First ever g/t story I've ever written and ever posting! Please enjoy this little David figuring out how to face (and perhaps fall in love with) a Goliath. :D
If anybody asks, please tell them it was the biggest blunder of his life, that he’ll still be embarrassed if you bring it up, and it was all his brother's fault.
Tell them it was the worst birthday of their lives up to this point. Even worse than their 28th. I mean, this time, security got involved. And that was the year David got shrunk, so that's saying something.
And yet, at least a story could be made of it.
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Danny Chu pouted, the bathroom door to their studio apartment in New York City swinging back and forth, as he, the younger twin, a teeteringly-29 year old who acted like 12, swung the door open and shut with his weight. His hoodie sleeves were sliding down, and messy electric blue hair was fading a bit, black at the roots ,and it contrasted heavily with that smile that never did.
He looked at his older twin brother, who didn’t look back at him. He knew that this conversation would end the way they usually did, which was nowhere. And there wasn’t a place he really needed to be. David matched the dark setting his place on the shelf gave him. There he was, disheveled. Watching some doctor drama on his relatively TV-sized phone.
“No.” David Chu kept his eyes on the oversized phone screen. “Whatever it is, no.”
“You know that it’s been 2 years since we did something for our birthday?”
“No.” Daniel shut him down. “You may be tiny.”
“Mi-ni-fric-ken-scule.” Danny drew out, pouting his lip. David cocked his head to the side, glaring, finally at his brother.
“But,” Danny poked him on the chest playfully, always slightly feeling surreal at how easy it was to push him off balance a little, a Goliath comparably, robbing the five-inch-tall David of every ounce of seriousness. “You’re not devoid of fun.”
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It seemed as comical and unbelievable as it did in the present day. Ten years ago, a sort of shrinking virus broke out. It's only effect was shrinking normal people down to a diabolical 4-6 inches tall.
Some theorized it was some form of extreme and early osteosarcopenia, though that was a very loose and inaccurate definition. It was more of an atomic reaction: a mutated sort of reduction based on… well, David could explain it best, as he was (had been) a medical student in his final year of residency, a licensed physician in training, and now… he rarely wanted to talk about it. After falling from the cusp of becoming everything he (and his parents) dreamed of.
He’d always known it was a possibility. Blood tests indicated his family was predisposed, if ever so slightly. His family was more likely than the average person to come down with it, but it was so rare, David remembered Danny would joke about it. The chances of winning the lottery jackpot were higher. So was a plane crashing, or lightning to strike someone once, twice, and thrice.
David tested positive when he was 27. He didn’t remember much between finding out he had the virus (through the worst phone call of his life), and finding himself sitting in a hospital bed in a bed colossally too large, after relatively safely undergoing the shrinking process. He, at the very least, preferred not to sleep in the “apartments” which were repurposed terrariums the hospital put aside for the “shrunken” patients. It would have been a normal sized bed there, relatively. And he should have stayed there, because he was shrunken. David still felt the limina of a flinch when he heard the word. Shrunken. It sounded unreal. It still felt unreal.
The loneliness David felt was due in part to how only a small number of people were affected each year. The shrinking rate was comically small, and nobody remembered it existed. The disease would pop up every now and then as the odd fun-fact, an episode in a documentary, an anomaly. David himself, basically a doctor, hadn’t really studied up on it. He had no idea it would be like this. Had he been able to go back in time, he’d advocate for more accommodations in place for those like him. But he couldn’t think of that now. He found his head blank most of the time, full of tin foil and static stuffing his head. It didn’t feel good, and he didn’t know how to stop it. To make it worse, their 28th birthday was shortly after that too. David had hoped to be a doctor by then. On that day, the twins stayed up late on the roof, lying down, looking at the stars. David got cold, so Danny asked if he wanted to stay in his pocket. David nodded. He refused to drink, or talk really, just like most of the other days. He was 28 now: living in his parents’ bookshelf in New Jersey with a medical education useless to him and of course – no license. He was also shivering in a jean jacket pocket. Danny felt even more empty when he felt his brother shaking. Danny cupped a warm hand over him.
