foolishwren | 86. [Video/Action for Ecruteak] Christmas morning.

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Current Location: Ecruteak City

86. [Video/Action for Ecruteak] Christmas morning.

[ACTION]

_{[You know what makes a good alarm clock on Christmas morning? ... Besides small children? ... DOGS.]

[There was once a time when a Christmas with the Masons involved Heather using her father's bed as a trampoline. But by this point, she's more interested in sleeping in. You know, in general. But that's hard to do with Pokemon around.]}

Ugh, Cooj-- have you been eating the old socks at the bottom of my bag again...?

_{[Shoving the Growlithe's blunt muzzle away from her face, she sits up in bed. Most of the other Pokemon (those that are out of their balls) are still asleep, but THAT DOESN'T STOP CUJO OF COURSE. He drops something slobbery in her lap and then shuffles backwards on her bed, rumpling up the blankets in the process. She flaps a hand at him, rubbing her eyes.]}

C'mon, boy, you're acting like it's Christmas or someth-- ....

_[OH.]

...

_{[She looks down at him briefly.]}

... Okay, go wake up everybody else.

_{[Half the time what she tells him to do seems to go in one shaggy ear and out the other, but she doesn't need to tell him to do that twice. As he leaps off the bed in an explosion of happy panting, she finally turns her attention to the object he dropped in her lap.]}

... My flashlight?

[VIDEO]

_{[Has anyone ever wanted to see live footage of somebody trying to strap one of those dog backpacks to a Growlithe that won't hold still?]

[Well, anyone checking out the network around lunchtime on Christmas Day will get to watch the Adventures of a Hapless Trainer and Her Hyperactive Dog for awhile as Heather tries unsuccessfully to get one of those things on him for about twenty minutes, outside in the snow.]

[After lots of yelling, falling down, and a brief period of getting dragged around (he's big enough to do that by this point...) she loses her grip and he eventually runs off with the damn thing half-fastened. Probably gonna lose it in a snowbank somewhere. Picking herself up, with a grumble, she takes back the PokeGear from whoever had been filming this charming home video (probably Harry or Henry) and shakes her head.]}

Man, last time I get Cujo a Christmas present. Ungrateful mutt... _{[She looks out at the orange dot that is Cujo, clearly visible in the far-off snowy landscape, and waves dismissively.]} He'll be back when I start giving treats to all the others.

ANYWAY, uh...

_{[Turning back to the screen, she swipes a hand under her nose briefly. It's been running in the cold.]}

So, Merry Christmas, everyone!

Haven't opened all the gifts yet, but uh, thanks to everyone who sent stuff for us. ... Hope all of mine got through, I kinda mailed some of 'em last minute...

_{[OH WELL. Shrug. They'd get there sooner or later.]}

I'd better go make sure Cooj doesn't lose that thing in a ditch or something, it cost good money. Later!

_[BLIP.]

[OOC: For Ecruteak action, feel free to encounter Heather wandering around town later! She'll be trying to hunt down the friends of hers who are in town so that she can hand them their Christmas swag in person.]

[ALSO feel free to assume your character got their present from Heather, if you haven't already seen the list! I don't think I forgot anybody...]

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_{[Talk about an unlikely friendship.]

[She jogs up to him, puffing, and briefly sags a little, one hand on her knee. The other is, quite mysteriously, behind her back.]}

Oh, pretty good, pretty good!

_{[Then she straightens up, reaches into her pocket, and pulls out... a wrapped ice cream sandwich. And holds it out to him, straight-faced.]}

Merry Christmas.

_{[He accepts it, turns it over in his hands, raises an eyebrow her way (definitely notes the mysterious hand, of course) and manages to make quite a show out of opening the wrapper, but still doing it .. ordinarily.]}

I'll admit I was hoping for something a little more creative, but I'll take what I can get.

_{[OM. ...yes, despite the cold. Oh hey, that was actually pretty good, too - he hasn't had one of those for ages.]

