Jason slowly awoke to a groggy state of consciousness. He could blearily make out the morning sun peeking through the window blinds and the rare sound of birds chirping, barely heard over the incessant bleeping of his alarm clock. He had a dull headache, like he had a light hangover, and his breath tasted of kids' cereal. He'd had the weirdest dream. It was all a blur, now, but it involved a bar with some sort of unusual beer, end he ended up turning into a kid. Funny, even now it all seemed so real.
Jason woozily sat up and climbed out of bed, silencing the alarm on the way up. He discovered that he had apparently slept naked last night, which wasn't something he'd been in the habit of doing. Glancing down at the floor he could see a scattering of clothes. Reaching down, he lifted a rather small t-shirt bearing the Superman logo. Funny the shirt was just like the one he wore in the dream.
"No way..."
He also took notice of a Dodgers baseball cap, sized for an individual with a rather small head.
"Oh my god..."
It all came flooding back to him. That dream of his had been very real. There was a real bar out there called Tina Fontaine's Transformational Bar (and Grill) that really did serve strange brews and mixed drinks. He had to go back. There was no question about it. That night he knew he had to go back. He had to talk to Tina. He had to know just how this was possible. He could go there right after work.
Jason's heart sank. Work. Funny, he'd forgotten all about work up until that moment. Perhaps it was his recent experience of being a kid again, but the idea of work suddenly felt so strange and boring to him. He shook his head of the thoughts. To work first, then to Tina's.
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"Hey, Jason." Jason looked up from his work to see his friend Chad. Chad was a pretty mellow guy. He had dark, almost black hair, and was pretty fit. He was around Jason's age, so the two seemed to gravitate toward one another. "How'd it go with the blind date last night?"
Jason recalled that Chad had been the one to set the date up in the first place. She was a friend of a friend of his or something.
Jason glanced back down at his work and shrugged. "Fine."
"Fine? How fine? Did you guys hit it off or what?"
"She left with another guy."
Chad winced. "Oh, man. Sorry about that. Jeez. What'd you do?"
Jason tugged absentmindedly at his chin scruff. "I dunno. We didn't really hit it off. Honestly, though, I wasn't that bothered by it."
"Seriously?" Chad frowned and crossed his arms, leaning up against the well next to Jason's desk. "What happened last night, man?"
Jason shrugged again, leaning in closer to his work as if he were focusing on it. Actually, he couldn't stop daydreaming about Tina and her bar. "Nothing, I already told you everything."
Chad nodded and smirked. "Oh, I see what's going on. You met somebody else."
Jason stopped and looked up at Chad, trying his best to put on a confused face. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, no, no. You can't fool me. I've seen that look before. What's her name?"
Jason quickly looked back down at his work. "It's not what you think."
"Oh, come on, man. I'm dying to know." He grabbed an unused office chair from nearby and plopped down next to Jason. "Please?"
Jason sighed. Then a thought occurred to him. Perhaps Tina's would be even more interesting if he were to bring a friend. "There's this place. I can't really talk about it right now, but I can take you there after work. If you're game."
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It took Jason a couple laps around the block, but he eventually found the bright, neon exterior of Tina Fontaine's Transformational Bar (and Grill). He wasn't sure how it was possible to so easily overlook such a place among the surrounded gray buildings, but that was at the bottom of his list of weird recent events.
"Is this the place?" Chad had accompanied Jason, patiently following him about until he had found it. He tried getting more information out of Jason, but Jason had decided not to say a work. Tina's was something that had to be seen to be believed.
The pair stepped through the doors and into Tina's. It looked exactly as how Jason had left it the night previous, though without the mismatched pair of Bradley and Mik seated at the bar. He could see Tina serving drinks just as she had last night. She looked up when the door opened and broke into a grin when Jason entered.
"Welcome back, newbie." Her grin diminished some when she saw Chad enter behind Jason. "I see you decided to bring a friend with you."
Jason held a hand up. "Oh, I hope that's alright."
Tina shrugged. "No, it's fine. Bring him on in."
