(SS) A Modern Day Ebenezer Scrooge: Asheron + Kale

[asheron]

(OOC: Just a note... The presents are wrapped tapelessly)

"'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the city; hundreds were stirring though the roads were so shitty. It was the the perfect day to stay inside and enjoy some pre-Christmas depression, but as usual our foolish heroine has procrastinated until the last possible moment and is now forced to trudge through slush and snow; fighting for those last few essential gifts. In this case, she searches for a Secret Santa gift for Kale Dalston; one of the privates on her squad. It is a hard search because she knows almost nothing about him, and she has been out shopping many times previously. Each trip was an exercise in futility, because she returned home empty handed." Ash was monologuing this to herself as she wandered up and down the crowded aisles; picking up things that caught her eye and then replacing them. Several of the other shoppers stared at her as she walked by, and one overly distraught mother picked her child up and hurried away. Ash ignored all of this for the most part, until a nervous looking sales associate walked up to her.

"E...excuse me miss... Is there something I can help you find?" He muttered, glancing quickly up at her for a moment and then resolutely returning his gaze to the floor. Ash glared at him because she understood that what he really meant to say was "Is there any way we can get you out of here faster so you stop scaring our customers?"

"Yes, I'm sure you can help me. I'm looking for a present." Ash replied, deciding to be a deliberate pain in the man's ass. He wrung his hands for a moment as if contemplating escape, but then spoke again.

"What kind of present would you be searching for?" Ash had to hold back a snort of indignity. How stupid could this man be? Why in the hell would she be out shopping on Christmas Eve if she knew what she was looking for.

"I don't know." Ash replied tersely, barely restraining herself from insulting the man. The associate wrung his hands again and met her eyes, visibly shuddered then averted his gaze once more.

"Who are you shopping to buy a present for?" Ash smirked, he was making it so easy.

"A man." There was silence for what seemed like ages as the man waited for clarification on her simple statement. Too bad he wasn't going to get it. When he realized this fact, the associate cleared his throat hesitantly.

"Is it for a boyfriend or a husband? Or is it for someone who is just a friend?" Fed up with the man's idiocy and this game, Ash shook her head.

"It's for a guy who I work with. I don't know very much about him other than he is alone a lot." The associate nodded mindlessly, pivoted and headed off in the opposite direction. Ash followed silently behind him as he headed into the clothing department, and toward the most hideous rack of ties she had ever seen. The man held them out one after another, and Ash shook her head as she looked around. Her eyes were drawn to a bright pink puffy goose-down jacket so she walked over to it, pulled the jacket off the hanger and tried it on. The jacket was extremely comfortable and as soon as it covered her body, she felt enveloped in warmth. Ash moved around a little to test it, making sure her arms slipped freely in and out of the roomy sleeves and even though it hung down to her knees, that the jacket didn't hinder any movement. The front of the jacket was secured by cleverly hidden strips of velcro instead of buttons, and Ash pulled it apart to see how tough it was. It was easy to pull apart by hand, but strong enough to hold together otherwise. Ash smiled and turned to face the fidgeting sales associate.

"Do you have this in black? About... 2 sizes larger?" Ash asked him, gesturing to the coat she wore. The man rummaged through the rack behind her, and then walked around to the other side and rummaged some more. By the time he came back around, holding the requested jacket in his hands; she had already hung the pink coat back up and was waiting for him. He handed the jacket to her and was about to rush off, but Ash held up her hand to stop him.

"Where are the gloves at?" The man turned without answering and led her to an area a few aisles down.

"Ok, that's all I needed. You can toddle off now and tell your boss that the crazy lady will be out of here in a few minutes." Ash spoke haughtily, doing her best to piss the associate off. It worked, and the man stormed off in a huff to the sound of her snickering. As soon as he was out of sight, Ash turned to the racks of gloves. Five minutes later she held a pair of charcoal grey arm warmers and a pair of black leather fingerless gloves. With her search finally over, she went up to the register to pay and then headed home.

