It wasn't often that Arthur got a chance to slip out of the North Pole unnoticed, especially now that he was Santa, so whenever he managed to do so, he relished it. It wasn't that he disliked being at home, quite the contrary. Arthur adored his new job and everything that came along with it. The only problem was that being Santa took up a lot more of his time than when he had been working in the letters department, which meant less time for the silly little things that he would do to fill up his spare time, like rereading his favourite letters or reorganizing them or following Steve around or browsing toy stores.

This last one, it was a little odd that he enjoyed it so much, considering that what they mainly did in the North Pole all year round was make toys, but there was something about the endless shelves of action figures, dolls and toy cars that brought a little happiness to Arthur. He couldn't explain it, he just found it fun, no matter how much Steve would call it pointless.

This time, he'd made it all the way to London, to one of his favourite toy stores. He'd parked EVIE where no one would notice her, so he had plenty of time to spare. He hummed softly to himself as he walked up and down the aisles, his gaze flying over rows and rows of dolls, looking for any changes that had been made since his last visit, only to come to a stop when his eyes had fallen upon a certain doll.

Arthur grimaced at the sight of it.

It was a bride doll, complete with white dress, a bouquet of roses and a plastic face framed by a matching white veil that beamed up at him. To any other person, the doll might not have caused any reaction at all, but to Arthur, it made his stomach turn into a knot.

The main reason he'd slipped out that day had been to escape his mother and her neverending hints at his single status. Yes, Arthur knew that, as Santa, he'd have to someday find a Mrs Santa to carry on the family legacy, but it didn't mean he agreed with the tradition. After all, Steve was a much better candidate than he ever could be, not to mention that he had better genes to pass on. Arthur could bet that nobody in the North Pole wanted another lanky clumsy disaster running around the place, but still his mother softly pressed and urged him into trying to get a date and bring a girl home.

He'd tried, at first, but without success. The brunet was no good talking to women,let alone managing to get a date with one of them. It was almost like they fled from him. It only took one look at him and they were practically running for the hills. Not that he'd met any girl that he'd liked anyway. They were all the same to him.

With a frustrated huff, Arthur flicked angrily at the box, causing the doll to tumble back and forth a little in her confines before settling once again in her initial position. He was a lost cause, and the sooner his mother accepted that, the better. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Arhur made his way back to the entrance of the store, suddenly not in the mood for toy browsing anymore.

As he dragged his feet to the front door, he failed to notice someone else approaching it from the other side, so distracted he was by his own thoughts as he reached out to push it open. He was quickly pulled away from said thoughts, after he'd heard the loud thunk the impact of the hard glass against the stranger's face made.

"Ouch!" A feminine voice cried out.

Arthur visibly paled, and quickly made his way outside without colliding with her again. "I am so sorry!" He blurted out, hands hovering over her, unsure of what he could do to help. "A-Are you okay? It was an accident! I swear! I'm sorry!"

She stood there for a moment, holding on to her nose and with her eyes squeezed shut. Arthur's chest tightened. Was she in pain? Horrible pain? Oh, no. No,no, no. Had he hurt her that badly? Should he call someone? The police? The hospital? His mother?!

Just as he was about to sink his hand into his pocket after his HO-HO, she opened her eyes and began to lower her hands away from her face after a few soft taps on her nose, checking that it was okay. It must have still hurt, since she winced a little with every tap, but at least it didn't seem to be anything too serious.

Then she looked at him, and Arthur's chest tightened once again, but in a completely different way this time. Her gaze woke something in him. A new and alien feeling that Arthur wasn't sure if he liked or not. His heart skipped a beat, and he was suddenly short of breath, completely transfixed by her. Why? There was nothing particularly remarkable about her, but yet, there was also something undeniably extraordinary about her. He was drawn to her, and to her eyes. Those eyes, for a few brief seconds he was hypnotized by them, that indescribable feeling running through him from head to toe over and over again.

Her lips moved, and for the shortest of moments Arthur could have sworn he had wanted to kiss them.

"-fine, don't worry."

Arthur's brow furrowed, then lifted as he realized she was speaking to him. Oh, no. Had he been staring at her? Had she seen him staring at her? For crying out loud, of course she had seen him. Okay, okay, time to stop being creepy and try to act like a normal human being. You can do this, Arthur. He shook his head before answering her.

"Uh… sorry, what? I...uh...blanked out for a moment." He said, followed by an awkward chuckle.

Smooth.

He was ready for her to raise an eyebrow at him and leave, but to his surprise, she let out a small giggle at his response, the sound like sweet music in his ears. What was wrong with him?

"I said that I'm fine." She repeated. "My nose hurts a little, but I doubt it's broken. I'll live."

"O-Oh.. that's good. I'm glad." And he was. Arthur wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he'd actually hurt her.

"Are you okay?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you." She smiled. "You seem a little… distracted."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just...uh...long day." He mirrored her smile, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck. He was a little embarrassed about his behaviour, but he was pleased that she didn't seemed bothered by it. He hadn't been able to help it though, she'd had an effect on him that he'd never experienced before. He wanted to talk to her, get to know her, maybe even be friends?

However, before he could say anything else, she dismissed herself with a quick wave.

"Okay, well, see ya." She gave him one last smile, before slipping past him into the store, leaving him standing there with a bewildered look on his face.

He was a little disappointed that she hadn't stayed, but he had to remind himself that he was just a stranger. He couldn't blame her, and perhaps it was better off that way. Someone like her would never be interested in befriending someone like him anyway.

Arthur sighed, shoulders lowering in defeat as he turned and walked away. He doubted he'd run into her again, but maybe one day.

Maybe.

I saw this prompt list on tumblr and I immediately thought of Arthur and just HAD to give this a try, so this is sort of a pilot chapter. If you guys like it I'll continue, which I hope you do because bOY DO I HAVE A TRIP PLANNED OUT FOR THESE TWO KNUCKLEHEADS

Also a few things to mention:
- Everything about Reader-chan is going to be super vague and I won't be including any of that (E/C) (Y/N) nonsense because I find it reaaally distracting from the story
- While english is my first language I don't use it on a daily basis anymore (i was born and raised in spain and since i moved out i dont have anyone to talk in english to anymore ;0;) so grammar and spelling mistakes are bound to happen
- Thank you so much for reading, i hope you have an amazing day 3