Work Text:
Shiv walked around, taking turns wherever he felt like, and not really caring where he went so long as he kept moving. He had left the hideout not too long ago but had already gotten bored of just walking. Well, to call it a hideout would be misleading; it was run-down and cramped, and he didn’t think the walls had seen a fresh coat of paint that wasn’t graffiti in twenty years. But it made them feel sinister, so a hideout it was. He kicked a rock at his feet as he tried to think of something better to do. Heading back to base was a no-go, but nothing was really open at this time of night.
He happened to glance up and see a small dollar store around the corner, just across the street. The light was faint due to the blinds and hardly lit the sidewalk in front of the store, dimming and brightening often as the fluorescent lights inside flickered. Despite its appearance, the buzzy lighting of the dollar store was like a flare for his bored mind. He grinned to himself, quickly put his head down, and unzipped his jacket, shuffling through the door. No one’s actually out this late anyway. Well, save for whatever sorry sod was running the store at 9:30 PM. And himself, he supposed.
Upon entering he quickly moved to the candy section to grab a bite. He hunched down to the lower shelves to better obscure his hands while keeping an eye out for cameras. One never knew what a small store would have, but better safe than sorry. He grabbed two Snickers and shoved one in the little pocket inside his jacket that was left over from when the actual pocket was sewn in (he always wondered if they did that just to enable thieves). He then stood and held out the Snickers a bit in front of him as if to look at his findings, but with the actual intent to make a show for the cameras (or the cashier if they were even watching) that he had, in fact, grabbed some candy to buy. He glanced around and spotted some Mentos on a rack by the exit. An idea came to him that would hopefully be entertaining, and he went to grab some, picking up two from the lower shelf and doing the same thing he had done with the Snickers, except that he put the second back. He was lucky his jacket hung off of him in a way that didn’t make it obvious he was carrying stuff, otherwise he could never have gotten away with this without the cashier noticing how the gangly teen had a lump in his pockets.
Shiv walked to the counter and bought his Snickers, noting that the cashier hardly even looked at him during the process and honestly seemed exhausted. He was glad the guy was so inattentive; he didn’t really feel like running away once he was recognized as a criminal (he would’ve been laughing maniacally as he did so, of course. He did have to keep up appearances after all). He sauntered out onto the streets and started wandering again, shoving his paid-for candy bar in his pants pocket and zipping his jacket up again.
Upon turning a corner he spotted someone walking his way with their head down. He stopped and squinted, then realized he recognized the blond mop and greenish sweatshirt.
Ducking back around the bend, he took his chance to surprise Richie, waiting to jump out at him. As soon as he saw the boy’s shadow cross into view, he leaped out in front of him, shouting, “Hey nerd!”.
Richie nearly fell backward in fright, and Shiv was sent into a fit of laughter at the indignant look on his face as he recomposed himself.
Richie rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as Shiv recovered from his laughing.
“What do you want, Shiv?” It was said with a despondence uncommon for Richie, and Shiv faltered for a moment before speaking.
“Oh, nothin’! Just spotted your nerd face and thought I’d say hi,” Shiv responded, bouncing on his heels before leaning right in Richie’s face. “What’re you up to at this time of night?”
Shiv was surprised when, instead of quipping back, Richie shoved harshly past him with a sigh and speed walked down the street. Shiv frowned at the unusual dismissal and hopped back in front of the teen to stop him again. Richie paused in his step before he could run into him, silently staring at the cracked sidewalk. His hood made it difficult to read his expression, but even someone as usually blithe as Shiv could see the deep weariness in his posture.
“Just stole these from some dollar store, wanna help me find a soda bottle?” He asked, pulling the Mentos from his pocket and waving the reactive candies in Richie’s face. He could see the gears turning in Richie’s head for a moment before the nerd shrugged.
“Fine. S’not like I have anything better to do,” he mumbled then turned around to face the way Shiv was headed.
Shiv smiled and grabbed Richie’s arm before racing down the darkened street. The street lamps gave little light (partly due to the hordes of bugs buzzing around them and partly because half of the bulbs were dead) but he still expertly maneuvered the streets as he had done hundreds of times before, leaving Richie to follow his movements as he jumped over cracks and sidestepped debris.
He talked as they traveled, glad to have someone to talk to. Or, well, at .
“So this house down two blocks from here throws out, like, full bottles of soda. Well, half full, but that’s still nothing to throw out, ya know? I think they toss it when it loses the bubbles.”
“You mean the carbonation? If it’s not carbonated anymore it’s gonna be a pretty shitty fizz.” Richie explained with a questioning look. Shiv was happy to hear him speak more and quickly tried to keep him talking.
“Eh, I bet if I shake it enough it’ll explode anyway,” Shiv said, watching Richie closely for a reaction. He knew Richie, the mega nerd he was, wouldn’t miss a chance to tell him about the weird science of soda.
“That is not how it works and I can’t wait to see you try and fail.”
“Well, then how does it work, nerd ?” Shiv poked, releasing his hold on Richie to turn around and walk backward in front of him, giving a daring look to the teen.
Richie sighed and rolled his eyes, “The carbonation in a soda is caused by carbon dioxide. When the Mentos hit the soda they catalyze the reaction-”
“ Woah , stop dude. Catalyze? We doin’ rocket science now?” Shiv teases.
