Thoughts about that possible Christmas Hallmark ass movie with Nikia and the boys
So, I gotta set the scene, right? It's gotta be kinda fucking miserable--as is fitting for this capitalistic hellscape that slowly drains out all your childlike joy at the passage of time.
So, Nikia has a job with brutal hours and barely decent pay. I'm thinking probably a warehouse job rather than like, waitress or cashier so it's isolating and everyone knows those pay like dog shit. A warehouse where "union" is a swear word that can magically make write ups materialize and is barely OSHA compliant.
She is legitimately too exhausted to go out, indulge in hobbies more than an hour or two before bed, and lives off ramen and sandwiches with the rare, proper meal as a treat. Her apartment a bit shit but close to her job enough that she doesn't need a car. Barely anything left over money wise at the end of the month that she ends up saving because she genuinely doesn't have the bandwidth to spend it otherwise. So she DOES have a tiny nest egg that grows with every sluggish month.
The boys, mainly Thatch, pulled a prank and Whitebeard decided that he needed them (mainly Thatch) out of his hair for a while. At least until Cupid is ready to accept an apology without threatening to make Thatch fall in love with a donkey or something for an afternoon. Or just shoot his ass. Oh! Would be funny if Izou was originally a cupid but swapped over to the 'Christmas section' to help those intense moments of seasonal love. Thatch just really loves cooking and thinks the turkey is pretentious as shit.
Anyway, they're basically told to spin a randomizer of "Good but don't believe anymore" adults to go and restore the Spirit of Christmas in. And, shockingly (not), Nikia's name pops up.
They scope things out a bit, commenting on how depressing as shit it all is in its mundane, grindy glory.
"She's cute... Shouldn't she have a roommate or partner or... I don't know, even a cat?" Thatch muses, taking a moment to inspect her food pantry. Outside of ramen and quick snacks, it's pretty bare. "Yikes. Guess not. What do you got, Izou?"
Izou is looking through the rooms, sizing up the situation with a keen eye.
"Honestly? I think the first order of business is figuring out her finances. Judging by the state of things, she's gone a lot for work but doesn't have a lot of shit to show for it. Is she in debt? Or does it just not pay well? Can't enjoy the holidays if she's dead on her feet from exhaustion." He huffs, looking over a bookshelf of unopened anime DVDs. "And I don't see any pictures. Guess she doesn't have much family or friends. We picked a doozy, Thatch. Literally anything is an improvement from what I can tell."
"... Not good enough. We gotta blow this outta the water, Izou!" Thatch declares before faltering. "...where do we start though?"
They end up working as temps in the warehouse to get close to her, but find it harder than expected. She's not mean or anything, just clearly too tired for much outside of work related matters. The few times they manage to engage her in conversation they're turning up the charm only to be met with dry humor and sass.
Slowly, they figure out what she's actually like to do, the clock ticking away.
"Look, it pays the bills and I can't really ask for a lot more than that." She finally huffs, carting around a box of supplies before Thatch plucks it from her arms with a grunt.
"Kinda need a little more than that to live, honey. C'mon, what would you like to be doing?"
"Sleeping."
"No! I'm serious! What's... Your ideal job?" Thatch asked desperately.
Nikia pauses in thought. Tired eyes glancing upward.
(I absolutely got lost looking at jobs lmfao, apparently collision repair is a high paying AND high demand job, go figure)
"I don't know... I like fixing things?"
It's better than nothing!
Anyway, they pull a few strings and 'suddenly', she's got a flyer in her mailbox about a training program for repairs. It's a branching sort of thing where the company responsible brings in a bunch of people and sees where they fit, subsidizing them in return for the 'trainee' working on contract for a set time depending on the training required. Gotta invest, after all!
She's not sure, like, really not sure at first but they encourage her and help do research to reassure her it's legit and not some creepy scam.
Franky, the lead of the program, is a very strange man but enthusiastic and totally understands what it takes to retain workers and a good work environment. She has a blast, even if she thinks a lot of her fellow trainees and trainers are weirdos. It's meant fondly.
She gets paid a lot better with subsidized housing as part of the program (part of it is meant to help people get on their feet from unfortunate circumstances). So she moves, but it's great! Suddenly, she's sleeping well! With so much free time and forced socializing with very extroverted folks who are kind and invite her to things!
She kinda breaks down after the first month, after catching herself not only planning a little dinner with her new friends but eyeing a new, self indulgent thing with no fear of penny pinching.
The boys are very moved and supportive, their original goal kinda getting lost as they're getting attatched.
Of course, the holidays roll around and she insists on inviting them to anything she's going to for support and as thanks.
She's not quite a believer but mostly just because she's still recovering from brutal hours and low pay.
As the snowfall becomes more frequent, she thinks to Christmas time and that she's got people to celebrate with thanks to the boys. So, she plans an extra special gift for them!
Not sure if I want a third act breakdown (they usually piss me off tbh).
But! They do think they lost their chance for the year because she doesn't really believe in Santa or Christmas like they were meant to get her too, only to discover Marco dropping by a Christmas party with Nikia to take them home.
Apparently, just giving her something to believe in was enough all along.
They leave with a note explaining as best they can and are depressed despite finally coming home. Nikia, is, naturally, incredibly devastated that her closest friends left so quickly.
Maybe her new group of friends crack down to try and find those scoundrels that broke her heart by running off and somehow manage to find out who they actually were.
She's shocked, naturally, but refuses to chase after them. Certain they'd have said so if it was under duress and would return if that was the case anyway. But that's not good enough for her new friends!
No!
How dare they abandon her before Christmas!
So they actually manage to storm the North Pole on her behalf and Whitebeard is so fucking amused about it. It's been ages since he's been this entertained.
While this is happening though, a massive ice storm has hit the city and frozen everyone into their houses. Someone in her apartment got a little too creative and the power cut off, leaving her fucking freezing.
The boys check on her with the nice list thing and realize she's having a rough go of it at the moment, teaming up with the others to rescue her (and her apartment building, rip the idiot who fucked with the electrical wiring).
It ends with a big hooray, and then asking if she'd like to meet their family. As their third. Cue wolf whistles.
Maybe she ends up employed at the North Pole for half of the year helping with repairs. That'd be fun.
The other half is vacationing and traveling with the boys as they do their own jobs or something.
Very cute and silly and now I am very tired and will sleep lol
