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"Ho ho ho! And what do you want for Christmas Cassie?"
The little girl stared up at Santa with big bright eyes and a shy little smile, and Blitz felt his heart grow three sizes bigger
"I really really want a kitty Santa," she answered
"Mommy said I can have one and I want one really badly,"
Blitz's heart was breaking, hell he wanted to go out and round up every cat in the tri-state area and give her all the kitties
....But it wasn't up to him
After all, he wasn't Santa
Sighing, he forced a smile and cleared his throat, adjusting the camera
"Are we ready for our picture? Smile!!"
Santa chuckled, hugging Cassie as she smiled, two of her baby teeth missing and her eyes full of hope and joy, and as Blitz snapped the picture, he felt his heart shatter
Goddammit he was jealous
Jealous of Santa, jealous of the parents, he wanted kids and couldn't wait to have them, and doing this job- playing Santa's photographing elf- was only making his baby fever intensify
"Ok, one more and then Santa is going to take a break," Blitz announced to the line behind him, a few disappointed sighs and irritated groans coming from the crowd as it started to disperse, but then, as if Blitz was being personally tested, the last kid of the hour was delivered to Santa- a tiny child who couldn't possibly have been more than a month old, curled up and asleep, wearing an amazingly elaborate little gold dress for her size, a little golden headband around her head, Blitz could feel his heart constricting
Taking a breath, he forced a smile and stepped back behind the camera
"One... two... three!"
The picture snapped, and he watched longingly as the infant's mother picked her up and returned her to her stroller
From there it was low level chaos- Blitz and his elf colleague getting the last of the family pictures handed out and sold before roping off Santa's Meet And Greet area, putting out the "On Break" sign and starting to break down a few peices of the set that would need to be put away for safe keeping until Santa came back
"Hey Blitz, I'm taking my break too, you good?"
Blitz just nodded, sighing quietly to himself
"Yep, see ya' Sam,"
The other gave a small wave as he and Santa slipped off towards the back of the mall so they could have a break, leaving Blitz alone for the time being to finish break down and guard the set by himself
Of-fucking-course....
Grabbing one of the free candy canes from the bowl next to him, Blitz sighed, starting to fidget with the packaging and muttering to himself
"Gee Blitz, why do you have a job that tortures you so much? Are you really that much of a masochist?" he mocked to himself
"Yeah but I decided instead of nipple clamps I'd just do this,"
Pausing, he suddenly sensed a presence behind him and turned around.... then looked down, finding a toddler standing in front of him, staring up at him with gigantic amber eyes
".....Oh..... hi sweetie," he smiled awkwardly, perking at the sound of a shout coming from behind him
"Octavia!!"
Wow
Despite looking like a distressed, angusihed mess, the guy suddenly rushing towards Blitz was beautifull
Long silver hair, the same bright amber eyes as the little girl, tall- like fucking supermodel tall- with delicate, almost feminine features...
"I am SO sorry," he rushed out, hurrying to scoop up the child and earning Blitz's full attention in response
"I glanced away for ONE second and she had climbed out of her stroller-"
"It's fine, happens all the time," Blitz promised, watching the man sigh with releif, apparently just the knowledge that Blitz wasn't judging him was enough to put him at ease- well....that, and having his kid back probably
"Still, I'm so sorry," he sighed again, biting his lip with seeming hesitation as he glanced over Blitz's shoulder at the empty chair behind him
"Um-"
"Santa's on break," Blitz noted, leaning against his tripod
"He'll be back in an hour,"
"Oh, thank you for telling me," the stranger smiled back shyly, reaching down to set Octavia back in the stroller, but he didn't get the chance, the little girl wiggling out of his grasp and hopping back over to Blitz, much to the confusion of both men
But Blitz worked with kids all the time, so naturally, he crouched down and tilted his head
"What's up princessa?"
Smiling shyly, the little girl reached up, pulling at the headband of reindeer antlers he was wearing, starting to giggle a little as the jingle bells started to jingle
"Oh, you like that?"
Octavia giggled, grinning a little bit brighter and jingling the headband again
Wordlessly, Blitz took it off and allowed the little girl to play with it, amused by her constant giggles of joy
"Wow,"
Surprised by the word, Blitz jerked his attention back towards the stranger, who's eyes were wide and who's face was filled with surprise of his own
"You're.... quite good with children, aren't you?"
