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“… Mom!!”
“It’s so you don’t get sunburnt, sweetie.”
“But I don’t wanna use this hat!” Lars tries to take it off, but his mother insists. “It makes me look like a girl!”
“And why is that such a problem?”
“Everyone’s gonna laugh at me,” Lars lowers his voice.
“Laramie, no one is going to laugh at you…”
“My name is Lars,” he hisses, “and I’m not going to wear that.”
Mom sighs. “Alright. I suppose someone is not getting ice cream later.”
He gasps, “What?! That’s not fair!”
“Well, I don’t want a burned boy crying at night because he didn’t use his mighty hat like his mother told him to.”
Lars groans and shoves the hat back on his head, covering his angry eyes. He turns his back to his mother, who smirks in satisfaction.
“Have fun, sweetheart!” She says, then walking back to her chair, far from the water.
He mutters in his breath and continues building his sandcastle, made of wet sand. Lars still makes sure there’s no one around to find him like this. He’s constantly checking if his classmates are around; last time it happened was at the Crab Shack, and it was so bad, his mother constantly grooming his hair while the kids laughed behind them. But of course, she thought they were his friends, and not bullies who make fun of him on a daily basis. Lars can only avoid them at all costs, wearing baggy clothing.
Well, at least Mom’s hat is big enough to cover his head. The beach is pretty empty today, so hey, he might as well have a good time today.
Lars really likes building sandcastles near the ocean, creating some weird but cool forms with it. Then he can just make it all over again in minutes, unlike dry sand. Lars can also be alone, hopefully his mother wouldn’t take pictures behind his back.
It’s quiet and nice and nobody’s going to bother him.
…
But those are some huge eyes.
Lars almost jumps in surprise at the… very small boy staring at him. Actually, at his sandcastle. The kid is obviously younger than him, wearing a t-shirt that’s way too big on him. His eyes are shining bright like they’re made of stars – kind of like the shirt he’s wearing.
“Um…” Lars doesn’t know what to do or say to this kid who popped out of nowhere, until…
“Steven! Don’t… run off… like that…” a man stops near them. “Boy, are you fast…”
Oh, that must be the boy’s- Steven’s… dad. He’s got a very long brown hair… and Lars almost wants to show Mom that he’d never get this sunburnt without her hat.
“Oh, hey there,” the man says after a couple seconds trying to catch his breath. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Uh… L-Lars.”
“Lars? That’s a pretty cool name.”
The boy can’t help the red cheeks. Maybe if he didn’t get so red, the other kids would stop calling him a tomato.
“So, Lars, I’m Mr. Universe,” the man introduces himself, “and this little ball of joy here is Steven.” He gestures at his son, whose small hands hug his leg.
“Hi,” Lars waves at the kid, who just keeps staring.
“Hey, that’s a pretty neat castle there! No wonder Steven was so over the moon.” Mr. Universe then hums, “Actually, Lars, I was wondering… would you mind if Steven helped you with your castle? He’d still let you be the king, of course!”
Oh, Lars thinks to himself. He usually builds sandcastles alone, but his parents wouldn’t be happy if he rejected… He just hopes Steven doesn’t destroy his castle out of nowhere like little kids tend to do.
“… Sure, why not?” Lars shrugs.
“Great! Now, Steven, you be a good sand little helper, okay?” Mr. Universe ruffles his son’s curly hair, gaining a little giggle in response. “I’ll be right over there if you need me.”
“O-kay!” Steven says, his voice tiny.
“Have fun, boys!” Mr. Universe rushes away.
Lars and Steven are alone again, and the latter is back at his weird staring without saying anything. Lars looks aside awkwardly.
“Well, uh…”
Then Steven just… plops next to him, without taking his eyes off the sandcastle. Lars tries not to blush again. He’s not used to someone this close to him, least of all a baby.
“Ooookay, you just watch me then,” he tells the boy, and continues his work.
Steven is surprisingly quiet. Lars is relieved, to say the least.
It’s all so quiet that he barely notices the weight of Mom’s hat disappearing. Lars almost thinks it’s the wind, only to find out that no wind caught it.
“Hey!” The orange-haired boy protests at the baby biting the hat. “You can’t just eat that!”
