The Earth Boy [Ned Leeds x Male!Reader]

ELEVEN

"Wake up!" Ned's voice rang in my ears. I jolted up instantly, seeing him in my room. Excitement appeared on his face as he stared at me.

"Ned, what the fuck?" I asked, "Are you trying to give me a stroke?" 

"I'm sorry." He apologized, "It's just that I wanted to wake you up early." 

"Why?" I questioned while rubbing my eyes. 

"Remember when I said I'll take you to the arcade?" Ned repeated. I nodded. "Well, today we're going." 

"But why so fucking early?" I inquired. It's not like that place is going anywhere. 

"Because then we'd get to play all the games." He replied, "Come on! Hurry up!" 

He walked out of my room and closed the door. I rolled my eyes and started to get ready. At least, now I can wear my new clothes. 

***

I went downstairs to see Ned waiting for me. I put on an oversized sweater with a picture of a rocket ship on it plus skinny jeans. If oversized sweaters were a thing then maybe I could still wear Ned's clothes. Although, the ones I'm wearing right now fits me a bit better than his.

While I was changing, Ned tossed me a beanie to wear on my head. It didn't exactly cover my ears, but it looked great on me nonetheless. If people were to ask, I'd say my ears had some sort of abnormality to them. As I went downstairs, I saw Ned stare at me. 

"What?" I asked, looking at him and then at my sleeves. Was there something on me that he noticed? 

"Nothing, uh, you look great." He complimented. I must be high because I think I saw him blush. "Anyways, let's get going." 

"Are we going in Erin's vehicle?" I questioned as we both went outside. 

"No, we're going to walk." Ned responded, "Grandpa's busy fixing your ship." 

"Oh my god! My ship! I should see how he's doing." I exclaimed. 

"It's okay." He reassured me, "He's doing fine, I checked." 

"Well, if you say so." I sighed. Although, I still want to see his progress. "Alright, let's go." 

We started to walk along a shortcut trail that Ned showed me. In no time, we arrived at the mall. We started heading inside and into the arcade. Apparently, it was empty, exactly what Ned wanted. The only people that were there were the workers.

Ned used his money to buy tokens for the both of us. They were inside these little bags and were used to operate the arcade games. According to Ned, if you get enough points you get lots of tickets. And those tickets can earn you prizes. 

"Which game do you wanna play first?" Ned grinned, bubbling in excitement. 

"Hmm." I paused, observing the arcade. Instantly, I noticed a game with karts and colourful creatures. "That game over there, let's play that one." 

"Super Mario Kart!" He cheered, "Good choice!" 

We went to sit on two separate seats. When I put my token inside, Ned explained how the game worked. Basically, the goal was to get to first place. I watched what Ned was doing and copied him. When it was time to pick a character, I chose the pink princess. 

"You picked Princess Peach?" Ned asked me. 

"Yeah, who did you pick?" I asked back. 

"Luigi." He replied, "He's the best!" 

The game started and off our characters went. I was a good driver so I was already in second place. However, Ned kept throwing items at me. 

"Ned, what the fuck are you doing?" I grumbled, swerving to avoid a turtle shell. 

"Winning, duh!" Ned smirked, "I might have forgotten to mention some details." 

I couldn't help but smirk at his mischievousness. Who knew he could act like this, but no matter, I was still gonna win. I pushed the accelerator and drove faster. In the end, I won first place while Ned came in fourth. 

"Hah! I win!" I taunted him. "In your face!" 

"Whatever, I let you win." Ned pouted. 

"Pfft, you wish." I teased which caused him to smile. "Let's play some more!"

The Super Mario Kart game didn't give us tickets, but the others did. As time went on, more people came into the arcade. And, as we played more games we got more tickets. Recently finishing a shooting game, I noticed that there was another one that involved dancing and singing. Ned's expression changed when he saw what I was looking at. 

"What's wrong?" I inquired. 

"That game is hard." He explained, "Nobody has ever played it." 

"Can you sing?" I continued to ask. 

"W-well yes but--" 

I dragged Ned towards the game as he kept on stuttering rebuttals. The title of the game was called VoiceSteps. All you had to do was sing and dance. It sounded easy enough, but I was a shitty singer. I then turned to Ned who was visibly nervous. 

"I usually sing alone but..." Ned mumbled, hands shaking. He couldn't finish his sentence due to his increased uneasiness. To ease his nerves, I held his hands. I doubt that helped, but it felt right. 

"I can just do all the singing if you want," I suggested. 

"No! I...want to do it too." He stuttered, "Y-yeah, l-let's do it t-together!" 

A/N: In real life, Jacob Batalon is a really good singer. I saw him sing on Tumblr with his ukelele. Also, hopefully, this book isn't too boring. The interesting stuff will come soon, I promise!