Thirst

Poppin' Bubbles

                                      Chapter 10: Poppin' Bubbles

Daniel woke up in his chubby body once again, realizing that he still had to go to work and he was exactly 30 minutes late. He was praying that his boss wouldn't fire him.

Daniel quickly rolled out of Jay's bed and picked up his shoes from where his other body had placed them.

He hurried out of the room leaving the bed undone vowing to do something to pay Jay back for leaving his bed in that condition as he hurried to the front door.

He peeked into the living room where he saw Jay carrying his other body, curiosity on what Jay would do with his other body made Daniel stay.

He watched Jay walk out of the room as Daniel moved himself out of sight before Jay could see him and question him.

He tip-toed after Jay who carried the other Daniel into his bedroom, peering in the doorway after Jay.

Jay seemed to be distressed when he didn't see the chubby Daniel in the room as he frantically looked about after placing the taller Daniel down to rest.

Daniel couldn't help but laugh as Jay checked everywhere: under the bed, under the dresser, inside the dresser shelves, inside the revolving closet, the bathroom, even inside the toilet, before Jay settled down onto the bed next to Daniel.

He covered his face in his hands looking devastated. Daniel felt guilty once he saw how worried Jay was before he cleared his throat from the doorway.

Jay looked up at his chubbier form, a smile in relief as he stood up and walked towards him.

"..."

"Oh, I was looking for you and Daniel but I guess I wandered a bit too far. Sorry for worrying you." Daniel lied again, he was making tally marks internally at this point he was going to pay Jay back each time he lied to him, he promised to himself.

Jay patted Daniel's shoulder.

"..."

"Oh I have to go to the store, I'm late and I don't have time to take Daniel back home so can he spend the night here?" Daniel asked as Jay nodded his head.

"..."

"Huh? You'll walk me to the store? You need to buy something? Uh... sure I could use the company." Daniel smiled as Jay went to go choose something to wear since he obviously wasn't going to walk around town in a robe.

Seriously.

Why would he?

Chubby Daniel waited at the front door until Jay emerged wearing a similar tracksuit to the one Daniel wore with a black plaid scarf and converse.

After Jay locked the door behind them, the two began walking to the convenience store.

Chubby Daniel kept small talk as Jay nodded here and there, a comfortable aura between the two of them.

Jay felt his fangs poke a bit as he popped in a piece of the familiar mint gum and began chewing away at it, the blood lust going away like before.

Maybe it was because it was for too long that Jay resisted drinking blood that the suppressants didn't work and the fact that Daniel's blood was triggering it, but after reluctantly taking some Jay was fine using the suppressants.

He hoped that it would last for awhile.

Once chubby Daniel and Jay reached the store, the manager stood there once the doors open with a disappointed look on his face.

"Daniel, this is the longest time you've been late...." the manager started but stopped once he saw Jay step forward in front of Daniel.

Jay bowed in apology as Daniel fret over the fact that Jay was taking the blame.

"No Jay, it's my fault I lost track of time! Don't apologize for me." Daniel said as the manager looked between the two before an idea came to his mind.

"How about this blonde fella right here work with you to make up for the time you made me waste to handle your position, each minute is how many days he has to work with you." the manager said as Daniel felt even worse for Jay having to suffer when he possibly had better things to do.

"No sir, don't drag Jay into this he was-" Jay cut Daniel off as he nodded in agreement.

The manager meanwhile thought to himself as Daniel borrowed a work uniform since he left his at home and Jay wore one that Daniel had found for him, 'With one handsome dude, we'll get more customers in a flash.'

The manager smiled at the thought of getting more money before waving the two boys off and heading home.

The store was empty as Jay and Daniel stood next to each other behind the counter.

Daniel gulped as he said, "I'm sorry Jay, I'm taking up your time again and now you're forced to work here for at least 40 days."

Jay looked at Daniel who was looking down at his hands before patting the shorter one's head who looked up at him and gave him a reassuring 'It's alright' smile.

"..."

"Thanks Jay, you're a good person," Daniel smiled as he turned to look at the doors opening and a panting Vasco came in.

"Hi Vasco!" Daniel said as Jay slightly shifted uncomfortably.

"Little Daniel, you're okay! I ran around for an hour worried that you got mugged on your way to work!" Vasco panted as he looked at Jay with a surprised look, "You have a new work partner?"

Daniel scratched his head, Vasco usually worked with him in the store and scared off threatening customers.

"Yeah, but it's temporary. I sorta dragged Jay into this mess and long story short he has to work here for at least 40 days." Daniel said as Vasco looked at Jay who stared back.

"We can have a party!" Vasco said when he realized that the three of them could hang out when the customers weren't in.

Daniel smiled as he saw Vasco's enthusiasm with extra company as he looked at Jay blow a bubble with his mint gum.

Vasco and Daniel stared in awe as the bubble grew bigger and bigger before Daniel realized that Jay had fallen asleep.

Standing up.

Daniel held back laughter as Vasco reached over and poked the bubble.

POP!

Jay jolted when pieces of the gum fell on him as Vasco looked sad at the bursted bubble and Daniel covered his mouth and held back a giggle.

"...?"

"You fell asleep Jay, so Vasco woke you up by bursting your bubble!" Daniel said as Vasco let a single tear fall for the dead bubble.

R.I.P. Mint gum bubble, you will be missed.

Jay tilted his head as he fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and cleaned the gum bits off.

The problem now was getting the gum off his bangs.

Vasco suggested scissors as Daniel told Vasco that Jay would have an uneven haircut that would make it look like Eli of the Beauty Department ran into him and convinced him to cut his hair.

So the next few hours were spent pulling gum bits out of Jay's bangs all while Jay snuck in tic-tacs to keep his blood-lust in check.