#SaSaSOM

[myouki]

Sparklers and Snakes and Spinners, Oh My: Chapter 1

Chapter Warnings:

Swearing

Credits:

Lotus: @nekophy

Rurik: @angeutblogo

***

Lotus shut the door leading to the back patio, muffling the sound of the fireworks popping off outside. He was sure Rurik would like the surprise he had planned as a way for them to celebrate despite his boyfriend's aversion to loud noises; it would be a nice way to unwind after a long day at work.

He turned his attention back to tonight's meal, knowing he didn't have much time left before his boyfriend arrived home. Checking the timer, he pulled a pan holding two seasoned boneless chicken breasts and a row of thinly sliced potato wedges from the oven. A pleasant smell wafted around him as he set the pan on the empty side of the stove; it wasn't anything fancy, but he knew a simple meal with no muss or fuss was preferable. If he knew Rurik, then the skeleton would be too impatient to savor a more complicated dish tonight.

Shutting off the burner for the vegetables and doling everything out onto two plates, he perked up as he heard the front door open; perfect timing.

Lotus poked his skull out the doorway leading into the living room, smiling at the sight of Rurik casually locking the door behind himself; the skeleton was wearing his noise-canceling headphones and looked to be in an amiable mood; a welcome sight after last year's fiasco. The smaller waited in the doorway to be noticed so as not to accidentally startle his boyfriend and eagerly approached with a grin when the monster looked up, then grasped their hand and led them into the kitchen. Leaving them at the table to take a seat, he grabbed the two plates on the counter and quickly brought them over.

"You're really happy today; did something good happen?" Rurik asked as his plate was set in front of him.

Sitting down with his own plate while trying not to bounce in excitement, Lotus grinned and annunciated, "I have a little surprise planned for after supper."

"Oh? Any chance of telling me now?" Rurik dug into his food, watching carefully for the smaller's reply; it was a sign that he was very interested despite his nonchalance.

"Nope," the skeleton replied, shaking his skull to solidify the refusal, "If I tell you now, it won't be a surprise anymore. I'll show you after we eat." Truth be told, he really wanted to reveal the surprise now since he had made it a point to finish his reaping duties for the day quickly to ensure he had plenty of time to set up... but he also wanted to build up anticipation.

Rurik groaned, likely expecting the response, "Just a little hint?"

"Nope," Lotus repeated, scooping up a forkful of green beans and popping it into his mouth, smiling in the face of his boyfriend's annoyance. After a couple of seconds of staring, likely trying to discern whether he could coax the answer out of the smaller, Rurik proved he was willing to exercise patience by turning his attention to the food in front of him without any more protest.

The conversation as they ate was sparse with Rurik's attention on his plate; he was wolfing down his food and Lotus pointedly avoided looking at the impatient skeleton the keep from laughing at the lapse in table manners. He did, however, look up when he heard a choking noise across the table. Rounding the table, he began vigorously smacking his boyfriend's back until he began coughing.

Once he was breathing normally again and looked up, Lotus sighed, "You know you don't have to channel your inner vacuum, right? The surprise isn't going anywhere and I don't think the Heimlich would work very well on you."

"Yeah, yeah...," Rurik grumbled, focusing on the fork he had dropped rather than the smaller's knowing look. Once he picked the utensil up began eating at a much slower pace, Lotus was satisfied no other mishaps would occur and sat back down to finish his own meal.

With the meal finished, Lotus took the plates to the sink; he had planned on rinsing them real quick, but a pair of hands around his waist stopped him alongside a voice next to his skull, "Plates later, surprise now."

Lotus snickered, turning his skull to face the taller, "Alright, alright... get off and I'll show you." Rurik complied, only to be told, "Close your sockets."

The taller made a face, "You're not gonna run me into a wall or something?"

"I'll run you into the wall gently," Lotus laughed. Huffing amicably, Rurik shut his sockets and waited with an air of expectancy. The smaller placed his hands on their shoulders, leading them toward the backyard door. Pushing it open and leading the monster through, he stopped them in front of a box sitting on the concrete patio and tapped their shoulder as a signal to look.

Rurik's sockets popped open, quirking in confusion when nothing presented itself... until he looked down. Squatting down and picking up one of the packages inside, he read the label, "Super Snakes...?"

Lotus crouched down next to his boyfriend, picking up a longer package from the box, "They're fireworks."

Rurik blinked, seemingly processing the statement before grimacing, "You know I can't-"

"These are special ones," Lotus hurriedly cut in, "they're designed to not make loud noises." Seeing he had Rurik's attention, he continued, "You said you never got to experience fireworks as a kid and the noisy ones bother you now... so I thought these would be a good alternative."

The taller monster stared at Lotus for a moment, then returned their gaze back to the fireworks package in their hand with a conflicted expression; one that picked apart the smaller's confidence. He had been so sure his boyfriend would be excited to try this given their extrovert nature... but now he realized how flawed the idea was. Rurik never showed even a fleeting interest in fireworks... why the hell had he thought that this would be a good idea?

