Under the Wrapping Paper
The mall is packed, and Zatanna would make the comment how people always wait until the last possible minute to do Christmas shopping if, well, she wasn't one of them.
But really, Megan gave them only a week's notice that she had been planning this party for the Team and a few members of the League that are their mentors or have played den mother before, and none of them are going to come empty-handed. The Martian will argue that that's not the point, but really. They're not showing up without something, and knowing Megan, she had their presents bought weeks ago.
Dick laces their gloved fingers together as they weave through the people. It's not exactly chaotic, but there's just enough of a crowd to make her feel a little claustrophobic. And the Boy Wonder may have been wearing sunglasses, but she knows him better and she knows he probably doesn't want to be here at all.
She also knows there was no way he didn't know about Megan's party (she planned it with Bruce!) and he didn't give her a heads up, so this is his fault, too.
"So, who do we buy for first?" She pretty much has to shout over the noise.
He shrugs his shoulders and she rolls her eyes.
"We'll just buy for the Team, alright? I'm sure we can find five perfect presents within a few hours."
"Hours?"
"Look, I don't really want to be here, either." She pulls him aside so that they can actually breathe and tugs at his scarf a little until he looks at her. "But these are our friends and we're going to suck it up and do this because it's the holidays and because we love them. So are you with me or not?"
She can practically hear him rolling his eyes. "Of course I am."
"Good," she laughs. "And this is nowhere near the worse we've ever faced before. Remember all of our missions?"
"I'd rather take on the Joker again," he mumbles under his breath, but his lips pull into a smile afterward. "So, we have five objectives. Let's talk strategies."
She grins. "Shall we divide and conquer?"
He squeezes their still-joined hands and smirks wider. "We're too good of a pair to split up."
She laughs and tugs him back into the cluster of mall-goers. Yeah, he's probably right.
... ...
As they predicted, Megan is the easiest to buy for. They find her present in the first store they try, which is pretty awesome.
It was really no competition where they would go to look for their Martian friend. The home and kitchen department of Macy's has all this amazing kitchenware that's really cute and colorful, too (because Megan totally seems the type to color coordinate everything) and they spend a few good minutes looking around.
They agree not to get her a cookbook.
It's not like Megan'll take the sentiment the wrong way, but they just really think she doesn't need one. She's gotten better, not just with baking but cooking, too. She's always preparing them these delicious meals and looks for any excuse to make a feast, and she gets creative with it. She especially loves trying out her own recipes, or just looks them up online, so a cookbook would just be dead weight.
They (Zatanna) find these really cute aprons that have pink lining, and one has cupcakes all over while the other has ice-cream scoops. They're kind of meant to be worn by Megan, and there are these oven mitts right next to them that completely match, so it's a bonus. Megan still watches all of those older TV shows with the housewives that wear them all the time, too. She'll love it.
Dick meets her as she's next in line, and there're two boxes in his hands, one with a red and black watch and the other with a yellow and black one.
"They're for Wally," he explains when she throws an eyebrow up.
"What does he need a watch for?"
"He has this collection, and he told me he was waiting for Christmas money to save up for these."
"Okay, what does a speedster need a watch collection for?" she rephrases.
"He likes to beat times and whatnot, so he has watches synchronized to a different time zone. His eastern standard time broke last week, and the other one is just because."
She just shakes her head and slides Dick's debit card (which is officially hers for the day) to the cashier when they're called up. Considering this is Wally West, she shouldn't be so surprised.
... ...
They find this fitted hunter green coat with a fur trim on the hood, which they already know will look great on Artemis. They want to spend a similar amount on everyone's gifts, so they buy these brown boots that have the same kind of fur along the top to even out the price. Artemis will argue that it's too expensive, but she'll love it anyway because she can wear it while still being all outdoors and whatnot.
"See?" she says when they leave Sears. "We're already more than halfway done, and it's only been an hour and a half."
"Don't forget that these last two are probably the hardest to buy for."
She rolls her eyes. "You don't always have to be so negative."
"It's called being realistic."
She laughs and shifts the bag into her other hand so she can link their arms together. "Let's go eat."
... ...
Zatanna dips her wedge fry into the small container of ketchup and takes a bite, looking around at the busy food court. She's mostly just glad to rest her feet.
Dick swallows a bite of his burger and chases it down with some of his 7Up. "So," he says, reaching over and stealing one of her fries, "do we have any idea what we're getting Kaldur and Conner?" She purses her lips and shrugs her shoulders. "Great plan."
"Hey!" She kicks him half-heartedly under the table. "I'm three for three. It's your turn."
He laughs when she steals his drink. "Well, I was thinking we could try Sports Authority since the outdoors seem more their speed."
She grins. "I'm proud. That wasn't a completely terrible idea." He feigns offense and she giggles and eats another fry. "Are we really not buying presents for anyone else?"
"Megan said she already bought presents for the League that are going to be from the whole Team," he shrugs, and she smiles. That sounds exactly like something Megan would do. "She also said something about all of us helping her cook and bake for the party, so…"
"Sounds fun," she says, meaning it.
He makes a face and she throws her napkin at him. "I was kidding!"
"Come on, Bird Boy," she chuckles, "we've got some more shopping to do."
"You wouldn't happen to have some sort of, I don't know, time-stopping spell or make-the-other-mall-people-suddenly-want-to-go-home charm, would you?"
