A/N any prompt requests (for me or the holiday fest)? Anybody? Bueller? (Yes, I'm that old.) Either way, hope y'all are enjoying the stories. :) xoxo — kals

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Name: Socks

Setting: Post-season 3; generally canon

Prompt: group sharing stories about their worst present ever; bonus points if, after stories are done, there is a gift exchange where someone bought one of the "worst gifts"

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"You got three pocket knives in one year?" Carlton chortled. "Talk about lacking in imagination."

"What was your worst gift?" Danny demanded. He leaned back on the couch, arm around Kara's shoulders. She leaned against him, feet curled up under her.

"Tickets to a James Brown concert that arrived in the mail the day after he died," came the immediate response. Carlton tipped his hot chocolate at Wolf and Miller.

"Toilet paper," Eric admitted. "From Brown during Secret Santa the year before we left for the Arctic. I think he stole it from the head."

"Ouch," Wolf said, laughing. "I thought the autographed pictures my brother gave us all one year was bad. How about you, Cooper?"

Sasha chuckled, her hands around her hot chocolate. "Probably the time I got socks."

There was a strange pause. Then Carlton asked. "What's so bad about socks?"

"Nothing if they were from my mother." Sasha shrugged. "But these were from my boyfriend. We had gone away together for the holiday and I was expecting something sweet or romantic, and he got me thick, wool socks. Worse, then he had the gall to say that I kept putting my cold feet on him. Whether or not my feet are cold is no excuse for such a lame gift."

"Amen," Kara added, laughing.

But an awkward silence fell among the guys. Sasha raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Danny stood. "I just realized that I forgot ... something. Be right back."

As Danny disappeared out the door of his own house, Kara blinked, half turning to Sasha. "Do you think?"

"Oh yeah," Sasha replied. Muttering under her breath about men and idiots, Kara followed her husband. Sasha turned back to the remainder of the crowd. "None of you thought to tell Green that buying his wife socks was a bad idea?"

Carlton finally answered. "They seemed better than a vacuum."