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[Francis Ruis]

Frankie sighed from where his head was resting against the chain of the swing. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but he wasn't sure he minded enough to move it just yet. It was Bonfire Night, and he could hear the muted celebrations and fireworks snapping off in the near distance. The immediate area around the playground though was blessedly quiet for now and Frankie took a slow swig of his beer, scrunching his face up at how warm it'd gotten. Since turning 17, Frankie often found he would try to grab a drink mostly just because he could, not because he enjoyed it. Drinking alone in a park on a holiday wasn't exactly every guy's dream.

He'd managed to swipe a pack of sparklers from a group nearby and had been lighting and holding them as long as he could until they burnt down far enough to singe his fingers. The sparks burnt a sharp afterimage into the back of his eyelids and Franke squeezed his eyes tight, as if he could sear the image into his brain. Blinking his eyes open again, Frankie watched the inverted colours of the sparkler dance across his vision as he scanned the park, dragging his feet slowly back and forth through the dirt under the swing, letting the chain twist and untwist in the muffled emptiness of the surrounding park.

 

[Nixon Mercury]

Tākarokaro Park, which had become Nixon’s usual haunt for spending special occasions and nights in solitude, while living vicariously through other people’s experiences as he watched nearby fireworks, was the only place he wanted to be on bonfire night. Watching the stars and fireworks from a distance was how he spent his bonfire night a year ago, and wanting to recreate the same experience, he trudged through the trees, pushing branches and leaves away from his face, the large firework in his backpack sliding around as he headed for his favourite swing set. Nixon already knew the view from there would be impeccable. He could lose himself in his surroundings, and for the first time in a while actually enjoy himself. He smiled at this thought, excited for what was ahead. Although his said excitement did not last for much longer, the happy anticipation or forgetting his troubles for a night leaving him at the sight of a silhouette of someone else on one of the swings.​

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Nixon considered turning back to search for a new spot in the park to spend his night alone, knowing interacting with someone new would only end in his disappointment, his inevitable habit of pushing people away assuring him it wasn’t worth the trouble. Though he alternately knew that nowhere else would measure up, and frustratedly swallowed the growing lump his throat as he realised despite fearing it, being social was his only option, at least for a little while. Now used to the fact no one wanted to spend time with him, and knowing he ultimately ruined every interaction or potential friendship he had, Nixon expected this to go no differently, and that sooner or later, no matter what he did he would end up alone on the swings like he intended. So he sucked up his worries and with one hand on the strap of his backpack to keep it in place, walked over to the swings, dropping the bag on the ground to announce his presence. Uttering a quiet, sarcastic “you stole my spot”, Nixon sat on the empty swing and stared out into the distance. “Are you waiting for anyone?” He eventually asked, wondering if there would soon be a group of people arriving, knowing this would mean he needed to leave and find a different place to spend his time after all.​

 

[Francis Ruis]

Frankie looked up when someone approached him, his vision messed up by the bright sparkler making it hard to really make out any features. He tried to twirl the sparkler nonchalantly like he would his wand, swearing under his breath when it just burnt his fingers instead. "Sorry, didn't realize these were reserved," He said dryly, shaking out his fingers and dousing the sparkler in his drink out of spite. He wasn't drinking it really anyway.

As his eyes started to adjust, Frankie could vaguely make out the profile of a guy roughly his age and looked at him passively. "Nope, partying by myself tonight," He said, popping the 'p' in 'nope' and shaking out another sparkler as he scuffed his feet in the dirt. It was hard not to sound too bitter saying that, but honestly tonight Frankie didn't mind. He'd been feeling lonely whether he hung out with people or not, so it didn't really matter to him. "You want one?" He said after a moment, offering the stranger one of the sparklers, leaning across the small gap between them as his swing squeaked quietly in protest.

