straight chlorine || joshler

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🤠 yeehaw guys i'm back

remember to stream Trench

ship: josh dun x tyler joseph (but it's not even really romantic, just friendship)

~

"I want a swimming pool."

The sentence comes out of nowhere seemingly, tumbling from Tyler's mouth. He turns to Josh with his eyes lit hopefully, like a little kid on Christmas Day.

"Why?" Josh blinks. He's used to Tyler's random requests, but it's still a little of a surprise. Once he asked Josh to buy him black body paint, claiming it was for cosplay. He'd ended up dousing his hands in it and covering his neck, for reasons he wouldn't tell Josh.

Another time he'd bought several rolls of yellow duct tape and wrapped himself in it for months on end. Actually, there's still tape stuck to his lithe fingers right now, come to think of it.

"There's the empty one in the backyard," Tyler says, looking down at the wooden floorboards anxiously. "We could always fill it up."

The pool is the one benefit to the small, cramped house that they've been sharing for the past year. Or at least the real estate agent assured them it was a benefit. In reality, the pool is empty and dirty and a blemish on the otherwise decent landscape.

"Yeah, sure, if you want to." Josh stands up, smiling at Tyler. "Let's go."

~

The pool is quite a big bigger than Tyler imagined in his mind. He'd pictured a medium-sized pool with some dirt in it. It's actually much larger and covered in mud, grease, and things Tyler would rather not think about so early in the morning. Maybe this is an impossible task after all. But he wants to try so he picks up the nearby hose and passes it to Josh.

At first, only drops leak from the mouth of it, but then Tyler turns the pressure on full blast. The water is a clear blue that reflects the sun back into their eyes, temporarily blinding the boys. Josh pulls his bucket hat down lower on his face.

Meanwhile, his best friend relaxes in the shade behind him with a styrofoam cup.

"What are you drinking?" Josh yells across the yard, confused. He doesn't remember Tyler going inside to get a beverage. They ran out of styrofoam cups last week too, so where is he getting this?

Tyler's shoulders shrug and he cocks an eyebrow. Silence is his answer, but it's not one Josh will accept.

Josh knows his limits however, so all he does is shoot a concerned glance in Tyler's direction. It goes right over the boy's head however, as he takes another sip of the mysterious liquid.

~

Hours later, the pool is full, but Tyler is still unsatisfied. He presses his lips together thinly and turns to Josh, shaking his head.

"It needs chlorine."

"Oh, okay. There's some in the garage-" Josh turns towards their house and Tyler grabs his shoulder, yanking his best friend back.

"No." His voice is firm and unlike anything Josh has ever heard from him before. "We need more than that."

~

One trip to Wal-mart later, they've returned with several gallons of chlorine. Tyler had desired even more, but this was all that had been in stock, so he'll have to deal. They could have asked if there was more in the back, but the salesgirl had given Josh a weird look, and he really didn't need his anxiety to be fucked with any more today.

Josh unscrews the cap to the first container and pours it in as Tyler watches ominously in the background with his head nodding in approval. He motions to the next gallon and that one is poured in as well. The cycle continues on and with each gallon, Tyler takes another sip of his cup.

When the last gallon is poured, Josh is ecstatic. After all that work, the pool is complete. This was by far the most complex of Tyler's odd requests, but hopefully this would be his last one for the time being.

He turns to the lounge chair in the shade and flinches. Tyler isn't there- Oh, no, there he is. He's standing behind a large tank of chlorine that Josh has never seen before in his life.

"Wh-Where did you get that?" Josh's voice shakes. He thought they were out of chlorine. He could've sworn they were finished. He didn't want to see any chlorine ever again.

Tyler's response comes in a monotone. "The neighbor. He won't miss it." When Josh doesn't move, Tyler speaks again, louder. "Put it in."

Josh obliges reluctantly. The yellow liquid flows into the water, saturating it, and for the first time all day, Tyler smiles. "Finally." He points at something in the distance.

It's a small goat-like creature that is creeping its way towards the pool. Carefully stepping onto the pavement, it wavers catching sight of the two boys.

"Look at him!" Tyler screeches, excitement running through his veins. "Isn't he cute? Can we keep him, Josh?"

But Josh doesn't see anything. He furrows his brow in confusion, staring at Tyler.

The animal moves closer to the pool and touches a single paw to the surface as Tyler continues to gush over it.

Josh places a hand on Tyler's shoulder gently, jolting his attention back to reality. "There's nothing there," He tells his best friend calmly. "What was in your cup? What were you drinking?"

"N-Nothing," Tyler mumbles. "I was just sipping on straight chlorine."

"Goddamnit Tyler, not again." Josh reaches into his pocket to dial a familiar number.

The Poison Control Center.

~

I WROTE THIS IN CLASS A FEW WEEKS AGO AND I THINK AT LEAST ONE PERSON SAW THIS OVER MY SHOULDER SKSKSK FUCK THEY'RE PROBABLY CONCERNED

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