killjoy - joshler

showers

josh awoke to his mattress softly bouncing rhythmically, opening his groggy eyes and watching his room bounce with him. he looked to the foot of his bed slowly, his already squinted eyes getting even more squinted when he saw tyler in a crisscross-applesauce position at his feet, bouncing on his butt.

"what are you doing?" josh asked, yawning into his hand.

"your morning voice is weird." tyler commented, trailing his brown eyes to the books on josh's little shelf next to his computer. "do you have anything on hybrids?"

"i don't know, ty. check." josh got up, making his way to the bathroom to freshen up.

he groaned when tyler came up behind him, eyes curious.

"what are you doing?" tyler asked behind his shoulder, looking at him in the mirror.

"i'm...brushing...my teeth." josh said, uncomfortable as he did his daily routine.

tyler watched as josh scrubbed his teeth, wondering what the hell he was doing that for.

"you want to try it?" josh asked, seeing how he looked.

"is it safe? will i die?"

"am i dead?" josh asked.

"well, you do look pretty-"

"okay! here." josh opened one of the many drawers underneath the sink, handing tyler a new toothbrush.

he always kept travel sizes in case he needed to leave somewhere. he never knew why, or where he'd even go, but he just liked having them for emergencies.

tyler opened the packaging, holding the toothbrush in his hands. he copied josh when he put the toothpaste onto the bristles, beginning to brush his teeth.

"this tastes like ass." tyler said, doing his best to brush his teeth, too.

"it's supposed to taste minty."

"yeah. ass."

"i thought you said swearing is bad."

"it's only bad when you say it. i'm cool, so i have rights."

"oh."

josh spit in the sink, washing it out and rinsing his mouth out. he left tyler to do the same, making his way over to the shower and turning on the water. tyler was still in the bathroom just as josh was about to take off his clothes, making a face.

"is that was people do? get naked in front of strangers?" tyler asked, josh rolling his eyes again.

"no, you have to get out."

tyler shrugged, leaving the bathroom and closing the door behind him. he waited right outside of it, though, bored. if this was the life that regular people lived, he was almost glad he was something else. he rested his forehead on the door, hearing the water stop after some time. he didn't hear josh's voice, beginning to get a little worried.

did he die?

he opened the bathroom door after a while, seeing josh in the steam. he had his clothes on for the day already, his hair wet.

"why are you-"

"oh, my god! can you please knock of something? what if i was still naked?" josh shouted.

"that would be embarrassing. for you."

josh huffed. "you should take a shower, too."

"are you calling me smelly?" tyler asked.

"yes. you smell like pennies."

"that's my natural scent." tyler defended.

"take one."