The only time he did utter a word that night was when he agreed to move with Danny to New York City. David simply said, “okay.”
Then, Danny got drunk and rambled about how his music career was taking off in New York, making sure David was warm under his hand, as he stayed next to his twin all night, compromising that way. But really, how could you drink to that?
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There must have been something in the air that day. That must be it. Or something in the water. A chemical in the apartment wall paint that emerged on January 31st, that made David agree to do something for their shared birthday. And this something, he should have guessed – as his brother was a DJ – was clubbing.
“And where exactly would I go?” David questioned, somewhat playing around with the idea.
“And a bookshelf is more so.” Gesturing at the shelf where David ate, slept, and worked in. David had long grown shameless of that fact. “But seriously, you can stand by the DJ table. Maybe you can help me scratch the discs!”
“Let’s start small.” David offered. “A movie. A nice theater. Or a nice dinner at a nice restaurant. Isn’t there that-”
“Come on now.” Danny knew he got him: David was beginning to compromise, and slowly Danny would get his way by pushing. That’s why he was smiling. David kind of hated how Danny smiled when he knew David would fold. David also hated how his brother interrupted him. It didn’t happen often, only when Danny got excited about something. “I got booked for today. Incredibly nice club. Nice crowd.”
“Who’s going to be there?”
“My friends! Well, acquaintances too. A few stretches. Strangers mostly. It’ll be small, I promise.”
“None of my friends, huh?”
“Unless you reached out to one of them in the past couple years.” Danny said pointedly.
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“I don’t want to talk to anyone.” David softly said. There he was, only 3 weeks shrunk, sitting on the edge of his desk. The sunlight was pouring in, they were still in Boston, Massachusetts where Danny was helping David pack the rest of things. He was no longer a physician-in-training. He no longer owned this tiny apartment that he never really hung out in, always out working, studying, living. David had just come away from weeks of explaining this predicament to his landlord, his hospital, and his associates… but no one close to him. He wasn’t ready for that. And he was tired of all of it already.
His feet swung back and forth over the edge, a more than 50-story-drop relatively, and David realized that he was no longer afraid of heights. This was not out of bravery, but apathy.
“You should tell Aaliya and Evan–”
“I don’t want to become their burden. They have so much on their plate. Residency. Newlyweds. They don’t need all of this too.”
“You need to at least tell Avi.”
David sucked in a breath. He found that he held all of that fear he still had, and let it release over the cliff until he felt nothing.
“I’ll tell Avi.” He breathed out. I’ll tell him I need to go. I’ll tell him I want to end it. I’ll break up. I’ll disappear. But I don’t need to tell Avi why.”
“You’re going to break his heart.” Daniel warned. “He’d understand. He’d understand all of this.”
“I know.” David let the tears flow, or really, hang. He wasn’t used to how they still hung in his eye sockets, something about how the water he produced was too little to let gravity make it fall down his face, God, he couldn’t even cry correctly. He couldn’t even do that anymore. That contributed to his apathy.
“He’d understand and throw away his life trying to take care of… whatever this is.” David held his face in his hands, as he still didn’t like staring down. He lied. He was still afraid.
“Why not let him love you then?”
“Because I love him. That’s why.”
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They arrived on time, some of Danny’s buddies handling setup, getting crowds warm, all that jazz. Danny was technically on the clock, but the club owner knew it was his birthday, so, aptly, on principle, he was supposed to be lax.
While making their way there, Danny whispered to his pocket, “This is going to be great.”
This was the first time David left the apartment in two years for something fun. Anything that wasn’t grocery shopping (he liked picking out the good produce from the secrecy of Danny’s pocket sometimes), doctor’s appointments, and trips home to Jersey. Those, in itself, were few and far between too. So, as David sat in the pocket of Danny’s mustardy, burnt orange corduroy jacket, he couldn’t help but shiver out of nervousness and the surrounding snow. And when they got there, at least it was warm. What he should have expected was that it would be loud too. The party was already going. And then David realized how this, very much, wasn’t his scene. It never had been, even in college. Even as a fully grown adult. But Daniel was excited, and for his sake, David steeled himself.
