Happy Boostlethon, bowlnoodle!
Title: A Buying Guide When Purchasing for a Man of the 25th Century (or When to Forgo Buying Things and Make the Gift Yourself)
Author: abarero
Recipient: bowlnoodle
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/A, except Guy being well…Guy
Summary: He had drawn Booster’s name and he was now internally panicking over what to get him. What did you get a man of the 25th century, anyways?
Notes: For the prompt Maxwell Lord decides it would be a great idea for the JLI (or Superbuddies if you prefer) to have a Secret Santa! Booster gets Beetle (or vise versa) and proceeds to stress out about what to get him. Bonus points for the rest of the gang getting hilariously terrible and/or adorably endearing presents. Had fun with this prompt, so I hope you enjoy!
The problem began when Max went to a Corporate Managers’ Convention. After attending workshop after workshop about bettering employee relations to better the workforce, he’d gotten it into his mind that the same touchy-feely mumbo jumbo that plagued cubicle workers nationwide would work for his team of superheroes.
It started with the team building activities based on monthly themes.
November had been “Gratitude is Great!” month, in which they were encouraged to be thankful for their teammates and fill out little ‘thank you!’ forms which were put into the “Sharing is Caring” box by the monitors.
Guy kept forging everyone’s signatures and writing out false forms for himself that read such detailed and explicit gratitudes as “Thank you Guy for being so sexy! I would like to see you personally in my room tonight” from “Ice” and “You should clearly be in charge, you’re so strong and powerful” from “Batman.”
Needless to say, the month caused more headaches than warm fuzzy feelings for the group and left them dreading December.
---------------------
On December 1st, when Max called a “friends meeting” (he’d adopted the term “friends” instead of “team” to help build solid working relationships) he entered the room with a flourish and a large upside down Santa hat.
“All right everyone, it’s time for December’s monthly theme. I’m hoping we can do this with less…immaturity than last month.”
Everyone’s eyes went to Guy who just glared back and shrugged. “What? I’m still telling ya, those were legit!”
Max cleared his throat. “We will be holding a Secret Santa gift exchange…”
Several people began to pipe up at that, but he cut them off by holding up a hand.
“Ah, sorry- I meant a Festive Friend exchange, to accommodate and stay open minded for those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas. We don’t want anyone’s religious beliefs being ignored, be they religions from other planets,” he made a nod to J’onn and Scott, “pagan or atheist beliefs,” he noted Ice and Booster respectively, “or…”
Beetle raised his hand with a grin. “For Hanukkah we receive a gift for each night, does that mean my Secret San-sorry, ‘Festive Friend’ - has to give me eight gifts?”
Max forced a smile, obviously trying to set an open-minded example. “That will be up to your Festive Friend, Beetle.”
“Well, if they want to be open to my religious beliefs…”
Pretending he didn’t hear Ted, Max carried on. “So each of you will draw a name and buy a gift for the person who you drew. Twenty five dollar maximum amount spent on the gift, so no buying big flashy things.”
Walking over to where Batman was brooding in his seat, Max held out the hat. “All right Batman, you have the honor of going first.”
Batman gave him a glare, but reluctantly shoved his gloved hand into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper. His eyes scanned over the name and he frowned.
“Max, I really don’t have time for this sort of thing. The sole reason I attended today was that you insisted it was an urgent matter.”
“As someone I’m sure everyone here looks up to,” Max said, giving Guy a warning look, “I was hoping you would set a pristine example for your fellow Justice League members. You’re always talking about how they need to work better together, aren’t you? This is a great opportunity to encourage that!”
Looking over to J’onn, Batman seemed to be holding a silent conversation with the martian, and he finally relented to Max’s used-car salesman like charisma.
“Fine. I will use it as an example.”
Max gave a smarmy smile to him, before holding the hat out to J’onn, who seemed equally concerned over the name he drew out.
One by one, Max let each of the eight gathered members pull out a name, until the hat was empty. Some seemed pretty pleased with their draw, but others…
Fire held up a hand before asking, “What if you have no idea what to get your person?”