"Kinda have to be, it's my job after all," Blitz shrugged back
Although, that wasn't entirely true, Blitz had known several elves who weren't so "naturally gifted" with kids or who just outright didn't like them, but perhaps it would have been better said that for his job you should be good with kids, not that you had to be
"I suppose that's a good point," the stranger smiled back awkwardly, bending down to pick up the toddler again, who seemed content with it now that she had Blitz's headband
"Here, this is your's-"
"No no keep it," Blitz insisted quickly
"I've got a dozen of 'em in my locker,"
The stranger only smiled again, face turning pink as he carefully set Octavia back in her stroller
"Then.... thank you very much, I um.... you said an hour right? I suppose we'll have to find something else to do until then,"
For the most part, Blitz loved kids, but hated adults
Adults were rude and stuck up and quick to discriminate and just all around terrible people, that's how he saw it anyway, and given his job centered around Christmas, he admittedly did often tend to see the worst parts of people, but still, the point was, he hated adults, he rarely went out of his way for them
....But every once in a wile.....
"This place will fill up pretty quick, being so close to Christmas," he noted suddenly, pulling the stranger's attention back to him
"You uh... should stick around so you can be first in line,"
"You wouldn't mind?"
Blitz only shook his head, finally unwrapping the candy cane and sticking it in his mouth
"There's an ice cream place over that way, if you want, you can just get ice cream and chill over here,"
There was a small area right in front of Santa's Meet And Greet of chairs and tables, assumedly for people who indeed wanted ice cream, it wouldn't be a problem for the kid and her father- or atleast who Blitz assumed was her father- to stay there for the next hour or so
"Really? You're sure?"
"Dude, it's not like I own the mall, it's fine," he insisted with a small smirk, earning a bright, cheerfull look from the other man
"Via, do you want ice cream?"
The toddler paused suddenly in her shaking of Blitz's hat, turning her attention up to the other and beaming
"Oreo!"
"Yes I thought you might want that one," he chuckled, glancing back up at Blitz
"We'll be right back then, thank you,"
"Yep, no problema," Blitz nodded, unable to stop himself from smiling juuuust a little as he went back to double checking the camera and sucking on his candy cane
Usually he hated breaks, they were the fucking worst, when all of the tiredness settled into his bones and the loneliness ate away at his soul as he looked around at the crowds of people with their kids and their partners and everyone else....
But he was ok for right now, he felt pretty good for the moment, something about that stranger giving him a little company felt oddly... promising...
"I'm Blitz, by the way," he introduced as soon as he caught sight of the little girl and her caretaker again
The silver-haired man smiled back, setting his ice cream down on the table and reaching out to shake Blitz's hand
"Stolas, a pleasure to meet you,"
"Pleasure's mine," Blitz nodded, taking his hand
His very soft, gentle hand....
"I take it this little angel is Octavia?" he added, glancing down at the toddler, who seemed content to be focused on her ice cream, though Blitz's hat was tucked protectively under her arm the entire time
....
That hat wasn't going to live to see the morrow, was it?
"That's right, my special little starfire," Stolas absolutely preened, wich, naturally, instantly made Blitz's heart melt
"Awww, well that's just sweet enough to give me diabetes, I take it you're her dad?"
"That I am," Stolas confirmed with a nod, settling down at the table, though he seemed more interested in talking to Blitz than eating his ice cream
"Is your partner coming in later?" Blitz asked curiously, his focus turning to Santa's chair, wich needed to be straightened out and rearranged before the next block of meet-and-greets started
"Oh it's... just me now," Stolas corrected, face a bit pink as he started digging at his ice cream
"...Oh.... uh... sorry to hear that-"
"No it's fine," Stolas promised quickly
"Really, this is for the better, I assure you,"
Yeah... Blitz definitely could understand that, he'd had a couple of "for the better"s himself...
"I get that," he promised softly
"I uh... hope you two are doing ok though?"
"Oh we're fine, we're going to have a nice Christmas, just the two of us, right darling?"
Octavia, who was half-way through a cup of cookies and cream already, nodded in agreement
"She's a bit shy, she doesn't speak much yet," Stolas informed
Blitz understood that too, part of him wanted to comment that in a situation like her's, that was pretty normal, but quickly thought better of it and kept it to himself
"Nothing to worry about there, just because I came outta the womb mid-sentence doesn't mean everybody has to,"
Stolas chuckled a little, licking another spoonfull of ice cream
"So just in case she clams up in front of Santa," he noted, crouching down in front of Octavia, who's eyes were freshly glued to him now
"What do you want for Christmas princessa?"
