Orange You Glad I Saved You From The Piranha-nas?
Title: Orange You Glad I Saved You From The Piranha-nas? [s/a]
Author: selectivelyurie
Beta: xoarianne_ilyxo
Rating: G
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon (implied Jon/Spencer)
POV: Third
Summary: KID!FIC Adventures in Spencer's backyard the Amazon reveal that Brendon is terrified of piranhas...
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't believe.
Author Notes: I started writing this for moceanu because I love her, but I got sidetracked by porn and life (they're not the same thing?) and yeah. This is part of "The Color Verse", other parts can be found here. Special thanks go to my_obsession_xx for being ~amazing and to starlesscities because now I have someone to flail over Ross with \o/!
“Spencerrrrr!” Ryan whines, plopping down on the small, dusty mound of racetrack that he and Spencer have been driving their racecars over for the past hour. “Spencer, it’s really hot out here, can’t we go inside now?”
Spencer rolls his eyes dramatically and looks up from his cherry red Mustang and says, “No, Ryan. Brendon and Jon will be here any minute and they might want to play racecars, too.”
“But Spencer,” Ryan groans, nudging away his electric blue Lamborghini with a pout. “I’m sweating. You know I don’t like to sweat.”
Spencer sees the small trickle of perspiration trailing down the side of his face before Ryan wipes it away with his hand. He smears dirt across his cheek on accident and Spencer giggles.
“What?” Ryan huffs, looking annoyed and squinting up at his friend through the blinding Vegas sun.
“You got dirt on your face, silly,” Spencer grins, wide and open. “Lemme get it off for you,” he says, licking his thumb and leaning over to smudge it off Ryan’s cheek.
Ryan protests with, “Ew! That’s gross, Spencer!” and slaps away Spencer’s pudgy, encroaching hand. Undaunted, Spencer grins devilishly and pounces on Ryan, no longer with the intention to wipe off his face like a mother. Flailing his small limbs in an attempt to ward Spencer off as he advances with a wet thumb, Ryan yelps, “Hey!”
“My mommy does it all the time, stop whining,” Spencer says defiantly and manages to pin Ryan down despite his squeal. This makes Spencer giggle like no other and Ryan’s always liked Spencer’s laugh so he finds himself joining in the amusement. Somehow, this turns into a tickle war/wrestling match and by the time they’re both sprawled out on the ground, panting through laughter, they’re covered in loose dirt and dry, dead grass. They catch their breath, staring up at the blue sky overhead and just as Spencer’s about to point out that the cloud just over the top of that tree in Mrs. Mulligan’s yard looks like a sailboat, the back door slides open and he can hear his mother and another woman talking about “overnight clothes” and “extra toothbrushes” and suddenly-
“RYAN!”
Brendon comes running across the yard in leaps and bounds and Ryan barely has enough time to sit up and focus his eyes before Brendon tackle-hugs him into the strongest hug his little arms can manage.
With a grin so big Ryan can feel it pressed into his neck, Brendon cries, “RYAN! I missed you! I haven’t seen you in forever!”
Giggling because Brendon’s breath and words are bouncing off his neck, Ryan tucks his shoulders up to his ears and pushes Brendon away playfully. He smiles brightly when Brendon’s shaggy mop of hair comes into view and he says, “It’s only been a few hours, Bden. I saw you at school earlier.”
“I know,” Brendon urges, tugging on Ryan’s hand a bit to add emphasis to his apparent extreme deficiency in Ryan Time. “But Miss Anna made me pick up Gabe’s mess right before nap time and after I put everything away, everyone was sleeping and you were in the center of the mat so I couldn’t get to you,” Brendon says, obviously saddened by the misfortune that was nap time earlier today.
(It really was a tragedy. Brendon had scurried as fast as he could to clean up the Crayons that Gabe had strewn all over the floor and as soon as he’d put them back into the coloring box, he’d rushed over to the mat to claim a sleeping spot next to Ryan. However, he’d come face to face with a sea of silent bodies, all on the verge of sleep and Ryan was in the very center as always (Ryan told Brendon not to tell anyone else, but he didn’t like sleeping on the outside of the mat, only the center, because he liked feeling surrounded). Brendon ended up staring at the maze of slumbering children with watery eyes and a trembling lower lip until Miss Anna handed him a pillow and a blanket and ushered him over to the desolate corner of the mat where he curled up cold and Ryan-less.)
Blushing, Ryan ducks his head and flicks a blade of grass from his knee and says, “I’m sorry.”
“S’okay,” Brendon says, twisting his fingers and staring at the place his knees are pressing into the dirt. But then Brendon being Brendon, changes the subject to something lighter and his face lights up and almost splits open when he cheers, “Jon’s coming soon, right?”
