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Regina had been fairly certain that she'd finished up the majority of her holiday shopping up until two hours ago when she'd been hit with the nagging feeling that she'd forgotten something. Obviously she'd had enough sense to have gotten things for Joce already, but there was no reason why they couldn't both head to the mall to poke around for a bit under the guise of observing chaos while getting lunch. Lunch was important and there just so happened to be a fantastic noodle bowl place at the mall that also served a mean boba tea.

They were just rounding the insane line for Santa (line there meant less of a line at the food court, right?) when someone called out to her. Regina paused, glancing around before looking to Joce to see if her friend recognized the young woman dressed as an elf trying to flag the two of them down. "Someone from school?"

Her eyes went wide as the young woman snatched her by the wrist, giving her an insistent tug of the arm. "Hurry up! We've been waiting for you... What happened? You were supposed to be here hours ago."

"I-- I think you've got me mixed up with... I'm not... I don't..." Regina stammered as the young woman in the candy cane striped leggings tried to tug her away from her companion. "Wait. I think there's been a mistake," she pleaded, brow furrowed, glancing back over her shoulder in an attempt to appeal to Joce to save her.

The young woman-- elf, it looked like-- loosened her hold on Regina's wrist, lips forming a stern pout as she regarded the young woman sassing her for trying to do her job. "Do you see how many people are waiting? Don't you understand? Your friend here had the nerve to show up out of uniform and we elves take this very seriously."

Regina's jaw dropped, mouth open as she tried to process the demanding young woman's words. "Oh, no. I'm not... I'm not an elf. Not that there's anything wrong with elves. I do usually pick the elf origin when I'm playing Dragon Age, but I'm not...." She felt the pressure of fingertips tighten against her wrist and stood her ground, firmly yanking her hand back. "I'm afraid I'm not who you think I am, miss."

The line of impatient parents and their warbling wee ones had now turned some of their attention to the scene the 'head elf' was causing, now involving not only the wide-eyed ginger that she'd accosted but her incredibly defensive friend too. Whispers were growing into louder conversations about the scene and if it continued it was not going to be a good day for Santa or his elves.

"I might look like a Kringle, but I assure you I am not one..." Were she on her own she might be more sympathetic to the other woman's plight. She might have felt more compelled to help, in the name of the season, but she had Joce with her and her own stomach was rumbling and.... She hadn't come to the mall to be an elf. Especially not one of Santa's elves.

"If that's all, we'll be off now." Regina reached down to grab Jocelin's hand, taking the initiative in being the one to lead the two of them away from Santa, the perturbed elf and the mile long line. Food court and then they were getting out of here, as promised.