[FIN] Cookie Delivery!

[caffeinecraving]

The lab techs kept looking at her cross eyes. The Centrifuge wasnt for mixing cookie batter ingredients... The Oven they had in the lab was for killing off bacteria not for baking. And the freezer was to keep samples.... not to let cheesecake set. She had made two little samples. Each bite size so she could make sure that tortie liked it... She would be horrified if the absol turned her nose up to her own birthday cake.

She set the warm chocolate chip cookies next to some sugar wigglytuff cookies and then grabbed the two fishcake bites and headed out of the lab.She had a little free time now that she had figured out her glowing onyx cells.

She headed to the hospital and waved to the nurse who no longer even stopped her at the door. She waved to the others before heading to duck into aulus' portion of room. "Cookie Delivery!"

 

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus was in enough pain to be crankier than normal but well enough to be bored. In an attempt to alleviate the boredom he was re-reading a Discworld on his tablet but unfortunately he was also still on enough medication to make focusing on the words hard. He scowled at them, tried to make them get into line and get into his brain. It didn't help a lot.

Tortie was curled up on the end of the bed, paw over her nose. He wished he could just nap in any spare moment like she seemed to be able to but he was too well for that too. An embuggerance to be sure.

So it was that today Kailee and her sunny disposition were a welcome distraction that he greeted with one of his default scowls. This was was number four 'I see that you are there, person, and I could be more displeased by this than I am'. Aulus' range of scowls took some getting used to, like a whole angry little language of their own.

Setting the tablet down Aulus shifted into a more upright sitting position. "You actually brought cookies? Do you love baking or are you just in some kind of habitual loop now?" So far as greetings from Aulus went this was somewhere around the level of a casual 'hi'.  

[caffeinecraving]

Nope he wouldnt get under her skin. The last time she had seen him she had gotten him to make an amused snort... Since thats how her Emboar laughed she took it as almost as good as a smile.

That made it even more so that he wasnt gonna get away with growling at her. She beamed at his scowl. "How are you today Aulus? "She kept on as if they were having a decent conversation. "I am wonderful... you wouldnt believe what i accomplished today! I made Onyx Cells that glow in the dark and pass on their mutation as a Dominant Gene... Ie... when i get the go ahead from higher up...bet your bottom dollar that you will be seeing glowing onyxes!"

She looked over to him and then nodded. "Of course i did... I was given an order by a superior officer... and I was told once that even off duty i need to take those orders to heart.... But i do like to bake... Thank you for asking." She looked to Tortie. "Awww isnt she adorable... I brought her a snack too. I want to make sure she likes it before i make a huge cake..." She pulled up her chair and cozied down into it. "I brought you sugar... or Chocolate chip... Did you ask the doctor if you could try one? If not... We can put it into a blender." She smiled all sunny and happy.

 

[TawnyAngel]

"I know how inheritance works, I did take A-level biology," Aulus replied with a slightly deeper scowl, instantly on the defensive as ever. He soon realized he was doing it however - and that Kailee was probably not attacking him - and shrugged, looking for something else to add. "If you can pull it off in a living specimen though, and pass it on to natural offspring, that would be pretty cool to see. I wonder if it would carry through evolution." There, he'd mitigated his grump. Kind of.

"I wouldn't describe Tortie as adorable," not to her face, or to anyone else's face, "shall I wake her up? And yeah, I asked. I'm allowed to eat stuff now, including cookies so you don't have to make them into a milkshake or whatever crap." He wasn't really hungry but the cookies sounded appealing all the same. He hadn't really expected her to actually bring them let alone two different options but perhaps he should have; he was going to have to copy Asgard and start calling her Sunshine.

"Oh and for the record I feel like s**t and I'm bored as hell." She had asked after all.  

[caffeinecraving]

Kailee laughed. "Which is why i didnt go into details...I definitely thought you had a basic understanding... but if you only had A-level....When a mommy and a daddy... love each other... Very much." She was just gently picking on him. Not afraid of his scowl. She nodded though. "Yeah... Im hoping to get approval to attempt a clone. We will see! Im so excited that its actually working." She frowned. "Thats a very good question... but we wont know until we try right?"

"I would... She is very adorable... Vicious and Blood thirsty too... but adorable as a kitten while sleeping." She shrugged. She could wait to give tortie her cheese cake if the absol didnt want to wake up yet.

"Cool then you may have a cookie!" She reached to offer him one. She laughed softly. "Come on... you have to admit that a cookie milkshake could be pretty cool." She would have to come up with a name for him if he called her sunshine... and she was about 157% sure that he wouldnt like it.

She beamed at him and took her own cookie. "Well i'm here to amuse you now... So buck up! Have you beaten my score on angry birds?"

