A/N: So, uh, another Home fanfic - this time a full story.
I'm really obsessed with one-sided Oh/Tip from the movie, and the books were Fantastic (The True Meaning Of Smekday and Smek For President by Adam Rex). This will feature many book references, but no fear; there will be just as much film references.
Kyle and Smek from the movies will be in this, Pig will be a female calico (a mix of book and movie there) and although Oh's real name, JLo (with a dot between the J and L; fanfic is so stupid sometimes :\) , will be mentioned, he will mostly be called Oh (it works as a cannon book-esque nickname).
EDIT: Some song lyrics will be posted at end or beginning of fic for tone/mood of a particular scene/chapter. If a radio is playing, or something similar, then the lyrics shall be interwoven. I like that word. 'Interwoven'. Only songs from the movie soundtrack.
Will be a little darker than the movie was themed, but very lightly; This is my first major attempt at a 'movie-type' fic, and a humorous one to boot. Not gonna be too major/big. But big enough.
Big Thanks to Sammy Heroes for letting me bounce ideas off them and offering to help with my humor-writin' skills!
*IMPORTANT: This is my third major fic along with Sacrifice (TSS) and The North (Redwall); I am now DEADLOCKED, which means I am not going to start up any other stories until one of these three is done.
DISCLAIMER: Sirrius has none of "the ownership" you humanspeople speak of, unless it is that of the "concept".
… She held on tightly, refusing to let go. The rain slid between them, slickening their hands and causing them to slide apart. It couldn't end this way; she refused to lose him again.
"Tip!" He shouted above the roar of the alien engines. "You must for the letting go!"
"No!" she shouted back stubbornly. She didn't know why they wanted him, and she didn't care. She gripped tighter, more desperately. His face was a bright yellow, reflecting her own fear. "I won't lose you again!" Memory of the Gorg ship and his almost death flashing through her mind.
He saw her green eyes fill with terror. Then Mimom's face flashed in his mind. They couldn't just both disappear. She needed to know what had happened, then maybe, just maybe, they would see each other again one day…
He blue eyes bore into her's suddenly, a determination alight in them. "You cannot be the taken too! Think of Gratuitymom!"
"But-!"
She saw they yellow fade back to a normal violet hue, and he smiled disarmingly at her. His voice dropped lower, but she heard him all the same.
"JLo knows that Gratuity will finds him if she promises. Just gives me the promise, Tip, and I's trust you wills come."
She felt the rain help them fall farther apart, the tractor-beam sucking him back with more force. She didn't want to lose her best friend. Not one of the people she cared about most. He lurched out of her grasp more but held her gaze, his face filled with determination and trust. She didn't want to let go, but she knew it wasn't her choice. Just before they lost their grip, she looked into his eyes and did the only thing she could.
"I promise, Oh. I'll find you. No matter what."
LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK
A few weeks earlier…
Fifteen-year-old Gratuity "Tip" Tucci had just opened her history textbook to study, involuntarily bobbing her head to the music. JLo - or "Oh", as he was commonly called - tapped his pods to the beat while looking over her shoulder. It was a usual affair - he would help her in the subjects that Boov were good at, while learning humansthings of which he did not know. History was especially new to him, and it was Tip's hardest subject. So, in simple terms, they were getting bored.
Oh was having a hard time resisting the pull of the music. He could control himself when music came on now. It was more of an uncontrolled action before since he had resisted it so heatedly, but when he let himself get pulled in by swaying or tapping to the beat, he didn't get the uncontrollable urge to dance. But the boredom of Earth history made it hard. They just had so many wars. It was the same thing over and over again. Pointless. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and hopped off the bed where they had been sitting.
The thunk! of Oh's pods hitting the floor caught Tip's attention. She watched him curiously as he scuttled over to the radio, and press the switch button a few times. He stopped when he was satisfied with the song that came on. She recognized it instantly, remembering the car ride fondly.
Come on,
I wanna dance in the dark.
Come on,
We're gonna light up the night;
Come on…
She smiled as he concentrated on getting his "Boov" on, doing some sort of shrugging dance and pursing his lips. Then he looked at her and flashed a smile, running over and grabbing Tip's hand, despite her laughing-protests of, "Oh; I've gotta do my homework!"
Oh merely laughed back, exclaiming, "You cans be finishing your work for home later! We haven'st done the dancing in a whiles now!"
