Wow! My first Psychonauts story! Hopefully, it's good! I think this is my first holiday story, too! Amazing. It's very short, I'm aware of this, but I think my attention span is shrinking again.
Disclaimer: If I owned anything, you'd know my real name.
Holiday Procrastination
Raz knew his whole holiday season would be a wreck as soon as the words left Lili's lips: I love the present, Raz! It was November. She'd given him a friendly hug and a peck on the cheek as they passed ways one day at the Psychonauts Headquarters (location unknown), and dropped the compliment. Raz was horror-struck for the rest of the day.
Even at this point, the young Psychonaut had no idea what to get his new girlfriend. Apparently though, she did. "Lili is such a cheater! Stupid future sight," he cursed under his breath about every minute of the day. Stupid future sight indeed. It really didn't seem to help if you couldn't peer into your own future. And it seemed that girls always developed the sight earlier than boys. And besides all that, he'd never bought a present for anyone before, let alone for a girl!
Invitations came the next day, December 1st, for the annual Milla Vodello Christmas Party, on Christmas Eve. Everyone would be exchanging gifts there! That gave Raz exactly twenty-four days to look, procrastinate, and then think up a reeeeally good apology.
Well, in the days to follow, the whole Psychonauts crew was busier than ever. Insanity waits for no holiday! In the first week, Raz found himself in the mind of a baker's child who thought he was the Gingerbread Man, and kept running away from everyone, yelling things like, "Eat Me! I'm dee-lishus!" Turns out that the poor kid wanted his parents to love him as much as they loved baking and the sweets they made.
Week two — No present found. To Raz's relief (than pure horror), he'd forgotten to fret about this present Lili would love. Raz, Sasha, and Milla had called to the Pacific Isles to investigate and stop a pack of sharks that had somehow sprouted wings.
Week three — Sharks made into valuable Psychonaut transporters. Evil mutating scientist who caused the whole shark problem, now a babbling drool monkey somewhere in the Philippines. Raz had actually looked this time, seeing what everyone else was getting each other. A sweater, some chocolate, a picture frame. Those aren't special. Not special enough, at least. The party was only a few days away, and with work being so busy all the time, he didn't know if he'd ever find anything special.
December 23rd — Present found: a lily, dipped in pure gold. Raz was stunned when he opened the package. The kindly people of a village they saved had sent him one as a token of gratitude. This must have been what Lili saw. What an amazing gift!
December 23rd, 11:00 p.m. — The lily broke. Shattered. Exploded, actually. The lily had been a bomb, not from kindly villagers, but from a diabolical fiend, who apparently knew of Raz's predicament, and knew how to fake an address. Raz was out of times and ideas. The party was in less than twenty-four hours, and Raz had been defeated.
December 24th, 9:00 p.m. — The party was in full swing when Raz and Lili arrived together. Milla had six Christmas trees levitating above everyone's heads, occasionally shaking out a tiny present to whoever happened to be standing underneath it. Sasha had brought several large kegs of German beer. Half of the partiers seemed to be wasted already. The place was crowded, almost full to bursting, but no one was unhappy or annoyed. Raz and Lili danced like fools right in the middle of it all, sang over-used Christmas carols with everyone, and had a wonderful time. But there was something Raz had to do, and he was gonna do it!
In the midst of a techno-dance version of "Silent Night," Raz led Lili away from the party-goers and onto a small balcony, overlooking the entire Headquarters. All was dark except from where the party raged on.
"Lili, I need to tell you something... I—"
"Raz, I know."
"I got you this awesome gift, you know, but it just... kinda... blew up."
"Raz, I know."
"So I'm really sorry, cuz I looked really hard, and work was sooo busy and—"
"Raz, shut up. I knew all along what you were going to get me. So now I'm just waiting for you to realize it, too."
Lili stepped close to Raz and simply pointed up. Hanging from the doorframe was a tiny sprig of mistletoe. Then, without either thinking, they kissed. The world melted away and it was only them.
Soooo, did you like? Please respond. Reviews are always welcome! Flames are... not, but if you have a good reason, I guess they're not all bad. Have a Merry Christmas!