Post by Sadie on Dec 10, 2009 18:25:45 GMT -5
ROZ AND I ARE STARTING A MULTI-CHAPTERED COLLAB! It's a Christmas fic following the adventures of our GKND kiddies as they scramble to get ready for the holidays!
So I wrote the first chapter, and Roz will write the second one, and here's the first one for you!
It has ALL of our kiddies in it, so I hope you enjoy it! GET READY FOR THE FIRST STEP OF OUR ADVENTURE!
--
It was a merry day throughout the headquarters of the Galactic Kids Next Door, and the very air seemed filled with music. The table was set with many different treats from different planets, all of them steaming with an enticing sent, and people were sitting down in their various seats to begin their evening meal. It was their first dinner together for a while, since their days had been filled with missions, and they were all prepared to have an evening spent with each other.
Amidst the chattering, the aliens slowly became aware that their red-headed friend, normally below most of them, had come to tower near the ceiling, his feet steady on a chair. His little blue friend was sitting perkily on his shoulder, beaming at the room. They waved a couple of hesitant hands at the room until the talking slowly died away, all eyes turning to see what the two could possibly want.
“Erm. . .” Etoile seemed flustered suddenly, to have all of the attention turned on him. Luckily, Nebulos was prepared for such an event and was able to jump in almost immediately with their announcement.
“Etoile and I have a great idea!” Etoile nodded, and Nebulos nudged him with an elbow. “Tell them!”
“Right!” Regaining his sense of speech, Etoile suddenly looked excited, using his hands animatedly to gesture while he spoke. “So Nebulos and I were reading in our huge library, right? And we found this book of Earth traditions and one of them sounds like a lot of fun! It’s called a secret Santa gift exchange!”
Around the table, a couple of murmurs broke out at this statement.
“I like the idea of something secret,” Dengeki grinned, flashing a wide row of teeth around the table.
Ynda wasn’t so easily enticed. “What in blast’s name is a Santa? It sounds like a disease!” Her glare at the two teenage boys who had made the announcement didn’t unnerve them as they rushed to explain.
“No, no, see-“
“It’s not really-“
“Well, it doesn’t matter who Santa is.” Etoile rubbed at the back of his neck slightly. “But it’s really fun! You put everyone’s name in a hat, right? And then everyone draws a name out of the hat. And you have to make sure that it’s not your own!”
“And you keep that name a secret!” Grinning, Nebulos stood up on Etoile’s shoulder, using his thick curls to keep himself steady. “And then you have to get a gift for that person but you have to keep it a secret! And then on a certain day, they all get together and tell everyone who they got and what they got them! And everyone gets a gift and it’s really a lot of fun!”
“They call that day Christmas,” Etoile added lightly. “And in our calendar, Christmas is in a week! So we think it’d be really awesome to try it!”
“Do you guys want to?”
The two boys took on pleading expressions that sent a few chuckles around the table. Etoile’s tail, now long and snake-like, waved behind him hopefully while they waited to see how the aliens voted.
Dengeki and Unagi’s hands went into the air simultaneously. “We’re in.” It was like a chorus, and they sent identical, teeth-filled grins at the two boys while exchanging amused glances.
“Anything where we get presents sounds awesome.”
“And giving, too, I suppose.”
“But mostly getting.”
Cyril shot a wing into the air only a split second after. “Me too, me too, I’m in! Pick me, pick me!”
“Hush, bird-brain.” Vibe pulled him back down into his seat and made him sit still, nodding her assent to the two boys while trying to make sure that Cyril didn’t break anything amidst his excitement. He was still squawking something about being picked, and Etoile made a mental note to make sure that he picked a name first before he accidentally hurt someone.
“I suppose I’m in.” Her voice dismissive, Ynda nodded once. Even she couldn’t disagree with something that would end up getting her a gift in the end.
At the other end of the table, a green-tipped hand lifted into the air. “I’ll do it, too, Flashlights!” Tala’s nickname now included both of the boys, and she sent an affectionate smile at the glowing pair. “It sounds fun!” Her orange gaze turned to the bodyguard nearby, who said nothing, and her other hand shot out to grasp his wrist, and she lifted his arm into the air. “He’s in, too!”
“What-“ Pulling his wrist away, Masurao said nothing, but a small nod at the boys signaled that he really didn’t have any reason to not do so, anyway. But Tala didn’t miss the disgruntled look on his face at having been volunteered, which she ignored like any good friend would do.
Niji and Milo-Lee put their hands up at the same time, beaming at each other while they voiced their various assents. “Yeah, that sounds really fun!” Niji laughed delightedly, almost sparkling with pleasure when she smiled at them.
