"But Sue, if you'd only let me explain–"
"You've been trying to explain your half-baked ideas about alternative candy cane shapes to me for years, Pierce. I get that the rest of the North Pole thinks you're adorable, but that doesn't translate to a knack for functional confection design. Get back to your workspace and finish your quota for the day so we can all go home."
Sue crossed her arms, her lip curling in her typical frustrated sneer. At two feet tall, she was almost twice Brittany's size. Her attitude and height had frightened Brittany during her first few years in the Candy Cane Brigade, but at this point she was used to it.
The first time Sue had made her cry, she'd run home to her parents and asked how such a mean elf could be put in charge of something as sweet and essential to Christmas as the Candy Cane Brigade. Her parents had sighed, remembering their early days under Sue's reign before being transferred to Jingle Bell Production. They explained that candy canes were one of the most in-demand yet under-appreciated departments and Sue was the only elf who had proven herself capable of producing a high turnout. They reminded Brittany that she wasn't stuck there forever; if she worked hard enough, one day she would wake up with a different color stripe in her hair, indicating she was now a higher level elf with more autonomy and the freedom to move between departments if she wanted.
Brittany headed back to her workspace before deciding she was going to take her mid-morning break instead. She walked out the door designed to look like a giant piece of frosted gingerbread and headed through the industrial workspace to the break room. There, a giant steel cocoa dispenser stood three times taller than her, promising to lift her spirits with its chocolatey, sweet goodness.
She poured herself a mug as big as a thimble, which was the perfect size for her elfin hands. She had to hold it with both hands to be sure she didn't spill. She sat down on an alphabet block and blew the steam away from her mug, wishing she would earn her stripe change soon.
She'd been born with a pink stripe, as many girl elves were, though some were purple or even blue. Once she'd grown old enough to start going to elf school, her stripe had changed to a vibrant purple, which she loved. Her stripe had then turned gold, which she thought was boring because it hardly stood out from her blonde hair. At one point her stripe had been orange, and for a brief while fuchsia. Presently, her stripe was a faint pink, no doubt on account of her frustration and fading work ethic.
Brittany was tired of the same old boring candy canes. Only once every few weeks did Sue allow them to combine red and green stripes on the peppermint canes, and she would never hear of changing the shape or allowing other colors. Of course Brittany liked traditional candy canes just fine, but she knew there were so many possibilities that hadn't been explored.
As she sat sulking and blowing on her cocoa, a tiny elf girl with black hair wearing a dull green tunic stomped into the room. She would have made quite a bit of noise had she been over a foot tall. As it was, she was about eleven inches tall, and the bells on the curled tips of her shoes made more noise than her footsteps.
The angry elf jerked the cocoa dispenser open, pouring herself a sloshing thimble. When she turned around to sit on the blocks, she was scowling. Brittany became nervous; angry elves were notoriously vindictive and had a knack for making life difficult. She continued blowing on her cocoa, pretending the other elf hadn't plopped herself down beside her.
As she pretended not to acknowledge the angry elf, she noticed the insignia on her tunic. Right where Brittany's tunic said CCB for Candy Cane Brigade, the angry elf's tunic said NLOC: Naughty List Oversight Corps. Brittany thought she might understand why this elf was so angry. She had to spend all day talking about naughty children and how many lumps of coal they ought to get for Christmas instead of gifts. Sue oversaw both the Candy Cane Brigade and the Naughty List Oversight Corps, and Brittany couldn't imagine the NLOC was more enjoyable than the CCB.
Even though she knew it was risky, she offered up some conversation.
"Sue's hard to work for."
"You can say that again," the angry elf said.
"Sue's hard to work for."
The angry elf looked up, then back at her bowl of cocoa, then up again, cracking a begrudging smile. Brittany was relieved.
"How long have you been working for her?" the angry elf asked.
"Five years," Brittany said. "I was supposed to get transferred out last year but it didn't happen. It's been rough. She never wants to hear my ideas."
"Ideas?"
