank you' and hesitantly stood up slowly, feeling she would lose her balance easily. However, she was pleasantly surprised that it was simple enough to stand upright, but she found walking was completely different. She staggered when taking her first few steps and deemed it unsafe, gripping onto Nytin's arm tightly. 

"This is terrifying. How do you walk normally in these?" she laughed nervously, looking up at Nytin.

Nytin couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're like a baby deer learning to walk…" He laughed when Avery tried to walk on her own again. She wobbled wildly and looked as if she were going to fall, and Nytin intervened quickly upon seeing, catching her, and holding her upright. “How about you try taking baby steps instead of big steps?”

Avery did as she was told but felt a bit silly. Nytin guided her to the false ice and stepped on it first.

"Alright, slowly take a few steps forward. The wall is to your left, but you can still hold onto me if you need to." Nytin said, making sure to hold Avery's hands tightly and securely. 

Avery took a very shaky step forward onto the ice. She moved his hand up to Nytin's upper arm and put her other foot down. Her knees wobbled, and at that moment, she knew she was going to fall. Luckily, Nytin noticed this and quickly caught her and held her by her waist, lifting Avery up to make sure her knees didn't buckle from under her.

"Okay, just take baby steps…very small steps." He said reassuringly. Avery did as she was told and managed to keep her balance this time, but she was still clearly very nervous.

"Um...you aren't going to let go, right? I don't want to run into someone.." 

Nytin shook his head. "Not if you don't want me to. Don't worry. I'll keep you safe. Just trust me. Okay?"

Avery smiled at his comforting words, "Okay."