Today had went by like any other normal day, despite all of the happenings of months ago. The whole werewolf incident seemed to be completely forgotten now, not that anyone had really caught on in the first place, what with everyone present believing it to be all part of their play.
Of course, save for the six chipmunks who knew the truth all too well.
While they'd agreed to not bringing it up again, there are still curious minds. Every day after school for the past few weeks, Simon had nearly barricaded himself in the basement of their home. Not to shut anyone out, of course, but to tend to his own scientific curiosities, as well as some newfound wonder about the more... strange.
After all, once your baby brother becomes a werewolf, you can't exactly chalk up everything to having a scientific explanation. And with the whole Frankenstein incident, well... Sometimes a more supernatural approach is necessary for progress.
So, now that school was out for the day, the cycle could begin again.
"We're home!" Simon called the moment he was inside, quickly followed by his brothers.
"Better hold him down, Dave, or else he'll disappear again!" Alvin chimed in with a laugh, playfully nudging his younger brother forward into the living room. "Whatcha working on down there anyway, Simon? You won't let anyone down there long enough to see!"
"Yeah!" Theodore added, hugging Simon from behind with a smile. "Lemme guess! Is it... Something for Jeanette~?"
Simon huffed as his cheeks took on a light shade of pink, gently pushing Theodore away. "Oh, come on you two. Can I not have my own hobby?" He responded as he dusted off his large shirt.
At that, Alvin and Theodore exchanged glances, both grinning slyly. "Hehe, aaaalright Simon." Alvin spoke, holding up his paws. "We won't go in. Wouldn't wanna spoil your big surprise for Jeannie~" He teased, watching Simon's blush grow.
"Hehe, Simon and Jeanette sitting in a tree~!" Theo taunted happily, staying by Alvin's side.
With a roll of his eyes, Simon turned away from his brothers with a groan. "Gah, I swear sometimes I must be the only one reasonable in this house." He mumbled, making his way towards the door that lead down to the basement. "Oh c'mon Simon, it's cute!" Theodore commented as he watched him go. "I could give you some pointers! I think me and Ellie are really-"
The door closed.
Theo pouted a bit as he crossed his arms. "Gosh, I was just trying to help..." He spoke. Alvin just pat his shoulder lightly. "Ah, don't think on it too much Theo. We'll get to tease him more when he comes back out." Looking around, Alvin put a paw on his belly. "Now where's Dave? I'm starvin'."
Simon let out a little hum as the basements lights hummed to life. It'd been a good while since he had set up shop down here, that's for certain, as he was able to basically turn their rarely used basement into a second room of sorts. A few medium sized tables for his equipment, his small and portable tv set up on the central one, a few stools to sit on, and even a little refrigerator off in the corner. Just the simple things he'd need to be comfortable down here when he needed it.
He sighed lowly as he nudged aside a rack of beakers, going for the object behind them. His latest experiment, so to say. He had to keep it hidden beneath a small black sheet.
Truth be told, he wasn't exactly able to work on anything new since the little incident that caused his current experiment. But how could he deny his burning curiosity for the unknown?
Removing the sheet, he revealed his handiwork. A glass container, about as big as his head, sealed with a sturdy looking metal lid was filled with a transparent green goo-like substance that let off a slight glow to it as it was exposed to the light. The substance was created by... accident. What Simon was going for was to recreate Alvin's big science fiasco back in the auditorium, but in a more useful form. But a little formula he had found in Alvin's Madam Raya book was too intriguing to ignore. After all, the book had been helpful before, why not again?
What he hadn't expected, however, was how it reacted. Luckily he hadn't caused an explosion! But the moment he saw the substance moving made it all too clear what he had done.
"Alright, come on out." He spoke softly as he unscrewed the lid, tilting the container over and watching the goo within slide on out, plopping unceremoniously onto the table. It jiggled about on impact, landing with a wet smack on the cool surface.
Steadily, the mass had formed back onto itself, forming a neat ball now as it rolled itself a little closer to Simon, it's green color slowly turning to a light blue. Simon smiled at it and picked it up. "Heh, you're growing. I'll have to keep an eye on that so you don't get too out of hand." He spoke. The goo didn't answer, though. Shrugging his shoulders, Simon carried it on over to his fridge.
While clearly not a conversationalist, the goo had formed its own way of responding to Simon over the months. Jiggling, bouncing, changing color, just whatever seemed to be the most appropriate reply to whatever its creator had said.
Holding the goo in one arm, Simon crouched in front of the fridge and quickly rummaged through it, producing a glass full of a cloudy liquid before heading back to the table. It was just a mixture of water, sugar, and a few other things the goo had seemed to enjoy consuming over time.
