Christmas in Blüdhaven: Christmas is Coming
by Smitty
Tim's street clothes felt like a costume as he walked down a Blüdhaven street in broad daylight. He passed a Salvation Army Santa and stopped to dig some change from his jeans pocket. He dumped the entire lot into the kettle, nodding when the bell-ringer thanked him. It was a Christmas present for Cassandra, he told himself. Thanks for the night before. She wasn't a bad lot, really, for being as much of an extension of Batman as she was. She had sat with him for a fair bit the night before, taking the cold and the wind and eventually the snow before going back inside.
Kon had left pizza in the fridge for him, and a half-full case of Zesti. He'd also left the balance of another batch of cookies, this set still mushy in the middle. Tim had eaten three while the pizza warmed, suddenly hungry for something to fill the pit in his stomach.
Dick had dragged in a real Christmas tree. It was decorated with a lot of popcorn and not enough lights to go to the bottom, but it was definitely Christmasy.
There were six more shopping days 'til Christmas. Tim had to get busy.
Author's Note: Christmas in Blüdhaven is written in the same general style as Jingle Bells, my attempt to write 24 200-word ficlets--one per day until Christmas, sort of like an Advent calendar--with characters from around the DCU. Christmas in Blüdhaven differs, however, by each of the ficlets being loosely linked and progressing toward a greater conclusion. The title was derived from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas in Sarajevo" because everything and everyone in Blüdhaven is currently something of a wreck.