In honor of the holiday season, and to take inspiration from the Gatchaman himself, this week's prompt is: frosty Enjoy!

Oh dear, it looks like this week's prompt got buried in an avalanche of Gift Exchange stories!

Jason eyed the little white kitten as it meowed at him. He'd gone into the pet store on whim as he'd had no luck finding a Christmas present for Princess. "He likes you," the clerk, an older woman with salt and pepper hair, said from a few feet away. Jason reached into the holding area to pick up the kitten, cradling the soft ball of fur against his chest. He looked up at him with big blue eyes and h was lost. "You're going to be Princess' pet, but I get to name you. Frosty it is," he said as he walked towards the cashier. I'm currently watching Too Cute!

Originally posted by Becky Rock I'm currently watching Too Cute!

Never would have guessed! It's a cute response.

Porcellus Ambassador Cutleri nervously paced around her office. It had been a while since she'd seen G-Force, but that wasn't the cause of her nervousness -- shortly after Porcellus joined the Galactic Federation, the agriculturally-rich planet began working to grow human-quality crops. And today the ambassador was going to share the first fruits of that labor. "Sit down, Mother!" Cabiay, the ambassador's daughter, chided, "You'll drop from exhaustion before they get here! Why are you in such a state, anyway?" "Oh," Cutleri replied as she climbed onto her couch, "the food concerns me." Without thinking, she stroked her whiskers. "How can that be? The crops conform to the standards, and what human foods cavies can eat have proven to be pleasing to us." "Yes....but the cooking...." Cabiay tipped her head to one side. "I know it seems simple," the older cavy said, "but I've done some research -- humans can die if the food isn't cooked correctly! What if we make a mistake?" "I doubt it would be that easy to kill Shee-Force!" Cabiay replied; this was as close as any cavy has gotten to pronouncing the "G" sound in G-Force. "As long as the food isn't foul and the area where the cooking is done is clean, there is no need to worry." The ambassador continued stroking her whiskers. "I know." she sighed, "I just can't help worrying...." * * * * * The members of G-Force, Cutleri, and Cabiay sat around a table designed to accommodate both humans and the five-foot-tall guinea pig-style form of the cavies of Porcellus. G-Force wore their civilian clothes, as they usually did whenever they dealt with the ambassador and her immediate family alone -- the team discovered that they weren't able to maintain their secret identities because the cavies recognized individual scents. This wasn't a formal dinner. The group took the time to get caught up with each other -- Cabiay made it a point to tell Jason how her son, whom she named after the Condor, was doing at the Federation academy; there was no doubt she was proud of him. Cutleri relaxed as her human friends seemed to enjoy the breads and small cakes made with the fruits and grains native to Porcellus. She was still fascinated by the human eating habits -- cavies were perfectly content with eating their food at the same temperature as their surroundings. Humans, however, seemed to relish food that was either scalding hot or frosty cold, sometimes both in the same meal. How could these people not feel great discomfort with these extremes? Are their senses really that dull? Or do they have an incredibly high tolerance of pain? One final food smell wafted through the air. Both Tiny and Keyop stopped what they were doing, lifted their noses toward the ceiling, and sniffed. "Smells good!" Keyop proclaimed. "Yeah," Tiny agreed, "if I didn't know any better, I'd swear I was smellin' French fries!" "You are smelling French fries!" Cabiay declared. "What?" Mark seemed a bit surprised by this. "You are the first humans to eat a dish made from a non-native plant grown on Porcellus." the ambassador replied. "Oh!" Princess gasped, "We're honored, Madame Ambassador!" Keyop and Tiny rubbed their hands in anticipation. A cavy with white fur entered the room, carrying a large platter with a dome covering it. The platter was placed in the center of the table, the dome removed, and the cavy quickly left the room. Every human's jaw dropped at the sight of the fries. "Is something wrong?" Cutleri's whiskers twitched agitatedly. "Huge!" Keyop cried, a vocal tic manifesting as a twirl before the word. Each fry was almost a meter long, and the platter was completely filled by the potato pile. "How were you able to make them so long?" Mark asked. "That was the length of the potato." Cabiay answered. "Potato?" Jason sounded shocked, "You mean this came from one potato?!" "Yes." Cabiay sounded nervous, "Is that a bad thing?" "That's incredible!" Princess breathed. Keyop and Tiny grabbed a fry from the platter, broke a small piece off and put it in their mouths. The rest of the team followed their example a moment later. "Oh wow." Tiny said with a small moan. "Best....ever!" Keyop said with a purr between the words. Mark and Princess muttered in agreement while Jason nodded his appreciation. "So it's good?" Cutleri's voice had gone up in pitch. "It's excellent!" Princess replied. "So, we just have to cut the French fries smaller to make them acceptable?" Cabiay asked. "You know," Tiny replied between bites, "I wouldn't do that." "I don't understand." the ambassador said, "Normal French fries are not this size, correct?" "That's right." Tiny replied. He could tell by the way their whiskers twitched that both cavies were confused. "What you have here is something special. If you keep the fries this length, people will know they're getting a Porcellus potato, and they'll be in for something great!" "Porcellus fries...instead of...French fries!" Keyop added. "Do you understand this, Daughter?"Cutleri asked in their native language, which sounded like a series of squeaks, chirps, purrs and whistles to the humans in the room. "I think," Cabiay replied, "they are saying that the novelty of the fries will make it easier for the humans to try Porcellus-grown food. And that means it won't take so long to begin supplementing the Federation's food supply." Cutleri took a "Porcellus fry" from the platter and nibbled on the end. "I must admit," she said, "the potato tastes better this way -- it's not bitter." "You see?" the younger cavy chirped, "This 'cooking' thing isn't so hard, after all!"

