Happy Holidays, guys!
Let the madness begin.
So who's ready to learn about Dottie? She sounds like fun, right?
Oh, and someone else we (haven't) missed returns…
Before I post the next chapter though, thanks to those who reviewed! SafyreSky, Stinker126, ShayLee64, and Just Lindsey, you guys are the best! Filled my day with tinsel and candy fluff…yes, I know it's technically either candy floss or cotton candy, let me live a little! Geesh. Anyhoo, a few questions have been raised that I would like to address. Thank you, SafyreSky for finding my faux-pas! (heh heh heh.) I knew I'd lost it. So here's my why-list, for those who are confused with my ramblings:
etiquette-faux-pas' why-list.
1. Firstly, I would like to say that this story is based on a hypothesis: that The Santa Clause is not in an AU.
being said, Ellington and Annise are very much from our universe. Being children of the 21st century, chances are that they would know of The Santa Clause movies as popular Christmas films. We do, right? And in chapter three, it became clear that Ellington was at least a little more invested in the movie than your average kid. *wink wink*
3. Plus, I personally got tired of reading the part in other fanfics where they 'figure out' that the movies are real. Or they never knew there were movies at all. So I decided to do something different. Hopefully it's not too odd so as to be difficult to understand.
4. Additionally, I meant to have the girls not read too much into the fact that the movies were real. I wanted their reaction to be a bit childish and naïve. We know that Ellington is normally far from naïve, so I wanted to make it obvious how that initial joy just kind of took over. Almost as if they were kind of afraid it was a dream, and if they fought it too much they might wake up.
5. Or something like that.
6. I based Ellington and Annise off of my relationship with my own sister. We don't always agree, but we love each other to death, and yes, tend to get ahead of ourselves sometimes. That sort of reflects on how these two act when actually at the Pole; they just go with it. Enjoy the experience. But yes, we will see their fallout moments too. ;)
7. And some of it is just my crappy Word/rookie mistakes. And then my plot holes… I don't have plot bunnies, I have plot moles. They don't always help out the way I'd prefer…
All in all, thanks for reviewing! Nice to know somebody's out there paying attention. J
Hope everyone has a great kick off to the holiday season.
Cheers,
Ana
P.S. Thanks for prodding me to write more! I had thought I was updating too fast. The holidays give me a writing buzz that's as inspiring as Judy's cocoa! E.F.P
P.P.S. And ShayLee64, I was psyched to see someone else who was a trekkie liking The Santa Clause too! I'm working on a couple of fics… mostly TOS and Star Trek 2009. So cool! I think you'll like this chapter. ;) Funny thing is, believe it or not, I actually had this written before you reviewed…just couldn't post it yet. (Dumb wifi!) SO. WEIRD. The universe is messing with me.
And many pardons to those who hate Trek.
But those ears! The puns! Can you blame me?
Ana
4. Ice…the Final Frontier
Bernard didn't like the way things were going.
For example, with Ellington.
Actually, it all had to do with Ellington.
Before she had come to the Pole, Bernard had made up his mind. He would tolerate the girl's presence, perhaps eventually be friendly (if the girl wasn't a spoiled brat, and he wasn't pushed towards it), and spend as little time around her as possible, so that he could keep his focus on his work…not on the Clause.
Talk about preclusion. Mrs. Claus would have given him a lecture, had she known.
But who said 'chaperoning' had ever been his thing? He wasn't 'Tour Guide Barbie'.
Or even 'Tour Guide Bernard'.
And so, a week into their stay, Bernard found it disturbing that he actually didn't mind when Ellington tagged along. He had to bring her, obviously; but that aside, he even slightly…dared he think it?..enjoyed her company.
And why not? She was funny; pretty, smart. And had a knack for tossing one-liners back his way with ease.
What was so bad about that?
What was so bad about that, he reminded himself, was that it was distracting him from his work. He should be focusing on maintaining quotas, not holding a mental debate with himself on whether it was okay for him to like Ellington.
