Scene 16 - Christmas
It was approximately a week before Christmas and M'gann insisted on throwing a party before the various members of their little team went back home for the holidays. The lounge was decorated with all sorts of coloured streamers, lights, balloons, and even a real Christmas tree which was adorned with numerous ornaments. The Martian herself appeared to be dressed in a Santa Claus outfit complete with beard and hat. Thank goodness she did not include a fake belly.
Brianna on the other hand, was completely bundled up. The cave was freezing to her and she spent most of winter in her room with her little heater fan on. Her weakness to the cold was making her a little cranky. She hoped the Green Lanterns from the League would return soon and install a central heating system. At the moment, she was huddled on the sofa while her boyfriend carried two mugs of hot cocoa over. "Drink up, you'll feel better," Kaldur said as the brunette took the steaming up between her gloved hands. He was worried about her lack of resistance to the cold and dropped by daily to make sure she was doing well.
"Thanks, Kaldur." Brianna replied and the Atlantean draped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her close to him to keep her warm. The rest of the team were helping out in the kitchen with the turkey, stuffing, gravy, ham, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and plum pudding. They were truly in for a grand feast. Wally would most likely polish off any leftover food.
Pretty soon, the dishes were laid out on the table and everyone took their seats with Kaldur at the head of the table since he was team leader. Brianna was seated to his left and was having her fifth serving of hot cocoa. Aqualad cleared his throat and spoke, "It has been a wonderful year for the team and I hope we'll continue to help others in need in the years to come. We'll be receiving a new teammate at the end of the month so please welcome her with open arms. I hope we'll still maintain our close knit familial ties when the team expands in the future. Remember to respect each other's differences and learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses. With that, I can see Wally is eyeing the food eagerly and I'll end my talk here. Dig in."
The meal went smoothly with the sounds of food, plates, and cutlery being moved around. The speedster on the team was having at least third servings of everything and Artemis could only roll her eyes. Miss Martian kept feeding Superboy food and the half-Kryptonian was embarrassed but indulged in his girlfriend's antics anyway. Robin and Zatanna were chatting about school and flirted every few sentences. Roy ate his meal silently, occasionally glancing at Aqualad as well as making small talk with the others. Kaldur'ahm kept piling food on Brianna's plate, concerned on keeping her warm.
"I'll be fine, dear. You should eat some more too," she replied and returned the gesture.
Christmas dinner ended on a sweet note and it was proof that M'gann's cooking had truly improved tremendously. The team adjourned to the lounge where they rested from the feast by watching WALL-E.
"Maybe one day, Red Tornado would experience something like this." M'gann said hopefully as the movie ended.
Robin raised an eyebrow and countered, "You want him to experience a rubbish filled earth or the sensation of falling in love?"
Almost immediately, Conner replied protectively, "She meant the latter, of course."
"I wonder if Earth would really become that polluted." The Atlantean said worriedly and Brianna shrugged. "No one knows. It's just a fictional movie."
There was a brief silence before M'gann said brightly, "It's time for us to exchange presents!"
She flew to the tree and immediately levitated a bunch of gifts. Everyone went to grab their presents for each member of the team but Kaldur was being a little mysterious with rectangular package in his hand, "Could I give it in your room, later?" He whispered to his girlfriend and she nodded. The blonde really liked Brianna's gift which was a personalized water bottle.
"Oh, some people are under the mistletoe!" Zatanna said in a sing-song voice and everyone immediately looked up. The Atlantean and pyro looked up and spotted the plant magically floating in the air above them.
"Zatanna!" Brianna admonished the magician and rolled her eyes while Kaldur'ahm looked a little confused, "Is something wrong?"
Artemis smirked and crossed her arms. It seems everyone was having way too much fun teasing the couple. The blonde archer explained, "Tradition dictates that if a couple is found under the mistletoe, they must kiss."
Brianna sighed and continued to stare at her teammates disapprovingly, "Kissing is meant to be private."