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Danny had been, before David came down with this insane virus, the black sheep of the family. The black sheep with bright blue hair. The blue sheep who loved EDM, R&B, and all sounds scratched and mixed by a computer.
He was a musician, and very much not exactly what his parents wanted. This was apparent as the pair grew up, as the two tacitly decided that David would be the golden child, and Danny could do whatever he wanted. The two bristled at the tradeoff all their lives, and never were really that close after middle school. They simply existed next to each other without a thing in common, the way the sky and the ground see each other every day, but never touch. Sometimes Danny grew jealous of David’s praise from their parents, sometimes David was angry at how easy Danny had it, but the system worked. They grew close only after this dynamic fell apart.
When this happened to David, their parents did not exactly… take it well. They could barely even look at David for the first month, much less speak to him. Danny was his awkward caretaker. Every now and then, Danny picked a conversation. David thoughtlessly responded.
At some point, it fell to silence. Danny couldn’t stand that. So one day, after pondering their entire lives up to that point, feeling pity of course, but also wanting something to change, he said this.
“Don’t worry, by mass, I’m still a bigger disappointment.” And in one sentence on one day, everything broke. Both boys broke into peels of laughter. David even cried.
“Are you sure about that?” David asked, wiping away tears.
And in those following months, both boys finally caught up with one another. Secrets and resentments were dispensed. And eventually, David grew so comfortable with his brother that they decided to move to New York City together for Danny’s career, if only to get away from how his parents acted around him. Things weren’t perfect. David got a remote job at a call center to help pay rent, as the next two years were full of small successes on Danny’s end, while David stuck to his routine. It wasn’t a bad life. But it wasn’t quite living.
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It was becoming kind of a disaster. Daniel was stuck manning the turntable ALL night at the club. Danny had been right about one thing at least: the place was nice. Packed to the brim, people got down on the swirling dance floor, enhanced by gorgeous lights and loud clothes. The headliner had not shown up, and there was no room for a break. The club owner was pissed about that, so he stayed pissed at everything else, which ruffled Danny even more. Out of anger and frustration, Daniel continuously apologized and joked frantically with the tiny man in his pocket, who didn’t want to leave the slight security he had from there. This was becoming the worst of both of them. Danny was straining under the restriction, angry and axious about spoiling his twin's first night out. Therefore, Danny also downed many drinks. This made David incredibly concerned, as Danny’s movements became wilder, as Danny slowly forgot how to be careful.
"THIS is stupid!" Danny said, throwing his hands up, doing the job of course, but doing it upset. "I was told this was only going to last an hour or two..."
"It's fine, I can just stay here, and-"
"I'm getting another drink." Danny said, tired. "This is a bust. So, I'mmm... just going to leave this running."
With that, he just left the track running as he forced his way through the dance floor, jostling his way through the people. David ducked into the pocket, feeling horrible, especially because he felt afraid. Normal people scared him, if only because of danger and carelessness. He didn't like the feeling.
"You need to-" David started, as Danny finally broke through the crowd.
At this point, Danny wasn't listening. He was just feeling lousy about himself. For showing Davy a bad time, for still taking sucky jobs. And that's why he ordered another one.
"At least they're free! Want one?" Danny laughed. "Ha, it's fine, I know you don't."
And just like that, Danny cut his way through the sea, but this time, the music was louder, more popular, more known. Everyone knew this song. Suddenly, the crowd began to jump and scream to the beat of the music. If they were wild before, they were feral now. In congruence, Danny had to sort of jump with them. The lights bleared green and red and blue, and it was nauseating. David saw it, he couldn't just duck in the pocket, he panicked as he was jostled up and down, crying for Danny. But it got worse. The beat steadied, and David's heart fell: the music was heading toward a beat drop. Everyone who wasn't dancing before rushed to the middle of dance floor. They begun crowding, and now, Danny seriously couldn't make his way out. The music slowly built, and Danny was dancing with it. He was following. He forgot.
