I'd very much like to thank my good buddy Black Victor Cachat for taking time out of his busy schedule to Beta this monster of a story for me!
(6) Sweet Treat
Now that Max was asleep and, hopefully, dreaming of a way to get them and Planet Drool out of this mess, Sharkboy let himself wander off —not far enough to leave their 'only hope'— in search of Lavagirl.
His partner had shied away from them after burning one too many things in the Land of Milk and Cookies, shame and sadness over her face. Part of Sharkboy had wanted to abandon Max to go after her, yet resisted; both because he knew LG would be angry that he did so, and that she always needed a chance to cool off alone. Now though, he felt enough time had passed, and it was time for her to come back.
He, predictably, found his partner sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped around her legs, and hiding her face against her knees. Around her there was a ring of burnt and blackened cookie-ground, pits of marshmallow turned into burned, molten stickiness. Sharkboy's nose twitched at the smell of burning sugar and chocolate, but he ignored it, crouching down in front of Lavagirl.
"Hey, it wasn't so bad," he said. "Chocolate melts easy, that's all."
"You don't need to lie to me, Sharky," Lavagirl said, her voice muffled and shaky. "I screwed up again! It was stupid to think that I wouldn't burn that stuff! It's just like back at Max's house, I tried to have a snack there too, and destroyed his parents' stuff."
Sharkboy flinched, he hated when Lavegirl got like this —he never knew how to comfort her. Sharks, by their very nature, were not compassionate animals, with the ones who took him in an extreme abnormality, and he couldn't even hug Lavagirl like his dad used to do for him. He was lost.
"It's not that big of a deal," he tried. "Chocolate is overrated. Kinda nasty, actually."
He remembered liking chocolate as a little, regular kid, remembering it being a special treat for rare occasions. Of course, there hadn't been any chocolate in the ocean so, when they found the cookies at Max's house, he decided to indulge for old times sake. ...Only to immediately spit them back out at the alien taste. Lavagirl speculated that, after living off of salty, savory fish for so long, his body forgot what 'sweet' was.
Her own cookie had turned to ash as soon as she'd touched it, but he didn't mention that.
"I just wish I could decide that for myself," Lavagirl said sadly. "There are only so many times you can eat lava rocks before wanting to taste other things."
'I wonder if…'
"...Close your eyes and open your mouth," he instructed, standing up.
Lavagirl's head popped up and she frowned at him, brows furrowed in confusion. "Huh? Why?"
"Just do it."
"What are you planning, Sharky?"
Sharkboy rolled his eyes, giving his partner a crooked, sharp-toothed smile. "You trust me, don't you?"
(6) Sweet Treat
Lavagirl's eyes went wide, "Of course I do! You're my best friend."
Best friend… He liked it when she said that. Sharkboy slotted it into the list of titles that are rightfully his —right above 'King of the Ocean.' But, recently, it had left Sharkboy feeling like something… something he couldn't put his finger on was lacking.
"Then do as I say. Close your eyes and open your mouth."
After only a slight hesitation, Lavagirl finally closed her pretty dark eyes and let her mouth drop open. Sharkboy shot over to the nearest giant cookie that was sticking out of the ground like a boulder, and ripped a chunk out of its side. He tried to grab a piece that had a little of everything, because he didn't even know if this would work, but if it did, it might only work once.
"Here," he whispered, kneeling in front of Lavagirl. The heat of being this close made Sharkboy wince, yet he ignored it; this was more important than his momentary discomfort. "Don't move."
Carefully he put a small piece of the cookie into her mouth, the thickness of his gloves protecting his skin when he brushed against Lavagirl's lips. She gasped, fingers flexing into the ashen ground beneath her as she chewed. Lavagirl kept her eyes closed though, and when she swallowed and opened her mouth again, Sharkboy fed his partner another small piece. Again and again, until the cookie chunk was gone.
"So, what do you think of your first taste of chocolate?" he asked as Lavagirl opened her eyes again.
"It was… sweet," she said slowly, licking her bottom lip. Sharkboy found her eyes fixed to her mouth, admiring the slight glance of her pink lips. "Thank you, Sharky."
He swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry, and only silently nodded.
'Sweet.'
