A/N: Sweet Zeus it feels soooo weird yet great to be working on this fic again!
First and foremost, I would like to give my most humble apology for keeping y'all waiting for over two years for this chapter! :( I got so caught up with homework and projects and all sorts of things I had to do to finish college that I pretty much forgot about this fic! I truly feel horrible for leaving y'all with this cliff hanger, and I really hope that this chapter pleases you. Though be warned, it's been a while since I've worked on this, and I may be a little rusty, but give me a chapter or two and I'll have things flowing smoothly again. ;)
Disclaimer: Arthur Christmas does NOT belong to me…it belongs to Aardman and Sony Pictures animations. The only things I own are the OC's.
North Pole HQ: South Wing Gym and Training Room
Monday 1:30 P.M
Bryony panted as she jogged on the treadmill, beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks. To her right were Norah and Sabrina and on her left Deborah and Kathy, all of whom were exercising on their own machines.
Sabrina turned to the Scottish elf, "You should take it easy Bryony." She advised as she took in the wrapper's sweat soaked shirt.
Norah peaked out from her end of the line, "She's right. Keep running like that and you'll pass out from dehydration." The medical elf warned.
Bryony reached to the machines pad and pressed a button, lowering the speed to a comfortable walking pace. She reached into the cup holder and pulled out her water bottle, taking a long swing from it. After taking a couple of gulps, she sighed in relief and paused the treadmill to catch her breath.
Following her friends lead, Deborah paused her machine and took the opportunity to rest a while as well.
Kathy smirked, "Come on Debbie, you weren't going that fast. There's no need for a break." She teased.
Deborah glared at her, "I work in mission control…I'm not a field elf. I'm not used to such intense workouts!"
"You were jogging as fast as Sabrina." Kathy retorted.
"Which isn't very fast…basically a light jog." Norah stated with a shrug.
"And that's cause she's pregnant-"
"Alright I get it! I'm just not very athletic." Deborah snapped while the rest of the girls laughed good heartedly.
Bryony wiped her face as the rest of her friends ceased their workouts. "Oh, we're just playin' with ya." She reasoned, flashing her friend a playful grin.
Deborah rolled her eyes, though she smiled as well, "Yeah I know."
Deciding that now would be a time to call it a day, Bryony stepped off the treadmill and looked over her friends. "Are any of you free for the rest of the day?"
The girls all shared a look before nodding,
"I got up early to do some work on my computer, so I've got nothing going on." Deborah stated proudly while adjusting her glasses. The other girls quickly joined in,
"I don't either!"
"Me neither!"
Norah glanced at her watch, "I've got work, but I'm doing the night shift and not due till nine, so I'm free till then." She tilted her head in question, "What do you have planned?"
Bryony shrugged as she led the small group to the ladies dressing room, "Well, Arthur was going down to visit the toy making elves and invited me to join him. Then it got me wondering if any of you wanted to join us."
The girls perked up in curiosity. "You know…I don't think I've ever really met any toy making elves." Kathy mused out loud, "I think this would be a great time to go check them out and maybe make some new friends."
"That sounds fun!" Sabrina agreed, clapping her hands in excitement. Deborah and Norah nodded in agreement.
Bryony smiled, "Great! Then we'll head over to Arthur's office once we're all done freshening up." She announced.
North Pole HQ: Arthur's Mail Office. 2:45 P.M
Bryony knocked on the brightly decorated door that was Arthur's mail room. She and the other four elves only had to wait for a second or two before the door swung open and they were greeted by a cheerful Arthur.
"Hello there Bryony! Aaaannnnd…" the young Santa rubbed his chin in thought as he looked over the other elves before snapping his fingers, "Norah, Sabrina, Deborah and Kathy!" he added while pointing at each elf as he said their names.
All except Bryony gave the tall, lanky, young man a salute, to which he waved his hand dismissively, "Oh you all don't have to do that!" he assured kindly before adding, "Well…at least not to me…Steve still requires everyone to follow military protocol." He shook his head and then motioned the group into the room.
"We'll head over to the factory in just a moment. I just need to edit the list of children's orders. I got a few more letters this morning and I got a bit busy sending out the replies and well…it made a bit of a set back- not that I'm complaining or anything!" Arthur rambled as he shuffled through several children's letters and wish lists.
Bryony looked over her friend and tilted her head. "No wool sweater today?" she asked innocently.
Arthur paused and looked down at himself. Instead of wearing one of his usual colorful sweaters he almost always wore, he had decided to go with a simple white t-shirt and a red, long-sleeved button up shirt over it. For bottoms, he went with loose blue jeans and for footwear he decided that it would be best to wear his white and red sneakers.
"It gets a little warm inside the toy factory and wearing a wool sweater only makes things worse." Arthur replied with a shrug. With that, he turned back and proceeded to type out something on his small computer.