Octavia was quiet for a moment, fidgeting a little, before quietly responding
"Space"
"Space?" Blitz echoed, a bit surprised
Oh, don't get him wrong, he'd heard just about everything from pet dolphins to trips to Mars to real live Gremlins to one kid who really wanted a 401K- wich had amused her mother so much that her mother had nearly been in tears over it- but space was still a new one for him
Still, Blitz never denied a kid their wish, no matter how outlandish it was or how impossible it may be to grant
"Space," Octavia nodded again, staring at Blitz hopefully, as though desperately praying that he would understand
"I think Santa can pull some stars out of his bag," he promised with a wink, watching in delight as Octavia's face absolutely lit up, beyond thrilled to have heard the information
"She's really into all things cosmic," Stolas explained fondly
"Oh really? Wouldn't happen to be because her daddy's into all things cosmic too would it?" Blitz guessed, earning a surprised look from Stolas
"How did you know?"
Snickering to himself, Blitz gestured to Stolas's chest, prompting the other to look down and laugh shyly, face a bit pink as he realized that he was wearing a space themed Christmas sweater featuring a fair isle solar system pattern with little working lights that blinked to create stars
"Well you've got me there,"
"Thought I might've," Blitz teased
"Speaking of, what do you want for Christmas little boy?" he asked teasingly
"Me?" Stolas asked in surprise, blinking, before pressing his finger to his chin in thought
"Well.... I suppose I would want Octavia-"
"No no, nothing about Octavia," Blitz interrupted
"I've already heard her Christmas wish, I want something for you- just you, nothing about the kid, nothing about anyone else, just you alone,"
"...Wow," Stolas said quietly, rubbing his neck a bit
"It's.... been a long time since something hasn't been about Octavia, not that I mind at all, it's just something that happens when you have children,"
"I've heard as much," Blitz nodded
"I have this asshole ex- oops-... uh.... butthead ex... who used to tell me that was why I'd never have kids, 'cause I wouldn't be able to stand them getting all the attention,"
That memory gnawed at him viciously, like a hideous, festering scab that he couldn't stop picking at, he tried not to let it hurt but.... fuck, he just couldn't stop it from stinging....
"I'd learn though," he added quietly, almost somberly
"I'd learn how to be fine with that,"
Besides, it wasn't like he got alot of attention as things were now anyway
"You will," Stolas agreed encouragingly, his voice soft and sympathetic
"I used to worry about the same thing to be honest, but trust me, that sort of thing isn't even going to be at the forefront of your mind once you have children, they become your world and little insignificant things like that really don't matter anymore,"
Blitz found himself smiling, his heart beating a little bit faster
It was rare that he had any actual encouragement from people when it came to the concept of having kids- too many complaints, too many criticisms, too many times of being told he wouldn't be able to handle it, it was.... nice to hear something so positive for once
"W-Well uh..."
Pausing, Blitz cleared his throat, trying to refocus on the task at hand
"So, what is it you want for Christmas?"
Stolas glanced down at his ice cream, dragging his spoon back and forth a little, clearly putting alot of thought into his answer
"I'm sure it sounds silly..." he prefaced softly
"I know it isn't really a material wish like what you're probably looking for but.... I... really want companionship,"
"Like a dog?" Blitz guessed
"No no, just.... like I said, it sounds silly but... I just feel.... quite lonely sometimes... don't get me wrong, I love Octavia more than I could ever put into words and she's the most important part of my life but... I do often find myself wishing for freinds, a community, a.... partner.... I'm an artist so I don't even have co-workers and it just gets so lonesome sometimes..."
Yeah...... Blitz understood
He worked in an industry that was filled with people, he was constantly around them- half of them he couldn't even stand to begin with- and yet.....
He understood Stolas's feelings better than he ever wanted to admit
"I've only recently moved here from England," Stolas continued
"I suppose maybe with time I'll make freinds but I'm... not entirely sure...."
"Why'd you move?" Blitz asked curiously
"Mostly to get away from my ex," Stolas huffed, taking another bite of his ice cream, seemingly not prepared to continue
"....Don't worry," Blitz promised quietly
"I'm sure you'll get your Christmas wish,"
Stolas raised a brow, lips ticking up a little bit
"What makes you so sure?"
