Chapter Text
Otis isn't a fan of Christmas. Or any holidays in general, really. He worries about giving gifts, what is perceived as too much or too little, or even what to give them.
So he tries his best, and prepares all the gifts he can manage. He spends sleepless nights crafting the gifts, and loses any inkling of why he's doing it anymore. He only gives up when he's bleeding, so as to not stain the gifts. And it's worth it for the few seconds the receivers care about the gifts.
He learned to paint. But it wasn't only painting, it was painted on metal, so he had to figure out what the proper plan is to make the paint last, to get it to even stick to the metal. And how to seal it in so any water on it won't disturb the art. Ocean isn't only a creature guy, contrary to popular belief. He takes care off all the odd plants, most of which require water. So Otis painted him an intricately designed watering can, creatures and plants painted all over, everything in a sea colored background. He's pretty sure Ocean almost cried, but reigns it in with a choked, "Thanks, dude!"
Ms. O was arguably the hardest gift to decide on. He figured something juice related would be best, but it seemed she's had every flavor on the planet. And so he made a terrible decision. He decided to make his own juice. And thus began a long, long process of trial and error. With fruit supplied from Todd's garden, Otis set on his journey to figure out how on Earth to make a juice box. It can't be paper, that would be far too thin, and cardboard would totally ruin the taste. Eventually, he bites the bullet and willingly enters a nightmare.
He makes a phone call.
He calls up Oscar, who he's barely kept in contact with since the Weird Team takeover and asks for a favor. "Hey, weird question, what are juice boxes made out of?"
Thankfully, he gets his answer and hangs up right away. Maybe a bit rude, but he's doing his best.
He gathers as much sanitary plastic and paper as he can find, and somehow manages to make a jukebox. The actual juice making is the easiest part, and the painting of the outside of the box is actually quite relaxing. Next, he makes her a small card with his newly acquired painting skills. The card is filled with sentiment, so he writes a funny message on the cover to hide the real meaning. 'I'm pretty sure you're older than Christmas'. She seemed to like the card, and said the juice wasn't half bad.
Olympia was somehow more difficult. Not technically. He just got her a book. But he hid a note inside it incase she ever decided to actually learn. It was perhaps the most emotional thing he'd ever written, not that he'd ever admit it. He felt like she deserved it with the somewhat lackluster gift.
He made Oona a bowtie. She has one for every day already, but he figures people wear sweaters specifically for Christmas, so she can have a bowtie for Christmas. It took hours to learn to knit, to find the right yarn, to find the right sized needles, to figure out what shape to make, but it was worth it. Oona grinned and put it on immediately, happy to have a bowtie that matched her sweater. (Technically, he wasn't sure that it complied with the squad's uniform, but they're allowed to wear sweaters, and this is close enough.)
Todd's gift was definitely the hardest to make. He had offhandedly mentioned a plant-to-English translator... and Otis knew how to do it... so he did it. And Todd was definitely the most excited out of everyone, immediately trying it out on his watermelons, who were very content with the power to speak.
Maybe the holidays aren't all that bad.