He had no idea why he was put under house arrest. He had only ever bent the rules, never actually broke them. Curtis always made sure of that.
So a fake Santa had taken over the North Pole and was going to ruin Christmas, and he had enough trust from all the other elves so that they would believe him when he told the truth about the whole thing and Christmas would be saved.
...Okay, so he knew why he was under house arrest at the moment. What truly made no sense to him, was out of all the legendary figures the imposter could have made watch him, no matter how absurd the excuse, he chose a certain man who had control over the cold.
Jack Frost.
Neither of them had ever been to a meeting of legendary figures, let alone met each other. And yet, through the strange and unbelievable circumstances, he was being watched by the infamous man while two toy soldiers guarded the door.
Sheesh, what did they think he'd do? Make a bomb out of an ornament?
He let out a sigh as he glanced at the icy man, who seemed like he hadn't taken a breath since he started talking about taking over Christmas.
There was a pause and no sound happened, causing the head elf to let out a sigh of relief and smile lightly.
"Come stay with me."
The sudden statement had taken him aback, and his face reddened and his eyes popped open, as he stared at the older man who was now leaning towards him on the couch.
"What?"
"To be my elf, when I take over." The man smiled at him, and the red in the boy's face lessened as he let out a small sigh, yet again.
"You can't be serious," The elf slouched a little more, though any more and he'd surely fall off the couch he sat on, "and even if you are, you can't take over if that piece of plastic is dictating."
A moment of silence and Bernard got uncomfortable under the stare that wasn't exactly at him, just the man having the sudden realization.
"You're right."
"...Huh?"
"You're right." The man stood from the couch, "I have to find out how to stop him." He walked towards the door as the elf stared at him with his mouth agape.
"H-hey! Where are you going?" He jumped up and crossed his arms as the man stopped and turned around.
"I'm gonna go take over."
"You can't just leave. Even if you get past the soldiers guarding, there's a lot more, not to mention if any of the elves see you, they're gonna kick you out, ordered to or not. You're not exactly a rock star here." The elf smiled sheepishly, hoping the man would take his upcoming proposition. "I'll go. The elves have my full trust."
"Oh, okay. I'll just freeze the guards and let you run off." The man's expression hadn't changed, and his tone of voice sounded unusually happy.
"...Really?"
"No." The man let out a chuckle as the elf's face dropped into a pout. He raised his arm and placed a finger on his chin, "Unless of course..."
Bernard's face left the pout as he looked up at the man quizzically.
"I were to have an elf for next Christmas."
The elf's face went white as he stared at the grinning man. "You- you're joking." He let out a whimpering noise when the man shook his head. "You can't expect me to leave! I've been here for almost eighteen hundred years!"
The man lifted his shoulders, "Alright, then. I'll just be on my way." He turned back around and took the final few steps to the door and his hand went to grab the handle.
"Wait!"
The man smirked, and didn't turn around, but stood there waiting for the elf to speak.
"I'll-" Bernard's voice was failing him as his throat seemed to get dryer every time he swallowed. He never went back on his word, so he needed to word the statement right.
"You'll what?" Frost only turned his head sideways to have the elf in his view, a smirk still playing on his lips.
Bernard swallowed again, and exhaled. "I'll be your elf next Christmas." He of course only planned on staying that one Christmas and coming back.
The man lit up and his smirk turned into a genuine smile as he flung the door open, freezing the soldiers as they begun to turn toward him. Bernard was a little amazed that he could do that so quickly. He quickly came to his senses and walked cautiously towards the exit, somewhat afraid that he would have the same fate as the toy soldiers.
A jolt of fear and panic rushed through him as Frost grabbed his arm and pulled him back a little.
But, much to his surprise, the man gave him a kiss. "Thank you."
Bernard was speechless for a moment, before giving a small nod of acknowledgement as he left the building and made his way to help save Christmas.
Wobbly-legged, of course.
He could have left the year after at any time. He knew he could. So did Frost. But for some reason, that the elf couldn't fathom, he didn't want to leave.