FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

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

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 were 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 their face. 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.

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Word Count: 1,882