Wait…
…LIKE ELLINGTON!?
"Ugh." Bernard groaned. His mind was playing games with him, and he was losing.
Which was so stupid.
After all, it wasn't like he hadn't been around other pretty girls in all of his (almost) seventeen hundred years. He was acting…
"Illogical," he said out loud. That was it. Illogical.
"What, you're Vulcan now?"
Bernard sighed mentally. Outwardly, he scowled and turned around to face Ellington.
She was completely straight faced as she lifted one hand, giving him the Vulcan salute. "Straighten those curls into some bangs and I just might believe it."
"Oh please tell me you're not into Star Trek," said Bernard, rolling his eyes but inwardly wishing he hadn't chosen to wear such a nondescript blue shirt.
"Well with that tone, would I tell you if I was?" Ellington said pointedly. She looked at the clipboard in his hand. "What are you doing? Crossword?"
Another scowl.
"Oh c'mon; don't even try to tell me that you're not that old."
Bernard stalked off, deciding not to answer her question. Unfortunately Ellington, being the Emissary she was, was forced to chase after him. And he, being the Chaperone, was forced not to chase her off.
Yes, things had reverted back to terseness. It happened regularly each morning: they went back to square one, pissing each other off.
By evening, they were positively chummy.
But it was only seven thirty, a.m.
Santa was with Curtis, checking out some problematic toy trains in Engineering. Seeing Bernard coming towards them wearing a miffed expression, Santa raised an eyebrow. "Look out," he muttered to Curtis, who visibly braced himself.
"Already at it, you two?" Santa crossed his arms.
"She's a certified pain in my side," Bernard huffed. "I didn't start anything."
"A worse pain than Curtis?" Santa countered, cocking his head meaningfully.
Bernard's indignant look faltered.
Curtis gasped. "Hey! I…"
"Dammit, Jim!" hollered Ellington, weaving through the crush of elves to catch up with them. "I'm a doctor, not a track star!"
Bernard made a low sound… almost a growl. Santa and Curtis leaned away from him.
Santa turned to Ellington, his expression shifting into one of amusement. "Trekkie?" He said to her, raising one hand in the Vulcan salute.
"Oh not you too!" Bernard grumped, but Ellington, now beaming, (heh heh, pun) said, "You bet! Haha, suck it, Bernard! Even the big man's a Trekkie!"
"Why else would be I walking around Engineering dressed all in red?" Santa said, mischievously.
"Because, um, you're Santa?" Bernard snarked. But the joke must have been lost on him.
It was Ellington's turn to gasp. "Scott-y!" And both she and the big man burst into peals of laughter.
The rest of the elves in the workshop, hearing Santa's laughing, joined in for no apparent reason…leaving Bernard looking much put out.
Finally, the laughter subsided. The elves went back to work as if nothing had happened. "Wow, did you two plan the matching color scheme?" Santa asked, eyeing Ellington's shirt. Bernard wasn't the only one dressed in a particular shade of blue. However, Ellington also wore tight black pants with black boots.
She should have looked uncomfortable, like Bernard did…but instead she just laughed. "No. I stayed up all night watching reruns…I don't need to tell you what of. I guess it rubbed off on my fashion sense." She chucked a thumb at Bernard. "He, on the other hand, has no excuse. Shouldn't he be wearing red and green?"
"Only every day," Curtis scoffed. "He hasn't worn blue in over three hundred years! It's like he's trying to impress y– OW!" He had been smacked upside the head by…guess who?
"Bernard," Santa said sternly, but the Head Elf stomped off down the production line to take notes…or finish his crossword, whichever was more likely to be true.
Ellington sighed. "Oh, let him have some space," she said, then burst out laughing again. "Oops."
Santa chuckled a bit. "So, who's your favorite character? A blue shirt, I assume?" Spock was the obvious choice, as first officer…funny, he had an odd love of rules that kind of reminded him of…
"Yeah," Ellington said, with starry eyes. "Leonard McCoy." Then her look grew wicked. "Bones is such a stubborn ass sometimes…well, most of the time. And that sarcasm! I love it."
