Work Text:
Shiro bounced on his toes, clinging to his dad's hand. "Can we go get popsicles first, Dad? Please?"
Dad ruffled his hair. "Sure thing, kid."
Shiro grinned up at him. "I'm going to get a red one. Red's my favorite."
"Just the one," his dad said. "Your mom will get mad if you ruin your dinner."
Shiro nodded, but he was already searching the crowd for the popsicle truck. He'd been saving up his allowance all month for the Fourth of July fair, and he was ready to spend it.
His dad let him wait in line by himself, but Shiro could see him sitting at the tables near the popsicle truck. He felt very big, waiting in line alone with the other adults and big kids.
He looked around to wave at his dad when he noticed another boy standing off to the side, staring up at the popsicle truck longingly. His clothes were baggy, like they were hand-me-downs. Shiro understood that; his hand-me-downs from his cousin were always too big at first.
The other boy kept staring at the popsicle truck, and then finally hunched his shoulders and turned away. Shiro looked around for the boy's parents, but didn't see anyone. He really looked like he was alone.
Well, that just wasn't right. Shiro gave up his place in line and walked over to the boy. "Hi! I'm Shiro. Well, Takashi, but everyone calls me Shiro. What's your name?"
The boy gaped up at him, eyes huge. "Keith," he finally said.
Shiro pointed back to the popsicle truck. "Do you want a popsicle?"
Keith nodded, and then shook his head. "I can't. I don't have money."
"That's okay!" Shiro grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the line. "I've been saving up my money. I have enough for two popsicles. Can I buy you one?"
Keith blinked at him, like he wasn't entirely sure what to make of Shiro. "Okay..."
"Great! What color do you want?" Shiro asked.
"Red," Keith said decisively.
Oh, man. This kid liked red, too? Shiro grinned. "Me, too! Red's my favorite color. Is it yours?"
Keith nodded. "Red is the best."
"It is," Shiro agreed. "How old are you? I'm eight!"
Keith toed the ground. "Six."
"Cool." Shiro looked down, where he was still holding onto Keith's hand. "Oh! Do you want me to let go of your hand?"
Keith shook his head, still looking at the ground.
"Okay," Shiro said. "That's good. My dad makes me hold his hand so I won't get lost. So I'll hold onto your hand so you won't get lost."
Keith raised his head from the ground and looked at Shiro with gigantic eyes. "You don't want me to get lost?"
"No!" Shiro was horrified at the thought. "If you got lost I'd have to look through the whole fair to make sure to find you."
Keith continued to stare at him. "You'd come looking for me?"
"Of course I would!"
Keith looked back down at the ground. "No one's ever come looking for me before."
Shiro squeezed his hand. "Well, I would. Do you like space?"
It turned out that Keith did like space, and he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up just like Shiro. And he knew all about Mars, which was Shiro's favorite planet, and liked listening to Shiro talk about the constellations.
After they got their red popsicles, Shiro pulled Keith over to his dad. "Dad! Look! I made a new friend. His name is Keith and he's six years old and red is his favorite color and we're both going to be astronauts when we grow up! Can he come with us to watch the fireworks? Please?"
Dad raised his eyebrows. "I think that depends on what Keith's parents have to say, don't you?"
Keith shrugged a shoulder. "It's okay. They don't care."
Dad stood up. "Still. We should probably ask so they don't worry about you, huh?"
"They won't worry," Keith said. "They're back at home." He waved a hand to a neighborhood beyond the fair. "Over there."
Shiro gaped. "They let you come here all by yourself?"
Dad clapped his hands. "Well, in that case, why don't we all play some carnival games?"
"Yes!" Shiro shouted, and then remembered he needed to ask Keith. "Do you want to play carnival games before we watch the fireworks?"
Keith nodded vigorously.
They finished their popsicles, and then they went all over the fair playing the games. Shiro won a small stuffed cat at the dart game, which he immediately gave to Keith.
Keith stared at it. "For me?"
"Well, yeah," Shiro said. "You're my new best friend. That means you need a present."
Keith hugged it close, and then grabbed Shiro's hand again.
They walked like that until they reached the next game, where you threw baseballs through a clown's mouth. Keith stopped. "I want to play this one."
"Okay!" Shiro dug two crumpled dollars out of his pocket and put them on the counter.
The man behind the booth took the dollars and handed them three balls. "Might want to go for the one on the right, kid," he said with a smirk. "Don't think you could reach any of the others."
Keith scowled at the man, picked up the balls, and threw all three right through the clown's mouth in the middle, the smallest target in the whole booth.
"Holy cow!" Shiro exclaimed. "That was amazing! How did you do that?"
Keith shrugged and pointed up at the prizes. "I want the big black cat."
The man at the booth took it down and handed it over with a low whistle. "Arm like that, you could be a pitcher."
"I'm going to be an astronaut," Keith said, and shoved the black cat at Shiro. "Here. You're my new best friend, so you need a present, too."
Shiro's jaw dropped. The cat was huge. "Are you sure you don't want it?"
Keith shook his head and hugged the smaller red cat Shiro had given him to his chest. "I want you to have it."
Shiro grinned. "It's my favorite."
Keith gave him a small smile.
Then it was time to eat dinner, and Shiro's dad let them both split a funnel cake before they went to find a spot to watch the fireworks. Shiro's dad spread out a blanket for them to sit on, and Keith sat right next to Shiro and grabbed his hand again.
"Do you want to hold hands while we watch fireworks?" Shiro asked.
Keith nodded and tucked his stuffed cat up under his chin.
Their hands were a little sticky from funnel cakes and popsicles, but that was okay. Shiro liked Keith, and it made him really happy that Keith wanted to be his best friend, too.
"I'm gonna marry you when we're big," Keith said quietly.
Shiro looked over at him. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Shiro considered this. "My mom always says my dad is her best friend, so we'll probably have to get married, since you're my best friend. And then we can live together and be astronauts together! And stay up really really late looking at the constellations!"
Keith pressed his face into his cat. "That sounds really fun."
Above their heads, the first fireworks exploded in the sky, and Shiro forgot what they were talking about.
However, he didn't forget to keep hold of Keith's hand.
***
Twenty years later, Keith kept his promise by tying a ring to the tail of a well-loved stuffed black cat and leaving it on the bed. Shiro laughed and kissed him, and reminded him that his answer hadn't changed.
After all, he still couldn't think of anything better than marrying his best friend.