The Night Niso 'Stole' Christmas

Realizing quickly she wouldn’t know who the Grinch’s ‘partner in crime’ was he shrugged it off and told her as he was buckling her in. “Yeah another grinchy thing, don’t worry. Basically the Grinch has his partner in crime Max. Ya know… it feels kinda weird you really havn’t heard of any of this. Even these days its one of those… cultural icon things. Does your friend not let you watch movies or something? Must get pretty boring if so…”

Musing idly aloud he started to put the thing in gear, grinning wide as she asked if they even needed seatbelts and chuckling with an almost… dark tint to the tone of it, his eye sturning forward as he shifted a lever on the thing that seemed to be putting it in gear, a small dashboard screen flicking from ‘auto’ to manual, and a shift in the weight of the vehicle implying something had changed with the tracks it was running on too. “Oh I mean we’ve got no one coming out to catch us but… why not try this puppy for all it’s worth huh?~”

“As for where we’re going…~ This Grinch is stealing Christmas to take it somewhere else. Let’s leave the rest to a surprise!~” With that Niso pressed hard on one of the pedals inside the sleigh, snow kicking up behind them as the tracks spun rapidly in place for a moment before finding the solid ground beneath the snow, roaring down the snowy roads like a race car… only with no roof and no doors! Niso had to hold onto the wheel so tight he probably popped his wrists at one point or he woulda fell out, and parasyte definitely wouldn’t regret the seatbelt!

A short journey later, to a desolate part of town, the kind with half constructed buildings that had their development plans fall through, Niso hopped out the sleigh and helped his new buddy do the same, making sure she could stand on her own two feet after that ride. They may have lost a few branches off the tree but that was okay. Niso and her got organized quick enough and with the aid of some other gadgets, the scene from the other street came to life in this old raggedy part of town, the sleigh helping fix the tree upright, and it’s engine seeming to be the power source most of the lights would be leeching off of. It was just about to all be turned on when niso grabbed one of the wrapped up sacks he’d started the night with, offering it out to Byeoul with a smile.

“Hey, I’m not the friendliest of faces, so can you do me a favour?” He pointed over to a disused pit stop, some graffiti on the outside and the door swinging with the winter winds. “I know a few kids tend to hang out in there for warmth. Mind taking these to ‘em? If they see me coming with a sack they’ll probably think I’m there to kidnap them or something!~”

The sack itself had a mix of small, practical toys, nothing that needed batteries, plushes and wooden trains and the like, as well as some long term food and a few coats and scarves and gloves and what not.

A wide smile on niso’s face from how much his little companion had enjoyed the wild wide, Niso was chuckling a little through his teeth as he got the last few wires and the like set up while parasite seemed to have a moment of questioning what his intentions where here, or rather, what he could be doing better. She was a smart little girl and if there was one thing Niso could never be annoyed by it was someone displaying they had half a brain. Untangling a few wires in his hands idly as he spoke, making sure none of the lights would just suddenly give out, he spoke idly.

“A fair point but… not everyone wants a warm place. Sometimes the warm places come with strings. Sometimes they come with more pain than the cold.” He spoke… genuinely. There was no levity to his tone, a bit of Niso’s usual disconnect from reality perhaps, but he seemed more grounded than usual. “There are ways these kids can get cared for and they know that well enough… yet they stay out here for some reason or another. As much as you want to help them, if it’s there choice all you can really do is help them survive where they choose they wanna be right?”

He offered a lax smile, putting down some of the wires and turning his eyes to Parasyte again, folding his arms over his chest and leaning his rear back against the sleigh, just taking a slow, deep breath. “I don’t know if they all have quirks… but hey, tell them about your friend if you want. Maybe some will choose to go with you when you go home tonight… maybe some won’t. That’s the beauty of free will. You can make really dumb choices with it.” He let out a gentle chuckle and shook his head. “But hey… here’s a better question.” He stood away from the sleigh, arms open, spinning around as if gesturing to the whole city. “Not one soul this Christmas but us has decided to help them even a little.” He bowed his head down to her level and held an almost devious smirk. “Why ask why I don’t help them more… when you should ask why I’m the only person helping them at all?~” He stood upright, and got back to work on the wires. “You’re right though… there’s more we could do, but sometimes a little flicker of hope like this. Something that seems small… can mean the world to people. And hey, who doesn’t enjoy a bit of Christmas cheer?~”

Niso was sometimes not the best at reading faces, he could some surface level readings most of the time but with a lack of capability to empathize he struggled to get anything deeper. Especially with Parasyte’s er… sloppy face not aiding him at all. Really her expressions were probably entirely reasonable he was just giving himself more excuses not to understand what she was thinking.

