Work Text:
The candy store
Ah, heaven on earth.
The lovely and cheerful atmosphere paired well with the overwhelming aroma of rich sweetness that filled your senses as you pushed open those sacred doors and entered what could only be described as a kid’s personal paradise.
The walls were painted a soft blue and pink and were lined with glass dispensers filled with hard candies, gummies, chocolates, caramels, and, of course, lollipops. For the simple cost of 1.50, you can purchase a bag filled with any sweet treat you had a craving for. Yes, it really was every kid’s dream-
“Stan, hurry up! I would like to test the engine before while the sun is still up!”
All except for one
“Hold on, I’m still deciding.”
Stanley rolled his eyes as he continued to scan over the mountain of suckers they had. Did he want one with a gum in the center? Or a chocolate? Decisions, decisions..
“Hmph!” The shorter boy let out an exacerbated huff as he made a big show of crossing his arms in annoyance. “This is such a waste of a nice Friday afternoon.”
“You know, Xeno, you are the only kid in the world who would call a trip to the candy store a waste.”
“Well, excuse me if I don’t see the appeal of destroying my teeth with cavities. You know, studies show that candies today are filled with-”
Geez, if he knew the short boy was going to whine this much, he would have told him to go on without him, and he’ll catch up. But no, instead he forced Xeno to tag along cause he wanted the company.
It was Friday and they had a three-day weekend, stopping by the candy shop by their school seemed like the perfect recipe for fun. But damn, the 4th grader was really starting to regret it, really, why does Xeno always have to yap so much-
“Stanley…”
Oh, full name
Stan turned around and saw Xeno’s big, wide eyes filled with genuine hurt, and his mouth formed such a sad frown.
“You promised you’d be quick…”
Damnit
That soft and dejected tone of voice paired with his sad little pout and big ol eyes-
UGH
It was Stanley’s only weakness
With a sigh, the blonde settled on just getting a bag of tootsie roll lollipops, one of his favorites.
“There, happy?”
He was rewarded with a rare soft smile from Xeno as his eyes gleamed with contentment.
“Yes, very”
Stanley decided he was going to ignore that weird fluttery feeling he gets whenever his best friend smiles at him like that and instead focused on handing his dollar and 50 cents to the cashier. They weren’t even out those doors before he had already unwrapped a tootsie pop and plopped it in his mouth.
Cherry flavor
As the two began to make their way towards Xeno’s house in silence, Stanley couldn't help but notice his friend was well, silent.
Normally, when they walked home after school, Xeno would be talking his ear off about their latest experiments; what they need to do, how to do it, how it all works. All that sciency talk. But it’s been two whole minutes of walking, and he hasn't said a word. A new record.
Unease began to brew as he began to fiddle with the lollipop in his mouth. Was Xeno still upset with how long he took picking out which candy he wanted?
He turned to see Xeno staring right at him with a curious look, the same look he had when he didn't understand something, but wanted to.
“What?”
“How does it taste?”
“Huh?”
Xeno pointed at the pop in his mouth
“The lollipop?”
“Mhm,” Xeno nodded, and Stanley began to ponder how to describe the overly sweet artificial cherry flavor.
“Uh, it’s cherry flavored so…cherry?” Oh, he sounded dumb, and the look on Xeno’s face didn't make him feel any less dumb, “I mean, it’s sweet and has a bit of a tang to it?”
“You sound unsure.”
“It’s just hard to describe, it's just…candy!”
Stanley had never been good with words, which is why Xeno has to help him write his essays for class. Without really thinking, he plopped the lollipop out of his mouth and tilted it towards his friend.
“Wanna taste?”
He was immediately met with a blank stare before Xeno turned his head away in a huff, an angry pout painted on his lips. Stanley was confused. What did he say? Did he say something wrong?
“You know I can’t.”
Ah
Right
Stanley had almost forgotten that Xeno was not allowed to eat candy, like, at all. Not even on Halloween. In fact, Xeno isn’t allowed to celebrate Halloween because his mom is super religious. She believes Halloween is the “devil’s holiday,” so they banned it.