A few hours later, clad in a dark green sweater and a black skirt Ash was making her way through the twisted hallways to Kale's room. In her arms she held a metallic red-wrapped present for Kale and a box of Godiva truffles for the both of them. Hanging on her back was her favorite guitar, in the hopes that she could distract herself by playing some Christmas music on it. Rofl was tagging along behind her, clutching to her chest the messily-wrapped sock monkey that she wanted to give to Kale. Ash didn't know why Rofl had been so adamant about going with her, or why her other pokemon thought it was a good idea, but in the end she had to give in and let the tiny Teddiursa come. When she reached the proper hallway, Ash slowed down and began counting doors until she found Kale's. Shifting the boxes to one hand, she reached out and knocked.

[asheron]

A few seconds after she knocked on the door, Ash heard the lock click open so she pushed the door inwards and entered the room. She stopped just inside and listened to the door slam shut behind her, trapping her inside this tiny room. It took every ounce of willpower she had, to not turn around and start banging on the door, screaming to be let out. Her panic wasn't because she was locked in a room with a creature classified as highly dangerous, it was because that creature was a man.

"Umm... Merry Christmas Kale..." Ash said nervously as she stood frozen by the door, clutching the packages to her chest. She plastered a fake smile across her face, as she surreptitiously glanced around and took in her surroundings. A wave of pity washed over Ash as she noticed the gouges all over the walls. Obviously Kale was kept in here a lot with nothing to do, so perhaps she should have brought him a deck of cards instead.

Slightly distracted by the appearance of the room, Ash didn't notice as Rofl darted out from behind her and headed towards Kale. When the tiny Teddiursa reached the pokemorph, she put out her paw and tugged on his pantleg.

"Mr. Kale! Mr. Kale!" Rofl held out the messy red-wrapped present and dropped it in Kale's lap as she spoke.

"My Ash said you is alone lots, so I gotted you this. Now you can't be alone no more!" Rofl nodded smartly and smiled up at him, until she caught sight of the aged Froslass hovering nearby. Rofl bobbed a little towards the other pokemon, imitating a curtsy she had seen in a movie once.

"How d'ya do? I'm Rofl. Ooh you're pretty and this time I actually mean it too! My Ash told me that I have to say that to everyone after I told this lady in a sparkly blue dress that she looked like Rolly. Rolly is my bestest friend and the greatest Wailmer in the whole world, so I don't know why the lady got so upset and started yelling at my Ash. But when we gotted home, my Ash told me that I had ta tell everyone I met that they were pretty and nuthin else." Rofl clapped a hand over her mouth and turned back to stare wide-eyed at Kale.

"Uh oh! I forgotted to tell you that you was pretty Mr. Kale! Now my Ash has to beat me black an blue!" Rofl took a second to examine her paws and then held them out for Kale to see.

"Would I look pretty in black an blue Mr. Kale? I wanna look just like my Ash does and she looks so pretty in black an blue, 'specially in those lacy black undies she gots on."

"ROFL!" Ash cried out as her face turned bright red in mortification. How could her sweet little Teddiursa have just blurted out the color of her panties to a strange man?

"Uh oh! Hide me Mr. Kale before my Ash makes me sit in time-out! I don't like time-out!" Rofl dove under the cot as she said this, hiding herself behind Kale's legs and peeking out at Ash.

[asheron]

(OOC: Sorry it's so short Katse... I tried to make it longer but churning out two posts after that exam on so little sleep... Well lets just say it wasn't easy.)

Ash leaned back against the wall with a frown on her face. When would Rofl ever learn to keep her mouth shut? It seemed like every time the tiny pokemon opened her mouth, more of Ash's secrets were spilling out. Now not only would she have to hide her fear of men from Kale, she would also guard against Rofl's random outbursts and constant rambling. What a hassle this stupid holiday was turning out to be. When Kale spoke to her in response to the pleas of the Teddiursa, Ash listened attentively and tried in vain to restrain the need to bait him.