“Me, too!” Finnick was almost immediately after, waving a hand in the air.
Etoile grinned happily and then remembered that one person hadn’t voiced her opinion, simply because she couldn’t. He turned to her and called her attention to him with a warm grin. “Nalo?”
The girl looked up from where she had been watching everyone’s reactions take place, trying to find the face of the one who had spoken her name. When their eyes met, she smiled and nodded, easily communicating her opinion to the group. Etoile grinned at Nebulos, looking excited. “That’s everyone! This is going to be so great!”
Nebulos hopped down from his shoulder and settled into his chair, picking up a fork in his thin hand. “We’ll draw names after we eat! I can’t wait!”
Etoile sat down, too, and the two boys exchanged happy glances, already pleased at their success at bringing a little bit of pleasant spirit into the headquarters. Fun was no doubt going to ensue.
--
After they had all finished feasting together, they met in their large entertainment room, scattered about with various toys and things that could keep them playing together for hours. Only this time, these objects sat untouched while they all gathered around Etoile, who was holding his detective hat upside down with strips of paper lying loftily in the inside.
“Is everyone’s name inside?” he asked over the noise, and Nebulos scrambled up his arm and rested on his shoulder, eager to get a good view of what would occur any minute now. The various calls came from around them, letting them know that all of the names were inside and that they could begin.
Remembering his silent promise, Etoile held out the hat to Cyril first, grinning. “Go on, then, we’ll get started!”
Cyril eagerly snatched up a name, his eyes furrowed as he scanned it critically and then burst into a grin. His excitement seemed to indicate that he had gotten someone that he had wanted to, until he happily called out, “I don’t even know who this is!”
An exasperated chuckle ran around the group and Etoile and Nebulos exchanged glances with each other. “Let me see, I’ll tell you,” Etoile said finally, and Cyril flapped over to him and stuck the paper into Etoile’s face so that he had to back up to be able to read it.
“Masurao.”
Etoile let out a snort without warning, and covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing aloud. Of all the people for Cyril to get, it had to be the bodyguard. “I’ll point him out to you later,” Etoile promised the bird-boy, smiling. “So that it’s still a secret.”
“Okay!” Excitedly clutching the paper, Cyril zoomed across the room and landed on the couch, his eyes narrowed as he studied the name once more as if with the intent of memorizing it. Chuckling, Etoile held out the hat to whoever wanted to draw next.
The twins reached forward at the same time as the hat passed them, each drawing a name and turning to examine it. Dengeki let out a loud laugh as he examined his paper, folding it and slipping it away so that no eyes could follow it. His paper held a name that he hadn’t quite expected.
“Unagi.”
Meanwhile, the other twin was looking at his own paper amusedly. “I didn’t expect this. This should be fun.” He, too, slid his paper away so that no one could see the name scrawled across the white surface. “Dengeki.”
The hat swung around the circle and came to rest in front of Ynda, who lifted an eyebrow at Etoile before reaching in and taking a name. Her fingers closed around a paper and she snapped it straight in front of her, critically examining the name that was written there.
“Cyril.”
She let out an exasperated noise and folded the paper, clenching it in her fist with a look of impatience. “Really?” she said aloud to no one in particular, simply to voice her disbelief. It had to be the bird-brain, of course. Rolling her eyes, she gestured Etoile to take the hat away, again letting out a small noise of annoyance at the name that she had drawn.
Etoile next held the hat out toward Vibe, who quietly took a name and glanced at it briefly before tucking it away. “Milo-Lee.” Her smile indicated that she was alright with who she had picked, and Etoile let out a sigh of relief that she was happy as compared to Ynda.
Handing the hat to Nebulos so that he could have a turn, Etoile let Nebulos stand on his shoulder while holding the hat out so that it was still accessible to the taller aliens. They went to Princess Niji next, smiled pleasantly before pulling out a name and scanning it silently to herself. “Nalo.” Smiling again, Niji nodded and slid the paper out of sight.
Masurao, who was of course standing next to his princess, lifted an eyebrow at Nebulos when the boy held out the hat to him. His face was expressionless as he took a paper, and he slowly unfolded it to look at the name. “Tala.”
One of his eyes seemed to twitch slightly, but aside from that, he did nothing except for silently fold the paper again and shove it into his pocket. Slightly unnerved by his severe lack of emotion, Etoile hurried way, leaving the bodyguard to stew over the name by himself.