Chad looked around and grinned. "I just cannot believe I never knew this place existed before. You know, this blows Denim's Bar right out of the water."
Jason led Chad to the bar where they both took seats. Tina was instantly in front of them.
"So, newbie, who's your friend?"
Jason gestured between Chad and Tina. "Tina this is Chad. Chad, Tina."
Chad reached out a hand and gave his most winning smile. "Nice to meet you. I take it you're the titular Tina Fontaine?"
Tina either didn't see his hand or completely ignored it, and instead reached under the bar and began filling a pair of pint glasses with a foamy, amber liquid from the tap. "It depends on who's asking."
Unfazed, Chad pulled his hand back and kept up his smile. "I'm asking."
"To you I'm Tina. And I mean only 'Tina'. If I hear anything else than that one word coming out of your mouth when referring to me, don't expect to leave here with all your teeth."
Chad put both his hands up in defense. "Whoa, whoa. No need to get hostile. We're just here for some drinks."
Tina looked directly at Chad and seemed to perfectly replicate his winning smile right back at him, as if in mocking. "Who's hostile? I'll be right with you." She then left for the far end of the bar.
Chad glanced sideways as Jason. "What's up with her?"
Jason shrugged. "I dunno. She was just fine yesterday. Maybe you rub her the wrong way."
Chad smirked. "Me? Don't be ridiculous. Chicks dig me." Chad peered closely at the labels displayed on the racks behind the bar. "What the hell kind of imports are these? Older Ale? Head O'Hare? Ebony Sheen? Eesh! What is this? Some sorta hipster bar?"
It wasn't long before Tina was in front of them again. She grinned and leaned casually on the bar. "Alrighty, then. What can I get you boys?"
Jason considered getting the Youthenizer again. He had made some preparations, packing the kiddie clothes into a bag which was in his car parked outside. He'd also done some research into places that would be popular among kids that were the age range he'd planned to be. However, he'd begun to have second thoughts. As much as he wanted to be a kid again, there were so, so many other beverages he hadn't tried yet. It seemed like a shame to only come in two days in a row and only get one drink. Besides, Tina never said he could only ever get one drink a night. If he really wanted he could try several through the night and be sure to end on the Youthenizer and leave as a kid. Still, he wasn't sure.
"I don't know just yet."
Chad shrugged. "Tell you what. Surprise me. I'll let the lady behind the bar decide." He gave another smile which he thought was charming.
Tina smirked. Jason thought he could see a glimmer of mischief in her eye. "Sure. One surprise drink coming right up."
It wasn't long before Tina was back with a pint of dark, foamy liquid. "Here is one Belly Buster, Fuzz Muster, Mount Baldy, Older Ale mix." She set it down in front of Chad and grinned. "Enjoy."
Chad looked down at the drink in front of him. "What? Did she just say she used ale in a mixed drink?"
Jason shrugged. Some of the drinks had sounded familiar, but she had listed them off so quickly and Jason had been so busy trying to figure out what he wanted next he hadn't caught them all.
Chad carefully picked the pint glass up and examined it. "Huh. No risk no reward, right?" He brought the glass to his lips and took a sip. "Hmm. It's like I'm drinking maple syrup." He took another, larger sip. "But not in a bad way." Another sip. "I like it."
Jason looked down at the bar's reflective surface at his own reflection. He saw his short brown hair, his fairly average, if somewhat bony, face, and the scruff anointing his chin. He remembered Mik and Bradley from the previous night seemed to have fun with their changes. As long as he had another drink with the opposite effects, the previous one was undone. At least, in theory. Maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe it would be best to go straight to the Youthenizer. Or did he even want it anymore?
He glanced over at Chad's reflection in the bar. He was taking another swig of his drink, but there was something off about him. He seemed rounder than before, his face a bit more chubby. Looking down, he had a definite belly forming under his shirt. He also had formed a five o'clock shadow where he had previously been clean shaven. Jason could even see that the hairs on Chad's arms seemed to be lengthening and darkening. Even the hair on his head seemed to be receding, giving more room to his forehead.
Chad glanced over at Jason, who realized he was staring. "What?"