"Just, you know… stuff besides traditional red or green stripes and shapes besides traditional canes."
The angry elf tilted her head. "Why do we need those?"
Brittany shrugged. "It would just make Christmas more jolly."
The angry elf turned her attention back to her cocoa. "I suppose."
It was quiet for a moment before Brittany decided to ask, "How long have you been working for the NLOC?"
"Four years," the angry elf grumbled. "I hate it. At this rate I'll never get a new stripe."
Brittany looked at the elf's long black hair and realized she didn't have a stripe.
"What color was your first stripe?" she asked.
"Red," the angry elf said.
"Wow, a red stripe as a baby?"
The angry elf cracked a smile, looking almost proud of herself. "Yeah." Then she grew sad again. "Everyone expected 'great things' from me. But after my mom caught me filling the neighbor's mailbox with frosting it turned black and it's been black ever since."
Brittany had never heard of an elf with a black stripe, but she did enjoy learning about things that were unusual. Brittany felt bad for the grumpy elf.
"What's your name?"
"Santana. I know, real creative." She rolled her eyes.
Brittany ignored Santana's annoyance at her witless name and wedged her cocoa between her knees so she could offer Santana her hand. "I'm Brittany."
Santana eyed her hand before taking it, giving a surprisingly gentle shake.
Brittany thought about how hard it must be for Santana to work in the NLOC day after day. She didn't even like thinking about naughty children on the rare occasion someone mentioned one. She imagined it would be hard to be full of Christmas cheer if all she ever got to do was talk about poorly behaved children.
"What's it like in Sue's other room?" Brittany asked.
"Awful," Santana said. "The elves I work with are ancient and grumpy and sometimes take an entire hour to decide how many lumps of coal some kid is supposed to get for not walking their dog every day or for tracking mud through their giant house. It's stupid. Kids don't care how many lumps of coal they get. They only care if they didn't get something nice."
Brittany nodded, imagining how tiring it must be to listen to elder elves argue over coal all day. She would probably be as angry as Santana if that's what her job in the North Pole was.
"Do you think the kids deserve it?" Brittany asked.
Santana swung her legs a little. She was so small she couldn't quite touch the ground from where she sat on her block.
"I don't know," she said softly. "Sometimes I think they're misunderstood."
Santana contemplated her cocoa for a moment before she changed her mind.
"Actually, no, they probably deserve it. But no one cares what I have to say. I'm just the elf without a stripe."
Brittany felt bad for the sad, grumpy elf beside her. She knew that without any cheer at all, Santana wouldn't get the stripe she needed to transfer out of the NLOC and into a different department.
She also knew that acts of kindness were the surest way for her to change her own stripe.
With that in mind, she made an offer that surprised both of them."Would you like to switch with me for a day?"
Santana jerked her head up to look at Brittany.
Brittany gave a little shrug. "I'm tired of candy canes. Maybe I'd learn something in your department."
"Like how to be grumpy all the time," Santana grumbled. Then she realized she didn't sound grateful for Brittany's offer. "Do you think we'd get caught?"
Brittany shrugged again. "Sue thinks I'm forgetful…"
"… and I'm always on the naughty list," Santana finished. She paused, then stuck her hand forward. "Deal."
Brittany shook her hand, and to make it official, they tore off their insignia patches so they'd be wearing the correct badge to enter each other's workrooms.
"Let's meet here at the start of cupcake hour," Brittany said.
Santana nodded and got up, placing her cocoa cup on the floor as she made beeline for the hallway. Brittany stood, picking of Santana's cup and placing it carefully in the bin labelled for dirty cups on her way out the door.
Brittany approached the door of the NLOC slowly. She wasn't sure what she would find inside. Glancing down the hall to the door of her usual workroom, she saw Santana was already inside, no doubt finishing up her third or fourth cane. Knowing the worst that could happen was another harsh lecture from Sue, Brittany gingerly took the handle of the door and opened it.
