There’s this casual mention of Christmas outfits in the first book. So today’s fiction is a little more of that. Some frosted feelings if you will, and of course they are wrapped with care. It’s a longer bit of story, my seasonal gift to you all. A little bit of all the characters we know in it too.

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A Christmas Story

“I don’t care how many of you dress up like Santa,” Tweety shook her head and motioned down her body. “I’m an elf, Santa’s helper, hence the green and the hat. They don’t get to sit on Santa’s lap asking for presents, and I’m sure as heck not going to start with you lot.”

The woman giggled in the direction of five various shaped Santas. “I know for a fact at least one of you has a lovely girlfriend that you met in my bar, if I know my drink orderers right.”

At that, one Santa did grumble his way off the line, newly mixed drink in hand. The others didn’t seem as easily discouraged.

“How about this. One round of drinks on me, your favorite elf, and at least 30 minutes before you lot try this again ok? I’ve got a line of customers, and I am sure there’s a few out there who would love to sit on Santa’s lap.”

Another round of drinks were mixed and delivered by the cheerful sexy bar elf. It was only when no one could see her, that Tweety would let her smile slip. These Santas weren’t the right shape to be the one she’d want anyway. The wrong Santa wouldn’t make her snowy Christmas song wish come true.

Again the lyrics to All I Want For Christmas Is You, in Mariah’s tones, filled her mind. Such an upbeat festive tune, yet it nailed the point home the most. Maybe Tweety did wish for snow, but only on Christmas Eve, as that had some sort of magical spell to it. Snow any other time could be a hassle. Christmas snow could almost be expected.

A new round of Santas entered the bar, and this time, there were elves and reindeer as well. Long weekend Christmas was the best kind, a few extra days to enjoy oneself.

After all, Soulful had a reputation for amazing parties.

Tweety made sure she didn’t disappoint the fans either. Curb their urges, yes, but no disappointment. She’d willingly dance with the better behaved Santa types, pose for pictures with others, and the creepy ones met with her other, more forceful but still pleasant, elves.

Bebe loves a good freaky type to toy with. Even if it usually involved Reindeer Nira, some liquor, and Bebe’s Christmas camo cargo pants.

Nobody said the bar elves had to dress alike. Malta even got Frost to match her, a sort of Mr. and Mrs. Claus in residence. Except that Santa didn’t let anyone but Malta on his lap, and frequently suggested a tankard of ale for a gift, no matter the age or gender. Kippers too.

No need to ask him for what you wanted, St. Frost told you what you should get. Coal upside the head and all.

Still, the mix of strange, grumpy, and flirty added to the charm that was Soulful. A bar and nightclub where you might walk in a stranger, and go home with new friends. The resident cupid worked overtime at the holidays, if only to stay somewhat single herself.

After all, Tweet’s heart belonged to an on and off ghost of a musician man.

Yes, they were currently off, in the way that he hadn’t darkened her doorstep in 26 days, but who was counting? Ghost for too long, and the assumption was clear that it was over. The trouble with that guitar man was that he would always come back in and pick it back up. Like her heart didn’t feel the fire slowly burn out with the passing of days. Not for a lack of loving him, that would never be Tweet’s problem with Woods.

But the distance, with no signs of returned love? Well, a girl always needed to prepare herself just in case it really was over. Not that she would ever know for sure.

“A round of peppermint spiked cocoa and merry mint cupcakes? Coming right up.” Tweet smiled and went about fixing up the tray. As soon as most of the customers in that order moved off to a table, a man strode up to the bar wearing one of those mistletoe like hats.

Instantly Tweet stepped back to be out of that zone. “Hello and welcome to Soul, what can I get you this fine holiday weekend?”

“How about the holiday special? Make that all eggnogs.” After the man finished studying the menu board behind her, his eyes fell on Tweety. “Oh and a kiss for Christmas too.”

He wiggled his hat while speaking, but she didn’t bite right away, purposely turning away before he could finish the request. After all, this wasn’t the first attempt of this kind either.

“Eggnog special, coming right up.” While Tweet worked on pulling the cupcake and pouring the drink, she covertly spied the woman next to him eyeing Mistletoe Man up and down. There was nothing wrong with him. He has a sense of humor, or else he wouldn’t walk around with a bit of holly on his head. Yes, it was the wrong plant, but Tweet gave him credit for trying. He was handsome in the steady and reliable next-door neighbor way, but that wasn’t her type. Tweet still had a spark of hope for a certain rockstar bad boy that frequently reminded some of Billy Idol.