While he worked, Bryony took the moment to glance around his crowded and messy mail office.
As the new Santa, he had a better work place that was much bigger and more organized, but Arthur insisted that he work in his old office…at least while he responded to children's letters. Apparently it had a more tranquil and 'homey' atmosphere that allowed him to relax and focus on his work.
Bryony figured it had more to do with the fact that he was used to this tiny room and wasn't too comfortable in moving into a different one. Not that she blamed him of course, especially since he had spent the last several years in here away from everyone else.
"Alright! We're set to go!" Arthur announced, standing from his chair and picking up a stack of papers from a nearby printer. He opened the door, motioning for the female elves to leave first. "Ladies first."
They followed him down many corridors that led further and further away from the modern elf dorms and work rooms, to a more…rundown looking area of the underground headquarters that housed the thousands of elves as well as the Claus family.
Though they were still underground, the halls and various doors located on either side were made out of wood, serving as a layer between an occupant and the freezing ice that lay on the other side of the large planks.
This was the oldest part of the North Pole HQ and was the area where the original Claus family and the elves used to live and work.
Well…it's still the area where some of the elves live. In fact, many of the offices were still in use and the reindeer holding pens were located in this section as well.
Deborah observed her surroundings as they moved.
The halls didn't look that bad. Sure the walls looked a dinged up, but the rooms and offices seemed safely useable.
However, that was what bothered the technician. The halls and rooms could pass safety inspections, though just barley. This zone wasn't as privileged or luxurious as the areas that she and her friends lived and worked. This section of the HQ was just…livable…as if no one cared about the conditions the elves that lived here had to endure.
'I wonder if any residents in the area have filed a complaint for better home and office maintenance?' she wondered. If no one had, of they had been over looked for more 'important' matters, perhaps she herself could send a request in to Steve. She was pretty high up in the ranks and worked in mission control. It wouldn't be that hard to have a word with him. If only to have someone come and at least replace the wooden walls that were splintering and chipping with old paint.
Finally, after much walking and small talk, the group arrived at a pair of large wooden doors where Arthur paused. The elves looked up at the bright red words painted across the gigantic slabs.
TOY FACTORY
USE CAUTION WHEN ENTERING!
Below the writing, hanging on a small nail, was a sign that read ELVES AT WORK.
The five elves weren't even sure whether the sign was necessary as the noise coming from the room was proof enough that everyone inside was hard at work.
"Since none of you have been here, I'll give you a heads up." Arthur announced while smiling down at the technically advantaged, military styled elves, "These guys um…don't exactly follow the strict protocol that Steve has set up for most of the North Pole." He started while rubbing the back of his head.
Bryony raised a brow, "What do you mean?"
"Well…they're a bit…eccentric…some are a bit on the hyper side and most are pretty much laid back." He jerked a thumb in the doors direction, "To put in simply, these are the elves that didn't make it or couldn't fit in with any of the other ranks that Steve has set up."
"So…in other words, these are the…rejects?" Deborah flinched. She hated that she had come up with that word, but that was the first one that came to mind when Arthur described these mysterious elves.
Arthur shrugged, "Technically speaking, yes. They are." His smile returned, "But they're loads of fun and most of them are some of my closest friends!" he exclaimed happily while putting his hands on the doors, "I'll show you!" With that, he pulled the doors open and ushered his friends inside.
The moment the sextet entered the enormous room, nearly all working sounds stopped and many of the elves looked up to observe the new occupants.
The working elves seemed as surprised to see the five elves as they were to see them.
Bryony's mouth was open in a small 'O' of awe. These elves did not look like the elves she was used to seeing.
Sure they had the same large head, thin bodies and the trademark long, pointed ears, but what set them apart from her and every other elf she had come across was the fact that none of them wore the required work clothes that other elves wore on week days. In fact, there didn't seem to be any sort of uniform amongst the workers.
Upon further inspection, Bryony found that many of them were wearing a variation of shirts, vests, sweaters with the sleeves rolled up for easier work, pants (some torn at the knees), boots, and so on. Some of the boys wore some form of caps (some on backwards) or bandanas while others that wore nothing bore a full head of hair. A change to what Bryony and the other girls were used to seeing on males. The females however, hand longer hair on which many of them had tied back in a pony tail, a braid, a bun or simply held back with a headband or a bandana.
If Bryony could describe them in one word, it would be; teenagers.
They looked like a bunch of teenagers, though she knew that not all of them were so young as some looked around the age of her parents.
She shared a look with her friends before the stunned silence was broken.
"Chief!"
The females jumped at the shout and blinked when the toy makers all smiled up at Arthur.
"Hello all! How is everyone doing?" he greeted, moving down the aisle towards the male elf that had called out to him. Bryony and her friends quickly followed after him.
