Title: From Snow to Mistletoe
Author: imaginary_witness
Pairings: Eruri
Ratings: T
Warnings: None
Genre: Alt. Universe, Romance, Holiday.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story: living (or passed) human beings or fictional characters. These events never happened, according to history or as the original author intended them. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to offend. For entertainment purposes only. Thanks.

Author's Notes: Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all my readers. Happy Birthday to Levi, as well.

Chapter 1: MONDAY - DECEMBER 20th

The holidays were clearly right around the corner. Everywhere in the city of Bakersfield, California, multicoloured lights were strung up, artificial trees decorated every store, and images of Santa Clause and his friends seemingly popped up overnight. Every store in the city had extended their shopping hours to accommodate any potential customers looking to spend money and every person seemed to be lost in the holiday blur of shopping, wrapping, or cooking.

Even at the local news station, holiday plants had sprung up in baskets and red bows took over every hook they could be found to hang from. Many of the writers, journalists, and reporters had already been eagerly tidying up their offices and packing up what little they might need to take home with them for their holiday getaways. Levi sat at his desk, watching his colleagues around him seemingly scramble around, trying to get their work done on time while also jumping with the holiday jitters. He laughed softly to himself and shook his head, clearly unaffected by the holiday bug. While he wasn't in a bah-humbug mood about the festive feeling, Levi was not looking forwards to the holidays. As a twenty-five year old, shorter-than-average man, Levi didn't not find the idea of going out to a club or bar as exciting as he once did, and yet he didn't have any surviving social circle that would provide him with an invitation to an event that wasn't centred on couples.

He had no family to spend the holidays with and no friends he felt comfortable enough with to impose himself on. He had recently broken up with his boyfriend, Flagon, three weeks ago and was still feeling proud of himself for successfully parting ways without feeling bitter or regretful about their separation. And while he did enjoy the holidays, and what feelings of renewed joy and hope they brought him, he was not looking forwards to spending time in his one-bedroom apartment alone. He hadn't even been able to bring himself to set up the four-foot artificial tree he put up every year.

A sandy-haired man leaned on the wall of his cubicle and greeted him with a warm "Merry Christmas, Levi." The man's greeting broke into his thoughts and Levi sat back in his desk chair to look up at his co-worker.

"Hello Furlan," He greeted him, "You seem excited for the holidays."

Furlan smiled widely and nodded. "I'm going to visit my girlfriend's family in Alaska this year." He smiled, "We're leaving tomorrow. Can you believe it, Levi? I'll get to see real snow!"

Levi chuckled, glad for his friend. Furlan and him had gone to the same post-secondary, having met in their freshman year. They were senior students when they met then-freshman Isabella Magnolia, and they provided her references when she applied to the same studio they all worked at now. While Furlan and Levi hadn't made it to the same news station right away, they had both managed to find employment here a year or so before Isabella. And despite working for a news station in Bakersfield, their job still provided them with some form of entertainment, which was more than they could say for other jobs in their otherwise boring, repetitive city.

"That sounds exciting, Furlan!" He agreed, "Imagine that, huh?"

Furlan nodded. "And I got exciting news for you too!" He grinned at Levi, "Rumour is you're going to be sent out for the holidays. Zackly has a job for you."

Levi's eyes widened and he leaned forwards towards Furlan. "Are you- are you serious?" He asked.

Furlan shrugged, glad to see the news excite his friend. "Rumour has it." He repeated, then ducked away from Levi's cubicle before he could be caught standing around and chatting.

Levi leaned back in his chair again, tapping the ends of his arm rests with his hands. To get away from Bakersfield for the holidays was a welcomed treat, even better since it would be on the company's dime. It was also something that he felt was a perfect balance for where he was at in his life right now: it wasn't so juvenile that he would feel as though he was the oldest in the room, but it wasn't so adult that he would feel overshadowed by his mentors. A work trip sounded just like the kind of thing a young man his age would agree to do, and it would most likely pay round-the-clock overtime. Overall, it sounded to him like a Christmas miracle.

Levi tried not to let himself get too carried away with the idea. Furlan had said it was only a rumour, and it was only eleven in the morning; if he was going to be called to Zackly's office for a work trip, he wouldn't be called until later in the day when his boss had his eight cups of coffee and taken his routine shit. Levi tried his best to keep from jittering in his seat, now also affected by the pre-holiday spirit. He began to wonder where in the country Zackly would send him and what kind of assignment he would be sending him on so close to the holidays.

