Laying in bed at 2 am and I get bombarded with a sudden idea…
This is dedicated to Desire at Gunpoint who is awesome.
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Horatio was used to attention.
He expected it for his hair alone. You didn't see many 8 year olds with white hair did you? It especially stood out against the traditional black hair of his family. Truthfully he was tired of telling kids it was natural and of the nasty looks he got from parents who thought he was too young to dye his hair.
Horatio was used to getting in trouble.
He was proud of his class prankster status. His pranks were elaborate and generally subtle. But even without evidence, teachers usually guessed who had done it. He and the principal were on first name terms by now. And he was idolized by the younger grades.
Horatio was used to attention from girls.
Despite his pranks, he was always taught to be respectful to women and his superiors. So it wasn't surprising that the female population of his third grade class were swept away by his manners and his willingness to share his fruit snacks.
On Valentine's Day, he received the most cards and he was constantly being assailed with notes saying 'Do you like me?' or 'Be my boyfriend? Check yes or no'. He always said no. Not because the girls weren't nice or anything but have you ever seen a romantic movie? Horatio watched them with his mother and the couples in the movie were his parents' age! You never saw a movie about two kids kissing in the rain after the girl had gotten pushed off the swings by her bully of a boyfriend. Horatio couldn't possibly be a boyfriend until he was his dad's age. Hollywood said so.
Horatio was also used to attention from his fellow boys.
He was phenomenal at hockey and was usually picked first for games during recess. Horatio also had the coolest games and a trampoline at his house. And his younger sister Cordelia was the cutest girl in the second grade (and as an added bonus she didn't have cooties like other girls).
So, it goes without saying that Horatio was used to attention from girls and boys alike.
"Be my boyfriend or I'll punch you,"
He wasn't however, used to the attention girls gave him coming from a fellow boy.
His name was Duncan and he was the scariest kid in the second grade. He got into even more trouble than Horatio. He'd gotten transferred to this school after an "accident" at his last one.
He had fiery blue eyes and a shaggy mop of black hair. He was the first boy Horatio had met with his ears pierced. His skull t-shirt was grungy and worn-out since Duncan wore it almost every day.
He was also fairly muscular for a 7 year old. That was apparent in how he gripped Horatio's shirt and held the older boy against the brick wall of the school.
"You know my sister Cordelia?"
Duncan seemed thrown off by the question but he shook it off and his grip on Horatio tightened. The fist he was holding up also clenched till the knuckles turned white.
"Yeah, sure, answer my question before I beat the crud out of you."
Horatio tilted his head to the side, fascinated by the missing tooth in Duncan's crooked smile. He wondered how much the tooth fairy had left him. He even had freckles on his nose.
"She told me about the rabbit you saved," the older boy smiled and Duncan obviously wasn't used to such a calm victim. He pushed Horatio harder against the wall.
"So? Answer me already," he raised his fist higher, aiming for Horatio's nose.
"It was a nice thing to do, I like people who break stereotypes," Horatio's mother was an English professor, their family didn't play Go Fish, they played Scrabble and had spelling bees.
"And alright," Horatio nodded and smiled. The grip on his shirt loosened slightly as wide blue eyes stared at him.
"Alright what?"
"Alright, I'll be your boyfriend. I don't want to break my nose again and I certainly don't want you to get in trouble. You're cute."
Duncan let go of him and stepped back, his face scrunched up.
"You're weird," he said, scratching his cheek, "But cool…"
"You too, wanna go play dodge ball?" Horatio grinned and reached out to take Duncan's hand. The younger boy smirked.
"You're on!"
As they raced towards the ball bin, Horatio couldn't help thinking he preferred getting notes as opposed to getting threatened. Though Duncan's method proved effective, if he had given Horatio a note instead. He would have checked yes.
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Okay, is it just me or is elementary school HatHawk the cutest thing ever? It was so fun to write from a kiddie point of view!
I can just see them fighting over an ice cream cone and then Shio letting go and Duncan falling to the ground, the cone landing on his head. Gah, cuteness overload!
This idea totally came out of nowhere but I like it.
Yay for cooties and 'No girls allowed' forts!