Richie rolled his eyes again, though Shiv could see a smile play at his lips, “Catalysis is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst.”
Shiv gave him a look to show that he understood none of that and Richie tried again, “To Catalyze a reaction is to make the reaction happen quicker. Normally the soda would fizz only a little because the carbon dioxide is released over time, but the catalyst, in this case, the Mentos, speeds up the reaction and causes a larger fizz. The carbonation is the release of the carbon dioxide, so when the carbonation is gone, that means there is little to no carbon dioxide left to cause a reaction.”
Shiv stopped in his tracks and Richie stumbled in his attempt to not run into him. He brought his hands together in front of his mouth, as if in thought, and then said in an exaggerated fake confusion, “So it won’t work if I shake it?”
Shiv could see Richie stifling a laugh as he responded, “No, Shiv. The carbon dioxide is gone.”
Shiv couldn’t help but grin at the success of his display and quickly began walking again, grabbing Richie's arm once more and practically running to the aforementioned house, a two-story with obviously fake plants sitting on the small porch out front. Shiv goes right around the side of the house, letting go of Richie’s arm to open the green plastic trashcan that sat there, pulling out a 6 liter each of Sprite and Diet Coke.
“Jackpot!” Shiv shouts, shaking the bottles a little and watching the tiny bubbles move around the sides.
“ Keep it down, man! ” Richie scolds in a whisper, grabbing one of the bottles from him. They rushed around the back before hurrying down the street again. They were out of breath by the time Shiv pulled both of them into an alley. The lighting was dim, as the streetlight barely slipped into the thin stretch of concrete. Trashcans lined the side, though it seemed most of the trash was outside of the actual bins. As the pale light illuminated Richie’s annoyed face, Shiv couldn’t help but be reminded of their first semi-friendly meeting. It was the first time he’d been able to talk to anyone about… anything, really, at least since that night at the docks. He had wondered soon after if he had said too much, spilling his guts like that to someone who was basically a stranger. It sort of scared him how, despite his apprehension, he had told Richie so easily. He felt like he'd just dropped everything on him at the first sign of comradery and had thus been tight-lipped about most things ever since. Despite this, Richie didn’t press to know more and neither had Shiv. They’d fallen into a routine of bumping into each other, and he had a feeling neither wanted to ruin it. He found that he’d begun to get lost in his thoughts and quickly redirected his mind to the task at hand.
“Let’s do this thing!” He exclaimed, opening the Sprite and noting Richie’s amused grin. As Richie sat back to watch on a half-collapsed box, Shiv unzipped his jacket and pulled out the mento container from the inner pocket, tossing half the mentos in the bottle and dropping the bottle haphazardly on the ground, waiting for the soda to fizz out the top. He was disappointed, though, when the soda simply raised a little in the bottle and settled down again, the mentos lying like depressed rocks at the bottom of the bottle. He looked to Richie to see a shit-eating grin and an I-told-you-so look in his eyes, but simply snatched the Diet Coke from him to try again.
“Dude, it’s not going to work,” Richie said, still smiling with a hint of friendly mockery in his voice.
“Says you,” Shiv retorted, only half paying attention as he dropped the rest of the Mentos into the Diet Coke. He backed away quickly, but once again the soda only fizzed a little, although slightly less feeble than the previous attempt.
Richie began to laugh at the look of dejection on Shiv’s face and nearly tumbled off the box with the force of his laughter.
“Y-You- I told you!” Richie spoke between gasps, trying to pull himself together.
Shiv turned to face him better, crossing his arms and painting his features with faux anger. “You know,” he said, “if we weren’t friends I’d totally kick your ass for laughing at me.”
Richie’s laughter doubled at Shiv’s words, and Shiv felt a smile grow on his lips. He was sure he looked a bit silly with his dazed smile, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been around someone who would laugh genuinely at his jokes and who he could call a real friend .
When Richie’s laughter settled down he looked back up at Shiv and gave him a bemused smile in return, “What’s with that look?”
Shiv simply shook his head. “Nothing. You want a Snickers?” He asked, holding out said candy loosely and wiggling it at Richie.
Richie blinked at the sudden subject change, looking warily at the Snickers and raising a dubious eyebrow.
“You steal that too?”
“Nah, this is the one I bought,” Shiv said, tossing the bar to Richie who fumbled before grabbing it securely. Shiv then pulled out the other bar, unwrapped it, and took a bite before speaking again, holding it in the air. “ This is the one I stole.”
Richie gave him a disapproving look, but he clearly had no heart in it, as he then opened his own candy bar.
“Besides,” Shiv said, a thought coming to him, “You and I totally stole these soda bottles, so you shouldn’t care if it’s stolen candy.” He grinned cheekily at Richie.
Richie paused momentarily before stuttering, “W-Well, that’s- I mean that’s different ! They didn’t want them anymore… and it’s already paid for-!”
Shiv just raised an eyebrow, “ Still stealing !~”
Richie gave him a playful glare. It felt comfortable. Banter between friends. Shiv plopped down on a box next to him, still holding on to that stupid smile. There was a moment of silence before he schooled his face and turned to Richie.
“... Wanna drink the soda?”
Richie’s glare turned solemn. “You better fucking not.”