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Tweak says, "Peanut butter jelly time!"

boy wonder (ohboywonder) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-12-16 17:11:00

Entry tags:

barbara gordon, dick grayson

WHO: Barbara Gordon & Dick Grayson
WHAT: Hallmark's Christmas Movie Countdown (can't believe they replace the Golden Girls with these tbh)
WHERE: Small Town, USA aka Wassail, Massachusetts. Yep. Wassail.
WHEN: Right here, right now
RATING: It's Hallmark not Lifetime

When Dick and Barbara took a trip through the doors, their intention had been to try to find a place that would be promising for doing a little Christmas shopping for their house and for each other and end the adventure with a dinner date. All in all, it sounded like a good time. They'd not taken a trip through the doors since their unfortunate encounter at that awful hotel a while back, so hopefully since they'd gotten that bad experience out of the way they'd wind up with a much better one this time. Balance, right? Sure. And if not, well, they were Batgirl and Night Wing. They could handle themselves and there was no one he'd rather be stuck in a tight spot with than Barbara Gordon.

When they went through the doors, however, things immediately changed.

---

Dick Grayson had long since come to appreciate the small town life. Orphaned very young by an untimely accident that cost his parents their lives, he'd been taken in by his grandmother and moved into the small town at just five years old. It'd been a rocky start, though. He was often the kid who got in trouble for acting out in school and getting into fights. He had a lot of broken pieces to his heart that took a long time to mend. Eventually, he came to appreciate the community and group effort it took to make a small town function. The town specialized in all things Christmas. Christmas trees, Christmas cookies, wreaths, ornaments, stockings. It was a thing. They didn't call it Wassail, Massachusetts for nothing.

That was why Dick had struggled with being there in the earlier years of his life. He didn't want to celebrate Christmas or be immersed in holiday spirit after losing his parents, who'd both been big Christmas enthusiasts. His grandmother owned the bakery that produced cookies fresh everyday, for the town and nationwide because their town was kind of a kitschy find for people who really liked Christmas. Dick had hated it until he was about sixteen years old. He was a hard nut to crack, but insert Barbara Gordon into the equation and everything changed for him. He'd fallen madly in love with her, and yes, with Christmas.

But being young and in love was hard, and she had big dreams. Dreams that took her away from the town that Dick was tightly connected to. He felt he was holding her back by not wanting to leave, so he did the only thing he knew how to do. He let her go. It had him regressing back into his more closed off ways from his childhood, but he still had his Christmas spirit.

Now in his late twenties, he was the one running the bakery as his grandmother was aging and couldn't keep up with all the orders anymore. Dick was just finishing baking a tray of sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles baked into them to put out for anyone passing by; a tradition his grandmother started that he continued. You didn't have to buy cookies to eat them, as far as she was concerned and Dick was upholding that train of thought. He arranged them in the shape of a Christmas tree, then turned to his cousin who was also working that day. "I've gotta run to the market to get more four and sprinkles," he said. "Back in a little bit."

Dick swung his scarf around his neck and pulled on his coat, then stepped out onto the sidewalk and headed toward the market.

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batgirlbabs
2019-12-17 05:00 am UTC (link)

She'd had big dreams, she was going to accomplish things, and well - because she was Barbara Gordon she had done exactly that. She'd moved away from Wassail when she was still a teenager and gone to college, she'd gotten her degree and then she'd gotten to work and had been rising up the corporate ladder ever since, but part of her wondered if this was exactly the thing she'd been chasing when she'd left behind her town and the first boy she'd ever loved in search of something more.

"This is a great opportunity Barbara," Felix had said, "Just think about it, take the holiday, and then let me know." It was a big deal, a managerial position but it would mean leaving the country. Leaving her family, and her friends, the life she knew - and for what? To work just as hard at the same thing she was doing in another country? But this was the way things were done, wasn't it? That's what she told herself. But she wasn't so sure.

Maybe that was why she went home that Christmas, she'd gotten in the habit of staying away over the holidays, first because she'd been too homesick to go back without the fear that she wouldn't leave, and then later because she had other things to do, and then because work was always tugging at her. But now she had time, and she needed the break, so she'd packed a couple of bags and made the drive back home, right back to her old bedroom in her dad's house. He was ecstatic she was back for the holidays, and had made up her room like she'd never left it before. It had been a little much and Barbara had needed to get out of the house.

Which was how she ended up walking down old familiar streets, trying to clear her head when she saw him. Dick Grayson. The first boy she'd ever loved, probably the only if she was being honest, nothing had ever really felt right since him. She needed to avoid him right? She couldn't just say hi, it would be awkward, too awkward, she should just save them both the trouble - of course that was exactly the sort of thinking that tended to get her in trouble and just as she'd started to spin to try and avoid him catching sight of her, she stepped on a small patch of ice, just enough to have her foot flying out from under her and her arms going up as she was suddenly falling, a cry on her lips as she went toppling toward the pavement.

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ohboywonder
2019-12-17 01:28 pm UTC (link)

Dick had big dreams. Or at least, they'd been big for him. Simple, probably, to most. He once thought he'd leave Wassail as soon as he was old enough to go out on his own. Things changed when he not only fell in love with the town, but also when his grandmother's health conditions shifted into not being the greatest. He felt it was his place to step in, to be a fixture in the town and stay put. That didn't mean it was the same for his first love, Barbara, and he couldn't expect it to be. Letting her go had left his heart cracked. The pieces were still there, but just barely split apart. He could smile, be happy, even go on dates here and there, but there was still something that was missing. Someone.