"Oh no Kale, time-out is only for little children. When the big boys misbehave, I bend them over my knee and paddle their ass instead. I find that it is a much more meaningful deterrent than simply being ignored, and if that doesn't work then I simply shoot them. That always drives my point home." Ash smirked a little as she said this. She felt safe this far away from Kale, so she was making her usual wisecracks in a situation where she normally wouldn't. In fact she felt so much safer, that if it wasn't rude, she would simply chuck Kale's present at him and remain on this side of the room until this farcical night was over.

Rofl watched Ash closely until her mistress relaxed, and didn't look so angry. Realizing that the threat had passed, she answered the Ledian's call and crawled out from under the cot. She climbed back up Kale's pantleg and plopped down on his lap before reaching out to pat the smaller pokemon that was now beside her.

"Pretty Ledian wants to play with me? Please can we play Mr. Kale?" Rofl turned to face Kale as she said this last bit, and put on what Ash called her 'puppy eyes'. It was a very powerful look, even Boss Hogg had a hard time telling Rofl no when she resorted to this tactic.

Ash saw it from across the room and pitied Kale, because even though the look wasn't aimed at her, she immediately wanted to go cuddle with the Teddiursa and give her whatever she wanted. Ash fervently hoped that Rofl didn't teach any of Kale's pokemon that look, because the poor guy would be doomed.

[asheron]

When Kale hunched over, Ash involuntarily took a few steps toward him, concern overriding her usual reaction. She froze a few feet away from the wall, her need to help warring against her fear. She was unable to move forward as Kale seemed to recover, but nor would she allow herself to move back to the wall. Just standing there with her back exposed made Ash want to shiver and start checking over he shoulder. She knew that the sensation of someone lurking behind her was all in her mind, but she couldn't shake off the crazy feeling.

Rofl wanted to squeal when Kale said she could play, but she restrained herself. Instead she put her furry little paws on Kale's shoulders and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Mr. Kale! You're IT Dallas!" Rofl said as she quickly kissed him again, before grabbing the Ledian's proffered appendages. She used the hovering pokemon as a launching aid and rocketed toward the floor.

"You probably get out as much as I do, especially at this time of year. What point is there to going outside and walking through piles of frozen water only to end up soaking wet and freezing cold..." Ash was interrupted when Rofl dove behind her and grabbed hold of her ankles to turn, making Ash stumble. Ash took a step forward to balance herself, but the heel of her shoe got caught on one of the gouges in the floor. In a desperate attempt to save both the presents and her guitar, Ash wound up on the floor her legs spread in a near perfect split.

"Shit." She muttered to herself. As she had fallen, Ash's skirt had torn with an audible rip. When she examined the tear, she cursed again. The side seam of her skirt had spit open from the hem to about halfway up. Ash rummaged in one of her skirt pockets until she fished out a tiny safety pin. She rose to her feet and walked unthinkingly toward the bed where Kale sat. She put the boxes down next to him and carefully pinned the edges of her skirt together at the hem. Ash critically examined the makeshift repair to make sure that nothing but the pale skin of her upper thigh showed through the 3-inch long gap. Satisfied with it, she looked up at Kale and blushed.

"Sorry... I tend to be a klutz sometimes..."

[asheron]

Ash stared down at her knees, contemplating them instead of her navel. Due to her single-track mind, she was now seated on a tiny bed with Kale, only a few boxes and her guitar separating them. They would present no obstacle if the man beside her decided to press his luck. Ash regretted her lack of weapons now more than ever, because she was virtually defenseless. By order of the scientists assigned to monitored Kale, she had been forced to leave anything that was even remotely dangerous at home. At least she had been able to keep her guitar. At worst she would only have to smash it over Kale's head, rendering him unconscious; at best she could just snap one of the guitar strings and garrote him with the heavy metal wire. It would probably kill him, but that was fine with Ash. Better to kill him and take the punishment for his death, than to allow him to rape her.

