Contents Under Pressure (short for fff prompt "under pressure")
"Are you sure this is going to work, Dr. O?"
Reid looked at the sixteen bottles of Diet Coke sitting in various spots on the concrete patio in the back yard. "I think so, buddy."
Reid popped a piece of candy into his mouth and offered the roll to Ethan, who took a piece of candy and smiled. "It's going to explode like a volcano!" Ethan exclaimed, bouncing excitedly. "How does it work?"
Reid continued to unroll the candies from their wrappers, placing them in a bowl on the patio table. He handed another candy to Ethan. "Look at the candy. It's shell is porous, which means that it has a lot of very tiny holes in it. Ya know how when you shake a bottle of Coke, it makes a lot of bubbles?" Ethan nodded, popping the candy into his mouth. "That's because there is carbon dioxide in the Coke. Well, the ingredients in the candy react with the carbon dioxide, and those little holes on the candy allow bubbles to form rapidly. It happens so fast that it creates pressure within the bottle, and the foam comes flying out like a geyser."
"Cool! I can't wait. This is gonna be awesome!"
"Yes, it is," Reid said laughing. "We're using Diet Coke rather than regular sugar soda because aspartame lowers the surface tension of the liquid much more than sugar, which allows the process to happen faster." Ethan looked at him with a furrowed brow. Reid shook his head. "Nevermind...that's not important really, but do you know what is important?"
"What?" Ethan asked with enthusiasm.
"That you wear these," Reid answered, picking up a pair of safety goggles off of the table. He put the elastic strap over Ethan's head and adjusted the goggles until they fit snugly. "Promise me you won't take these off until I say it's okay. Got it, E Man?"
"Got it, Dr. O!" Ethan saluted Reid and giggled. "Are you going to wear some too?"
"Of course," Reid said picking up the larger pair of goggles off the table. "Safety first, young man."
"Safety first," Ethan repeated. "You look funny in those."
"You look funny," Reid countered to Ethan's delight.
Reid toed off his shoes and peeled off his socks. "Better take your shoes off," Reid suggested. "I don't want you mom to be mad at us."
"Oh, she's gonna be mad at us alright," Ethan said giggling and sitting down to remove his shoes. "This is gonna make a big mess."
"Nah..." Reid said, smiling. "It's just a little bit of soda......and we'll spray it down with the hose afterwards."
"It's a lot of Coke, but you're gonna tell her it was your idea, right?" Ethan asked, looking slightly worried.
"Of course. It was my idea."
Ethan smiled again. "Cool."
Reid picked up both their pairs of shoes and threw them inside the door to the kitchen. After closing the door, he asked, "You ready?"
"Ready!" Ethan exclaimed.
Reid put his hands on Ethan's shoulders and guided him over to where he wanted him to stand. "Okay. You stand here for maximum saturation."
"What's that mean?"
"This is where you'll get the most wet."
Ethan jumped and pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah!"
"Remember to keep those goggles on, 'k?"
"Yup."
Reid picked up the bowl of mentos off the table and went over to the first bottle. He picked up a handful of candy. "You sure you want to do this?" he asked teasingly.
"Dr. O!"
"Okay, okay..." Reid said laughing. "Ready? One......two.........THREE!" Reid dropped a few candies into the first bottle before hurrying to the next one. He heard Ethan squeal and looked back to see the first bottle already spewing sweet, brown foam into the air. Reid made his way around the patio, dropping candy into each bottle before kneeling down next to Ethan while they both got doused in soda. Reid looked up in the air and opened his mouth to catch some of the soda in it, and Ethan followed suit, laughing and jumping around. When the last bottle stopped foaming, Ethan exclaimed, "That was AWESOME!!! Let's do it again! Can we? Can we?"
Reid laughed. "We don't have any more soda, but maybe we can do it again another day."
"When Luke is here?" Ethan asked. "This is fun."
Reid smiled. "Yeah, I think he'd like this."
As if on command, Luke exited the back door of the house. "Oh my God. What have you two gotten yourselves into?" he asked, laughing.
"Dr. O made Coke volcanoes!" Ethan ran up to Luke and gave him a sweet, wet hug.
Luke laughed, peeling Ethan's arms from around him. "You're soaked."
Ethan licked his own arm. "I taste like Coke! We even drank some. It was like Coke rain."
"Hey, Eth" Reid said, pulling his goggles off. "Why don't you go to the side of the house and get the hose? We need to wash down the patio before your mom gets home, or she might never let me babysit you again."
"I'm not a baby," Ethan protested.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Reid said, playfully bumping Ethan's chin with his fist. "She might not let us hang out again."
"That would suck," Ethan replied before clamping his hand over his mouth. "Stink! It would stink! Don't tell mom I said that, Luke!"
Luke smiled. "You secret is safe with me. Go get the hose, okay?"
"Okay," Ethan said, running off to the side of the house.
Luke turned to Reid and kissed him, running his tongue over his own lips as he pulled away. "Mmmm. You're sweet."
"And sticky," Reid replied in a deep voice, kissing Luke again, lingering a moment or two before pulling back.
"Thanks for staying with him on such short notice. I couldn't get away from the office, and Mom was freaking out because Mrs. Huggins was out of town." Luke looked around at all of the now empty two-liter Diet Coke bottles. "You are like a mad scientist with this stuff." He laughed and turned back to Reid.
"Reid Mc-Fly, the Science Guy."
"And a dork!" Luke continued. He put his hand out and brushed Reid's wet hair off his forehead. "You're a mess...........as if Ethan doesn't already idolize you enough, given that you touch brains and all, now you do this? He'll never want Mrs. Huggins to babysit him again."
"I aim to please," he said, smacking Luke on the butt before starting to pick up the empty soda bottles.
Ethan came barreling around the corner with the hose in his hand. "Can I spray you, Dr. O? Please?"
"I think you should spray Luke instead," Reid replied facetiously.
"Oh no, you don't!" Luke said, smiling. "I am perfectly clean, and..."
"Get him!" Reid exclaimed, dropping the bottles in arms and wrapping his arms around Luke so that he couldn't move.
Ethan laughed and squeezed the sprayer on the hose.