YJ 25 Sweet Christmas Day 6-10
::Candy Canes::
Wally hated candy canes. Unfortunately Wally also loved candy cane. This love hate relationship Wally has with this delicious yet devious Christmas treat began ever since the speedster was young. The sneaky deceptive candy starts out so smooth and sweet. Midway through the candy the edges get sharp.
"Ouch." Wally complained pulling the offending candy away from his mouth tasting the coppery hint of blood as he cut the inside of his mouth. "I hate candy canes!"
"Wally you LOVE candy canes." Robin rolled his eyes at his best friend trying to focus on the dossier he was reading.
"Nope. Hate them. They are like evil candy ninjas that lull me into a false sense of pepperminty security just so it can cut my mouth open!" Wally pouted glaring at his candy cane. "I am never having another one again."
"You always say that." Robin playfully threw a cushion at Wally. While Wally was distracted dodging the pillow Robin leant over and bit off the sharp end. Wally stared at his friend shocked a blush forming on his cheeks as Robin smirked.
"Problem solved."
::White Chocolate::
"This is false advertisement." Conner declared out loud after several moments of scrutinizing the cardboard packaging. "There really isn't chocolate in white chocolate."
"What do you mean?" M'gann asked putting down the mixing bowl she was working with and went over to examine the package with Conner.
"Of course there is chocolate in white chocolate." Wally rolled his eyes crowding around the other two.
"Well two things make up chocolate: cocoa butter and cocoa solids, these ingredients are in all the other kinds of chocolate except white chocolate." Conner said pointing out the ingredients on the different chocolate boxes.
"That doesn't make it not chocolate." Wally refuted. "It is still called white chocolate. Making it part of the chocolate family."
"You know Supey has a point." Robin said sitting on the kitchen counter looking at the ingredients. None of the older teens remembered seeing him come in. "What do you think it should be called Con?"
"I don't know... Un-chocolate."
"Half chocolate." M'gann suggested "Since it's only got half the necessary ingredients."
"Choco-lite not chocolate enough." Artemis joined in nibbling on a square of actual chocolate Robin smirked and hi-fives her for the pun.
"You know it has more milk than milk chocolate. So shouldn't white chocolate be called milk chocolate?" Robin pitched in.
"You guys are all nuts. Can you just leave the poor chocolate alone?" Wally sighed.
"No." Conner insisted. "Because it is NOT chocolate."
"I give up!" Wally said throwing his hands in the air walking out of the kitchen muttering about how ridiculous it was to question the name of white chocolate. It wasn't until the speedster was out of ear shot did the other teens break out laughing. Robin laughed popping a square of square of white chocolate in his mouth.
"I told you it would bug the heck out of him."
::Dark Chocolate::
Kaldur did not like sweet things. That was what Robin noticed ever since Christmas brought an endless supply of candies through Mount Justice but Robin has never seen Kaldur touch a single piece of the sweet confections. Every now and then Kaldur would take a piece of candies offered to him but he would never eat it. Robin seemed to be the only one who noticed perhaps it was because he has seen this behaviour before.
"Hey fearless leader not going to join the fun?" Robin asked leaning up against the wall next to the older teen.
"I will observe from here." Kaldur smiled nodding the other teens towards the rest of the team who were making chocolates with Wonder Woman and Black Canary.
"This is supposed to be a 'team bonding' exercise." Robin said pointedly.
"I participated." Kaldur said pointed at a little box on a counter near them. Robin peered in and found four perfectly moulded chocolates. So plain, simple yet elegant, just like the teen that made them.
"Who are you going to give them to?" Robin asked.
"I am unsure. It is not customary to have chocolates in Atlantis." Kaldur said putting the lid on the chocolates. "They are sweet… we don't have a lot of sweet foods." Robin hummed thoughtfully. Kaldur placed a hand on Robin's head. "Don't worry about me. Go on. Join them."
A few moments later Robin returned with a small box and little bat shaped chocolates. The shade of this chocolate seemed a little bit darker than the other chocolates.
"Try one." Robin insisted. "Go on." Kaldur politely took one but the boy didn't seem satisfied he watched intently waiting for Kaldur to eat it. When Kaldur doesn't eat it Robin grinned. "Go on eat it. You will like this one I promise." Reluctantly Kaldur placed the chocolate in his mouth expecting to be assaulted by sweetness but to his surprise the sweetness never came. Only the aroma of cocoa and the bitter smooth tastes of chocolate without the sweetness. "Good right?"
"Yes it is quite delicious." Kaldur admitted.
"I have seen you smell the chocolate but never eat it." Robin said offering the rest of the box to Kaldur. "You like the chocolate just not the sugar."