[Oh yeah but he'll eat it with his eyes on her. It's almost a challenge but he still manages to look pretty damn INNOCENT about it.]}

_{[AND SHE STARES RIGHT BACK. ... As he wordlessly eats the ice cream sandwich. ... Oh man he's totally making eye contact she can't even handle this, it's too much. HE DOESN'T EVEN LOOK CONFUSED.]}

... PFFFF--

_{[It's maybe fifteen seconds before Heather cracks. Bursting into barely-muffled giggles, she dips her head down briefly before withdrawing the arm from behind her back and holding an actual wrapped package out to him. YOU WIN, COOPER.]}

Here.

_{[OF COURSE HE DOES. He grins widely once she gives in, accepts the package with one hand and finishes eating the ice cream sandwich with the other, putting the wrapper in a pocket when he's done with it.]}

I got something for you too-
_{[Totally just about to give her his gift but then Tricia comes along because D8 TRAINER WHAT, WHAT WHAT I looked everywhere and there was no snowball.]

[AT ALL.]

[Coop ruffles her spiky mane fur a little before getting her to sit down with a snap of his fingers and pointing downwards. She's still wriggling a little with excitement though, looking at Heather with a sort of 8D OH HEY I VAGUELY REMEMBER YOU.]

[Alas, Tricia, this is a time for the more-or-less grownups, and after making sure the Manectric won't go anywhere Coop reaches into his inner pocket and produces a package himself - smaller, wrapped in green.]

[(Like Tricia interrupting never really happened.)]}

Maybe it'll be useful.

Edited 2011-12-26 01:25 (UTC)

_{[YOU TROLL. ... Okay to be fair Heather tried to troll you first, but-- this isn't over!]

[Heather grins and relinquishes the package.]}

You're a tough person to shop for but I think I found some stuff you could use for something other than kindling-- oh.

_{[Oh. Oh hey doggie. 8I;]

[After a whole year and a half with an overaffectionate dog who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, Heather's gotten a little desensitized... but she's still not overly fond of canines. So she won't be bending down to pat Tricia like she might have with one of Cooper's other Pokemon.]

[Fortunately she seems well-trained so at least Heather won't have to worry about being jumped all over.]

[Looking back up to Cooper, she reaches out to take the package, brows rising.]}

Yeah?

_{[By force of habit, she brings it up to her ear to give it a little shake before starting to pick at the wrapping paper.]}

_{[Well-trained, certainly, even if it took a while, but well-behaved she isn't - so it's probably a good thing Heather doesn't pet her, or she WOULD likely have been jumped all over.]

[Cooper eyes her quietly for a moment to gauge how she feels about his dog, but seeing that it's not a big deal as long as Tricia stays in check his easy smile returns along with a small headtilt when he feels the edges of his own package. Ah, the tell-tale spines of books. That makes him pretty excited. He does like books.]}

Yeah. And I'd like to make it known that you're not all that easy to shop for, either.

_{[He unwraps the wrapping paper as he speaks with the kind of patience found in adults everywhere, but is pretty quick to get it off the gift. And his smile grows slowly at the titles, and even a little more as he experimentally flips through the pages.]}

Not bad, Heather ... I'm going to enjoy both of these.

_{[He says while reading the blurb at the back of the Police book. Not bad at all.]}

It's because I'm such a deep and challenging person.

_{[She continues to grin at him, jerking her head at the books in his hands as she continues to unwrap the parcel.]}

I figured, hey, since you're into the meditation thing....

_{[His grin softens a little, because her tone might be joking but deep and challenging are both accurate descriptions of her, at least in his experience these past few months.]}

I appreciate it. Thank you.

_{[He puts the bundle of candy canes that were also in there in one of his pockets, save for one which he gives to Tricia. Who, yep, actually eats it - loudly and with great concentration (a little cross-eyed) as to not drop any pieces into the snow.]}

_{[Yeah, she did mean it jokingly-- but sometimes it's hard to tell where the jokes end and the truth start with her.]

[Either way, she shoots him another grin before tearing the rest of the paper off of the gift and thumbing open the box. At first she looks a little puzzled... but then she holds it up with a legitimate look of impressed surprise.]}

Whoa!

_{[Oh, good. He'd been unsure of what to get her but it looks like he made a good choice.]}

Think it'll come in handy?

_{[Her mouth tugs upwards in a crooked grin as she turns it in her hand.]}

Uh-- yeah.