Spencer says, “Uh-huh. His mommy called earlier and said they were on their way. But she said he can’t spend the night because they’re going to She-cah-go.”
“Where’s that?” Brendon asks with a curious furrow of his eyebrows.
“I dunno,” Spencer shrugs. “But my mommy said that his mommy said he probably won’t be at school next week so he wants me to get his work for him since he’s gonna miss a lot.” Brendon nods like he understands, which he doesn’t because Miss Anna hasn’t taught them the map yet, but he assumes that She-cah-go is somewhere far away like China or The Cave of Wonders or something.
“I wonder if it’s hot there,” Ryan muses, wiping away another bead of sweat dotting his hairline.
“Wonder if it’s hot where?”
All three of them turn to see Jon standing a few feet from them, tugging on the pocket of his jeans.
“JON!” they all scream in unison and propel themselves off the ground and onto Jon, squishing him in the middle of a group hug consisting of giggles and too-short arms.
Laughing, Jon ducks out of the arms encircling him and digs the toe of his left flip flop into the sand, “Hi.”
“Jon! You’re here!” Spencer cries, clasping his hands together and doing some sort of shifty footed dance.
“Yeah!” Brendon echoes with the same enthusiasm and invades Jon’s space again for another quick hug.
“What are you doing?” Jon asks them when Brendon lets go of him and stands with itching hands by his side.
“We were talking about how you’re going to She-cah-go,” Ryan answers, pulling on the hem of his dirty shirt. Brendon’s practically bouncing and Spencer’s still shifting and Ryan realizes that since Jon’s digging his toes into the dirt that he’s the only one standing still. He wipes away his sweat.
“Yeah,” Jon sighs, suddenly looking a bit dismal. “We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”
“What’s the matter, Jon?” Spencer asks and Jon shrugs.
“I don’t really want to go. My mom says that Miss Anna is okay with me missing school because we’re going to see my Granny, but it’s really cold there and my mom says I can’t wear my flip flops when it’s cold.”
“I’m sorry,” Brendon says and he sounds sincere. (Brendon knows how Jon feels every time his parents force him into dressy clothes for Church on Sundays.)
“It’ll be okay,” Jon says, brushing off his bit of sadness almost as easily as Brendon can. He smiles and says, “So what are we gonna do?”
----
A little over an hour later and they’ve played four rounds of hide-and-seek, built up another mountain and fetched two more racecars, and shimmied along the entire length of the inside of Spencer’s privacy fence because Brendon suggested that they go on an African Safari and then made Ryan lead the way. Ryan had put on his serious face and informed them that anyone that fell off was going to die in the boiling pit of lava below. Jon had argued that lava didn’t exist in Africa, but then lost his footing shortly afterward and Ryan had looked at him and said, “That’s what we call kar-mal, Jon.”
Now they’re spread out on Spencer’s lawn, filled to the brim with pride from surviving their journey (and saving Jon from his fiery doom) and a little sticky with sweat.
“You’re the bestest leader ever, Ryro,” Brendon says with a grin that rivals the sun and gives Ryan a hug. “But I’m really thirsty now. Who knew Africa was so hot?”
“I’m thirsty, too,” Spencer announces and smacks his dry lips as proof. “Let’s get something to drink,” he says and stands to go in the house.
Ryan and Jon follow after him but Brendon cries out, “Wait! Wait for me!” and they all halt. “My shoe’s untied,” Brendon points out, looking down at his unsatisfactory shoelace. “Hold on,” he says, holding up a single little finger. He bends over and takes each end of the shoelace and begins twisting and tying them together, his teeth clenching around his bottom lip in concentration. Unfortunately, he only manages to create a jumble of string that doesn’t come anywhere close to resembling a properly tied shoe. Pouting he says, “I can’t do it.”
“Here, Bden,” Ryan offers, coming back to him and dropping to his knees. “I’ll do it for you.”
Grinning wide, Brendon watches Ryan as he patiently does up Brendon’s shoe lace. When Ryan’s finished, Brendon looks down in awe at the prettiest knot he’s ever seen and gives Ryan his prettiest smile in return.
“C’mon!” Spencer calls to them and they scamper off in the direction of the house. When Spencer slides the glass door open after much effort, they’re all four greeted by Mrs. Smith in the kitchen.
“Why, hello, boys!” she smiles and finishes putting away ingredients for a soup Spencer has never liked. “Are you having fun?” The scattered reply of “yes”, “uh-huh” and “yep” is heard and she grins at their red, sweaty faces. “Well, you boys look like you could use something to drink, huh?”
Spencer speaks for the group when he cries, “Yes, please!”
