Where We Begin [s/a]
Title: Where We Begin
Author: patdiscosticks
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon
POV: 3rd
Word Count: 1325
Summary: Kid!fic. Brendon and Ryan treated it like a tradition and insisted they go every fall before school started, and maybe sometimes the lake was a little too cold and their toes went numb or it would start to rain and their tent would flood, but it was tradition and it was theirs.
Disclaimer: 210% fictional, I don't own any humans, all that jazz.
Notes: At the end.
Brendon grew up four doors down from Ryan, but he doesn't remember the early years of squirming around in a playpen with him while their mothers chatted over coffee. He opens photo albums and sees two babies giggling at each other and knows it's them, but somehow it's a little too hard to believe they've known each other since they were only a few months old. The evidence is there, but he has no memories of five-month-old Ryan. It's not like there would be much to remember, anyways, because their world was half a block wide and filled with only six people: themselves, each other, and their mothers and fathers.
Their families used to go camping together; they'd drive the thirty-five miles from Vegas to Mount Charleston, one boy always riding in the other family's car so they could play their GameBoys side by side, and they'd set up three tents in the same corner of the same campground. Brendon and Ryan treated it like a tradition and insisted they go every fall before school started, and maybe sometimes the lake was a little too cold and their toes went numb or it would start to rain and their tent would flood, but it was tradition and it was theirs. Brendon can remember that.
The farthest back he can remember was a camping trip when they were six.
"Ryan, are you coming?" Brendon called back into the dark. He pressed up against the wall of rock, not trusting his judgement of the width of the trail.
"Bren...help?" Ryan sniffled. "I fell and I think my knee is bleeding."
Brendon whipped his head around and looked back the way he'd come. He could just barely make out Ryan's silhouette, outlined in dim moonlight and crouching down, one hand pressed to his knee. Brendon pushed off from the side of the trail and sprinted back over to Ryan, careful not to accidentally run off the edge, calling out, "Are you okay?"
"It kinda hurts."
Brendon fell to his knees next to Ryan and hugged him, pulling away after a moment just enough for Ryan to rest his head on his chest. He nudged Ryan's hand gently off his knee and frowned at the cut. Trails of blood drops ran down his leg.
"I'll be fine," Ryan murmured into Brendon's shirt, clutching handfuls of fabric in his hands. "We can still go on our adventure."
Brendon shook his head and shifted to stand up, helping Ryan up with him. "No, we'll go in the morning. It's too dangerous at night. We can't see anything and we're right by a cliff and now you're hurt... Let's go back to camp. I'll put a band-aid on your knee."
"Really, I'm-"
"Ryan." Ryan stopped talking and sighed. "Do you want a piggy back ride?" Brendon asked.
Ryan nodded eagerly, and Brendon turned around and let Ryan climb up onto his back. He was so skinny that he hardly weighed anything, so it was easy to carry him. He hooked his arms under Ryan's knees and Ryan looped his arms around his neck, and they started back towards the campground, Ryan's face pressed into Brendon's neck. Ryan's arms were chilly, but the rest of his body was warm and familiar.
"I'm sorry for ruining the adventure."
"Ryan, don't. I care about you more than the adventure." Brendon hoisted Ryan up higher, and Ryan squeaked and tightened his grip. "You haven't ruined it; there's just a special twist now. It'll be the greatest adventure of our life, we'll just go tomorrow morning instead."
Ryan smiled against Brendon's skin. "Do you think we'll see lions?"
"Maybe. I betcha we'll see snakes, too - giant, deadly ones!" Ryan gasped, and Brendon giggled. "It'll be so cool."
"The snakes won't hurt us, right?"
Brendon craned his head around to look at Ryan. "Not if I'm here. I'm a snake charmer, you know. I have special powers and I can make them act friendly. And you know how Jafar in Aladdin can turn into a snake? Yeah, I can do that too."
Ryan laughed. "You're crazy."
"Yeah, but you like it."
They entered the campsite and Brendon set Ryan down on a picnic table. "One sec." He jogged over to his car and pulled open the trunk door with some difficulty, grabbing the first aid box from inside and slamming the trunk shut again.
When he returned, Ryan was swinging his feet in the air and picking at a thread on the hem of his shirt. Brendon kneeled down in front of him and unzipped the kit, pulling out a band-aid. He looked up and caught Ryan watching him from under the mess of curls hanging over his eyes. "What? Do you need me to kiss it better?" Ryan giggled and nodded. Brendon leaned in to brush his lips over the wound, sticking the band-aid over it afterwards. "There. Now it'll heal - magic powers, remember?"
"Mm-hm."
Brendon stood up and grabbed Ryan's hand, pulling him off the picnic table and towards their tent. In the other two tents their parents were asleep, as it had to be past midnight.
"I'm actually pretty tired, Bren."
Brendon unzipped the tent door and kicked off his shoes. "Well then maybe it's a good thing we came back, because I might have had to carry you a mile! Or maybe I would have just left you. You snooze, you lose."
Ryan wrinkled his nose and pushed Brendon inside the tent. "You wouldn't leave me up there alone. I'd need you to scare the snakes off."
