You search around the store to see if there was anything that could help in locating Jason. You were in a magic shop after all, iffy ethical practises are kind of the standard here. Though it was quite difficult getting around given your new voluminous body. The aisles in this shop were definitely designed for those of a slimmer stature. It took a lot of uncomfortable positioning and sucking in of your large gut to make sure you didn't accidentally knock anything off the shelves and enact a terrible curse upon yourself. You'd hate to find out what could be worse than ageing 30 years and becoming a hirsute, obese man in his forties... Alas, after all that tiptoeing around the shop, you couldn't find a single locator item that didn't require either a genetic sample or an object of value to initiate the spell. Which was absolutely useless seeing as you had neither.
You slunk back to Marco, who was comparing his own photos to those of his brother. Side by side, you could immediately see the familial resemblance to each other. The strong lantern jaws, the overabundance of body hair, and the smooth, shiny scalps that apparently ran in the family. "You know, I'm beginning to think dad had a hair transplant without telling anyone..." he uttered as you approached.
You pat Marco on the back and say "I heard the gene that causes hair loss comes from the mother's side of the family. Besides, you definitely did not get your dad's hair. It's not even the same colour".
Marco snorted, and rubbed the top of his head, his fingers lingering on the boundary where his bare skin transitioned to bristly hair at the very back of his scalp. "I guess Grampa Charlie is as bald as I am now. And dad does have the curliest blonde hair of anyone I know. Must be nice...". He looked up from the photos and asked "Find anything?"
You shake your head. "Nothing useful. You sure you don't have a way to track him with your phone?"
He pulled out his phone and shrugged. "The only thing I have is on this messaging app, and he needs to give us permission to see his location. Since he's not responding to any of my texts or calls, well...". His sentence trailed off.
"Everything needs permission..." you grumble under your breath. "We'd better search the plaza quickly then. The shop closes soon, and I do not want to be stuck like this for another 15 hours"
Marco shoved his phone back into his pocket and pointed out "If you're that desperate to turn back to normal, just use the thing now! There's literally nothing stopping you"
You were beginning to wonder that yourself... But your stubbornness meant who had to see these things through. "You know I feel responsible for this mess. I'd feel guilty being young again knowing Jason was stuck looking like a middle aged construction worker."
"I dunno if I'd call it stuck if we can come back tomorrow..." Marco said, scratching his prickly beard for the umpteenth time. "Besides, he seems pretty determined to stay an adult. I doubt we could convince him before the shop closes."
You were surprised by your friend's lack of urgency. "Come on, he's your brother! You don't seem too concerned about his well-being"
Marco shrugged his shoulders, a hint of apathy in his expression. "There's not much I can do about it. I mean, technically he is a grown man now. We can't exactly force him to do something he doesn't want to. Honestly, I don't blame him. He's like a fuzzy Hulk now, I'd struggle to give that up too"
You sigh wearily. It feels like you're going in circles... "Can we at least agree we should make a move? If I use the booth, then you do the same, there's less time to find him. I can't expect you to search for him alone, can I?"
Marco rolled his eyes and said "It's not like I'm in any rush to go back...". There was a moment's pause before Marco's eyes widened, and he covered his mouth with a small yelp.
You cock an eyebrow and glare at Marco. "Seriously?? You too?"
Marco blushed, though it was difficult to see beneath that dense beard of his. "Oh, don't give me that look!" he flustered. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. "I don't necessarily love being so large and hairy, but I don't hate it either. It's just different is all... Why not savour the weirdness and wait until tomorrow? Don't you want to experience adulthood for even a little bit?"
You scoff and say "Maybe if I were 20 years younger and 100 pounds slimmer, but not like this!"
"Like I said, nothing's stopping you..." Marco growled,. He pushed his glasses up his nose before clearing his throat and declared in an irritated tone "Let's just find Jason, OK?"
You sigh, feeling you struck some sort of nerve. "We should make a plan of action." You stroke your chin in thought, slightly wincing at the feel of your soft, stubbly double chin. "Now if I were a 10 year old kid with a 40 year old body, where would I go..."
"Hang on..." Marco mumbled, fumbling around in his jean pockets until he yanked out a crumpled up store directory. I raised an eyebrow, and he said "What? I have like zero sense of direction..."
You resist the urge to ask where this map was 10 minutes ago, and lean over Marco's shoulder, pointing at the list of clothing stores. "If it were me, I'd go and get some new digs. Something less revealing than a tank top and shorts. No offence, but I wouldn't want to show off that much skin if I were as hairy as you two". Hairy was an understatement. From a distance, you'd assume Marco was already wearing a shirt underneath his tank top. But you don't tell him that.
Marco rubbed at his hair-coated arms and grunted "Jason seems too self-absorbed in his new body. He'd see it as a symbol of his maturity. I wouldn't be surprised if he was wandering around topless. It's certainly warm enough."
Probably because he has his own in-built woolly sweater... So that scratches off a good 90% of the shops. The other 10% were book stores and restaurants. Not the best selection for a wandering man-child. "For all we know, he could've called a taxi and fled the joint by now..."
Marco scoffed. "Jason? He's a big ol' baby! He acts tough but the moment he has to do something for himself, he loses the confidence. Besides, he's only got loose change on him. That won't get him far at all. I bet he looked at the bus schedule, couldn't figure out which one would get him home, then slunk off to a coffee shop so he could try coffee for the first time."
You shake your head in disagreement. "That sounds too normal. He's a kid in an adult's body, so I bet he'd want to do something adult like drink alcohol, see an R rated movie, gamble...". There wasn't much nightlife in town, especially in the shopping plaza where even the Irish-style pub shut by sundown. Although there did happen to be somewhere not too far from this very plaza. Somewhere all the boys at school dreamed of visiting... "What about The Landing Strip?"
Marco looked up from the map. "Huh? What's that, some kind of restaurant? It's not on the map."
You stare dumbfounded at him. "You've never heard of the Landing Strip?" He shrugged. "It's a strip club close to that weird lion statue. It's a bit of an open secret, every guy in town knows about it."
"Every guy but me." Marco said with a smirk. "Guess it's not my kind of scene. But I doubt Jason would go to a strip club. If I didn't know about it, then he definitely has no idea about it".
You fold your arms and say in protest "Well it couldn't hurt to go have a look, right? It's not like they'd turn us away. It'd be a learning experience!"
Marco raised an eyebrow with a smug grin. "You just want to see some big titties up close, don't you? What happened to not wanting to stay an adult?". You scrunch up your face and poke your tongue out at him. Finding Jason was top priority of course, but getting to see some scantily clad women would be a nice bonus... Marco shook his head in pity.
"Hold on, I'm getting something...". Marco reached for his phone, and after a few unsuccessful prods, managed to open up the messages. Jason had sent him a video, captioned with "Betcha can't guess where i am!!" followed with a string of cheeky emojis. Jason opened the video and immediately groaned.
You glance over to have a look, then grin widely. "Lead the way, big guy!" you cheekily say as you gesture to the shop exit. Marco huffed in annoyance before walking out. You follow closely behind, making sure to set a timer on my phone so you wouldn't miss the magic store closing. It was a little tricky to do, since your fingers were significantly plumper than usual, but you think you managed to do it. Besides, you knew exactly where Jason ran off to. It shouldn't take that long to find him.