ᗷOOᗰEᖇ
"Come'n, get off your lazy ass!" a voice grunts. I feel someone grip my arm and pull and then a whoosh of air and the hard smack of my body hitting the ground.
"Ouch! What was that for?" I hiss, glaring up at Brandon. He smiles down at me and the next thing i know a thick sheet obscures my vision. The blanket.
I sit up, pushing the sheet onto the floor next to me and look around. I catch a glimpse of Brandon's tan cloak disappearing into the kitchen and gape when I see Bubbles. She is sitting cross legged on an armchair, sipping from a small glass and watching me with wide blue eyes. I gulp and push myself back onto the couch, throwing the blanket up next to me.
"Good morning," I say, coughing lightly. Brandon comes back in and hands me a clear glass filled with brown liquid. "What this?"
"Something to wake you up," he says, sitting on the blanket. I lean my nose into the glass and sniff, instantly taking my head out and putting the glass as far away from me as possible.
"It smells disgusting!" I hiss, scrunching my nose. Bubbles giggles and sips her own glass.
"Just drink it and be grateful," Brandon says with a roll of his golden eyes. I suck in a breath and let it out. I bring the cup up to my mouth, sniffing again and glancing sadly at him. "Well go on."
I sigh and place my lips on the glass. I suck down a small slip which actually doesn't have much flavor, just really grainy....i spit out the stuff while Brandon bursts out laughing next to me. I stick out my tongue and look down. Sand.
"Awe you twying to kwill me?!" I tell, scraping off the partials from my tongue. Brandon coughs, catching his breath and Bubbles covers her mouth with her hand trying to hide her laughter.
"All I said was it was something to wake you up, did it not do it's purpose?" Brandon asks, his breath finally regained. I spit out a few last grains and wipe off my mouth. Gross.
"You're mental, aren't you?" I gasp, glaring at him. Brandon shrugs modestly and Bubbles gives up holding in her laugh.
"I'm sorry, Tyler, it was my idea," she apologizes, holding up a hand. Tyler? Brandon looks between us, smiling.
"You know each other?" he asks, smiling at me as if he knew something I didn't.
"We're traveling together, but we got separated," Bubbles explains, lying so bluntly I almost didn't even catch it.
"Shame," Brandon shakes his head and regains his smile. "So Tyler? Where'd your mom get that name from?"
I glance at Bubbles but she leans back in the chair and glances her eyes on me. I guess it's my turn to lie.
"My moms insane, I've got a brother names Brick," I laugh. I look at Bubbles and something flashes dangerously behind her eyes, as if she's trying to warn me?
"Brick, I guess it's not that uncommon of a name," Brandon says, his tone getting lower. I gulp but hide it in a laugh. Don't say too much, got it.
"I guess not," I agree. Brandon narrows his eyes at me for a moment and then smiles, nodding at me.
"Got a brother named Butch too?" he asks trying to make it seem like a joke. My body tightens but I hide it with a laugh.
"Butch? Isn't that a dogs name? No, just me and Brick," I agree. Brandon's smile fades slightly.
"So where you two off to next?" he asks. Brandon's earlier innocent curiosity was now turning into obsession. He was asking a lot of personal questions.
"Just wandering about, sight seeing," Bubbles says, reaching out her hand to me. I grab it without hesitation. I needed something for my hands to grab or I'd give my lies away. I'm a horrible liar.
"On foot?" Brandon continues. Bubbles blushes slightly, opening her mouth to speak.
"Our trekker got stuck in the sand during the storm," I say quickly, already regretting my words.
"Really?" Brandon asks in surprise.
"Really," Bubbles laughs, glaring at me from the corner of her eye. I ruined whatever plan she had created that's for sure. "Buried under a pile of sand. We almost didn't make it out."
"Well that is a shame," Brandon says, scanning his eyes over us. I grip tighter to Bubbles' hand and force a smile. "Well I hope you were all happy here, but I'm sure you want to go back to sight seeing?"
"Yes, so much more to see," I agree, softening my grip in Bubbles hand.
"Thank you again," she says, getting up and still holding my hand. I nod in agreement and follow her out of the room, my muscles stiff until we close the door behind us. "come on, dear."
I was confused at first until I saw a small movement of white from the corner of my eye. "Let's go!" I cheer. Now it was Bubbles turn to grip to my hand.
We exit the building without glancing back and Bubbles leads me to a small shack with camels.
"Excuse me, sir? Do you know how much a camel is?" she asks, looking at the man. I turn away, looking around the street when my eye catches clothes in a window. I watch as people glance oddly at us as they pass.
"We need new clothes," I whisper to her. The man had disappeared to her a camel and my voice made her jump.
"What do you mean?" she hisses back.
"We look like sore thumbs in our clothes. There's a shop right across the street, come on," I say, starting towards the shop. Bubbles glances at the stalls, sighs and runs after me.
I push past the door, making the wood creak and look around. An old lady sits in a stool behind a counter, her gray hair slipping from a bun and her head tipped back in her slumber.
Bubbles and I split off in different direction, going to search for our clothes. I find a tan cloak that buttons under the neck and a white shirt with tan pants. I head back to try them on when I see a bottle.
"Black hair die," I read aloud. I glance around and shrug, grabbing the bottle. Our bright hair gives us away from miles away.
I wait at the door, already changed in my outfit and died my hair, for Bubbles. After another few minutes she comes out. She's in a dark brown cloak with a tan dress underneath and her hair taken from its ponytail, let down in black curls.
"You look..." I stop, unable to hide my blush.
"You too," she compliments, smiling. I smile back at her and she stops at the desk, putting down money before we leave.
"So where to now?" I ask, walking down the street. Besides our bright blue eyes we were like any other person here.
"The girls will bring your brothers back to base," Bubbles explains.
"Base? You never said anything about a base?" I say curiously. Bubbles nods under her cloak and lifts her shoulders.
"I never really had a need too, and by the way you jumped to conclusions back there," she looks at me, reminding me of my accusation from back in the desert. My cheeks heat up and I look down.
"I'm sorry, but what was I supposed to think. You had just kid napped me!" I whisper quietly. Bubbles laughs lightly and pulls her hood over her face.
"It's fine, but I just want you to know I'm not going to hurt you...or take your powers," she says.
"That was just an act?" I guess.
"We were still near Mojo and by the looks of it we still are. I had to be careful with what I revealed," she says, glancing around. We duck past a few people in the crowd until Bubbles hits into someone and falls backwards. I grab her hand, helping her up and look up to apologize when I see two steely gold eyes.
Uh-oh? Can their disguises hide them enough or will he see through? If you're wondering Brandon and Britney are robots who kept track of their progress. Next one-Brick and finally Blossom! im really excited for that chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!
