Ace gave a frustrated groan, releasing the plastic steering wheel as the game ended in a myriad of flashing lights and loud music. “Ah, come on! I should’ve won that one!”
“Face it, you just don’t have the magic touch, Ace.” You grinned from your seat in the racing game chair, basking in the glory of your 3rd victory in a row. “Admit it. You’ll never defeat me at a single game!”
“There’s gotta be something I can beat you at. I won’t give up so easily.” He said, looking around at the various game stations. So far you’d won your games of air hockey, the car racing games, rhythm games, and the dancing games. And yet he hadn’t managed a single win. Ace was typically so confident and outgoing. He outshined you in most things, but when it came to arcade games, you were champion.
You were swimming in tickets, while Ace had to settle for the consolation ones, barely 3 or 5 at a time. He glared at them with disdain, as if they were mocking him. You sort of felt bad, but given this was your chance to shine and show him how cool you were, you chose to be a little selfish just this once.
You both stood from the racing games, giving the kids who were waiting on you to finish to have a turn. You waited for Ace to gather his small pile of tokens, before pointing to one of the crane games. “We should play one of those.”
“Well…I don’t have many tokens left. We won’t be able to play many more games.” He tells you, but follows after you to the machine.
“Here, let’s share the rest of mine, then.” You say, digging into your pouch and settling a handful of tokens into my palm.
“Y/N, you don’t have to do that.” He said, looking to you with shock. “You spent money on these. You should take them.”
“No way! It won’t be fun if I don’t have my Player 2 alongside me.”
Ace’s face broke out in a little smile, his cheeks dusted with pink. The sight surprised you, but you had to admit you enjoyed seeing him a little flustered. “Well, when you put it like that…pick one to play and we’ll see if you can get it on the first try.”
A challenge? “You’re on.”
Spotting a little dog plushie that you wanted in one of the machines, you inserted a few tokens and grabbed the claw arm controls. Ace stood on the other side, watching through the glass. You maneuvered the claw over to right above where you thought you needed it to be.
Ace jabbed a finger at the glass. “Move it a little to the left.”
“It’s fine where it is.” You said, concentrating, as you adjusted it towards and away from you.
“No, no, it’s gonna miss. Just like an inch or two to the left-”
Brrrrrrr.
His words cut off as you pressed the button to drop the claw. You both watched with bated breath as the wobbling claw descended into the pit of plush, slotting perfectly over the dog’s body and closing around it. With a hopeful smile, your eyes tracked it as it lifted–still clutching the dog–and slid sideways to deposit the plush into the drop chute.
“Yay!” You stoop down and grab the dog plushie from the chute, holding it up in triumph to your date, who looked mildly impressed.
“Honestly, are you just lucky or are you cheating somehow?”
“I’m not cheating!” You defend, gesturing him over so he can have a turn. “It’s just…a good feeling about things. Come on, come try it.”
He smiles a little and shakes his head, but does saunter next to you at the claw controls. He slotted in his tokens and began moving it around the machine.
“Which one are you going for?” You ask, watching curiously from beside him.
“The penguin. Right there.” He points towards the corner.
A few seconds go by, while Ace adjusts the claw. His face is a slate of concentration, and you can’t help but stare at how handsome he looks. You’re so glad you worked up the courage to ask him to come to the arcade with you.
The crane arm descended, but landed slightly off the mark, and closed around empty air. Ace cursed under his breath as the crane return to it’s starting spot at the top. He dug in his pocket for another set of tokens, and put them in the machine.
“Try a little further back.”
“I’ve got it.” He said absentmindedly, tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth.
So stubborn, you thought to yourself.
For a second time, he missed the penguin, and he went for a third round of tokens. You tried recommending minute adjustments to him that you thought would net him the penguin, but Ace adamantly held his ground that he could do it.
Unfortunately, this meant he ran out of his own tokens in a matter of minutes. He stepped away and scratched the back of his head.
“Well, I’m all out. Maybe next time.”
“Here, use the rest of mine.” You offer, giving him the pouch that contained your tokens. “I’ve played everything that I want to. Try to get your penguin!”
“Y/N, I can’t take these.”
“Yes you can. I want you to have fun while you’re here with me.” You say, suddenly feeling back. Ace probably wasn’t having a good time, while you were having so much fun. “I’m sorry if this whole date hasn’t been that fun for you.”
“What? It’s been great!” He said, flashing you a wide smile. “Don’t feel bad just because you’re good at something. Just spending time with you is enough for me. And I like seeing you so happy doing something you love.”
“Oh…” Now it was your turn to blush. The way he was looking at you was so sweet and tender. It was doing things to your heart.
Trying to recover from the surprise, you push the pouch towards him again. “Then we’ll keep trying to win you the penguin until we run out of tokens. That’s what would make me happy now.”
His eyes flick down at the pouch, then back up to you, and you swear you see them linger below your nose for just a moment. He finally takes the pouch, fingers brushing against yours.
He sent you a quick wink. “I’ll listen to your instructions this time, as clearly I’m in the presence of a master gamer.”
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