“Consider this a learning opportunity to find out more about them,” Max explained, blustering out of the room before anyone else could protest. “Gifts are due next week, so get buying!”
With Max gone, it didn’t take long for Batman, Guy and J’onn to all excuse themselves from the room. Batman and J’onn, most likely going off to do important superhero work while Guy was off to his bedroom to do…well, no one really wanted to think about what Guy was up to.
This left the rest of them to commiserate over their draws.
“So we just buy anything we think they’ll like?” Booster asked.
“Well if you were lucky enough to get someone you know well enough,” Ice began, but quietly trailed off as she realized she might give something away.
“No use hiding it, I got Batman and I’m stumped,” Fire said with a huff. “I mean, what do you get Batman for a gift?”
“Cookies?” Scott suggested. “I mean, J’onn likes those Chocos so I was thinking perhaps…”
“Master of escape and yet so transparent about who you drew,” Ted teased, prodding Scott in the arm.
“Okay okay, I’m buying J’onn cookies. Who doesn’t like cookies? It’s a safe gift!”
“I don’t know…does Bats like cookies?” Booster queried.
“If anyone was going to hate cookies, it might be Batman…” Scott said.
“Well if he doesn’t like it, that’s just… how the cookie crumbles,” Beetle quipped.
Several at the table groaned.
“I’ll help you find something, Bea,” Ice said, giving her arm a pat. “Why don’t we go out shopping right now?”
As the two ladies left the table, Beetle glanced over to Booster and then glanced away quickly.
He had drawn Booster’s name and he was now internally panicking over what to get him. What did you get a man of the 25th century, anyways?
And so, Ted Kord began his week long ordeal to find that out.
-------------------------------------
He tried looking at every store he could think of. Clothing was…a horrible idea. And when it came to any sort of household product, Booster had advertised for so many that Ted was certain he either had a supply of the product or never wanted to see it ever again.
The fact was, most everything Ted could think of Booster ever once saying “I wish I had one of these…” was something that he already bought or was not yet invented in this time.
When he was at an electronics store, looking over the newest gadgets and goodies there, Ted realized just how pointless buying Booster any of these would be. He remembered how excited he’d been when CDs were introduced and Booster just seemed bemused and a little sad that the time he’d come to was so out of date in the music storage department.
That’s when Ted had an idea. A crazy, but desperate, last minute idea. He would try to make something that hadn’t yet been invented.
Using scraps leftover from KORD Inc. and his own personal inventions for Blue Beetle, Ted made a long list of everything he could remember Booster telling him about the future of digitalized music.
He knew it was portable, like a Walkman, but much smaller. It didn’t play cassettes or CDs, but had a small computer inside it that digitally stored the music. Something Booster called Mp13.
Thankfully, when it came to what kinds of music Booster liked, Ted at least had a pretty good idea on that. And so, with less than twenty four hours to go, he began his last ditch gift effort.
-------------------------------
After looking for Ted everywhere the next morning, Booster found him in his Beetle Cave in Hub City.
The poor guy looked super stressed; sleeping with his head pillowed atop his arms at his worktable, his goggles on crooked, burns and singes on his arms, and even his hair was looking a bit frazzled.
Whatever project he’d been up all night on had obviously been something super important, yet a very frustrating endeavor. The floor was littered with wads of scrapped designs and scrawled formulas written and rewritten on a nearby chalkboard were crammed on so small that the handwriting was almost illegible.
Then Booster noticed something that looked a lot like his cowl in one of the designs and, curiosity getting the best of him, he picked it up. This drawing seemed a bit more detailed than the rest, and unlike the majority, was lying on the desk, uncrumpled, rather than banished to the floor.
It was most definitely his cowl, no other, because Ted had taken the detailing to such levels that he’d also drawn Booster’s goggles, hair and piercing blue eyes- which were meticulously done and in color.
Something, he realized, Ted had drawn explicitly from memory. In fact, Booster thought with a flush rising to his cheeks, it was almost a candid portrait along with various technical specs written in the margins.
“Booster?”
He started, almost dropping the paper, at the sound of Ted’s groggy voice.
