Aria's Gum Small Bargain - Definitive Edition chapter 4 by tfwnogiantgf

"No, no, noooo! How could you say that!?"

Aria's flailing hadn't stopped for a minute, her green shirt and skirt blending together with her rustling dark hair like the leaves of an upside-down tree in a hurricane. She covered her shallow breaths with her hands, sulking.

Blake adjusted his glasses. "All I said was your breath smells a bit fishy..."

"That's not the kinda thing you say to a girl! Especially right before an oral presentation." She flipped through her shortform cue cards. "Gosh, all that practice, ruined by a bit of salmon..."

Blake held up both hands, drawing away. "I take it back, then! It doesn't smell that bad."

"You can't just squeeze the toothpaste back in the tube!" Aria shook her head quickly, continuing to let out teensy wheezes and sighs.

"Toothpaste... That's it! What if I used magic to freshen your breath?"

Her green eyes flickered slightly. "Is that really possible?"

"Sure! Hang on..."

Blake focused his magic power in, pooling in every faint flicker of light and mana surrounding towards his form. It kept squeezing in closer - making him tighter, lighter, fresher; practically two-dimensional. Lights filled the room; making it very convenient him and Aria were alone, but confusing a few passerby outside noticing glimmering rays from the college windows.

In no time at all, Blake was a flat wafer of spearmint gum. He felt Aria catch him with remarkable grace, her hand soft beneath him. "There! I can get that smell out of your teeth."

The emerald eyes stared him down incredulously for a moment; before darting to the clock. No time to waste. She flicked him towards her molars, and the pearly whites chomped down instantly.

BITE.

Blake, at once, felt his friend distort him into a teensy clump. He bore the slight stinging, with his malleable, rubbery body able to absorb the pain. At first, the lingering odor of her previous meals was overpowering; he felt it in every droplet of spittle caressing his form. After a few more CHEWS that echoed through his gummy ears, however, Blake was starting to get accustomed to it. Or perhaps he was really freshening it up that quickly?

Aria briefly pulled him out - looking at his wad apologetically. "I've gotta look over my notes, and... I'd look silly if I talked to gum. Sorry!"

With that last breath of fresh air, she PLOPPED him back in and chewed with a shut mouth. The incisors fell up and down, guillotines that chopped him apart again and again as the soft tongue rolled him back into a ball. The pattern was almost like a rhythm; maybe even a little cheer routine... That made it easier for him to endure it.

And yet, he was starting to lose track of time. She couldn't chew forever - her breath had to be fresh enough for public speaking eventually... And with his immediate people-pleasing nature, he hadn't thought ahead that far.