Work Text:
Alert. Red alert. Xander really did not think this one through.
“Is everything okay down there, Xander? You’re fidgeting quite a bit. Am I too heavy?”
“No! I mean, heh, you’re fine. I just struggled with my balance for a moment.”
It’s kind of true. Xander hasn’t hoisted anyone up on his shoulders since… his younger siblings. Now David is up there, his thighs digging into Xander’s neck.
Xander has never been so glad his hair is red, because he thinks that if David notices how hot his face is, Xander might die of embarrassment. “I feel a little bad, though. It’s probably harder to see the fireworks while I’m in the way…”
A flash of pink lights up the sky. “Actually no! Don’t worry about it, David. I can see them just fine.” White dots the sky and falls like a meteor to the earth. “Can you see things better up there?”
They both knew the bridge was going to be crowded today, but it was somehow worse than either of them expected. David probably should have kept his big mouth shut, because the moment he complained about it being hard to see without craning his neck, Xander took that as a suggestion to pick David up and put him on Xander’s shoulders like David was a five year old.
Despite the slight bit of mortification, it’s… nice up here, David has to admit. He used to spend most of his summer holidays home indoors where those bloodsucking pests couldn’t get him, watching those dull explosives in the sky from a monitor, but for some reason, even though it’s frankly too hot for any normal human to want to go outside, Xander had really wanted to take him, so how could David refuse someone so earnest?
Green, blue, and red petals of flame illuminate the sky. “They’re pretty,” David comments, keeping his eyes up. When was the last time he looked forward to something beautiful?
“They are,” Xander agrees. “I really wish I had been less of a goody two shoes back then— you don’t get to see these every day.”
David thinks of maybe comparing Xander to a firework, but then he remembers he just called the fireworks pretty and cuts that sappy shit from his brain. Even if Xander is probably a bit more flustered than he is right now.
So upon noticing Xander fidgeting again, he says this:
“Remember to breathe, Xander. Don’t worry. Once this is all over, I can wrap my thighs around your head again later.”
So easy. “David! Not in front of the kids!”
David laughs, and he feels truly happy.