And that someone, apparently, was much closer than he thought. Dick heard the sound of someone cry out and turned, just in time to see her fall. Without even thinking he ran over to her and knelt down on the ground. "Babs -- Barbara, are you okay?" He helped her sit up. "Let me help you." And soon he was helping her stand again. The familiar feel of her warmth, the weight of her body in his arms, the scent of her hair. Damn. He wasn't over her at all. Not even the slightest bit, no matter how much he told himself he was. She hadn't even spoken yet but he knew the sound of her voice would get him, too.

"H-Hey," he said, a boyish smile appearing on his lips.

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batgirlbabs
2019-12-19 03:48 am UTC (link)

It was not the subtle retreat she'd meant it to be, far from it in fact, since it ended up with her on the ground and Dick right there in front of her helping her up from the ground while she caught her breath. "Yeah, yeah I'm -" She started and stopped shaking her head at herself. "I'm fine," She promised him, "Thank you." She'd told herself a long time ago she was over him, that she was okay with leaving the town because if she was going to accomplish her dreams she'd need to get out of this place, but being back here again and face to face with Dick Grayson again, she wasn't so sure she had ever actually believed that.

"Hi." She couldn't help but smile back, all this time and he was still as sweetly charming as ever. She wanted to throw her arms around him again and hold on to him tightly. "Sorry this was - I didn't." She rolled her eyes at herself. "I didn't expect to see you." She settled on finally.

"You look good," She said and then her eyes went wide before she continued, "I mean like you're doing well these days. I heard you've been taking on more responsibility at the bakery." She felt a little bit like she had so many years ago, back when she was still just a little bit more than a kid, and so starry eyed over him that she just said whatever came into her head.

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ohboywonder
2019-12-20 03:12 pm UTC (link)

When Dick woke up that morning, he certainly wasn't expecting to run into the girl he'd fallen in love with so long ago. He'd tried time and time again to convince himself that he'd moved on. He'd dated other women, even enjoyed their company. But there was always something missing. Was running into Barbara some sort of sign?

He could tell she was going through a myriad of conflicting thoughts that were probably similar to his own. Should he hug her? Should he engage in conversation? Should he just help her up and be on his way? If she was going to be in town, then there was no way he wasn't going to run into her again. The town had like five streets.

"Oh, um, yeah," he said, and let out a little laugh -- why did he laugh? Where had that come from? He'd gotten shy all of the sudden and that felt weird. Was he nervous to see her? It felt kind of like he should impress her somehow. She'd gone off to do a great many things and he'd stayed here. What did he have to show for it?

"I mean, taking over for Gram wasn't what I was expecting to do but it's been good," he said. "You look good too, I mean, I'm sure you've had a lot going on out there in the world." He felt so dumb. Why was it that Barbara Gordon had the unspoken ability to render him so stupid?

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batgirlbabs
2019-12-27 09:40 pm UTC (link)

The both of them, they were a mess, Barbara could see that much as she and Dick both fumbled over what to say - like they were trying to decide what the best course of action was in this moment. Whether it was a run and hide sort of thing or if bravery was the better option, but really what other option was there when it came to Dick? As much as Barbara was certain she was going to embarrass herself, she wanted to see him again, and talk to him, and spend time with him. So there she was searching for how to not say exactly that but something close.

"Of course it's good," She agreed easily when he agreed that his upward shift hadn't quite been planned but was working out for him. "You've been helping out there forever, it'll be good for you to have more responsibility over it all." And with Dick at the helm things were no doubt going to be getting even better for them. Even though he'd never left the way Barbara had he was young and had all sorts of ideas that would help them out that much more, she was sure of it.

"It's been - well it's been busy," She admitted with a soft laugh, so much more than she had ever thought it was, she wasn't sure any of it had been worth it. Not now that she was looking at him again.

"But that's the way things are these days, aren't they?" She shrugged, "There's always something going on, always some new project, or deadline to meet." Nothing like the life she'd left here. "It's nice to have some time off though, to get back home for a little while."

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ohboywonder
2019-12-31 01:45 am UTC (link)

It was kind of a double edged sword, wasn't it? Dick had carefully placed Barbara into the position of being the one who got away. That great love of his life he saw a future with, but life got in the way and kind of pushed them apart. It hurt like hell to say that, and he'd spent a long time nursing his broken heart, but he knew letting her go was what he had to do at the time because he didn't want to hold her back. That could lead to resentment and that wasn't something he wanted her to ever feel toward him. And it wasn't as though he'd just given her permission to go. Their relationship wasn't like that. She was her own person. It was just, he hadn't tried to stop her even though he wished things had been different.

It hurt to see her again, to reopen those wounds. Dick wasn't sure they'd ever actually healed, but they weren't as raw anymore. At the same time, he was nothing short of jovial to see her. He wanted to wrap her up in a hug and a kiss and spin her around. But instead he just.. kept the conversation going and kept his hands to himself.

"That's great, never a dull moment then," Dick said. He could appreciate the reasons people might like that, but he thought it meant missing out on stopping and taking a moment to enjoy the little things. "So you're going to be here for a while, then? Through the holidays?"

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