"Right," Santa agreed, having just realized that no, Bernard wasn't like Spock so much after all. Both looked after the bossy, crotchety elf.
Ellington was thinking the same thing.
Well, almost.
Dammit, kid! She chided herself. He's an elf, not a Vulcan!
"So why the heck isn't Dottie here yet?" Annise asked.
She was sitting with Quentin in the Research and Development Sector…or, the RDS, as it was often called. Curtis hadn't come for her that morning; he'd sent a message that there was to be some kind of meeting later that day and he had to prepare for it.
It sounded like a cop-out, and Annise was more than a little disappointed. Curtis was growing on her.
"Not sure, luv," Quentin said, from under a large piece of machinery. An assortment of loud cranking sounds echoed out as he worked. "Seems like Team Two is having trouble finding her. Is your sister notoriously difficult to locate?" His accent was awesome, Annise had told him almost immediately, causing him to blush. So it wasn't only Curtis that did that then. Annise was beginning to wonder if all male elves had a habit of blushing at insults …or compliments. It had almost made her laugh, more than once.
"Sometimes," Annise admitted. "It depends. If it's something she wants or cares about, Dottie's easy to find. But if she doesn't want to do something…if it's difficult…"
"Well, I'd hardly call an 'all expenses paid' trip to the North Pole difficult, in a conventional sense," Quentin said, "but maybe in an emotional sense. Does Dorothy have emotional challenges?" He insisted on calling Dottie by her full name.
"Who doesn't?" Deflecting, yes; but it wasn't something Annise really wanted to get into. The young girl didn't like to express her feelings either. It was hard; especially with a sister like Ellington. Not that Ellington wasn't supportive. In fact, she always was the first to spring to Annise's aid; it had been a source of constant frustration to their parents that the girls never 'told' on each other. Ever. But despite her near constant show of bravado and sass, Ellington didn't show her real feelings any more than her younger sister did. Really, she was worse. Oh yes; Ellington could be charming and sweet to strangers and friends. But truthfully, outside of family, she didn't trust anyone enough to share her 'feelings' with.
"Hmm." The sound under the contraption stopped, but Annise was too deep in thought to notice.
"Hey Quentin," said Abby, skimming in. That was how she walked; like she was barely touching the ground.
Annise froze. She hadn't met this elf yet. And she had been waiting to.
The two locked eyes.
Three seconds later, they both started gushing.
"Ohmygosh! You're Abby! I love you're dress, it's even better in real life!.."
"Ohwowhello! You must be Annise! I've been trying to find…"
Both stopped, then laughed and shook hands.
"Abby."
"Annise."
"Why don't you two go and get something to eat?" Quentin said, having emerged from under the machine. He was wiping his hands on a red and green bandana. "I've got to 'ave the space to myself anyway, for a bit." He picked up a gun-like tool and whirled, striking a pose. "Welding."
The girls went out, in fits of giggles. It was pretty obvious that they were going to be fast friends. Which was neat, because Annise didn't hit it off with just anyone.
When they were out of earshot, Quentin sighed. He felt bad, lying for the Council.
After all, the girls really ought to know that Dorothy had been at the Pole for four days already.
After the whole Trek thing that morning, Bernard had remained in a mood funk, despite Ellington's best efforts to cheer him up. Figures, she had thought, that your interests would tick him off.
Well, that, and maybe the fact that she'd gotten the entire workshop in an uproar over it.
Maybe.
Around midday, Bernard had growled something about a meeting, and frumped off. Ellington had gone back to her room, feeling oddly depressed. Like she'd failed at something. She needed a mental break…perhaps reading?
Browsing the shelves of her bookcase, Ellington's hopes fell. It seemed that the elves had expected her to have the reading interests of a typical teenage girl. Unfortunately, she didn't care much for werewolves, or vampires, or fallen angels. Finally, her eyes landed on a gilded spine: Sherlock Holmes.
