bakerstreet | I saw Christmas decorations today

[It's been a while since Tokacchi returned to the train with an overload of shopping bags, but at least this time, he's aware of the debt that comes with them. He hadn't meant to actually purchase anything just yet, but before he knew it, he couldn't stop himself... After all, Christmas is coming up rather soon, and once he realized that, he thought he should start looking around for some gifts. Really, he just meant to look for now. Though even with the pile he's bringing aboard with him, he has yet to find something really nice and really special for Mio, but he supposes there's still time for that.

After swiping his pass and awkwardly shuffling through the gate with the bags, the door to the train opens up for him. He turns sideways, trying to accommodate their shape through the tiny entrance, and finally steps inside. Though his intent was to dash towards his room to hide his purchases, he finds himself stopping as he looks around in awe. The entire interior has been decorated for the season— which is only surprising considering that none of it had been present when he left earlier that day. But still, it's amazing how it completely changes the atmosphere. He can't help but smile as he takes it all in.

He slowly walks through the car, closely examining each decoration as he nods with approval. There's even a tree in the corner with a small helping of presents underneath it. Yesss, he wasn't the only one! He makes a note to add his to the pile once he gets them wrapped. For now, though, they've gotten pretty heavy, so he sets his bags down beside the tree to rest his shoulders while he continues his survey of the cabin. Before leaving their side, he looks around and listens to confirm that no one else is around. There's still a chance they can enter, but so long as he stays alert, he can safely conceal the gifts.

Now that there's less obstructing his view, he realizes that the whole place has been decorated head-to-toe... And speaking of what's above, there's... mistletoe. An abundance of mistletoe. He doesn't even have to ask; he's positive that it's Wagon's handiwork. But with that much mistletoe around, it's almost like there's no safe place. The area is small enough regardless, and Tokacchi is thinking of how often everyone gathers close together. It's... near constant. This is definitely too much!! Although, it's not like he'd mind having an excuse to—

No, okay, this is exactly why it needs to come down right this second! Forgetting all about his prior mission, he stands upon one of the benches and starts to unfasten some mistletoe. But it's really difficult... Exactly what did she use to put these up here? He can't help but feel that their security is intentional. But if he doesn't hurry up, the others could come back soon, and with the cabin looking like this...]

[Christmas to Right meant Christmas cake, presents, and lots and lots of candy. He hasn't gotten any presents for anyone else yet, but he did get a big bag of various holiday sweets, both locally and nationally made. Apparently, this mountainous region pride itself on winter holiday stuff - foods, traditional performances, and various decorations.

Including mistletoe.

Right paused on his way back to see a couple kissing underneath some hanging mistletoe in a side alley. Even after all this time, there's some things about being an adult that's still new to Right's childish mind. Like seeing kissing as no longer a gross thing. In fact, the idea popping into his head - that of kissing any of his friends - made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's still a little weird...but a good kind of weird.

As he made his way back into the train, Right noticed from glancing at the windows that Wagon's decorated the train for the holidays. That helped made Right's smile bigger than usual. Celebrating Christmas with friends was, and always will be a fun thing to do, in his mind.

When he stepped into the main car, however, Right stopped to blink at Tokacchi meddling with some mistletoe. In fact, there was a ton of mistletoe across the ceiling. And Right's first thought upon seeing that? ...does Tokacchi want to kiss Mio that badly?

Not realizing how delicate Tokacchi's balance was, Right approached his friend as he spoke up.] Hey, Tokacchi...what's with all the mistletoe?

[Tokacchi's so involved in his task (which is so much more difficult than he would have expected) that Right is able to easily sneak up on him, and his voice elicits a startled sort of shriek from Tokacchi. As his hands fall from the mistletoe they grasped only a moment ago, he quickly turns toward Right— perhaps a little too quickly as benches weren't exactly designed to be stood upon in the first place. He easily loses his balance and nearly falls over, but instead he makes himself lean toward the safety of the wall and manages to at least slide down it and thus half-save his landing. His glasses, however, slipped down his face considerably and as he is now more or less sitting on the bench, an arm stretched across the table to help steady himself, he uses his free hand to adjust them.

This finally gives him a clear view of his friend. He knew it at once from the voice, of course, but of all people to interrupt at a time like this... And on top of that, he's asking about the mistletoe.

... Oh no. It must look like he was putting it up instead of trying to take it down! From that misunderstanding alone, who knows where Right's imagination would take him? Tokacchi quickly pushes himself to his feet, waving his hands about wildly.]

No, no, no, no, no! It's not what it looks like! This is Wagon's doing!! At least, I'm... pretty sure it is. At any rate, I was trying to take some of it down! Th-There's a bit too much of it here, don't you think?