Blitz forced a little bit more of a smile
"I just.... have a good feeling about it, that's all,"
~+~
"And this is why we don't try to grant Christmas wishes for adults,"
Blitz gave a full-body eyeroll, huffing as he leaned back in his chair
"Oh for fuck's sake, shove it,"
Vaggie glared at Blitz, but he tried to pay her no mind, shifting a little as he refocused his attention on the only person in the room that currently mattered- Santa Claus
The new Santa Claus specifically- the much thinner, blonder, girlier Santa Claus than the one who had come before her
....
Well, not really, the last Santa- Charlie's father- had been pretty thin and blonde too
...And kind of girly now that he thought about it, not that he had seemed to mind, he'd been the type to laugh at the concept of gender, an attitude Blitz could very much get on board with
"Well Princess? What'd'ya' think?"
Charlie hissed a little, standing on the tips of her toes as she tossed another bag into the back of the sleigh
"I don't know.... I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to help, I really, really do! I just... don't really know how... I mean it isn't like we can sculpt actual people in our workshop," she pointed out, much to Blitz's dismay
"Yeah but can't you figure out something?" he urged
Charlie gave him a soft, sympathetic smile as she climbed down from the ladder and made her way closer to him, reaching out to take his hand and give it a light squeeze
"I'm sorry, I really don't know.... but I want to help! I really really do! So if you can come up with something, I'm all ears, promise,"
Blitz nodded, his shoulders sagging with disappointment
He couldn't explain why, but he really wanted to fullfill Stolas's Christmas wish, it was so rare- almost never- that he ever felt anything close to compassion for adults, but Stolas had really hit a chord with him and he felt.... bad... thinking about Stolas continuing to feel so lonely and isolated, especially as there was really no guarantee that things would get any better for him down the road...
He sighed, resting his head sadly on his fist as he tried to come up with an idea
Christmas was only a few days away....
How was he going to pull this off?
~+~
"Shit, you look like you just lost your best freind, but I'm right here,"
Blitz glanced over his shoulder, but couldn't even manage to smile at his freind
"Hey Fizz,"
"Wow," Fizzarolli hissed, jumping onto the work table in front of Blitz and shaking his head, the bells on his jester hat jingling from the motion
"You must really being feeling like ass, what? Did my leaving you little elves really hurt the business that much?"
"Well it isn't like it's been easy to replace you," Blitz grumbled back, trying not to lean into the touch as Fizz started petting his head fondly
"Toy designers aren't exactly easy to come by,"
Fizz had left Christmas Town months ago to become an up-and-coming star of Halloween Town, but in his absence, Christmas Town found it's self lacking a toy designer that they hadn't quite managed to replace yet
Elves had far more roles than just the typical depictions of building toys in the workshop- they had to take care of various aspects of the North Pole, from regular caretaking like cooking, retail, housing construction, and childcare services, to more Christmas and Santa specific jobs like caring for the reindeer, helping Santa with correspondence, and managing various aspects of Christmas Magic, but one of the most special jobs was toy making, not just anyone could fill that sort of role after all, and when Fizz had left, he'd created an opening that they just hadn't found anyone to fill yet
Making matters worse, Fizz's role as a designer hadn't been in something as easily learnable as mechanics or sculpting, it had been as an artist specifically, and although elves were often naturally gifted in creativity and the arts- well, seemingly except for Blitz-, the North Pole was short on hands as it was, they needed new blood to get pumped into the place and didn't have the luxury of waiting another several years until some of the kids were old enough to start taking over positions...
It was as those thoughts were swirling in his head that Blitz suddenly got an idea, his head jerking up, startling Fizz a little bit
"Um... Blitz? What-?"
"I've gotta go," he said suddenly, hurrying to his feet and racing out of the workshop, Fizz only barely managing to scramble after him
"Blitz!! Hey wait! What the fuck man?!?"
But Blitz didn't have time to answer, not if he was going to put his plan into motion
He just hoped Charlie would go for it....
~+~
"Wow, that's quite a solar system isn't it?"
A musical solar system that spun around, lit up, and told random facts about the stars, that was quite a unique gift, funny enough though, Stolas didn't even remember buying it, but it must have been him, he and Octavia weren't in contact with any of the relatives anymore, so he must have bought it some time ago and simply forgotten about it until now....
