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When the idea had first occurred, you had thought it was one of the best ideas you’d had in a long time. How often did people get gifts nowadays? Especially hand made ones? And… Especially Caustic. You doubted people thought to give him gifts, to really do anything nice for him. To be fair the guy didn’t act very nice to people, seemed to be annoyed by everyone’s existence, though you were proud to be one of the handful of people he seemed to not mind the company of.
Looking down at the hand-knit, holiday-themed sweater you sighed loudly in frustration. It looked nice, and you’d worked super hard on it. The lower levels where Alexander had been given a lab were typically pretty cool, and he rarely seemed to wear a warm layer beneath his lab coat.
This is by far the worst idea I’ve ever had, you thought bitterly as you shook your head. He’s going to hate it.
You sat for several moments, staring at the sweater with the frown. It was a deep red with a reindeer embroidered into the front of it, snowflakes and christmas trees forming what had seemed like a cute pattern at first. This is the ugliest of all ugly christmas sweaters.
“I don’t have to really give it to him, do I?” You wondered aloud.
“I think he’d love it,” a voice spoke up from behind you as someone crossed their arms against your back to lean against you, Natalie giggling as she reached out to touch the sweater. “ Oui beaucoup.”
“Natalie!” You cried, caught off guard by her sudden appearance, the other legend laughing again as your embarrassment flushed made itself known on your face. “You- you don’t even know who it’s for!”
Natalie scoffed, amusement clear in her blue eyes as she stepped around in front of you, arms crossed over her chest. “We are talking of Doctor Caustic, oui? ”
Your face pinkened even more if that was possible by this point and you hid your face in your hands with a groan.
“I think it’s very mignon .” Natalie stated, picking up the sweater and holding it in front of her petite frame, a wide smile on her lips. “He will appreciate it! I know Doctor Caustic well, tu sais ça. ”
“Yeah, you know him better but… It’s sorta weird, isn’t it?” You questioned, Natalie looking genuinely confused. “What is weird? The fact that you like him or that you made him a sweater as a surprise?”
Groaning in exasperated embarrassment you crossed your arms on the table and hid your face in them. “The fact I made a sweater for no reason! Totally out of the blue!” You exclaimed, choosing to ignore the fact that your crush on the older scientist hadn’t been as subtle as you’d hoped. If Natalie knew then Octavio knew. And if Octavio knew, everyone knew. Possibly even Alexander.
“Well it is Noël , is it not the time to give gifts?” The blonde legend questioned, laying the sweater down so she could seat herself on the counter and swing her legs thoughtfully.
“Yeah, but,” you looked up at her now with a frown on your face. “You kinda give gifts to people you know, like friends and family. You don’t just randomly give a gift to -to…”
“Your favourite collaborateur? ” Natalie asked, tone innocent even as those baby-blue eyes danced with teasing amusement.
“Nat!” You groaned in exasperation, smacking her leg even as she giggled. “If you give a gift to one of your co-workers shouldn’t you like… Give gifts to all of them? I don’t think I have enough time to make more sweaters I-”
Natalie leaned forwards to place a single finger to your lips, effectively surprising you into silence. “You made a sweater for Doctor Caustic because he is more than a coworker to you, oui? ” The older legend smiled sweetly. “It’s Noël. You give gifts to those special to you.”
Blushing you nodded a little though you still felt uncertain about it. “I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t. It’s a bit forwards and I don’t want to make things awkward between us.” You answered.
“You are an idiote .” The blonde woman answered, hopping off her perch before picking up the sweater and skipping towards the door.
“H-hey!” You cried, jumping up and racing after her. “What are you doing???”
“I’m going to show Doctor Caustic the gift you made for him!” Natalie responded over her shoulder, laughing as you chased her down the hall, the young legend making a beeline for the shared lounge. “I’ve always wanted to be a marieuse! ”
You burst into the lounge right on Natalie’s heels, everyone turning to look at you from where they were sitting, looks of confusion being directed at your sudden entrance. Natalie stood beside the door, all but beaming , sweater behind her back. She leaned towards you. “Do you wish to show him or do you want me to?”
