'tis the season

[diamondo]

Who: Mondo Oowada (diamondo) and Parker/"Alice White" (nostabbing)
Where: The Dangan House
When: 12/20, afternoon
Summary: Parker's in the Christmas spirit and decorating up a storm. Mondo kind of helps.
Rating: PG-13 for Mondo's mouth
Log:
[Christmas is one of Mondo's favorite holidays. He's always loved this time of year, both for the snow and the holiday season. It's a great excuse to spend time with those who care about you, and Mondo's always enjoyed it back home. He expects that things will be different here since he's spending the holiday with his classmates and friends as opposed to his gang, but surely things won't be that different.

That line of thought goes out the window the moment he steps into the house. It seems that someone's been decorating, to put it lightly.]

Holy shit.

[Mondo runs a hand back through his hair (it's down today, he just got in from working at the Pokémart and they insist that he leave his hair down), eyes wide. Someone's really gone overboard with the Christmas decorations. It's not that he minds, he's just not used to seeing so many decorations. He knew the front of the house would be decorated up from talking with Alice, but he wasn't expecting the inside to get a makeover as well.]

...Alice?

[It's just a guess, but if anyone in the house has been decorating, he's got to assume it's her. Most of his classmates don't seem like the sort of people who would get this into decorating.]

Comments

[nostabbing]

Yeah!

[...Well, she is.]

I think I'm almost done, though. What're you doing?

[diamondo]

Just getting in from work. You need any help with anything?

[nostabbing]

Ummmmmm.

[She leans back a bit, rotating on her cable, and examines her handiwork from this new angle before ultimately seeming to pronounce it good.]

Oh. Hey, do you know who put up the mistletoe? I didn't put it up; it was there when I got up here. I think it's all over the house.

[diamondo]

No idea. I guess it's not really surprising, considering it's a tradition and all that.

[It's not a tradition he necessarily improves of because that involves kissing and let's be real, Mondo can't even ask a girl out.]

[nostabbing]

I guess maybe somebody's trying to get kissed.

[ :|a ]

Which is pretty dumb. I mean, if you want to kiss somebody, why don't you just kiss them? Why do you need a plant over your head? It's weird.

[diamondo]

They could be shy about it. Mistletoe'd be a perfect excuse to kiss someone so you don't have to deal with trying to figure out how to do it on your own, y'know?

[nostabbing]

[Well, that gets a furrowed brow out of her — followed by an audible zip-like noise as she releases the tension in her cable and drops down to the ground with a light but graceful thump.]

No. What's hard about it?

[Do you not just...face...mouth...mash together...what is she missing here.]

[diamondo]

Well, it's...

[Mondo mirrors her expression, trying to come up with a way to word it. Who knew this would be so hard to describe?]

It's hard 'cause it means something, I guess? Like... it'd be pretty easy if it was a kiss that meant nothing. I think.

[...Guess who has never kissed a girl? This guy!!]

[nostabbing]

What does it mean, besides that you wanted to kiss them, though?

[... :|a ]

Or I guess that you needed a distraction. There's that too.

[diamondo]

Well, it means you really like the person? Like maybe you're in love with 'em or something? S-So it's kinda hard to just... kiss 'em outta nowhere because they might not appreciate that. So that's where the mistletoe comes in - it's expected, y'know? You're under the mistletoe, you get kissed.

[nostabbing]

[You can practically hear the gears turning in her head as she processes this.]

Oh.

[...]

Isn't that really manipulative, though?

[diamondo]

Well, yeah, it is...

[Things he didn't think about...]

You said there's a lot of 'em? Maybe we should take 'em down. Or well, some of 'em down.

[nostabbing]

'Cause if they didn't appreciate it in the first place, then getting them under the mistletoe is basically just saying, "now you're obligated to do this thing you don't want to do with me because a plant says so and people are going to judge you if you don't so pucker up." Right?

[Thank you for elaborating, Parker.]

Yeah, they're mostly over the doorways. One's by the fireplace, and I think the Chandelure stole one.

[diamondo]

Huh. I hadn't really thought about it like that. Yeah, that's pretty fucking manipulative.

[Yikes. Good thing he's not trying to kiss anyone!]

Alright, let's go ahead and take some of 'em down! I guess we can leave one or two of 'em up, but leaving them in the doorways is just asking for trouble.

[nostabbing]

Okay.

[Standby while she starts efficiently divesting herself of her rig, then.]

So did you want to kiss somebody, or what?

[diamondo]

Wh-What!?

[Just ignore the shriek there, uh.]

N-No way! I mean, I don't even like anyone like that!!

