[Christmas Eve 1923, St Louis]

Mordecai was not a fan of these holiday parties Atlas and Mitzi threw, too loud and just a bit more out of control than the regular nights at the speakeasy in his opinion, and if he could avoid attending then he would. But he was getting paid, so he had no choice. This year though, it was different.

Tonight he kept checking his pocket for the gift he had spent a good amount of money on and looking at the doors of the speakeasy frequently. Paloma still had yet to show up, but he wasn't even sure if she was even coming. If she wasn't, he could always give her the gift next time he saw her. He already gave Viktor the red tie to at least make sure he had a better wardrobe since he was insisting on wearing that hideous green sweater along with an awful colored scarf and hat, making him look like a rather awful looking Christmas tree. The doors of the speakeasy open and he immediately perks up, only to see it was some new guests coming in.

I suppose she isn't coming. He thinks with a shake of his head. Well I don't blame her, she'd want to spend this time with her grandfather and not leave him alone at this time of-

THUNK

Mordecai turned to the doors again to see someone had fallen and was trying to pick themselves up from the floor, dusting their clothes off and…oh. Paloma was busy trying to dust off the red and black flapper dress Mitzi most likely had given to her and wobbling around on the heels she was wearing. With an annoyed sigh, he hurries out of the VIP area to hurry over to the door as she is removing the shoes and her face lights up when she sees him.

“¡Cariñio!” Paloma exclaims when he reaches her. “I made it!”

“I can see that, what happened?” Mordecai asks.

“Oh the shoes, a little taller than I was used to, and the heel was a bit more narrow too so I was a bit unbalanced. Fell over a few times on my way into the cafe, Atlas ended up having to carry me inside and down the stairs.”

“Who gave you such ridiculous heels?”

“That would be me, the one often supplying your beau with proper and nicer dresses.” They hear Mitzi say as she and Atlas enter the speakeasy, arm in arm. “I'm sorry dear, perhaps you shouldn't wear those heels tonight.”

“Barefoot it is!” Paloma says cheerfully as she hands the older woman her shoes. “I'll take them back when I go home.”

“Well, I am glad you made it. I have something for you.” Mordecai says as they walk over to the bar.

“Oh me too!” Paloma says with a wide grin as they sit on the chairs. “I left it in my coat, Atlas has it. Do you want it now or later?”

“Perhaps later, but I do wish to give this to you, I think it goes quite well with your dress. A good coincidence.” Mordecai says as he removes the box from his pocket. He places it on the counter of the bar and slides it towards her, allowing the younger woman to pick it up and open it.

“Oh my- Mordecai! You didn't- how-” Paloma gasps as she pulls out a satin red cloth with gold clasps at the end, and dangling from the middle of it was a red gem encased in gold. “This…Dios mio, I don't know what to say!”

“Well judging by your reaction, you must like it.” Mordecai says with a shrug. “Couldn't find anything pink, so I went with your second favorite color, red.”

“You remembered!”

“Who'd forget that? Now turn, I'll put it on you.”

Paloma smiles as she turns, lifting her loose hair to expose the back of her neck to Mordecai. He carefully unclasped the necklace and looped it around her neck to unclasp the ends. Paloma then drops her hair and turns to face him, touching the pendant.

“So….how do I look?” She asks.

“It…it suits you.” Mordecai says softly as the band suddenly starts playing loudly on the stage.

“What?” Paloma yells, trying to be heard over the blaring trumpets and saxophones.

“I said it suits- oh nevermind!” Mordecai yells back. “Too loud!”

“Proud?”

“Loud!”

Shaking her head, Paloma grabs his hands and points to the dancefloor where several people had gathered and were either dancing by themselves or with a dance partner. Mordecai hastily shook his head, but Paloma’s grip tightened, a determined glint in her eyes as she managed to drag him away from the bar and onto the dancefloor.

“Dance! It's fun!” She yells over the music. “Try!”

“I can't dance!” Mordecai yells back.

“Can't or won't?” Paloma challenges as she takes his hand to put one on her waist and holds the other in her free hand. “Just try! Back, forth, back, forth, left, right, left, right!”

Mordecai struggles to follow along as several patrons bumped into him, forcing him to shift forward and accidentally step on Paloma’s bare feet one too many times. He could see her wincing in pain, but her grip on his hand and shoulder tightened, obviously determined to at least get through one song. The moment the band finished, Mordecai was dragging her back to the bar, out of breath and feeling very flustered and a bit bruised from all sides.

“Never…doing that…again.” He manages to say, trying to readjust his glasses that were skewered on his nose.

“Oh…sorry.” Paloma says, sounding a bit dejected and looks away. “I…nevermind. Hold on.”

Mordecai rubs his aching arms as Paloma hurries off, wondering what she needed to do. He felt bad, they've never danced together like this before and it was an absolute disaster. He did warn her he wasn't great at dancing and the last time he danced all he did was stand awkwardly while the young woman who tried to get him to dance with her just flailed her limbs about like a tree in a strong storm. But what was he to do? Hurt her feelings further as -”

“Here! For you!” He hears Paloma say as she suddenly shoves a velvet box in his face. Mordecai carefully takes it and opens it to find what looked like two silver cufflinks with dark green gems set in the middle. “Mitzi help me buy.”

“They look a little too fancy for someone of my position.” Mordecai comments as he takes one out of the box to examine it. “But I could wear them for special occasions, to avoid losing them. It'd be rude of me to lose them when they're my first gift from you.”

Paloma beams with pride and touches her necklace. “Then I'll do my best to not lose this.”

🌟🌟🌟

“Mordecai! Here, I have something for you!” The triggerman hears Mitzi call out as she enters the cafe with an envelope in hand.

“More paperwork?” He asks, grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth.

“Nope, consider this a late holiday gift from me.”

Mordecai takes the envelope and carefully opens it to find what looked like photographs in various sizes. Several featured him and Paloma, awkwardly dancing, some of the two of them with Viktor at the bar, and some were of just Paloma interacting with various people like Ruben, Ruben's daughter and Mitzi. 

“What are these for?” He asks with a frown.

“Oh just some photos I had developed, I thought you'd like one or two to keep at home in a frame.” Mitzi responds with a smile. “Specifically one of Paloma to keep on your person.”

“Why would I need a picture of her?” Mordecai asks. “I see her every day.”

“Well just in case, you know? Just cut her face out and slip it into a watch or even a locket.”

Mordecai feels his hand slip into his pocket and touches the watch, but quickly shakes his head. Mitzi shrugs and walks around the counter to enter the kitchen, leaving him alone with the photos. As he's gathering them to be put away, one photo slips out of the pile and falls to the floor. Mordecai quickly gets down to scoop it up, but pauses to examine it. This photo was smaller than the others and featured Paloma alone at the bar, smiling at whoever was taking her photo and holding her necklace up to show it off with a proud smile on her face. Perhaps…no…maybe…fine. He finds himself slipping the photo into the pocket of his vest, wondering if he was making the right choice.

Mordecai later finds himself at his apartment that night (or was it in the early hours of the morning?) at his desk with a small craft knife, his watch out and carefully cutting out that singular photo. He did end up taking the envelope of photos, but he gave them to Paloma and Viktor to keep, only taking that single photo he was now painstakingly attempting to cut. Once he was sure it was cut small enough to fit in his watch, he then carefully slides the photo into the watch and shuts it, brushing away the leftover paper. It seemed a bit foolish to do this sort of thing, but suppose it was better than keeping it in a wallet, losing it and having someone find it. Paloma would never know of this, and if she did, she'd probably tease him for it (lovingly of course).