#Fell!Poth #Lotus #Fell!Goth #Rurik #Fell!Palette #SaSaSOM #Short Stories #MyWriting #Swearing

[myouki]

Sparklers and Snakes and Spinners, Oh My: Chapter 2 (End)

Happy Fourth of July to those who celebrate it~

Chapter Warnings:

Swearing

Credits:

Lotus: @nekophy

Rurik: @angeutblogo

***

As Lotus began to reach for the box to toss its contents, his companion spoke, "So... how does this work?"

"Huh?"

He looked up to find Rurik staring at him with an unsure expression, still holding the small yellow box, "Do I just light it, or do I do something else first?"

Once he realized what was being asked, a cheeky grin lit up Lotus's face, "Well, first you open the box-"

"Okay smartass," Rurik huffed, rolling his eye lights and digging his finger into the flimsy cardboard siding. Once he had the box open, he stared at the contents before questioning, "... Candy? I thought these were fireworks..."

"Give it here," Lotus held out his hand, fishing out one of the 'candies' and unwrapping it to reveal a set of pellets. He set them on the concrete patio, and Rurik watched curiously as he flicked on the lighter wand and touched it to each of the pellets.

Rurik cringed in anticipation as the pellets caught on fire, the gaped when they started growing; the surprise was quickly replaced by a bark of laughter, "They look like shit."

Lotus did a double-take, "What?"

"No seriously, they look like pieces of shit growing out of the ground!" Rurik vehemently explained, gesturing to the charred coils still winding around themselves, "it even looks like they have assholes around them!"

Taking a closer look at the snakes and their resulting burn marks on the concrete, he couldn't deny the resemblance. A firework popped in the distance around the same moment he begrudgingly accepted the comparison; he pinched his nasal bone in resignation, "Oh stars, I can't unsee it..."

"I know, right?! They look like what comes out the day after I cooked!" Rurik cackled, watching as the last of the snakes crumbled in a flicker of dying embers.

The comment had Lotus doubling over in laughter as he tried to counter, "I don't think you're that bad anymore..."

"I've nearly set the kitchen on fire how many times?" Rurik gave him a knowing look that had him clamping his mouth shut. His partner had unusually bad luck with the oven, so he really couldn't say anything.

Wiping the tears from his sockets and taking a calming breath, Rurik turned his attention back to the container of goodies. He pulled out another package, gave Lotus a sly look, and snickered, "Lotus Lanterns, huh?"

"Shut up, the guy said they were the best spinners he had," Lotus grumbled, snatching the box from Rurik's grasp and pulling out a pair of pink disks. As he reached for the lighter, he remembered something and put the fireworks back down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Rurik asked as Lotus picked up a bucket.

Lotus turned on the water spigot and answered as the bucket filled, "These ones move around, so we need some water ready in case they go into the grass. I don't need a spinner setting the yard, or my starter garden, on fire."

"Ooh... yeah...," the taller cringed at the idea, glancing at the two trees and the stair shelf of flowering plants at the far end of the yard. While Rurik normally wouldn't care about some plants getting charred, there was an unspoken agreement that Lotus's carefully tended plants were not to be screwed with; any perpetrators would have hell to pay. Rather than earn his little firecracker's scorn by scoffing at the precautionary measure, he nodded his skull along in silent agreement.

Hauling the bucket full of water back over to the box, Lotus set out the spinners and lit the tails sticking out before hauling Rurik to his feet and pulling him back into the grass. The taller monster jumped as one of the fireworks sprung to life, closely followed by the second, whizzing around and shooting colored sparks at each other. In the middle of the display, he shouted, "OH!"

It was Lotus's turn to jump as he quickly settled himself and asked, "What is it?"

"Those things," the skeleton gestured toward the spinners. "They remind me of that one T.V. show... what's it called... they had those top things with different animals living in them that would battle each other... agh, I can't remember what it's called!" Rurik scrubbed at his skull, irked by the lapse in memory. Lotus hummed to himself, trying to figure out what his boyfriend was talking about as he watched the fireworks sputter to a stop. "Ah come on, you have to know about it; it was all over the place when we were younger!"

"I didn't get to watch television when I was younger... at least, not unless my parents were already watching something, so I can't help you," the smaller shrugged, stepping forward to retrieve the burnt-out remnants of cardboard.

Rurik cringed at the reminder, "Right, your parents were shitheads." Digging into the box again, he tried to lighten the mood, "then let's face two of these bad boys off against each other and see which one lasts longer."

"Alright then, you're on. I pick that one," Lotus grinned, choosing his spinner and handing over the lighter so Rurik could do the honors. Placing them on the ground and lighting the fuses, the taller monster jogged back to his companion to watch the battle; it only lasted for thirty seconds as Rurik's fizzled out and spun to a stop. The smaller glanced over at his boyfriend, reveling in the expression that morphed from surprise to disgruntlement as he quipped, "I guess that means I won?"