With a sigh of relief, she grabbed it and flopped back onto her bed.
She didn't realize how tired she was until she was waking up.
The clock showed that three hours had passed. Wondering what would have woken her, Ellington sat up. It was only then that she heard the rustling that was coming from the kitchenette.
Grabbing the nearest weapon-like object,(a roll of wrapping paper) Ellington stealthily crept over to the wall partition between the rooms.
The rustling was still going.
Giving herself to the mental count of three, she leapt around the corner with an intimidating cry.
Only there was no one there.
Just her phone, vibrating on an empty bag of chips.
Bernard, on the other hand, was not having a break. He was headed to a secret meeting of The Council of Legendary Figures.
Yes, it's true that normally, only the Legendary Figures themselves were allowed to the Council meetings. But given the situation (it wasn't every day the Pole had three, human children wandering around), the Chaperones were required to be present as well. This meant that in Santa's Study this afternoon was Bernard, Charlie, and…
"Charlie, where's Curtis?' Bernard asked, glancing around for his chubby blond counterpart.
"No idea. Why, is he supposed to be here?" Charlie looked as if he'd just come from a nap.
"Yeah he is." An unnamed worry crept into Bernard's mind. But when he mentioned it to Santa, he didn't seem concerned. "Oh, he's probably just too nervous to attend," Scott had said. But that didn't make Bernard feel any better. He didn't need more reminders of how Curtis was unfit for his job.
"The first item on our agenda," Mother Nature began, after she and Carol had had a short battle of making the male Figures act closer to their own ages, "is one we have spoken of before." She went to the window, drawing back the drapes to reveal the view of the town. "On the outskirts of Elfsburg, the dark fog cloud commonly called the Unknown has begun to tint the walls of the Polar Cap." Mother Nature looked very grave. "For those of you who don't yet know what this means, Bernard will explain."
Bernard stood, and set his hands atop the table. "The Polar Cap is what keeps the North Pole separate from the rest of the world. It is very magical, yet its purpose is simple to understand. It protects the Pole from the non-magical influence of the world outside, shielding it from the disbelief of those without Christmas spirit. Its magic lies partly in the pure ice crystal from which it is made; the purest, clearest ice in the world, made entirely from light."
"Ice made from light?" Scott asked skeptically.
Bernard just shrugged. "Magic, remember?"
"Wow," muttered Sandman.
"No kidding," said Cupid, shaking his head in disbelief.
Even Carol looked impressed.
"That's incredible," Scott said, his voice reverent. "But what happens if we can't stop the Unknown?"
Bernard sighed and shifted uncomfortably, as thought he really hated what he was about to say. "In the event that the crystal becomes polluted, its integrity is compromised. In other words, its strength begins to fail. Should the pollution continue unchecked, the ice will darken completely, destroying all light it contains, and defeating the protection of its magic. "
"Without the Polar Cap protecting it the North Pole will cease to exist," Mother Nature finished. "There will be no more Santa, no more elves…no more Christmas."
"The Unknown is weakening the Polar Cap; it is the pollution," Bernard explained. "Therefore it is imperative that we discover the origin and cause of the Unknown, in order to devise an anecdote to its effects."
"What are we going to do?!" Easter Bunny cried desperately. "We can't let Christmas be destroyed! Think about the Clauses! The elves!"
"The world would never be the same, without Christmas," Cupid agreed.
"We have to do something, and fast," Scott said firmly. "The Unknown has doubled its rate of progression in the past two weeks. At this rate, we have until…"
"The day after Christmas," Father Time said decisively.
"The day after Christmas, to finish this thing!" Scott banged his fist on the table, as the rest of the Legendary Figures cried out in agreement.
"Hear hear!"
"We won't let this thing beat Christmas Spirit!" Scott cried. Mother Nature held up her hands until they all calmed down.
