Disclaimer: I do not own Star Vs The Forces of Evil. It's a pretty good enough show as is, and it doesn't need a fanfic author telling it what to do. ...oh, I made myself sad...
Of Magical Wands and Safety Helmets
Carry
"You really don't have to do this," Marco said indignantly.
He received a terse, slurred raspberry in reply. "Aw, don' worry 'bout id. What're friends fer?"
"Yeah, but..." His half-hearted retort trailed off, and he winced as his ankle throbbed its discomfort. He sunk back into his gloomy sulk, dodging his face so it couldn't be seen.
However, it wasn't like Star could actually see his face even if he didn't try to hide it. Plus, the two were easily identified with his signature red hoodie and Star's... 'Star-ness.'
Which made it all the looks in their direction all the more painful. Especially as a girl a few inches shorter and easily a dozen or so pounds lighter than him piggybacked him home like an errant sack of beans.
It was a stupid thing, really - he'd mistaken the angle of descent of his dynamic entry on the Unibear and ended up rolling his ankle. A stupid mistake the result of his target bending over an inch more than he'd expected. Even stupider, he'd immediately and instinctively flowed into a crescent kick and probably damaged the darn thing even more.
And he most likely would've pushed it even farther if Star hadn't noticed his sudden limp and overcharged her wand with a Mega Rainbow Narwhal Blast. Why'd the girl always have to be so super intuitive whenever he ended up looking bad?
So now here he was, getting carried by his best friend like he was crippled. He already knew he had a raging inferiority complex towards the princess, and this was not helping Marco feel like he could keep up with the transdimensional mini-warrior.
It didn't help she was humming like a loon while keeping her wand between her teeth like the multiverse's most manic pixie pirate.
Trying again to assert his masculinity, Marco pushed lightly on Star's shoulders. "Star, really, I can walk the rest of the way home. We're only, like, a couple blocks away."
"Mm-mmm," Star hummed, a suspiciously inordinate concentration of glee in her tone. "Ya might damage yer ankl' mer." Her hold on his legs tightened an almost imperceptible amount - changing from super snug to steel bear-trap.
Marco wasn't about to be deterred, though, his ire flared. He pushed again. "Dang it, Star! This is embarrassing, getting carried around by a... by a..."
"By a wha?" Once again, that infuriatingly smug giggle!
And then Marco did what any other adolescent male did when they felt their pride was slighted - he stuck his big ol' foot into his big ol' mouth.
"By a girl!"
The second, the instant, he finished, he knew he'd messed up. It was as if the world had stopped and took a moment to just stare at his palpable incompetence.
Marco hopped backwards when Star's grip on his legs suddenly released. All thrums of pain washed away as fear formed a dense clump in the pit of his stomach. He watched anxiously as the girl slowly, methodically, achingly removed her wand from mouth. She turned around, and he didn't even try to hide how he flinched. It was like her eyes were boring directly into him.
"What did you say?" she asked quietly. Sound itself seemed to flee the general proximity of the two, leaving only her words hanging in the air, waiting, watching, judging. The air around her trembled, and Marco felt every hair he had on his body standing on end. He swallowed.
"I regret anything and everything I've ever done, please don't blast me to bits."
A couple moments that felt like an eternity passed, and then Star's body relaxed, all tension flowing from her. She pursed her lips.
"Marco, you're my friend, and you're a cool guy and all, but jeeze can you be an idiot."
He nodded furiously. "Whatever you say."
Star sighed. "Marco, listen, you're my friend, my best friend on Earth. You're my partner here, and partners..." She poked him the chest with her wand. "Help each other out. Partners..." Another push, harder this time. "Do it because partners..." He thought his chest my concave. "Are, well..." She shrugged. "Partners, ya know? Whether I'm a girl or not shouldn't matter, right?"
She waited. Marco figured he should say something as poignant as she did, but honestly, he just felt tired and a bit dumb. "Sorry, Star."
She smiled. "No problem." She turned around. "Now get back on; we've still got further to go."
He paused before just giving up and leaning onto the girl again. He was stupid and the situation was stupid and everything was pretty much stupid and...
He internally shook his head. Well, no point in thinking about it now. Star had an iron grip on his legs and was humming that tuneless melody again. He was pretty much trapped.
It wasn't until they were almost home that he realized something. He tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Star, how come you didn't just use your dimensional scissors to get us home instantly?"
Star's humming got louder.
A/N: Because while Marco is a sensitive soul, he's still a teenage boy, and teenage boys tend to be pretty ornery when their masculinity is threatened. Also, dohoho, Marco's being stupid.
