Petty Not Pretty (HueningKaiXReader They/Them Pronouns)

15

"I bought you a drink already! Now you're just being petty!"

Kai and I had met up at a coffee shop at precisely 9 AM and I was sure that I wasn't a minute late. I felt so bad because of what had happened the previous night that I bought him his drink. He had told me that he wanted to take me somewhere so I followed him all the way to a nearby arcade. It was fairly empty and the sounds of all the games were so loud. When we stepped inside, he immediately suggested that I pay for the currency used to play games.

"You worried me so much last night that I couldn't sleep," he pouted, acting as cute as physically possible. And what was I supposed to do? Say no?

I went up to the counter and paid for some of the arcades currency, which was just money transferred onto a card, before going back to Kai who was browsing all the arcade machines.

"So which one do you wanna play?" I asked, handing him the card. He grabbed my hand and brought me to a crane machine game.

"These ones are my favourites," he smiled, swiping the card and immediately attempting to get a plushie. All of his attention was on the machine as he lined the crane up as precisely as possible, letting it stop wiggling before dropping it to attempt to grab the prize. The look of anticipation on his face as the crane lowered was so endearing, I couldn't help but stare. The small pout that formed on his face when the plushie escaped the grasp of the claw was possibly one of the cutest things I had ever seen.

He swiped the card again, determined to grab the plush. He focussed as he realigned the crane, waiting for it to stop wiggling so he could drop it. Once again, the plushie escaped the claw and fell back into the machine. This monotonous cycle happened over and over again, his pout growing bigger and bigger every time.

"Let me try," I insisted, grabbed the card from him and swiping, taking the same approach as Kai did before. I pressed the button and watched the claw grasp the plushie in the right way, picking it up and dropping it into the slot as Kai watched in wonder. I grabbed the plushie and held it out to him. He snatched it right away and held it close to his chest.

"Do it again!" He cheered, hugging his plushie tighter. I couldn't resist. I swiped the card again and again, grabbing plushie after plushie and handing them to Kai. He stood beside me, pointing out which plushies he wanted and I would grab them. It was like using crane machines was a hidden talent of mine.

Kai was overjoyed when he walked out of the arcade with his arms full of plushies. There was a small smile embedded on my face and I couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard I tried.

My head was swirling and my stomach was flipping. The way he got excited whenever I handed him a plushie, the way he would immediately hug it to his chest, the way he practically skipped out of the arcade, the way he wouldn't put them down, it was all just so endearing and cute. I could barely wrap my head around it. Seeing him like this made me want to take him to the arcade everyday. I wanted to give him plushies everyday and see him smile like this everyday. It was a new and weird feeling to me, but I wasn't complaining.

"Where are we going now?" I asked, following loosely behind him so I could admire him without being caught.

"There's a park with a small pond nearby. I thought we could go sit down there," he called back to me without turning.

"Sounds nice," I smiled, continuing to follow him all the way to the to the park.

It was very scenic. There was a wide open space of nothing but green grass with a small hill that was bordered by some houses and a small stream. Encircling the pond was a concrete walking path and just off the path was a bench to sit. The pond was fairly clean and small. It was surrounded by taller plants like long grass and cattails. It wasn't that crowded, maybe the occasional runner or dog walker. The bright greens were complemented by the bright blue sky which held only a few fluffy white clouds.