Birthday fic for Booster and Shel!
Title: For the Girl Who Has Everything
Fandom:DC (Boostle)
Characters: Booster/Ted, Shel, Mrs. Carter, OC (Shel's computer)
Rating: PG
Summary: Ted needs to buy Shel a birthday present, but unfortunately has no idea what to get. Set in the same universe as Natural History, but slightly after.
Author's Note: Written for Booster and Shel's birthday.
It was Mike’s sixteenth birthday, which meant it was Shel’s sixteenth birthday, which meant Ted had to buy two presents, one of which was, obviously, for a girl. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be so bad, except that the girl was from the future and he had no romantic interest in her outside of bizarre and kinky scenarios that would never, ever happen and were hardly worth thinking about, not even late at night when nobody else was home, because those kinds of thoughts could only lead to trouble and unimaginable embarrassment.
Which was why he was sitting in the kitchen, talking to Ellen Carter about all of this. He couldn’t ask Mike, because that would be weird. It would beg the question of Mike’s birthday present, and even if Mike didn’t ask it, it would lie there, unspoken and awkward. He knew he was not supposed to ask him what he wanted for his birthday, because he was somehow supposed to know. And he did know, which was why he wasn’t sitting there fretting over Mike’s birthday present. Shel, on the other hand, was a conundrum-everything he could think of was either too girlfriend-y or just kind of awful. It didn’t help that she had nearly every movie and album on her floating robot-computer, even the truly bad ones and stuff that hadn’t been made yet. So, of course, he had solicited help from the one person that he was socially permitted to solicit help from: their mother. Every year, his mother would ask him what he wanted for his birthday, with the understanding that some of his requests would make their way to the various relatives that didn’t really have time to figure it out for themselves. The Carters, however, had no relatives (at least, none that actually knew they were related) in this century, and Ellen had taken it upon herself to spoil the twins rotten now that she had the means to do so.
“I bought her everything she wanted,” she said. “It only seemed fair, now that we have the money. Fifteen years of disappointment to make up for, you know.”
“Seriously?” asked Ted. “Everything? Even the stuff you put in that you know your parents won’t get you, but it won’t hurt to ask, or the stuff you put in as a joke, like a private plane or something?”
“Shel didn’t ask for a private plane,” laughed Ellen. “Some new clothes, a necklace or two, a bag for her field hockey stick-nothing too expensive. Mike, on the other hand…”
“What kind of clothes?” he asked. “Shirts? A dress? Some jeans? What size is she?”
“With all due respect, Mr. Kord,” came a clipped female voice from somewhere behind him, “I would hardly trust you, of all people, to purchase Michelle’s clothes.”
It was Roxie, the very same floating computerbot that kept him from buying her a nice cassette tape. A red light flashed in a curiously disapproving manner, as if she was looking meaningfully at his outfit. It was not unlike being scrutinized by a tiny floating Shel, if Shel had been both metallic and pink. Ted fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Roxie can help you,” said Ellen. “She probably knows more about Shel than I do! You kids and your computers,” she gave a little laugh before realizing her mistake. “I mean-”
“I know what you mean,” said Ted, who had built himself a personal computer when he was nine years old. “Thanks for helping me.”
“Of course,” she beamed. “If there’s anything you need, just let me know.”
“I will, thanks,” said Ted. Then, to Roxie, “What does Shel like? Aside from field hockey and tall guys. What should I get her?”
Roxie made a sighing noise (which was weird, but Ted chalked it up the Turing test, and made a mental note to research speech patterns and AI).
“Let’s take a look, shall we?”
When the 29th rolled around, Ted eagerly presented his gifts to both twins. Mike accepted his with gleeful enthusiasm (“It’s signed by Walter Peyton! No way!”), practically crushing Ted in a tight embrace. Shel waited patiently while the hug turned into a kiss, and contented herself with rolling her eyes while Ted hummed happily into Mike’s mouth. It wasn’t until they broke apart that she tore off the wrapping paper, shooting Mike a look while she opened the little box.
“Oh, Ted!” she squealed. “I love it!”
She gave him a quick hug and took out the bracelet.
“Thanks so much!” she said, slipping it on her wrist. “Here, look,” she waved it in Mike’s face. “Isn’t it awesome?”
