When Claudia finally returned to the dressing room, she was walking with a slight limp and was dragging the crimson cape behind her along the ground where it was quickly gathering dust.
"Okay, solo birthday party didn't start off so great," she mumbled as she shook out dust bunnies and hung the blasted cape back on the racks of clothing. She ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to comb out the tangles, retied her boot laces, and spied a familiar khaki short sleeve shirt. Finding the tag, she confirmed her suspicions and quickly shrugged into the shirt. When she heard Trailer's quiet snuffling near the shoe section on the other side of the room she crouched behind the rack, parted the hanging clothing just wide enough to peer through.
"Crikey, a rare wild collie!" Claudia began inching along the wall, still in her crouch, narrating her actions in a mock whisper, as she slowly approached the canine. "Now, this is the first time we've ever spotted this majestic creature in it's natural habitat. Watch as he hunts his next meal, the might soled sandals of the Sahara."
Trailer's ears pricked forward and he looked toward the talking clothes racks. Taking a step towards the voice, the dog cocked his head in confusion.
"Watch out, his incredible hearing has detected us! Now's my only chance," Claudia got into position just to the right of the dog, "I'm just going to.. give this mighty creature... a mighty.. tummy tickle!" Claudia launched herself out of the racks at Trailer, who yelped and scrabbled to get away from the attacking human. She wrapped her arms around the canine and rolled him so his belly was exposed. When he realized he was getting a belly rub of epic proportion, he relaxed and his tongue lolled out of his mouth in a happy grin.
With a skip in her step, Claudia returned to the aisles with Trailer following closely. After narrowly missing several artifacts, she paused and shook out her arms and legs.
"Trailer, remind me never to drink again. Gonna have one hell of a birthday hangover tomorrow."
Skimming the shelves around her, Claudia's gaze halted when she spotted an item sitting among the artifacts.
"How did this get here?" She plucked the bobble head resembling one head of Global Dynamic, Douglas Fargo, off of the shelf and softly smiled. Shaking her head, she placed the figure back on the shelf, "Feelings and alcohol, not a good mix."
As she turned to walk away, she failed to notice that the bobble head was sitting on top of a small disc of reflective metal, and the iridescent stones encircling it began to glow. The stones flashed brilliantly before it faded dark once more.
"Ooooo, Vincent Van Gogh's straw hat!"
A thousand miles again, said Douglas Fargo was just stepping out of his shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he noticed his PDA was blinking, signalling a message. As he picked up the phone, he felt his skin begin to tingle and his vision was filled with a blinding white light. His stomach dropped, and he reached out for his bathroom counter to steady himself, but he hand collided with a metal shelf.
"What…" Fargo's sight slowly came into focus, and he spun slowly as he took in his surroundings. His eye widened and his mouth tensed into a small "O" as he realized where he was.
"Hello?" Doug's voice echoed across the Warehouse. As goosebumps spread down his neck, he looked down with a grimace. "I'm naked.."
Watching as small strokes of color swirled around her, Claudia drifted along randomly, following the twists and turns of the painted world that only she could see. Rounding a turn, she laughed to herself as she saw a figure in the middle of the aisle.
"Now I know I'm still drunk. That looks like Fargo," taking in his appearance, she smirked, "a naked Fargo."
Doug froze as he watched a stumbling Claudia, hands reaching out in front of her, slowly come towards him. He bit his lip as he waited for the girl in front of him, wearing a floppy straw hat and a very short skirt, to become aware of the situation. When her wandering hands collided with his chest, she hesitated before they traveled to his shoulders up to his neck, patting his skin as if she didn't quite believe what she was feeling. When a hand tentatively smacked his face, he made a sound of protest.
Jolting back, Claudia ripped the hat from her head and stared at him. He waved nervously at her while she opened and closed her mouth, attempting to form words.
"There's a naked Fargo in the Warehouse," she finally blurted, "Why is there a naked Fargo in the Warehouse?"
"Um.." He could feel her gaze flit down his form as her eyebrow twitched and she leered at him with a gleam in her eye.
"There's a.. very.. naked Fargo in the Warehouse."
Claudia whirled as Fargo stepped out of the Pete Cave, wearing a spare t-shirt and sweatpants that Pete kept in there for who knows what reason. She raised a hand to her mouth to hide a smile as he nervously tugged at the hem of the shirt that was 2 sizes too big on him.
"So, Fargo. Fargonator. Dougie," Claudia cleared her throat, "what brings you to the Warehouse?"
"Well, I - "
"Hey, I was just playing with little Fargo!" Clapping a hand to her mouth, she stared at him wide eyed.
"Excuse me?"
"No, I mean.. the head.. the bobblehead!" Claudia blushed furiously and rushed past him while searching frantically through the shelves. "Ah hah!"
She proudly displayed the bobblehead with Fargo's likeness to the real thing. "See?"
"And.. why were you playing with mini-me?" he asked, reaching for the toy.
"Um, no reason. Hey look, you have a message!" She whipped the toy out of his reach, and pointed to the blinking phone he was holding.
"Oh, yeah I was about to check it before I got.. zapped." Punching a few buttons, Claudia stiffened as she heard her voice start playing from the small screen.
"Doug! Dougie Doug Doug. It's my birthday, happy 21st to me! I was going to have a party, but everyone left.. again." The video Claudia's enthusiasm dropped.
She grabbed the PDA from Fargo's hands, "Is that the Farnsworth? How did I leave you a message? Oh man, I drunk hacked the Farnsworth? I'm going to be in so much trouble."
"Ahem. Anyway. I was just thinking about you, wanted to say hi and that I uh, I miss you. Okay bye!" The video relay cut out, and a mortified Claudia slowly handed the phone back to Fargo.
"So.."
"So.."
Claudia was rocking back and forth on her feet, refusing to look at the young man in front of her.
"So, you uh.. it's your birthday?" Fargo finally broke the silence.
She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.
"And you -"
"The coffee!" Claudia bounced the palm of her hand off her forehead while Fargo stared quizzically at her. "The Friends' couch. It makes the most amazing coffee which, not surprisingly, makes you act upon thoughts pulled from your subconscious in the most cliched of ways. I must have called you when I zoned out earlier. C'mon."
She grabbed his wrist and pulled him along behind her. He was struggling to keep up when he finally planted his feet, jerking Claudia to a halt.
"Doug, what the hell?"
"Will you just.. can I just say something?"
"What is it?"
Fargo extracted his wrist out of her grasp, and slid his hand into hers. Drawing her closer, he placed his other hand on her shoulder.
"Happy birthday, Claudia."
She finally met his gaze, and and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Thanks, Fargonator."
Closing the space between them, she pitched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"And hey, I missed you too."