Star City, California|
December 23rd, 2008|
6:27 PM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Damn!"
"I believe I've won."
King Orin had officially relieved Kaldur of duty and Roy invited him to spend the week at the Queen Estate. He and Roy had been playing video games for the last few hours. Or rather, Kaldur had been wiping the floor with Roy.
"I would pick the one game you're actually good at."
"Does my victory displease you?"
Before Roy had a chance to retort, Oliver opened the door.
"Hey."
"Do you know how to knock?" Roy asked, rolling his eyes.
"This isn't your room, and this is my house."
"Yeah, yeah."
"C'mon. We're finally lighting the tree."
"Literally only two days before Christmas," Roy muttered, but he got up anyway.
Kaldur followed suit, walking side by side with Roy in an effort to keep from getting lost in the large mansion. Soon enough they were in the ballroom where it seemed the entire staff was waiting. Kaldur eyed the ballroom with a light note of confusion, normally the entire estate was brightly lit, however the lights had been dimmed significantly looked around to see that the ballroom was festooned with long green… somethings. Golden flowers dotted the greenery and little red ones joined the colorful array. In the center of the ballroom stood an enormous tree adorned with shiny baubles and strings of beads and… small canes…
Wait, why was there a tree inside the house?
Someone handed Oliver a remote, which he in turn gave to Roy.
"Will you do the honors?"
Roy took the remote and pressed a button and suddenly the entire room was alight and the household was applauding. Kaldur's eyes stung for a second before readjusting. The room had looked pretty before, but now it looked… inexplicably beautiful. He still didn't understand the purpose of the tree, but he supposed he could always ask later. As the staff slowly dispersed and returned to work, Oliver turned to them with a large grin.
"You two ready for some fun?"
"Do we have to?"
"Of course we do, this is Kaldur's very first Christmas!"
"What?"
Roy turned to Kaldur with a look of utter disbelief. Kaldur stared at the two in honest confusion.
"I beg your pardon, but… What is 'Christmas'?"
Roy turned back to Oliver with a flat look.
"Where do we start?"
If at all possible, Oliver's grin widened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 23rd, 2008|
7:47 PM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Roy and Oliver took turns explaining Christmas to him, Kaldur was surprisingly less confused. Normally whenever the two did anything together that didn't involve archery and a clear target disaster usually followed. Not that there weren't a few things he didn't understand such as: What was the entire point of a tree? Why did Santa Clause decide who was naughty and who was nice? Or why Santa had anything to do with the birth of a godly child millennia ago? No matter, Oliver had insisted that the holiday was a time when everyone should love one another and think of others first, which was something Kaldur could easily get behind.
"So, how do you celebrate?"
"Well, tomorrow is the Queen Christmas Eve Ball, and we can't really skip that. Sadly. So Roy and I usually just sort of just play games until patrol and sleep in Christmas Eve morning."
"We also don't patrol on Christmas Eve," Roy added, "so that's a thing."
"Not quite normal, but then, neither are we," Oliver laughs.
"No we are not," Roy agreed.
Kaldur had rarely ever seen the two agree on anything outside of heroism. Christmas was definitely a magical time of year for such cooperation to happen so often in one day.
"Wanna join us for a game of Monopoly?" Oliver requested.
Kaldur pretended to think about it for a few moments.
"It will be fun to… school Roy again," he finally said.
Roy couldn't have whipped his head around faster.
"I will crush you."
"We'll see."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 23rd, 2008|
9:30 PM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometime after, both Roy and Kaldur teamed up and gave Oliver a sound thrashing. By then most of the staff went home for the night. Kaldur followed the he two archers headed off to the Arrowcave.
"I still think 'Quiver' would've been a more apt name," Kaldur hissed.
"How long are we gonna rub that in?" Roy whispered back.
"Until the name changes."
"You two do know I can hear you, right?"
"Hear what? I didn't say anything. You Kal?"
"Not a word."
Oliver sighed and rolled his eyes and the three continued on their way to the cave. Kaldur saw them off and kept himself busy. All in all the night was quite peaceful…
Until exactly the stroke of midnight.
Aqualad, can you hear me?
"I hear you, what's happening?"
I need you to get the infirmary ready.
Kaldur had the distinct feeling Green Arrow wasn't the one in need of medical attention. Unfortunately, he was right. When he and Speedy rolled into the cave, Speedy's suit was slowly staining a darker patch of red and he was beginning to slip in and out of consciousness. Kaldur didn't dare ask what happened, he merely followed Green Arrow's instructions as they patched up Speedy and bandaged him. Oliver mentioned it wasn't too serious.
But Oliver still carefully put Roy to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 24th, 2008|
1:43 AM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaldur awoke gasping for breath. The ghosts of his nightmares bloody and fading. It took a few moments to calm down.