Smiling, Mrs. Smith reaches into the fridge and pulls out a box of Capri Sun and Brendon’s face explodes into a mile-wide smile.
“YOU HAVE CAPRI SUN?!” Brendon cheers, bounding over to Mrs. Smith. “I LOVE CAPRI SUN!”
“Yes, Brendon,” Mrs. Smith laughs, amused by the boy’s enthusiasm. She hands him a pouch and when his tiny hands grasp around it, it’s like he’s holding the key to the world.
“Brendon, don’t squeeze it so hard,” Jon warns and loosens Brendon’s grip on the juice pack. “You’ll bust it.”
“Will not,” Brendon refutes and rips his straw off the back before stabbing it into the small hole in the top. He sucks it down in one breath and when he looks up at Ryan with big, sad eyes, Ryan lets him have a sip from his.
“Now, if you boys want, I can get some popsicles out of the freezer?” Mrs. Smith offers, already headed towards the deep freeze in the garage as they finish up their drinks.
Spencer gasps, pleased and says, “Could you?”
“Sure,” she laughs and Brendon can’t help but squeal, actually squeal in delight. But it turns out that the Smiths have run out of popsicles so she ushers the boys back outside with the promise of popsicles within an hour and asks her husband to run to the store for some.
When they’re all standing on the lawn again, Jon says, “Let’s travel up the Amazon, now.”
“Ooh! Yeah! There’s all kindsa neat animals there!” Spencer replies, eyes bright. “Frogs and leopards and unicorns! I’ve always wanted a unicorn!”
“I’ll catch you a unicorn, Spencer,” Jon says confidently, his little lisp more prominent with his puffed out chest.
Spencer blushes a thanks and Brendon shuffles towards Ryan with a bowed head and a quiet, delicate voice. “Ryan?”
“Yeah, Brendon?”
Brendon’s long eyelashes paint shadows over his cheeks and Ryan squints at him. “I don’t want to go to the Amazon,” Brendon confesses, timidly and he bites the corner of his puffy bottom lip.
“Why not?” Ryan asks, turning to face him full on. Brendon looks worried and Ryan doesn’t like it when Brendon’s worried because it doesn’t happen very often so it has to be serious when it does.
“Cause,” Brendon says, darting his big brown eyes up to look at Ryan. In a dramatic stage whisper Brendon says, “Piranha-nas live there!” Ryan blinks. Sighing, Brendon says, “Piranha-nas eat people.” Ryan frowns and Brendon whispers, “I’m scared.”
“Don’t worry, Bden,” Ryan says lightly and hugs him close. Brendon tucks his head into Ryan’s warm neck and closes his eyes, his little fists clenched onto the back of Ryan’s shirt. “I won’t let the piranha-nas getchu,” Ryan whispers into Brendon’s hair and Brendon nods slowly.
“You promise?”
“Promise,” Ryan vows.
Taking Brendon’s clammy hand, Ryan drags him over to the middle of Spencer and Jon and says, “Let’s go to the Amazon.”
Ryan leads them through the jungle of weeds and wild flowers growing in the corner of Spencer’s mother’s garden and when Brendon almost steps on a small garden snake basking in the sun, he tells Ryan he wants to go back.
“Ryan, I don’t like it here,” Brendon says, lower lip jutting out in a pathetic pout and he clings to Ryan as they all watch the harmless snake slither away under a nearby rock. Brendon’s tense and his arms wrapped around Ryan’s torso squish Ryan’s own arms against his sides, useless. “That snake’s gunna eat me!”
“He’s gone, Brendon,” Ryan assures, untangling himself from Brendon. “And look!” He points to the tree ahead of them. “It’s a lemur.”
“That’s not a lemur,” Spencer points out. “That’s a squirrel, Ryan!”
“Ryan, what’s a lemur?” Brendon asks, looking past Ryan’s frown of disapproval towards Spencer and he tugs on his hand gently.
Ryan says to Spencer, “Spencer, you has to pretend! This is the Amazon, member?”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Ryan,” Brendon urges again, “What’s a lemur?”
“That’s a lemur,” Ryan answers, pointing to the animal that would obviously be a squirrel if they were anywhere but the Amazon.
“Oh,”
“Isn’t it pretty?” Ryan asks, encouraging Brendon’s mind away from the snake beneath the rock. Meekly, Brendon nods and Ryan says, “See? Not all of the animals in the Amazon are bad.”
“Look!” Jon cries, pointing to a black bird, “It’s a flamingo!”
Sucking his teeth, Spencer rolls his eyes and says, “No, Jon! That’s the bird on the Froot Loops box; his name is Sam.”
Jon says, “Oh yeah!” like he’s just understood the meaning of life and tells Spencer, “You’re so smart, Spencer!”