"That reminds me," she said. "Speaking of a lack of Christmas spirit, we come to our second order of business. We all know of the lovely girls that are staying here at the Pole." She smiled fondly, even as the others heartily agreed that Ellington and Annise were 'very, very good girls.' "The Connelly's are a sweet, funny, and charming pair of girls–"
Bernard huffed quietly. "Well, Annise is. Ellington is only when she chooses to be."
"–And are adjusting quite well to their new surroundings. However," Mother Nature said with a sigh, "their sister, Dorothy Agev-Connelly, is having a bit more trouble." From somewhere, she pulled a small remote. The picture over Santa's mantle turned into a plasma screen.
"Nice," Easter Bunny quipped.
They watched a short video, of Dottie being feisty with Team Two: fighting them off, in fact. "It appears that Dottie's Christmas Spirit is exceedingly low. She is distrustful, bitter, and, for some reason, resentful– towards her sisters."
The sound came on the film. "My sisters?" Dottie spat. "Why would I want to see them? I stayed in here in Washington for a reason, you know. Dad's a lame a**, even without cancer."
A low murmur ran through the group.
"But, around others…" The video swept over Dottie at the mall, with friends: Cheery, bubbling, and blonde as all get out. "Hi guys! How have you been? Oh, Sarah, that blouse! Wow, you look fab! How…"
"And on the phone with her sisters…" The recording began. It was Ellington first, her voice falsely cheerful. "Hey! Dottie…"
Then the shocker: "Hey sis! What's up?" Dottie, absolutely peppy. Ellington went on. "Oh, nothing much, you know…"
Dottie cut in: "Hey, guess what I did on Tuesday?..." And she chattered on and on.
Ellington sighed audibly at one point, but Dottie was unfazed.
When the recording ended, all around the table, there was outrage.
"What the…does she have a dual personality?!" asked Carol.
"No."
"Sleep apnea? Because those mood swings…" Sandman, of course.
"No…"
"Love problems? That back biting little–" Cupid was a little miffed, for the girls' sakes.
"NO...well, maybe. No boyfriend to speak of."
"I wonder why." Bernard rolled his eyes, and stood. "The long and short of it is: Dorothy is a brat. Sure, sixteen's a bit old, but I've seen worse. We're going to have to be careful while dealing with someone so–"
"Unstable," Mother Nature finished.
"Right." Bernard coughed. That wouldn't have necessarily been his choice of words. "Also, Dorothy being around her sisters may be a problem. The one time Ellington mentioned her to me, she said, and I quote: 'That I'm going to be living next door to Dottie for the foreseeable future…that's my real problem.' Obviously, there's some kind of conflict there, outside of Dorothy's contempt. The girls don't know of that."
"Or do they?" A cold, silky voice said. There, in the corner, leaned–
"Frost?" Mother Nature seemed surprised. Santa rolled his eyes. And Bernard? Well…
Ugh! Could my day get worse?! was foremost in the Head Elf's mind as the icy Figure sashayed over to the table. A place magically appeared for him, to the left of Santa. To Santa's right sat Bernard, who was throwing eye daggers at the newcomer.
"Well, well," said Father Time. "It's been awhile since 'Naughty Jack' has shown his face at the Council Table."
Jack held up a hand. "Now, don't start in on me already. C'mon! I just got here. I think you all need to just," he nudged Tooth Fairy, "brighten up." Tooth Fairy tossed his head irritably.
Frost sat, plastering his lips with a false smile and crossing his legs. "My point is, this Ellington person seems to have a head about her; why wouldn't she know about Ms. Dorothy's attitude? Surely you've all heard of something called 'intuition'? I mean, I know Curtis hasn't, obviously…" He looked around. "Where is the little twerp anyway? I miss him."
Ignoring that comment, Mother Nature said, "Yes, Ellington is a very intuitive girl." She sighed, hating to agree with the roguish sprite, and addressed the others. "Jack may be right."