He forced himself to focus on his current article. When he finished in length but found he couldn't force himself to focus enough on proof-reading it, he got up and headed to the water cooler. He leaned over Isabella's cubicle and spent a moment chatting with her about her holidays plans of flying back to Ireland to visit some family with her parents. She was excited about the opportunity to spend Christmas in an authentic cottage from the turn of the medieval ages. After joking with her about turn of the medieval toilets, Levi returned to his cubicle and forced himself to focus on proof-reading his article for the next hour. He was going to take a late lunch when Zackly large head appeared over the top of his cubicle wall; with his large grey beard, bushy white eyebrows, and half-moon, wire-rimmed spectacles, he resembled a very convincing portrait of Santa Claus himself.

"Ackerman," He greeted Levi, "Got a minute?"

Levi looked up and nodded, too excited to say anything. He got up from his desk, locked his computer with a quick keyboard command, and then followed his boss to the large office he had only been in twice before.

"Take a seat," Zackly offered him, closing the door behind Levi. The inside of his office was cluttered with papers, folders, and boxes. Despite the obviously amount of workplace essentials and an overwhelming amount of papers in his office, Zackly had still managed to pack as much Christmas cheer as he could into the large space: he had a full-sized six-foot Christmas tree fully decorated towering over his desk that Levi had to be careful not to pull his chair back into, and a banner of red ribbon wrapped around his desktop. His computer monitor had several red bows pasted on the corners and various ornaments hung from yarn strings from the ceiling. "Marshmallow?" Zackly offered him, motioning to the bowl in front of them on the desk.

"No thanks, sir." Levi replied.

Zackly shrugged, took one, and popped it into his mouth. Then he began to ignore Levi, beginning to search through his computer for something. After a moment when he was sure that Zackly had just decided to forget he was there, Levi cleared his throat. It intimidated him when Zackly's pupils rolled to the corner of his eyes to glance at Levi but the rest of his face didn't change.

"Um, sir?" Levi asked, "What was it you wanted to see me for?"

Zackly leaned back in his chair and popped another marshmallow into his mouth. His round belly looked like it was going to pop the buttons on his shirt for a moment, before he leaned forwards again, this time directly facing Levi rather than angling himself to read his computer monitor.

"Alright, Ackerman." Zackly stated, finally sounding like he was going to get to business. "I figured that you didn't have any holiday plans this year, given recent events."

Levi nodded, following Zacly's logic. "Well, you are correct, sir."

"Of course I am." Zackly replied, then smirked. He ate another marshmallow and then opened his desk drawer, pulling out a red vinyl envelope and dropping it on the desk in front of Levi. "That's why I'm sending you out for a field report. You're young, single, got no one to spend the holidays with. I don't feel any guilt tearing you away from home for the holidays and you're probably relieved for some kind of distraction."

Levi nodded, reaching out for the red envelope. "I am." He agreed, "Where are you sending me, sir, and what am I reporting on?" He had been bracing himself for anything involving war, famine, politics, or death, afraid that something of that calibre would be the image he would have to bring to the people of Bakersfield on Christmas day.

"Santa Claus, Indiana." Zackly replied, the sound of amusement in his voice, "To cover their holiday celebrations."

Levi had been opening the red vinyl envelope when Zackly replied, and he nearly dropped the envelope out of surprise. "I'm sorry, sir, but did you- did you just say 'Santa Claus?'" He asked.

"Indiana." Zackly nodded, "That's the place."

Levi's expression was one of puzzled confusion. "That's a… that's a real place?" He asked, "This isn't… a joke?"

"Oh, I'm not joking." Zackly grinned at him, "Check your ticket, it says it right there. Now you'll see you have two stops as layover, I'm sorry but that's the best we could do - you travelling at this time of year and all. And Levi, you'll have to rent a car to drive into town from Evansville Regional Airport; Santa Claus doesn't have their own. Small town of only two-two-thousand or so. So that's as close as we could get you by plane. There should be a credit card in there for the car and hotel; try to limit your spending if you can, easy on the room service and such, you know."

Levi listened to his boss talk as he glanced over the information on the flight ticket. "Sir?" Levi asked, reading over the directions to Santa Claus. "It says my flight departs at 4:35 this afternoon."

"Does it now?" Zackly asked, a laugh in his voice. "Well, then," He turned to face his computer monitoring and turned back just enough to inspect which marshmallow he wanted to eat next. "Then you better get packing."

Levi stood up and headed to the door, murmuring a "Yes sir" as thankfully as he could.

"Oh and Levi," Zackly called out to him, causing Levi to stop and turn in the doorway of his office. He tossed him a packet of mini-marshmallows and hot chocolate powder, "Merry Christmas!"