“How come you guys know what lives in the Amazon but I don’t?” Brendon huffs, indignant. “My mommy never taught me any of this stuff. The only thing I know about are piranha-nas.”
“That’s cause everything lives in the Amazon, Bden,” Jon answers, rocking back and forth on his heels.
“Can we stop talkin’ now? If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the unicorns,” Spencer urges.
They traipse through the rest of the garden, Brendon wary and staying close to Ryan who embraces Brendon’s need to be near to him with a smile and a giggle and when they’re standing on the edge of the soft soil, Ryan says, “You guys, we have to cross this bridge.”
Before them lies a small, miniature arched bridge. The planks are wooden and the bridge itself is only about three feet wide, just big enough for them to cross. However, the bridge arches over a small fish pond and unfortunately for Brendon, there are no handrails on either side. Below in the rippling, filtering water, swims numerous goldfish of all shapes, sizes and color patterns and before he can distract Brendon from seeing the underwater creatures, a loud gasp punctuates Brendon’s observance and suddenly Ryan’s grown a 45 pound tumor on his side.
“Ryan!” Brendon wails. “The piranha-nas!”
“Brendon,” Spencer says, “If you stay away from the edges you’ll be okay.”
“But I don’t wanna go over the bridge,” Brendon protests. “What if it breaks?”
“It’s not gunna break, Bren,” Jon assures. “Look, see?” He runs up onto the platform and takes a few heavy stomps on it. “It’s not breaking.”
“We just gotta go over it really slow, okay?” Ryan says, nodding at Brendon. “That way we won’t fall off.”
“But Ryan-”
“It’s okay,” Ryan cuts in. “I’ll hold your hand.”
“Really?” Brendon asks all wide eyed and slightly overjoyed.
“Really really,” Ryan smiles.
Ryan’s smiles make Brendon not so afraid.
“Jon, Spencer, you go first,” Ryan instructs and the two boys obey. He turns to watch them as they warily, but quickly, cross over the bridge on light feet. Ryan chances a glance at the fish swimming in the water before turning to Brendon. “Alright, Brendon,” Ryan says, “Let’s go.”
Brendon slips his hand into Ryan’s and whispers, “Don’t let go, ‘kay?”
“I won’t,” Ryan says and takes the first step onto the bridge. Slowly, he walks out onto the wooden structure and pulls Brendon along with him. With the first step Brendon takes onto the bridge, a fish makes a rather loud splash and Brendon flings himself against Ryan with a shriek, clutching onto him like death. Ryan pries Brendon away gently mumbling, “S’okay, Bden. They can’t hurt you up here.”
“But but but,” Brendon stutters, eyes blown into two orbs radiating terror. “What if they jump up here and I fall in?” he asks, voice strained with fear. “Ryan, don’t let them eat me!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve gotchu,” Ryan consoles and pats Brendon’s back sloppily with his tiny hands. “We gotta keep moving,” he says and Brendon nods.
The fish keep lurking around below and Jon and Spencer watch with urgent enthusiasm as Ryan and Brendon shimmy across the small bridge, one tiny step at a time until Brendon spots the grass a mere foot away and makes a leap towards Jon, pulling Ryan with him.
“You did it, Bden!” Jon cheers and hugs Brendon tightly.
“I knew you’d be okay,” Spencer smiles and wraps his arms around Jon and Brendon.
“THEY DIDN’T EAT ME!” Brendon cries with excitement as he realizes that he’s made it across in one piece and wiggles out of Jon and Spencer’s grasp. “RYAN, THE PIRANHA-NAS DIDN’T EAT ME!” He hops over to Ryan with a face of pure exhilaration and Ryan can’t help but smile back at him.
“I told you I wouldn’t let them hurt you,” Ryan says confidently.
“Oh, boys!” All four boys turn to see Mrs. Smith standing at the sliding glass door, waving to them to come inside. Jon and Spencer exchange ecstatic, knowing glances and immediately tear off for the house for their frozen treats, taking a different route that doesn’t involve scary bridges over piranha infested waters. When they reach the door, they notice that Brendon and Ryan weren’t on their heels after all and shout back at them playfully to hurry up.
Brendon smiles at them and watches as Mrs. Smith steps by and allows them to duck inside quickly, no doubt headed straight for the box of popsicles on the counter. The Vegas sun is hot, but setting, and Brendon has just trekked through the African desert and the Amazon all in one day, thanks to Ryan.
“C’mon, Brendon,” Ryan says with a soft smile. “Let’s go get some pah-cicles.”
“Can I have the orange one?” Brendon asks hesitantly.
“Not if I get to them first,” Ryan giggles and sprints off in the direction of the house, giggling like mad the entire way.