“What are you doing here, buddy?”
“Hey, Beetle. Just swinging by because you hadn’t shown up at Headquarters yet and I figured you’d rather I come pick you up than Bats,” he replied, quickly stuffing the paper onto Ted’s desk behind his back.
Ted blanched, glancing to a clock with alarm. “It’s tomorrow?!”
“Well, actually, it’s today so…”
He gave Booster a playful shove in the arm at that.
“Anyway, so Max thinks you’re skipping out on your gift-giving and I’m here to escort you there.”
At the word ‘gift,’ Ted looked horror stricken, then quickly glanced to the pile of papers on his worktable. There was a bump in them and he seemed relieved at that.
“Well, I’d um…” Ted ran a shaky hand up through his mussed hair, “Can I just give my gift now?”
Booster blinked, all the pieces clicking into place. “You… drew my name, didn’t you?”
Ted gave him a lopsided grin, and Booster noticed a smudge of grease on his cheek and had to repress the urge to reach out and wipe it off.
“Yeah and well, it’s kinda hard to buy something for someone from the future so…”
He rifled under the papers until he pulled out a small device, made in metallic shades of blue and gold.
“Here. It’s an…MP version…I don’t know, negative one or something? Portable music player, smaller than a Walkman and with digital music saved on a small computer inside the device. Is that right?”
His eyes held a look of slight concern, that he’d misremembered what Booster had told him about this future device or that it was still too primitive for Booster to be impressed.
What he didn’t expect is for Booster to speechlessly accept the gift, stick one of the miniature earphones into his ear and press the play button. The soft strains of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ played and Booster’s eyes went wide.
“You…”
Ted rubbed the side of his head, pushing his goggles up all the way. “Sorry if it’s not as technologically advanced as the MP13 player you used to have, but…”
Whatever he was about to say next was effectively cut off as Booster wrapped him in an embrace and planted a grateful kiss on Ted’s lips.
He pulled back grinning. “Beetle, you are a genius.”
“And you…” Ted blinked. “Just kissed me.”
It was Booster’s turn to look sheepish and awkward, his hand going up to rub at his ear nervously. “Aha, I just…did you know that you can draw me really well for not having a photo reference?” he finally blurted out.
Ted went pink. “What are you…”
Booster pulled the paper back off the desk, and held it up. “Probably the only image of me in this time that looks natural instead of a cheesy photo promotion. You…” he smiled gently, “really captured my real smile, you know?”
At that, Ted smiled timidly. “There’s more to you than the tabloids show, I know that Booster ole buddy.”
“So uh…” He nervously stepped forward, “I was thinking…”
Ted quirked a grin, his heart starting to race. “A dangerous pastime…”
“I know,” Booster shot back.
With matching dorky grins and red cheeks, Booster pulled up the other earpiece and slid it into Ted’s ear. “A little mood music, and then…”
“Are you going to seal this deal with a kiss?” Ted quipped.
Pushing up his own goggles, Booster reached out and wiped the smudge of grease off Ted’s cheek as he leaned in.
“Signed, sealed and…delivered.”
Whispering the last word against Ted’s lips, he captured them in a kiss, their goggles clattering together a bit against where they rested on their heads, but neither of them paid that any heed. And Ted inwardly thought that if this was how 25th century men thanked people for gifts, he’d really have to start giving Booster gifts more often.
-------------------------------------
Max was not pleased when both Booster and Beetle showed up extremely late to Headquarters that morning. They’d both made excuses about traffic and oversleeping alarms, but he just brushed that off.
“Oh and I already gave Booster his gift, so I’m off the hook,” Ted made sure to note, not about to make the gift itself public knowledge.
“And it was?” Max asked warily.
“Something that is best not disclosed in front of everyone,” Booster finished, giving Ted a grin.
The rest of the team rolled their eyes, figuring it was some porno magazines or pinups.
“Right,” Max said, turning to the others. “Well, most everyone here has already exchanged their gifts. We were just waiting on you Beetle.”
He glanced around to the others who were all seated at the table with a collection of odd gifts.
