#thundercats

It was Tuesday night, which meant you had the closing shift at the arcade tonight.

You leaned against the counter, it wasn’t busy thankfully, since it was a school night (also because everyone was afraid to come to the arcade because of your reputation). You soaked up the quietness of the arcade, only the light radio station could be heard in the background.

That’s before a group of teens, maybe around your age, walked in. They were laughing with each other and looking around, they’ve been here before, you could tell by the way they flung themselves to an arcade game, like they knew the floor plan of this place like the palm of their hand.

Time passed as you stayed behind the counter, minding your business, messing around with the radio stations or rearranging the gifts in the gift section as the teens played around for a bit.

Suddenly, you could hear whispers along the lines of:

“No you go!”

“She’s scary”

“I’m not going either”

“Fine! I’ll go then.”

before a brown curly haired boy approached you with a handful of tickets in his hand. He wore a cap and probably had the sweetest eyes ever.

“Hey.” He said, with a slight smile.

“Can I help you?” You leaned on the counter.

“You..yeah..i…” He stuttered a bit, his gaze falling to your styled hair, dark makeup, down to your uniform, you were basically a punk goddess in his eyes, his eyes quickly scurried at the tickets in his hand. “I-I wanna redeem these!” He lent out his hand to give you the tickets

“Sure.” You grab them and start redeeming them. You looked up at him from time to time, admiring how his fingers tapped on the counter while he was waiting, how his eyes looked around the gift shelves, already eyeing something.

“Got your eye on something?” You smile, hidden by your hair as you look down on the tickets.

“Yeah. I don’t know if i have enough points for it though.”

“What is it?” You look up.

“The Panthro action figure.”

A smile meets your face “You know Thundercats?”

His eyes widened like if you had just assumed something blasphemous of him “I know Thundercats?! I love Thundercats!” An even bigger smile met his lips.

“Really?” You look straight at him, the tickets forgotten on the counter. “That action figure has been on the shelves since I started working here a couple months ago, no one ever got it. I was considering taking it home with me.” You joke around

“People would leave behind a gem like that?!” The curly head said in disbelief.

“I know!” You finished counting his tickets, a melancholic look met your face “Ah..looks like you’re 50 points short for the action figure..”

The boy looks disappointed but accepts his fate “Ah bummer. Well, it’s okay, means you can take it home with you”

You look at him, then back at the figure. You could tell he really wanted that action figure.

“..i can make a little change of price for you.” You smile, grabbing the Panthro action figure from the shelf and give it to him.

“Really?!” He looks like he’s a kid in a candy store, his eyes glow and he smiles again.

“Yeah, it’s yours.” You nod, he looks so pretty when he’s happy

“You’re the best, I love you!” He blurts out, realizing what he had just said, a slight redness crawls up his face and neck from the embarrassment. “I’m sorry, that—that was weird— I mean, I appreciate it.”

“It’s fine..” You trail off, asking for his name.

“Dustin, Dustin Henderson.”

“Nice to meet you Dustin.” You tell him your name

“That’s real pretty, it fits you.” He leans his chin on the top of the toy box, looking at you.

You could feel your ears and cheeks heating up before one of his friends called his name.

Dustin’s head snapped up and looked at his group of friends that was waiting for him at the door of the arcade “Ah, I gotta go, it was nice meeting you though.”

“Nice meeting you too.” You told the cute boy,

After that night, Dustin was hanging out with you every chance he could; before and after your shifts, during your break. You snuck him gifts from the gift shop and he snuck you little patches he’d find around or make himself you could add to your jean jacket.

One day, he finally mustered up enough courage to invite you to his house on a weekend. You played card games, messed around with the radio, he explained to you the rules of DnD, and obviously, you watched Thundercats and other cartoons you liked together.

“Hey you have that displayed!” You look up at the Panthro action figure that sat on his shelf.

“Of course I do.” He said shutting off his TV. “Y’know you’re not what I thought you’d be..”

“Mean and scary?” You smirk, leaning back on his soft bed. Dustin reluctantly nodded, almost afraid of offending you.

“People like to say that about people they don’t understand.” You explain.

“I get that.” He sat on the floor, in front of you. “There are some rumors going around Hawkins about you being..violent, rude.”

You nod, looking at the ceiling “I’ve heard ‘em.” A moment passes “Am I?”

“Huh?”

“Am I violent and rude?” You look at Dustin

He called you by your name “You’re.. the nicest person I know. You literally pet every stray you see on the street and people say you eat them!” That joke pulled a laugh out of you, he looked at you adoringly, but you just didn’t notice

“They should really give you a chance, you’re a great person.” Dustin praised once you stopped laughing

“Well some fools enjoy living in ignorance, and just go off based on ideas, judging a book from its cover.”

“I was afraid of you at first” Dustin admitted reluctantly

“Yeah well, I could tell by the look in your eyes. I’m kinda used to it.” You sat up on the bed. “Thank you for…giving me a chance.” You smile at him

“Thank you for giving me the Panthro action figure, which, by the way, is my most prized possession.” You giggle at his silliness.

Another moment passes “I love the Ghostbusters patch you gave me.”

“I made it, the paint work is a little cheap—“

You interrupt him “It’s perfect because it’s made by you.”

Dustin looked at you, his face turning a hot shade of red. “Ah..” He looked to the side “I mean— aah..god..”

He stumbled over his words, making you giggle. You loved flustering him up like this.

You slide down from the bed and onto the floor in front of him “Dustin..” You say with a big smile you couldn’t help but display.

He kept on muttering nonsense and looking away, his face crimson red.

You grab his face and turn it towards you, holding his burning cheeks. “I can’t hear you, could you speak up?”

“Kiss me.” He mumbles after a long string of inaudible words, just loud enough for you to hear him.

You tilt your head with a laugh of disbelief “Kiss you?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I-I want you to kiss me, if you want of course...” He nods.

“I want to” You lean closer to his face, before slowly, but definitely, closing the distance between your faces.

The kiss was messy but pure, a fire lit up inside you and you felt like your souls connected in that moment, your hearts beating one rhythm.

For a minute or two, you both just sit there, kissing like two thirteen year olds in their first relationship, holding eachother in your arms and smiling against one another’s lips.

That’s before Dustin’s mom walks in

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