Secret Santa
Beck sat at his desk, thinking about the day. It had been fun. He hadn't thought it would be, but it had. The office had had a Secret Santa, largely because finding one decent gift was difficult enough, there being no malls to shop at. Heather had knitted him socks. They weren't the best looking in the world, but he had to admit they were toasty. He wiggled his toes, admiring the lumpy blue yarn.
By a fluke, Heather and he had drawn each other's names. He'd racked his brain for a while until the day he'd seen Jake's bag. It had been torn, but repaired with duct tape. Hot pink duct tape. He was talking to Jake at the time, but his eyes kept drifting to the patch job. Jake finally noticed where he was looking and sighed.
"Don't ever let Heather fix your bag. I thought she was going to sew it up, but – " he shrugged helplessly.
"I didn't even know they made pink duct tape."
"Oh, it comes in all colors. Or at least it did. Heather's got quite a collection, it's like a rainbow. She's had to break down and actually use it, though. She finally ran out of the grey stuff. Though I think she gave me hot pink in particular to mess with me."
Beck had had to snort at that; it sounded like something Heather would do. It wasn't until a couple of days later, at the motor pool, that he'd spotted the roll of duct tape. Army green duct tape. It was still sizable, and he'd snagged it. He thought he'd heard the duty corporal come around the corner looking for it, but if he had, he didn't choose to pursue it. There were advantages to being the CO, he thought to himself, grinning.
He hadn't expected the reaction he'd gotten; Heather had squealed with glee and given him an enthusiastic hug. He'd stood there for a second, surprised; he hadn't been hugged in …well, he didn't know how long. He had to remind himself to hug her back, and it was an awkward, rusty response at best, though Heather didn't seem to notice.
She'd thanked him several times before she gave him the socks, which she insisted he try on immediately, promising to remake them if they didn't fit. He'd felt ridiculous, standing there in fatigues and bright blue socks, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to take them off and risk hurting Heather's feelings. She was having such a good time, and he liked watching her laugh.
She'd finally gone home as the party wound down. The office seemed so quiet now, though he still heard the laughter echo in his mind. He sighed, reaching for his boots. Time to go back to camp.