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Arthur scanned the crowded food court, keeping an eye out for Martin's red hair. It was mostly hidden under his big, impressive hat, but there he was, over by the vending machines.
"Hullo Skip! What're you doing?"
Martin sighed despondently, holding a clear bottle with a strange white blob inside of it.
"I was trying to get myself a Coke, a little reward for that last landing in a bad cross-wind. Instead, I got this."
He held up the bottle. There was no Coke in it. Arthur stared at it for a moment.
"Skip... is that...?" He realised he was bouncing on the balls of his feet and tried to hold still. "Is that a... polar bear?"
Martin scowled down at the bottle. "A stuffed one, yes. Machine took my last euro."
"But Skip, that's brilliant! It's a POLAR BEAR!" Arthur's fingers itched to reach out and grab the bottle. But no, it belonged to Martin.
"Yes, but I can't drink a polar bear. I was rather looking forward to that Coke." Martin fussed with his hat for a moment, staring at the stuffed bear in its tiny plastic prison. "Would you like it, Arthur? I've got no use for it."
Arthur stared, wide-eyed, at Martin. There was a brief internal battle inside his head, while he debated the relative merits of taking something Martin spent the last of his money on versus POLAR BEAR. In the end, Arthur's sympathetic side won out.
"No, Skip. I couldn't do that to you. It's yours. Besides, mum gave me a handful of change. I can get my own."
Grinning, Martin stepped aside and made room for Arthur in front of the vending machine. He dropped his one-euro coin into the slot. It made a very satisfying clunk noise, followed by the thump of the bottle falling into the opening at the bottom. Arthur reached in, grinning, and triumphantly pulled out... a proper bottle of Coke.
"Oh. Where's my polar bear?"
Martin chuckled. "I guess it's random. I suppose I actually won something. What are the odds?"
"You're just lucky, Skip!"
"Lucky and thirsty. What a combination."
Undeterred, Arthur dropped another coin into the machine, and then another. Eventually he'd run out of coins, and there were six bottles of Coke on the table next to them. He frowned.
"I really wanted one of those bears."
"How about this, Arthur?" Martin smiled, studying the pile of bottles on the table. "I'll trade you. Polar bear for a bottle of Coke?"
"But Martin!" Arthur protested. "You won that bear. Fair and square." He giggled. "Bear. Fair. Square. It's like one of your brilliant word games. Fizz! Buzz!"
"Have a Banana!" Martin blurted out, and then clapped his hands over his mouth, as if he hadn't meant to say it, and Arthur laughed again.
Martin held out the bottle with the adorable little polar bear inside of it.
"Two Cokes then. If you're worried. It's really all I wanted in the first place."
Arthur picked up all six Cokes and held them out at Martin. "I don't even like Coke. It's too fizzy. I just wanted the bear."
"I think we have a deal then." Martin shuffled the bottles awkwardly, stuffing them into the pockets of his Captain's jacket and making the pockets bulge out. Privately, Arthur thought it made him look oddly hippy, a bit like how mum had gotten a bit wider over the years, but he didn't say anything.
He pulled apart the bottle, pulling out the tiny stuffed bear, admiring its soft white fur and little black eyes and nose.
"Skip?"
"Yes, Arthur?"
"Thank you. This polar bear is brilliant."