Caelestis' intense focus finally snapped at the unexpected tug at his shirt. A youthful sounding voice followed, and he slowly turned his attention to the one behind him. Wait, it'd been… how long…? His gaze averted, accompanied by a few embarrassed coughs as it all began to sink in. These contraptions had seemed simple enough—but why? The fact that he'd been spending so long playing a kid's game in attempt to obtain what was clearly intended to be a kid's toy wasn't a thought he liked to linger too long on already, but it didn't even make sense! It was so basic! A computer game was one thing, but these had been around for decades. He should be able to handle this much, right? Well… that's what he'd thought, at least.
At Pachi's words, he paused to dig through the money pouch that had been emptying at a depressingly quick rate. After taking out a few more coins, Caelestis tucked it back into his shirt, and looked back to the other party. Alas, sometimes it was best to just admit defeat. "I... would appreciate that," he chuckled, quietly stepping aside.
Caelestis took a moment to assess the harbinger of his salvation while they got going with the controls. A kid, by his standards certainly, but old enough that it didn't seem like he'd have to worry about the levels of torment those younger would usually provide. Caelestis rubbed his chin in thought. Rather, they gave off a somewhat listless impression. And unlike him, they actually looked like someone who belonged in a place like this. He suddenly felt all the more aware of how blatantly he stood out here. Hah…
"It's a very engaging game, isn't it?" He commented leisurely. And incredibly frustrating, but that he did not so readily voice. "I must admit, the relentless passage of time left my mind near entirely all that while. It's a challenge like little I have encountered in many years. But my," his eyes observed the movements intently, "you're good at this! Have I been graced by the presence of a master? The precision, the skill—It's as if sheer sorcery itself!"
Though even despite his almost irritatingly ceaseless praise all the while, the sensation of at last holding the plush he'd worked for so hopelessly for so long in his arms—that Pachi had obtained for him near effortlessly—left Caelestis staring wide-eyed. Ah. Snapping himself back to reality before too awkwardly long at least, he stared for another moment longer in thought. He had to thank them somehow, didn't he? What did kids like?? Frantically, while ensuring not to drop the plush that had finally been attained, Caelestis dug out the pouch once more. Half the money left in it was placed decidedly into Pachi's hands. Although at this point it wasn't as much as it would've been. "As thanks," he elaborated lightheartedly, and turned to leave cheerfully back through the entrance.
Outside the arcade, he looked back down at the plush. It was an impulse goal to begin with, so now the question was, what exactly to do with it…
Scurrying away in the darkness of the night from some less-than-ideal trouble he'd gotten into, Caelestis swiftly turns a corner into a seemingly secluded alley and stumbles blindly into the back of someone standing in his path. "Pardon," he apologizes reflexively, though a slight chuckle can be heard in his tone still. In the next moment, feeling his body tipping backwards from the impact, his arm, with nowhere else in reach, instinctively grabs onto the other party's clothing for stabilization. Ah.
"...Sorry." He chuckles some more, guiltily releasing the grip. To not only bump into someone, but to also nearly drag them down with him into a fall right after wasn't exactly the best look... Whoops.
Nevertheless, finding no reason to continue so hurriedly on his way anymore—seeing as any pursuers should've been shaken off by now anyway—Caelestis instead steps back to get a better look at who he'd just run into. It had been difficult to tell there was someone there quickly enough in the darkness just then, but with enough focus now, he could still see what was around him well enough.
(keeping it simple for flexibility and bc i'm lazy and uninspired ajkhshgjk)