Inside was a room full of elves, all of them with silver or gray stripes, seated around tables, seven or eight elves at each of twenty. The room was full of grumbling, banging fists, scrolls of grievances rolling off tables and carts as a few tired-looking elves distributed them. A haze of smoke or mist hung in the air, making it hard to see clearly from one end of the room to the other. There were no festive decorations on the wall, nor jingle bells jingling, nor smells of cookies baking, or even a fire crackling. Only voices and chair feet scooting on the wooden floor and paper shuffling. There wasn't any Christmas cheer at all.
Brittany made her way to the nearest open chair, hoping her presence wouldn't be too obvious. She supposed with her bright red skirt and jolly green vest she might stand out amongst the dull robes of the other elves, but at least she was the same size as most of them.
The table where she sat held a scroll with a child's name on it. It was a rather plain name for a rather plain child who had secretly taken money from another child's back back at school twice. As she listened to the elves argue over how many lumps of coal the child should get, Brittany was curious: why weren't the elves interested in what the child had meant by taking the money? Surely not every child who made the naughty list had meant to be naughty. The number of scrolls in the room was overwhelming. She couldn't bear to think of that many children getting coal instead of presents.
Just as two of the most senior elves were finalizing whether or not the child was to get five lumps of coal or six, Brittany decided she must speak up.
"Perhaps the child was hungry and didn't have money to buy their own food."
The table fell silent. All elf heads turned to her, a few bushy silver eyebrows lifting.
"What did you say?" an elf with a faint evergreen stripe asked.
"I said perhaps the child was hungry and took the money because they were too poor to buy their own food."
There was a look of confusion around the table until Brittany faintly heard one elf say, "I suppose you could be right."
Some shuffling and confused muttering sounded around the table.
"Were any parental complaints filed?" an elf asked.
"No. In fact the parental report is good. Teachers too."
More murmuring sounded around the table and the elves gathered there seemed to grow more lively. Brittany was relieved, glad her inexperience wasn't too obvious to the elves who didn't seem to notice she was a newcomer to their table. The elf that had been reading off the scroll rolled it up and dropped it in an empty bin beside him. It made a loud clank and most elf heads in the room turned to look. Then Brittany heard a murmuring that repeated over and over off the naughty list, off the naughty list. She smiled to herself, glad to know at least one more child would wake up to presents under their tree instead of coal in their stocking. She felt herself fill with Christmas cheer. Even if this was a strange and dreary department, she was glad she'd offered to visit for half a day.
As the day went on, the elves around the table took turns unrolling fresh scrolls and reading the deeds done to earn the child a spot on the naughty list. Brittany would offer a different perspective – perhaps the child had been too tired, or was simply lonely, or didn't know any better. After several more plunks in the bucket that indicated a child had been removed from the naughty list, the elves began turning to her when each new scroll was unfurled. She felt her chest swell up with happiness and cheer as she helped little children receive what they wanted for Christmas.
There were a few she couldn't forgive, of course. Those who were cruel to animals or regularly spoke unkindly to their parents and brothers and sisters and school teachers. But Brittany learned to recognize that those scrolls were lengthy and needed a great deal of examining.
Before she knew it, the bell was sounding for cupcake hour. Brittany raced to the cocoa room and waited for only a few seconds before Santana came bounding in. She looked more joyful than before, and Brittany saw she had a hint of pink stickiness on her cheek from sneaking a taste of the sweet peppermint.
"How was it?" Brittany asked eagerly.
"Great!" Santana said, a smile spreading across her face. "I finally don't feel like I'm surrounded by elves who haven't had enough sugar in years."
"Did Sue say anything?"
"Nope. She looked me straight in the eyes and squinted for a moment before moving on to help some nube learn better curvature technique."
"Awesome," Brittany grinned. "Want to get our cupcakes?"
"Definitely. I worked up an appetite," Santana said, patting the front of her tunic. "How was NLOC?"
As they walked, Brittany noticed Santana's step was lighter, and the bells on the toes of her boots made a cheerier jingling as they walked down the corridor to the pink and blue and checkerboard cafeteria where cupcakes were served every day at this hour.
