FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

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

Happy Fourth of July for those who celebrate it~

Chapter Warnings: Swearing

***

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.