2009-12-10: UnKiss Under NoMistletoe

Starring:

Gene_V4icon.pngLena_V4icon.png

Date: December 10th, 2009

Summary:

Early Christmas presents are exchanged. Spoiler: Gene says a dirty word!


"UnKiss Under NoMistletoe"

Sydney's Apartment, mostly

"Leader… Leader."

A Gene clad in sunglasses and a black baseball cap looks to the ground, his eyes distant as he considers the word. While he always stated he would be willing to do such a thing and even expected to be such a thing, to have that title placed on him is one that changes how he looks things. Whatever he decides, he looks up as the woman behind the desk gives him the box. "Here you go, sweet thing. I hope your 'frriiiends' like it."

"They are not… my 'friends'. They are just friends that are women and have need of this for… Just never mind, I'll take these and that'll be it," the young man offers, swiftly flustering as per usual. He takes out the cash and pays upfront.

"You sure you don't want anything else? We got a lot of stuff to satisify your lady friends."

Gene looks down and shakes his head. "No, I don't think any of my friends would… Wait, Gwen. And maybe… The idea has merit. I'll take, um I think she likes purple. And we'll go with the one that's kinda shaped like a bullet. It may have some uses if properly modified." Suddenly he looks up. "Not THAT kinda modified. I'm a scien-"

The woman gives a smirk as she leans against the counter. "Listen, honey, no one is judging you here… Just buy the items and I hope you have yourself some Happy Holidays."

Gene nods, taking the large black bag after the items are placed inside. "You too," he replies with an awkward smile. As he leaves the store with the big neon XXX in the side. "Most awkward Christmas store… Ever."

As he gets to his car, Gene throws the items inside, pulling out his radio. Making sure it is to the right setting, he speaks into it. "Lena, you there?"

In another part of town, where the awkward sort of Christmas stores are scarce on the ground…

Lena is discovering (or finding the words to describe) just how boring it is to be behaving one's self. Yes, all is now well in the Lego Relationship, thanks to the almost alien concepts of "maturity", "communication" and "compromise". It also means that she's promised not to go anywhere without alerting the proper authorities. And until they move, the apartment is just so…very…small.

That might be why the brunette almost throws her guitar aside in order to perform a mad scramble for the radio, which had been sitting on the top of the dresser. Gene is one of the authorities! Gene does fun stuff, and goes interesting places, and knows interesting people! So Gene is subjected to an almost chirpy greeting, after a moment or two is spent fumbling with the gadget to find the proper buttons.

"Hey! I'm here, what's up? You doing anything?" Pause. "Please say you're doing something."

The young man gets into the car and turns on the keys. He puts on some headphone, to make sure he doesn't get in trouble with the cops for being on the 'phone' while driving. "Just picked up some Christmas gifts. Since I will either being doing my Prometheus thing for the holidays or being with my grandfather, I was thinking about delivering the gifts early for some people. That work for you."

"I wish I got to kick ass for the holidays, but I think Sydney wants to put a tree up." The radio's speaker is excellent, transmitting exactly Lena's wistful tone of voice. This is what happens when one cuts ties with family in their youth; you lose all sense of appreciate for the important traditions. Not all of them, however. "Seriously, you got me a real present? You're awesome, Gene! I'm just hanging around, everyone's out right now if you want to come over. I…uh…have a present for you too."

Silence.

"Drive slow, okay?"

A brief chuckle is given. "You don't have to, you know," Gene announces, the use of tense suggesting a doubt that a present currently exist. "But I'll be there in forty-five minutes or so. On the other side of town, so you know how that goes. Talk to you later, Lena."

FORTY-FOUR MINUTES AND THIRTY NINE SECONDS LATER

There are a couple of raps on the the door to Sydney's place, showing that Gene has arrived. He is currently wearing his peacoat, with a simple hunter green t-shirt and some blue jeans. He has the black bag (which has noticable less stuff in it), as well as a… dolly? The tool used for large boxes seems to be used to carry a two foot by two foot box, which seems heavy from the fact that Gene needs a dolly to transport it.

Exactly forty-five minutes after their conversation, the door is thrown open and Lena stands there, practically bouncing in her socks with anticipation. She's going for casual today, and actually looks almost normal in a pair of baggy jeans and a black mock-turtleneck, her hair scraped back from her face with a red plastic headband. The sight of the dolly is enough to give the brunette pause. "What…jesus, Gene, you should've called when you got out front, I'd have come down to help with all that," she remarks, yanking the door wide to allow the young genius and his haul entrance into the apartment.

