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Trois had been meaning to be getting presents and then leaving, that was all that he wanted to do. It made sense, honestly, especially given how grueling it was shopping for eleven children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. To top it all off, the one of only a couple toddlers was with him today, meaning that he had to keep up with the little purplish girl's energies along with the rest of what that entailed. Thankfully, up to this point, the high spirited, sleepy little child had been well behaved.

She'd also been asleep.

It was upsetting to watch the baby girl sleep, given her whimpering, seizing, and occasional crying out or quiet sobbing. It seemed that none of the dreams the poor seer ever had were any good or taught her anything nice, at least not in a very nice manner. It was all the hubbub in the line to see Santa Claus that roused her from her troubled sleep. Rubbing a grey eye, she looked around before Trois plopped a Santa hat on her head, smiling at her gently.

"Raise and shine, sleeping'k beauty," Trois said sweetly, kissing the girl on the forehead, who smiled sleepily back at her mother. Quickly, though, her attention was grabbed by the man in red, and she brightened instantly, not noticing the nephew that was sitting in his lap and instead wiggling and pointing happily. She'd adopted the Christmas spirit thing quite quickly it seemed. Trois laughed softly at his little girl's excitement and nodded his approval. The corn snake took his daughter from her storage unit / stroller and got in line, before noticing someone quite familiar and chuckling in surprise, slithering out of line to approach his grandson with a bit of a concerned expression, mostly brought on by the letter the man was holding.

"It es good to see jou again, Peony..." he said, petting the dark-coloured parent's head with one hand, letting Peony be the one to initiate any hugging; he well knew each child of his own, or of his children's, and he was aware that Peony had never been one for contact. Alazne, in the mean time, recognized one of her friends and squeaked happily, wriggling around in her mom's arms until she was set down and ran over to her friend Alome, jumping at Noel's heels in an attempt to reach the girl who was flying up sooo high, her heart-tipped tail flicking back and forth behind her.

Ben sighed, knowing Thali was getting her revenge via the children. "Let me tell you a secret," he muttered in Echo's ear. "You see my elf? She's the reason I can't eat carrots. Would you believe that she steals them from me everytime I try? And she wonders why she's on the naughty list." He paused, and listened to the boy's request like the good Santa he was, ignoring the prodding and poking, and whatever else he generally disliked about children who weren't his own. "Ah, a piano. Well, as long as you're good, and as long as you promise to keep believing in Santa," Ben told him with a forced sort of smile. He set the boy down, and waited for Thali to bring the next child up.

When she didn't, because the elf was still busy talking to Noel, he looked to Hunter and Rina. They were next in line. "Come on up you two," he said in his most Santa-like voice. He picked up Rina with two gloved hands, and gave Kait an apologetic smile that was half-way hidden behind his faux beard. He set her gently on his knee, before looking to Hunter. He'd heard of him from Samantha, but the way she'd described him, Ben thought he might be on the naughty list. "Hunter, isn't it? Come on up. After you tell me what you would like for Christmas, my elf will give you each a special treat." He gestured to his wife.

Thali gave Noel a smile. "Thank you," she said, her make-uped cheeks going red; not out of delight, but out of embarassment of being seen like this. "But I need your help, Noel," she said, glancing around the store. "There's so many children, and just one me. I told Ben he would need more elves, but he insisted... And well. Honestly, I'm overwelmed," there was a pause, in which she gave another glance around the shop. She looked wistfully at Lily and Arivoli for a moment, before noticing someone else she knew. Great, Zee was here. Aloud she said, "Oh, Howl and Devin are here!"

