holiday celebration with science and makeup

[ortion]

Who: Dist (ortion) and Dr. Kato (artfuldestruction)
Where: the Goldenrod Team Rocket base, in the labs
When: December 25th, morning
Summary: Dist and Kato exchange their holiday gifts and Dist reacts pathetically.
Rating: PG? idk
Log:

The day had finally arrived. In all honesty, Dist still thought it was a silly idea for a holiday, but he didn't see the harm in indulging a bit. Besides, he had thought of the most ingenious gift for his acquaintances. There was no doubt in his mind that they would enjoy it. If only he could see the look of their faces as they opened it...

He did get a little more generous with gifts for a couple others though, and that was what brought him to Kato's lab so early in the morning. Ryuunosuke said this is a holiday where you give gifts to people you care about, and Kato is the only one in the base who could technically apply. He is the closest thing to a friend Dist has had in a long time, although he never really admitted it out loud. As such, Dist felt that a proper gift was in order.

Dressed nicely for the day off and with a rather large basket propped up in one arm, he gently knocked on the door frame to Kato's lab and peered inside to see if he was in at this hour. It's hard to tell since they both tend to work late into the night and sometimes sleep in an extra hour or so. Beauty rest is essential, after all!

"Kato, are you here?"

Comments

[artfuldestruction]

Kato was indeed lurking in his lab, dressed in his usual ensemble and with his psychotic Zoroark nowhere in sight. He'd discovered that she was capable of mating with his (poor, undeserving) Typhlosion, Joule, and it didn't take much prompting to get the two....busy. It was a wonderful example of killing two birds with one stone, really; not only did it discourage Pyrite's infuriating affection for him, their union resulted in quite a few eggs, which made for very convenient christmas presents.

He'd never been one for friends or gifts given out of genuine affection; Kato was more in the business of emotional blackmail and brown-nosing, to be blunt about it. The odd positive gesture here and there to the right people tending to be a good thing to do, especially in an organization like this where getting to the top tended to be something of a rat race.

Dist, however, was somewhat of an exception; he found that he actually quite liked the fellow. They had quite a few things in common and he'd never encountered anyone like him back home in Metro City. He wouldn't call Dist a true friend of his, as Kato didn't really consider anyone a friend through personal preference, but there was definitely a degree of fondness. So he'd gone out of his way to find the man something he'd probably appreciate. He knew Dist had seen Joule wandering around the lab, and the creature was beautiful, if not rather simple, and Dist appreciated beauty.

So as he heard his name he swiveled on his stool, smiling slightly, legs crossed neatly at the knee.

"Dist. Merry Christmas."

[ortion]

"So you are here... Ah, Merry Christmas to you too." It felt awkward to say that considering he would never celebrate such a holiday anywhere else, and the awkwardness reflected in his tone as he said it.

After realizing he was still standing half in the doorway, he shuffled inside, attempting to obscure Kato's view of the basket he was holding. With its size, it was pretty much impossible and he just looked silly, so he gave up and held it normally. "I assumed you would be here even though we aren't required to make the usual rounds today. Our line of work doesn't take breaks and what have you."

[artfuldestruction]

He could sense Dist was feeling awkward and honestly, it amused him; between the failed attempts to hide the basket and the fact that the basket existed at all, Kato had the feeling that he could tell where this conversation was going.

His amusement with the entire situation grew.

"I have no intention of slacking off, no; besides, it's nice to have the lab to myself. You, of course, are more than welcome."

His smile (well....smirk) widened slightly.

"Need some help carrying that?"

[ortion]

"Well thank you. That is convenient since, er..." For a moment, he looked absolutely panicked. That would've been a perfect segue but Kato noticed the basket already! And he tried so hard to hide it...

Wait, this could still work. "Ye...yes! I do, actually." Well, that went from unsure to confident rather quickly. "I was going to drop it off in my lab before coming here but I figured I could handle it for a few extra minutes. I believe I underestimated how heavy it would be."

That terrible excuse for an explanation would totally fool Kato for the next couple of seconds until he took the basket, right?

[artfuldestruction]

Oh, of course! Consider him completely and utterly fooled, Dist.

....or not, really, but at least he's amused? What on earth are you doing? Regardless, Kato assists Dist in gently lowering the basket onto his bench, his eyes narrowing slightly as he accepts the weight.

"What on earth have you got in here? It's certainly hefty."

Now that the basket was settled, Kato promptly returned his smirk to his face. Can't have it disappearing for too long, after all. Besides, there were things to do.

"Tell me, Dist, do you celebrate Christmas?"

[ortion]

Bless you for humoring him at least.

Now that Kato had the basket, Dist stretched his arms a bit and purposefully avoided that first question since Kato would find out eventually anyway.

"Truthfully, I do not. Not under normal circumstances, anyway." He explaining, crossing his arms now that they were free from the basket. "Christmas does not exist on Auldrant, nor is there a winter holiday similar to it. Needless to say all of the holiday spirit here was unexpected."

[artfuldestruction]

"Mhmmm, I'm not one for the whole thing, myself, even though it is celebrated where I come from. A lot of it seems like pointless consumerism."

And there are far too many happy and joyful people around! That totally isn't the real reason or anything. Hmm. He simply must debut a new piece on Christmas Day sometime. Think of the attention!

...ah, right. Bringing himself out of his Christmas fantasy, Kato smiles again, and this time it almost looks slightly more genuine. Slightly.

"Although, I hope you don't find it forward, but I have gotten you something. It's not much, but I think you'll like it."

Dist, meet a neatly wrapped box. Neatly wrapped box, Dist. Placing it on the bench, Kato indicates for Dist to open it at his leisure.

wow nice typo in my last comment. I am good at this.

[ortion]

Awww. Did your parents not get you enough Christmas presents when you were a child, Kato?

"That is exactly the sense I got about the holiday when it was explained to me." Suddenly a bit of bitterness worked its way in Dist's tone as he continued, "Besides, this holiday is exactly the sort of thing I'm glad I live without back home. Watching all the others bragging about their precious gifts from their friends. It's making me sick just thinking about..."

Of course, he was alluding to the fact that he didn't really have anyone to exchange gifts with back home. He wouldn't even expect Jade to give him something, even if they were "friends." But he trailed off when Kato said he actually got something for him. He was, well, pretty surprised. Shocked, even. And it was evident on his face. He didn't even believe it at first.

"O-oh. Thank you, Kato. Ah, please try to forgot what I just said. I...am not used to this." Tripping over his words already. This was off to a good start. He was able to recover somewhat when he remembered he could give Kato something else to focus on for the time being instead of his bumbling.

"I actually have something for you too. The basket?" He motioned to it as if Kato somehow forgot about it already. "I lied about intending to bring it to my lab. I was going to bring it here all along. It's for you."

Surprises everywhere.