"She's more than intuitive," Carol commented. Seeing the others' questioning looks, she went on. "Didn't any of you read her profile? The girl is a borderline genius… her test scores are in the 99th percentile. And she's mature for her age. With a mind like that, I mean… she's future CEO material! She turned down Vassar, for tinsel's sake! And Annise is far from stupid herself."
Scott agreed. "It would be obvious to someone like Ellington, and she tells Annise just about everything. We should assume they know."
"Right." Bernard was about to stand, when the door to the Study burst open, and who should it be but…
"Oh. Sorry. Am I disturbing something?" Ellington panted, her curls tossed around in disarray. She still looked lovely as usual though. It was really starting to bother Bernard, how she somehow always looked great. She never thought so, though. Oh no; her opinion was quite the opposite.
For example: Damn, I look scary today, had been her first thought after dressing that morning. The 'virtual closet' always did her makeup, regardless of if she wanted to do it herself. Ellington was considering skipping the box entirely, and picking her own clothes from now on. But the 'Science officer of the Enterprise' outfit had been delightful, sooo…
Jack looked surprised; then, his eyes began to sparkle. In a way that Bernard didn't like, at all.
With a closer scan of the room, Ellington's face sobered. "Ohhhhh….this is a council meeting, isn't it?" She huffed angrily. "Dammit, Jim," she muttered to herself.
Jack sprung. "Trekkie, eh?" He said, rising to cross the room and shake her hand. "You must be the lovely, the intelligent Ms. Ellington. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm–"
"Back off, Jack," Ellington said suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. "If you think I'm intelligent, then don't insult me by thinking I'll fall for your devilish, two sided charm."
The smile on Jack's face (almost literally) froze. "As effervescent as ever, I see," he said stiffly, straightening his lapels in embarrassment before stepping quickly back to his seat. The room seemed to grow a few degrees colder.
"Wow, Santa. You've sure got your 'shoulder demon/angel' thing going on there, don't you?" Ellington said, eyeing the two on either side of him and suppressing a smirk.
Bernard suddenly felt very friendly towards Ellington. He resisted giving Jack a smug look… barely.
Meanwhile, Ellington's eyes fell on the screen. A picture of Dottie in a room at the Pole was displayed there.
The council gasped. Mother Nature clicked the plasma off, turning it back into a painting. But it was too late.
"Oh don't bother," said Ellington casually. She crossed her arms. "Dottie texted me twenty minutes ago, telling me she'd been kidnapped five days ago by insane midgets dressed as elves, who were holding her hostage in a place they kept calling 'The North Pole'."
Silence.
"Awkward," squeaked Easter Bunny.
"Okay," said Mother Nature. "I…guess we don't need to figure out how to tell you, then."
"Kidnapped?" Cupid wondered. All eyes flew to Scott.
"What! We had to use some…unorthodox methods to get her here," Scott said defensively. Then he grew alarmed. "But hey, how did you know where we were? This meeting was supposed to be secret!"
Ellington's eyes widened, as if she'd just remembered something. She had, actually. "Quentin told me," she said, her tone suddenly cautious. "After I found …um…someone doing something they shouldn't be doing…"
From deep in the Workshop, a siren began to blare.
Santa and Bernard reddened. "Curtis!" they yelled; equally annoyed, for once. Both ran out, Bernard grabbing Ellington by the arm almost as an afterthought.
Yup. They knew about intuition, all right.
And, on another note, it was glaringly obvious that Jack Frost's interest was piqued. He wasn't going to leave the 'effervescent Ellington' alone anytime soon.
The creepy way his eyes followed after her confirmed it.
They took off down the halls. Ellington found herself with an odd sense of déjà vu…this reminded her of the 'Elfcon 1' scenario in the second movie. Only now, instead of being in the audience, she was running with Santa, while holding Bernard's hand.
Which had not been her doing, by the way. Apparently Bernard found it hard to sprint awkwardly in that weird way he did (you know what I'm talking about?) while holding her by the arm. Ellington was just glad that she had the running as an excuse for her flushed cheeks.