So during that spooky month of October, their house would be the only one in the block without a single Halloween decoration, not even a carved pumpkin. The only thing they let him do on that day was wear a costume, but what’s the point if you can’t go out trick-or-treating?
“Your parents aren't here, what they don't know won’t hurt you, right?”
“Stan, your tongue is red.”
The blonde blinked a couple of times before sticking out his tongue to see, and sure enough, it was a bright cherry red.
“Oh…yeah”
Stanley didn't think of that, of course, Xeno’s parents would immediately know he had been eating candy if he came home with a red tongue. His friend let out a long sigh and sped up his walking pace.
“Let’s just hurry home…”
Stan felt himself frown but said nothing. He wishes he could say something to make him feel better, but what can you even say? Sorry, your parents are no fun? That would just make him feel worse. So instead, he just followed his friend home, hoping the engine test would make Xeno happy again.
.
.
He was right.
After the engine proved to run smoothly, Xeno was back to his smiling and chattering self. The universe was back in order. He was now excitedly drawing out blueprints for the next were going to build. Stanley believed he said something about the motherboard for a coordinator?
He wasn’t sure because he even though Xeno was feeling better, he wasn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking about how dumb and unfair it is that Xeno can’t eat candy. Not even just one lollipop! It wasn’t gonna make all his teeth fall out! So what's the big deal?
Xeno seemed blissfully unaware of the growing frustration brewing inside his best friend as he unwrapped another pop and angrily stuffed it in his mouth, blueberry this time.
If only there were some way Xeno could taste a lollipop, without actually putting it in his mouth, but how? Ugh, if only he were half as smart as Xeno was, then maybe he’d be able to make some sort of colorless lollipop. A pop with no artificial coloring, so it doesn't stain your tongue, yet still tastes as sweet.
But alas, he wasn’t that smart; he was just a kid who knew how to handle a gun. There has to be another much easier way…right?
The more he thought about it, the more he was reminded of how his mom refuses to kiss his dad after he had just had a smoke. She always said it was because his kisses would “taste” like cigarettes…
His mom didn't smoke, and according to her, never had a single cigarette in her life. She hates the smell and makes his dad smoke outside. Yet despite steering clear of cigarettes, she knows what they taste like because his dad…
Huh…
Pulling the pop out of his mouth, Stanley stuck out his tongue. It was now a weird shade of purple, no doubt from the blue from the blueberry mixing with the red from his earlier cherry pop. He smacked his lips a few times; he could still taste the blueberry in his mouth…
If his mom could taste his dad’s cigarettes from kissing, then maybe…
“Xeno”
The silver-haired boy ceased his yapping and lifted his goggles from his face.
“Yeah?”
As those large, deep, twinkling eyes blinked innocently up at him, Stanley felt his palms begin to sweat and his chest feel all sorts of funny. He ignored the fluttering feelings stirring in his stomach once more. Stanley once again asked.
“Wanna taste?”
“Stan,” Xeno placed his pencil down and gave him an annoyed look. The expression he wore made it clear he thought Stanley was just trying to get on his nerves. “You know I can’t-”
“I don’t mean the lollipop.”
Xeno went from looking annoyed to confused in the span of a few seconds. Stanley awkwardly lifted his other hand to point at his lips.
Any other day, it would have been funny to see Xeno’s face go from confused to realization, then utterly shocked in the blink of an eye. The way his already large eyes seemed to grow even bigger and his pale face turned a bright shade of pink, it looked straight out of a cartoon.
But it wasn’t funny, because Stanley probably looked no different. He felt his face get incredibly warm as the fluttering feeling in his gut got worse.
He was so tempted to laugh it off, to say “just kidding!” and the two could continue working like nothing happened. But the sad look in Xeno’s face earlier that day replayed in his mind, so instead, Stanley's tongue twisted and forced out an explanation.
“You know how my dad smokes? Well, my ma is always complaining that his kisses taste like cigarettes after he just had a smoke, so uh, I-I thought that, maybe, it’s possible, if we…you know if we -”
“If we kissed…I could taste the lollipop?”