And Brendon figures that since Ryan saved him from the piranha-nas, he’ll let him have the orange one.
Author: selectivelyurie
Beta: xoarianne_ilyxo
Rating: G
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon (implied Jon/Spencer)
POV: Third
Summary: KID!FIC Adventures in Spencer's backyard the Amazon reveal that Brendon is terrified of piranhas...
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't believe.
Author Notes: I started writing this for moceanu because I love her, but I got sidetracked by porn and life (they're not the same thing?) and yeah. This is part of "The Color Verse", other parts can be found here. Special thanks go to my_obsession_xx for being ~amazing and to starlesscities because now I have someone to flail over Ross with \o/!
“Spencerrrrr!” Ryan whines, plopping down on the small, dusty mound of racetrack that he and Spencer have been driving their racecars over for the past hour. “Spencer, it’s really hot out here, can’t we go inside now?”
Spencer rolls his eyes dramatically and looks up from his cherry red Mustang and says, “No, Ryan. Brendon and Jon will be here any minute and they might want to play racecars, too.”
“But Spencer,” Ryan groans, nudging away his electric blue Lamborghini with a pout. “I’m sweating. You know I don’t like to sweat.”
Spencer sees the small trickle of perspiration trailing down the side of his face before Ryan wipes it away with his hand. He smears dirt across his cheek on accident and Spencer giggles.
“What?” Ryan huffs, looking annoyed and squinting up at his friend through the blinding Vegas sun.
“You got dirt on your face, silly,” Spencer grins, wide and open. “Lemme get it off for you,” he says, licking his thumb and leaning over to smudge it off Ryan’s cheek.
Ryan protests with, “Ew! That’s gross, Spencer!” and slaps away Spencer’s pudgy, encroaching hand. Undaunted, Spencer grins devilishly and pounces on Ryan, no longer with the intention to wipe off his face like a mother. Flailing his small limbs in an attempt to ward Spencer off as he advances with a wet thumb, Ryan yelps, “Hey!”
“My mommy does it all the time, stop whining,” Spencer says defiantly and manages to pin Ryan down despite his squeal. This makes Spencer giggle like no other and Ryan’s always liked Spencer’s laugh so he finds himself joining in the amusement. Somehow, this turns into a tickle war/wrestling match and by the time they’re both sprawled out on the ground, panting through laughter, they’re covered in loose dirt and dry, dead grass. They catch their breath, staring up at the blue sky overhead and just as Spencer’s about to point out that the cloud just over the top of that tree in Mrs. Mulligan’s yard looks like a sailboat, the back door slides open and he can hear his mother and another woman talking about “overnight clothes” and “extra toothbrushes” and suddenly-
“RYAN!”
Brendon comes running across the yard in leaps and bounds and Ryan barely has enough time to sit up and focus his eyes before Brendon tackle-hugs him into the strongest hug his little arms can manage.
With a grin so big Ryan can feel it pressed into his neck, Brendon cries, “RYAN! I missed you! I haven’t seen you in forever!”
Giggling because Brendon’s breath and words are bouncing off his neck, Ryan tucks his shoulders up to his ears and pushes Brendon away playfully. He smiles brightly when Brendon’s shaggy mop of hair comes into view and he says, “It’s only been a few hours, Bden. I saw you at school earlier.”
“I know,” Brendon urges, tugging on Ryan’s hand a bit to add emphasis to his apparent extreme deficiency in Ryan Time. “But Miss Anna made me pick up Gabe’s mess right before nap time and after I put everything away, everyone was sleeping and you were in the center of the mat so I couldn’t get to you,” Brendon says, obviously saddened by the misfortune that was nap time earlier today.
(It really was a tragedy. Brendon had scurried as fast as he could to clean up the Crayons that Gabe had strewn all over the floor and as soon as he’d put them back into the coloring box, he’d rushed over to the mat to claim a sleeping spot next to Ryan. However, he’d come face to face with a sea of silent bodies, all on the verge of sleep and Ryan was in the very center as always (Ryan told Brendon not to tell anyone else, but he didn’t like sleeping on the outside of the mat, only the center, because he liked feeling surrounded). Brendon ended up staring at the maze of slumbering children with watery eyes and a trembling lower lip until Miss Anna handed him a pillow and a blanket and ushered him over to the desolate corner of the mat where he curled up cold and Ryan-less.)
Blushing, Ryan ducks his head and flicks a blade of grass from his knee and says, “I’m sorry.”
“S’okay,” Brendon says, twisting his fingers and staring at the place his knees are pressing into the dirt. But then Brendon being Brendon, changes the subject to something lighter and his face lights up and almost splits open when he cheers, “Jon’s coming soon, right?”