A green-tipped hand shoved its way into the hat as Tala weaved through the crowd and went to pick a name for herself, beaming at the boys before grasping a paper and holding it close so that she was sure no one was peeking. “Vibe.” Her eyes flashed upward and then down again to keep it a secret, but she seemed pleased when she crinkled the paper up and stowed it away.
Etoile flicked her lightly on the nose and then moved away so that Nebulos could hold the hat out to Nalo, who was standing serenely nearby, watching everyone else pick names. A tendril slid into the hat and curled around a small slip of paper, drawing it out for her to read. “Nebulos.” A smile flitted across her expression, and she tilted her head pleasantly and hid the paper behind her back.
The hat next circled around to Milo-Lee and Finnick, and they each took a turn pulling a name out of the hat with excited smiles. Milo-Lee beamed when her paper read, in neat handwriting, “Finnick.” Grinning secretively, she quickly hid her paper from the boy next to her.
Finnick, meanwhile, was staring at his own paper with a mixed expression. “Ynda.” He appeared almost uncertain, but accepted it readily, stuffing his paper away and already trying to think about what he would get the girl that looked as though she might pound him into a mushy, purple pulp.
Grinning, Nebulos swung the hat around and biffed Etoile in the face with it. “Your turn!” Laughingly, Etoile felt around for a few seconds before finding one of the last slips of paper, and he unraveled it with a sweep of extravagant gesture before reading it to himself.
“Princess Niji.”
That would be fun! Grinning, Etoile quickly stuffed the paper into his pocket, tugging the hat out of Nebulos’ hands and then waving it in front of his face. “Go, go!” The little blue alien laughed and searched for the last slip of paper, which he held away from Etoile, who grinningly tried to peek over his shoulder.
“Etoile.”
“Okay!” Nebulos announced, grinning delightedly and stuffing the paper away before Etoile could sneak a peek. “Now that we all have our names, we’ll see what everyone ends up with at the end of the week!” He hopped off of the yellow alien’s shoulder, smiling about at the group. “And remember, don’t tell anyone!”
Tala slid next to Etoile and grinned up at him. “So who’d you get, then, eh?” she asked teasingly.
“You don’t listen.” Affectionately pushing her away, Etoile laughed and then watched as the aliens dispersed, chattering about the event without revealing any names among each other. His face was alight with excitement as he contemplated the week to come.
It was going to be a fun one, that was for sure.
So I wrote the first chapter, and Roz will write the second one, and here's the first one for you!
It has ALL of our kiddies in it, so I hope you enjoy it! GET READY FOR THE FIRST STEP OF OUR ADVENTURE!
--
It was a merry day throughout the headquarters of the Galactic Kids Next Door, and the very air seemed filled with music. The table was set with many different treats from different planets, all of them steaming with an enticing sent, and people were sitting down in their various seats to begin their evening meal. It was their first dinner together for a while, since their days had been filled with missions, and they were all prepared to have an evening spent with each other.
Amidst the chattering, the aliens slowly became aware that their red-headed friend, normally below most of them, had come to tower near the ceiling, his feet steady on a chair. His little blue friend was sitting perkily on his shoulder, beaming at the room. They waved a couple of hesitant hands at the room until the talking slowly died away, all eyes turning to see what the two could possibly want.
“Erm. . .” Etoile seemed flustered suddenly, to have all of the attention turned on him. Luckily, Nebulos was prepared for such an event and was able to jump in almost immediately with their announcement.
“Etoile and I have a great idea!” Etoile nodded, and Nebulos nudged him with an elbow. “Tell them!”
“Right!” Regaining his sense of speech, Etoile suddenly looked excited, using his hands animatedly to gesture while he spoke. “So Nebulos and I were reading in our huge library, right? And we found this book of Earth traditions and one of them sounds like a lot of fun! It’s called a secret Santa gift exchange!”
Around the table, a couple of murmurs broke out at this statement.
“I like the idea of something secret,” Dengeki grinned, flashing a wide row of teeth around the table.
Ynda wasn’t so easily enticed. “What in blast’s name is a Santa? It sounds like a disease!” Her glare at the two teenage boys who had made the announcement didn’t unnerve them as they rushed to explain.
“No, no, see-“
“It’s not really-“
“Well, it doesn’t matter who Santa is.” Etoile rubbed at the back of his neck slightly. “But it’s really fun! You put everyone’s name in a hat, right? And then everyone draws a name out of the hat. And you have to make sure that it’s not your own!”
“And you keep that name a secret!” Grinning, Nebulos stood up on Etoile’s shoulder, using his thick curls to keep himself steady. “And then you have to get a gift for that person but you have to keep it a secret! And then on a certain day, they all get together and tell everyone who they got and what they got them! And everyone gets a gift and it’s really a lot of fun!”
