Larry swore his best friend was some sort of witch.
Because he couldn't think of any other explanation as to why he can drink half a slushee all at once and not have crippling brain freeze. Larry could barely take two sips before having to stop and press his tongue to the roof of his mouth in hopes of relieving the pain.
"How are you not dead, bro?" He exclaimed, grabbing at his forehead as the uncomfortable feeling seemed to spread through his brain.
"I'm simply not a fucking wimp, my man." The blue haired teen shoved the straw underneath the bottom of his prosthetic again, drinking another large portion of the electric blue beverage.
"I'm not a wimp you're just a mutant." Larry joked, sipping some more of his cola flavoured slushee, he didn't enjoy the fruit flavoured ones, he thought they were too artificial.
The two sat on the curb outside of the convenience store with all the junk food they'd bought inside, the summer sun beating down on them as it slowly made its descent behind the distant trees, casting long shadows over the town and turning the sky a pleasant orangish colour.
Sal wore a crown of slightly wilted flowers, their stems tied together tightly and petals drooping, barely clinging on, the brunette couldn't remember what he had been told about the flowers in the crown, but he didn't care, his friend looked nice with whatever weird thing he decided to wear.
Larry reached into the bag between his feet, rustling around in them before pulling out the very giggle-inducing snack known as the 'beef stick.' It was an appropriate name for a ridiculous product and damn did Larry love them. They were cheap, came in like at least five different flavours, and satisfied the brunettes love for meat.
Sal crinkled what remained of his nose behind the prosthetic as the snack was opened, bringing a hand up to cover the holes in his prosthetic meant for breathing. "Dude, I can smell that shit from here, it's disgusting."
"Correction, tofu is disgusting! This is one of the best things for under five dollars." The brunette took a bite of his snack, shoving it closer to Sal just to annoy his friend.
"It smells like... dead." Sal shoved the thing away, glaring half-heartedly. "I'll never understand you."
"I could say the same to you, I swear you eat fucking flowers."
"At least I'm not eating a fucking dick innuendo."
"Jokes on you, I fucking love dick." Larry raised his eyebrows in a sort of joking manner, keeping eye contact with his friend as he took another bite.
Sal just shook his head, flower petals dropping from the dying crown, finishing his frozen drink packed full of artificial colour blue #1. There were a few moments of silence as the blue-haired teen tried and failed to toss the empty cup in a nearby trash can and ultimately had to get up and drop it in properly.
Larry didn't bother putting his trash in the proper place, he simply shoved it back into one of the bags with the other snacks, much to Sal's annoyance. They sat there for a while longer until Larry had finished his drink and Sal had had a lollipop long enough for it to become sharp and somewhat dangerous around the edges.
Just as they were about to leave, the shorter of the two grabbed Larry's arm to stop him, an unseen smile plastered on his face. "I've got something for you!"
"Why, it's not my birthday or anything?" There was never a reason with Sal, random gifts were just something to be expected with him, but that didn't stop Larry from saying the same line every time unless it was actually his birthday.
The bluenette pulled something out of his pocket, clasping it in his hands. "Close your eyes."
"Ugh, dude!"
"Just close 'em!" Larry could see the pout in his friend's eyes, he'd gotten pretty good and reading Sal's emotions without seeing his face. With another exaggerated groan, he tightly shut his eyes.
He heard movement and felt something cold on his neck, along with a very minimal amount of weight, he could very easily guess what the gift was.
"Okay, you can look." The brunette glanced down and sure enough, a necklace now dangled from his neck. The chain was rose gold and pretty thin, attached to it was a small shard looking piece of what Larry assumed was quartz. The crystal itself was smoothed on one side, with small unrecognizable symbols carved into it. "You've gotta wear it all the time, okay? I made it for you."
"Whatever you say, little dude." He knew his friend was weird about things like crystals like he was weird about flowers. He himself would never believe a dried leaf or old lava held any sort of power but Sal was his best friend, so if he wanted to burn his weird herbs in Larry's room or make him a crystal necklace, he wasn't gonna stop him. If anyone else tried to tell him the importance burning sage he'd probably laugh at them, but not with Sal. He'd listen and nod and just be happy with his presence.
The truth is, for a while now, Larry has felt more of a need to be around Sal. Not just to be around him but to be alone with him, whenever they shared moments just between the two of them it made Larry's heart race a little. Sometimes it'd feel like he could think of nothing else than hugging his friend or holding his hand, or cuddling, or even calming him down after a nightmare. He felt selfish, for sometimes wishing for Sal to have a nightmare, just so the other would come down. He also felt selfish for getting jealous when Sal was around other people, like some of the girls in school who treated him like some mysterious bad boy, but he really couldn't help it.
He didn't exactly know why he felt like this, he only assumed it was because of how close his friendship with Sal was, mixed with his normal protective behaviour.
He could tell Sal was smiling at him, by the shine in the other's eyes and he could help the grin that spread across his own face.
"Come one, bro, we don't wanna be out here in the dark." Larry put an arm around Sal's shoulders, pulling him close to his side as he lead them off in the direction of the apartments.