Spencer says, “Uh-huh. His mommy called earlier and said they were on their way. But she said he can’t spend the night because they’re going to She-cah-go.”
“Where’s that?” Brendon asks with a curious furrow of his eyebrows.
“I dunno,” Spencer shrugs. “But my mommy said that his mommy said he probably won’t be at school next week so he wants me to get his work for him since he’s gonna miss a lot.” Brendon nods like he understands, which he doesn’t because Miss Anna hasn’t taught them the map yet, but he assumes that She-cah-go is somewhere far away like China or The Cave of Wonders or something.
“I wonder if it’s hot there,” Ryan muses, wiping away another bead of sweat dotting his hairline.
“Wonder if it’s hot where?”
All three of them turn to see Jon standing a few feet from them, tugging on the pocket of his jeans.
“JON!” they all scream in unison and propel themselves off the ground and onto Jon, squishing him in the middle of a group hug consisting of giggles and too-short arms.
Laughing, Jon ducks out of the arms encircling him and digs the toe of his left flip flop into the sand, “Hi.”
“Jon! You’re here!” Spencer cries, clasping his hands together and doing some sort of shifty footed dance.
“Yeah!” Brendon echoes with the same enthusiasm and invades Jon’s space again for another quick hug.
“What are you doing?” Jon asks them when Brendon lets go of him and stands with itching hands by his side.
“We were talking about how you’re going to She-cah-go,” Ryan answers, pulling on the hem of his dirty shirt. Brendon’s practically bouncing and Spencer’s still shifting and Ryan realizes that since Jon’s digging his toes into the dirt that he’s the only one standing still. He wipes away his sweat.
“Yeah,” Jon sighs, suddenly looking a bit dismal. “We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”
“What’s the matter, Jon?” Spencer asks and Jon shrugs.
“I don’t really want to go. My mom says that Miss Anna is okay with me missing school because we’re going to see my Granny, but it’s really cold there and my mom says I can’t wear my flip flops when it’s cold.”
“I’m sorry,” Brendon says and he sounds sincere. (Brendon knows how Jon feels every time his parents force him into dressy clothes for Church on Sundays.)
“It’ll be okay,” Jon says, brushing off his bit of sadness almost as easily as Brendon can. He smiles and says, “So what are we gonna do?”
----
A little over an hour later and they’ve played four rounds of hide-and-seek, built up another mountain and fetched two more racecars, and shimmied along the entire length of the inside of Spencer’s privacy fence because Brendon suggested that they go on an African Safari and then made Ryan lead the way. Ryan had put on his serious face and informed them that anyone that fell off was going to die in the boiling pit of lava below. Jon had argued that lava didn’t exist in Africa, but then lost his footing shortly afterward and Ryan had looked at him and said, “That’s what we call kar-mal, Jon.”
Now they’re spread out on Spencer’s lawn, filled to the brim with pride from surviving their journey (and saving Jon from his fiery doom) and a little sticky with sweat.
“You’re the bestest leader ever, Ryro,” Brendon says with a grin that rivals the sun and gives Ryan a hug. “But I’m really thirsty now. Who knew Africa was so hot?”
“I’m thirsty, too,” Spencer announces and smacks his dry lips as proof. “Let’s get something to drink,” he says and stands to go in the house.
Ryan and Jon follow after him but Brendon cries out, “Wait! Wait for me!” and they all halt. “My shoe’s untied,” Brendon points out, looking down at his unsatisfactory shoelace. “Hold on,” he says, holding up a single little finger. He bends over and takes each end of the shoelace and begins twisting and tying them together, his teeth clenching around his bottom lip in concentration. Unfortunately, he only manages to create a jumble of string that doesn’t come anywhere close to resembling a properly tied shoe. Pouting he says, “I can’t do it.”
“Here, Bden,” Ryan offers, coming back to him and dropping to his knees. “I’ll do it for you.”
Grinning wide, Brendon watches Ryan as he patiently does up Brendon’s shoe lace. When Ryan’s finished, Brendon looks down in awe at the prettiest knot he’s ever seen and gives Ryan his prettiest smile in return.
“C’mon!” Spencer calls to them and they scamper off in the direction of the house. When Spencer slides the glass door open after much effort, they’re all four greeted by Mrs. Smith in the kitchen.
“Why, hello, boys!” she smiles and finishes putting away ingredients for a soup Spencer has never liked. “Are you having fun?” The scattered reply of “yes”, “uh-huh” and “yep” is heard and she grins at their red, sweaty faces. “Well, you boys look like you could use something to drink, huh?”
Spencer speaks for the group when he cries, “Yes, please!”
Smiling, Mrs. Smith reaches into the fridge and pulls out a box of Capri Sun and Brendon’s face explodes into a mile-wide smile.
