AMURICA. I LOVE THE FOURTH OF JULY.
Desmond was dressed in red, white, and blue shorts and a shirt that said "I 3 USA." Rebecca was beside him, dressed in a similar fashion, wearing beaded red, white, and blue fireworks hairclips.
"Fuck yeah!" she shouted.
Desmond grinned as he grabbed the bottle of lighter fluid and a piece of newspaper. Lucy was sitting in a chair, a handful or so of other assassins with her, and Shaun was reading off to the side. Desmond twisted the newspaper and tucked it into the large pile of wood that was sitting several meters from the others.
"What on earth are you doing?" one of the assassins asked.
He started thoroughly soaking the wood and paper with the lighter fluid. "It's the Fourth of July, and we don't have a grill: there's no better way to celebrate than by starting the fire in a totally American way!"
"Light iiiiiiiiiiit," Rebecca hissed. "Come on! I wanna start cooking some hotdogs!"
"Complete bunch of bollocks," Shaun murmured.
"Oh, come on, you old stogy British fart!" Rebecca shouted. "You're just upset the lobsterbacks lost to us!"
Shaun bristled, and Desmond laughed as he flicked the lighter on and touched it to the fluid. He jumped back when the fire roared into the sky. Rebecca was howling with laughter, and Desmond frowned at her briefly before running over and tackling her. She yelped, but soon, they were wrestling all over the lawn and the paved area they were having their bonfire on.
They wrestled for upward of half an hour before he finally had her pinned, and Lucy was putting a hot dog on the roasting fork. Desmond laughed and ran over, picking up another fork and spearing three hotdogs sideways onto it.
"Don't tell you plan on eating all three of those disgusting processed… things," Shaun spat.
Desmond winked at him. "Not if you want one, babe."
Shaun scowled. "Would you stop calling me that?"
"I will once you lighten up."
He walked over to the fire and squatted down, sticking his fork into the fire to let them cook. He turned it slowly, letting them roast in the fading twilight. He wasn't used to eating this late, but it was worth it: less time between eating and fireworks. He wrapped an arm around Rebecca when she sat beside him to cook her own hotdog.
"Sweet geezus, it's fucking hot."
"That's generally what fire is, love," Shaun said from the blanket.
He sat there, enjoying the heat as he let his hotdogs bubble, snap and roast to a nice dark brown, streaks of black running across the skin. He rose once they were done, and he padded to the table, worming through the small crowd of assassins to the table. He put the dogs in the buns and put pickle relish, onion, mustard, and ketchup on two. The third, he put in a small bowl, piled on chili, cheese, and crackers, and grabbed a fork before walking over to Shaun's blanket.
"Disgusting," Shaun said, glancing at the food.
Desmond scoffed and dug in, quickly devouring the two hotdogs before digging into the chilidog. "You should try it. This isn't so bad."
He held out a small bite for Shaun, who sniffed. "No thanks."
"Just try it. Come on," he offered it again, and Shaun sighed, wrapping his lips around the fork and pulling off the bite. "See? Not too bad."
"It's bloody terrible, but I haven't had anything to eat, so make yourself useful and get me a cup of coke so I can stomach a little more."
Desmond laughed and did as he was told, navigating through the others to grab himself a beer, and Shaun a cup of Coke. By the time he returned, he raised an eyebrow when he saw most of the chili dog gone.
"Finally," Shaun said without looking up from the book in his hands. He held one hand out, and Desmond placed the cup in his hold. "You Americans…"
He grinned and picked up a second blanket, settling behind him and pulling the book gently from his hands. "Shaun, it's time for the fireworks. It's too dark to read."
Shaun harrumphed, but didn't object as he was handed the rest of the chilidog.
"And no matter what you say, I know you like Lucy's chili with plenty of cheese and a well-roasted hotdog. I'll turn you into an American yet."
Shaun scowled. "If you don't shut up, I'll put you on the couch."
"Yo! Des! You lightin' the fireworks with me?"
He looked to Rebecca, barely making out her figure in the dark night as he wrapped the blanket around him and Shaun.
"Naw, I'm gonna stay here and try to get Shaun to smile before his heart turns into the Grinch's." He rested his head on the British man's shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to the clothed skin. "Look up: here they come."
He looked when he heard the first boom, opening his beer and knocking back most of the bottle as the small shell firework produced a brilliant array of lavender, blue, red, and gold fire. He grinned when Shaun settled against him, drawing the blanket closer. It was a warm July night, and the blankets weren't actually necessary, but as he felt Shaun nuzzle backward into his arms, he decided it was worth it. He pressed another kiss to his neck, reveling in the contented noise Shaun made.
He saw Lucy come over and hand him another beer, chuckling at how ensnared Shaun was with the fireworks. Desmond thanked Lucy as she went to help Rebecca with the rest of the show. He popped open the second beer, letting the first bottle fall to the wayside on the first blanket, and tipped it back, taking a sip before pressing another kiss, this time to Shaun's ear.
"Enjoying yourself?" he murmured. "We've saved up all year for this show."
Shaun hummed, letting his hand rest over Desmond's around his waist as the first of the small cakes lit up, showering the sky with a vibrant array of green and purple flowers with golden tails. In a brief pause as Rebecca changed out the firework, Shaun turned his head and kissed Desmond.
"Stupid Americans," he mumbled against his lips, "starting the party before you've won the war."
Desmond deepened the kiss briefly, enjoy Shaun's tongue against his, until the next boom went off, and his lover turned to look at the sky, setting his empty Coke cup to the side and demanding silently that Desmond forgo drinking his second beer to wrap his other arm around his waist. The bartender grinned and did as he was told as Rebecca and Lucy lit four shells at once. He pressed kisses up Shaun's neck to his ear, smiling softly when he kissed his cheek and saw his lover smile in the slightest.
He laughed when Rebecca hollered and went to change out the shells, and he was mildly surprised to see Shaun staring at him with a soft smile. He leaned in and kissed him, chuckling when he heard Lucy chastise Rebecca for burning herself.
"Leave it to Americans to do something so stupid as to blow tons of money on fireworks."
He touched their noses together. "Yeah, but there's nowhere else in the world with fireworks quite like ours."
Shaun smirked and leaned back against him. They watched the rest of the show in silence, kissing between cakes and beers until the grand finale lit up the sky with huge explosions of reds and blues, whites and greens. Golden crackles rang through the sky and purple showers of fire trickled down in the dark sky.
Yeah, Desmond thought as he kissed Shaun after the last firework, he loved the Fourth. There was nothing like America for the freedom he had.