 

[Nixon Mercury]

Nixon held the chains of his swing with each hand as he looked to the horizon, grasp tightening nervously the longer he sat there, thinking of all the things that could and undoubtedly would go wrong as he talked to this boy. Even if Nixon tried to be nice for a change, putting in any amount of effort to get to know the stranger, it would be just his luck to find himself inwardly angry and outwardly alone when he returned home. Thus he didn’t even try to respond as the guy admitted he was also alone, only peeling his gaze from the distance when he saw a sparkler in his peripheral, to look over, realizing he was being offered one. He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, pondering whether he should accept it, but eventually gave in, wordlessly reaching his hand from the chain of his swing to hold the sparkler. “Thanks.” He said quietly, switching to hold the sparkler in his right hand, looking at it for a moment but not lighting it yet. “I have a big firework in my bag if you wanna light that with me.” He offered in return, finally looking directly at the guy and smiling half heartedly. Lighting fireworks seemed a pleasant medium between socializing, and not talking at all, because it was about watching the fireworks rather than interacting, and Nixon realised was comfortable with that. If the interactions were focused on something other than himself he wasn’t so scared of failing miserably. This meant he had a chance to enjoy himself regardless of being near someone else, and it was a chance he was more than willing to take.​

 

[Francis Ruis]

There was a quiet beat where Frankie wasn't sure if the new guy would take the sparkler. He'd seemed so lost in his own thoughts, and Frankie was going to start fearing for his fingers again when the other boy took it. Frankie nodded in acknowledgement when the guy thanked him, shaking out another one from the pack to light again. "No problem. I'm Frankie, by the way," He said, fishing in his coat pocket for his lighter. He'd been using a muggle lighter for these, not trusting his own hand-me-down wand for anything remotely flammable, but Frankie paused when the boy mentioned having a larger firework. "Just the one?" He asked with a slow grin, setting the sparkler behind his ear for time being. Frankie had been planning on just sulking out here all night and maybe enjoying what he could see over the tree tops of the park from the surrounding families, but this sounded much more interesting.

 

[Nixon Mercury]

Nixon nodded when the guy introduced himself as Frankie, finding that talking to him wasn’t as pointless or near as intimidating as he first thought. At least when they were talking about fire works and he no longer needed to worry about messing up a simple conversation. “I’m Nixon.” He responded simply, looking to the sparkler Frankie gave him, and then to his backpack strewn on the ground. “It’s just one, but its the biggest one I could find.” Nixon answered, placing the sparkler he held in his mouth to keep himself from losing it in the grass, as he moved off the swing to kneel down, unzipping his backpack and pulling out the firework in question. It was heavy, and more difficult to lift from his backpack with his arms than it was to carry it on his back, but he eventually managed to settle it down on the ground to show it to Frankie. He took the sparkler from his mouth and twirled it idly as he spoke. “I thought I’d just use my wand as a lighter, so I could get some distance when it goes off.” As he explained he glanced out to their surroundings to find a good spot to set it down. “Where do you think we should set it up?” He soon asked, thinking Frankie might have seen a better spot in the park in front of them, having been on the swings a little longer than him and able to see the view better.​

 

[Francis Ruis]

Frankie shot Nixon a mischievous grin when he told him about the firework he had. "We can work with that," Yeah, more would have been nice, but Frankie was sure they could have some fun which what he had. He shuffled off the swing after Nixon as he pulled the firework from his backpack, straightening up to scan the park and look for a good spot. "Well, we probably don't wanna blow up the playground much.. " He said, eyes landing on the monkey bars. They were still trying to adjust after staring at the sparkler for a second too long, but he had a good idea. "There's some bark chips by the monkey bars, I bet we can dig it into those and climb up for a good view," He said, pointing his hand over to the dark shape of the monkey bars. "I'll leave the wand lighting to you though," Frankie added, stashing his lighter in his pocket. Frankie had his wand, or really his grandmother's wand, but it had a mind of its own half the time and the last thing Frankie needed it getting ideas about was around something packed with gunpowder and god knows what else.