“YOU HAVE CAPRI SUN?!” Brendon cheers, bounding over to Mrs. Smith. “I LOVE CAPRI SUN!”
“Yes, Brendon,” Mrs. Smith laughs, amused by the boy’s enthusiasm. She hands him a pouch and when his tiny hands grasp around it, it’s like he’s holding the key to the world.
“Brendon, don’t squeeze it so hard,” Jon warns and loosens Brendon’s grip on the juice pack. “You’ll bust it.”
“Will not,” Brendon refutes and rips his straw off the back before stabbing it into the small hole in the top. He sucks it down in one breath and when he looks up at Ryan with big, sad eyes, Ryan lets him have a sip from his.
“Now, if you boys want, I can get some popsicles out of the freezer?” Mrs. Smith offers, already headed towards the deep freeze in the garage as they finish up their drinks.
Spencer gasps, pleased and says, “Could you?”
“Sure,” she laughs and Brendon can’t help but squeal, actually squeal in delight. But it turns out that the Smiths have run out of popsicles so she ushers the boys back outside with the promise of popsicles within an hour and asks her husband to run to the store for some.
When they’re all standing on the lawn again, Jon says, “Let’s travel up the Amazon, now.”
“Ooh! Yeah! There’s all kindsa neat animals there!” Spencer replies, eyes bright. “Frogs and leopards and unicorns! I’ve always wanted a unicorn!”
“I’ll catch you a unicorn, Spencer,” Jon says confidently, his little lisp more prominent with his puffed out chest.
Spencer blushes a thanks and Brendon shuffles towards Ryan with a bowed head and a quiet, delicate voice. “Ryan?”
“Yeah, Brendon?”
Brendon’s long eyelashes paint shadows over his cheeks and Ryan squints at him. “I don’t want to go to the Amazon,” Brendon confesses, timidly and he bites the corner of his puffy bottom lip.
“Why not?” Ryan asks, turning to face him full on. Brendon looks worried and Ryan doesn’t like it when Brendon’s worried because it doesn’t happen very often so it has to be serious when it does.
“Cause,” Brendon says, darting his big brown eyes up to look at Ryan. In a dramatic stage whisper Brendon says, “Piranha-nas live there!” Ryan blinks. Sighing, Brendon says, “Piranha-nas eat people.” Ryan frowns and Brendon whispers, “I’m scared.”
“Don’t worry, Bden,” Ryan says lightly and hugs him close. Brendon tucks his head into Ryan’s warm neck and closes his eyes, his little fists clenched onto the back of Ryan’s shirt. “I won’t let the piranha-nas getchu,” Ryan whispers into Brendon’s hair and Brendon nods slowly.
“You promise?”
“Promise,” Ryan vows.
Taking Brendon’s clammy hand, Ryan drags him over to the middle of Spencer and Jon and says, “Let’s go to the Amazon.”
Ryan leads them through the jungle of weeds and wild flowers growing in the corner of Spencer’s mother’s garden and when Brendon almost steps on a small garden snake basking in the sun, he tells Ryan he wants to go back.
“Ryan, I don’t like it here,” Brendon says, lower lip jutting out in a pathetic pout and he clings to Ryan as they all watch the harmless snake slither away under a nearby rock. Brendon’s tense and his arms wrapped around Ryan’s torso squish Ryan’s own arms against his sides, useless. “That snake’s gunna eat me!”
“He’s gone, Brendon,” Ryan assures, untangling himself from Brendon. “And look!” He points to the tree ahead of them. “It’s a lemur.”
“That’s not a lemur,” Spencer points out. “That’s a squirrel, Ryan!”
“Ryan, what’s a lemur?” Brendon asks, looking past Ryan’s frown of disapproval towards Spencer and he tugs on his hand gently.
Ryan says to Spencer, “Spencer, you has to pretend! This is the Amazon, member?”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Ryan,” Brendon urges again, “What’s a lemur?”
“That’s a lemur,” Ryan answers, pointing to the animal that would obviously be a squirrel if they were anywhere but the Amazon.
“Oh,”
“Isn’t it pretty?” Ryan asks, encouraging Brendon’s mind away from the snake beneath the rock. Meekly, Brendon nods and Ryan says, “See? Not all of the animals in the Amazon are bad.”
“Look!” Jon cries, pointing to a black bird, “It’s a flamingo!”
Sucking his teeth, Spencer rolls his eyes and says, “No, Jon! That’s the bird on the Froot Loops box; his name is Sam.”
Jon says, “Oh yeah!” like he’s just understood the meaning of life and tells Spencer, “You’re so smart, Spencer!”