 

[TawnyAngel]

"Stop it," Aulus replied irritably to the tease, scowling deeper. "Haven't you gathered yet that I don't like being made fun of?" He didn't like being told to 'buck up' either; he was by now fairly convinced that she meant well but that fact didn't stop it being grating. It wasn't that he wanted somebody to sprawl around agreeing that everything was terrible forever but... but he just didn't like being told to buck up. Perhaps he felt stupid for not being able to. Did she think he would feel miserable if he had a choice about it, that he could just turn a switch in his head and be cheerful?

Aulus took one of the cookies, a sugar one, and turned it over idly in his fingers. "I don't like bitty drinks. And no, I haven't." He'd played it a fair bit but focusing on screens was still taxing so he hadn't done very well.  

[caffeinecraving]

She frowned and seemed to ponder. "Im sorry."

Her eyes looked a bit worried. "I was joking... I would never...." She stopped and got quiet. She looked over her cookie and then looked to Aulus. "Im sorry you keep taking my jokes seriously. I was just trying to make you smile...Friends can pick on each other... Because they feel safe in that they dont have to worry about what the other is thinking... " She looked back to her cookie and took a bite. It felt dry in her mouth... when she knew for a fact that it was soft and fluffy. "I guess...." she was trying to hard.

Its what she did.. Happiness was a state of mind. Studies had shown that smiling raised endorphins to a point it was possible to trick yourself into being happy. Though she didnt do it in a way she was conscious about it so she didnt offer this as a solution.

"Ok... So no drinks, meat or jokes for you..." She set her cookie to the side looking back to the sleeping absol. "Anything else i should stay away from?"

 

[TawnyAngel]

"It's not jokes, it's...." Aulus looked at the cookie. Would he take that kind of ribbing from Alex? Well yes he would but... but he never worried about what Alex was thinking and Alex knew when he wasn't in the mood.

"You come on too strong," he continued after a somewhat lengthy silence, transferring his gaze to Tortie rather than looking up at Kailee. "I know you want to be my friend but we still hardly know one another and I don't don't how to take all of your jokes, the ones that feel patronizing not just silly. Like vegetables; that was silly, that was fine." He wasn't used to trying to explain himself like this, he was only trying now because she had been so nice to him. It was difficult though, half the time he felt as though he didn't understand how his own mind worked and so how was he supposed to explain? "We've been though this, I'm not a nice person. I'm acerbic, distrustful, and I don't just laugh things off." This was exactly why he had so few friends. Maybe he should just take whatever jokes were thrown at him, but if he did that then people would think he was a pushover and.... Why couldn't things just be easy?  

[caffeinecraving]

She looked at him concerned. Because she meant them as jokes, they were jokes. She blinked at him. "I dont mean to patronize you... I never...I mean...." She shrugged. "Vegetables... made no sense... "

She shook her head. "No... You arent a nice person... but you arent a bad person... You are a little rough around the edges... Ill give you that... but im sure there is a squishy inside... And im determined to find it... " She looked to him.

"So the question isnt... Kailee can you back off on the jokes a bit? Its more... Aulus, do you want another friend? Im trying... Im not coming on any stronger then i would anyone else... Im being me... Ill leave you alone... Just tell me to." She frowned and shook her head.

"Im an open book...If there is something you want to know about me... all you have to do is ask..." She glanced to the Absol again a little thankful she hadnt woken yet... but she was sure their voices would eventually wake her. .

 

[TawnyAngel]

The idea of somebody determined to dig down inside him and find his private feelings was not a comfortable one. Was he wrong for feeling uncomfortable with Kailee's joking? Aulus twirled the cookie over his fingers, still not looking at Kailee. "I get that you're naturally friendly but... but you can't treat everyone exactly the same and expect to get the same results. It's the same with training pokemon, they're all different and what one likes another doesn't." Yes he wanted more friends, of course he did, but that didn't mean he could magically make himself relaxed and comfortable with the world; if he could he'd already have more friends.

Aulus nibbled the cookie.

"I'm not an open book. I didn't say I wanted you to leave me alone but I'm not just going to get comfortable with your jokes overnight. You might not be coming on any stronger with me than you do with anyone else but I'm not anyone else, I'm me. Unfortunately there's no known cure... and for the record if I make a joke you can join in." If she still cared to join in; she might decide he was too much trouble after all if he couldn't turn on giggles and a relaxed demeanor. He didn't want her to decide he was too much trouble. He wanted to be liked, and he hated how much he wanted it.

As the humans spoke Tortie shifted slightly, not yet awake but stirring closer to it at the sound of their voices.  

[caffeinecraving]

She smiled and shook her head. "And I get that you are naturally grumpy.... but you cant treat everyone the same and expect to get the same results." She shrugged."And thats a bad example..." She shook her head. All her pokemon had to deal with her bubbly happy personality... they didnt have to love her... but they had to respect her and trust her. "You have to meet me half way, Aulus... Im not going to Change who i am so i can be your friend."