Samantha was surprised, she'd never seen a toddler bow before. "You don't have to be shy," she said, kneeling and smiling at him. "It's alright, everyone's friendly during Christmas," she promised. "Christmas is a time when everyone gets into the spirit of giving, and people love each other." Sammi had never experienced Christmas herself; but she had heard things about it; and read. "It's a time where people make cookies, and give things to people they don't know," she finished.

~~~~

Devin was next in line to see Santa after Hunter and Rina, his excitement only growing. Unfortunately, he recognized Thali. "Auntie!" he cried, racing over to her. He didn't look back to the line. "Hi Auntie! Hi!" Thali handed him a candy cane. Hopefully Howl would save Devin's place in line.

"Shhh!" She whispered, kneeling down to his level. "Not everyone should know you have Santa's elf as your Auntie. They might get jealous." She looked to Noel and smiled sheepishly.

Howl seemed to be delighted to see Alome. He put his arms around her as she drew close, and hugged her. "I mithed you!" was his only comment, his sweater temporarily forgotten. "I not ithy," he said with a slight frown. "Daddy make me wear thith. I mith my thuit." He really did seem uncomfortable. "Wanna thee Thanta with me? Devin coming too."

OOh~ A way to dress up! A surge of excitement coursed through Noel's veins and he nodded eagerly!!

"Oh, I'd just LOVED to help!! I always wanted to be one of Santa's elves!! Just tell me where to get dressed!! Where's the costume?" One could just tell Noel was a child in a grown man's body. That's how he could take care of his daughter so well. He knew how she thought. Giddiness swelled within and he practically dragged Thali along to get ready.

~

"So.. so We be friends? Because it Chirsmis?" Irae tilted his head, not quite grasping the whole concept. But receiving a smile from someone was all the reassurance he needed. The little voca-infant ran into Sammi and hugged her tight.

"Friends!! I is Irae~! What's your name?" His voice was still soft, not wanting to scare his first toddler friend away.

~

The little winged girl did NOT expect to be hugged, but willingly accepted it, the boy WAS her best friend.

"It cute. I like it better dan your old suit!" She really didn't mean it, the sweater WAS very hideous. She took Howl's hand and stood in line with him paitently, swinging her arms back and forth. "Oooh!!!! I've never met Santa Before! What does Howl want for Christmas?"

Kait grinned back to Ben, not at all phased. Things like this tended to get busy and out of hand fast. She lifted Hunter and set him on Ben's lap next to Riina. "Merry Christmas Santa." She smiled down at the children, "Make sure you tell Santa everything you want. And then the nice elf will give you a treat."

Riina squealed and wiggled away to make room for her brother. Completely ignoring her mother she watched Santa's face, waiting for him to pay attention to her. "I wan' sugar. Lottsa sugar. And a bunccha new books. And a dress too! P'ease." She smiled prettily, knowing that if she were polite and well behaved it might pay off.

Hunter looked around, his eyes alert. He recognized Sammi and wasn't sure what to think. She hadn't been very nice when he had met her last. Did she know Santa? Hunter looked up at the man, trying to make up his mind about the situation. As Kait encouraged him he smiled, but only a little. "Mis'er Santy, can I have a colo'wing book? An' me'be a game to pway?"

Thali was so relieved that she didn't take the time to thank him, or even to smile. "You go stand in line, Dev-Dev," she said, looking to the toddler still clinging to her. "He'll bring presents soon, make sure you tell him what you want. Maybe later we can write him a letter!" With that, she silently led Noel to the changing rooms, which weren't all that far away. She could still see the set up. "Right here," she said, gesturing to the men's changing room. "You should find an outfit your size in there," she said vaguely. "I don't know what that version of the costume looks like though, so don't ask me." She paused, and decided to back to her position. She walked down the hall, and stood next to Santa's throne.

Ben looked down at Riina and Hunter and gave each a smile. "Sugar, huh? I hope you're not planning on causing your mother trouble with it," he commented, looking to Kait and giving her a questioning look. "If you're a good girl, I'm sure you'll get everything you want." It was an easy promise to make. She seemed like a well behaved little girl. He patted her on the head. "I promise, you'll have a wonderful Christmas."

He looked to Hunter, still not knowing what to think about him. He seemed polite enough. "Of course," Ben said with a smile and a nod. Had Sammi lied to him? She had described Hunter as a bully. "I'm sure you've been a good boy. Merry Christmas!"

He gestured to Thali, who handed each child a candy cane. "Merry Christmas," she said cheerfully, echoing her husband. She helped each of them off of Ben's lap with expertise; it was easily noted that Santa's elf was a mother herself.