Still, he could at the very least tell she wasn’t experiencing something positive now. Whatever had her in thought wasn’t pleasant to her. Or perhaps it was normally but right now it just wasn’t something her mind was processing in a positive light. Whatever the case, Niso, an awkward little bean when it came to trying to express a form of empathy or heck just general appreciation of anyone but Luzia, his Painter… reached out and gently pat Parasyte atop her head, not minding if her hair felt as goopy as the rest of her and offering a lopsided smile.

“Yeah well it’s your choice to tell him. After that it’s out of both our hands. Heck even if he does wanna help him, the kids can say no… ya know?~”

With Parasyte going to see the kids, Niso pulled the sleigh out of the main street. He still had to return this odd like vehicle afterall and all the gadgets inside… and besides. He didn’t wanna ruin his little act of chaotic good here by scaring any of them with him being… himself. Smiling all the while even as that thought passed through his head, his ever distant expression plastered back upon his features as he hid away the sleigh in a nearby alley, ready to make sure they had an easy way out without crashing through the main street bound to be littered with a few tiny people hither and thither in the next few moments.

A door creaking open for parasyte, there’d be a few small alerted gasps as a group of kids, bundled up in what were close to rags at this point, hoodies tattered and ‘holy’ in the most unpleasant of manners. As they lifted their heads at her words one pulled his hood back, scales over his face and head clearly having some sort of mutation, but neither of the smaller kids following carefully behind him seemed to have such an obvious quirk, if any at all.

They cautiously reached into the bag, pulling out the coats and toys before looking back to the goopey girl. The scaled figure tried to speak but it came out sharp and jagged. Parasyte wouldn’t see it but his quirk had scales form both inside and out. It made life difficult… more difficult than his parents had cared to handle.

One of the younger kids spoke for him. “For us? Really?”

Once Parasyte confirmed it they’d each grab a coat and wrap up in the new warm material, zipping up the ill fitting but effective clothing before waddling outside and…

“Waakkkss…!” The lizard kid tried again but his throat didn’t get it out. The same kid seemed to speak for him with a confidence that seemed to state she genuinely knew what they were saying despite the blockage. “Was this all the noise before…?”

The kids would linger for a moment just staring at all the lights that had been set up in the span of… what. An hour? One of them noticed a scak Niso had left beneath the tree and rushed off throughout some other buildings with an abnormal speed for a child. Each time they left a building a small group of other homeless people, mostly kids but some more mature, slithered out after them. Some took a second to marvel at the lights while other rushed straight for the sack of toys and coats. In the distance a truck pouring out steam from some sort of makeshift vent system pulled up, the last part of Niso’s plan, dishing out food to anyone eager enough to take it.

Niso himself remained hidden in his alley the whole while, sharply whistling to parasyte when the kids around her dispersed a bit, waving to get her attention and beckoning her over. Once she got close enough, he’d simply ask without stepping out of his hiding spot. “I’m gonna get going. You need a ride home?”

Niso’s own brow rose as Parasyte had the curiosity to ask why he did what he did tonight. Well. Wasn’t that something. He’d been wondering how to land his final ‘opinions’ on the gooey girl before him since they first met. She seemed a like soul in some respects but with limitations, restrictions. The fact she was brave enough to ask for the reason behind the actions of Niso of all people only piqued his curiosity further. Most people just dismissed him as a psychopath, or like the painter just accepted him without question. This was the first time he’d truly been asked. Not the confused cry of a frustrated hero… but true, genuine curiosity to his motives. He was a little taken aback to say the least, but no offense was taken in the question. Instead, he smiled wide for a moment just meeting her gaze, before looking about in the little alleyway he had ducked into.