[nostabbing]

[WOW JUST BUST OUT HER EARDRUMS, MAN, JEEZ.]

Yeah, I guess that'd be kind of weird. I mean, the only girls you really hang out around are Celes and Creepy Eyes and me. I think.

[...]

You're never going to kiss Creepy Eyes, right.

[diamondo]

You mean Kirigiri?

[Well, her eyes are kind of creepy!]

Nah, I'm not interested in her like that. She's... not as bad as I first thought, but she's not really my type.

[...Not that he even knows what his type is. Other than "nonexistent."]

[nostabbing]

Okay, because she'll probably suck out your soul. Like a vampire.

[CREEPYGIRI. It's even in her name, practically.]

What is your type?

[...look, he was kind of asking for that one.]

[diamondo]

[...you know, he's not even going to comment on that...]

My type?

[Uh oh.]

I'm... not really sure? I mean, she's gotta be able to stand the uh... yelling I do. When I get nervous. I mean, I'm trying to work on that and what you said before'll help but... I can't really control my voice all that well and all.

[Obviously.]

[nostabbing]

So somebody with those big headphones?

[She cups her hands and hovers them in the general vicinity of her ears, miming the way one might rest their hands against a pair of big ear-covering muffler headphones.

Because obviously that is how you stand yelling, right.

With sound-dampening headphones.]

[diamondo]

[...resisting the urge to facepalm violently...]

Well, no. I mean someone who won't get afraid of the yelling or anything like that. I guess what I'm looking for is a person who doesn't scare easily, or who'll understand what I'm doing and... I dunno, help me deal with it?

[nostabbing]

Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhhh.

[Okay, yeah. Like when Hardison—

...

Oh.]

...Oh.

[diamondo]

...Something wrong?

[nostabbing]

No, I get it. ...I get the kind of person you mean.

Sometimes they're right in front of your face and you don't figure it out for a really long time.

[diamondo]

[Mondo tips his head a bit at that, then nods.]

So you've got someone like that back home?

[nostabbing]

Kind of? I didn't really figure it out until I was here. I mean I kind of figured it out but I didn't really...get it. I guess.

You're pretty lucky that so many of your friends are here, you know?

[diamondo]

Well, it's better to figure it out now than to never figure it out, right? And who knows, he might come here someday!

[He's not sure how much Ishimaru has told her about bringing people here, but he decides against mentioning it anyway.]

Yeah, I guess so. They definitely don't deserve to be stuck back in that school, and it's great to actually get a chance to know 'em here! But I'm sure people from your world will show up someday!

[nostabbing]

Maybe. I think he'd like it here. He'd probably get along with Chiaki, too.

[Anyway.]

So. Mistletoe? We should grab it.

[diamondo]

...Chiaki?

[Guess who didn't get her first name, whoops.]

Right, yeah! I guess I'll need to find a ladder.

[nostabbing]

Yeah, the harness probably won't fit you.

[PARKER...]

You didn't meet Chiaki? She was sitting on the couch playing games. With pink hair.

...

It's really pink.

[diamondo]

[He's not even going to comment on that...]

Oh, Nanami! I guess Chiaki's her given name? Yeah, I've met her! She's really nice!

[...Right, right, the ladder, hang on.]

Be right back!

[It takes him a little while, but he manages to find a small step ladder. He brings it back with a triumphant grin, setting it down and moving to take down the mistletoe from over the closest doorway.]

Man, they really must wanna be kissed, there's a lot of this shit!

[nostabbing]

She smells friendly.

[She says, wandering over to help support the stepladder for him, because safety first and all that.]

...Do you think her hair is made of cotton candy?

[diamondo]

[Alice..........]

Uh no, I doubt it. I mean pink's a weird color and all, but maybe she dyes it?

[nostabbing]

Oh. Maybe she dyes it.

[She says, like this had legitimately not occurred to her.]

So it probably doesn't taste good.

[diamondo]

Probably not.

[Alice.................]

We can always go get cotton candy if you want it that badly. It's not the really good fresh kind, but they sell some in bags!

[He would know, he nearly got sick his first week in Johto after he discovered that.]

[nostabbing]

It's just really pink!

We should get candy anyway, though. For gingerbread houses.

[diamondo]

Gingerbread houses? Oh, are you gonna make one?

[nostabbing]

I'm gonna make like seven.

[diamondo]

Seven? Shit, do we really need that many?

[nostabbing]

...Yes?

I mean, we're gonna eat them, right?

[diamondo]

Well yeah, I guess so! And I guess we're gonna need a lot to feed everyone in the house...