Book I: to cross oceans for [BxB] (trans) - completed

Puppies and Babies - Sean

'There once was a boy, who lived in a mirrored house. The boy's mother was a badass mind reader, that always knew when the boy and his older brother were up to no good.

It was honestly a little terrifying. Like the time the boy had sneaked three extra cookies from the jar his mother left open on the kitchen counter. Even if he'd made sure there was no one around and had wiped all the crumbs away, she had still known.

And the boy, even though he had an older brother, that despite never being cruel, could sometimes be annoying, was lonely. There were a few children he played with every now and then, but he yearned for a friend.

A real one. One that would help him sneak cookies from the jar, and figure out a way to not tip his mother off, and go on treasure hunts (mostly for the earrings his mother was so fond of misplacing).

But, alas! His quest proved more difficult than he had anticipated.

Until a couple moved in next door and brought with them their child. Who was also a six year old boy, very similar in shape and size to our hero.

His name was Danny.

And the boy saw for the first time, a possibility. Maybe this new stranger, with unusual dark eyes, could be the elusive best friend the boy so often heard spoken of by the kids he sometimes played with.

But the boy was shy and talking to Danny seemed like an overwhelming and terrifying task. So the boy watched him from afar. Maybe a little creepily, but still, the boy wasn't brave enough to approach him.

Until a stray soccer ball, a squirrel and a half empty pool forced his hand. The boy, seeing himself forced to save the poor creature, rushed next door, ignoring his social inadequacies.

He bravely defied the odds and rescued the squirrel, earning its eternal gratitude. Which the boy was sure it would've waxed poetically about if, you know, it had been capable of speech.

And then, after earning a life debt from the rodent, the boy turned to face the offending party and found himself on the receiving end of the first of many embraces he would share with Danny.

'You saved him.' Danny said.

And the boy, embarrassed and dripping water, just stood there, unsure of what to do.

So it was that they became inseparable after that. Sure, they had their problems and disagreements but like most troubles between six year old friends, they were quickly forgotten and time erased all vestiges of them.

And they grew. And the more the years passed, the more the boy realized he was different from the others. Some made fun of him for it, for 'pretending' to be something he wasn't. 'Acting' or 'playing pretend', they would say. But the boy didn't understand why they said that.

Couldn't they see that he was a boy, just like Danny and the others? Didn't they know he was real?

And the more he grew, the more the boy realized that no, they didn't know. Because he was different from the other boys and there was something not quite right with him.

The more he learned about his differences, the more he hid from the world. Because it scared him whenever they made fun of his clothes or taunted him for being different. It scared him and he wasn't brave enough to tell them to stop.

So he hid and Danny became the only link he had to the Outworld.

Time passed as it is want to do and the boy realized that even though girls were pretty and usually smelled better than boys, they didn't make his heart race or palms sweat. No, that only happened with other boys.