Batman and J’onn both had cookies. J’onn seemed pleased with his and Batman…actually seemed a bit touched. Fire had clothing that clearly Ice had picked out, because it was too well coordinated for any of the guys to have done it. Guy was scowling at a book on ‘Anger Management’ and demanding to know who had given it to him. When he did, Ted noticed Batman quirk the slightest of smirks and he had a feeling he knew.
Guy had given Ice something…really not fit for human eyes. Namely a folder full of lewd, nude photographs of himself. Fire was currently offering to torch it right then and there while Ice was trying not to throw-up her breakfast.
“So, who’d you give the gift to?’ Ted whispered to Booster.
Booster pointed to Scott, who was holding a book about understanding football.
“Ah nice one, it was getting embarrassing for Barda to understand the game better than he did.”
That’s when J’onn slid a package across the table to Ted.
“I don’t think this is much of a surprise, considering you’ve been loudly thinking what you wanted every time you walked past me this week.”
Beetle gave a sheepish grin. “Who me? Definitely not.”
But he tore open the paper to find the new Star Wars Atari game and fist-pumped in excitement. “Yes!”
“As for your seven other Hanukkah gifts,” J’onn continued and Ted looked hopeful. “I will politely forget everything I read from yours and Booster’s minds when you first arrived this morning.”
They both flushed at that, but Ted agreed that it was definitely worth seven days of gifts for that to go unmentioned.
As Max brought the meeting around to actual business, which was mostly just him going on about promotions and good marketing, Ted lulled his head over unto Booster’s shoulder.
No one seemed to find anything amiss about this, since many of them were trying hard not to doze off as Max droned on, but they didn’t realize that hidden under their cowls, Booster and Beetle weren’t hearing a word of Max’s speech.
For aside from one small cord running between then, which perhaps Batman noticed because he noticed everything, it just looked like Beetle was sleeping and Booster was staring into space. Because who would have ever expected they were sharing an Mp3 player made years and years before its time?
Ted gave Booster’s hand a squeeze under the table and a content smile crept onto his lips. Oh yeah, this was going to be the best invention ever.
Author: abarero
Recipient: bowlnoodle
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/A, except Guy being well…Guy
Summary: He had drawn Booster’s name and he was now internally panicking over what to get him. What did you get a man of the 25th century, anyways?
Notes: For the prompt Maxwell Lord decides it would be a great idea for the JLI (or Superbuddies if you prefer) to have a Secret Santa! Booster gets Beetle (or vise versa) and proceeds to stress out about what to get him. Bonus points for the rest of the gang getting hilariously terrible and/or adorably endearing presents. Had fun with this prompt, so I hope you enjoy!
The problem began when Max went to a Corporate Managers’ Convention. After attending workshop after workshop about bettering employee relations to better the workforce, he’d gotten it into his mind that the same touchy-feely mumbo jumbo that plagued cubicle workers nationwide would work for his team of superheroes.
It started with the team building activities based on monthly themes.
November had been “Gratitude is Great!” month, in which they were encouraged to be thankful for their teammates and fill out little ‘thank you!’ forms which were put into the “Sharing is Caring” box by the monitors.
Guy kept forging everyone’s signatures and writing out false forms for himself that read such detailed and explicit gratitudes as “Thank you Guy for being so sexy! I would like to see you personally in my room tonight” from “Ice” and “You should clearly be in charge, you’re so strong and powerful” from “Batman.”
Needless to say, the month caused more headaches than warm fuzzy feelings for the group and left them dreading December.
---------------------
On December 1st, when Max called a “friends meeting” (he’d adopted the term “friends” instead of “team” to help build solid working relationships) he entered the room with a flourish and a large upside down Santa hat.
“All right everyone, it’s time for December’s monthly theme. I’m hoping we can do this with less…immaturity than last month.”
Everyone’s eyes went to Guy who just glared back and shrugged. “What? I’m still telling ya, those were legit!”
Max cleared his throat. “We will be holding a Secret Santa gift exchange…”
Several people began to pipe up at that, but he cut them off by holding up a hand.