--Ohhhhh, so Wagon put them up.... That explains why there's so many. [Right grinned in relief.] For a moment, I thought you had gone overboard. Good thing you didn't, huh? Especially since putting up this much mistletoe just isn't like you anyway. [Right moved to set his bag down on the table.]

...Now that I think about it, it does seem a little excessive. You need some help taking some of them down?

[Gone overboard? Right really thought that...? That sentiment latches onto Tokacchi's mind quickly and threatens to plant itself there permanently, but as Right reassesses his suspicion, that threat just as quickly dispels itself. He breathes a short sigh of relief as he adjusts his glasses once more.]

Don't you think? There's no way this much could go without notice, and even if it did...

[He pauses a moment to close his eyes, completing envisioning exactly how things would turn out. Wagon would quickly burst into the cabin, making a boisterous fuss about the intensity of the atmosphere, never yielding until she had everyone's eyes set upon the ceiling. And everyone's reactions would be...]

A-Anyway! It'd really help if we worked together on it. It's not just a matter of pulling them off a hook. I don't know what she used to put them up, but they're not budging one bit!

Y-yeah, especially if Mio noticed it at the same time as everyone else... [The idea of Mio getting all "weird" at the whole mistletoe tradition sent a shiver up Right's spine. He likes Mio as a friend (and maybe more, if he's being honest) but he doesn't like it when she gets punchy.]

Hmmmm... [Right thought about it as he eyed the carpet of mistletoe on the ceiling.] Maybe if we Imagine ourselves to be stronger, we might be able to get them down.

[Tokacchi's so impressed by Right that he can't contain his very loud excitement as he jumps up, pointing a finger at his friend for being so clever, even if it's something that comes so naturally to Right.]

THAT'S IT!! Right, you're a genius! I bet that she sealed them with imagination! She envisioned something so strong, it wouldn't come down so easily... In that case, we just have to imagine that we're strong enough to pull it down regardless! Right?

[He nods, as if agreeing to his own epitome, and moves quickly to stand atop the bench once more. Closing his eyes, he rubs his hands together, eager to see this endeavor be a success. Now, just to imagine it! Just imagine... the mistletoe...]

[Being called a genius is nothing short of wonderful, in Right's mind. Especially if it's one of the two real smart guys of the team calling him that.] Too bad she forgets who's got the strongest Imagination on the train... Let's do this!

[Right immediately stood next to Tokacchi on top of that bench, image already solidifying in his mind. Once he stabilized himself, he reached up to grab a bunch of mistletoe.] Let's start here, on the count of three. Okay?

Okay!

[—Is what he said quickly and earnestly, but that would only leave them three seconds to imagine this perfectly. It's not that he's feeling particularly pressured, but he supposes he hadn't thought this whole process through before agreeing to it. After all, now that Right is beside him, Tokacchi is suddenly realizing the fatal flaw in this plan. Even if the aim is to take down the mistletoe, there's already two of them beneath a massive amount of it.

And his hands now twitch uncomfortably at this belated realization. The mission for these three precious seconds has now completely disappeared from Tokacchi's mind, instead unable to stop himself from imagining what traditionally should be occurring right now under such circumstances. His cheeks start to burn as he tries to get back to the task at hand, but already he's unable to look at Right. Has he realized it too? No, probably not. Though it shouldn't even matter! It's not like it's a strict rule or anything... Is it? Should he... say something about it? This has been a very long three seconds.]

[The tradition meaning of Right and Tokacchi being under the mistletoe together...actually hadn't crossed Right's mind yet. He was more focused on getting everything down first - or at least, get enough down that it gave everyone some non-kissing room. Really, the only thing Right's been focusing his eyes on was the mistletoe in their hands...]

One...Two...

[And the counting. Of course, the counting.]

...Three! [And with that, Right immediately put his Imagination into play, imagining the two of them being strong enough to just yank the mistletoe off.

The plants are starting to budge...but they're not coming down yet.]

[At the count of three, Tokacchi shakes his head out to dismiss the intrusive thoughts, and he grabs hold of the mistletoe, pulling with all his strength. Unfortunately, he can only pull with his normal strength as he squandered his minutes away with those distracting thoughts, and he knows it. In fact, the mistletoe may have only budged solely on account of Right's efforts. Lowering his tired arms, Tokacchi slowly starts to catch his breath.]

Right, sorry. It's my fault that we weren't strong enough. No— that I wasn't strong enough. I was just a little distracted, and... [He glances quickly towards Right which causes him to remember those distractions once more, and thus he turns aside quickly, patting his hands to his face to snap himself out of it.] I'll do it right this time!

Distracted...? [Right looked rather confused for a moment there. Was Tokacchi thinking too much about something again? Probably... But when his friend said that he'll do it right this time, Right grinned encouragingly.]

It's okay, Tokacchi. Just...do what Kagura would do and focus only on what you need your Imagination for, alright?