“They call that day Christmas,” Etoile added lightly. “And in our calendar, Christmas is in a week! So we think it’d be really awesome to try it!”
“Do you guys want to?”
The two boys took on pleading expressions that sent a few chuckles around the table. Etoile’s tail, now long and snake-like, waved behind him hopefully while they waited to see how the aliens voted.
Dengeki and Unagi’s hands went into the air simultaneously. “We’re in.” It was like a chorus, and they sent identical, teeth-filled grins at the two boys while exchanging amused glances.
“Anything where we get presents sounds awesome.”
“And giving, too, I suppose.”
“But mostly getting.”
Cyril shot a wing into the air only a split second after. “Me too, me too, I’m in! Pick me, pick me!”
“Hush, bird-brain.” Vibe pulled him back down into his seat and made him sit still, nodding her assent to the two boys while trying to make sure that Cyril didn’t break anything amidst his excitement. He was still squawking something about being picked, and Etoile made a mental note to make sure that he picked a name first before he accidentally hurt someone.
“I suppose I’m in.” Her voice dismissive, Ynda nodded once. Even she couldn’t disagree with something that would end up getting her a gift in the end.
At the other end of the table, a green-tipped hand lifted into the air. “I’ll do it, too, Flashlights!” Tala’s nickname now included both of the boys, and she sent an affectionate smile at the glowing pair. “It sounds fun!” Her orange gaze turned to the bodyguard nearby, who said nothing, and her other hand shot out to grasp his wrist, and she lifted his arm into the air. “He’s in, too!”
“What-“ Pulling his wrist away, Masurao said nothing, but a small nod at the boys signaled that he really didn’t have any reason to not do so, anyway. But Tala didn’t miss the disgruntled look on his face at having been volunteered, which she ignored like any good friend would do.
Niji and Milo-Lee put their hands up at the same time, beaming at each other while they voiced their various assents. “Yeah, that sounds really fun!” Niji laughed delightedly, almost sparkling with pleasure when she smiled at them.
“Me, too!” Finnick was almost immediately after, waving a hand in the air.
Etoile grinned happily and then remembered that one person hadn’t voiced her opinion, simply because she couldn’t. He turned to her and called her attention to him with a warm grin. “Nalo?”
The girl looked up from where she had been watching everyone’s reactions take place, trying to find the face of the one who had spoken her name. When their eyes met, she smiled and nodded, easily communicating her opinion to the group. Etoile grinned at Nebulos, looking excited. “That’s everyone! This is going to be so great!”
Nebulos hopped down from his shoulder and settled into his chair, picking up a fork in his thin hand. “We’ll draw names after we eat! I can’t wait!”
Etoile sat down, too, and the two boys exchanged happy glances, already pleased at their success at bringing a little bit of pleasant spirit into the headquarters. Fun was no doubt going to ensue.
--
After they had all finished feasting together, they met in their large entertainment room, scattered about with various toys and things that could keep them playing together for hours. Only this time, these objects sat untouched while they all gathered around Etoile, who was holding his detective hat upside down with strips of paper lying loftily in the inside.
“Is everyone’s name inside?” he asked over the noise, and Nebulos scrambled up his arm and rested on his shoulder, eager to get a good view of what would occur any minute now. The various calls came from around them, letting them know that all of the names were inside and that they could begin.
Remembering his silent promise, Etoile held out the hat to Cyril first, grinning. “Go on, then, we’ll get started!”
Cyril eagerly snatched up a name, his eyes furrowed as he scanned it critically and then burst into a grin. His excitement seemed to indicate that he had gotten someone that he had wanted to, until he happily called out, “I don’t even know who this is!”
An exasperated chuckle ran around the group and Etoile and Nebulos exchanged glances with each other. “Let me see, I’ll tell you,” Etoile said finally, and Cyril flapped over to him and stuck the paper into Etoile’s face so that he had to back up to be able to read it.
“Masurao.”
Etoile let out a snort without warning, and covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing aloud. Of all the people for Cyril to get, it had to be the bodyguard. “I’ll point him out to you later,” Etoile promised the bird-boy, smiling. “So that it’s still a secret.”
“Okay!” Excitedly clutching the paper, Cyril zoomed across the room and landed on the couch, his eyes narrowed as he studied the name once more as if with the intent of memorizing it. Chuckling, Etoile held out the hat to whoever wanted to draw next.