Pulling out of her violent thoughts, Ash shifted her gaze to the Nidorina seated at her feet. Ash absentmindedly stared at the spots decorating the pokemon's body as she pulled at the rip, trying to seal the tear closed by sheer force of will. It didn't work, so Ash finally turned her attention back to the man that she wished would disappear. She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if his last statement was a joke or not. Even Ash knew what to do for Secret Santa and she had been living under a rock for the past 24 years!

Ash picked up the metallic red gift and stared at it apprehensively. Had she read too much into this stupid event? Ash fidgeted a little bit more, getting really nervous. She always went overboard with the gifts she bought, but she couldn't help it. It was almost like a compulsion, or perhaps she was just trying to ensure that no one ever felt like she had for so many years. Ash tried frantically to come up with a witty thing to say as she gave Kale his gift, but nothing really came to mind.

"I guess... we should just exchange gifts first. I uh... also brought my guitar and some chocolate... I really wasn't sure how... festive you'd feel. I mean its not like Christmas is that great of a holiday... It's just another day to feel all alone..." Ash bit her lip hard and wanted to smack herself. She tended to ramble when she was nervous, but how could she have let lat last comment spill out? And to Kale no less. Trying to distract the pokemorph, she quickly shoved the gift at him.

"Here, this is yours." She muttered, not meeting his eyes.

[asheron]

When Gerdwin appeared beside her with a needle and thread, Ash just stared. Kale was allowed to keep a needle in his room but she couldn't even bring in one measly little gun? God those scientists were assholes. With a smile and nod of thanks, Ash took the needle from the Froslass and slipped it onto the thread. She stared at it for a moment until she realized she had no scissors to cut it with.

Silently Rofl moved across the room, small tears dripping from her eyes. She climbed up the end of the bed and stood next to Ash, pouting and hesitating a little. Finally she dove into Ash's side and clung to the woman with her tiny paws.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" Rofl cried, her voice muffled by the cloth her face was buried in. Ash nearly dropped the needle in surprise as her pokemon bumped into her side. As she listened to Rofl's apology, she reached down with her free hand and softly caressed her Teddiursa's head. She knew from the start that her pokemon hadn't meant to trip her, but Ash pretended to be mad in hopes that Rofl would remember and be a little more careful next time.

When Rofl felt the hand petting her she smiled and climbed up into Ash's lap. Being the object of her anger was not something that the Teddiursa ever wanted to experience, because from what she could tell it involved a lot of screaming and screaming made her head hurt.

Ash stared at the needle in one hand and then down at the pokemon in her lap that was now preventing her from stitching the tear in her skirt.

"Rofl could you hop off my lap for a minute?" When the pokemon stared at her in confusion, Ash gestured at the rip in her skirt with the hand holding the needle. Rofl's eyes widened and she quickly climbed off of Ash's lap.

Now that the second obstacle had been removed, it brought her attention back to the first; a lack of scissors. So she turned to Gerdwin and asked

"Do you by any chance have a pair of scissors? Mine were accidentally confiscated at the door."

[asheron]

Once she was off of the bed, Rofl finally noticed Dallas trailing after her. She spun around and wrapped her paws around both the monkey and the Ledian; huggling them close with a sad face. Suddenly a glimmer came into the Teddiursa's eyes and she immediately forgot all about her earlier sadness. Rofl clutched both Dallas and the sock monkey's hands in her tiny paws and dragged them to the wall on the far side of the room.

"This isn't any fun. We needs to get my Ash and Mr Kale to play with us before we die of boredom!" Rofl's eyes widened as an idea occurred to her. She was so excited that she even started to bounce up and down a little.

