Walking into the store with Emma and Bayley cautiously following behind her, Paige looked around the store and couldn't help the crawling feeling that she began to feel under her skin. There was just so much Santa Claus-themed merchandise around that she was honestly beginning to regret her decision to want to set foot in the store in the first place. 'It's for that awesomely creepy creature statue I saw. It's for that awesomely creepy creature statue I saw,' Paige thought to herself. She was so focused on trying to stop the skin crawly feeling she had when a female voice with a bit of an Irish accent coming from in front of her caught the pale Brit and her friends by surprise, even getting a startled squeak out of Bayley.

"Hello! And welcome to The Yuletide Shoppe!" the voice said, a bit of an excited note in the woman's voice.

Turning to look in front of them, the trio found themselves looking ahead to see a woman with long and brightly dyed orange hair dressed in an interesting spin on what would be considered an elf costume-it being interesting because it was dark shades of red and green and had what appeared to be gears painted to look like Christmas tree ornaments as the design on the woman's top and her shorts were black with white snowflakes stitched into the fabric, this outfit being accompanied with long striped stockings and black boots and a pair of goggles that were proudly sitting on top of her impressive mane. Not stopping the next words that came out of her mouth, Paige said "Whoa. Nice outfit."

"Thanks," the woman said, smiling. "Name's Becky Lynch and, like I said, welcome to The Yuletide Shoppe, where you can find just about anything one could hope to look for when it comes to Christmas time and the other winter holidays they may celebrate."

"Nice to meet you, Becky. I'm Paige," Paige said. Gesturing behind her, Paige said "And these are my…sort of startled friends, Emma and Bayley."

"Nice to meet you three," Becky said, waving at Paige and then Emma and Bayley. "Now, how can I help you three lasses today?"

"I was actually interested in that cool looking figurine that you had on display in the front window. I saw it when Bayley noticed it first. I thought it looked pretty cool and I came in here hoping to buy it," Paige said as Bayley bit her lip and hung her head a bit.

"Okay! Just show me to where this figurine is and I can ring you up for it," Becky said.

Walking ahead of the others, Paige led Becky to the front of the store where she had first seen the figurine. Once Paige got to the display table in front of the window, Paige said "I'm not sure what the hell this thing is, but it just looks so badass and cool that I just want it."

Seeing just what Paige was talking about, Becky couldn't help the startled squeak she let out when she saw the figurine in question. Clearing her throat and shaking her head, Becky said "Um, are you sure you want this figurine? We have other stuff that'd look just as good in your home or apartment."

"Yes, of course. Honestly, all this Christmas junk makes my skin itch, but…this is honestly one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a store meant to just sell Christmas stuff. Please can I buy this?" Paige asked, not liking the fact that it sounded like there was a slight whine in her voice.

Becky bit her lip in nervousness because she really didn't want to sell this figurine. Sure, it was on display in the shop, but it was only because there wasn't space in the back where it could be kept out of harm's way. Becky was almost set to counter Paige's insistence when the blonde with her, Emma, came up behind Paige and said "If I was you, I'd just sell her the thing. She'll just keep moaning and whining about it until you do." Hearing this, Becky let out a sigh in defeat before saying "Okay. One delightfully and too creepy figurine coming up, Paige." Hearing Paige let out a bit of an excited squeal, Becky proceeded to grab the horned item of terror and take it around to where the cash register was.

Following behind Becky, Paige said "So, just what is that thing anyway? It honestly looks like something that came out of a monster movie."

"This "thing" is a figurine of Krampus, a creature of many European myths that center on the Christmas season," Becky said before cutting a smirk at Paige and saying "Although, with you being a Brit, I'm amazed you don't seem to know about this fella here."

"I've never really heard any stories like this when I was a kid. Pretty much the only real Christmas season know-how I have is about the bearded fat man and that's about it," Paige said.

"Well, it sounds to me like this could be just something that you'd be interested in learning about. I'd tell you, but I don't think your friend back there would be able to sleep tonight after I told you all," Becky said, pointing back to where Bayley looked to be on the verge of having a panic attack.

"Good point. Guess I'll just read up on this fellow on my own time," Paige said. After paying for the Krampus figurine, Paige watched as Becky wrapped the figurine in bubble wrap and carefully set it in a box that she then taped up before handing it to Paige.

"Alright, Paige. Enjoy your Krampus and your holidays," Becky said, smiling a bit of a nervous smile as she waved at the three women who were leaving the shop. Once they had left, Becky let out a bit of a nervous breath as she ran a hand through her flaming locks, guilt over what she just did settling in her like a stone. 'Ah, hell. What did I just do?' Becky thought.

...

Sitting on the couch back in her apartment, Paige marvelled at the look of the Krampus figurine. She couldn't see why Becky seemed reluctant to sell it to her; this thing was awesome to look at. 'How was it that I never heard anything about this Krampus fellow? If he looks this metal, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to tell people about him,' Paige thought.

"Paige, put down your new toy and help me and Bayley start putting up these decorations," Emma called from the table where she and Bayley were sorting through the decorations for their apartment.

"Aww, but I don't want to, Em!" Paige said.

"But you promised you'd help us, Paige," Bayley said, holding up the stockings she had picked out to hang on the wall.

"I know I did, Bayley, but I really don't want to," Paige said while mumbling "And why would I? All of this Christmas shit's just going to make my skin crawl."

"Oh, come on, Paige! Please?" Bayley asked, a bit of a pout on her face.

Looking over to see the look on the ponytailed brunette's face, Paige sighed and said "Oh, all right, all right." Listening on as Bayley cheered, Paige shook her head and rolled her eyes as she set the Krampus figurine down on the coffee table. Rising from the couch, Paige walked over to help her friends get their Christmas decorations unaware of the chain on her Krampus figurine losing a link and the low growl that seemed to emanate from the figurine.

So, I've introduced a new character into the fold in the form of Steampunk Awesome Queen, Ms. Becky Lynch herself. And I had a lot of fun trying to imagine a delightfully steampunk elf outfit for her to wear, so I feel like it turned out well. Now, why did Becky seem so scared to sell Paige the figurine that we later found to be a figurine of Krampus and later regret the sale? And what does it mean when the Krampus figurine let out a low growl and lost a link on its chain when Paige walked away from it later? Stay tuned to find out. And until next time, don't forget to R&R please to let me know how you guys think this is going so far. =) (And on a side note from me, swing by my page and give the poll that I have up a look. It's about which of my fics I start next since I'm closing to finishing a couple of my other works in progress, so I'd really like to know what you guys would like to see from me next.)