Author's Note: More Jumba and Pleakley from me already? What has the world come to? Another short and sweet little fluffy anecdote. There's a perfectly good reason I wrote this; 'twas for a friend (again) and the toaster is an in-joke. And since toast is also so important to Jumba and Pleakley... why not? XP

No warnings; the pairing-y stuff is fluffy at most.

To all who read and reviewed the last Jumba and Pleakley short piece I uploaded here: thanks! You made me happy. :D


Sharing

"I don't get it."

Pleakley was staring at a little white metallic Earth appliance and talking to himself when Jumba found him. The bigger alien stopped in the kitchen doorway and watched the spectacle, silent and unnoticed, as Pleakley peered down into the slotted boxlike item and huffed.

"Toast comes out of this thing! How doe they make you work?" he inquired of the machine, which offered no helpful advice whatsoever in the production of the enigmatic toast. Pleakley stared it down for a moment, before pressing the side lever and watching with interest as the metal coils heated and began to glow orange inside. In a couple of minutes, the contraption made a noisy pop, and Pleakley gave it a disappointed look. No toast had appearaed from the magical machine.

At the revelation of the dilemma at hand, Jumba could no longer contain his hearty laughter, and strode the rest of the way into the room, startling Pleakley and pretending not to notice. "What are you doing?" he asked bemusedly.

Pleakley crossed his wiry arms over his chest and replied, "Making toast, of course!"

"With no bread?"

"This... machine makes the toast! It comes right out of here; I've seen it!"

Jumba laughed again and pointed at the device. "Is toaster! Only toasts bread. Does not create it... much too primitive for that." He leaned across the countertop and picked up the loaf of bread from where it sat tied in colorful plastic and half-devoured by the family. With a bit of difficulty due to the size of his hands, he unwrapped it and separated two slices from the rest, holding them out to show Pleakley. "This. Put this into Earth toaster," he instructed. Pleakley did so, embarrassed at his mistake; Jumba pushed the lever on the toaster and asked, "Easy, yes?"

Silently, the smaller alien nodded his agreement. Awkward silence fell between the two of them, and lingered there uncomfortably until the toast popped, crispy and only slightly blackened. Neither moved until finally Pleakley retrieved the toast and handed it to Jumba without making eye contact. "I was toasting it for you, anyway," he said. "You missed lunch."

Jumba took the bread and eyed it cautiously, thinking of how to reply. he was surprised, even a bit touched, and realized then why his help had been so obviously unwanted--the toast was a gift. Of course. Finding no better way to express himself after such a revelation, he settled for saying, "Thank you," and offering one of the two slices back to Pleakley with a grin that would have terrified anyone who did not know him.

"No, no, it's yours!"

Jumba rolled all four eyes at this, but quickly hid his mild irritation once again. "Many things shared with little one-eyed one," he ventured. "Might as well share toast, too, hm?"

Blinking and vaguely stunned, Pleakley accepted the toast and clambered onto the kitchen counter to sit closer to eye level with Jumba while they shared the snack, the toaster situation suddenly and spectacularly forgotten.