Once he was settled down, Simon placed the goo atop the table, surrounding it in some of the sheet before pouring out the liquid on top of it. It responded by quivering all over, changing into a darker shade of blue, nearly matching Simon's shirt as it "drank". "Heh. You'd better keep enjoying this stuff. It's not always easy to make, you know." Simon said as he watched it, turning away from it as he went to the table to his left, taking up a pencil and scribbling down on his notepad.
A little bit of a blush came to his cheeks as he tucked the pad into his pocket. One of the ingredients used to making the goo's food resulted from a mistake all his own. He had been rather lost in his own thoughts that day and got carried away with a thought of Jeanette. How was he to know the goo would have reacted eagerly? Now he had to, er... recreate it every three or four days. An easy feat when privacy was allowed.
"Yeah... I'm certain you're more than happy about that." Simon said to himself as he settled down on a stool. "Gah, but I won't be able to keep you down here alone for too long... I'm just not sure how I can show you to everyone else." He said, looking to the goo as it crawled its way over the tiny barricade of sheet, slithering on over until it was nestled between his paws. With a roll of his eyes, Simon went to caressing the goo's slippery surface, petting it like one would an eager dog expecting a scratch behind the ears.
With his creation in hand, Simon sighed and glanced up at his tv, turning it on and scooting back on his stool, trying to distract himself with a game show that was airing.
In the back of his mind, however, festered the same thought he had ever since the little goo ball came to "life". If it were to continue growing, there was no way he could keep it a secret. He just couldn't think of a way to bring it up to everyone else...
"He's alive!"
"Alvin, please."
Simon emerged from the basement an hour or so later, finding his siblings in the living room. Judging from the smell in the air, Dave had gone ahead with getting dinner ready on his own. Seeing how overtly eager Theodore was for dinner(as he was drooling a little), it had to be some sort of manicotti, one of Theo's favorites.
As he plopped down on the couch, Alvin hummed and scooted closer to Simon, a cheeky grin on his face. "So, Simon, what's the big project for Jeanette huh? X-ray glasses? Rocket shoes? Looooove potion~?" He asked, each time leaning in a little closer.
"Alviiiin." Simon started with a little growl, pushing his older brother aside. "My projects are mine. And none of them are for Jeanette!"
"That's weird. You usually always want to show what you're working on." Theodore added in, not breaking his gaze away from the kitchen. "Is it something for us?" He asked.
Simon didn't respond then. In fact, he had kept to himself as much as possible until Dave calling "Dinner's ready!" followed by Theodore storming of excitedly broke the awkward silence that was made.
Climbing from his spot, Alvin gave Simon a good stare before heading to the dining room himself. On his own once more, Simon swallowed nervously, getting to his feet. "Get it together, Seville..." he said to himself.
...
"So, Simon, what's this about you working on something big?"
Simon sighed to himself from Dave's question, pushing his fork up against his half eaten food. At the dinner table, having everyone's gazes on him made it harder to really say much.
"Well... I'm not all too sure what to say about it, really." He started. "I'm just trying out some new things. But I really, really want it to remain a secret-"
"Okay, maybe it's not a love potion, but it's gotta be some kind of cool gadget, right? I can test it for you!" Alvin interrupted, nearly standing up in his chair with a look of excitement all over his face.
Dave cleared his throat and Alvin immediately settled back down. "Please, Simon, continue." Dave said, going back to eating.
"Right." Clearing his throat, Simon adjusted himself in his chair. "As I was saying, I'd like this project of mine to stay secret. At least until it's in a good stage to be shown off." He spoke. "I mean, if it's alright with all of you." To his relief, at least Dave and Theodore were quick to agree. Alvin, however, sat with his arms crossed, that look of scheming contemplation resting on his face.
"Alvin, I know that look." Dave said. "I know you're anxious, but at least try to not peek early, okay?" He said.
"You needn't worry about that Dave. I think I know just the way to keep everything hidden as it should be." Simon spoke as he pushed his plate forward, only for it to be snatched up by Theodore, happily eating up the scraps Simon had left. "So, everyone, thanks for the room to work. I promise, you're all going to love what I have in store." Wiping his mouth, Simon excused himself from the table, going to the staircase that lead to their upper floor room. He paused as he was about to take the first step, however, looking over at Alvin.
Clearing his throat, Simon put his foot onto the stair, locking gazes with him. "Alvin. I mean it. Do not, under any circumstances, go into the basement."
With that, he was up the stairs, only the sound of the closing door ringing out through the hallway.
A/N
Well, there we go. :) The start to what I hope to become a nice story for you all. This all is an idea that's been lingering in my mind for a good while now. So... Lemme know what you think!
KRS, Out!