"Stop, stop jumping!" The beat sped up, the pitch raising deafeningly.
"Please stop!" David begged. Silence in the club, save for the tiny.
The beat dropped. Hyped, Danny jumped up and down as hard as he could.
David tumbled to the floor, unable to hold on any longer, and that seemed like the end. He burnt with helplessness when he hit the floor, luckily, he didn't seem to have broken anything (the shrunken were supposedly more durable), but his back, it hurt bad, it seemed thrown out of alignment. The world was ablaze in steps and skyscrapers of legs, and David couldn’t get away from motion, the floor itself was constantly shifting hues. He couldn't distinguish Danny from the crowd. His heart quickened. He cried for Danny. He screamed for help. Was this how it was going to end? At the very least, he felt something again, gone was the emptiness, as he found that he passionately wanted to get out of this alive. He leaped out of the way of a Chelsea boot, feeling the dread slosh within him, as he felt himself trip when he landed. David's adrenaline was too quick, his mind not matching with his movements, as he struggled to right himself back up. In the most honest part of his heart, he knew it was futile. He just hoped it wouldn’t be a high heel that did him in, unless, well, maybe that would hurt less. He felt like giving up. Happy 30th.
But no. In a second, a rough hand scooped him off the floor, and in the blearing lights of the evening and the sting of his own embarrassment, David couldn’t make out who it was.
This normal-sized man with really dry hands shuffled to the outside deck. It was gorgeous outside. It was actually quiet, the muffling of the crowd unnoticeable. Gargantuan buildings reduced to their tiny windows of light as their highlighting feature. David felt his eyes try to avert themselves there, pinpoint two to stare at, as opposed to looking at the gargantuan figure that held him.
“Thank you.” He eked out.
“Sorry about that.” This man said at the same time.
David, despite how absolutely pathetic he felt, couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you saying sorry? You, you probably saved my life.”
“Yes, but, I could have done it gently. Rate your rescue.”
David took a pause. This man was smiling, looking down at his tiny figure, and not out of amusement. Huh.
“I’d rather not be in that situation ever again. I will avoid it as much as I can– but if it came down to it… I’d say your hands are pretty rough.”
“Gloves too perhaps. Sanitation."
“Ah,” He snapped his fingers crisply. “Didn’t think of that.”
“Next time you better bring a silk pillow.”
David couldn’t help but talk, even as he didn’t know what he was saying, bantering involuntarily, but apparently it was funny because the tall man laughed some more. He stared up at the guy. Tall, obviously. Dark, curly hair, dark eyes with the light spark Daniel’s eyes have, but warmer than his. He wore a green shirt with the tri-force on it, with jeans and a fleece lined jacket, and a pair of glasses balanced on his nose with a high nose bridge. Stubble too. Handsome too.
Without another word, and with a surprising amount of care, he went over and placed David on one of the high cocktail tables.
“I’m going to go get us something to drink.” He pointed his thumb back to the bar. “What would you like?”
“Old Fashioned.” David spoke continuously absentmindedly. He realized this was the first person he’s talked to in two years in-person. One that wasn’t a doctor, or family.
Just like that, he went away and came right back again with two drinks, and David didn’t move an inch. When Jack came back, he only smiled, and placed down a relatively huge Old Fashioned, and a huge piña colada with two colorful swords sticking in bits of pineapple.
"Look at that, I got three pineapples!" He exclaimed childishly. David stayed quiet.
