-R(ed)

One day a curious Edd couldn't help but tilt his head and asked, "Why do you wear that red hat?"

Kevin stopped admiring his growing biceps and looked at Edd. "That's like asking why Superman wears that red cape."

Because Edd wasn't one who read any comics, that was more of Ed's thing, he wasn't quite sure how that reply answered his question. So of course, being Edd and always needing to understand everything and never being satisfied if he didn't have the answer, spent all night collecting and reading and gathering as much information about Superman as he could.

When Edd saw Kevin again, the first thing he said was, "So are you to say that when you arrived to our planet, you used the cloth and blanket that your birth mother had wrapped around you, and then you used that material to produce that red hat you wear so often?"

Kevin stared at Edd. "Do you really think that I'm a superhero?"

"If it was what you were initially implying."

"Huh," Kevin put his hands in his pockets as he took a moment to ponder about it. "But I'm not doing anything superhero-y or saving the world right now. And Superman wears his red cape when he's being superhero-y. So what's the point of me wearing my red hat?"

With this question, Edd paused and began to think, too. "Perhaps... Your red hat, in actuality, is just your pair of glasses?"

Kevin looked at Edd, needing an explanation.

"Well," Edd had done his research and he was always glad to go into further detail. "Superman is known for his red cape, but when he is wearing his glasses, he is just Clark Kent working at the Daily Planet."

Kevin nodded. "Okay... I'm following you."

"But what makes Superman different from other super heroes, such as Batman, is that Superman was born as Kal-El with all of his Kryptonian powers, and his Clark Kent persona is actually more of his disguise, whereas Batman was born as Bruce Wayne and his Batman persona is his disguise." Edd then concluded, "Maybe your red hat is not your red cape, but is actually your glasses to disguise your powers and camouflage into the human population?"

"So now what you're saying is," Kevin restated for the verbose Edd. "You don't think I'm a superhero, you just think I'm an alien."

"Extraterrestrial lifeforms walking among us without any knowledge of them is thought to be extremely plausible."

Kevin stared at Edd, and then at Edd's hat, and then back at Edd. "If any one of us were aliens, I bet it's you." He turned to begin walking away, but he turned to face Edd once more and added, "How about we just say that it's because I'm a superhero? I like that one more."

-S(afe)

With each second that passed, Kevin couldn't help but feel the guilt of going to the Peach Creek Community Pool instead of the Swimming Hole pressuring down on him. As he stared at the other boy laying before him, pale and not moving, Kevin's mind began running to places he should have remembered. How many compressions to the chest was it? How many breaths was he suppose to give? Were those breaths to the nose or mouth again?

After taking a moment to regain his thoughts, Kevin managed to bring the other boy back to life. Edd gagged, spitting out whatever water was left in his lungs, and then sat up from where he was laid down. He stared at Kevin who stared back at him with wide eyes and his lower lip trembling. It didn't take long before Edd could understand what happened.

"Oh my, did you just..?" The only thing Edd could think about doing at that moment was smile. "Did those classes I 'forced' you to attend with me actually teach you something that you ended up using-"

Kevin pressed his own lips against Edd's before he could finish his 'I told you so' rant. He had just brought the life back into the lungs of the other boy, but now that he knew he was safe again, he didn't care if their kiss lasted so long that both of them couldn't breath any longer.