TUESDAY - DECEMBER 21st

Levi was tired as he began the forty-seven mile drive east to Santa Claus. The Indiana air was chilly compared to what Levi was used to in Bakersfield, with the weather of his hometown never dropping to freezing. He could recall Christmases where he was able to wear a t-shirt outside and watch the fireworks. Here in Indiana, he was bundled up in a jacket, scarf, and beanie, and cranked up the heat in his rental car. He was glad to have picked up the scarf-hat-glove set at the airport when he landed, charging it to his company's credit card. It was a necessity, he figured, and he didn't even own any that he could have brought with himself. Still, seeing his hands in purple yarn with silver sparkles was an odd sight. He hadn't had much choice for colours at the airport, since the packs were targeted towards women, and he was sure he didn't want to be caught dead freezing in a baby-pink beanie.

He had gotten home from work yesterday just in time to throw his warmest clothes into a small suitcase and ransack his closet for his warmest jacket. Then he packed socks and dug his old boots out from the bottom of his closet. He made sure to throw away the contents of his fridge that would be spoiled by the time he returned in January, and then went throughout each room in his apartment to make sure that his windows were closed, his stove was shut off, and his electronics wouldn't be any issue in his absence. Then he packed his laptop and grabbed his phone, then dug out his passport from the small electronic safe he had purchased so he would stop misplacing it. Overall, he was anxious and all over the place, with no real strategy to plan for the sudden trip. He called himself an Uber to take him to the airport and boarded his two-hour flight with only minutes to spare.

During his hour-long layover in Phoenix, Arizona, he set his voicemail message to a cheerful 'Sorry I missed your call, I'll ring you as soon as I can. Happy holidays from Santa Claus, Indiana," then texted Furlan and Isabella. He grabbed a quick dinner of a toasted eggplant and avocado panini sandwich and a berry smoothie, then boarded his next flight to Chicago. He was in the air for another three hours, passing the time by watching two movies, drinking black tea, and overall beginning to feel rather jet-legged. He landed in Chicago around half after midnight local time, feeling disoriented to be in another time zone. Here he had another hour to do nothing, was beginning to feel tired, and spent most of the time gazing out the large picture-windows of the airport watching planes coming in and out and wondering what the weather would be like in Evansville when he arrived.

He was grateful to board a smaller plane that would take him to Evanesville by the end of the hour. He felt foolish for having taken the job assignment but knew that feeling mostly stemmed out of his travel fatigue. He was in the air for another hour, and then finally arrived in Indiana at quarter to four in the morning. The airport shops were still open, never shutting down to international travellers that were going to and from and needing to stop and eat or clean up with whatever supplies they needed to purchase. Here Levi gathered himself, collected his bag, purchased some toiletries and the scarf-glove-beanie pack, then headed to the car rental.

It was empty and quiet in the main lobby, with only one slim young man working here for the night. He took Levi's information, his company's information, an imprint of the company's credit card, and then led him to the parking lot where he gave him a choice of a Honda Civic or a Honda CR-V. Levi felt out of his element for either cars, missing his small and almost-ancient Toyota Corolla back home. He didn't like to drive much anyways, preferring to walk even when it was raining back home, but he knew it was stupid to attempt to walk from Evanesville to Santa Claus. And he figured since his company would cover him for a car it would be smart to take it. It beat taking a dirty, crowded bus. In the end he chose the SUV over the Civic, figuring that a larger car would be better protection and serve him a better purpose if he were to really enjoy the holidays in a small town like Santa Claus.

It was raining as he drove down the I-64, making good time as he headed towards Santa Claus. He wasn't sure that a town of approximately two-thousand people would have a large hotel or a hostel that he could check into at such an early hour, and he had been preparing himself to sleep in his rental car, when he drove into the town and the sight of it caused his jaw to drop in surprise. As he had continued down the I-64, the rain had begun to solidify into white fluff. As he took the exit for Santa Claus, he reduced his speed to under the normal limit, feeling the traction under his tires become weaker. Having never driven on roads this slippery, he turned his wipers on full and pumped his seat further up to be able to lean forwards and glance at the dark roads as he heard an unfamiliar crunching sound. The pavement glistened in the light of his headlights and he could see a fine layer of powdery white on the road, identifying it as the source of the crunching. He pushed down the button to lower his power-window and then stuck his hand out, catching several of the flakes in his gloved hand.

"Wow." He breathed to himself, pulling his hand back into the window and watching between glances up at the road to see the white flakes melt into dark spots on his purple gloves. "Snow."

The snow had slowed his travel down, so it was after five in the morning when Levi arrived at the town of Santa Claus. He had raised his window back up to keep the warmth from leaving his car and the cold snow from splashing the left side of his face. He slowed down to less than five miles an hour to pass the sign informing him he was entering the town of Santa Claus, then picked up speed again to enter the city and look for a place to stay. He riffled through the travel papers Zackly had given him, unsure if he was going in the right direction. He had been looking glancing at the papers, trying to find a street name, when his tires lost traction with the road completely and began to skid. Unsure of what to do, having never driven in icy conditions, Levi panicked and slammed his foot down on the break pedal. With the tires locked up, his vehicle continued to slide. He turned the wheel sharply to the right and the vehicle eventually came to a stop as soon as the front of the SUV bumped into a large mound of snow piled up on the corner of the sidewalk.