"It was interesting," Brittany said, as though really meant the NLOC had piqued her interest.
"Really?" Santana asked doubtfully.
"Yeah. I mean, it's heavy stuff, reading about the naughty things kids have done. And it makes me sad to think of kids getting nothing but coal in their stockings on Christmas…" Brittany pouted at the thought.
"Some of them do deserve it," Santana said gently.
"Yeah, some of them do," Brittany said glumly.
They approached the cupcake hall and slowed as they neared the back of the line, all the elves chatting and laughing animatedly as they awaited their turn to be fed.
"Don't think about it too much," Santana said. "If you do you'll go crazy. If you want to switch back, just let me know."
"I think I'll stay for now. I like all the thinking required at NLOC."
"Okay. Hey, they have salted caramel frosting today! My favorite!"
Brittany hadn't seen Santana so happy as she was standing on her tiptoes looking down the line toward the counter where cupcakes were being served. She liked seeing Santana smile. It was reassuring, especially after how angry she'd been earlier that morning.
"Where do you want to transfer when you get your new stripe?" Brittany asked.
Santana turned back to Brittany momentarily, then looked away. She shrugged. "I don't know if I will."
"Of course you will. It can happen to anyone, any day. The most important thing is to believe."
Santana looked up at Brittany, as though she almost didn't dare to hope.
"Well… I've heard good things about Jingle Bell Production."
Brittany grinned. "My parents work in Jingle Bell Production. They like it. But it's pretty loud."
Santana nodded, seeming distracted. "I guess– if I had my biggest wish– it would be Wrapping."
Brittany give a little clap. "Oh, I've always wanted to work there! It's such an important part of Christmas. The paper is so crisp and merry, and I just love curling ribbon…" Brittany sighed wistfully.
Santana let a shy smile play over her face. "Yeah, me too."
They reached the front of the line and each picked up a cupcake. In the human world, the cupcakes would have been considered mini-cupcakes or cupcake bites, but to foot-high elves, they were enormous treats. Brittany didn't even notice which kind she picked up because she was so captivated by Santana's happy face. She didn't want to look away in case it changed again. Santana seemed to have a lot of faces besides the angry, mean one Brittany had first seen.
If Brittany thought Santana's pre-cupcake face was magnificent, she was completely unprepared for the sight of Santana sitting down at one of the banquet tables and diving chin-first into her cupcake, devouring it as though someone might try to steal it from her. The other elves were busy eating their cupcakes, but Brittany sat and watched for a moment.
Halfway through, Santana looked up abruptly, as though she might be doing something wrong.
"Did I take the last one of the kind you like?" she asked, almost panicked and with her mouth full of cupcake.
"No," Brittany said with a smile. "My favorite is lemon creme. I just like to take my time."
Santana looked back down at her cupcake, then continued eating at a restrained pace, glancing up at Brittany between each small bite.
Brittany kept her eyes on Santana until she realized Santana felt self-conscious because she was watching. Rather than comment, she held her cupcake up to her face and dove in with the same voracity Santana had had earlier. A minute later, Santana resumed her enthusiastic eating, until they both were sitting in front of a pile of crumbs, frosting smeared all over their faces.
They grinned at each other bashfully as they waited for hot towels to be passed down the table. Brittany swore she could see a pink tint at the end of Santana's pointed ears, but it could have been the lighting. Once they had cleaned their faces and hands, they stood amidst the noise of all the other bells on their coworkers' shoes and walked toward the door. There they paused, not wanting to part without making a plan for later.
"Cocoa in an hour?" Brittany asked.
Santana bobbed her head over a giddy grin and scampered down the hall back to Candy Cane Brigade.
Brittany spent the next hour presiding over her table in NLOC, getting as many children off the naughty list as she could. When an hour had passed, she excused herself and went to the cocoa room. Santana wasn't there, so she perched on a block and waited. A few minutes later she heard the soft jingle of shoes in the hall, and felt a flutter in her belly unrelated to cupcakes and cocoa. Santana appeared in the doorway, carrying what appeared to be candy canes behind her back.