"Well, it's not like we've never seen you guys do it before." The Boy Wonder replied and Aqualad blushed slightly, "It would be best to get it done and over with…"
His green eyes pleaded with his girlfriend and she relented. "Just a quick one then," Brianna said and tipped her toes to give him a very swift peck on Kaldur's lips before grabbing his hand and walking away. The team gave a sad "aww" as they did so. Red Arrow gave a tiny grin of approval as the couple retreated. It seemed that he had finally trusted the brunette pyro to take care of his Atlantean friend's heart.
Shutting the door behind them, the brunette gave a sigh and her boyfriend placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry too much, Brianna. They're just being playful."
The girl's shoulders relaxed and she gave him a small smile. "What is it that you wanted to give me in private?"
To her utter surprise, he got down on one knee. "Kaldur, we just started dating, I think it's too early for a proposal!" Brianna raised her voice in shock and the Atlantean looked at her, a little hurt and bewildered at her small outburst. "I wasn't proposing to you… That's not how we do it on Atlantis."
Relief flooded her veins and Brianna guided them to sit on the couch. "Well… on the surface, a guy goes down on bended knee when he wants to ask for the girl's hand in marriage."
Kaldur'ahm raised his eyebrows and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. On Atlantis, the guy goes down on one knee to present his first gift to his loved one in private."
"It's a good thing it wasn't done in public. It might have caused alarm to the others." Brianna replied and took his hand, giving it a little encouraging squeeze. "Well, I'm ready for my gift now."
He then opened up the box to reveal a lovely pearl choker and explained, "I harvested the oyster from the plains in Atlantis. It's a really popular spot for men to look for pearls for their companions."
His girlfriend admired the piece of jewellery, "It's beautiful."
Without saying a word, he clasped it on her neck and Brianna marvelled at the colors shining on the pearl. Right now, it had a little pinkish tinge. "I also charmed it with a traditional spell. In the past, many men went to war and left their wives behind. If they perished elsewhere, it took a long time for the message to travel back. To get over the problem, a sorcerer charmed a pearl and gave it to his wife and the idea spread like wildfire. The pearl is usually tinted in a shade of red to symbolize the man's love for his woman. If the pearl turns to a grayish hue, it means the man is dead and that was how the wife could start the grieving process immediately. It's quite fool proof. Nowadays, we have other spells to determine if the person is deceased so the pearl isn't commonly gifted any more. Some Atlanteans still hang on to tradition and I decided to do so. I hope you still like it."
Her hand was still on the pearl and she sat in silence, digesting the information Kaldur'ahm just said to her. "Most women would drool at the sight of pearls as the ones caught in the wild are very valuable but I love the meaning behind this choker. Thank you for this thoughtful and wonderful gift."
The brunette then gave him a hug as well as a loving kiss.
Pulling away, Kaldur'ahm was all smiles. His first Christmas together with Brianna was a success and he knew for sure the following Christmases after that would be smooth sailing as well.
"I think we should re-join the others, they might be starting another movie soon," the Atlantean said shortly afterwards and his girlfriend nodded. Love was in the air and it was a heart-warming Christmas evening spent watching more Pixar films.
Author's Note: I made it up in my head that Atlantean customs are slightly different. Or maybe I just wanted an excuse for Kaldur to go down on one knee. Hehe.
Anyway, great news for all because I have been on a writing spree lately and I will update twice a month. Most likely at the beginning and middle of each month so I hope you're all happy that I'm finishing this story at twice the speed! *grins*
To Eszra: Thanks, girl! *smiles*
To LittleDarling13: Thank you for your kind words, I will keep on writing. I hope you have read the rest of this story. =)
To piggythelaw: Kaldur fell in love with chocolate in chapter 4 and I made it his favorite surface food ever since. =P Great news, I'll be updating twice a month now so hopefully it would satisfy your reading cravings. =D