Becky: Aaaaw, even Jason can't resist a little ball of fluff. EW: As the average weight on Porcellus skyrockets. What have we done?!?!?!

Originally posted by ChrisW Becky: Aaaaw, even Jason can't resist a little ball of fluff. EW: As the average weight on Porcellus skyrockets. What have we done?!?!?!

Here's another thought: have you ever heard of potato guns? Well, just think of the damage that could be done with Porcellus potatoes as ammo!

Originally posted by ChrisW Here's another thought: have you ever heard of potato guns? Well, just think of the damage that could be done with Porcellus potatoes as ammo!

I have! And there's also potato batteries.

Potatoes - the food of all trades.

Becky: Why do I get the sense that Jason might keep the kitty? EW: I like your Porcellus stories. And giant fries ... Mmm. I think they've got a winner there! Here's my contribution: "C'mon, Jason. You must have a favorite Christmas song. Everybody does, right, Princess?" Princess gave Keyop an affectionate smile to offset Jason's scowl as she handed the latter a plate of fries. "Not everyone celebrates Christmas," she reminded the little boy. She handed him a bottle of ketchup, which he dutifully turned over to his big brother, but not before stealing a french fry. "But Jason does," Keyop insisted. He shoved the fry into his mouth, ignoring the increasingly foul looks that his brother was shooting at him. Mark stood and grabbed his keys from his spot at the bar. "Let's go, Keyop. I know you wanted to get some last-minute shopping in." Keyop frowned at Jason, who was now ignoring him, before following Mark. "Bye, Princess!" he called. "Bye, Scrooge!" He blew a raspberry at Jason. Keyop missed the pained look that Jason gave him, but Princess did not. She sat beside her brother. "What was that all about?" she asked softly. He shrugged. "Stupid kid, stupid questions." The look she gave him said that she doubted that was the problem. She leaned back, Condor-style, and crossed her arms and legs as she regarded him. Jason started to fidget. Princess smiled tolerantly at him and began to hum the opening bars of Frosty the Snowman. Jason's eyes widened like saucers. Princess leaned over conspiratorially and grabbed a fry. "I'll never tell," she whispered, and she gave him a quick hug before returning to the kitchen.

Originally posted by jublke Princess gave Keyop an affectionate smile to offset Jason's scowl as she handed the latter a plate of fries.

*Stifles giggle while reading that* Fries aside, I'm dying to know the rest of the story!

Here ya go, EW. --- Jason was still staring at her when she emerged from the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee to serve the other customer, who was sitting alone in the back. As soon as Princess was within earshot, he hissed at her, "How could you possibly know that?" She smiled indulgently at him. "We always wrap our Christmas presents together." It was a holiday tradition the two had started when they were very small. "So?" Jason said. He no longer sounded combative, merely curious. Princess held up a hand, forestalling him so she could settle the other customer's bill. When she returned, she set the pot of coffee on the counter and sat on the barstool next to him. "So, you always hum that song when you wrap." Jason did not reply, but he turned a furious shade of pink. Princess politely ignored him and waved good-bye to the coffee drinker as he left Jill's diner, the bell on the door jangling. When Jason's cheeks had returned to their normal shade, she said, "Ready to head over to the mall?" Wordlessly, he nodded. Jason waited as she flipped the "open" sign to "closed", and followed Princess out into the frosty night. --- Princess was nothing if not diplomatic. She quickly changed the subject. "What did you think of the fries?" Jason shrugged. "They're good." "I tried a new recipe. Porcellus potatoes, using Ambassador Cutleri's secret spices." Jason's eyebrows shot up. "You did not!" She quirked an eyebrow back at him. "Why not? They're tasty and cost-effective. One potato can feed my customers for two whole weeks!" Jason stifled a chuckle. "Where do you plan on storing them?" "Mark's loaning me space at the airfield." ---

LOL, the potato hangar. Very cute, jublke. Poor Jason trying to keep his rep intact. He owes Mark for smoothly getting Keyop out of there!

...And I bet Jill will be thanking Princess soon when people start coming for the fries!

I'd be concerned about critters getting into the hanger to try out the spectacular fries. I bet Jason likes Rudolph, too.

[unrecoverable text]

Poor Joe and Sandy. How horrible.

Wow KT - things just keep getting more and more complicated. Glad that the boys made peace though. That could have turned ugly quickly...

(warning, I apparently have opinions, LOL) I have a hard time seeing Ken getting completely over it so quickly. Now he knows Joe was devastated and drunk, but how is he going to fully trust this Jun? Even if he trusts Joe at this point, it has to be obvious (with everything that's happened) that she doesn't good decisions. Love can make us want to believe in people, though. Sometimes more than we should. I can totally understand why Joe wasn't so concerned with not mentioning it at that point. Wow, one blow after another. I can even understand why he'd want to be punished and kind of hope that Ken would beat the cr@p out of him. At least he's realized how he feels about Sandy ... the question is, how does she feel about him at this point? That might take her a long time to sort out. A meaty update, KT.