Bit of background: This is a part of an extended universe where Boxman and Venomous got together and Fink is K.O.'s cousin. Whether it's from Venomous being related to Laserblast or Boxman being related to Carol is up to you, but because of this, the Kincaid-Boxmore family celebrate Tiding.
For the holiday of "Tiding," it was all about the presents. Presents to give to tide people through the bleary month of January before the month of love that the dreaded Cupid and his navy of shippers and captains hunted down couples to give them ideas of what their loved ones needed for finally push through the rest of winter. Pretty much the plaza was able to give plenty of gifts to those they knew who to give gifts to, usually their coworkers receiving small gifts as the families got better gifts, but ever since K.O. came around, the bodega Christmas shopping was a bit more stressful. Thought they barely knew her, Rad and Enid had to get gifts for Dendy, because of the one time she worked with them, and needed to get a gift for Carol and Gar as well, on top of their newest coworker and possibly his emo alter-ego.
Of course, K.O. seemed to know what everyone wanted. He was confident in the presents he had gotten for Rad, Enid, his mom, Dendy, a little bit nervous for Gar, and even a gift for T.K.O. . He thought they had already done their shopping, so he told them that he was finally finished, causing the teens to sort of break out in hysteria. HOW COULD THE CHILD BE DONE SO EARLY!? Oh, right…he had the month off of school to cover shifts at Gar's. Most likely, they'd be from Gar's but still! The child was done before them!
"Are, you guys okay?" K.O. asked.
"NO!" Rad screeched. "How are we supposed to get all those presents?"
"Oh, who do you need to get presents for?"
"Everyone." Enid groaned. "And I mean that for the plaza."
"Oh, I only shopped for you guys, my mommy, Mr. Gar, and Dendy."
"That's who we mean K.O."
"Oh! Hmm…do you think everyone else is struggling?"
"Maybe. Oh! I'm gonna have to wake Dendy up to make sure she give you guys gifts then!"
"Won't she get mad though?"
"No. I got her a special poncho last Tiding."
"Oh yeah, the one my mom needed to help you make." Enid remembered K.O. being there sewing with her mom, yawning as the poppies were being finally placed in. Apparently "cold bloods are backwards" was the way her mom put it. "You know, I hope this is as hard for Mr. Gar as it is for us. Stupid policy change…"
"Hmm…I'm gonna go check with my mommy!"
"Tell Mr. Gar before you go K.O." Rad reminded.
"I will!" K.O. went back to knock on the door to Mr. Gar's office. The burly man came out, looking nervous.
"Oh, hello K.O., what…can I ask you something…?"
"Oh, uh, actually, I was wondering if I could go see my mommy."
"Well, you can do that if you answer the question."
"Okay, what is it?"
"Do you know what you would like for Tiding?"
"Well…uh…nothing comes to mind…my cousin already promised she'd get me the special christmas style hero and villain POW Cards coming out, so nothing really comes to mind…"
"Oh, uh…then you're free to go."
"Okay, thanks Mr. Gar!"
"Do you know what Enid would want for Tiding?"
"Hmm…everyone seems to be having trouble…and I know that you have trouble too T.K.O.…Hah! That's it! I have an idea!"
"What's this about?" Enid asked as the Employees of the bodega and Carol stood in the break room.
"We'll draw names from a hat, and who's ever name someone gets, that's who they have to shop for! That way, you guys won't be so stressed out for Tiding!"
"K.O., that's not fair to you." Enid said.
"Yeah, you've already bought our presents." Rad added.
"Ah, but T.K.O. hasn't!" K.O. cheered.
Everyone except K.O. silently cringed. The emo…? They were going to have to shop for him? "Hah, I feel bad for whoever gets him." Rad said.
"Then you better get him." Enid snarked.
"Okay, I have everyone's names. So let's have ladies first, okay?"
"Alright." Enid plucked out a name. "Gar." A pretty difficult person to shop for. Still, she was happy she didn't get someone harder.
Carol stepped up and took the name "Rad." Shoot! She barely knew the burly alien! How was she gonna shop for him?
Rad stepped up and noticed K.O.'s eye slightly twitch with the eye shadow. Emo child did not like the name he chose. It was easy to see through the paper. "neD," Rad opened it. "Dendy." Oh…the stalker.
Gar picked out a name and slightly grumbled. "T.K.O." Well, looks like someone might get their just desserts judging from how K.O.'s hand turned to T.K.O.'s and seemed to flare up energy as K.O. looked at Rad.
T.K.O.'s hand picked out the final name. "Carol."
"Wait, so where's Dendy?" Rad asked.
The hand of T.K.O.'s twitched before K.O. took back control. "Hibernating! But don't worry, I'll make sure that she gets her name."
"And a good present." T.K.O. grumbled in the back of K.O.'s mind.
Having dog fur was good in this environment. K.O. dug through the snow that covered Dendy's underice home and allowed himself to come inside. He crept through the home, making sure to get to Dendy's room, and there she was. Using the present she had gotten from K.O. a few years ago, the POW Card quilt. They were both around 8-13 now. Hibernation Dendy, K.O. learned, looked very different, but still cute. She was slightly pudgier due to having to stock up on food to get her through winter, and as such she looked similar to an Armadillidiidae. A.k.a. A roly poly beetle.
K.O. carefully placed the poncho on Dendy and waited for her to wake up, which didn't take long. Dendy let out a cute little yawn before looking blearily out to the world with her stark green eyes that always seemed to make K.O. lose his breath, probably because she always hid them with her goggles. "K.O.? Is it a thaw yet?"
"No, Dendy. You need to get up. Mr. Gar made a policy that workers that are still in the plaza area should give presents for Tiding."
"You know I don't usually celebrate Tiding K.O. ." Dendy mumbled, letting out another yawn.
K.O. smiled dreamily at her.
Cob she was cute. He should've been the one to get her presents. Not Rad. T.K.O. thought bitterly.
"I know Dendy, but Mr. Gar and my mom were already on planning on getting you gifts."
"So, who do I have to give a gift to?"
"You have to give a gift to Enid."
"Oh," Dendy seemed to become more awake. "I've not studied Enid before, K.O., could you help me?"
"W-well…" K.O. managed before T.K.O. took over K.O.'s mouth. "Sure, I'll help ya."
Any excuse to hang out with Dendy, especially in this little state that wouldn't last for long. T.K.O. wanted to make sure he could milk this, much to K.O.'s chagrin.
K.O. had been pushing more feelings down when it came to Dendy, because he knew that Dendy liked Rad, however, that made T.K.O. much more prone to jealousy when it came to the alien and kappa's relationship, even to the point where T.K.O. had to be put in a timeout corner and even then he'd take over K.O.'s body periodically to spend more time with Dendy, and try and keep her away from Radicles.
"Oh, thank you K.O. . Or…was that T.K.O., sorry, I'm still not used to how your body functions with the two personalities. M-maybe I can see how you two think when the spring thaw comes, alright? I want to know how you work." Dendy paused. "I mean, if that's okay. And I swear not to go overboard again."
"Sure, Science Baby. Just be sure to buy lunch again."
"Of course. And no olives."
"Exactly." T.K.O. smiled as K.O. cringed. He hoped T.K.O. woulding go overboard this Tiding season. Especially with Super Black Friday coming up…