"Well... then that makes it very hard to get to know each other... doesnt it? So you have to stop using that as an excuse... That like saying a firework isnt a firework because you forgot to bring the matches. And i doubt you will get comfortable with my jokes in a few months if this is the way you react to them." She didnt smile at his -joke-. "I would join in... but your jokes suck... We dont need a cure for you Aulus... and the fact that you think you need one... And it must have been a thought since you said it... is kinda depressing..."

She sighed. "I dont expect or want you to change you... I like you for the gruff over bearing agent you are... " She frowned. "But on that same note... You need to accept me for who i am... And thats a sunny happy person who likes to flirt and tease and make jokes. Its a two way street." She shrugged and looked around. Maybe she shouldnt keep coming to see him now that he was awake to talk... Not giving up... Just not... trying anymore...

 

[TawnyAngel]

So if he was going to be around her he had to accept her teasing him? She said that he didn't need fixing; apparently he just needed to be different, which was different to needing to be fixed/cured. Meet her half way. Half not mind being teased? And stop using who he was as an excuse for not sharing his feelings with her? But she didn't expect him to change.

He wasn't sure if she was being contradictory or if his thoughts were just in a muddle, and he felt stupid and pathetic and wished he hadn't bothered trying to explain himself.

It was okay for her to make him feel uncomfortable because that was the kind of sunny, happy person she was. A two-way street.

"So you don't think I'm capable of getting comfortable with your jokes?" He asked eventually, quietly, gaze still averted. This wasn't him; he should be getting angry again and shouting, that was how he dealt with things! "And what's the meeting half way? What's your proposed half if you're not going to change anything you do?" Gods why couldn't he just curl up and be swallowed by the ground for a while? He didn't want to deal with this, or with anything come to that.  

[caffeinecraving]

Well it was either that or they were going to start having these conversations more often. No he needed to be exactly who he was...

She smiled softly. "Nope..." it was a gentle pick at him. "Then again... you have surprised me before." It was those comments she had to be careful of. "I think... if you cant trust me... Which you said is your problem... At least take my word to mean something....If i have a problem with you... I will let you know about it... And it wont be in a joke. My jokes are meant to be harmless... And I am sorry that you dislike them so..."

She blinked. "Um... Well i can try not to tease you as much... if you will let a few slide? I think thats fair." She sighed. "Or i can just keep my mouth shut and nod saying yes sir... right away sir..."

She glanced to Tortie and moved one of the bites to just in front of her face so she would be able to smell it. She blinked. Having an idea. "Can you keep a secret?" She would give him a bit of trust. A Big show. "Ill tell you one of my secrets... so that you know that i am trusting you... And it gives you something.... " She waved her hand. "To hold over my head...So you know i will do my best so that you wont tell it." Because thats how Aulus worked right?

 

[TawnyAngel]

Well that was... that was probably fair right? A normal person would probably say so; he was too sensitive, getting worked up about harmless jokes like that. "Well... Alright. So long as you don't do it in front of other people." That was a reasonable, normal way for him to respond.

"And you don't have to do that," Aulus finally looked back up, no longer scowling but looking faintly hesitant and uncertain. "I wouldn't anyway, you know. Tell people I mean. I'm an arsehole but not that much of an arsehole. I don't spread around other people's business. You can tell me something if you feel compelled to, but... well, I'm not going to use it against you."

The smell of fish got Tortie's nose wriggling and it only took a few moments for her to blink awake. The unexpected presence of the curly human caused her to raise her head with a brief scowl but Aulus was accepting her presence so that was sufficient so far as she was concerned. Bending towards the cheesecake Torie sniffed and snuffled again and... it smelled slightly odd. she muttered, trying to work out what she was picking up. Mainly it smelled of fish and deliciousness but there was just a faint hint of.... How strange.  

[caffeinecraving]

She smiled and nodded. "Alright... in front of others... I will be much more... discrete about my playful teasing of you." She would try. "If... Because knowing my tract record... I screw up... Please... let me know... Dont yell at me... but... Just tell me... Say Kailee... Please stop... Not now... Or something... And ill stop." She frowned. "But i can give you nothing more then my promise that i will stop." She looked worried. Contracts scared her.... because in the end... she would always screw up.

She smiled. "I want to... I... Trust you." She bit her lip. "This well... Dont laugh ok..." She smiled already starting to laugh. "I... was about... mmm 11 when i decided i was scared i would someday be too boyish to be a girl... I usued to be all into boy stuff... there wasnt a day that went by that i didnt have a scraped elbow or knee. But...I swore off all things boyish, no more wrestling... no more mud... unless its at a spa of course..." That was no secret. "But... every now and then... I have days where i wear nothing but sweatpants... and do nothing but play Mario and Grand Theft Auto." She flushed. That was a secret, at least in Kailee's book. After trying so hard to make everyone think she was the pretty and fragile flower... knowing she liked gamer days would ruin her, At least in her mind. Everyone was supposed to see her as a girly girl, she spent hours in the morning to make sure of it. But there was a bit of tomboy to her yet.

She smiled to Tortie. "Tell me what you think! I have another kind for you to try too!"