“How come you guys know what lives in the Amazon but I don’t?” Brendon huffs, indignant. “My mommy never taught me any of this stuff. The only thing I know about are piranha-nas.”
“That’s cause everything lives in the Amazon, Bden,” Jon answers, rocking back and forth on his heels.
“Can we stop talkin’ now? If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the unicorns,” Spencer urges.
They traipse through the rest of the garden, Brendon wary and staying close to Ryan who embraces Brendon’s need to be near to him with a smile and a giggle and when they’re standing on the edge of the soft soil, Ryan says, “You guys, we have to cross this bridge.”
Before them lies a small, miniature arched bridge. The planks are wooden and the bridge itself is only about three feet wide, just big enough for them to cross. However, the bridge arches over a small fish pond and unfortunately for Brendon, there are no handrails on either side. Below in the rippling, filtering water, swims numerous goldfish of all shapes, sizes and color patterns and before he can distract Brendon from seeing the underwater creatures, a loud gasp punctuates Brendon’s observance and suddenly Ryan’s grown a 45 pound tumor on his side.
“Ryan!” Brendon wails. “The piranha-nas!”
“Brendon,” Spencer says, “If you stay away from the edges you’ll be okay.”
“But I don’t wanna go over the bridge,” Brendon protests. “What if it breaks?”
“It’s not gunna break, Bren,” Jon assures. “Look, see?” He runs up onto the platform and takes a few heavy stomps on it. “It’s not breaking.”
“We just gotta go over it really slow, okay?” Ryan says, nodding at Brendon. “That way we won’t fall off.”
“But Ryan-”
“It’s okay,” Ryan cuts in. “I’ll hold your hand.”
“Really?” Brendon asks all wide eyed and slightly overjoyed.
“Really really,” Ryan smiles.
Ryan’s smiles make Brendon not so afraid.
“Jon, Spencer, you go first,” Ryan instructs and the two boys obey. He turns to watch them as they warily, but quickly, cross over the bridge on light feet. Ryan chances a glance at the fish swimming in the water before turning to Brendon. “Alright, Brendon,” Ryan says, “Let’s go.”
Brendon slips his hand into Ryan’s and whispers, “Don’t let go, ‘kay?”
“I won’t,” Ryan says and takes the first step onto the bridge. Slowly, he walks out onto the wooden structure and pulls Brendon along with him. With the first step Brendon takes onto the bridge, a fish makes a rather loud splash and Brendon flings himself against Ryan with a shriek, clutching onto him like death. Ryan pries Brendon away gently mumbling, “S’okay, Bden. They can’t hurt you up here.”
“But but but,” Brendon stutters, eyes blown into two orbs radiating terror. “What if they jump up here and I fall in?” he asks, voice strained with fear. “Ryan, don’t let them eat me!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve gotchu,” Ryan consoles and pats Brendon’s back sloppily with his tiny hands. “We gotta keep moving,” he says and Brendon nods.
The fish keep lurking around below and Jon and Spencer watch with urgent enthusiasm as Ryan and Brendon shimmy across the small bridge, one tiny step at a time until Brendon spots the grass a mere foot away and makes a leap towards Jon, pulling Ryan with him.
“You did it, Bden!” Jon cheers and hugs Brendon tightly.
“I knew you’d be okay,” Spencer smiles and wraps his arms around Jon and Brendon.
“THEY DIDN’T EAT ME!” Brendon cries with excitement as he realizes that he’s made it across in one piece and wiggles out of Jon and Spencer’s grasp. “RYAN, THE PIRANHA-NAS DIDN’T EAT ME!” He hops over to Ryan with a face of pure exhilaration and Ryan can’t help but smile back at him.
“I told you I wouldn’t let them hurt you,” Ryan says confidently.
“Oh, boys!” All four boys turn to see Mrs. Smith standing at the sliding glass door, waving to them to come inside. Jon and Spencer exchange ecstatic, knowing glances and immediately tear off for the house for their frozen treats, taking a different route that doesn’t involve scary bridges over piranha infested waters. When they reach the door, they notice that Brendon and Ryan weren’t on their heels after all and shout back at them playfully to hurry up.
Brendon smiles at them and watches as Mrs. Smith steps by and allows them to duck inside quickly, no doubt headed straight for the box of popsicles on the counter. The Vegas sun is hot, but setting, and Brendon has just trekked through the African desert and the Amazon all in one day, thanks to Ryan.
“C’mon, Brendon,” Ryan says with a soft smile. “Let’s go get some pah-cicles.”
“Can I have the orange one?” Brendon asks hesitantly.
“Not if I get to them first,” Ryan giggles and sprints off in the direction of the house, giggling like mad the entire way.
And Brendon figures that since Ryan saved him from the piranha-nas, he’ll let him have the orange one.