"You'd need me, would you?"
"Yeah. Now turn around so I can change." They turned to face away from each other and switched into clean shirts and swapped their jeans for soft pajama pants, Ryan's with moons all over them and Brendon's with tiny pictures of cars.
They stuffed their clothes into their suitcases and laid down on their shared air mattress. Brendon watched Ryan shiver and immediately crawl into his sleeping bag, pulling the fabric up to his nose.
"What if we lived out here?" Brendon asked, folding his arms behind his head. "We could live off s'mores and bathe in the lake and sing campfire songs every night. We'd never have to go to school, either."
"I don't know how awesome it would be in the winter." Ryan's body shook again. "How are you not cold?"
"Magical powers." Ryan snaked an arm out and smacked Brendon on the shoulder. "Hey, do you think I could fit in there with you?"
Ryan shrugged. "Only if you promise not to tickle me." Brendon raised an eyebrow. "I just jinxed that, didn't I. Come on, get in." Ryan pushed open the sleeping bag and scooted over and Brendon clambered in next to him, almost elbowing Ryan in the face. Brendon settled down pressed up against him, throwing an arm over Ryan's waist and folding around his body as they shifted onto their sides. His feet brushed against Ryan's, and Ryan jerked.
"Your feet are freezing!"
Brendon pressed his nose into Ryan's hair and laughed, pushing his feet between Ryan's ankles. Ryan let out small sounds of dismay and tried to shift away, but Brendon's arm around him pulled him back against Brendon's chest. "Stop moving! I'm trying to use you as a teddy bear. You're supposed to be snuggley."
Ryan sighed and stopped struggling, relaxing into Brendon's arms. They closed their eyes and listened to each other breathe for a few minutes.
"Are you warm yet?"
"Yeah."
Ryan slowly start to nod off, his thoughts coming slower and lingering, and the sounds of Brendon's breathing and the crickets outside gradually died down.
Just when Ryan thought he had fallen asleep, Brendon started tickling him. "Ryan. Hey, Ry?"
Ryan swatted at Brendon's hand and twisted in the sleeping bag, laughing uncontrollably. "Stop it, stop- What do you want?"
"Ryan, we're a human burrito."
"Go to sleep, Bren."
~
A/N: I have a fic journal now! This is just a quick little thing I wrote; I wanted to write a profusely fluffy kid!fic, and this is what happened. Even though I didn't really emphasize that I set this in the 90's, I did do a fact check to make sure that Aladdin had been released and they had GameBoys in '92-ish. Hope you liked it. :)
Author: patdiscosticks
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon
POV: 3rd
Word Count: 1325
Summary: Kid!fic. Brendon and Ryan treated it like a tradition and insisted they go every fall before school started, and maybe sometimes the lake was a little too cold and their toes went numb or it would start to rain and their tent would flood, but it was tradition and it was theirs.
Disclaimer: 210% fictional, I don't own any humans, all that jazz.
Notes: At the end.
Brendon grew up four doors down from Ryan, but he doesn't remember the early years of squirming around in a playpen with him while their mothers chatted over coffee. He opens photo albums and sees two babies giggling at each other and knows it's them, but somehow it's a little too hard to believe they've known each other since they were only a few months old. The evidence is there, but he has no memories of five-month-old Ryan. It's not like there would be much to remember, anyways, because their world was half a block wide and filled with only six people: themselves, each other, and their mothers and fathers.
Their families used to go camping together; they'd drive the thirty-five miles from Vegas to Mount Charleston, one boy always riding in the other family's car so they could play their GameBoys side by side, and they'd set up three tents in the same corner of the same campground. Brendon and Ryan treated it like a tradition and insisted they go every fall before school started, and maybe sometimes the lake was a little too cold and their toes went numb or it would start to rain and their tent would flood, but it was tradition and it was theirs. Brendon can remember that.
The farthest back he can remember was a camping trip when they were six.
"Ryan, are you coming?" Brendon called back into the dark. He pressed up against the wall of rock, not trusting his judgement of the width of the trail.
"Bren...help?" Ryan sniffled. "I fell and I think my knee is bleeding."
Brendon whipped his head around and looked back the way he'd come. He could just barely make out Ryan's silhouette, outlined in dim moonlight and crouching down, one hand pressed to his knee. Brendon pushed off from the side of the trail and sprinted back over to Ryan, careful not to accidentally run off the edge, calling out, "Are you okay?"
"It kinda hurts."
Brendon fell to his knees next to Ryan and hugged him, pulling away after a moment just enough for Ryan to rest his head on his chest. He nudged Ryan's hand gently off his knee and frowned at the cut. Trails of blood drops ran down his leg.
"I'll be fine," Ryan murmured into Brendon's shirt, clutching handfuls of fabric in his hands. "We can still go on our adventure."
Brendon shook his head and shifted to stand up, helping Ryan up with him. "No, we'll go in the morning. It's too dangerous at night. We can't see anything and we're right by a cliff and now you're hurt... Let's go back to camp. I'll put a band-aid on your knee."
