Words arent just words all the time

Lifting his hand, he nodded at the girls who quickly started to giggle. Even if Gerard felt like shit, the hybrid always managed to put a smile on his face. He didn't have to do much, it just sorta happened. "I know; But can you blame me for wanting to protect you sometimes as well?" he retaliated, feeling the squeeze ground him and bring him back to himself. Maybe he just needed to get over it, because there was no reason in sulking over something that could never happen.
"Alright, alright, enough with the pep talk, let's win some prizes" he chuckled, but it felt good. It felt like he was over the worst bit of the heartache, because he knew that it really didn't matter. Xalvador was right, they were brothers, and tonight was not about thinking of bad things.
"Hey, the bee is here!" he exclaimed as they walked over to the claw machine, making the nephilim chuckle. "We meet again," he said in a dramatic tone.

"Uhhh. Yeah? How is your skinny arms going to do any sort of protecting!" he chuckled, but as much as he was teasing he was also serious. It was nice to see the change in Gerard's mood, but Xalvador was frankly too dumb to know what to have looked for if it hadnt. The worst thing that not having parents had caused for him was reading into other people's emotions. He understood anger, he understood a lot of negative emotions because he had been taught that through discipline; Piss off the headmaster of the orphanage and have your knuckles beat raw by a ruler. As illegal as that was at this point, it wasnt exactly as if the orphanage had cared much for certain rules to begin with.
His eyes widened at the sight of the bee but then he frowned, stepping closer like he was staring it down or something. Gerard's dramatic tone made him nod. "We sure do," he muttered all dramatically as well, before he fished up a coin from his pocket. "I dont even care if they've put in a better selection this year, it's a matter of principle at this point," he mumbled, just staring at the bee with such determination in his eyes. He put the coin in and mimicked spitting into his hands and rubbing them together like he was hyping himself up for the moment. "For the kids," he whispered, clearly quite living himself into it.

Gerard chuckled lightly at the mention of his skinny arms. Sure he wasn't as strong as Xalvador, but few people were that he knew of. However to him it wasn't just about brute strength, you could protect someone with words as well, with intentions. Not that he expected the hybrid to understand that.
They reached the claw machine, Gerard massaging Xalvador's shoulders as if he was a boxer about to head in to the ring and fight the match of a lifetime. "You got this, eyes on the prize," he said, nodding as he let go of him to stand beside him, watching as the claw started moving. It was a relatively older machine, probably full of bugs to cheat people of their pocket money, but it didn't seem to deter them from their goal. The bee would be theirs, even if they had to crawl in to the machine and get it out. "A little more to the left," Gerard muttered, seeing it from different angles to find out what way to get it the best.

Gerard was nervous, the two boys clearly living themselves in to this as if it was life or death. He kept his eyes on the bee, seeing as it was lifted slowly, almost as in a teasing slow-mo sequence. Xalvador grabbed on to him, turning his back to the machine, but the nephilim kept his eyes on the bee. It moved so slow, but as the claw made a small jolt the bee miraculously stuck with it, and his eyes widened with excitement. Surely it was just false hope, right? But then the claw moved with the bee, dropping it down the shoot to the prize hole and at first a little stunned, the nephilim started cheering. "You did it, Xally, you did it!" he cheered happily, letting go of Xalvador to lean down to the prize collection slot, opening it and retrieving the bee. It wasn't an expensive bee, it was quite the cheap material, but it would bring a lot of joy to the other kids. Gerard smiled big, and it was in this moment he wished he had a camera to capture the moment. Handing the bee to the hybrid he chuckled.