Danny picked his keys out of his pocket and saw there was a little Lego figure keychain on one of them, a funny little trinket. It was a mini replica of the tall man himself with a Lego coffee cup in its hand. David gaped at how Jack plucked it from the Lego’s cupped hand and gingerly placed it on the table next to the oversized drink. For once, there was a dish that was slightly too small for David. David didn’t say anything, just quietly picking up the cup in his hands. Relatively, it was still slightly awkwardly sized, between the size of a shot glass and a full mug, but it was deeply felt. The tall man proceeded to get a corner of a sanitizing wipe from his bag and ripped off an edge for him.
“Here, you can wipe it.” The man grinned. Again, David accepted it without comment, rubbing the inside of the “glass” with the tiny wipe. He then dried it, lifting the cup into the pool of Old Fashioned like he was cupping it from a well. He took a small sip. This was the first time he drank since he shrunk.
The tall man said nothing more, maybe slightly awkwardly staring and looking away when he stared too long. Jack took a long sip of his piña colada. David suddenly spoke.
“I’m not a fairy. Or a hallucination, or a-”
“I know this must be surreal to you, and I appreciate all of this, but, I know, it’s weird.”
“Oh, God, I’m sorry I’m if making you uncomfortable.” Jack scratched the back of his head, looking guilty.
“You’re fine. You’re actually–” David knew what he wanted to say. “Why are you acting so normal?” David let out. “Do you know why I am even like this?”
“You were shrunken.” The man said plainly. “A person who underwent a reduction caused by rare atomic reactions, with a scientific name I cannot remember at the moment. No need to explain." Jack ate a piece of pineapple, pointing the tiny sword at David. "Unless you are lying, and are an undercover fairy. Then I would love an explanation."
After a slight pause, where David simply looked impressed, the man gently extended a pinky. “I’m Jack.”
“David.” He awkwardly shook the extended finger. “How do you know about all this?”
“I had a friend who got shrunk years ago. Best friend actually, back in Texas.”
David sighed a little bit, slightly glad that he didn’t have to fully explain his existence.
“What are they like?” David immediately regretted asking the question. People like him, they were usually sob stories. Just check his own.
“Lively, in a word.” Jack laughed, catching David off-guard.
“She’s a skater, and I remember I got her one of those fingerboards you use when you get bored in class. She–” Jack laughed, “She really liked it. She upgraded it, got new boards. It’s funny, she still goes to the park with our old friends, and uses the quarter ramp like she’s riding a vert tsunami. I think she even has a Youtube channel.”
Just like that, he broke a little. He felt it inside of him, a truth he knew but didn’t let himself believe. The fact he hasn’t overcome this yet. But, there was hope.
“Wow. That's incredible." David said, sipping. He felt the drink loosen him up. He didn't even know that was possible.
I’m still adjusting.” He took a slow sip, and slowly continued. “And it sucks even more, because it’s been 3 years now. And I don’t know what I’ve been doing.” Then, he remembered himself.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be telling all this to a stranger.”
“Isn’t that what bars are for?” Jack raised his glass. “Social lubricant and all.”
“Did you come here with anybody?” He asked.
Jack shook his head. “I’m assuming you did?”
“Yeah. My brother. Wanted me to leave my safe zone. Fair enough, but I didn’t think I was bold enough to hit the metaphorical and literal dance floor.”
“If I was really funny, you’d laugh and not simply tell me I was.” David pointed out.
“Mm. This isn’t really my scene either. But, a friend of mine told me to go, for, you know, meeting new people.” Jack picked up the little sword in his drink and held it up against David. “Honestly, my only off-night in ages. Usually, I’m up doing photography. Now! En garde, new person.”
“I’m not playing with you. This is for my honor, man.”
And just like that, an absurd sight sprouted at the corner table. A true David and Goliath. Maybe it was the warmth of whiskey, or how this was the first non-family person he's had a good conversation with in ages, but David played along. He played along well too: I mean, David was a Junior Olympics fencer in high school. Heck, David felt his old competitiveness kick in. He went for it. This talent surprised Jack, who was obviously going a bit easy on the five-inch-guy, as he also began getting competitive, even abusing his inherent advantage of strength. At some point, they were evenly matched in this bizarre, houseruled fencing match. Jack jabbed the sword under David’s armpit, and David, as un-David as it was, acted out a fiercely dramatic death scene. Even waxed a little bit of Shakespeare.