"I think you know the answer to that question," she replies, though the exasperated look on his face makes her genuinely sorry she dragged him along. Not that he would've actually let her go alone in the first place. He can hardly handle people checking her out when they're together, so heaven forbid what he could imagine if they're apart. And, well, he's told her more than once he loves just being with her.
The feelings are more than mutual.
As they're tossing their food out, she pulls him aside and kisses him sweetly on the lips. When he asks what it was for, she just she shrugs and says, "A thanks-for-putting-up-with-me kiss?"
He hums in amusement, pulling her in for another one that's less innocent and a bit longer this time.
She giggles and barely pushes him away. "Stop, you're making everybody stare. I think an old couple just glared at us."
"So?"
She pushes him away for real when he tries to kiss her a third time. "Alright, you're going to be punished. No more kisses until after we finish shopping."
... ...
It's been about twenty minutes since they walked into Sports Authority, and Zatanna is pretty much out of her element. She's not trying to be a total girl, either, because she's gone camping a handful of times before and plays sports and goes on missions—she's obviously okay with breaking a sweat.
She's just never had to buy a Christmas present from here.
In theory, getting Kaldur and Conner something from here was an awesome idea. And it still is, if she knew where they should start. Like, what kind of sports equipment do you get a nearly-unbreakable Kryptonian or an Atlantean with the most durable skin and bones above land? It's not like Kaldur needs a surfboard or Conner needs a helmet.
"How long do you think this will last if I get it for Conner?" she asks, lifting the skateboard to examine the design underneath.
"That in comparison to Con is a slightly thicker toothpick. I give it four, maybe six seconds," he muses. She doesn't mean to laugh, but yeah, it's pretty much true. She puts it back, because Kaldur trying to skateboard… no, it just doesn't suit him.
"Well, I'm stumped."
He chuckles, rubbing her shoulder. "Okay, keep looking for Kal. I think I've got an idea for Con."
She looks at him curiously, but he just kisses her forehead (technically against his punishment, but she'll let it slide) and tells her he'll be back in ten, so she just shrugs.
When she wanders into the camping section, it hasn't even crossed her mind that Kaldur might want something from here. But she's browsing and remembers how much Kaldur loved the few times they've been camping so far, most out of all of them, and slaved over the hand-me-down grill from the Kent family to cook their meals. So this portable camping grill she's staring at is begging her to give it to him.
Her only concern is the price.
It's over a hundred, and while everyone could easily agree that Kaldur deserves the most expensive gift and wouldn't be offended by it, she would still feel guilty giving him something that much more expensive than how much they spent on the others individually. But she really wants to get it for him.
Someone taps her shoulder, and her eyes go straight to the gun resting in Dick's hands, clearly missing his wide smile.
"Dick…"
"It's perfect for Conner!"
He laughs, hard, for a good two minutes at her reaction (jerk!) before explaining that it's a paintball gun. Apparently, he and Wally both have one and got one for Kaldur his very first Christmas above land and have this tradition. They wanted to get one for Conner for a while now, but have been busy and just forgot about it, which is why he didn't think of it right away. It's actually kind of cute.
The tradition, she means; she's not really against paintballing, but she'll leave that to the boys.
She tells him about the grill and her dilemma, and he bargains with the employee about pricing. Luckily, he's the son of Bruce Wayne and the employee happened to be female, so it doesn't take much convincing. He gets them both (the grill and gun) almost half off so it's around the same price they spent on the others' presents, so it's perfect.
After he signs for the purchases, she may or may not be a little demanding when she tells the employee to have everything brought to the car, and Dick just laughs at her and teasingly calls her possessive. She rolls her eyes.
(But yeah, that chick was totally flirting and she wasn't letting it slide.)
... ...
As they're heading towards the parking lot, something catches Dick's eye in a window and he pulls her into Kay's Jewelers.
He has a short chat with a lady behind the counter, who disappears into the back room and comes back out. She's dangling a thin chain with a silver pendant with diamonds that looks like an ornate key with a heart at the top. There are matching earrings in her other hand with more hearts, and Dick takes a few minutes to inspect before nodding and telling her it's perfect.
And she's almost positive he wouldn't buy her present right in front of her, so there's really only one other woman these could be for.
"Dick, are they for…"
"Yeah, Selina." He shrugs one shoulder. "She'll be coming to the party, too, and I already got Bruce's present. And the whole lock-and-key thing is sort of ironic, since she's an ex-thief and all…"
She smiles widely, maybe tears just a little bit. He wasn't the happiest person in the world when he found out about Bruce and Selina. He probably already knew before Bruce announced that he loved Selina and already revealed his identity, and it's been… a struggle. Dick only recently began to warm up to her after she was made an official League member, so this is kind of a huge step for a lot of reasons.
He wraps an arm around her and presses her closer. "He really does love her," he says, mostly to himself. "She makes him happy, and that's worth it for me to get over the past."
"I'm proud of you, Dick," she tells him softly. "And I'm really happy, too."
His faint chuckle vibrates his chest. "Me too," he says, and leans in to give her a lingering kiss.
She's excited for their party.
A/n: Merry (early) Christmas! And Happy Holidays to all those who don't celebrate Christmas (: This was just a little plot bunny present for all of my lovely readers/reviewers of the Young Justice fandom.