"Hi," Brittany grinned.
"Hi," Santana said. "I made you something." She was as bashful as ever as she drew the candy canes out from behind her back. Brittany saw they had been shortened on the long end of the cane and fused together at two points so the two canes formed a heart. It was a few inches tall, about the height of Santana's torso.
The flutter in Brittany's belly grew so intense she was surprised she didn't float up off her block.
Santana looked down. "You said you wanted to try new shapes for peppermint candy, so I decided to take a shot at it."
"Oh!" Brittany cried. "It's… it's perfect!"
Santana's ears did pink at that, and she held the candy forward for Brittany to take.
"How did you get Sue to let you?"
"I didn't ask," Santana said, shrugging as though it was no big deal. "Ingenuity doesn't need permission."
"Oh, it's so lovely," Brittany said. "I hadn't thought of using the shapes we already have."
Brittany took the candy heart from Santana, examining the fusing and the perfect symmetry of the heart.
"This is going right over my fireplace at home," Brittany declared. "It's too beautiful to eat."
"I can always make more if you want," Santana said as she moved to pour two thimbles full of cocoa.
Once they had drunk their cocoa, chatting about the current state of holiday preparedness, the efficacy of the elf union, and where to get the best trim for their trees, they said a cheery goodbye and went back to their new workrooms, making plans to see each other the following morning.
For the next few days, they worked diligently, drinking plenty of cocoa and eating all their cupcakes together. Sue didn't seem to care that they'd switched departments; both appeared to be more productive for the switch, and that was all she cared about. After a week full of giggles and sugar and elf gossip, Brittany waited at the cocoa dispenser one morning and was greeted by an ecstatic, bouncing Santana. Before Brittany could even register it, Santana had bounded in squeaking, "I got my stripe, I got my stripe, I got my stripe!" Brittany caught her and jumped with her, noticing the beautiful mint creme stripe, wide and solid in Santana's hair on the left side of her head. She shrieked in excitement for a moment before steadying herself to admire it. "It's so pretty," she said, lifting her hand to touch. She paused with her hand over Santana's head, not sure if she should touch.
"Go ahead," Santana let her fingers slide through the full, sleek locks, smiling as she admired the color. It really was beautiful; the color of frosting with just a hint of green in it. It made Santana look so much cheerier. Brittany swore she could feel a little mint tingle in her fingers as she drew them away.
Santana stood back, smiling and reaching up to touch Brittany's hair. "Your stripe looks a little darker today."
"Does it?" Brittany asked. She hadn't spent much time in front of the mirror that morning, eager to get to work and see Santana.
"Yeah," Santana said. "Pink looks really good on you."
"Thanks."
"Want some cocoa?"
"Of course," Brittany said.
They poured themselves each a thimble and sat.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Brittany asked.
Santana shrugged. Having a green stripe was enough to transfer out of CCB, but not everyone did.
"Probably wait and see if it darkens a little bit," she said. "I'd rather hold off on transferring until I have enough cheer power to get a really good placement."
"Good plan," Brittany said. "That's what I'd do."
They drank their cocoa before rushing off to their respective departments. Encouraged by Santana's progress and the possibility of raising her cheer power, Brittany worked extra hard with her NLOC committee until the cupcake hour bell sounded.
"It's definitely getting darker," Santana declared when they met at the end of the line, lifting her hand to Brittany's hair. "Pink looks really good on you," she said again.
"I bet it'd look even better on you," Brittany said.
"Maybe," Santana said. "It's not my favorite though."
"What is your favorite?"
"Red."
Brittany nodded, as though she expected as much. For a moment, she squeezed her eyes shut tight and clenched her hands together, wondering if she could turn her stripe red if she concentrated hard enough on being cheerful. It didn't work, though she did feel merrier.
