Child!Dave+John x Child!Reader: Sunshine Breeze

    Story is set in Spring 2001

This is yourself, a kindergartener around five years old. Your mom's always telling you you're practically in high school to boost your confidence in yourself, but comparing your small height to the teenagers from the high school down the road makes you that much more in doubt. So you idly twirl your shoe in the dirt as you sit down on the swing in the park, letting your (h/c) hair fall down into your face. At school, the kids in your class are always teasing you because you're generally seen as a "good kid" due to your being generally quiet and usually getting the addition tables right. So you don't have many friends, apart from that one other girl, Jade. She'll sometimes drag you around the playground at recess, leading you up the steps and pretending it's an island. "I had a dream like that a while back," she told you once. But right now, it's all you. A tiny sigh escapes your small body as you think about everything going on at home, and you remember last night when you stood in the driveway in front of your house in the country looking up at the first star you saw in the sky and wished for stuff to turn out better.

    A cool breeze blows by, and with it carries two voices past your ear, one very loud, one with a lisp. You look up and brush the hair out of your face, and you see two boys who look about your age wandering into the park. They both look like they're from your class, and you suddenly recognize them: Sollux and Karkat. These two have been picking on you since you first came to school, so you immediately start to swing as fast as possible so they won't notice you. But it's too late: they spot you before you can reach the highest point you can in the air. "HEY, SOLLUX. LOOK OVER THERE!" Karkat says in his gruff, loud kindergartener voice. Sollux nods. "IIt'2 2melly (y/n)," he agrees, nodding and almost shaking free his 3D
glasses. They start to laugh in their weird voices. You are so angry that your concentration is momentarily lost, and you let go. The adrenaline of being released from the swingset hits you, and you let out a scream as the ground collides with your face. Fortunately, only your nose is in agonizing pain, but that doesn't mean that tears aren't gushing from your eyes.

     The two boys pause, then laugh even harder. "Hey! That's not funny, why are you laughing at her?!" a voice yells. You open your eyes with difficulty and see two other boys standing there. They both look like your age, one has square nerd glasses, aviator goggles and jet-black hair while the other has slick gold hair and sunglasses. "Because," Sollux lisps back, "2he'2 2uch a diitz, Egbert. You can 2ee that, riight?" "YEAH, EGBERT," Karkat puts in. "OR ARE YOUR GLASSES TOO THICK TOO SEE THAT, TOO?" They both start rolling on the floor laughing. The boy named "Egbert" huffs and puts his hands on his hips. "Hey," the blonde one speaks up, stepping closer. "You. Punks." He takes off his dark shades and reveals his eyes: a shocking, ruby-red color that sends chills up your spine. "No one insults my home dog's rad specs. You dig?" Petrified by the fiery glare, the two meanies nod and scamper away. "I HATE YOU, STRIDER!" you hear Karkat's voice fade out. "Piece of cake," he smirks. The two walk towards you, and you curl into a ball to shield yourself. But they simply stick out their hands. "Grab on," the Egbert boy coaxes. You hesitate a moment, then nod and let them help you to your shaking feet. "I'm John!" he tells you immediately. "And this is my friend, Dave." Dave nods at you. "'Sup." You wave at them shyly. "Don't worry about Karkat and Sollux," John tells you. "They just pick on people 'cuz they want to be cool." "Ironically," Dave mutters. "Only I can pull irony off. It's a not-known fact." You giggle, not understanding what the hipster kid just said but finding it amusing. "Hey, that wasn't funny!" Dave squeals, blushing.

    "Hey you guys," John speaks up, "You wanna go play over there? We could play Wing Airforces again." Dave shrugs. "Or we could just go back to my house and play Nintendo." Both of those sound like awesome ideas to you right now, but a second later you hear your mother calling you from down the street. "I gotta go," you say sadly, walking away. Suddenly a hand on each of your shoulders stops you. "Hey, don't go yet!" John says. He blushes. "Uh, I never got your name." You avert your eyes. "Uh, it's (y/n)," you reply quietly. "(y/n)..." Dave says softly. "Cool." In that second, he and John are planting their lips on each of your cheeks. "Bye, (y/n)," they say, grinning. The bright spring sun reflects off your (e/c) eyes, and you smile and nod, waving as you leave the playground. You never thought you'd feel like this, but you can't wait to go to school tomorrow. <3