"Kal?"
Kaldur gasped and turned from his bed to where Roy gingerly sat up in his own. Kaldur cringed with an apologetic look.
"Sorry, I did not mean to wake you-"
"It's fine, Fishy. I never really sleep on Christmas Eve anyway."
They sat in silence for another moment. Roy slowly turned to him with a sly look.
"Wanna hear another Christmas story?"
Kaldur couldn't find it in himself to say no.
"Alright it goes like this: 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."
As Roy continued telling his tale, little by little, Kaldur relaxed. He didn't even realize he was falling asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 24th, 2008|
11:46 AM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Kaldur woke up to Oliver shaking a ringing mass of silver metal, and singing. It would sound nicer had it not just woken them up. Kaldur stared blearily at Oliver as he danced around and sang. Roy groaned and rolled over, covering his head with his pillow.
"Really Ollie? Actual jingle bells?"
"Yep! Jingle bells! Batman smells! Robin laid an egg!" The Emerald Archer sang.
To Kaldur's surprise, Roy laughed.
"Oh, my God! Have you already gotten to the eggnog?" Roy chuckled.
"Of course not! Do you know what time it is?"
"Too early for this!"
"Oh please," Oliver scoffed. "The Batmobile lost a wheel and the Joker ran away!"
Oliver finally left still singing and jingle-jangling through the halls. Roy turned to Kaldur, a mix of amusement and worry on his face.
"Whatever you do, never sing that in front of the real Batman. Ever."
"Does he not have 'Holiday spirit'?"
Roy laughed again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 24th, 2008|
1:21 PM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oliver and Roy were still attempting to teach Kaldur a few Christmas carols, or rather, Oliver was. Roy, on the other hand was watching Kaldur having fun getting the words wrong. Kaldur was messing up on purpose, and Roy smirked at the havoc it was wreaking on Oliver.
"Actually, the song goes: Don't you tell a single soul, what I'm going to say."
"And what about the married souls?"
Kaldur calmly enjoyed watching the man sputter as he tried to answer.
"Oh- Well, actually-"
"He's screwing with you Oliver."
Oliver looked at the Atlantean boy incredulously. Meanwhile, he was stone-faced save for the ever-so-slight quirk of his mouth. Roy shook his head at Kaldur's version of pouting as Oliver raised a brow at the youngest.
"Kid, remind me to never play a round of poker with you."
"I will make no-such promises."
Roy laughed again. They somehow spent an hour or so more before Oliver officially gave up. Then, to both their surprise Kaldur began to sing a song himself.
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
"Hold up, how the heck do you know that song?" Roy snapped.
"You do realize I know how to work a computer, right?"
It was Roy's turn to sputter and Oliver's to laugh.
"Well, he's gotcha there, Roy-boy."
"Shut up, Ollie!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 24th, 2008|
6:26 PM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kaldur, the party's gonna start in less an hour."
"I had thought we'd be exempt, given your injury."
"Ha! No. And if I'm going, I'm taking you with me."
"And here I thought we were friends."
The flat delivery took nothing from the drama of the words. Apparently, getting shot was not an excuse to miss the Queen Christmas Eve Ball. Kaldur could practically taste the capital letters when he said it for himself. The two were dressed in suits and ties, and blessedly, sneakers. Kaldur was grateful for that small mercy, at least. And, according to Roy, every year the Ball ended with some kind of mishap. So, it would at least be entertaining to see the madness unfold… So long as Kaldur was able to steer very clear of the potential fallout.
At exactly seven o'clock, the guests began pouring in.
Which is exactly when Kaldur found himself trying to hide amongst the decorations. He hadn't realized that there would be so many people. Thankfully, they all seemed to ignore him. He had no idea how long he was hiding until Roy was standing right in front of him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes."
Blatant lie.
"C'mon, Ollie's busy with the guests, I'm sure he won't mind if I ditch for a while."
"No, no. You're supposed to be down here with the guests."
"Kal, the guests are already drunk and signing charity donations, they don't need me for a damn thing."
Kaldur tried to fight him, but Roy was relentless. They snuck away through a service corridor and escaped. Away from the cloying crowds, Kaldur calmed. They got far enough away from the Ball and the staff and stopped. Roy turned to his friend with concern.
"If you're not comfortable with crowds, please try to say something."
"I- I am sorry-"
"Don't apologize. This isn't like helping Aquaman or fighting criminals. If you really don't want to do something, you don't have to."
Kaldur didn't know what to say. He really had thought he could withstand the party. He didn't think that there would be such a large crowd.
"Kal, why don't you go back upstairs?"
"I should not leave you alone."
