Danti One Shots

·The Little Drummer Boy· (pt. three)

just a little warning that perspectives change in this one! in the previous chapters for The Little Drummer Boy, it was all in Dark's (first person) perspective, but this time it'll be written in third person!

Anti stood there in front of the tree with his mouth open, gaping like a fish out of water. The tree was absolutely beautiful. Wild flowers surround the base of the stump and Wisteria vines crawl up the ancient tree and shrouded it with an ethereal beauty. What caught Anti's attention the most though was the hole in the tree. The hole looked like an entrance into the hollow of the stump, about three feet wide and two feet tall, enough for someone to crawl through.

Sunlight faded through the leaves and cast golden rays across the ground. There were rocks and logs that scattered the floor of the forest and they were all covered with a layer of moss that turned out to be very thick and plush when Anti leaned down to touch it. He gaspedand pushed his had further into the moss, watching as it dipped and gave way to his hand like memory foam.

"It's like a damn bed it's so soft," Anti exclaimed.

Dark smiled at his child-like wonderment. "I know right," He replied. "I even took some and put it in the bottom of the tree so that it was more comfortable when I sat in there."

Anti's eyes lit up. "Dude, I'm totally sitting in there."

And he did, he gets down in all fours and crawls into the small space. The inside of the tree was bigger than the opening, of course, and the floor was indeed soft with moss. Dark crawled in after him. It was a tight squeeze, enough so that Dark and Anti couldn't sit anywhere without some parts of their bodies touching, so Dark and Anti settled with sitting side-by-side, practically glued together by the shoulders and knees.

"This is so awesome, Dark, this is like some shit you'd expect to only read about in books." Anti ran a hand over the inside of the tree as he talked, tracing delicately over the intricate lines of the natural texture of the wood.

"Oh yeah, I felt like a entered a different world when I first found it." Dark spoke back to him in the low-light of the hollow.

Little light came through the entrance, making everything below their knees visible (of which were tucked up against their chests), so if they were to see each others faces they'd have to sit in the dark a while longer to be able to see at least the outlines of the others features.

"How did you come across this place?" Anti questioned.

Dark picked at the moss near his bum, not exactly sure what to say. He gave up on fighting his inner dilemma and decided to tell the truth, or at the very least snippets of it.

"My parents are pretty strict, and this town is small. Sometimes, it feels like I'll never be able to experience a world outside of here, and I'll only ever be able to see it from TVs or magazines, through other people's words and eyes, not my own," Dark continued very softly, feeling weak. "So one day when I was like, eleven or so, I finished my homework early enough to play outside while it was still light, so I could play with the neighborhood kids. We wanted to play hide-and-seek, but like an actual hard game instead of easily finding people behind cars and stuff, you know?" He couldn't tell what Anti's exact reactions were, but he could somewhat feel him nodding along. "So one guy said, 'let's go to the woods', and I, the desperate child I was for adventure, excitedly went along. We came to that same path I took you on. I was told to count and the others went running off to hide, and while I was looking for them, I stumbled across this place. I've been coming here ever since, not very often though since my parents have been becoming much more strict with curfews and shit."

Dark felt Anti shift beside him, and he didn't know why he was so anxious for Anti's thoughts. It wasn't like he did anything illegal and just confessed it all for Anti to judge him on, but this place felt like his own secret relief for his small hometown, and sharing it with Anti felt very personal. Did he want validation? Was that it?

"Damn dude, that really sucks, I'd teach your parents a thing or two about raising a kid. You can't shelter your children, or else they'll never learn how to live and they'll be scared of the world around them. Isn't that the whole point of having kids? Like, seeing the world through their eyes, relishing the way they react to simple things like a bee on a flower?" Anti got more passionate as he spoke, bolder. "Fuck, I'd like to tell your parents off."

Dark smiled stupidly. He was already growing so fond of Anti, and it was a bit scary, but not enough for him to be backing away anytime soon.

"I never really thought about it that way before," and he really hadn't.

He always assumed people just had kids because that's the way it was, it was just what people did, how they've been doing it for centuries. Now though, with Anti's new input, there were a lot more questions. He wondered if his own parents thought of him and his brother that way. Dark wondered if they enjoyed seeing him accomplish new things, learn about little details that made his heart spark with joy, he wondered so desperately if they truly wanted children in the first place.

Anti and Dark sat there for a bit in a comfortable silence, though Dark's mind was soon plagued with thoughts of what his parents would do when he returned home. He was positive the school called them to inform that Dark hadn't come to school, and they'd surely be extremely pissed. Dark's hands started to get clammy. He had so much fun with Anti today, but he realized that it wasn't the best idea, skipping out on school. He wanted to believe that skinny dipping and filling up on Crazy Ricky's food and simply relaxing in a forest with Anti was all worth the eventual lectures, freedoms taken away, and punishments when he returned to his parents.

But he couldn't, he couldn't believe it. It was his own fault that he'd be getting these punishments from his parents, so there was no reason for him to deserve such a wondrous day.

Dark looked down and moved his arm out into the light so that he could see what time it was.

2:15 pm.

School usually dismissed at 3:30 pm, and he'd get home around 4:00 pm because of the bus ride and walk home.

Maybe the school didn't call his parents and he'd be able to play dumb, but Dark knew that was only wishful thinking.

As if Anti sensed his distress, the boy shuffled awkwardly.

"Did you enjoy today?" He asked nervously.

Dark took a moment to reply. "I did, though I'm not sure how to explain my missing from school to my mom and dad."

Anti gulped comically. Shit, did he put Dark in a bad spot?

"Will... you be okay when you go back home?" Anti asked.

"Sure, I'll be fine. I'll probably get grounded at most." Dark lied, he didn't want Anti to worry.

Anti nodded, still unsure.

He really hoped everything would be okay.