"Rematch," Rurik grunted, pulling out the last two spinners from the box, "I'm picking this one." Hurriedly tossing the used ones into the trash pile and lighting the new ones, he moved back and stared at the spinning fireworks with a focused glare that made Lotus glad his boyfriend couldn't hear his laughter.

These spinners lasted longer this time, with Lotus's winding down first; as it slowed to a stop, Rurik pumped his fist into the air and whooped, "Yeah, I won! Suck it!"

"I think I'll pass," Lotus rolled his eye light, stepping back onto the patio and reaching for the pack of sparklers.

"Aww, and here I was hoping we could make some fireworks of our own later," Rurik put on a wounded expression, but the theatrics of it all alluded to it being nothing more than teasing with no real intent to push the issue.

"You'll have to settle with this for now," Lotus replied, passing one of the sticks over to Rurik and lighting it. A mere second after the sparks flew, his boyfriend gasped and dropped the stick in a panic. Carefully picking it up from the cement and handing it back to them, he reassured them, "As long as you don't hold the lit end, it won't burn you."

"Right...," the skeleton mumbled, taking hold of the sparkler to cover his embarrassment as Lotus lit his own. Waving it around a bit, he asked, "Sooo... is it supposed to do anything else?"

"Not really," Lotus answered with a shrug, tracing shapes in the air with his sparkler, "They're not the most exciting firework; they're mostly for kids or people who want something more low-key."

"It smells weird," Rurik wrinkled his nasal ridge.

"You're not supposed to sniff it, genius," Lotus joked, getting a tepid look in response. In retrospect, he probably should have started Rurik off with the sparklers since they were pretty dull compared to the other things he got. "Oh well, they can't all be winners," he stated as his sparkler neared the end of its lifespan, "the last one's a little more exciting."

"Oh?" Rurik tilted his skull in askance. Smiling coyly, Lotus stuck the dead sparkler stick into the trash container and pulled out a colorful box with the words 'Laser Sabers' barely visible in the fading twilight. Pulling out one of the items he heard his boyfriend directly over his shoulder, "a sword? Or is this another one of those spark sticks?"

Lotus chuckled at the assessment, turning toward them, "Not quite, watch." Unwrapping the fountain, he pulled over a spare pot of dirt and stuck the bottom spike into the soil up to the circular base. Setting the pot on the patio a safe distance from the rest of the fireworks and the house, he grabbed the lighter, lit the fuse, and pulled Rurik back into the grass. The skeleton opened his mouth to question the action but startled when an orange pillar of light shot up like a volcano while pink and green sparks flew a good four feet into the air and showered the ground around it.

Rurik anxiously murmured, "Is it supposed to do that?"

The uncertain question and a worried glance was met with a pat of reassurance on the shoulder, "It's doing exactly what it did in the video. If something does go wrong, we have a bucket of water as well as the hose." Despite how intimidating it looked, everything was under control; the last thing Lotus wanted was to give his boyfriend a reason to dislike fireworks more. Seemingly accepting his words, Rurik turned their attention back to the display as the pillar began to change colors alongside the sparks, creating a rainbow glow against the plastic siding of the house.

By now, it had gotten dark and other people were setting off much noisier fireworks in their own yards and in their driveways; it was a bit grating for Lotus, but Rurik looked completely unfazed thanks to his headwear as he watched at the light display. As the sparks began sinking back toward the ground a minute later, he voiced his opinion, "I'll give it to you, that one looked pretty cool... But I still like the spinny ones better."

"I'll make sure to get more of each next year," Lotus said, pulling the used fountain out of the pot and replacing it with a fresh one. Lighting it and jogging back to his boyfriend's side, he leaned against their shoulder as they watched the dazzling display; tonight was shaping up to be-

"BEYBLADE!"

Lotus shot to attention, stumbling sideways and staring at Rurik in confusion, "Wh... what?"

"Beyblades; that's what the little bastards were called!" Rurik exclaimed gleefully, digging into his pocket and pulling out his phone, "Hold on, I'll show you what I'm talking about."

Letting out a shaky huff, Lotus opened his mouth to tell Rurik off for scaring him... but the words died in his throat when he noticed how relaxed and happy his boyfriend looked browsing their phone with the lights from the fountain firework dancing across them. He couldn't help the warmth that welled up within him, feeling like he had accomplished his mission for the evening and then some.

"Here, this is what I wa-," Rurik looked up from his phone, pausing to cock a browbone, "Hey, you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm great," Lotus plastered a smile on his face to cover the fact that he had been gawking and moved closer so he could see the screen, "Show me what you found already." His smile grew as Rurik turned his attention back to the phone, excitedly showing off his search results as the fireworks around them bathed their backyard in ambient light.

#Fell!Poth #Lotus #Fell!Goth #Rurik #Fell!Palette #SaSaSOM #Short Stories #MyWriting #Swearing