"You are quite observant." Kaldur said noting another little box of chocolates in Robin's hand. The boy only smiled angelically.
"I learned from the best." Robin said handing the box to Kaldur. "Plus Batman is just like you when it comes to chocolate."
::Starlight Mints::
There are very few restaurants that Dick gets to go with Bruce where there are complimentary mints. Fancy restaurants seem to think starlight mints are over rated or something, but they were very special to Dick. Alfred had noticed once and purchased some at the store but they weren't the same. Perhaps it's that the ones in restaurants are slightly stale and too sweet to really freshen your breath but they are different. It was Dick's little secret, few people knew, not even great Batman knew.
The team had a celebratory dinner at a local diner in their civvies and that was when Kaldur took notice of Robin's fondness of Starlight mints. Wally had playfully stollen Robin's mint that the boy had been looking at for a long time and ate it before the younger could react. Kaldur had expected the usual banter to take place but it didn't.
"Hey!" Robin cried as Wally ate the last mint.
"You snooze you lose." Wally laughed. Robin didn't react to Wally's taunt though. The little boy just looked... sad. Wally didn't notice though, in fact Kaldur may have been the only one to notice, the kid was a bat after all.
On their way back to the base that night Kaldur fell into step beside the boy.
"You alright?" Kaldur asked.
"Yeah." Robin gave him a half hearted smile and stared up at the starry sky.
"Here." Kaldur said opening his hand offering the little white and red candy to Robin. The boy hesitated just for a moment before taking the mint from him. Kaldur could have sworn the boy's eyes lit up behind his shades. Carefully unwrapping the cellophane wrapped around the mint Robin looked so content.
"Thank you." Robin said before popping the starlight mint into his mouth.
"Nostalgic?" Kaldur asked trying not to pry but giving Robin an opportunity to share.
"Yeah... My family wasn't very well off, but every Sunday we would go out for dinner. We travelled a lot so it's never the same restaurant but one thing that was always constant are the Starlight mints. Whether they had red stripes or green stripes they always tasted the same. Every time I have one it's like they are with me again." Kaldur could hear a hint of sadness in Robin's voice as the boy spoke.
"You may be apart now but you will see them again someday." Kaldur said putting a comforting hand on Robin's shoulder.
"Yeah." Robin looked back up at the stars again. "Some day."
"Until then you can have all of my starlight mints to remember them with."
::Gummy Bears::
"A long long time ago there is a brave prince." A ten-year-old Dick said walking a green gummy bear along the edge of the table. "He was so good he could even fight off a whole horde of bandits at once." Gummy bears of all colors surrounded the green gummy bear. Picking up the green gummy bear Dick knocked the other gummy bears over.
"Then one day he heard a beautiful princess was captured by a gummy bear eating monster." Wally cut in fishing a red gummy bear out of the packet and in his best high pitch girl voice he said "Help me!"
"The brave prince never backs down from a fight! He rides off to slay the monster and rescue the princess." Dick declared moving the green gummy bear towards Wally.
"He should have know better to pick on someone his own size." Wally laughed maniacally before biting the head off Dick's gummy bear.
"Hey!" Dick protested looking at the headless bear in his hand. "They were supposed to live happily ever after!"
"You read too many stories." Wally teased. "Do you know what they do when they 'live happily ever after?'" Wally took a yellow gummy bear and touched the candy bears' heads together. "They kiss. They hug." Wally demonstrated with the gummy bears. "Then they have sex and make babies!" Wally opened one of his hands to reveal several other gummy bears."
"Eww!" Dick made a face.
"Are you kids playing with your food?" Roy asked seeing the kids play with their gummy bears.
"No I am teaching him where babies come from." Wally argued holding the hugging bears up for Roy to see.
"That's not even close." Roy said taking the gummy bears and flipping one up side down. "Sixty nine is a little closer to how babies are made. Then there is always..." Roy trailed off remembering Dick was there and only ten.
"What's sixty nine?" Dick asked innocently enough.
"Oh I know! I saw it in one of uncle Barry's special magazines! It's really gross! It's when mmmhmn..." before Wally could finish his sentence he found two overly handled gummy bears in his mouth and Roy's hand covering it.
"It's an upside down hug." Roy said quickly knowing Bruce would murder him for corrupting Dick. Before Roy could instruct the boy to forget that god forsaken number the adults walked in.
"Bruce!" Dick said running up to his guardian's side. "Roy and Wally taught me how to sixty nine!"
Second instalment is done! First one was a little short... and the last one is great if you just imagine the look on the adult's faces ^_- ! Hope everyone is almost ready for Christmas since we are ten days in and only fifteen days left! Thank you to everyone who reviewed in support!