When they got to the front of the line, the glanced at the cupcakes, then at each other, before each selecting a cupcake other than the others' favorite. They walked to a table and sat across from each other, understanding without speaking that they meant to share their cupcakes with each other.
As they ate, grinning foolishly at each other, Brittany noticed Santana's stripe visibly darkening to a rich spearmint color. It was no longer the creamy, soft frosting color Santana had woken up with.
"It's getting darker," she said.
"Yeah, but the solstice is soon," Santana said, licking her fingers.
"No, I mean your stripe."
Santana paused, then lifted her hair in front of her face so she could see it, not thinking to wipe her fingers first.
"It is!" she cried. She let her hair fall, then looked at Brittany's. "So is yours."
Brittany grabbed her hair and looked, also getting frosting in it. Sure enough, her pale pink was now a solid Barbie pink. She grinned, wondering if sharing cupcakes with Santana had anything to do with it.
"At this rate we'll be in Wrapping before Christmas!" she said.
Santana looked skeptical for a moment, but Brittany knew it was because she'd been stripeless not so long ago.
Cupcake hour seemed to end too soon, and after wiping their faces with hot towels, they went back to their departments. Brittany worked diligently, getting plenty of children off the naughty list, and before she knew it, the end-of-day glockenspiel song was playing over the intercom. She stood from her chair, and as she was pushing it in, Sue appeared in the doorway.
"Pierce," she stood tall, only a little bit afraid.
Sue glanced down at her clipboard before saying, "You've been promoted. Hand in your badge and report to Wrapping first thing tomorrow for orientation."
Brittany stood frozen in place for a moment before rushing forward, tearing off the NLOC badge Santana had given her.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Sure as that stripe is red," Sue said. "Nice working with you." She said it with a hint of sarcasm Brittany knew was frowned upon in the North Pole.
Sue left the room quickly, walking faster than Brittany could hope to keep up with on her enormous legs.
Brittany was in a tizzy – she'd been promoted to Wrapping! But how had that happened? Was her stripe really red? She grabbed a section of her hair, but the dim light in NLOC made it hard to see. And what about Santana? Had she been promoted too?
Brittany rushed out into the hallway to see if she could catch Santana coming out of CCB, but the swarms of elves leaving their workshops made it hard to see. She didn't spot Santana's green stripe anywhere.
The following morning Brittany rose before the sun and put on her cleanest, jolliest dress. She brushed her hair, admiring her bright red stripe as she grinned uncontrollably. Today was going to be a good day. If she saw Santana, it would be the best day.
She arrived at Wrapping before the workshop doors opened, eager to make a good impression. The hallway was empty, and when she heard shoe bells coming toward her, she closed her eyes and wished as hard as she could that it would be Santana. When she opened them, her wish had been granted: Santana was walking toward her, beaming, with a bold green stripe in her hair.
"Brittany!"
"I knew you'd be here!"
They ran toward each other, bouncing and hugging before babbling excitedly about their new assignment.
"Did you ask for a transfer?"
"No, did you?"
"No. Did you tell someone you wanted to work here?"
"No. Do you think….?"
They glanced at each other, eyes wide. Then they smiled and said at the same time, "Santa." They let out a contented sigh.
The doors to the Wrapping workshop slid open and a merry female elf greeted them. "Welcome, ladies," she said with a calm smile. "I'm Shelby, Director of Wrapping Operations."
"Hi," Brittany and Santana chimed. "We're Santana and Brittany."
Shelby welcomed them in, leading them around the workshop, explaining the various stations and tools to them. Brittany was familiar with most of them, but was still struck by the beauty and organization of her new post.
"We'll start you two out this morning with smaller, rectangular wrapping projects, but I have no doubt you'll be doing larger and more difficult shapes soon," Shelby said. "I assume you want to work together?"
Brittany and Santana glanced at each other before grinning and nodding.
"You can take station four. I'll be by to see how you're doing in a little while."
Brittany and Santana skipped to their work station which was already surrounded by gifts that needed wrapping.