Huh....
Octavia was all smiles, beaming brightly as she immediately grabbed at the box, pulling a joyous laugh from Stolas as he set her on the floor and reached under the tree for another gift to open
However, before he could put his hands on anything, the sound of the doorbell caught his attention, pulling him to his feet as curiosity ran through his mind
Who could that be...?
"You stay right there Via," he instructed, not that he really believed Octavia was going anywhere, but he'd felt compelled to say it
Without another word, he headed to the door, brows raising as he caught sight of a very familiar elf
"Um.... hello...?"
"Merry Christmas," Blitz smiled a bit awkwardly
"Merry Christmas to you too.... um... how did you know where I live...?"
He didn't remember anything at the mall requesting his address, and the fact that some random mall elf had just managed to apparently dig it up on his own-
"Let's just say I'm not your average elf," Blitz smirked back, holding his hand out for the other man
"I think I've managed to grant your Christmas wish, wanna come and see for yourself?"
"...You're joking, right?" Stolas asked hesitantly
Because ofcourse, that couldn't be real, this couldn't be serious, it wasn't like the random mall elf- who, he realized, he didn't even know the name of- could have possibly just somehow managed to create a family or community for him out of thin air, right?
Blitz seemed undetoured though, stepping aside and jerking his head to the right, prompting Stolas to peer out of the house, gasping as his eyes fell upon a massive, life-sized sleigh with eight reindeer attached, standing almost boredly- it seemed- in his front yard
He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do, he only knew that he was absolutely flabbergasted by the situation
...
He considered that maybe he was dreaming....
....
Or had been slipped some sort of drug and was currently having a very weird trip....
"C'mon, you trust Santa's elf right?" Blitz grinned teasingly, holding his hand out for Stolas
Stolas paused for a moment, before starting to beam from ear to ear
"Let me get Octavia,"
"I wouldn't have it any other way,"
~+~
"Well? What do you think? Do you think she'll like them?"
Blitz glanced over his shoulder, grinning at Stolas as the North Pole's newest toy designer peered over his shoulder
"I think she's gonna love it," he promised, shifting a little so that he could see the smile decorating Stolas's face
"And I think Santa will like it too,"
"I hope so," Stolas beamed
As per usual, Octavia was his first priority- he wanted her to like the doll designs he had made most of all, but he also hoped that Charlie would like them- after all, the toys wouldn't go into production if she didn't
"I'm sure she will, she's liked all of your other designs so far hasn't she?"
"I suppose so..." Stolas agreed with a small nod, smiling as Blitz rolled his eyes and decided to help dim his worries with a little kiss
"You'll be fine hermosa, aren't you always?"
"Yes, I suppose, sometimes though, I just like the reassurance,"
Blitz could perfectly understand that, he tended to enjoy reassurances too, even though he rarely received them
Though that problem seemed to be on the mend now that Stolas was around
"Then take one more- the designs are great, so go give them to Santa before it turns into next Christmas already,"
Stolas chuckled, pulling away from his partner and rolling his eyes playfully
"Yes yes, I'm going," he promised, rising to his feet and pausing suddenly
"Oh and Blitz?"
"Hm?"
"You may want to look under your chair,"
Surprised- and more than a little confused- Blitz watched Stolas leave over his shoulder before reaching under his chair and pulling out a small, neatly wrapped gift box with a card attached
Brows raising, he pulled the card free and quickly opened it
My darling Blitzy, I cannot express enough how happy you've made me and how glad I am to be here, becoming an elf is a wish I hadn't even realized I had until you introduced me to it, thank you so much for the best Christmas gift I've ever received, but I realized that I never gave you anything in return, I know it's nearly Valentine's Day now, but I still hope that you'll enjoy this very belated gift
All my love, -Stolas
Brows raising, Blitz wondered vaguely what could be inside the box, though he didn't move to open it right away
Stolas had already given him a gift, apparently without realizing it
His presence, his giving Blitz the beginning threads of what he had always wanted so badly- a family of his very own, a family who he loved and who would love him in return, the banishing of his loneliness and the promise of more to come- was the only Christmas wish he'd ever had, and Stolas had been fullfilling it for over a month now
....
Fuck the sappy shit though, he still wanted to see what was in the box