Comic, cartoon, and web series One-Shots

Don't Cry Over Spilled Dye - Jasper & Quinn (Lucids)

Jasper closed the door behind him and sighed.

Even though he had clocked out earlier than usual, he was still drained. A 9-5 had a way of sucking the life out of people. Usually after a day like this he would relax with a hot bath and a dumb movie (or rewatch the Lumbersweats season 2 finale. It was a really good episode, okay?) He made his way to the bathroom and went to open the door.

The knob caught. A clanging came from inside, followed by an "Ow".

"Quinn? Oh, my bad." Jasper said, backing away.

"No," said Quinn. "Wait, yes. I am in here. Why are you back?"

"Deli was slow today. Turns out when you deliver fruit when you advertise meat, you lose a large chunk of customers."

"Oh, that's bad," he replied, still behind the door. "Hope the shortage ends soon. Your job security is decent, right?"

"It's okay. I was looking for a new-" Jasper stopped himself. "You know, we can continue this after you're done."

"Oh, I'm done."

Jasper heard the sink turn on. "Great." He leaned against the wall besides the door.

After three whole minutes, he spoke up. "Dude, what are you doing in there?"

"...Cleaning?" Quinn replied, not at all suspiciously.

"Why do I not believe you?"

"Why are there no windows in here? How are you supposed to escape in case of an emergency?"

"I use the door. Why do you need an escape?"

"No reason, just thinking proactively." There was shuffling from inside the room. Jasper could still hear the sink running. "You should really add one."

"I'd rather not. Can you just open the door?"

"...No."

"It can't be that bad."

Before he could think of a worst-case scenario where it was that bad, he heard a click.

The door creaked open.

The first thing Jasper noticed was purple. It would be hard not to, since it was everywhere in the bathroom, from the sink to the walls to the floor to Quinn's hands and, most importantly, his hair.

"This was supposed to go differently," Quinn said bluntly.

"Wha-" He looked around the bathroom, noticing a few plastic bowls and some black brushes.

Quinn turned off the running tap. "You know how I started the Jasper cult to steal your identity and live the life of my dreams?"

"I mean, yeah, it's kind of how we met."

"I've been trying to break out of that mentality and discover myself for who I am, not who I want to be."

"What does dyeing my bathroom purple have to do with that?"

"We look too much alike. Since I'm trying to make myself 0% Jasper and 100% Quinn, the easiest thing to change physically is my hair color."

"Come on, we don't look that much alike."

Jasper looked at the mirror (which was also dyed purple). He was met by two young adult men slightly above the average height with hazel eyes.

"Ah. I see."

"I spilled the bottle on accident. That stuff stains more than the 2000's-era nu-metal band Staind. Soap just made it worse. I was going to clean it up before you got here, but, well," he gestured at Jasper, "you're here."

Jasper observed the colored carnage of the room one last time, before asking "Do you need bleach?"

"Yes. Absolutely." Relief just about swallowed Quinn's voice.

"There's some in the laundry room." He turned around, nodding for Quinn to follow. "Come on, I'll help."

Quinn was right. The dye was near impossible to clean. The bleach did work, but it took a lot of scrubbing to get the bathroom back to normal. Jasper eventually took his bath and Quinn washed out the residual globs from his hair.

Jasper walked out into the living room, feeling a lot better. Quinn was at the dining table, eating a deli pear that had been brought back after Jaspers shift.

He sat down across from Quinn. "I like the purple. It suits you."

Quinn smiled. "Thanks, dude."

"You know, we kinda match." Noting Quinn's confusion, he added "Look at my jacket."

"Ooh," he laughed. "Weird."

"Was that intentional?"

He shrugged. "Nope. I just like the color purple."

They sat in silence for a bit, save for the crunches of the pear.

"I like blue."

Quinn paused. "Really?"

"It's the most popular color in the world. Why does it surprise you?"

"It doesn't. I guess I just never knew your favorite color."

He wondered for a moment how this bit of info had gone unknown by the former Jasper Prime. It seemed like a pretty important tidbit to know about someone, especially at that level of adoration.

Jasper shrugged it off. Maybe he'd just never told anyone before.

"Well, now you know."