"Really, I'm-"
"Ryan." Ryan stopped talking and sighed. "Do you want a piggy back ride?" Brendon asked.
Ryan nodded eagerly, and Brendon turned around and let Ryan climb up onto his back. He was so skinny that he hardly weighed anything, so it was easy to carry him. He hooked his arms under Ryan's knees and Ryan looped his arms around his neck, and they started back towards the campground, Ryan's face pressed into Brendon's neck. Ryan's arms were chilly, but the rest of his body was warm and familiar.
"I'm sorry for ruining the adventure."
"Ryan, don't. I care about you more than the adventure." Brendon hoisted Ryan up higher, and Ryan squeaked and tightened his grip. "You haven't ruined it; there's just a special twist now. It'll be the greatest adventure of our life, we'll just go tomorrow morning instead."
Ryan smiled against Brendon's skin. "Do you think we'll see lions?"
"Maybe. I betcha we'll see snakes, too - giant, deadly ones!" Ryan gasped, and Brendon giggled. "It'll be so cool."
"The snakes won't hurt us, right?"
Brendon craned his head around to look at Ryan. "Not if I'm here. I'm a snake charmer, you know. I have special powers and I can make them act friendly. And you know how Jafar in Aladdin can turn into a snake? Yeah, I can do that too."
Ryan laughed. "You're crazy."
"Yeah, but you like it."
They entered the campsite and Brendon set Ryan down on a picnic table. "One sec." He jogged over to his car and pulled open the trunk door with some difficulty, grabbing the first aid box from inside and slamming the trunk shut again.
When he returned, Ryan was swinging his feet in the air and picking at a thread on the hem of his shirt. Brendon kneeled down in front of him and unzipped the kit, pulling out a band-aid. He looked up and caught Ryan watching him from under the mess of curls hanging over his eyes. "What? Do you need me to kiss it better?" Ryan giggled and nodded. Brendon leaned in to brush his lips over the wound, sticking the band-aid over it afterwards. "There. Now it'll heal - magic powers, remember?"
"Mm-hm."
Brendon stood up and grabbed Ryan's hand, pulling him off the picnic table and towards their tent. In the other two tents their parents were asleep, as it had to be past midnight.
"I'm actually pretty tired, Bren."
Brendon unzipped the tent door and kicked off his shoes. "Well then maybe it's a good thing we came back, because I might have had to carry you a mile! Or maybe I would have just left you. You snooze, you lose."
Ryan wrinkled his nose and pushed Brendon inside the tent. "You wouldn't leave me up there alone. I'd need you to scare the snakes off."
"You'd need me, would you?"
"Yeah. Now turn around so I can change." They turned to face away from each other and switched into clean shirts and swapped their jeans for soft pajama pants, Ryan's with moons all over them and Brendon's with tiny pictures of cars.
They stuffed their clothes into their suitcases and laid down on their shared air mattress. Brendon watched Ryan shiver and immediately crawl into his sleeping bag, pulling the fabric up to his nose.
"What if we lived out here?" Brendon asked, folding his arms behind his head. "We could live off s'mores and bathe in the lake and sing campfire songs every night. We'd never have to go to school, either."
"I don't know how awesome it would be in the winter." Ryan's body shook again. "How are you not cold?"
"Magical powers." Ryan snaked an arm out and smacked Brendon on the shoulder. "Hey, do you think I could fit in there with you?"
Ryan shrugged. "Only if you promise not to tickle me." Brendon raised an eyebrow. "I just jinxed that, didn't I. Come on, get in." Ryan pushed open the sleeping bag and scooted over and Brendon clambered in next to him, almost elbowing Ryan in the face. Brendon settled down pressed up against him, throwing an arm over Ryan's waist and folding around his body as they shifted onto their sides. His feet brushed against Ryan's, and Ryan jerked.
"Your feet are freezing!"
Brendon pressed his nose into Ryan's hair and laughed, pushing his feet between Ryan's ankles. Ryan let out small sounds of dismay and tried to shift away, but Brendon's arm around him pulled him back against Brendon's chest. "Stop moving! I'm trying to use you as a teddy bear. You're supposed to be snuggley."
Ryan sighed and stopped struggling, relaxing into Brendon's arms. They closed their eyes and listened to each other breathe for a few minutes.
"Are you warm yet?"
"Yeah."
Ryan slowly start to nod off, his thoughts coming slower and lingering, and the sounds of Brendon's breathing and the crickets outside gradually died down.
Just when Ryan thought he had fallen asleep, Brendon started tickling him. "Ryan. Hey, Ry?"
Ryan swatted at Brendon's hand and twisted in the sleeping bag, laughing uncontrollably. "Stop it, stop- What do you want?"
"Ryan, we're a human burrito."
"Go to sleep, Bren."
~
A/N: I have a fic journal now! This is just a quick little thing I wrote; I wanted to write a profusely fluffy kid!fic, and this is what happened. Even though I didn't really emphasize that I set this in the 90's, I did do a fact check to make sure that Aladdin had been released and they had GameBoys in '92-ish. Hope you liked it. :)