“Ah, sorry- I meant a Festive Friend exchange, to accommodate and stay open minded for those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas. We don’t want anyone’s religious beliefs being ignored, be they religions from other planets,” he made a nod to J’onn and Scott, “pagan or atheist beliefs,” he noted Ice and Booster respectively, “or…”
Beetle raised his hand with a grin. “For Hanukkah we receive a gift for each night, does that mean my Secret San-sorry, ‘Festive Friend’ - has to give me eight gifts?”
Max forced a smile, obviously trying to set an open-minded example. “That will be up to your Festive Friend, Beetle.”
“Well, if they want to be open to my religious beliefs…”
Pretending he didn’t hear Ted, Max carried on. “So each of you will draw a name and buy a gift for the person who you drew. Twenty five dollar maximum amount spent on the gift, so no buying big flashy things.”
Walking over to where Batman was brooding in his seat, Max held out the hat. “All right Batman, you have the honor of going first.”
Batman gave him a glare, but reluctantly shoved his gloved hand into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper. His eyes scanned over the name and he frowned.
“Max, I really don’t have time for this sort of thing. The sole reason I attended today was that you insisted it was an urgent matter.”
“As someone I’m sure everyone here looks up to,” Max said, giving Guy a warning look, “I was hoping you would set a pristine example for your fellow Justice League members. You’re always talking about how they need to work better together, aren’t you? This is a great opportunity to encourage that!”
Looking over to J’onn, Batman seemed to be holding a silent conversation with the martian, and he finally relented to Max’s used-car salesman like charisma.
“Fine. I will use it as an example.”
Max gave a smarmy smile to him, before holding the hat out to J’onn, who seemed equally concerned over the name he drew out.
One by one, Max let each of the eight gathered members pull out a name, until the hat was empty. Some seemed pretty pleased with their draw, but others…
Fire held up a hand before asking, “What if you have no idea what to get your person?”
“Consider this a learning opportunity to find out more about them,” Max explained, blustering out of the room before anyone else could protest. “Gifts are due next week, so get buying!”
With Max gone, it didn’t take long for Batman, Guy and J’onn to all excuse themselves from the room. Batman and J’onn, most likely going off to do important superhero work while Guy was off to his bedroom to do…well, no one really wanted to think about what Guy was up to.
This left the rest of them to commiserate over their draws.
“So we just buy anything we think they’ll like?” Booster asked.
“Well if you were lucky enough to get someone you know well enough,” Ice began, but quietly trailed off as she realized she might give something away.
“No use hiding it, I got Batman and I’m stumped,” Fire said with a huff. “I mean, what do you get Batman for a gift?”
“Cookies?” Scott suggested. “I mean, J’onn likes those Chocos so I was thinking perhaps…”
“Master of escape and yet so transparent about who you drew,” Ted teased, prodding Scott in the arm.
“Okay okay, I’m buying J’onn cookies. Who doesn’t like cookies? It’s a safe gift!”
“I don’t know…does Bats like cookies?” Booster queried.
“If anyone was going to hate cookies, it might be Batman…” Scott said.
“Well if he doesn’t like it, that’s just… how the cookie crumbles,” Beetle quipped.
Several at the table groaned.
“I’ll help you find something, Bea,” Ice said, giving her arm a pat. “Why don’t we go out shopping right now?”
As the two ladies left the table, Beetle glanced over to Booster and then glanced away quickly.
He had drawn Booster’s name and he was now internally panicking over what to get him. What did you get a man of the 25th century, anyways?
And so, Ted Kord began his week long ordeal to find that out.
-------------------------------------
He tried looking at every store he could think of. Clothing was…a horrible idea. And when it came to any sort of household product, Booster had advertised for so many that Ted was certain he either had a supply of the product or never wanted to see it ever again.
The fact was, most everything Ted could think of Booster ever once saying “I wish I had one of these…” was something that he already bought or was not yet invented in this time.
