Work Text:
If they had to choose one phrase to be represented by, most people would probably say “boys will be boys”.They were the perfect embodiments of the phrase. Ever since they were young, Skeppy and Bad had been joined at the hip. They both met in kindergarten when they were assigned spots next to each other on the carpet. Skeppy had been very nervous and quiet at the start, so it was Bad that made the first move.
“Hi! Is your favorite colour blue?” Bad had near-shouted to Skeppy, who was wearing a sky blue hoodie, navy blue shorts, and cerulean blue shoes. He looked down at what he was wearing before looking back to the other boy. Skeppy nodded. “Cool! My favorite color is red because I think it looks good. My name’s Bad!”
“I’m Skeppy.”
“That’s a good name. Wanna play together outside today?” Skeppy thought for a moment before nodding.
“Skeppy! Don’t eat that!”
“But it looks like milk!”
“You can’t eat glue!” The second grader tried to reason with his friend. Skeppy turned to Bad, looked him in the eye, and licked the white off of his hand. Bad watched, eyes wide, and giggled when Skeppy cringed and gagged at the taste.
“How come you let me do that!” Skeppy laughed loudly.
“I tried to tell you, dummy!” Bad laughed with him. They chuckled together before noticing the class was silent. Looking around, everyone’s eyes were on them. Their teacher did not look pleased.
“Boys, please go out into the hall.”
Social studies was boring, anyway.
Bad’s legs wobbled as he stood on top of the main slide. Skeppy stood right beside him, wearing the same confident grin. The two fifth graders look at each other.
“Three…” Skeppy started.
“Two…”
“One…”
“BLAST OFF!” The two of them shouted as they jumped forward into the air, legs flailing. Skeppy had a somewhat perfect landing, feet first and then crouching like a frog. Bad wasn’t as lucky. His toes caught the very end of the slide, causing him to fall flat onto the playground’s wood chips. He flipped onto his back and groaned before breaking into a laugh, Skeppy helping him up.
“Wanna go again, klutz?”
“You know it!” Bad and Skeppy climbed up the slides, racing each other to the top.
Skeppy had invited Bad to his birthday party at an ice skating rink. Bad had never ice skated before. He was out in the rink, his knees threatening to buckle and let him fall any minute. As he tried to push himself forward, he lost balance and fell onto his butt, sliding across the rink.
Skeppy was right behind him, and thought he did so on purpose. Making himself lose his balance, he, too, fell and slid across the ice. He met up with Bad at one of the walls. They looked at each other and smiled.
“I can’t feel my legs.”
“Gee, klutz, I wonder why!”
When Bad came to school with a cast, Skeppy had wondered how it hadn’t happened sooner. It was a common fact that Bad was clumsy. He would trip over air, for heaven’s sake! He remembered back to the week before.
They were messing around in the forest near their houses, bikes abandoned in the grass. Bad had perched on top of a particularly high branch. Skeppy had yelled at him to jump down, and Bad had laughed and agreed. He stood up on the wooden platform, took a deep breath, and jumped.
True to his nature, he had landed wonky onto his arm. The loud snap and the blood curdling scream that were released at the same moment was something burned into both the mid-high schoolers’ brains.
It only took two days for everyone who wanted to sign Bad’s cast. It was red, his favourite colour. There were only a few signatures including Skeppy’s. It looked empty.
Skeppy had sat next to bad for almost an hour filling up the cast with random doodles and teasing words. There were a few muffins, a couple doodles of Bad’s and Skeppy’s dogs, and more than a few scribbles of the words “klutz” and “clumsy”.
It had made Bad’s day, seeing the space on the surface become fuller and fuller with time. As soon as he got it off, he would go straight back to jumping off of things.
Summer was always their favorite time of year. Every morning they would meet up in their neighborhood and bike around, trying to stick their noses in as much trouble as they could. They were biking around in the grass, shirts tucked into their short pockets.
Skeppy sped ahead to the small lake, quickly dismounting his bike. Bad followed suit, letting his own bike fall to the ground as he got off. They both walked onto the dock, looking at the peaceful water.
“I dare you to jump in,” Skeppy taunted.
“Oh, yeah? Hold my shirt.” Bad took his red t-shirt out of his pocket and handed it to Skeppy. He backed up before taking a running jump into the water. His head disappeared under the water for a second before he came back up, gasping for air. His wet hair was darkened and pressed against his forehead. He smiled up to the other.
“I didn’t think you would actually do it!” Skeppy gawked as Bad climbed up to the dock again. Bad quickly snatched both of their shirts from Skeppy. Before he could ask what Bad was doing, Bad pushed Skeppy over the dock, jumping in after.
Skeppy broke through the water, sputtering and coughing as Bad laughed at him.
“What’s your problem, man!” Skeppy’s annoyance dissipated immediately as he broke into a laugh with Bad.
“Hey, wanna go hang at your house for a bit so we can dry off?” Bad asked once they were both touching grass again.
“Yeah, sure.”
They set their bikes on Skeppy’s front lawn, going around to the backyard and jumping the fence. The sun was setting by now, the tiniest signs of stars peeking out. Skeppy and Bad laid side by side, looking up at the sky.
“There’s the Big and Little Dippers,” Bad said, pointing up at the sky. “And I think that’s Orion’s Belt.”
Skeppy was no longer looking up, but rather to his side. He loved the way the other’s eyes lit up when he talked about something special to him. It went on like that for a bit, the two just talking about anything that came to mind. They would be in tenth grade next year, which sparked several conversation topics.
Eventually, when the night was in full swing, Bad had to go home. They were both still damp but neither minded. They picked up their red and blue bikes respectively, and started the short ride to Bad’s house.
Bad was standing on his doorstep, illuminated by the lamp light, wearing only shorts and shoes. Skeppy began to wonder when Bad started to look so appealing.
“Can I kiss you?” The question was blurted out without much thought put behind it. Skeppy’s heart was in his throat.
Bad paused for a second. “What? Why?”
“I like you.”
“Well, yeah, we’re friends! I would assume you liked me.” Bad thought for a few seconds, his eyes widening when he realised what Skeppy actually meant. “Oh…” he whispered.
“I have for a long time.” Skeppy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Ever since we were kids, really. Ever since you brought me home when I was drunk and we slept in the same bed, I just… couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He chuckled awkwardly.
“Skeppy…” Bad whispered, melting at the other’s words. He himself had begun to catch feelings, but he never expected it to turn out like this. He smiled softly at Skeppy’s flushed cheeks.
Skeppy pulled Bad in for a quick hug, surprising him. “See you tomorrow,” He breathed, quickly hopping onto his bike and speeding off.
Bad softly laughed to himself. “See you tomorrow, Geppy.”