Longing for You - a PangWave fanfiction

seven

"Are we eleven years old," Wave deadpanned as Pang pulled him into an arcade at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon.

"Oh come on! It'll be fun, I promise!" Pang said.

Wave rolled his eyes but followed after Pang anyway. He could have his own fun controlling these machines and watching Pang fail.

Pang bought some tokens and sat down at a fighting game. "Well? Let's fight!"

Wave sat across from Pang. He had never played this game before, but he could feel the electricity flowing under his fingertips. He smirked. This would be cake.

"I've never played this game before," Wave admitted truthfully. He looked around the side of the machine to Pang. "Take it easy on me?"

"Sure, sure" Pang replied He chose a burly character with totally unrealistic muscles. Wave chose a woman with a high agility stat. "You're really choosing her? Only pro players can win with that character."

Wave shrugged. "I didn't know. Let's just get this over with."

The game started, and Wave tried his hardest to appear like he was actually using the buttons and joystick instead of manipulating the machine with his gift. Pang's character went for powerful charge attacks, but Wave dodged every blow and hit Pang with a jab after every failed attempt. At the end of the first round, Wave's character hadn't taken a hit.

"You've played this game before haven't you?" Pang asked.

Wave raised his hands in the air. "I swear I haven't. This is just beginner's luck, I guess."

"Okay, let's play again."

The second round yielded similar results, but this time Wave let Pang get in a single hit at the end. Pang groaned and kicked the machine.

"How are you this good? You have to secretly be a pro. I've never lost like this before."

Wave shrugged and looked around the machine to Pang who was hiding his face on the machine. "I'm just good at this kind of stuff, I guess," Wave responded. "Don't feel bad."

"I don't," Pang said with a frown. Wave couldn't help but feel extremely endeared by the pout on his face.

"Let's go do something else," Wave said.

The two played around in the arcade for another hour. Pang beat Wave at all the games that didn't involve buttons like basketball and skee ball. Wave let him win a few rounds of the racing game, too, but after a while Wave was bored and kind of hungry so Pang agreed to take him to a food stall close to the arcade for pork skewers.

"It's been a while since I've had real Thai food," Wave commented.

"What was the food like in America?" Pang asked.

"Just... not the same. I grew up on spicy noodles and Tom Yum so eating bread every day was kind of boring and gross. But there isn't much else to eat over there, especially in the university dining halls," Wave said.

"You said you were going back for the next semester right? What'll that be like?"

Wave thought about all the research papers and projects he'll have to do. He was also scheduled to teach an Intro to Statistics class he definitely wasn't looking forward to. "I'm not really sure yet. Different. More difficult maybe. What about you? Are you going back for a Master's?"

"Naw," Pang said as he chomped on his meat. "I've been freelancing for a magazine for a while, but I'm working on a novel right now."

Wave choked on his food. A novel? Wave felt like he shouldn't be as surprised as he was. Pang was really good at reading people, so it made sense that he would write a book. He had a way with words. "You're writing a book? That's cool."

"I hope so. I'm working through it with an editor, but he told me it might not be good enough to publish. His boss is the one that gets the final say." Pang sighed. "I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't get published."

Wave reached with his free hand to grab Pang's. "Just send it to a different publisher. They would be absolute morons if they reject you. I'm sure your novel is great."

Pang smiled at Wave. Wave couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks, Wave," He said.

Wave squeezed his hand. "You're welcome."