“Let me ask you something first…” He mused, his eyes wandering till he found a trashcan, piking it’s lid off the floor and placing it back atop the can itself, before perching himself atop it as a seat. His hands joined and rested in his lap as he met her with a lax smile and a calmer tone than usual. Or, well, it was at least less of a ‘mask’. He seemed to be more genuinely at ease rather than that constant, odd sense of uncanny valley in his features. “Why’d you come out here tonight? I mean you musta thought it was fun in some part right? Why else would you help me? I mean maybe some sense of guilt for tearing my torso open but-“ He shrugged casually, clearly just teasing her by bringing it up. “I’m hardly one to hold a true grudge for something so trivial to me. I mean, I lived right?”

Regardless of Parasyte’s own answer, his answer to hers would remain the same. “That’s how I want to live my life personally. If it’s something I think is fun. I do it. Any urge. Any whim. No matter how complicated, how risky, how trivial, how grand… if I desire it. Even for a fleeting moment… I do it. I saw this Christmas and I saw people suffering and I saw people celebrating and I thought for a second… ‘let’s flip this around. With style.’. For anyone else that would be a passing thought. Maybe they turn it into a screenplay as they sip their coffee or perhaps they post some heartfelt ‘idealistic world view’ on trumblr or whatever. For me. I do it. If I want someone dead. I do it. If I want to test my limits. I do it. If I want to make money if I want to give money, if I want others to smile if I want others to suffer… I do it.”

He kicked off his perched little seat, proudly spreading his arms as he borderline declared. “I am Niso Konto. Agent of chaos. Follower of whims and fulfiller of selfish desires.” His hands pulled behind his back, and he lowered himself to meet the girl’s eyeline as best he could. “There’s not much more to it I’m afraid… I have my limits I’ll admit-“ He began, rising back up to his full height. “I will never hurt someone over a certain age… if I can help it.~ I don’t think they’re old enough to make their own choice if they choose to follow chaos or a boring system. Not old enough to fear the death I can instill upon them. Not truly. So in this case I helped. Simple as that. I just did it the fun way.~”

He gave a casual shrug, and would start to turn to walk away unless parasyte stopped him. “As for the Painter though… I wouldn’t consider my actions tied to her much more. She left me a while ago and, truth be told… I’ve been growing quite bored with her memory. She’s perhaps not the fun, chaotic entity I hoped she was… just another boring little cog in the mechanism…”

He’d turn his eyes over his shoulder and smile wide. “You’re plenty interesting yourself by the way. I think I’ll keep you around if I can help it.~”

Niso heard her reason for coming here and… without being able to stop himself, after a beat of surprised silence, he couldn’t help but laugh and rear back a little. My my… this little creature seemed far too innocent for the world she seemed to be a part of. Why she was allowed to speak through the villain chat even was beyond him but perhaps she was more maniacle than he gave her credit for. Whatever the case it brought a smile to him all the same, and a brief- “Sorry.” Before he calmed his chuckles. “Well that is… certainly a reason I suppose. Yes. I’d very much say I can consider you a friend Parasyte.~” He’d tease back with a warm smile, a little less distance than his usual vacant expressions.

Niso couldn’t have any idea what was going through the girl’s head as he explained his creed but he’d many reactions before. Typically people just thought he was an idiot of some sort but he didn’t care. To him they were the idiots. Sticking to rules they just… heard. Took in. Absorbed. They may question the rules but did they ever truly act against them? Not as far as he had ever observed. In the end he was living a more engaged life than any of them ever truly could…

In truth though. If he knew that Parasyte ‘envied’ his life style… he’d be somewhat brightened by that. Only one other person had ever had such a reaction. Someone he very much admired in his own, insane way.

“I promise, we’ll definitely play together some more if I have any say in the matter. Maybe we’ll meet up for easter? Who knows?~” He chimed, twirling on his heel and starting to leave, trusting parasyte knew what she was doing when she implied she could make her own way home.