“A plague o’ both your houses! They have made worms’ meat of me!” David cried.
“Mercutio doesn’t really fit in this context.” Jack dryly remarked.
I stabbed you in the front, Caesar. Not much of a betrayal. Try again.”
“No! I thought you were Claudius!” Jack clutched his heart, catching the Hamlet reference. “Crap, guess I’m about to be banished from England, and my love will be driven to madness. Woe is me.” David couldn’t help but be deeply impressed.
“So, you’re a theater nerd along with being a regular nerd.” David said pointedly at the Zelda shirt.
“I’ve got refined tastes. And apparently so do you.” Jack raised his glass, adjusting his glasses. “Even still, I still won this duel.”
“Well,” David commented on it, saying, “I could have absolutely destroyed you if I had a slingshot.”
“Of course, a lumbering oversized giant like you fits the bill perfectly. How tall are you even?”
“Six-two.” He said proudly.
…Six-four.” David lied, streaking a finger on the outside of the glass.
“Uh-huh. Right.” Jack leaned in. They laughed together.
“You know, David actually always had the advantage.” Jack said with a smile. David perked his head up.
“Nerd away.” David grinned.
“Theoretically based, Goliath was not well matched for David. Theoretically, Goliath had acromegaly, a tumor on the pituitary gland that had caused his gigantic growth, but it left him practically blind and immobile. Then, his bosses loaded him up with this heavy armor, which left him even more immobile.”
“Exactly. And David’s sling was, first of all, long-range, so Goliath couldn’t reach him, but it also packed a hell of a punch. Goliath was basically sitting there and David had like an 11th century BCE handgun.”
“So, you’re saying…” David realized that Jack had this uncanny ability to never talk over someone else. David closed his mouth.
“What I’m saying is that the odds against you may not be as stacked as you think.”
“I don’t know,” David clicked his tongue, craning his neck to look up at the curly haired man, discarding his plastic sword into the glass. “They are stacked pretty high.”
“Who knows, someone might offer you a boost.”
David really tried to stay composed. This was hard when the handsome man smiled that way.
“No…” David smiled at the corners. "Well, yes, but no."
“Happy 3oth.” David breathed out.
“It’s your birthday?” Jack mused. “And you almost got stepped on?” How blunt.
“You know, it would have been kind of poetic to die on the same day as my birthday.” David remarked.
“Shakespearean even.” Jack added. They both cheered, and sat drinking together for a quiet moment.
“Would you like a birthday present?”
Jack pulled out a pen and started writing numbers on a napkin. David was dumbfounded when he realized what he was doing. David couldn’t rightly surmise that the numbers he was writing was for a phone number. But there they were, and using his deductive brain, he, at the very least, correctly analyzed that there were 10 random numbers shakily scribbled onto a huge napkin.
Jack looked expectantly at him, and David was so in shock he didn’t register any of it. Things suddenly seemed lighter, the world of dance inside was loud, and the lights reached his eyes. David felt something. He felt excited. He felt noticed. He felt… liked?
But the music suddenly cut, and loud mic feedback made its way to the balcony, as the doors were opened, and the DJ was looking absolutely panicked. Oh God. Oh no. He realized.
“DAY-VVEEE!!!” Danny slurred. “I’M SORRY! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, and now you might be under someone’s shoe or something, but like, I don’t know, please don’t be, I really wanted us to have–” He started hiccuping in between words,” hic– a good 30. A really good –hic– 3oth. Like that’s one of the big birthdays –hic– you know?”
“Oh no.” David said under his breath.
“And now!!! I don’t know where you are. –Hic– And that’s my fault. I should have not gotten this drunk, I should have not played tonight, and I shouldn’t have made you come in the first place…”
Jack was staring and David covered his face.