The twins reached forward at the same time as the hat passed them, each drawing a name and turning to examine it. Dengeki let out a loud laugh as he examined his paper, folding it and slipping it away so that no eyes could follow it. His paper held a name that he hadn’t quite expected.
“Unagi.”
Meanwhile, the other twin was looking at his own paper amusedly. “I didn’t expect this. This should be fun.” He, too, slid his paper away so that no one could see the name scrawled across the white surface. “Dengeki.”
The hat swung around the circle and came to rest in front of Ynda, who lifted an eyebrow at Etoile before reaching in and taking a name. Her fingers closed around a paper and she snapped it straight in front of her, critically examining the name that was written there.
“Cyril.”
She let out an exasperated noise and folded the paper, clenching it in her fist with a look of impatience. “Really?” she said aloud to no one in particular, simply to voice her disbelief. It had to be the bird-brain, of course. Rolling her eyes, she gestured Etoile to take the hat away, again letting out a small noise of annoyance at the name that she had drawn.
Etoile next held the hat out toward Vibe, who quietly took a name and glanced at it briefly before tucking it away. “Milo-Lee.” Her smile indicated that she was alright with who she had picked, and Etoile let out a sigh of relief that she was happy as compared to Ynda.
Handing the hat to Nebulos so that he could have a turn, Etoile let Nebulos stand on his shoulder while holding the hat out so that it was still accessible to the taller aliens. They went to Princess Niji next, smiled pleasantly before pulling out a name and scanning it silently to herself. “Nalo.” Smiling again, Niji nodded and slid the paper out of sight.
Masurao, who was of course standing next to his princess, lifted an eyebrow at Nebulos when the boy held out the hat to him. His face was expressionless as he took a paper, and he slowly unfolded it to look at the name. “Tala.”
One of his eyes seemed to twitch slightly, but aside from that, he did nothing except for silently fold the paper again and shove it into his pocket. Slightly unnerved by his severe lack of emotion, Etoile hurried way, leaving the bodyguard to stew over the name by himself.
A green-tipped hand shoved its way into the hat as Tala weaved through the crowd and went to pick a name for herself, beaming at the boys before grasping a paper and holding it close so that she was sure no one was peeking. “Vibe.” Her eyes flashed upward and then down again to keep it a secret, but she seemed pleased when she crinkled the paper up and stowed it away.
Etoile flicked her lightly on the nose and then moved away so that Nebulos could hold the hat out to Nalo, who was standing serenely nearby, watching everyone else pick names. A tendril slid into the hat and curled around a small slip of paper, drawing it out for her to read. “Nebulos.” A smile flitted across her expression, and she tilted her head pleasantly and hid the paper behind her back.
The hat next circled around to Milo-Lee and Finnick, and they each took a turn pulling a name out of the hat with excited smiles. Milo-Lee beamed when her paper read, in neat handwriting, “Finnick.” Grinning secretively, she quickly hid her paper from the boy next to her.
Finnick, meanwhile, was staring at his own paper with a mixed expression. “Ynda.” He appeared almost uncertain, but accepted it readily, stuffing his paper away and already trying to think about what he would get the girl that looked as though she might pound him into a mushy, purple pulp.
Grinning, Nebulos swung the hat around and biffed Etoile in the face with it. “Your turn!” Laughingly, Etoile felt around for a few seconds before finding one of the last slips of paper, and he unraveled it with a sweep of extravagant gesture before reading it to himself.
“Princess Niji.”
That would be fun! Grinning, Etoile quickly stuffed the paper into his pocket, tugging the hat out of Nebulos’ hands and then waving it in front of his face. “Go, go!” The little blue alien laughed and searched for the last slip of paper, which he held away from Etoile, who grinningly tried to peek over his shoulder.
“Etoile.”
“Okay!” Nebulos announced, grinning delightedly and stuffing the paper away before Etoile could sneak a peek. “Now that we all have our names, we’ll see what everyone ends up with at the end of the week!” He hopped off of the yellow alien’s shoulder, smiling about at the group. “And remember, don’t tell anyone!”
Tala slid next to Etoile and grinned up at him. “So who’d you get, then, eh?” she asked teasingly.
“You don’t listen.” Affectionately pushing her away, Etoile laughed and then watched as the aliens dispersed, chattering about the event without revealing any names among each other. His face was alight with excitement as he contemplated the week to come.
It was going to be a fun one, that was for sure.
You and Roz are such great writers! 
I can't wait to read more, you've got my Niji so much in character! Thank you so much for including her. 
I liked it how poor Milo-Lee was all confused about Finnick going after Ynda all week X3 Thankfully, Ynda didn't notice, it certainly would've annoyed her quite much XD;