When he was at an electronics store, looking over the newest gadgets and goodies there, Ted realized just how pointless buying Booster any of these would be. He remembered how excited he’d been when CDs were introduced and Booster just seemed bemused and a little sad that the time he’d come to was so out of date in the music storage department.
That’s when Ted had an idea. A crazy, but desperate, last minute idea. He would try to make something that hadn’t yet been invented.
Using scraps leftover from KORD Inc. and his own personal inventions for Blue Beetle, Ted made a long list of everything he could remember Booster telling him about the future of digitalized music.
He knew it was portable, like a Walkman, but much smaller. It didn’t play cassettes or CDs, but had a small computer inside it that digitally stored the music. Something Booster called Mp13.
Thankfully, when it came to what kinds of music Booster liked, Ted at least had a pretty good idea on that. And so, with less than twenty four hours to go, he began his last ditch gift effort.
-------------------------------
After looking for Ted everywhere the next morning, Booster found him in his Beetle Cave in Hub City.
The poor guy looked super stressed; sleeping with his head pillowed atop his arms at his worktable, his goggles on crooked, burns and singes on his arms, and even his hair was looking a bit frazzled.
Whatever project he’d been up all night on had obviously been something super important, yet a very frustrating endeavor. The floor was littered with wads of scrapped designs and scrawled formulas written and rewritten on a nearby chalkboard were crammed on so small that the handwriting was almost illegible.
Then Booster noticed something that looked a lot like his cowl in one of the designs and, curiosity getting the best of him, he picked it up. This drawing seemed a bit more detailed than the rest, and unlike the majority, was lying on the desk, uncrumpled, rather than banished to the floor.
It was most definitely his cowl, no other, because Ted had taken the detailing to such levels that he’d also drawn Booster’s goggles, hair and piercing blue eyes- which were meticulously done and in color.
Something, he realized, Ted had drawn explicitly from memory. In fact, Booster thought with a flush rising to his cheeks, it was almost a candid portrait along with various technical specs written in the margins.
“Booster?”
He started, almost dropping the paper, at the sound of Ted’s groggy voice.
“What are you doing here, buddy?”
“Hey, Beetle. Just swinging by because you hadn’t shown up at Headquarters yet and I figured you’d rather I come pick you up than Bats,” he replied, quickly stuffing the paper onto Ted’s desk behind his back.
Ted blanched, glancing to a clock with alarm. “It’s tomorrow?!”
“Well, actually, it’s today so…”
He gave Booster a playful shove in the arm at that.
“Anyway, so Max thinks you’re skipping out on your gift-giving and I’m here to escort you there.”
At the word ‘gift,’ Ted looked horror stricken, then quickly glanced to the pile of papers on his worktable. There was a bump in them and he seemed relieved at that.
“Well, I’d um…” Ted ran a shaky hand up through his mussed hair, “Can I just give my gift now?”
Booster blinked, all the pieces clicking into place. “You… drew my name, didn’t you?”
Ted gave him a lopsided grin, and Booster noticed a smudge of grease on his cheek and had to repress the urge to reach out and wipe it off.
“Yeah and well, it’s kinda hard to buy something for someone from the future so…”
He rifled under the papers until he pulled out a small device, made in metallic shades of blue and gold.
“Here. It’s an…MP version…I don’t know, negative one or something? Portable music player, smaller than a Walkman and with digital music saved on a small computer inside the device. Is that right?”
His eyes held a look of slight concern, that he’d misremembered what Booster had told him about this future device or that it was still too primitive for Booster to be impressed.
What he didn’t expect is for Booster to speechlessly accept the gift, stick one of the miniature earphones into his ear and press the play button. The soft strains of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ played and Booster’s eyes went wide.
“You…”
Ted rubbed the side of his head, pushing his goggles up all the way. “Sorry if it’s not as technologically advanced as the MP13 player you used to have, but…”
Whatever he was about to say next was effectively cut off as Booster wrapped him in an embrace and planted a grateful kiss on Ted’s lips.
He pulled back grinning. “Beetle, you are a genius.”
“And you…” Ted blinked. “Just kissed me.”