Still, something about the way Peppermint Mocha kept admiring Mistletoe Man, Tweet had a feeling again. The one that led her to do bad things for very good reasons. The one Frost called the “ulcer maker”. What if Peppermint only needed an opening? Tweet knew that there had been two rounds of this woman’s drink.

That could be enough Christmas-y courage.

Tweet’s wicked little smile came out, as it tended to do when a plan fell into place. As she set the order down, it worked in her favor. “Was there anything else you wanted?” Tweet spoke a little louder, as if she couldn’t hear as well over the crowded nightclub.

Mistletoe Man nodded, and he too raised his voice. “A Christmas kiss?”

Tweet’s gaze flicked to the Peppermint Mocha woman next to him, and for a moment, he too looked that woman’s way. Most of the time these men followed Tweet’s gaze, because they had no idea if she would ask the person, or if Tweet merely looked off a moment to think. That was the joy in being somewhat unpredictable.

And how Tweet made trouble.

All it took was a moment of eye contact, and a glimpse of the sprig on his head. Peppermint Mocha piped up. 

“Christmas kiss? That’s not so hard to do with you.” 

Her hands were in Mistletoe’s hair before he knew what was about to hit him. You’d think it was the midnight New Year’s smooch there. One of them had to come up for air soon, right?

Working thru another order, that pair moved off somewhere else and opened up more space on her bar. Tweet giggled again. Despite all the flirting and come ons, sometimes something magical did happen, and it made the stress of her night ease, if only for that moment.

“I can never tell if you will get coal or everything your heart desires in your stocking from the things you do.”

“Hello Sly, here to help make drinks or poke at me?” Tweety moved away from the blender corner, hoping Sly would handle the type of drinks he was becoming famous for.

“Always both, Sweetie Tweety.” With his newfound flourish, Sly flipped some glasses about and fiddled with his favorite blender. “But first, Frost the Grinch needs a bit of help. I hope. Otherwise the slightly Scottish cussing means trouble.”

“Trouble is my middle name it seems.” With a giggle and a wink, Tweet slipped away from the bar and off to find the source of frosty Frost’s current mood.

After a small bit of getting hooked into dancing in the crowd, Tweet found her way to his table. Through grumbling, all Frost really said was that he wanted to sit somewhere more comfortable, not have people sit next to or on him, and he needed faster refills if there was to be any jolly in the kilted claus.

Once Frost settled on his favorite couch, Tweet parked Malta on it with him. Both to give Malta a break, and to keep him company. Plus, Malta could do emergency drink runs if needed.

But putting your best waitress on body blocking duty meant Tweety had to cover the tables instead of the bar. Less places to hide that way.

About an hour later, in the middle of dancing her way back across the floor, with a man in a lovely Die Hard themed ugly sweater, the music cut off.

Instantly Tweet’s heart paused. Maybe? Could it be? But there was no live band filling the stage to warrant the loss of constant music.

There was, however, a cat tail attached to the man in the jukebox again. “Deej! What have I said about trying to fix my machines?”

Ears and tail up, the man looked sufficiently scolded for the moment, likely realizing he’d cut off all the music, and not just whatever he constantly poked at inside the machine.

“Sorry Tweets! Just give me a second to fix the short and…” He paused, while the machine slowly roared to life again. “All better.”

Tweety slipped away, to check on the machine and the resident cat man.

“You know, you wouldn’t burn your hair so much if you just stopped monkeying around in my machine…”

“There’s no fun in that. Besides I have enough hair, I don’t mind.”

That’s not the point, Tweety thought as she moved to spritz a little something festive to cover the singed smell.

“Elves really do everything to make the season happen, ay luv?”

At first Tweety thought it was another ice breaker, meant to tease her for her costume. She started to turn, a witty retort cased in pleasantry forming on her tongue long before the one word hit her brain.

Luv? Could it really be Woods?

Her breath caught at the sight of him. He looked the part of a rocker so much more now, no wonder some likened him to Billy Idol. But to Tweety, this was everyday Woods. Slightly festive in a green band tee with some light bulb lights on around his neck. The one constant was his love of a good ripped jean.

“Someone has to do all the work while Santa puts on the show.” Tweety tried to sound annoyed, which was hard to do when Woods looked so wicked. 