“Where are you, man. I need you. Wait, wait, wait, PARTY PEOPLE! Can you all help me find him???” The mic feedback whined again, making the partygoers both confused and upset. The lights were still going, they couldn’t tell if this was a real emergency, a joke, or a drunken rambling. Maybe all of them? Still, the club owner standing (formerly dancing) with a bunch of women was looking pissed, holding his Blue Lagoon with a tense hand.
“We have the same face, different hair.” Danny went on. “His hair is natural and boring and overgrown. He needs a haircut. Please don’t tell him that today though, it’s his birthday. Be nice to him.”
Jack glanced from the DJ’s face to David’s, and a smile bloomed on his lips, which he stifled immediately.
“He’s like yay-high. Wait, gimme that.” He seized a pencil from the turntable corner, happy to find a reference. He’s like a pencil.” Daniel demonstrated with his hand, but realized, with great discernment, it was too big. “Okay, maybe less tall than a new pencil. One of those used pencils then. But! Definitely taller than half a pencil.”
By now, the crowd was deeply confused, Jack was dumbfounded, and David wanted to perish on the spot.
Danny glanced around for a second, “No? Nobody? Nobody saw this amazing guy? Right, he has a name. DAY-VVVY. Call for DAVY. Seriously, I need to find him. He always feels bad because he thinks I take care of him, but he does so much. I need him for my taxes. I need him to help pay half, okay, most of the rent. I need him because I make him laugh. I need him so I can apologize, and let him say, ‘I told you so’ to my face. I need him because I can tell him anything. I need him because we just reconnected two years ago and he’s the best friend and twin I could ever ask for. So please, help me find him.”
By now, Danny was beyond desperate. “I’m just really sorry.” Danny was close to tears at this point. “I just want him to be happy.” That last statement hung in the air for a second, as David and the crowd took it in. David, through the embarrassment, couldn’t help but smile ever so slightly. Then, the club owner finally forced his way to the stage and seized the mic back.
“Alrighty, let’s get this party rolling again–” The club owner, in his white blazer, charmingly tried to say. But, Danny grabbed the microphone back: a man on a mission.
“We’re not playing any music until I find him.” Danny paused, and added, “Remember, yay-high, check the ground!” Some of the clubbers actually complied, getting low on the ground, looking for this strange, tiny man, screaming “DAVY!” Some were actually concerned, and some were too plastered to reason the command.
“Danny, how much did you drink tonight?” The white blazered man tried to play off jokingly, fighting off his veiled rage.
“Too much but that’s not important. Come on, search, people!!!!” Danny urged.
At that point, the club owner was really fighting to get the party back on the road by jerking the microphone back to him and signaling security, but Danny was not having it. Both Jack and David, in their heads, knew they could solve this problem, but they kind of couldn’t take their eyes away from this disaster.
Danny and the club owner were tied in this drunken kind of duel. But eventually, security did come along, and successfully got Danny away from the mic, and the the stage. Not before, in the midst of their fight, the club owner’s Blue Lagoon got in the way, splashing all over the club owner’s blazer, prompting the laughter of the entire venue, and the club owner’s face to go from pissed to genuinely livid.
Jack finally broke from his staring, and finally spoke.
“Mm-hm.” David said quickly. “Can you get me to him?” David kind of stung at how helpless he was in this situation, relying on this stranger, or maybe friend, to get him around. Now, David felt, this all together, got too weird for this new guy. He felt his heart lurch.
Without a word, adjusting his glasses fast, Jack gently offered his rough hand, and David stepped onto it. David couldn't tell how Jack felt.
“I can take it from there.” David he made sure to say. “You don’t need to help us get home. Sorry about tonight.” David felt even more self-conscious than he thought he could ever feel.
“Of course.” Jack quickly made his way over and into the elevator, following where security had been. The elevator doors closed behind them, and Jack's mask of seriousness finally chuckled. Slowly, both boys began to laugh, slowly at first, but as the floors descended, they laughed even harder.