Tip finally complied with false reluctance, and both friends laughed and enjoyed themselves as they moved to the music.
I wanna dance in the middle of the night,
Out here with the stars like the creatures of the night.
If you don't dance, make sure you got the r-hy-thm,
Make sure that your heartbeat-beats with the r-hy-thm…
Tip actually had a decent dance style going, swaying and moving to the beat, while Oh did some outrageous moves that wouldn't work on anyone but Oh; and not just because he was a Boov. His blue eyes were twinkling happily, as an idea came to him. Tip smirked, knowing what he had planned.
I wanna dance in the dark
And never stop
We're gonna light up the night
Like shooting stars
They titled towards each other, singing the words, without a care of how well they were singing. Or how loud. Tip grabbed Oh's hand (which he noticed with pleased embarrassment) and pulled him towards her, then slid away. He caught on to the move instantly, copying her. He had begun to stumble on the lyrics, but had corrected himself quickly. (Oh wasn't too bad at singing the lyrics how they were supposed to be structured). He glanced shyly at Tip, glad she hadn't noticed when he did so. She was throwing her head back and singing loudly, her tightly curled hair bouncing as she danced. He was glad to see her so happy. He shook his head and focused on having fun dancing too, the wide smile never leaving his face.
This time he grabbed her hands - both of them - and swung her around. Tip caught on, and using the momentum, spun them faster. He laughed as his "feet" left the ground every once in awhile. The song was nearing and end, so they slowed down, exhausted. They grinned at one another as they sang the last few lines;
I wanna dance in the dark
And never stop
We're gonna light up the night
Like shooting stars
Whenever you hear the sound
Don't be alarmed
Ooh, ooh, ooh, dancing in the dark.
They were still grinning at each other breathlessly, Tip lowered to his level as she rested with her hands on her knees. A sharp burst of clapping startled them both; Tip just grinning when she saw who it was, and Oh briefly trilled stripes of yellow and pink-orange (it was hard to tell).
Lucy Tucci - who Oh called "Mimom" or "Gratuitymom" - stood in her daughter's doorway. She had seen most of their dance, and how happy they'd been. Trying not to smirk at Oh's shy smile, she just said, "I came to tell you two that dinner's ready."
" 'Kay mom!" Tip replied. Then nudging Oh, she whispered loudly, "You have to help me with the essay portion now."
"B-but; Oh is not good with the essays!" He protested in the same stage whisper.
"Too bad!" Tip sat back on the bed and plucked up her hefty textbook. Oh sighed wearily and hopped up next to her.
Lucy smiled and chuckled softly as she left, leaving the door partway closed behind her. As she went to go finish dinner, she thought that Oh was fitting in quite well with their little family.
LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK
The days since the Boov (who had stayed on Earth) and had merged with the Humans was long past. Things were going fairly smoothly, with the two species collaborating. Many Boov 'doctors' trained under human ones and vice versa so that either species could treat the other. For the time being, Boov tried not to treat Humans, just as Humans tried not to treat Boov so that an accident wouldn't occur. It was made clear, though, that if anyone was in danger, a medical professional was to treat whomever was injured, regardless of species. Many agreed, though there were a few who didn't. The merge was never going to go perfectly.
There was, of course, issues on both sides. The Boov who followed Oh as captain had a hard time adapting to the idea of following a Human leader, simply because it wasn't Oh. After a long and tedious explanation on Oh's part, they had finally agreed on one condition: If ever Oh needed them, or he resumed the role of leader for any reason, then they would only follow him. He had let it be so with some reluctance.
So whenever Tip and Oh went out for some fun, any Boov they crossed greeted him enthusiastically, and some acted like he was a celebrity. It could get annoying, but Tip did her best to tolerate it. They usually snuck around to avoid "fans", which they both actually preferred (it was a habit to avoid Boov that they'd picked up during the invasion).
It was one such saturday - meaning Tip didn't have school - that they snuck around the mall. Not all Boov were avoidable - many had jobs, after all. But they had been able to stay undetected for the most part. They had just begun to relax, thinking their fun time was safe, when a voice startled them. Oh actually grabbed Tip's arm in alarm, and she clutched his.
"Hey, Oh! And Humansgirl! Nice to see yous here!"