Oozing sin and sex appeal had to be an instant naughty list conclusion, right?

“Is that a dig at me?” Woods stepped up behind her. He never had to touch Tweety to affect her more. His accented words did the public caressing he could not. And the rogue knew how to lay it on thick. 

“Or is my vixen elf asking me to play for her, while she works so hard, like I love to do? There is something sexy about how you sway your hips in a skirt.”

Wood’s slowly whispered words, in a heavier accent, sent shivers down her spine. 

But first, Tweety had some other frustrations to work out. Her heart might be leaping, even as her mind still held his absence against Woods. A text or call even once a week wouldn’t be too hard for her, so he certainly could do it too.

Too bad Woods showed more than he said most of the time. His hand touched Tweety’s elbow below the white fluff that served as the off shoulder sweater bulk of her elf dress. 

“By the by luv, how far up do those striped stockings go exactly?”

That was only for Tweety’s ears, but Woods’ chuckle at her fierce blush and the way he artfully caught the same elbow she tried to jam into him was to the crowd.

A flustered Tweety was everyone’s favorite, it seemed. Even Bebe the bouncer made her way over. Not to assist Tweety with these men, no. Bebe egged them on instead. 

“Oh, it looks like the elf is being naughty! I can watch the bar with Nira if you need to take the elf out back and spank her Woods.”

At that, Tweety spun free of them all. The green skirt flared, twirling the ring of white fur at the bottom edge. Tweety stood straighter and turned to each one. “Bebe, go back to your post, and stay away from the bar. I am still finding bits of something from the last time you two had that kind of fun.”

Bebe smirked and turned to bounce off to her post again, aware that she’d gotten the proper rise from Tweety, the kind that only worked around Woods.

“You should really try whipped cream and candies yourself, considering how much sugar you eat.”

With a shake of her head, Tweety dismissed this as easily as she dismissed Woods. “Aren’t you here to play something other than me? I’ve got a jukebox to fix.”

Before Woods could say a word in response, Tweety turned back towards the machine in question, only to see a tail sticking out again. “Deej! Get out of my jukebox.” 

Tweety moved away from Woods’ warmth, chasing the cat man from the open machine. The music flickered again, and Tweety mumbled about cats and shiny things, while Deej apologized but seemed to fuss as much as she did.

So, Woods did as he was told, jumping on stage and grabbing the stage guitar. As he tuned it, he tested the mic. “Our resident Vixen elf seems to be dealing with some technical difficulties and asked me to play a little something in the meantime. I am Woods, an in-house musician here, when not out touring with the band or working on our first album dropping early next year. If you want to help me sing some holiday tunes, or can play something informally and want to just jam, come close to the stage.” Almost like an afterthought Woods added, “Thank you again for spending your time with us, it’s lovely seeing familiar faces this time of year.”

Too bad Tweety had her hands full with the cat man to catch all that.

By the time she got Deej away, and closed the machine, an impromptu sing along filled the stage. The hummed bits of rocking Christmas tunes were even more endearing. Funny even, when the audience randomly picked up the dropped lines.

Tweety bit her lip to hold back the smile spreading her face. Once behind the bar, she let loose. A giggle slipped out as well, missed by the ones seated at the bar, their focus on the stage and the dancers putting on a bit of a show too. This was exactly what Tweety loved most. A bar full of content and connected patrons. A family, even if it only lasted minutes or hours. Feeling a part of this, just being witness to it, was enough. 

It took all her willpower not to shout about free drinks, or to try to hug everyone and break the magic here. Tweety might not have gotten the gift she thought she wanted most, but this right here was enough. 

Except Woods was still on stage. And the way he emphasized Vixen in the list of reindeer got her attention. When Tweety looked his way, Woods flipped two fingers front to back and went right back into playing.

Of course the music man would want something to drink!

She shook her head. Silly Tweety, the man’s on stage performing. He didn’t stop at the bar and load up for stage time. She’d have to bring him something to drink if the poor man planned to keep singing. But Woods did look to be in his element, radiating a certain something undefinable that drew you in. He was an outstanding performer, putting on an inclusive one man show.

Tweety bent to get to work on Woods’ usual bottled water and shots order. While she pulled out the bottle, she barely heard the words.

“Hey, Tweety? Is this really mistletoe?”

Luckily it belonged to one of her regular good guys. The type of guy who knew she was out of his league and didn’t try anything, but was her friend too. When they didn’t have the confidence, Tweety liked to work with them and encourage them.