Stanley nodded immediately. Leave it to Xeno to catch on so quickly to what he was thinking. The shorter boy crossed his fingers in the shape of an X as he began to think aloud, something Stan had gotten used to at this point.
“It’s an interesting theory, as many foods can leave lingering scents and even tastes in a person’s mouth. My mother wears a vanilla chapstick, and my father often compliments the taste of it. So I suppose you could taste something “sweet” on a person’s lips…”
Xeno uncrosses his fingers and awkwardly begins to tug on the ends of his shirt. He looked away from Stanley, instead choosing to focus on the rocket-powered bike he built last summer in the corner of the Wingfields’ garage.
“It’s an experiment, I-I am willing to try…” Stanley’s pulse quickened as Xeno’s face became redder, “I-If you want to, of course…”
“Y-Yeah!” Stanley bit down on his lip, mentally cursing himself for sounding way too eager. “I-I mean it’s cool with me…”
The two awkwardly shuffled closer to each other until they were standing right in front of the other. Xeno willed himself to look up, his round baby face as red as a ripe tomato.
“I am aware of kissing on a conceptual level, but I lack any… practical experience…”
“Y-Yeah, same here…”
Stanley wracked his mind on what to do next, damn him for not thinking far ahead. He has seen kissing before; he knows what it looks like! This should be easy, but his stupid nerves were going wild. He quickly pulled the sweet treat out of his mouth, making a “pop” sound.
“Ok, ok, I’ve seen my dad kiss my ma hundreds of times, I’ll just do what my dad does-”
“Wait, why do I have to be the mom in this scenario?”
“Because I am the one who eats lollipops.”
“Oh yeah.”
“Now just stay still.”
Mimicking his father, Stanley placed his hand on Xeno’s warm cheek and, using his thumb, gently rubbed the soft skin. Using the same hand, he slowly tilted the shorter boy’s face up, and Stanley nearly lost his nerve with Xeno’s pretty eyes widening at the gesture, before shutting them tight.
It’s now or never
Stanley swallowed the lump in his throat before shutting his eyes and hastily smashing his lips against Xeno’s
Xeno groaned at first, clearly not happy with the amount of force Stanley unintentionally used. But the blonde quickly started to soothingly rub his thumb across the other’s cheek. It worked to relax him, and the two fell into this awkward yet comfortable position.
Kissing Xeno felt…nice
Like...really nice
Like really super duper awesome nice
His lips were soft and warm, and Stanley felt strangely happy. The same kind of happy he feels whenever he hits a bullseye or gets first place in a class competition. The kind of happy that makes you feel like a million bucks, and you can take on the world.
He could see why adults always do it now. It was almost as if all his previous nerves just melted away, and he felt both excited yet...peaceful? Like a wave of calmness had just settled in his gut. He wanted to keep kissing, but his need for air forced him to reluctantly pull away.
As their lips patted, the two boys were left gasping for air
Xeno’s face was flushed, and his shoulder moved up and down as he tried to catch his breath. Before Stanley could ask if he was alright, Xeno’s eyes were shining like a trillion stars, and a bright smile painted his lips.
“It was only a small hint, but I tasted the blueberry on your lips! It was faint, but there!”
An adorable laugh bubbled from his chest, and he continued on his rant
“My heart is still beating rather quickly, and I feel as though my stomach is doing flips. Do you always feel this way when you consume candy?”
“...Totally.”
“How elegant!” Xeno began to tap on his chin as he stared down at Stanley’s blueberry tootsie roll, “Now I wonder what other candies taste like…”
Oh
Oh, Stanley liked the sound of that.
“Well, tomorrow is Saturday…We can stop by the candy store and pick out any candy you want to try…”
“Hm…” Xeno closed his eyes and crossed his arms, weighing the pros and cons of potentially wasting precious science time with yet another trip to the candy shop. “I have always wanted to try sour patches…”
Stanley smiled, giddy with excitement at the promise of not only more candy, but more kisses with Xeno.
“But for now,” Xeno turned to him with a shy look on his face, “Can I have another taste?”
Stanley suppressed the urge to jump with joy, and instead settled wth a super cool nod of his head.
“As many as you want.”