The new Santa stopped in front of a male elf that had risen from his seat and had was now grinning up at Arthur with his hands on his hips.
"New Santa is in the building!" One elf cheered, causing many of the others to cheer along playfully.
"It's good to see you haven't forgotten about the little people, boss!" Another said in a somewhat joking manner.
A female elf near Arthur nodded, "Yeah, we were almost certain you would get caught up with so much work you wouldn't come by for visits anymore."
Arthur gasped and shook his head, "What? No! I can never be too busy for you guys! You all are some of my closest friends, and you accepted me back when no one else did."
Bryony and her friends shared a guilty look. As much as they would now hate to admit it, before the whole 'missed child' fiasco, they, like many other elves, thought that Arthur was a bit of a nuisance to have around the North Pole, and thought he would be better off in the South Pole.
Now things had changed and he was regarded as a Christmas hero and was happily accepted as the new Santa, but Bryony couldn't help but feel like a complete scumbag, and standing here, she felt that most of the other elves she knew and worked with, should feel the same. Everyone liked Arthur for what he did. Had he not done so, he would have still been rejected and treated poorly. However, here he seemed to have been accepted by these lower, not even ranking elves, and judging by their interactions, Arthur had been quite popular with them since before he became Santa!
She would have thought more on this when Arthur spoke up again, "Why would you all think I wouldn't be coming back?"
One elf looked up from the model car he was building, "Well…we rarely see any of your family. I mean sure your mum has come down for a visit, but that's every so often-"
"We saw you dad even less until he stopped showing up all together." A female elf added from the doll section. Most everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
"You know, we've never even met your brother in person? Not once has he dropped by for a visit." An older male stated with a frown.
"I don't even think Grandsanta knows any of us," an elf seated near Arthur motioned to himself and the other elves, "even exist." He said dryly.
Bryony blinked. She had never heard anyone complain so outright about the Claus family, especially when one of the family members was standing in the room with them!
Arthur however, just shrugged. "I know they've been a bit…neglectful…but I promise I wouldn't do that to you all…and I would also like to apologize on my families' behalf."
The original elf that had approached Arthur held his hands up, "Yeah lets calm down everyone! This is Arthur we're talking about. I think we all know he's got our backs and we all got his, right?" At this the other elves nodded, their smiles reappearing as they all went back to work, many of them continuing their conversations they had been having before Arthur had arrived.
The elf that seemed to serve as the spokesman looked back up at Arthur, "So what brings you to our humble…noisy…crowded…smelly and a little too much on the warm side, workshop?" Though he said this with a small grimace, he finished off his sentence with a warm smile.
Arthur chuckled and rolled up his sleeves, prompting the female elves to do the same.
'He was right…it is rather warm in here.' Bryony thought in discomfort. She could already feel the sweat forming on her brow.
"Well first and foremost," Arthur started, "I came by to see how everyone was doing since I know it's been a while since my last visit and," he held out the stack of papers he had recently printed out, "I've brought you some more orders from this upcoming Christmas."
"Ah, excellent. I'll have Jake sort these out and we'll get started on them ASAP." The elf handed the stack to another worker, who took off towards a back room. He turned back to the human and the five elves he had brought along. "And who are these young ladies?" he wondered.
Arthur stepped to the side so that his old friend could get a better look at his newer ones, "This is Bryony, Norah, Sabrina, Deborah and Kathy. They're some of my new friends that I work with. Bryony is the wrapper elf that went with me to deliver Gwen's present." He motioned to the male elf, "Everyone, this is Thomas. He's, as you can see, a toy maker and specializes in cycles. Specifically, bicycles." Arthur chuckled, "In fact, he's actually the one that built Gwen's bike."
"Wow…small world." Sabrina mused.
Thomas nodded, "Very small world. Now Miss Bryony," he turned to said elf, "correct me if I'm wrong, but is your last name by any chance…Shelfley?"
Had she not gained the popularity she now had, Bryony would have been surprised that this random elf that she had never met knew her name. So she shrugged it off and nodded instead. "Yes sir it is."
To her surprise, Thomas gave a hearty laugh, "So you're the famous Bryony that Peter was telling me about!"
The wrapping elf looked back at her friends in confusion, though she was met with equally baffled looks.
"Surly you know Peter…he's the assistant elf to Steve Claus…ring any bells?" Thomas hinted.
Bryony's eyes widened, "You…spoke to Peter…?" Never in a million years would Bryony have guessed that Peter would actually talk to one of these elves. He always acted so high and mighty she couldn't imagine a reason why he would come all the way over here just to talk to an elf about her.
Thomas grinned, "Of course! He stops by my dorm every week or so to visit."
Kathy furrowed her brow in thought, "Wow, that's so…uncharacteristically nice of him. Are you a friend of his?"