Steven doesn’t even understand what he’s doing. Of course, he’s just a baby. Lars is not good with babies at all, but he knows he can’t get mad or else Steven is going to cry.
“That doesn’t even taste good. Come on, give it back,” Lars orders, stretching out a hand. Steven stares at it for a good couple of seconds. Lars insists. Steven, for once, hands it back to him. “Thank you. Now, this is how you use it…”
The hat is… too big on Steven. But he likes it. Babies seem to like anything, really.
“Heh, you’re looking sharp,” Lars winks at him, giving him a finger gun. Before he realizes how uncool that probably is, Steven giggles and grabs his hand, his own too small for words.
Lars swallows the weird but… cozy feeling in his gut, as well as the stupid smile on his face.
“A-Anyway, back to work,” the not-so older boy replaces Steven’s hand with a handful of sand to re-do the castle.
Steven imitates him, only he gets a lot more sand, and puts it on the rest. When it’s tall enough, Lars does his trick with his fingers, so he forms strange little towers. Steven gasps in awe and tries to do it himself… but his don’t look the same, and he even gets a little frustrated, hitting his hands against his legs.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Lars tells him. “Just follow my lead. Put your hand like this…” He does the gesture without the sand, and then he gets some to make more. “And there! Now you do it.”
Steven does it slowly this time, but he gets it. He gets excited and claps his dirty hands together.
“Heh, you’re a pro already!” Lars smiles… but he quickly notices it and clears his throat, and so he continues building the castle.
They do so quietly, until a tide comes in a little too quickly. It “melts” the entire thing, and a little pool is formed next to where the castle was.
“Castle…?” Steven lets out, like he’s asking where it went.
And suddenly, he…
“… Oh no- hey, don’t cry! We can make another one!” Lars tries to convince him, but Steven keeps crying. He looks around, hoping no one thinks he did something bad to the baby. No one does, thankfully.
Lars ponders what he could do, then he stands up.
“Come on,” he takes the little boy’s hand and takes them both farther from the ocean; but still where the sand is wet enough for another castle.
Once Lars starts building it, Steven stops crying. He helps him again, but this time with a serious, concentrated face. Another tide threatens to approach, and this time Steven steps in to protect the castle.
“No! Bad ocean!” He exclaims, stepping furiously on the water. It’s too far for it to reach the castle this time. But Steven goes there again, and again to defend their work.
They spend a lot of time building and rebuilding it, either with handfuls of sand or little towers, until it looks like a weird mountain. Lars even finds a couple sticks to pretend they’re flags.
“We’re really good builders, huh,” he comments proudly. Steven giggles in agreement, clapping his hands again.
“Oh wow! Good job, you two!” It’s Mr. Universe again, and he’s holding… a Cookie Cat? “Hey, Steven, look what I got for you…”
Steven gasps in awe, “Cookie Cat!!”
“Yeah, sch-tuball, your favorite!” Mr. Universe says. “Uh, sorry, Lars, but it’s getting late… I should probably take Steven home.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Is Lars… disappointed? Really? He just now realized the sun is setting. He didn’t even feel the time pass.
“Thanks for letting him play a little,” Mr. Universe gives him a thumbs-up. “Did you have fun, Steven?”
“Yeah!!” The little boy giggles.
His father laughs along. “Anyway, here’s your hat back.” He gives it back to Lars. “Goodbye!”
“Bye.”
“Buh-bye, Lar!!” Steven waves his arm frenetically.
Lar…
He doesn’t correct him, instead he stares at the duo walking away. After that, Lars sees his mother waving at him from afar, beckoning him to come along. Lars pats the huge sandcastle before obeying her.
“So, you made a little friend?” She asks, with a big smile on her face.
Lars pouts. “Yeah, kinda.”
“I haven’t seen you in a good mood in a while… how nice.”
His stance softens, and he can’t help but smile at where the castle is.
“Yeah.”
The way home is… nice. Lars isn’t too worried about other people seeing him now. He’s… happy. He had a good time today.
“Hey, sweetie?” Mom calls him.
“Hmm?”
“Have you ever thought of having a little sibling?”
Lars immediately goes red.
“What?! No! I don’t want a sibling!”
“But you looked like such a good big brother to that boy…”
“No, no, no!!!”
Lars runs the rest of the way home.