Taking place after The Blood of Olympus.

Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo

Christopher Nicolas Kringle's parents should not have been allowed to name their children. Granted, he was their only child but he was sure that if he'd had any siblings their names would have been even worse than his. Then again, it was hard to get worse than the name that doomed Christopher to a lifetime of working as a mall Santa.

Christopher (please don't call him Chris) shifted in his seat. The fake fur trimmed red wool Santa suit felt like it weighed about a million pounds. His break was still an hour away and the line of kids waiting to meet Santa wasn't getting any shorter. He swore to himself that next year he was going to change his name and become an accountant.

He heard Marianne, the woman dressed as an elf whose real job was to make sure Christopher hadn't died of heat stroke, tell the next people in line that it was their turn to see Santa Claus. Christopher sat up straighter and plastered a smile on under his fake beard. He had a lot of practice with that smile, so it didn't even twitch when he saw the two teenage boys walking towards him. He hoped they didn't put a frog in his beard like the last teenagers did.

"Ho, ho, ho," Christopher said. "Hello boys! Have you been good this year?"

The shorter boy turned to his friend and scowled. "Percy, I am going to kill you."

Percy grinned, his green eyes sparkling. "Will won't let you," he said to the other boy. Then he spoke to Christopher. "Mr. Claus, my cousin has never taken a picture with you before. He hasn't been that good—"

"Hey!" the cousin complained.

"—but could we get a picture anyway?"

Christopher's smile became quite real. "Ho, ho, ho," he chuckled. "Of course you can take a picture."

Percy gave his cousin a little push and he, still scowling, went to stand next to Christopher. Christopher put one arm around the boy's shoulders and smiled in Percy's direction. Percy snapped a picture with a disposable film camera he'd taken out of his jacket pocket.

"Come on, Neeks, smile!" Percy said.

"Don't call me Neeks," the other boy grumbled.

Percy took another picture. "Much better. Thanks a million, Mr. Claus!"

Don't-call-me-Neeks jumped away from Christopher so quickly that Christopher had his arm hanging in the air for a noticeable amount of seconds. He put his arm down and acted like nothing at all weird had happened.

"Ho, ho, ho. You're welcome, boys! Now, are you going to tell me what you want for Christmas?"

"A new Percy," don't-call-me-Neeks said.

Percy ruffled his cousin's hair. "Awww, you know you love me, Death Boy. I'd like to graduate without destroying my school, Mr. Claus, but I think that's too much to ask for."

"Ho, ho, ho. I'll see what I can do," Christopher said with a wink.

Percy grinned. "Thanks, Santa."

"Kelp Head," don't-call-me-Neeks said as the boys walked away.

"Bones-for-brains," Percy shot back.

"I'm smarter than you. Annabeth said so."

"Did she say you were smarter or that you were less of an idiot?"

Christopher collapsed back into his plush chair as the boys made their way out of earshot. "Could I please have some water, Marianne?"

Marianne reached behind the huge chair and handed Christopher one of the hundred bottles of water they had stashed there, which Christopher couldn't get to himself because his costume got in the way. Christopher swallowed half the water in the bottle and sighed. Only fifty-five minutes to go.

Next year he was becoming an accountant.

A/n: Happy Holidays, everyone!

-Cynder2013