"It's the awesomest plan ever Dallas! Imma distract Mr. Kale while you take off with his present and we won't give it back till they play with us!" Rofl said softly, keeping her voice real low so that the adults in the room wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Thanks." Ash mumbled, shrinking back a little as Kale reached toward her with his metallic black claws. All it would take is a split second for those claws to switch from cutting the thread to digging into her throat as Kale held her down and...... That train of thought was more than Ash could stand so she shot to her feet, clutching the needle and thread in her hands.

"I'll fix this in the bathroom..." Ash muttered as she all but fled to the bathroom that was now visible through the opened door. Once she reached the safety of the tiny room, she slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, breathing heavily.

After Ash had gone into the bathroom, Rofl made her move; crossing the room and climbing back up into Kale's lap again. She pushed the shiny box a little out of her way and latched onto Kale's vest, summoning up huge crocodile tears.

"You don't hate me do you Mr. Kale?" Rofl asked him, the faked tears pouring down her cheeks as she looked up at him. She had to make this good, because this whole plan depended upon Kale being extremely distracted. The small pokemon tugged on his vest a little and burrowed her tiny nose into his chest to hide the smile on her face. Rofl continued forcing tears, her furry shoulders shaking with silenced laughter as she waited for Dallas' signal. When it came, she jumped off of Kale's lap and took off to the far side of the room.

"What am I doing here?" Ash whispered softly to herself.
"How could I have been stupid enough to think that this was a good idea?" Her voice rose a little at the end, as some of the panic she felt inside leaked out. Realizing that she was starting to hyperventilate, Ash slowed her breathing and tried to calm her racing heartbeat. All her efforts were for naught once she noticed the state the room was in. Deep gouges similar to the ones in the other room littered the walls and floor and were even deeper around several small openings high on the walls. It almost looked like a wild animal had been trying to escape this room.

Intending to splash some cool water on her face to calm down, she made her way over to the dented and scarred metal sink that protruded from the wall and turned the scratched up knob. Ash froze in the act of catching water with her hands when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. The glass was cracked and shattered all over, distorting her face so much that it looked like some insane mosaic. Noticing the blood dotting the mirror's surface and speckling the walls around it, she started to panic again. Deciding that coming here wasn't her smartest decision ever; Ash left the needle and thread on the sink, swung the bathroom door open and quickly moved back into the other room.

[asheron]

Rofl sat in the corner of the room clapping her paws and giggling madly. Her chaotic plan was working perfectly and all they needed now was for Ash to come out of the bathroom and join in on the fun. Intending to join in on the fun herself, Rofl moved closer and climbed up on the bed preparing to launch herself at Kale as he ran by but instead she had a front row view of the disaster.

Ash eeped as Kale slammed into her full force and as they started to topple towards the floor; she instictively clung to Kale, her arms wrapping around his neck and holding him tightly. As her back impacted the floor, the breath was knocked out of her in a whimper. When she finally caught her breath and realized the position she was now in, Ash yanked her arms off of Kale's neck and started struggling frantically. She jammed her hands between the two of them and started shoving hard.

"GET OFF OF ME... GET OFF ME... Get off... Please get off... Don't... Just please get off... Please... Don't..." Ash shoved and wiggled crazily, trying to get Kale off of her as she yelled and pleaded with him. Her panic overwhelming her mind, tears started welling up in her eyes as she finally got away and backed into the wall. Tucking her knees up against her chest and wrapping her arms around them, she gasped for air and tried to calm her racing heart; all while panicked tears streamed down her cheeks.

Seeing Ash crying, Rofl jumped off the bed and pummeled Kale with her tiny fists.

"You big meanie! Boys isn't 'pposed to touch my Ash! They touch her and make her mad and then she hasta kill them and then she cries! Just go 'way and stop making my Ash cry!!!" As she yelled this, Rofl continued to hit Kale with her furry paws and glared angrily at him.

"I'mma tell Moose you made my Ash cry and then he's gunna kick your butt!" She threatened Kale, hoping that Ash would hear and stop her crying. Rofl hated it when Ash cried, because that meant she usually would vanish into the bathroom and then Moose would have to knock down the door.