She was also glad for the running because she didn't have to tell them what had happened.
It was apparent upon arrival.
It was all over. Everywhere. On every toy, every tool, every gift; wrapped and unwrapped.
Glitter. Silver. Glitter.
And it was entirely Curtis' fault.
Because only Curtis would walk by the pressurized glitter canister– that was a full story high, located in the center of Distribution, under a vent–with a flaming blow torch.
That, of course, he had borrowed from Quentin.
Who would be far from pleased to see what he'd done with it.
And then the ventilation had turned on.
The glitter was sure to be wicking through every room of the Workshop.
They stood, gaping at the sight.
Some of the glitter, swirling in a smallish tornado above the remnants of the canister.
Elves, wading through knee-deep glitter. Pulling each other up. Wiping the glitter out of their eyes, off their hands; scraping it off as if it were sticky…
Sticky…
Oh God. Ellington remembered Bernard showing her the glue tank that had been attached to the glitter canister.
And there, sitting in the middle of it all, was a particular bowl cut with sideburns, worn by a particular elf that was definitely in hot water…
Without a word, Bernard dropped Ellington's hand (Ellington's stomach dropping as a result), and waded out to where the culprit was trying to make a mound of glitter to hide behind. Bernard kicked the pile into the air, it fluttering down around him, a substantial amount landing in his curls and atop his beret.
Then, he quite audibly began to yell at Curtis.
A few maintenance elves that had arrived with vacuums turned them on high, in an effort to protect the younger elves from the barrage of harsh words flowing from the Head Elf's mouth. Ellington was almost certain she had heard him construct several rather colorful sentences that would have 'made a sailor blush', as the saying went.
Santa didn't even stop him. He just stood there, looking horrified.
Ellington had once thought that the sight of Curtis getting an earful would be funny. But now that she was here, watching it happen, she didn't find it very funny at all.
She pitied him. And what was more…sympathized.
Because she could see Curtis growing angrier and angrier, even though he said nothing. The tight look on his face said more than words could…
To a point, that is.
Because after Bernard said something lower, with a series of large hand gestures, Curtis shouted, "Fine! I quit then!"
The entire room went silent. Even the vacuums were shut off. Somewhere, a fly was buzzing. It was the loudest noise in the room.
Now it was easy to hear Bernard, even though he was speaking in a normal volume. "You don't get to quit," he said evenly. "You're fired."
And with that he turned and stalked out, brushing past Ellington without a word.
Ellington looked at Santa.
Then at Curtis, who was also looking at Santa.
Santa sighed.
"He's right Curtis," he said solemnly. "This is way past the last straw." He paused. "But you're not fired."
The elves audibly let out their breath.
"But you are definitely…" Curtis tensed.
Santa thought. "…demoted."
Santa took Ellington by the elbow and led her out, just as Annise and Abby rushed in.
Ellington caught Annise's eye as they passed. With that one look, Annise knew something awful had just happened.
Besides all the glitter flying around.
The expression (and glue) on Curtis' face confirmed it.
Walking back out the halls had an entirely different feel to it. Ellington kept seeing Bernard yelling at Curtis, replaying over and over in her mind. Her mouth tasted sour and her stomach kept clenching in anger. It was odd. She had expected to be on Bernard's side, but not so.
pointy eared bastard," she muttered bitterly, for the first time that day regretting the connotation to Trek. Because though far from emotionless, Bernard was starting to seem a lot less McCoy and a lot more Spock.
Less what she wanted and more what she didn't.
Dun dun duuuunnn! (again.) Bernard sure threw a wrench in things, didn't he? And he doesn't even know it yet!
Awww! Poor Curtis! His life is over! *sob* Demoted!
Ah well.
We all know he had it coming.
Comments. Reviews. PM's. I adore them all! And I'd love to expand my collection. *steeples fingers like a mad scientist, and cackles*
Have another chapter almost complete; will be up by Monday. J
Christmas cookies to you all!
Cheers,
Ana