“I’m sorry.” David burned red, but he was laughing.
“What for?” Jack stifled another laugh, trying to act kind and polite, adjusting his glasses. David found that he loved the way this man adjusted them, he always did it when he was being playful.
“Come on, you can’t play the straight man this part of tonight too.”
“What are you talking about? This happens every time I go clubbing.” He said stoically. “And for the record, he seems really great. Your brother, I mean.”
The elevator music played, and David suddenly appreciated it a lot. His brother, of course, and how comfortable this stranger, no, surely, a friend, made him feel.
“Yeah, he is.” David smiled.
The elevator opened, to a funny sight.
There was Danny, frantically asking for the security team to search for Davy.
“Yay-high!” Danny desperately slurred, as security looked baffled too, trying to both reassure him and get him away from the building.
Danny continued rambling about his search for a 5-inch-tall man, until Jack cut through the crowd with David in his hand, and the entire team went from perplexed to astonished.
“Oh God, Davy, is that you? Is this a ghost? Is this a guilt hallucination?” Danny struggled out.
“No, no, Dan–” David began, but without a word, Danny plucked his twin off of Jack’s palm and placed him in his pocket.
“Let’s go home… I know you don’t want to be here. I really shouldn’t have–” Danny took a single look back at Jack. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem at all.” Jack said gently. “My pleasure.”
“Danny, this is J-” David tried to say, until the club owner descended to the bottom floor. The club owner, his red face completely contrasting his now blue stained blazer, began running over to where they were, and David ducked his head into the pocket.
“And that’s my cue!” Danny exclaimed, even in his panic, he knew that if there was anything he should do, that was get away. And so, with all the grace of a cartoon character, Daniel fled the scene.
It wasn't until they were blocks away that David realized he left the phone number on the table.
______________________________________________________________
Danny was tired. Ashamed too. They walked back to the apartment in silence. The snow was cold outside, both boys were too full of adrenaline to shiver. Today's trouble and consequences were for another day, getting into their apartment building was a relief.
"Shhh." David said. "Wait until we get back."
Danny walked up the stairs to their shared apartment, readying his apology, when he saw a huge package leaning on their door.
"David, sorry cannot-" And that's when Danny, for once, was without words.
It was a XDJ-AZ All-in-One DJ System, a top of the line DJ setup, David had done his research. He didn't know an ounce about electronic music, but he did really care. He had it planned for months.
“I got it ordered.” David smiled. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get it wrapped because, well you know.”
For once, Daniel was speechless.
“Thank you, thank you, God, I could kiss you right now.”
"Pull it inside first!" David laughed. "It's on you to carry it in here."
Danny got everything inside, sobering up quite a bit in the slow process, and by then, the trouble of today was forgotten. It was their birthday, and now it was for each other.
"But seriously, David, I'm sorry. I could have got you killed." Danny said quietly. "
"I wasn't though!" David smiled. "And, I had fun. I'll tell you later. I'm assuming you got cake?"
“Why, of course, mon frère!” He pulled from the fridge this normal sized, red velvet cake that David could have used as a bean bag. He placed a nice candle on it. They sang for each other, each laughing when they said each other's name in the middle of the song.
"Because I messed up, you can take the wish." Daniel pushed the cake toward him.
“I don’t think I can blow it out.”
“We can blow it out together. But you make the wish."
"I'll wish that you don't get fired from that club."
David thought about it. Whenever he got overwhelmed, whenever he had a decision to make, he always thought of all of the loves in his life. He thought about his parents, distant as they were, they did love them in their own secure way. Danny, of course, his oppositical twin flame. His friends he wished he could have been greeted by. Avi, and all of the regret and loss he felt there, if only for the sake of love. And of course… lovely new beginnings. The only wish that came to mind was to see Jack again. Somehow. He kind of blew it with the number, but, there was always by chance.
“Happy 30th!” They cheered. And the candle was blown out, and the twins smiled at each other, and the lights of New York bounced off each other, and that wish was sent to be granted.