Levi sat back in his seat, breathing deeply and trying to keep from panicking. He wasn't sure if he had damaged the car, which was his main concern right now. He was glad that no one would have been up at this hour to have witnessed his less-than-graceful entrance to their town, or worse, been hit by his out-of-control SUV. He was trying to think through what his next steps would be when a knock at his window caused him to jump and shout out of surprise.

He lowered the window and was met by a handsome, blonde man. His blue eyes were bright despite the darkness of the night around them. "Are you alright?" He was asking Levi, gazing into the car and then looking around to see if Levi was the only one in the vehicle.

"I- I- I think so." Levi replied.

"That was quite the slip you had." The man continued, moving away from the window to glance at the front end of the vehicle. "You're lucky this mound of snow was here to catch you, otherwise you might have ended up in Tony's dental office." He chuckled.

"I- I guess so." Levi replied. "I was… distracted." He admitted, "I'm looking for a hotel, or a bed and breakfast, or just… a place to stay."

"Oh!" The blonde replied. "Well, that might be tough around this time of year. Santa Claus gets a lot of tourists in December 'cause, well, the holidays, y'know? Um,"

Levi nodded, smiling at the man. There was something about the way he spoke, so cheerful and positively despite the fact that Levi had probably nearly driven him over, that left Levi in admiration of him. "Hey," He cut him off, not finding the patience to wait for the blonde to think of anywhere he could suggest. "Are you alright?" He asked, "I hope I didn't nearly run you down in my accident."

"Me?" The blonde asked, his hands in his jacket pockets. "Naw, no. I'm fine. I was salting the sidewalk, saw you from just down there."

"Salting the-" Levi turned to look at where the blonde was pointing, "At five in the morning?" He asked.

"Well, yeah. My business is just down there. I don't want anyone to slip on the ice on the sidewalks. I know it's early, but I open early." The man explained with a grin. Then he shrugged continuing their previous conversation. "Anyways, I think you're not far from the hotel to be honest, it's just a few blocks northeast. I'm not sure if they'll have any rooms left, but they would know better where else would. You just need to go about two blocks up and four or so west."

Levi nodded. "Oh, alright." He replied. He realized he didn't mind talking to the man, but he was probably beginning to weird the man out, just sitting in his snowbank-lodged SUV and staring at him talking through his open window. He turned his attention back to the windshield and put the vehicle into reverse. "Let me just… straighten out." He mumbled.

"Easy now." The blonde advised him, taking several steps back. "Just go easy on the gas pedal and let the car steer itself out. Then straighten out when you're back on the road."

"Right." Levi replied, nodding. He was nervous, more than usual since he was being watched, but he knew he had to get the car out of the snowbank as soon as he could. He carefully pressed down on the gas pedal, pushing down on it with just enough force to feel it dip down the smallest amount. The sip of gas to the engine began to roll the SUV backwards out of the snowbank at a slow and steady pace.

"Easy now." The man guided him, "Just a bit more, then just touch the breaks."

Levi followed his directions, letting the man guide him out of the snowbank. When he had brought the SUV to a complete stop, the blonde held up one hand and walked around to the front of the vehicle.

"What are you-" Levi called to him, afraid the vehicle would lose control again and run the man over.

"I'm just checking if you had any damage." The blonde replied, coming back to Levi's window. He leaned on the doorframe and smiled at Levi, "But really, not even a scratch. You are really lucky." He chuckled and pointed at the snowbank to show Levi the imprint the front of the vehicle had left in the snow. "But looks like you left some evidence." He teased him.

Levi groaned. "Oh man, I'm so embarrassed." He mumbled.

The blonde looked like he wanted to say something more, but he only took a small step back from the vehicle and pointed out the road ahead. "Just take that street left. Remember, two up, four over. Or somewhere close by. Watch out for more ice and snowbanks, I hope you get to where you're going safely."

Levi nodded. "Thank you. Really."

"No problem." The man replied, "And happy holidays! I hope you enjoy your stay here in Santa Claus."

Levi felt a warmth flood his cheeks and he nodded, waving at the man with one gloved hand. "Thank you," He replied, "You too!"

He gave his vehicle another sip of gas, letting it slowly crawl towards the intersection before he eased to a stop and then continued, turning left. He didn't break his view on the road ahead of him, keeping a watchful weary eye out for any more ice that might slip him up. If he had glanced in his rearview mirror, he might have noticed the handsome blonde man standing in the middle of the street, gazing after him with a smile on his face.