But first, a hand is extended towards the bag. Really, she does just want to help. "I promise I won't peek! And I totally did get you something, I just didn't have it wrapped. I hope you don't mind gift bags."

"You can peek if you want," Gene replies with a soft grin as he moves into the door. Wheeling in the box, he sets it down near the sofa. "Since I won't be around Christmas, I leave it up to you. Tiago's gift is in here, as well as Sydney and some weights, and a few Aikido, Tai Chi, and Yoga DVDs. I figured if you and Tiago were bored, you could use this to train. If I had more free time, I know I would."

"Well hell, if you're giving permission…" Having appropriated the bag, Lena lifts it in both hands and peers inside even as she follows man, dolly and box into the living room. "You want us to train to be ninjas? Awesome!" A five year old's yelp of delight, that cry. "God, you know, I haven't gotten a real present in like…what year is it? Not since I lived with my folks. This is…"

It's incredible, that's what it is, but she's made a solemn vow not to go sniffly. So instead Lena carefully sets the bag down on the coffee table and reaches inside to begin emptying its contents onto the table as well.

Halfway through, however, she is distracted by the looming box. Attention span is not something to be expected, right now. "What's in those? How'd you get them all the way up here by yourself? Oh shit! Wait there!" Then she's gone, vanished down the hall and into the guest bedroom.

The young man gives a soft smile at the mention of the gift, but for now doesn't say anything. His expression soften, clearly happy that Lena is happy. As she spazes out though, Gene's tenderness turns to a smirk. "Oh, the stuff I was talking about is in the box. Your gift is in the bag." Gene pauses for something as he jams a hand in his pocket. "Okay, I remembered to pull out the reciept, you can check to see what's inside… But well, at least want you to be at peak condition and able to handle yourself in a melee fight. The yoga is good for mind and body stuff. I figured you and Tiago could use that to find your calm and the flexibility is supposed to be good for… stuff-not-related-to-fighting-yet-kinda-close-to-fighting."

"What, you mean like sex?"

Lena's query drifts down the hall in an embarassingly loud voice. It has already been proven that she has no qualms about speaking of such things; it is only out of respect and consideration that the more clinical term is subtituted for the vulgar one. When she reappears, it is without the teasing grin that might be expected. There's a smaller gift bag in her own hands (a cheerful red emblazoned with tiny dancing reindeer, with a poof of green tissue paper and a card sticking out the top) and a rather adult look on her face. "You maybe don't wanna mention that part to Chi," the brunette advises solemnly, before finding a fresh smile for the gift-giving. Gene is offered the bag.

"I'll see what's in mine if you open yours. If you do go on a break for holiday, you might could use it."

"Maybe if I do let Tiago know, it would make him more willing to do the excerises every day. I am not sure how discplined Tiago is when it comes to scheduled training. After all, I expect HIM to do the training as well. And if he finds that suggestive, then… Nuts on him," Gene replies. He doesn't answer the first question though, deciding to go around it. For talking sex with Lena may lead to doom. Or more awkward. Or an awkward doom.

With that commentary made, Gene moves to open his gift. First, he reads the card allowed. Then he carefully moves the tissue paper around and pulls out his gift, making sure not to rip anything. Looks like the man has a very time honoroed process of doing his gifts.

The card shows Santa in his sleigh, the reindeer all hitched up but for one which has keeled over. A speech bubble above Santa's head declares, "Oh great! A flat!" Inside, Lena's written only "To one of our first real friends in NYC, merry Christmas!".

Inside of the bag are two items: a paperback with the title "Crossroads: The Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage" (guess which store she found that in!) and a small glass vial with a black screw-on lid. Attached to the latter is a tiny Alice in Wonderland tag on which she's written 'for vision quests only (don't drink me!)'.

Lena would watch the uncovering of her gift to Gene, but…well, there's a present waiting for her as well. And she is not steeped in tradition as he is. Thus she plunks herself on the couch, grabs the bag and tips it over in order to reach inside. What her hand encounters prompts a rather odd expression to come over the girl's face. "What…hey! Did you get me that outfit thing?"

The young genius rubs the back of his head. "I did… You asked for one, they asked me what sort… I figured saying the one 'Lara Croft' had would be enough. You know, she's classy, smart, sexy, and kills things… I figured it was good. You wear that with gloves and you should be fine running around if you have clothes over it. And when you're on missing stuff… Well, there you go. There is also a watch in there as well." It is a big watch… With a familiar head on it. "It's Hello Kitty like the one I made for another friend, but it has a GPS and a distress button on it. Just hold all three buttons for ten seconds and it will send out a distress alert that I can get."