"I'm his cousin."
The five elves raised their brows in shock.
"I forgot to mention, his name's Thomas Jones and that he's Peter's older cousin." Came Arthur's impute.
Ignoring the young Santa, Bryony shook her head, "I didn't know he had a cousin."
"He's not the type to talk about family to other elves." Thomas replied nonchalantly.
'Apparently not.' Bryony thought, though the more she looked over Thomas, the more she could see some of Peter's traits in him. He had the same dark brown hair, styled differently of course, and his nose and ears were the same shape as Peter's. The only difference was that Thomas had dark grey eyes and light freckles across his nose and cheek bones. His attitude and personality were also much better than Peter's.
"So…what has Peter been saying about me?" Bryony asked uncertainly. Thomas shrugged casually, "Oh nothing much. He just goes on about how much you enjoy wrapping, how you 'annoy' him, how he wishes he didn't have to deal with you. The usual things that guys say when they have a secret liking for someone." He winked at Bryony, who blushed.
"The complaining I can believe, but the secret admiring is surely a misinterpretation." She argued.
"That's how it starts." Thomas smirked, making Bryony's blush deepen even further.
Arthur decided that now would be a good time to intervene, "Oh come on Thomas, don't give her a hard time." He said playfully. Thomas put his hands up in surrender, "Alright, I apologize for any discomfort Miss. Shelfley." He apologized with full sincerity.
"It's fine." Bryony assured with a small smile, though inside, her mind was racing at when Thomas had told her. Peter didn't have a crush on her…did he?
"I think we should be getting back to our own work now Thomas, but I'll stop by tomorrow so we can catch up some more." Arthur announced. The worker elves all voiced their good-byes before going back to work.
As Arthur and the five females made to leave the room, Thomas called out again, "And don't be strangers ladies! You're welcome here if you ever need a break from all that military façade!"
"Well do! Thank You!" Norah replied just before the doors shut again.
With that, the sextet turned and made their way back to Arthur's office.
"Well, that was fun…and different." Deborah stated as they walked. Arthur laughed, "They're different from what you all are used too, but they're some of the nicest elves in the North Pole."
Bryony opened her mouth to reply, when a familiar figure caught her attention. "Peter?"
The group paused as they noticed the assistant elf coming down the hall.
Peter stopped and looked the group over. "What are you all doing here?"
"They joined me on my trip to drop off some orders at the toy factory." Arthur explained. Peter nodded and moved past them as they all continued on their way.
"We met your cousin," Bryony said just as Peter passed her. He froze, "he seems nice."
Peter looked her in the eye, and seeing that she was telling the truth, he swiftly turned back and made a run to the toy factory.
"Well that was odd." Deborah thought out loud before everyone resumed their journey back.
North Pole HQ Toy Factory
Peter panted as he pushed the doors open and ran into the toy factory. Several elves stopped and turned to see who had burst in. Seeing the familiar elf, they all turned back and resumed their work, while Peter made a beeline towards his cousin.
"Thomas?! I can I speak to you…in private?!" he panted, glaring at his relative.
Thomas nodded and stood up from his seat before leading Peter to one of the back rooms.
Once alone, Peter rounded on him, "You spoke to Bryony?"
"A bit yes. And before you get upset, I'll remind you that I'm happily married with four elflings, so you don't have to worry about me making a move on your crush." Thomas crossed his arms and smirked down at his younger cousin.
Peter scowled, "I don't have a crush on her, and just so you know, she has a fiancé."
Thomas gave a sympathetic look, "Oh I'm sorry to hear that."
"Shut up…" Peter pinched the bridge of his nose, "did she say anything about me?"
"Only that she and her friends didn't know that you had a cousin. Other than that, she didn't say anything." Thomas replied.
Peter nodded in satisfaction, "Good."
"Is there any other reason why you dropped by for a visit?" the toy maker asked in a bored tone. Peter nodded.
"Is it that Tanya girl again?"
Peter nodded again and added, "And I also need some help on getting Tanya off my back. I need some ideas to make her loose interest in me."
Thomas glanced at his watch, "I guess I can spare a few moments of brainstorming." He said while setting up a chair for him and his cousin to sit on.
End Chapter 12
Chapter 13 coming soon!
A/N: And there is the long awaited chapter 12. I really hope this came out okay…it's been a while since I've worked on this story and I'm a little rusty. I also hope that the introduction of the toy making elves and Thomas didn't seem too random. Thomas will play a good part in this story…nothing too extreme, but I assure y'all he's here for a reason. :)
I'm actually planning on doodling some of these toy making elves and posting the pics on Deviantart so y'all can get a better picture of them.
Once again, I apologize for the, what was it? Two year delay? Like I said, college and life got a hold on me and I got busy with other projects. Now that I've graduated, updates should be coming in more frequently. :)