It was Booster’s turn to look sheepish and awkward, his hand going up to rub at his ear nervously. “Aha, I just…did you know that you can draw me really well for not having a photo reference?” he finally blurted out.
Ted went pink. “What are you…”
Booster pulled the paper back off the desk, and held it up. “Probably the only image of me in this time that looks natural instead of a cheesy photo promotion. You…” he smiled gently, “really captured my real smile, you know?”
At that, Ted smiled timidly. “There’s more to you than the tabloids show, I know that Booster ole buddy.”
“So uh…” He nervously stepped forward, “I was thinking…”
Ted quirked a grin, his heart starting to race. “A dangerous pastime…”
“I know,” Booster shot back.
With matching dorky grins and red cheeks, Booster pulled up the other earpiece and slid it into Ted’s ear. “A little mood music, and then…”
“Are you going to seal this deal with a kiss?” Ted quipped.
Pushing up his own goggles, Booster reached out and wiped the smudge of grease off Ted’s cheek as he leaned in.
“Signed, sealed and…delivered.”
Whispering the last word against Ted’s lips, he captured them in a kiss, their goggles clattering together a bit against where they rested on their heads, but neither of them paid that any heed. And Ted inwardly thought that if this was how 25th century men thanked people for gifts, he’d really have to start giving Booster gifts more often.
-------------------------------------
Max was not pleased when both Booster and Beetle showed up extremely late to Headquarters that morning. They’d both made excuses about traffic and oversleeping alarms, but he just brushed that off.
“Oh and I already gave Booster his gift, so I’m off the hook,” Ted made sure to note, not about to make the gift itself public knowledge.
“And it was?” Max asked warily.
“Something that is best not disclosed in front of everyone,” Booster finished, giving Ted a grin.
The rest of the team rolled their eyes, figuring it was some porno magazines or pinups.
“Right,” Max said, turning to the others. “Well, most everyone here has already exchanged their gifts. We were just waiting on you Beetle.”
He glanced around to the others who were all seated at the table with a collection of odd gifts.
Batman and J’onn both had cookies. J’onn seemed pleased with his and Batman…actually seemed a bit touched. Fire had clothing that clearly Ice had picked out, because it was too well coordinated for any of the guys to have done it. Guy was scowling at a book on ‘Anger Management’ and demanding to know who had given it to him. When he did, Ted noticed Batman quirk the slightest of smirks and he had a feeling he knew.
Guy had given Ice something…really not fit for human eyes. Namely a folder full of lewd, nude photographs of himself. Fire was currently offering to torch it right then and there while Ice was trying not to throw-up her breakfast.
“So, who’d you give the gift to?’ Ted whispered to Booster.
Booster pointed to Scott, who was holding a book about understanding football.
“Ah nice one, it was getting embarrassing for Barda to understand the game better than he did.”
That’s when J’onn slid a package across the table to Ted.
“I don’t think this is much of a surprise, considering you’ve been loudly thinking what you wanted every time you walked past me this week.”
Beetle gave a sheepish grin. “Who me? Definitely not.”
But he tore open the paper to find the new Star Wars Atari game and fist-pumped in excitement. “Yes!”
“As for your seven other Hanukkah gifts,” J’onn continued and Ted looked hopeful. “I will politely forget everything I read from yours and Booster’s minds when you first arrived this morning.”
They both flushed at that, but Ted agreed that it was definitely worth seven days of gifts for that to go unmentioned.
As Max brought the meeting around to actual business, which was mostly just him going on about promotions and good marketing, Ted lulled his head over unto Booster’s shoulder.
No one seemed to find anything amiss about this, since many of them were trying hard not to doze off as Max droned on, but they didn’t realize that hidden under their cowls, Booster and Beetle weren’t hearing a word of Max’s speech.
For aside from one small cord running between then, which perhaps Batman noticed because he noticed everything, it just looked like Beetle was sleeping and Booster was staring into space. Because who would have ever expected they were sharing an Mp3 player made years and years before its time?
Ted gave Booster’s hand a squeeze under the table and a content smile crept onto his lips. Oh yeah, this was going to be the best invention ever.