[asheron]

Realizing that the frosty pokemon could help her, Rofl climbed up on the bed once more; the expression on her face quickly shifting from childlike anger to one of grave seriousness. Reaching out she touched Gerdwin with a paw, gaining her attention and beckoning her closer.

"I need your help." Rofl whispered softly so that Ash couldn't overhear her. Not that the unstable woman could break out of her panic for long enough to pay attention to the tiny Teddiursa.

"Ash is scared of being touched by men. She usually can control it, but when something like this happens, she either breaks down or lashes out with any weapon in reach. She's been like this for as long as I've known her... and as far as we can tell it's because of an incident when she was 12. Her sisters went to an old abandoned house in the middle of the night on a dare, and were raped and murdered. Ash was the one that found their bodies the next morning and it traumatized her. Ever since then, her view of all men and the world has been tainted." Rofl grew silent for a moment; turned her head to the a the still distraught Ash and shook her head.

"Nothing the others and I have tried seems to help her, so right now the only solution is just to prevent contact entirely... Will you help us Gerdwin?" Her entreaty to the Ice pokemon finished; Rofl grew silent again, waiting for a reply.

Oblivious to all the whispering going on around her, Ash remained curled up in a minuscule ball and sobbing into her knees. 'What is going to happen? Oh god he is going to get me and I don't even have a knife... No matter how hard I try, it's not going to be enough without a weapon. I'm never going to make it out of here alive...' Ash's thoughts whirled crazily and her panic only grew as she waited for an attack that didn't come. Still scared and extremely unsure, she peeked from between her legs and stared at Kale with tears still sliding down her cheeks.

To her surprise; the 'morph wasn't preparing for an attack, but was instead clutching a brightly wrapped gift to his chest and glaring at Gerdwin. As her tears slowed a little, Ash heard the words coming out of the ice pokemon's mouth, but couldn't comprehend them. 'Spent days? What in the hell is she talking about? Does she mean he spent days planning exactly how to kill me? How insane is he?' Her mind latched onto this crazy train of thought and kept following it to its inaccurate end, all while she stared mindlessly at Kale.

As Rofl watched Ash, she realized that the young woman had no idea what was happening; so the Teddiursa pasted on her usual silly grin and climbed down off the bed. Moving across the floor, she crawled up Ash's knees and stuck her head into the girl's line of sight.

"Play Ash Play!" She squealed loudly gesturing to the flute. Hopefully playing some music would calm the panicked woman down and soothe her tears.

"It's so pretty Ash! Mr. Kale must know lots about you, 'cuz you hasn't had a pipe since Moose broked da old one!" Rofl's smile grew wider and she waved her tiny paws frantically for attention.

"How many times do I have to tell you Rofl, it's not called a pipe, it's a flute." Ash whispered as the sound of her pokemon's voiced pulled her out of its psychotic spiral. Glancing around for whatever in the hell Rofl was rambling about, she finally noticed Brina standing next to her, clutching a tube in her mouth. Assuming it was for her, Ash accepted the object and stared at it.

It was rough and very crude looking, so when she held it up to her lips and blew, Ash half expected it to not even make any noise. But the sound that emerged made her pull the flute away from her mouth and stare. The note had played true and sweet, a perfectly pitched C. Thinking that it was a fluke, Ash ran the flute up and down the scales; testing it for any sour pitches, but each note rang true. To make a flute play that perfectly took years of experience and the hands of a master craftsman. She carefully cradled the flute in her hands and turned her wide, shocked eyes toward Kale.

"You... you made this?" She whispered, awe creeping into her voice as she spoke to the 'morph.

"It's... it's amazing. It played so perfectly... Thank you." With each word she spoke, Ash's thumb brushed possessively against the flute and then without a second thought; she returned the instrument to her lips and played a soft haunting melody.