Feeling suddenly anxious with everyone looking at you for some sort of explanation for how you were breathing after your chase of Natalie, face flushed and eyes wide, you stood still for several moments.
Locating Alexander you felt nervousness gnaw at you as he looked at you with an odd expression on your face.
“Hey!” You grunted when Natalie suddenly shoved the sweater into your arms, the frenchwoman giggling as she pushed you towards the couch.
“I-I-I,” you swallowed hard now that you found yourself almost directly in front of the oldest legend, holding out the sweater as your face warmed in embarassment. “I made you this.” You all but mumbled the words.
Someone from behind you snickered and you were certain that your ears were as aflame as the rest of your face as you stood there awkwardly, holding out the sweater and looking everywhere but at Alexander.
You heard Octavio whisper something in spanish, the adrenaline junkie cackling at your expense even as Caustic pushed himself to his feet. You swallowed as his shadow fell over you, the guy dwarfing basically everyone but Path and Makoa.
Then came something you never expected to happen, Alexander pulling the shirt he was wearing off over his head, letting it fall to the ground before gently taking the sweater from your now shaking hands and slipping it on.
You stared at him, eyes wide but no wider than the other legends, all of whom were watching the scene unfold with varying reactions. You took a quick glance around, Elliott and Octavio staring with their mouths hanging open, Anita with a raised brow, Natalie all but beaming with pride.
“It fits well, I thank you,” Alexander suddenly spoke up, drawing your eyes back to him. And you had to admit, the sweater looked good on him. Or maybe he just made it look good. Fuck I need to stop thinking .
“N-No problem. I just thought it’s cold down where you work and wanted you to… have something warm to wear.” You avoided eye contact, Octavio making kissing sounds though he was cut off by Natalie reaching over to punch his arm, the older legend complaining as he rubbed at the sore spot.
“I appreciate the work you put into this… I…” Alexander hesitated, seemingly uncertain of whether or not to continue. “I have something for you too.”
You felt first confused, then surprised as Alexander’s comment began to sink in. He… He made me something? Your heart did a little flip.
“Come, I will show you.”
Ignoring the rest of the legends that seemed to be just as surprised as you were, you followed the much taller champion from the room.
A comfortable silence fell over the two of you as you followed after him, a happy glow in your chest every time you looked up at him and remembered that he was wearing the sweater you’d made for him. Even then you felt a small tinge of guilt whenever you remembered that he’d taken time to make you something.
“Y’know you really didn’t have to make me anything,” you finally murmured, the scientist glancing back at you over his shoulder, a moment of silence passed before he responded. “I wanted to.”
Alexander stopped outside his door long enough to scan his key card, the door softly hissing open for him to step through. He waved for you to follow, the door sliding shut once you crossed over the threshold.
Standing within Caustic’s personal rooms you shifted from one foot to the other, feeling slightly awkward as the older legend vanished into a side room to locate whatever it was he wanted to show you, quickly returning with something held tightly in his hands. It was of a medium size, from the back seeming to be some sort of canvas which he held out for you to take.
You took what you now realized to be a painting from the scientist, a large, excited grin spreading over your lips. “Oh my god!” You exclaimed, laughing as you looked up at Alexander, “is this Leo???”
The painting was of your cat lazily resting in the sun on a windowsill, cleaning his paw. The colour was so well done, your excitement mingling with surprise as you looked up at the older legend. “I didn’t know you painted!”
Alexander huffed what sounded suspiciously like a laugh, shrugging a shoulder. “Few do.”
“This is fantastic,” you smiled shyly. “Thanks. I really love it.”
The scientist inclined his head, a small (almost relieved?) smile touching his lips. “Would you care for something to drink?” He questioned before an awkward silence could fall.
You nodded with a warm smile, feeling happier in that moment than you had in months. The near future seeming to promise more moments of happiness as you followed Alexander further into his apartment.