The young man looks at the book, glancing at the back before he looks back at Lena. "I know I shouldn't ask why, but I can't help but do so anyway. The book, not the vial since the reason is written right there," Gene offers with an crooked grin.

"Oh man!" It's amazing how much glee can be packed into two simple words. Lena somehow manages to project jumping for joy with voice alone, hands busy with scooping her haul out into her lap where it makes a slithery PVC pile. "All three buttons? You are a genius! Eeee, thank you!" she yelps as the watch is found and inspected minutely, delight coloring every move, every nuance of her expression.

So much so that it is difficult to look away in order to explain the thought process behind Gene's present.

"Um…" Lena glances up, eyes unfocused at first. "It's…oh! That book! It's…I dunno, it seemed like the right one. You're always thinking, right? Really important stuff or…or geeky science stuff. It's supposed to help you connect your feely side with your thinky one so you become like super genius guy who doesn't blush every five minutes. Not that the blushing isn't cute or anything but you maybe…would be more happy?"

Gene nods as he listens, the large smile from Lena's overexcited response fading as Lena explains. "I guess so. For the most part I am happy though. To help people, work on being a hero. Maybe I'm not a man or a true hero, but I guess it's something I choose," Gene states with a serious expression as he leaves through the book. The smile swift reappears though. "But maybe when I'm ready, I'll take a glance through it." With that, he tucks the paperback into his peacoat. "Merry Christmas…" He looks around to the tops of the door. "Man, with how you guys are, figured there's be some mistletoe somewhere or something."

"You're not?" The sudden turn for serious draws a confused response from Lena, dragging her gaze once more from the delight of goodies to study the young man's face. "But…but Gene, you totally are. I mean, out of everyone mixed up in this, you're like…"

But the past several days have proven one thing to Lena: young men do not listen to words. So Lara Croft outfit and watch are set aside in a shiny pile on the couch, allowing her to stand up and go to him. It doesn't matter that the geek has put his smile-face back on. Oh no, he can't fool her that easily. Lena plants herself directly in front of him, for once breaking the wide ring of personal space that she typically allows most people.

"I know I hassle you a lot but it's 'cause I'm a bi—brat. You're the best hero I know, Gene. And a good man too, good enough to help save a punk girl he didn't even know." There may not by mistletoe around, but Lena seals her declaration by lifting her gloved hand in an attempt to settle it over his mouth. The kiss she intends to give him will land on her own knuckles, chaste as can be, and safe from the spread of hallucinogens. "Merry Christmas, Gene. Thank you."

The motion is not fought, despite his inital concern of Drug Time that caused his body to tense. The UnKiss causes him to ease though. "Thank you… After all, you're the one that had trust me in me. A lot of people in your shoes would have thought I was crazy. You know, Dex crazy, not kinda-cute crazy. But you had faith in me… I just hope that I can be the guy you think I am. Because if I can be even half the person…"

There is a couple of moments where Gene looks toward Lena before he catches himself. Giving a faint cough, Gene manages a semi-smooth transition, getting used to getting himself out of the awkward as easily as he enters it into. "…So, if you see Sydney and Tiago, tell them they can open their gifts whenever they want," he says as he moves to free the dolly from the the clutches of the paperweight-like box. "Is there anything we need to talk about or should I be heading back out to do my other stuff?"

"See, if you read my present, you'll be able to see I'm right. You might be super smart, Gene, but you can't see yourself the way I do. Like we do." When Lena's hand falls away, she gives him a smile that lacks the usual edge. It's more genuine, the sort of smile she might have been capable of three years ago, before the mess that is her life really began. "Besides, I'm kinda-cute crazy too. We know our own, right? I'd rather be up to my neck in shit with folks like you, than…"

Oh damn, she went and slipped an obscenity in there. Realizing it sends the brunette backing up by a few faces, face twisting in a grimace. "Sorry. Um, yeah. I mean, no. Here," she volunteers, going to the door to get it open for him. "I'll let them know. Thank you for the presents, Gene. I promise I'll make it worth it, taking us on."

"It's fine, Lena… Really. Heck, I'm touched you even try, but don't feel you have edit yourself around me," Gene replies cheerfully as he folds down the dolly and tosses it over one shoulder. "You've proven yourself to me already… I'm sure you'll be having people looking to you too, more than they do now. Now have a Merry Christmas. If you need me, I'll be around. Trust me, I can do all sorts of 'shit', even a few states away." Giving a large grin at the end of his words, Gene makes his way toward the door, making his way out to his car. Now that he's had such a nice visit, idly wondering which is more unlikely… Tracy replacing his car door for Christmas or Santa Claus giving him the ability to shoot eye lasers.

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