It was Kyle, in his usual uniform. They both sighed in relief; Kyle had been hired as a security guard of sorts, and he had actually become one of Oh's friends after the invasion. It was nice to see a friendly, non-fan face. Oh let go of Tip rather quickly, though she didn't notice. He fought off stripes of pink and yellow. Kyle raised where an eyebrow would be at him, but made no comment.
"Uh, Hello, um, Kyle?" the Boov nodded happily. "How's the new job goin'?"
"It is not going anywhere, but I am enjoying it. Plus, I gets leisure minutes."
The conversation went on like this for another half hour, all three strolling through the mall and into a few stores as they conversed. It was a large, modern indoor mall, sleek and spacey with escalators, elevators; a few fountain-like structures and a large center fountain. There were various plants in the mall, too, where they saw a gardener-Boov checking their water systems. Tip mostly dominated the conversation (she had a very dominating personality, Oh thought) and Kyle actually had a lot to say. Normally Oh and Tip would talk animatedly for long periods of time (especially if it was just them), neither more than the other, but today Oh was a little more silent.
It was almost the third-year anniversary since they'd stopped the invasion. Since Oh's captain-ry, his almost death, and more importantly since he'd left and come back for Tip. He'd done little things over the years (a party or a meal; the latter a very, very bad idea), but this year he wanted to do something special for Tip. He wanted to get her a gift, but it had to be special. But only special enough to express their friendship.
It had been frustrating him to no end, and when Tip had gone into a clothing store to look for a new outfit (she had saved up some allowance, so she could finally get something new) Kyle finally decided to get to the bottom of things.
"So how's you been doing, Captain Oh?"
Oh had been distracted so it took him a minute to register that Kyle had spoken. He smiled at his friend and simply stated, "I has been doing 'the fine'. And I ams no longer Captain."
Kyle chuckled. "Yous shall always be Captain, Oh. But I was the wondering why you are being so much of the distracting."
"The distracted."
"Yes, the distracted."
"It is nothingness," Oh said, twiddling his fingers.
Kyle looked unconvinced. "Ares you sure. Has there been problems with the humansgirl that you are not for the telling to me?"
"No…" Oh immediately turned a brilliant shade of emerald. He briefly flashed red, angry that his emotions had given him away, then sighed. There was no use in hiding it now. Plus, maybe Kyle could help. "I ams having the trouble of finding a gift for bestfriend Tip," he finally explained. Kyle seemed confused, so he elaborated, "The humanscustoms include that of having a party-anniversary for special events. When invasion ended, Tip became my bestest friend. So we gets each others the 'gifts' to express our gratitudes. I am trying to think ofs a good gift for her."
Kyle's eyes widened comically in realization. "Ah… the parties wes all have. I didn't know you did exchanging of gifts then."
Oh saw where Kyle's train of thought was going; he began to waves his hands vigorously, "No! Only me and Tip do the exchanging - and maybes the mimom - it is not of the requirement!"
"Okays, okays! Do of the calming, please. Uhm, what does Gratuity-humansgirl like? The flowers? Theys are a favourite snack of me."
Oh looked uncomfortable with the idea. "Er, nos. But thanking you that I am for the suggestion."
"Clotheses?"
"Nuh-uh."
"The Jew-well-ree?"
"Definitelies not."
Kyle threw up his hands in exhasperation. "Then I is not the knowing whatfor you to gets! This is greatest difficulty!"
Oh grabbed his arm desperately and attempted 'puppy-dog eyes' (which he was quite good at; at least from a human/Gratuity's viewpoint). "Please!" he begged. "You must be the helping me! Or-or… I no invites you to the party!"
Kyle found the look quite hideous, but the idea of missing the party was even more horrifying. He had to think quickly, he had to -
Ah-ha! he thought. He pulled Oh's hand off his arm, suggesting quickly, "Why nots make a gift for friendGratuity? Dos the humans not love the gifts made-home? Ands you told me once that humansgirl-Gratuity thought your arts were a-mazing; draws a gift!"
"Thats is most true," Oh said slowly, an idea already forming in his mind. "I am no better than the other Boovs at the 'arts'. She calls it, er, the 'comics-arts'. Oh is thanking yous very much, Friend Kyle!" He exclaimed, grabbing the other Boov's hands and hop-twirling around briefly.
By time Tip came out of the store with one modest bag, he was his old self again. Kyle eventually said goodbye and went back to his duties, and Tip along with Oh went home.
The party was in little over a week.