Work Text:
Inseparable.
That's a word the two boys hear often when eavesdropping on the grown ups when they are asked about their friendship. Whether it be teachers or (grand) parents, it's a word they know very well, unlike their classmates. Not being able to be away from each other.
They agree with the adjective, and stand by it proudly. Inseparable is what they want to be. It is what they are.
They had almost grown a reputation of being the closest friends in the whole of second grade, a title they were filled with pride over. It brought the two closer, if that was even possible.
Even despite the boys being notorious for causing chaos and receiving discipline, they helped each other out with everything. It was as if their strengths and weaknesses complemented each other’s. Their teachers, reluctantly, kept them together; at least they were achieving good grades.
They were each other’s other halves, never seen without each other, always stuck to each other like a child to its lifeline teddy. Their bond strengthened almost every year, growing ever closer, and even more inseparable than they were the year prior…
Was it possible to get even closer? No one was sure.
The grown-up town dwellers knew the boys all too well: the two boys in ordinary Halloween costumes doing the most extraordinary things every year. Even in other seasons their antics and their mischief never let up. One boy with brown curly hair and another, slightly taller one with either black or purple pin straight hair. The town’s dynamic duo that most knew and respected.
They, and the children’s parents, recognised this bond as something they called a twin flame: the same soul in two separate people. Despite their different upbringings and lives, it was as if they were the same boy; their personalities clashed and moulded into one when they were together. They were in their element, the yin to the other’s yang.
That had also brought their parents strongly together. They often talked about their children and their strong bond, appreciating it dearly.
Both mothers were worried that their sons would not fit in with the rest. They weren't wrong, they do not exactly fit in, and since conversing with each other they have realised that's okay. The boys had found their elements within each other, which the two mothers were grateful for.
They would rather their boys have one genuine friend than fifty fake ones, after all.
The two are often unavailable, with one drowning in work and one drowning in both work and childcare - but their conversations are very memorable. They both think about them more than they would admit.
Their everlasting trust for each other and the boy’s everlasting trust for each other have created an inseparable bond in their families, as well. The two households welcome the boy’s no matter what, with Lila even having pictures of her son alongside his best friend. It's an achievement in Pump’s book; he knows Lila doesn't hang pictures of people she does not love.
As well as this, Lila also gets along with his older sister Susie, which is another achievement in his book. He does not trust people who cannot get along with her. She is his rock.
Their families are tight knit, as well as they are. They are proud of each other, and their families, for being so warm to each other. Warmth is their favourite thing, their favourite feeling.
Warm like the twin flames they are.
They have helped each other through hell and back and came out giggling, and they'd do it again year after year after year.
The love is apparent and it's everywhere. It's everything.
That's what the grown-ups say, watching the two boys as they scribble over each other’s colouring pages. Upon a closer look, they have drawn over the outlines with black ink to help them look as grotesque as second graders can make them.
I guess this is what unbreakable friendship looks like.