So, let's try this again on three... [Right still hasn't let got of the mistletoe this whole time, partially because he's still using some of his Imagination to tug on it. But the other reason is because Right's using it to keep himself fully balanced. Apparently, tugging on something above you while on the narrow top of a bench isn't as easy as it looks...]

[Seeing Right so determined to succeed as he's still hanging on, Tokacchi's able to focus better, not wanting to be a hindrance to his friend. He quickly latches on as well to support him, and he closes his eyes once more, trying to imagine it just like Kagura does.]

I'm strong... I'm strong... I'm strong!

One, two, three!

[And sure enough, he can feel the decoration finally starting to come loose. He opens his eyes in wonder to fully witness the miracle, but it just needs a little more to go! Now that he's gotten all excited about it, he leans in to maximize his strength output, but in doing so, he slips just a little and accidentally bumps into Right.]

[Right didn't mean for Tokacchi to do it exactly like Kagura...only kinda like her. Oh, well, as long as his friend remember his limits...

Thankfully, that wasn't an issue here, because Right was really feeling the decorations finally giving.] Almost...whoah! [That last part was due to Tokacchi bumping him. Incidentally, just a few seconds later, the mistletoe that Right was grasping actually gave, exactly when Right was feeling off balance. The sudden give really threw Right more off-balance, and it sent him wobbling, arms flailing and everything.

As a last-ditch, effort, he tried grabbing onto his friend for support. However, that might not have been the wisest idea...]

[After the bump, Tokacchi thought he might lose his balance as well, but he regains it long enough to help finally pull down the mistletoe. Unfortunately, after that, everything happened too quickly for him to properly react at all.

He takes hold of the mistletoe, holding it up triumphantly as a display of their success, when he realizes that Right is falling. Before he can even think about how to proceed, Right latches onto his arms and quickly pulls Tokacchi down with him. He lets out a shout on the way down, unable to do a thing to prevent the collision, and falls directly on top of Right. As for the mistletoe, it too slipped from Tokacchi's grasp and accompanied the two during the fall, kindly landing itself directly on top of his head, where it seems to have stuck itself once more, though he has yet to notice it himself.]

Ow, ow, ow... Right, are you okay!?

[It hurt enough to land from the bench by itself, but it was made a bit more painful having Tokacchi landed on top of him. However, Right barely focused on his own hurt for more than a few seconds before he groaned and lifted his head up.]

M'okay, Tokacchi... Are you o--

[...Oh. Oh, my. Right really didn't look to see how close their faces were to begin with, due to wincing from the dull aches from the fall. So, without realizing it, he had ended up pressing his lips into Tokacchi's.

And froze for a minute or two, eyes growing a little wide and cheeks definitely reddening. He swore that it was so silent in that train car, he thought his friend could hear the thundering heartbeats coming from Right. He really didn't intend for all this to happen...

...but it didn't feel bad at all, strangely enough. In fact, it felt kinda nice...]

[Mio's just inside the car next door, but the ruckus she heard from the other car definitely caught her attention. Wondering what's up, Mio decides to investigate.

The door slides open, and Mio steps inside, only to halt in her tracks after seeing the two boys on the ground. Her eyes widen at the sight of what they're doing.]

...Right? Tokkachi?

[...Silence then follows.]

[Once the contact is made, Tokacchi too is already frozen. He can't process the scene quick enough to react, and so their position lingers long enough for the door to open and allow entry to a witness. And it's not just any witness, of course. Hearing that voice short-circuits the last of Tokacchi's processing power, taking away all ability to rationalize and leaving him to act on impulse. Some might call this "panic."

To make matters worse, the mistletoe atop his head detached once it had served its purpose, tumbling away out of sight much like concealing evidence from a trial. There's nothing else to grasp onto; there's only Right, himself, and what transpired between them. It's this realization that escalates the panic, and Tokacchi finally pushes himself to his feet, jumping back to gain some distance from both Right and Mio.

Sorry, did someone say it was silent in here? Allow Tokacchi to remedy that as he screams desperately, pointing a knowing finger back and forth from Right to Mio, forced to acknowledge that a: that just happened, and b: Mio definitely saw it.]

M-M— Mio, wait!! Wait, that wasn't—! We were just trying to...!!

[... This isn't helping.]

Right, say something!!

[Right's mind also short-circuited when he realized that they weren't alone. Though in his case, it only made him lay stunned on the floor, gaping wide-eyed at Mio staring at them and Tokacchi having what amounts to a panic attack.

And yet, what is the first thing that comes to mind as his cheeks are now a bright, cherry red?] ...Tokacchi has soft lips.

I saw Christmas decorations today

Right - Ressha Sentai ToQger - OTA

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

/late

my turn to be late \o/

no subject