“Uh, no.”
“Oh.” Cass frowned.
“We’ll check it out,” LA promised. “Night!” He grabbed Cass’s arm and escorted him out into the hallway. “So! Where are we headed?”
“Well, right now, we are headed down a hallway.”
“Okay, but where are we going for the surprise?”
“My place,” Cass said with a little eyebrow waggle. “As soon as we are in that elevator, we can go.”
“You know there’s cameras in the elevators too, right?”
“Oh. Well. Hmm.” Cass glanced around. “There aren’t cameras in the bathroom, right?”
“Hopefully no one notices that we go in and don’t come back out?”
“Be positive!” Cass cheered. “It will be fine!”
“You seriously just can’t wait until we get home?” LA laughed. “Your surprise is just that exciting, huh?”
“It is,” Cass insisted, but then he didn’t seem so sure. “I think it is. Yes. Maybe.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure I’m gonna love it.”
Cass giggled and a few bubbles appeared in the air as he led LA to the men’s room. As soon as they stepped inside, Cass made sure there was no one at the urinals or washing up at the sink, and then everything vanished away in a quick poof of rainbows.
LA was better prepared for the trip, having made it several times now, but he was still a little dizzy when they reappeared in Cass’s living room.
Well, he thought that’s where they were anyway.
It was hard to tell because Cass had changed back into an imp and now had his paws over LA’s eyes.
LA laughed. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you will be properly surprised!” Cass declared. “Are you ready?”
“I would have been surprised without you covering my eyes.”
“Shhh. It’s fine. Now, are you ready?”
“Yes!” LA laughed again.
Cass moved his paws. “Ta-da!”
There were two canvases laid out on the coffee table with paints, brushes, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. There was also a printed picture of Alan Tudyk holding a human brain betweenthe canvases, propped up against a stack of books. On top of that, LA was out of his work clothes and was now dressed in a pair of rainbow pajama pants with little dancing ghosts and a soft black T-shirt.
“What the…?” LA laughed in delight. “What is all this?”
“You mentioned wanting to do one of those boozy art classes where you drink wine,” Cass explained, “but then you also said it would probably be horrible since there would be other people and we’d have to worry about a DD and lots of other things. So! I decided to make our very own little boozy art class right here!”
“Holy fuck. Cass.” LA turned around to hug Cass tight. “This is fucking amazing.”
“Do you really like it?”
“I love it. This is genius.” LA laughed. “That picture is fromResident Alien, isn’t it?”
“Yes! You said that you thought it would be fun to paint because you liked the color of the brain!”