~~~

Sammi blinked at the younger boy, slightly confused. "No silly," she said with a smile. "I'd be your friend even if it wasn't Christmas." She kneeled down and returned the little boy's hug. He'd seemed so frightened before; she was quite happy to have made him feel better. "You can go see Santa, if you want to," she suggested, pointing to her father. "He's really nice, I promise. He'll be your friend too, if you ask him to be. He brings presents to everyone who's good." She paused, and gave Irae a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Irae. My name's Samantha; but you can call me Sammi. Everyone else does."

Reiya was growing bored with controling the weather. Why had she been given this job anyway? She didn't like being behind the scenes! She liked to observe. She set a cloud over her father's head, and watched as it slowly poured out snow. That would teach him! She walked out from behind the stage, dressed in a bell-like green dress. It was knee length, and had a tie in back. It was embroidered with holly and mistletoe, she wore red tights that set the dress to perfection. She didn't look altogether pleased with her outfit.

~~~

Howl smiled as Alome allowed him to hug her, before pulling away. "I dun like it," he said with a slight frown. He didn't believe Alome one bit; he knew the sweater wasn't his style. "I dun know what I want for Chrithmath," he lied. A wave of guilt went through him, but he was following Noel's instructions. He had told him to stop talking about Sophie to Alome, so he did. He wouldn't mention her at all.

Devin had toddled back to Howl's side. "We pothed to go 'gether," he informed his brother. He frowned when Howl shook his head.

"I going with 'Lome. You go with thomeone elthe."

"That not nice."

"You go with Thammi," Howl suggested, guilt getting the better of him. He knew how much Devin liked their cousin.

"Okay!"

All the while, Thali had watched this with amusement. "So it's Howl and Alome?" She asked, walking over to them. She picked up Howl, and took him over to Ben. She set him on her husband's lap before ruffling his hair affectionately. Howl was not pleased. He batted her hand away and smoothed his hair back down with his hands. Ugh.

This made both Ben and Thali chuckle; they knew how vain their nephew was. Thali went and took Alome by the hand. "Come on, Santa wants to see you," she said, lifting her up onto Ben's vacant knee. "Come see me when you're done telling Santa what you want, and I'll give you two a treat," she promised. She stepped down off of the stage to see who was next in line. Ah! She looked over to Ivy and Eve, and gave each a smile. "Merry Christmas," she greeted them. "Can she have a candy cane? I have some soft ones for younger children--"

Howl had leaned forward, and tugged lightly on Ben's faux beard. "I got a thecret," he whispered. Ben leaned his ear towards Howl with a smile, wondering if the boy would ask for another potion set.

"What is it?"

"Thanta, I dun want toyth. If that all you bring, I dun want any. I want Thophie. Can you bring me Thophie? I been a very good boy."

Ben's smile faded, though it was hard to tell through that beard of his. Poor Howl! He'd been searching for this Sophie ever since he'd first arrived; he must have really loved her. "Well... Howl..." he started, looking at his nephew. He didn't know what to say; he didn't want to get the poor boy's hopes up, but he didn't want to crush them completely. "I don't know if I can bring her on Christmas," he said. "But maybe she'll come another time." I hope she does, he thought silently. For Howl's sake. "Isn't there anything else you'd like me to bring you?"

"No."

Ben sighed, though he'd been expecting that response. He looked to Alome. "And what would you like for Christmas, little girl?"

*Apologizes for the extremely long post of doom*

Ivy smiled, "Merry Christmas. "Yes, she can have a soft one. I've been trying to find some that wouldn't be dangerous though the shops don't sold a lot of them". She shifted Eve in her arms as they were close to her being able to meet Santa.

Eve looked at the elf, "Ewf?" She pointed and asked, curious though her eyes went wide at the candy canes in her hand. Her mother had only given her a few already and the rest went for the christmas tree. "Sanda", she clapped with a smile.