"Hey Bobby, I'll catch you later... I have to head to the research lab and get some work done. I told my professor I'd meet him there." Josh smiled as he grabbed his backpack off his bed and walking over to the doorway. Bobby frowned slightly in confusion.
"Class doesn't start for a few days, but you're already busy?" Bobby asked, almost a little disappointed the two of them couldn't hang out and get to know each other a bit longer.
"Well, I don't actually have classes this semester. Just some... complex final research project." Josh tried to add vaguely as he opened the door, getting ready to head out. Bobby looked a little dissatisfied with the answer as Josh started to head out the door. "It's pretty cool, I'll have to show you sometime!"
"Alright, nerd! Have fun with your research!" Bobby called out jokingly as Josh shut the door behind him and headed down the hallway. Beaming with pride and happiness, Josh was in quite a good mood after making such an unlikely friend. Leaving the dorm building and heading out into the fresh Spring air, Josh walked in the direction of a large science building, only a few buildings away from the dorm. Making his way into a back entrance to the building, Josh pulled out his student ID and swiped it on a key car entrance, leading to a special section of labs reserved for major experiments.
Down a bright hallway, Josh found himself to the lab room reserved for his work only, swiping his ID a second time to grant him access to the secure room. Closing the door behind him, Josh looked around the room spotting two people. One of which he recognized as his professor and the other was a younger man, sitting on a chair by a table looking bored. Josh's attention quickly focused on his professor however, as the man came over to greet him.
"Josh, my boy! Good to see you made it to the labs!" His professor said as he walked over to shake Josh's hand. Josh simply smiled, happy to see his enthusiastic professor once again after a long winter break.
"It's good to be back and get some work done sir!" Josh replied with a smile. His professor simply nodded as he made his way over to the door, turning his back toward it.
"Right, and I don't want to hold you up. So with out a moment to spare, I'll let you and your assistant get to work." He said as he turned to leave the room in somewhat of a hurry. Without even introducing the man seated in the room, Josh's professor left, leaving nothing but an awkward silence between Josh and this new stranger. Turning to the man, Josh got a better look at him as he stood up. He was certainly an impressive sight, being very tall Josh guessed he was almost as tall as Bobby and if the form fitting tee shirt he was wearing was any indication, he also guessed he was just as muscular. The man was certainly more tan, however, and his hair was a much darker shade of brown as well as longer than Bobby's. About ear length in fact. Josh took in everything about the man, from his dark brown eyes, to the tight red shirt and black basketball shorts he wore. Josh winced slightly as he stopped right in front of him, sticking out his hand.
"I'm Tyler. Yup... I'm your assistant." He said in a deep attractive voice, albeit a bored one as he reached out and shook Josh's hand with little enthusiasm.
Josh took a moment to choose his words, but even then he couldn't find a way not to sound rude. "Umm nice to meet you Tyler, but who are you?"
Tyler crossed his arms and made a quick "Tch" sound with his tongue as he turned away from Josh, showing off his impressive back and balloon like glutes. "He didn't tell you? I'm the professor's son."
Josh shook his head, still confused. "I didn't know he had a son, he never mentioned you!"
"Yeah that's pretty typical." Tyler replied, moving back to his seat and propping up his feet on the table.
"Why'd he make you my assistant?" Josh wondered aloud, figuring the son of his brilliant professor must be gifted enough to be indulged in his own research.
"Well if you asked him, it's because I'm a failure." Tyler replied with an angry tone as he crossed his arms once more. "But I'm pretty sure he just enjoys putting me with nerds like you, hoping you'll rub off on me or some shit."
"He's done this to you before then?" Josh asked cautiously as he walked over to the same table and set his backpack on top of it. Tyler eye'd him suspiciously the whole time he walked up.
"Yeah a few times." Tyler replied, taking his feet off the table and sitting a little more normally. "Usually, you nerds think I'm gonna hurt you or something though."
Josh tilted his head slightly as he unzipped his bag, making a little frown. "You don't seem like that type of person."
"Well generally, you geeks also seem to think you know everything anyway." Tyler spat, looking away from Josh.
Pulling out his project, Josh set the device on the table and looked back to Tyler, trying to put on a friendly smile. "Well I'm far from knowing everything about you! For starters, I never knew the professor could be so... vindictive. Why does he treat you like that?"
Tyler eyebrows rose slightly as he turned back to Josh and muttered. "Nobody's ever asked that before..." Before clearing his throat and responding properly. "Uh well, I finished high school and that was pretty much it. Some time went by and he told me either I had to go to college or work for him... and well here I am, 19 years old working for my dick dad."
"The job market is rough... I'm surprised he didn't even give you a chance to find something you'd enjoy." Josh responded thoughtfully. Tyler looked Josh in the eyes briefly for a second before looking away once more.
"Well I didn't really look too hard..." Tyler muttered. "Besides my dad would probably think my idea of cool jobs are childish, and I should just become a scientist like him."
Playing with a few knobs on his device, Josh tried to keep the conversation going. "What's your idea of a cool job?"
Tyler stood up and laughed, before looking down at Josh fiddling with a strange looking ray gun type contraption. "Ha! Wouldn't you like to know? Either way, what are you playing with there?"
"Oh this?" Josh replied, holding up the device. "It's actually my project, a shrink ray."
Tyler turned and sat back down, looking a little pissed off. "And here I thought you were a decent nerd. Guess you're just insane."
Josh simply smiled and rose the device, pointing it at an empty chair and pulled the trigger. With a bright flash, Tyler looked to the chair, seeing it seemingly disappear before his very eyes. He watched as Josh walked over to the spot and reach down, before coming over to the table he was seated at and drop a tiny speck down in front of him. Looking closely at the speck, Tyler saw it was in fact the chair.
"Wooah!" Tyler stammered as he saw Josh pick it back up and place it a safe distance away before pointing the device at it once more. With a second bright flash, the chair had returned to normal size.
"What do you say, partner? Wanna shrink some stuff with me?" Josh asked in a friendly tone, extending out the device for Tyler to take. Staring at Josh for a moment after being called "partner" Tyler merely blinked for a second before reaching out his hand, grabbing the device and admiring it briefly.
"All I have to do is shrink stuff?" Tyler asked, looking a little more excited than before. Josh nodded his head as he made his way into the back of the room. There was a couple of things he wanted to experiment on, from inanimate objects to even a live duck he captured from the campus pond. There was an amount of food he planned on experimenting, but seemingly it went missing.
"Here's what we got!" Josh said as he carried over the cage with the duck, and a few other objects including; a glass of water, an empty glass, a water balloon, and an air filled balloon. "I had some food I was going to experiment with too... but I'm not sure what happened to it."
"Oh..." Tyler replied, putting a hand on his stomach. "I thought those were just snacks..."
Josh laughed, knowing it wasn't too big of a deal. "No worries! That's usually what food is for, right?"
Tyler smiled, glad to see Josh's good nature continued to shine. Meanwhile, Josh drew Tyler attention back to his options. "So, partner. What would you like to shrink first?"
Looking at his options, Tyler decided to...
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