They worked perfectly together; Santana always knew when Brittany was holding a flap waiting for her to tape it, and Brittany always knew when Santana needed help making a crease look crisp. Brittany's nimble fingers held ribbons down while Santana tied perfect bows; Santana held knots in place while Brittany used the curling sheers to make the most gorgeous ribbon ringlets.
As they worked, Brittany thought hard about what she wanted to get Santana for Christmas. Santana had the nicest clothes already, and seemed to have plenty of candy and Christmas decorations. The only thing she knew Santana wanted she had to give was her red stripe. She contemplated shaving off her stripe and giving it to Santana, but knew stripes didn't work that way.
Before they knew it, they'd had all their cupcakes and cocoa for the day and it was getting dark outside.
"How's it going?" Shelby asked.
Brittany looked up from where she was helping Santana hold down a piece of gold wrapping to tape it together.
"Great," Brittany and Santana said in unison.
It was only then they noticed that most of the other elves in Wrapping had already left for the day.
"I've got a special project for you, if you're up for it," Shelby said. "You can do it last thing before you go home, or first thing in the morning, if you're tired."
"We're not tired," Brittany and Santana said together.
In truth, they were a bit tired, but didn't want to say goodbye yet.
"There's a large package in station sixteen that needs extra special care."
Brittany and Santana nodded eagerly. "We'll do it."
Shelby smiled. "Great. Pickup isn't for another hour, so you've got plenty of time." She waved and left through the sliding doors, closing them behind her.
Brittany and Santana looked around the Wrapping department, noticing how beautiful all the wrapped gifts were. The ribbons and papers were so shiny and precise. It was nothing like the sticky, messy candy cane factory, or the dreary Naughty List Oversight room.
They looked over at station sixteen and saw a huge box, several feet tall, with a roll of paper leaning against it."Whoa," Santana said.
"She must really trust us," Brittany said in awe.
They walked slowly toward the box, tilting their heads, puzzling over how best to wrap such an enormous gift.
Brittany got a ladder and climbed atop the box, reaching down as Santana lifted a sheet of paper up to her. They pulled the paper up all four sides, taping it in place, until all that was left to do was fasten the bow on top. Santana lifted the bow up toward Brittany, but the box was so tall, she couldn't quite reach, even standing on her tiptoes. So she hopped up the ladder, scrambling up onto the box next to Brittany.
Once they had put the bow in place, they sat for a minute to catch their breath.
"It sure is nice in here," Brittany mused, looking around the room filled with sparkling, bow-bedecked boxes and packages.
"It sure is," Santana agreed, scanning the room as well.
It was quiet for a minute. Then Brittany turned to her. "What do you want for Christmas, Santana?"
Santana smiled calmly and gave a little shrug. "I think I got it already."
Brittany pursed her lips, a little frown playing on her forehead. Surely being transferred to Wrapping wasn't the only thing Santana wanted.
"What about a new stripe?"
"I already got one."
Brittany tilted her head, acknowledging Santana was technically right.
"If I could give you my stripe, I would," Brittany said.
Santana giggled. "That's okay. I look pretty good in green."
"You do."
It was quiet for another minute, but instead of looking around them, Santana stared straight at Brittany."What do you want for Christmas, Brittany?"
Brittany gave a nervous little giggle, eyes falling to the wrapping they were sitting on for a moment before looking up at Santana. She took a deep breath, then darted forward to give Santana the quickest of elf pecks on the lips.
She pulled back, nervous she had startled or upset Santana.
Santana was stunned for a minute, but then burst into the most musical giggle Brittany had ever heard. Once she settled, Santana looked at Brittany curiously.
"Just one?"
At that Brittany's face split in a grin, which only fell because Santana leaned forward – slowly as to not startle Brittany – and pressed their lips together.
This time there was no giggling. Brittany felt as though all the sparkles in the room had seeded themselves in her skin. She was tingling from head to boot-tips, though she felt as warm as cocoa.
Santana pulled away, grinning serenely.
"Merry Christmas, Brittany."