Jeez, this would've saved my ass back last September... or at least made it marginally less cold and miserable.

If my 'Gear ever breaks again, this'll be my best friend.

Man, thanks, Coop!

Well, it is the season of giving. I'm glad you like it.

_{[Gifts aren't exactly a norm in his life and he's actually had a lot of fun picking them out - and it's with an almost childlike glee he notes that this one was a success. It's not overly obvious, but there's a happy something in his face there.]}

_{[In turn, there's a childish glow to Heather's expression as well. She's always liked Christmas... and this is the first one in two years that's actually felt normal. This time around she had her father back-- and that's enough to bring some of the magic back for her.]}

Good ol' over-commercialized holidays, right?

_{[Rather than sounding bitter, she says it fondly and with a bright smile.]}

Glad you like yours, too.

_{[She finally takes note of the coupons and plucks one off, studying it for a second and then laughing.]}

I see we sorta had the same idea...

_{[He laughs as well, a soft short sound that's entirely too rare in him.]}

Well, I haven't met anyone who can say no to ice cream.

_{[Seriously, even Albert indulged in it if he was overworked enough.]}

The sentimental value can be downplayed as coincidental but I'd like to say that I appreciate the fact that it appears to be mutually intended.

_{[It's a roundabout way (and gesture) of saying that he'll be there for her if she needs him - he knows that she's got people closer to her than he is, but he's still got her back if the situation would call for it.]}

_{[Cooper y u gotta be so verbose.]

[Heather tilts her head a little at that response, still wearing her crooked grin, but she seems to get the idea.]}

... Yeah. Uh-- what you said!

_{[... But hey, you know what? Bro-fist makes it official. She holds up her hand in the traditional fist-bump position. ... Was the bro-fist even a thing in Cooper's time.]}

_{[...uh, yeah, but frankly they really weren't a thing in the FBI. So he looks from her fist to her face ... it's obvious he should be responding here somehow, but he'd rather get to know what than take a chance.]

[So he raises his eyebrows in a way that can only be transcribed as 'enlighten me'.]}

_{[... Uh oh. LESSON TIME.]

[It's okay, though, she doesn't mind. She's already had to explain countless slang words to a millions-of-years-old space robot. One FBI agent from the 80's shouldn't be too hard!]

[She blinks at him a little, then tucks the compass box under one arm and reaches out to grab his hand and tuck the fingers into a fist, before pointedly bumping it against her own in demonstration.]}

S'like a handshake. But cooler.

_{[Sure, okay. All things considered, that's hardly weird. In fact it has some advantages, like if you're sick and don't want to transfer viruses. :I]

[He studies his own fist for a sec, like she did something extraordinary to it when she transferred this amazing wisdom to him. Then he just looks at her, almost cheekily.]}

Right. I'll be sure to remember.

Do that.

It'll make you at least thirty percent cooler. Guaranteed.

That doesn't sound like a verifiable statistic, but I suppose I'll have to take your word for it.

_{[And after Tricia nudging his side long enough now, he relents and throws a new snowball for her and watches her go.]}

Pfff, ask any scientist and they'd totally agree with me.

_{[Dog-dislike or no, she does get a little smile on her face as she watches the blue-and-yellow canine go bounding out across the snow. Then she look back at the books in Cooper's hands and nods to the police almanac.]}

I took the liberty of including a few of my notes in that one.

I'm sure you'll find 'em helpful.

_{[The mugshots in there were really improved by the stickynotes with dastardly mustaches on them stuck under the offenders' noses.]}

_{[Oh, yes. It's a makeover they all definitely needed.]

[He looks at her appraisingly for a second before opening that book as well, letting the pages flip by in that way you do the first time you open a book - and he grins widely at seeing the various post-its. He stops to read one or two but mostly just eyes them, and the ones with doodles on ... there's a snort somewhere in that exhale.]}

_{[She bites her lip and waits when he opens the book-- and then her grin grows when she sees that her additions are going over well. After their grim conversation in the diner the other night? She figured that he could use a laugh.]}

I felt my observations would really add to it.

Heather, why you're not already in the law enforcement is a mystery to me.

Eh, they're probably just not ready for my brilliance yet.

86. [Video/Action for Ecruteak] Christmas morning.

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