"Kaldur, this isn't something you have to do. I've survived worse with Ollie, I'll go back. You just wait upstairs. Alright?"
"…Alright."
"Good. And don't worry, if anything good happens, I'll be sure to film it."
"You'd better."
Kaldur watched as Roy returned to the epicenter of chaos and trudged up the stairs. The last thing Kaldur wanted was to leave Roy alone when he was in a situation he didn't like, but going back wouldn't do much at all. He went back to the room, sat on the bed, and kicked off his shoes. He picked up his bag and took the book he had recently received as a gift from his king. Might as well start reading.
Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents.
Kaldur paused.
"What?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 25th, 2008|
1:16 AM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaldur felt himself being shaken and opened his eyes, fully prepared to strike his opponent… Only to realize it was just Roy.
"What time is it?"
"Morning. Merry Christmas."
"Many happy returns," Kaldur said flatly.
"Oh, don't be like that. I managed to snag you a plate from the buffet."
Kaldur groaned but got up. He hadn't really eaten anything in… well, since yesterday. And Roy… well Roy looked drained. Kaldur picked at the food Roy brought him when a thought struck him.
"How did the party end?"
"An absolute disaster, as expected."
And here he'd thought Roy had been exaggerating.
"It couldn't have been that bad."
"Kaldur, I have seen house fires end better than that Ball. Ollie's still helping the staff out with the absolute train wreck downstairs."
Kaldur was almost afraid to ask. He didn't have to, as Roy pulled out his phone and showed him. Kaldur's eyes widened as the disaster spoke for itself. When the video ended, Kaldur turned to his friend with wide eyes.
"Roy, please be nice to Oliver," Kaldur begged on the man's behalf.
Roy, in turn, only laughed. Roy left to shower and change into pajamas. Kaldur finished the plate and followed suit shortly thereafter. Kaldur returned to find Roy collapsed face-first unto his bed. The redhead turned over when he heard Kaldur come in and sighed.
"I never want to go to another rich-people party again."
"Don't you have to go to the Christmas Eve Ball again next year?"
"Ugh, don't remind me," Roy groaned.
Kaldur spared him a laugh and crawled into his own bed. They were quiet for a little while and he was on the verge of falling asleep once more when Roy spoke up.
"Kal, what do you think of Christmas so far?"
"I think it must truly be a magical holiday. I have never seen you an Oliver get along so well."
"Yeah," Roy snorted. "It doesn't happen that often, does it?"
Kaldur hummed in agreement.
"I wonder what my friends in Atlantis would think of it. Lori and Topo would love all the decorations, Garth and Nanaue would enjoy the songs…"
"And what about Tula? Do you think she'd like the mistletoe?"
"…Roy?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Roy laughed into his pillow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star City, California|
December 25th, 2008|
9:01 AM, GMT-8|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Boys, Merry Christmas!"
Kaldur got up like a shot.
"Go back to bed Ollie!" Roy groused.
"Oh? I guess I can tell Santa that you don't want your presents!"
"What presents?"
"If you get outta bed, you'll find out."
Roy muttered a bit more, but got up anyway, Kaldur following close behind. They were led to the upstairs den and found that it had been fully decorated: Stockings, Christmas tree, and even pretty wrapped presents under it.
"Holy-!"
Suddenly, a woman with gold tresses and a white sweater popped up from behind the tree with a bright smile.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Dinah!"
Roy ran over to her and hugged her. Oliver waltzed up after and when Roy pulled away, lifted some mistletoe over Dinah's head.
"Merry Christmas, Prettybird."
The two shared a quick kiss and Roy rolled his eyes and made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a whine.
"You two are such saps."
The two adults shared a look before Oliver waved the mistletoe over Roy's head and he and Dinah both kissed him on the cheek. Roy didn't turn red. He. Did. Not. He would deny it until his dying day.
Kaldur on the other hand pressed both hands to his mouth to stifle his laughter.
"Can it, Kal!" Roy snapped, face still not red.
Dinah laughed and handed a gift to him, insisting he open it. Then she turned to Kaldur.
"You know, I'm know for a fact that I saw a few presents under this tree with your name on it."
Kaldur was absolutely taken aback. His eyes widened, but he tentatively made his way over to the tree and hesitantly eyed the wrapped packages until he spied one with his name written in Atlantean.
"Well don't just look at it, Fishy, open it."
Kaldur slowly unwrapped it and opened the box. It was a set of paints. He turned to Oliver with a grateful smile.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"Hey, don't look at me," Oliver said. "Santa Claus brought that one."
Roy rolled his eyes and nudged Kaldur.
"So, how do you like you first Christmas?"
"I like it very much," Kaldur answered. "Merry Christmas Roy."
"Merry Christmas Kaldur."