An AWESOME comm i got from  TheFiendish of a small mishap between Orin, Skel and Naki involving party prepping, blocked hoses, and lack of focus...

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If there was one thing about Parties nobody (well, maybe a few) was a big fan of, it was setting it all up. Having to get the decorations out, sending out the flyers, it was a real task and a half...so, Skel, being the one who was in charge of this relatively simple house party, had gotten the help of his two buds, Orin and Naki, to go and help him out.

And so far? It was going as well as he expected. Naki was up on a small ladder trying to get the Pinata set up, Skel holding said ladder so the relatively oval-shaped dragon wouldn't fall...until for the sixth time, they both got startled by a loud POP! from behind, making Naki yelp and drop the Pinata. Skel was getting too good at catching it, as they both looked to the red, rounder dragon in a leather jacket look a tad sheepishly at them, hose in one hand..and the scraps of a balloon fluttering around him to the ground.

"Ehhh, heh, sorry. This damn hose keeps getting blocked." He shrugged. Naki adjusted his glasses with a sharp sigh and stepped down, "S-suuure it does. You're totally n-not being a lughead again." Orin glowered with a frown, "Well i'm bloody sorry, but you're the one who put me in charge of blowing up these things!" Skel rolled his eyes, here they went again. Before Naki could rebuke and have them devolve into arguing, he went to the tank Orin had been using and examined it, snorting, "Well no wonder they kept exploding, you've got the pressure up too high. We're gonna run outta helium for these balloons at this rate."

"Erch, it's not that either, i'm certain it's this hose." Orin showed the grey hose in his hand - which ironically was as grey as Naki's own jacket - and frowned, "It's blocked with something that either lets in a little or lets in all of it! I only had it up so high becausea that." Skel and Naki both wanted to doubt that, but, Naki, being the more level-headed of the trio, decided to grab it and say, "W-well, let me look then. You can p-put the Pinata up. I'm certain you're still screwing around..." Skel then added, "..And i'm also gonna need your advice on how we oughta set this up. Naki's kinda too dorky when it comes to setting up parties." Naki could only really respond with a soft, flustered "Heyyy.." at that, which made both Orin and Skel giggle a bit.

Leaving Naki to try and sort the hose out, the first thing he did was turn on the tank to just have a little flow come out so he could see where exactly it was 'blocked' like Orin claimed. And already, he saw where it was. It was ironically up near the other end of it, there was a part of it that was already growing a bubble of helium in it. Naki grinned softly, at last a problem suited for a bit of Brains. He pressed on the area where the blockage was and...oddly, didn't feel anything firm. He frowned. Huh, maybe the material of the hose was...getting stuck together and it just needed some...stretching? He had read an article (once during a last night web browse to try and sleep) that this sorta thing tended to happen and pulling it was the solution so, he began to pull it with all of his might, all the while that bubble of helium slowly grew.

As that happened though, Orin was looking at Skel's phone as he scrolled through and suggested things for the party, "..And then," The bird said with a brow arche, "We could bring out the cheese and the chocolate fountains." Orin shook his head, "Nah, we can only have one of em, Skel, not both. It's...kinda gross to have both." Skel blinked, then nodded, "..Actually yeah that's true, dammit." He sighed, but then scrolled and showed a bubble machine, "What about this? Ya can't go wrong with bubbles at a party." Orin tapped a finger to his chin, "Truuuue..maybe get the one that has lights projecting outta it?" Skel grinned, "Oh fuck yeah that'd look great!" Clearly, these two were going to be the future designers of 'epic partying'.

As for Naki, his battle to un-stuck the hose was beginning to get intense. He had given up using his hands to stretch it, he had also given up trying to wrap it around his arms due to the growing bubble of gas and now, was now using his mouth. Biting down on it, he put a foot down on part of the hose on the ground, gripped the part below the bubble and was pulling. He growled softly, furrowing his brow, thinking to himself, Alright Brawns, don't fail me NOW! He pulled, pulled and pulled, and yet, it only seemed to help grow that damn bubble. He paused, sighing, then, looked to Skel and said, "Ey, uh," Skel turned, raising a brow at the sight while Orin seemed to merely smirk and stifle a laugh. Ignoring the look of his twin, he continued, "Can ya...increase the flow? I think i nearly got it."

Skel rolled his eyes, "Aight but if that hose explodes, i'm blaming you for my deafness." Naki stuck his tongue out a bit, "Nyeeeh sure, sure." He went back to biting and pulling it. Skel, not really focused and wanting to get back to theorizing amazing party plans with Orin, merely cranked the valve of the tank all the way up and went back to him, getting his phone out and scrolling down his list, and saying, "Oooh dude wait, i gotta get your opinions on the snacks..."

Naki however was now getting insanely bothered, why wasn't this working?! He was almost ready to just start stomping on this thing! Growling, he gave another pull...and the string, that had been tied to the hose this whole time that Skel had forgotten to take off earlier that day, snapped off at last. And Naki's eyes widened and nearly bulged out as he suddenly had to taken in large mouthfuls of helium, his chubby stomach suddenly BULGING out and surpassing Orin's within a matter of seconds. His cheeks burning red, he now tried to tug the hose out of his mouth, but his inflating arms began to lose mobility, and he starfished out, laying on his belly and whimpering, inflating quickly.

As for Orin and Skel, they were absorbed in their conversation of how they were going to set this party up...and were ironically on the subject of balloons, having finished their talk on snacks. "Here, lemme show you the ones i wanna use.." Skel tapped on a link to a bunch of photos he gathered...and groaned, "Ughh, the internet at my house sucks, hold on." Both were oblivious to the rapidly ballooning mass behind them that was Naki, who was trying to get their attention with muffled pleas from his ballooned face, beginning to fill up a good part of the room and only slightly floating off the ground. Finally, the photos loaded and Skel showed them to Orin.

"So i was thinking of getting balloons like this for the party?" Skel said, Orin leaned in a bit with a chin rub to see em. They were pretty colorful and large, nearly beachball sized. He snorted and raised both brows, saying, "Eh, I dunno.. maybe we should ask Naki first.." He shrugged, turning, "After all we're gonna put him in chhaAUURH?" Orin's expression were wide with shock, as did Skel when he turned and did a double take. Helium rushing out from his nose and looking deeply embarrassed, Naki let out a small 'mmmh' at them, as if to say 'took you too long enough'. Orin stammered out, "T...turn off the flow Skel he's gonna bloody BLOW!!!" Skel didn't waste a second in doing so, dropping his phone and running to the tank, turning the flow off instantly.

Naki let out a small sigh of relief...especially when Orin yanked the hose out. He whimpered out, "Thpammkphssh..." And wobbled in place. The other two stood there, shocked, amazed and confused at the sight. Blinking, Skel asked after a bit, "...So uh...do we just...skip the balloons now?" He hunched a bit when both of the dragons gave him a scrutinizing look. He shrugged, "J-joking, ya know?...Ugh. Dammit, how are we gonna deflate em?" Orin responded snappily, "Well, simple, we just, go around em and pull em out, get some heavy weights and eventually he'll deflate..." He'd go to try and get around Naki...only to find his brother was pushing against the walls. "...Oh." He'd try with the other side. No such luck. The two of em, besides the dizzy and dazed Naki, began to realize that they were basically trapped until Naki was at least moveable...and they only had a few hours until the party started.

Skel merely sighed and said, "...Well shit."


DAS END!