#lasershire

I do requests!

The young boys played in the sandbox; they couldn’t be over eight years old. One with dark hair and crooked glasses spent time perfectly crafting his sandcastle. The other with a mean, playful sneer knocked it over. “Dave, you’re so mean.”

The boys proceeded to laugh.

The battery was draining fast, and he was trying to think of who to text. Not Wes. His parents were strict about no cell phone after curfew. Sohinki needed as much sleep as he could get (or was too high, but who knew). Flitz was taking care of his siblings. Mari had been out at a rave. But Joven… maybe. He would be awake and his mom was at work so he’d have the car.

Lasercorn flexed his hand, blood dripping from his knuckles. He’d done a number on the front wall of the house after being kicked out for the night. With a sigh, he called Joven. “Hey. Wanna get Taco Bell?”

“I’ll be there in 10.” That’s what Lasercorn loved about Joven. He knew. He didn’t need to ask questions, didn’t expect answers. Was just there when he was needed. And that was making Lasercorn emotional, and he didn’t need to cry on top of everything tonight.

He laid back on the porch, closing his eyes as he waited for the familiar sound of Joven’s mom’s car that really needed the too-expensive repairs. But it ran, so that’s all that mattered.

He hardly opened his eyes as he got up to get in the car, sighing when Joven skipped the greeting. “Let me see your hands.”

He just laid them on the canter console, trying to pull them away when Joven started wiping the blood, a first aid kit out and ready. “Hey, keep them still or I’m not putting out tonight,” he teased, trying to keep the mood light.

Lasercorn just sighed, letting Joven wrap his hands. “I’m tired of this shit.” Joven didn’t say anything, letting him rant as they drove through the night. “One day I’m gonna run away. Never look back. Leave all this bullshit behind me.”

“What would you do?”

“Become a hitman. Make a good income, hide out in the mountains the rest of my life.” Lasercorn rubbed at his cheek, which would be a nice conglomeration of blues and blacks and purples in the morning. “Maybe I’ll let you guys come with me.”

“We wouldn’t want to get left behind.” Joven set his hand palm side up on the center console, an open offer for comfort that Lasercorn would usually turn down. But tonight it was needed, and he was glad Joven didn’t comment on it.

With Joven, he didn’t need to be tough. He could drop his walls just a little. But not too much. Never too much.

The rest of the drive was silent, leaving them to their own thoughts, hands linked just a little too tightly. But the pressure was welcome, reminding them they were both okay.

No words were exchanged as they got to Taco Bell, holding hands still once they were out of the car. They ordered food, Joven paying with a few too many spare coins. They sat in a booth and just talked about nothing. Things that didn’t matter. Keeping their minds off the things that were all too real and present.

They talked for a few hours until they had to leave, and Lasercorn found himself pinning Joven against the side wall of a damn Taco Bell and kissing him breathless, faint remnants of the food they’d just eaten still on their tongues. Joven just let himself be held down and kissed, pushing back just enough to give Lasercorn a small fight, but not enough to push him off.

And tears were falling down Lasercorn’s face as he mumbled a quiet “fuck you” to Joven, so fucking tired as he slumped against Joven’s chest, gripping his shirt as silent, angry tears fell down his face in a painful moment of weakness.

And Joven just held him, knowing this was a moment that wouldn’t exist in 10 minutes, that would never be talked about and would never be allowed to be talked about.