It's quiet. A peaceful day. One of those rare times where both Ricardo and Alicia have a day off, able to relax with Harley, ogling at how big she's getting, growing up strong and protective, her bark enough to scare off most anybody before they even get a good luck at her. Later on, they do a little Christmas shopping for their friends and family, walking hand in hand through the main shopping center nearby. Ricardo stares at the various decorations coating the walls, the huge trees stretching far over both of their heads. "It's gorgeous," he says.
"Yes it is," she agrees, staring up at the paper snowflakes rotating slowly from where they're hanging from a low ceiling. They amble around for awhile longer before she drags him into the arcade and proceeds to beat him in most games, though he gets luck on a couple of racing games. She laughs and leans in, kissing him, eyes sparkling, before taking his hand and leading the way to a clothes shop. "I'm gonna find something for my sister. Maybe you should find something for the kiddos?"
"Yeah," Ricardo agrees, lifting her hand and kissing it quickly. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
She nods and kisses him quickly before they go their separate ways, Ricardo mulling over different toys, clothes, and other possibilities to get. He barely knows what the kids are interested in, thanks to living so far away from them, which is sad, so he tries to keep it generic- unicorns and glitter for his niece, and an inflatable soccer ball for his nephew, remembering what he was like when he the boy's age. He thinks perhaps he can find his older action figures either at Amazon or Ebay and give one to both of them as well. Feeling more secure now, he returns to Alicia and smiles when she nods approvingly over his selection.
"Good job," she tells him with a soft smile, leaning in to kiss him. "How do you think I'd look in this?" She holds up something golden and slinky that leaves very little to the imagination and he swallows hard, speechless as he reaches out and touches the soft, slinky fabric. "That good, huh?"
"Oh yeah," he finally says, gaping at her. "I thought you were buying for your sister."
"I was, and I found her a beautiful sweater, so I moved on to part of your Christmas gift." She winks and goes to buy everything she's got piled up in her hands, leaving him watching her with awe in his eyes.
"Huh," he mumbles, before looking down at his watch and realizing there's still a good two+ weeks to go before Christmas. "Aw dammit!" He can hear her giggle all the way from here and sighs, following her up to the cash register.
They work together on the toy drive held at Hybrid Wrestling, watching in awe as both the ring and area around the ring fills up with toys of all size and type. "This is incredible," Alicia murmurs as she touches the girls' tricycle reverantly. "Some kids are gonna have some really incredible Christmases thanks to you," she says, cupping Ricardo's face and kissing him.
He flushes happily and shrugs. "Eh, it was a group project," he says. "I was just a small piece in a very big collective." She makes a face at him but settles for kissing him again, laughing softly when he brushes his hands over her hips. "Maybe if you're that proud of me, you could give me one of my gifts a little early..."
She leans in and whispers into his ear, "I can think I can reward you without giving you your present, don't you?"
He swallows hard, growing even warmer. "Right," he squeaks and she laughs, gripping his hand and leading him outside, where the rush of people coming in for the toy drive has mostly eased off, leaving only a couple here or there, with the cut off point so soon. Ricardo explains to the few Hybrid workers scattering around that he's got to go, not giving a real excuse, before he gets in the car and drives off.
She smiles over at him and cups his hand. "I love you."
"I love you too," he says, relieved that they're getting a little time to themselves after a very busy few days. He parks outside of their apartment and turns to her. "So how do we want to pass all of this free time we seem to have now?"
She laughs and leans into him, kissing him slowly, lingeringly. "Oh, I'm sure we'll have something to do." She grins before leaning in once more, kissing him warmly before getting out of the car and motioning to him to follow her.
"Yes ma'am," he decides, getting up in a hurry and running into the house after her.