Mike looked. On her wrist was a simple leather band, but set in the middle was a little golden star.
Fandom:DC (Boostle)
Characters: Booster/Ted, Shel, Mrs. Carter, OC (Shel's computer)
Rating: PG
Summary: Ted needs to buy Shel a birthday present, but unfortunately has no idea what to get. Set in the same universe as Natural History, but slightly after.
Author's Note: Written for Booster and Shel's birthday.
It was Mike’s sixteenth birthday, which meant it was Shel’s sixteenth birthday, which meant Ted had to buy two presents, one of which was, obviously, for a girl. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be so bad, except that the girl was from the future and he had no romantic interest in her outside of bizarre and kinky scenarios that would never, ever happen and were hardly worth thinking about, not even late at night when nobody else was home, because those kinds of thoughts could only lead to trouble and unimaginable embarrassment.
Which was why he was sitting in the kitchen, talking to Ellen Carter about all of this. He couldn’t ask Mike, because that would be weird. It would beg the question of Mike’s birthday present, and even if Mike didn’t ask it, it would lie there, unspoken and awkward. He knew he was not supposed to ask him what he wanted for his birthday, because he was somehow supposed to know. And he did know, which was why he wasn’t sitting there fretting over Mike’s birthday present. Shel, on the other hand, was a conundrum-everything he could think of was either too girlfriend-y or just kind of awful. It didn’t help that she had nearly every movie and album on her floating robot-computer, even the truly bad ones and stuff that hadn’t been made yet. So, of course, he had solicited help from the one person that he was socially permitted to solicit help from: their mother. Every year, his mother would ask him what he wanted for his birthday, with the understanding that some of his requests would make their way to the various relatives that didn’t really have time to figure it out for themselves. The Carters, however, had no relatives (at least, none that actually knew they were related) in this century, and Ellen had taken it upon herself to spoil the twins rotten now that she had the means to do so.
“I bought her everything she wanted,” she said. “It only seemed fair, now that we have the money. Fifteen years of disappointment to make up for, you know.”
“Seriously?” asked Ted. “Everything? Even the stuff you put in that you know your parents won’t get you, but it won’t hurt to ask, or the stuff you put in as a joke, like a private plane or something?”
“Shel didn’t ask for a private plane,” laughed Ellen. “Some new clothes, a necklace or two, a bag for her field hockey stick-nothing too expensive. Mike, on the other hand…”
“What kind of clothes?” he asked. “Shirts? A dress? Some jeans? What size is she?”
“With all due respect, Mr. Kord,” came a clipped female voice from somewhere behind him, “I would hardly trust you, of all people, to purchase Michelle’s clothes.”
It was Roxie, the very same floating computerbot that kept him from buying her a nice cassette tape. A red light flashed in a curiously disapproving manner, as if she was looking meaningfully at his outfit. It was not unlike being scrutinized by a tiny floating Shel, if Shel had been both metallic and pink. Ted fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Roxie can help you,” said Ellen. “She probably knows more about Shel than I do! You kids and your computers,” she gave a little laugh before realizing her mistake. “I mean-”
“I know what you mean,” said Ted, who had built himself a personal computer when he was nine years old. “Thanks for helping me.”
“Of course,” she beamed. “If there’s anything you need, just let me know.”
“I will, thanks,” said Ted. Then, to Roxie, “What does Shel like? Aside from field hockey and tall guys. What should I get her?”
Roxie made a sighing noise (which was weird, but Ted chalked it up the Turing test, and made a mental note to research speech patterns and AI).
“Let’s take a look, shall we?”
When the 29th rolled around, Ted eagerly presented his gifts to both twins. Mike accepted his with gleeful enthusiasm (“It’s signed by Walter Peyton! No way!”), practically crushing Ted in a tight embrace. Shel waited patiently while the hug turned into a kiss, and contented herself with rolling her eyes while Ted hummed happily into Mike’s mouth. It wasn’t until they broke apart that she tore off the wrapping paper, shooting Mike a look while she opened the little box.
“Oh, Ted!” she squealed. “I love it!”
She gave him a quick hug and took out the bracelet.
“Thanks so much!” she said, slipping it on her wrist. “Here, look,” she waved it in Mike’s face. “Isn’t it awesome?”
Mike looked. On her wrist was a simple leather band, but set in the middle was a little golden star.