Sure enough, when she stood, and leaned back just in case, there was another one of those headband leaf things. It was definitely more holly like less mistletoe plant.

“Are they selling that somewhere near here?” Tweety shook her head, mumbling that thought out loud. Putting on her game face, she smiled instead. “No, that’s not the right plant, sorry dear. Cupcake in place of the kiss?” She held out what was seasonally themed as champagne kissed cupcakes.

He took one and then looked over the headband again. After a moment, he slowly nodded. “Actually yeah, some cop is selling them for charity. I’m just glad I got in before all the Santas that stopped at the same table.” He left the headband on the bar and wandered off with his cupcake, heading for the table of people he knew.

Oh dear, some cop was selling bad goods near their bar? That wasn’t good for their reputation. Tweety started to flag down head bouncer Bebe. A quick explanation, one that missed the Santa part completely, put such a light in Bebe’s eyes. After leaving the bar in Nira’s hands, the two women, aka Double Trouble, headed outside.

Bebe immediately went up to talk to the seller. There was a glimpse of green hair, and an uneasy feeling that usually said pranks by Collar. Tweety stopped as soon as she saw how many various holiday themed outfits stood around this stand. It was like the entire group from last weekend’s Santa con came back again.

This could be too much, even for Tweety’s defensive and evasive skills.

They would need a plan. And Tweety being the one doing all the kissing would not be it. It wasn’t the innocent people’s fault that some prank was getting money for charity off them. But it was up to the group at Soul to keep all the spirits up and not disappoint entirely. Bebe skipped back, leaving a scared Collar packing up as quick as if he heard sirens, though Tweety knew Bebe never used those types of threats. 

“Hey Tweets, did you see all the Santas that came back this week? A lot of them are from last week!” 

The excited tone of Bebe was a giant alarm bell in Tweety’s head. One problem down, one massive situation to go. And if they really were the group from the week before, this would be a very jolly round of Santa related people. If memory serves, Bebe did quite a lot with the candy canes they brought. Tweety also vaguely recalled some of the things she did with a few shots in her system too. The term oral fixation came to mind. Inwardly Tweety rolled her eyes, of course they would come back after a weekend like that.

Nodding slowly, Tweety thought on her feet. “Yeah, they are. Probably want to party just as crazy. See if you can rack and stack them. Help Mys check the IDs, and give me like five or ten minutes to make room and announcements. Are you cool to greet them all with kisses? On the cheek or otherwise?”

Bebe seemed even more excited about this idea. The alarm bells in Tweety’s head screamed until they burned out. This would be trouble, but that’s what Bebe did best.

“Can Nira come watch?”

Tweety sighed. “We’ll see what happens first. It isn’t that late into the night yet, and you promised not to get us into trouble before midnight.” A smile claimed Tweety’s lips. Technically that was supposed to be the gift Bebe gave her, though Bebe forgot already in the face of something fun for her.

They went back to the bar, Bebe behaving for a few more hours by honoring the kisses as Woods continued to play on stage. 

Collar slipped in somewhere, making sure to stay at least the bar top width away from Tweety. “Hiya Tweets. Sorry about the prank, I did at least donate the proceeds to the cops and the fire department. Some people will eat, and some kids will get a toy from Santa’s fire truck, all because some dudes out for a good night want to make out with someone like you.”

When it was said like that, how could Tweety be mad? Honestly, she should have thought of that. “As long as it’s for a good cause. I can try to handle a little chaos if it’s helping the community. I don’t love having given Bebe full reign to be an equal force of chaos after 11 pm, but some things are inevitable.”

Collar looked at her, trying to read Tweety. Then he added “You know, I do have a real piece of mistletoe. It’s my make up gift to you. I can hop on the stage and hang it over our friend if you like?”

Tweety’s face turned a slight shade of red for another reason than the usual embarrassment. “Don’t you dare. I’ll take it and hang it somewhere safe. You put it up there and he’ll have as many flirting problems as I do, but he’s mine.”

“Does he know that?” Collar had that advice giving look, as he slid over the tissue wrapped greenery. “I can stay and give that behavior police presence so you can find a few minutes alone during what I can only assume will be Bebe’s Christmas Catastrophe  Candy Cane Contest. This way you can see to getting yourself on the naughty list too, little miss Vixen.”

Tweety took the mistletoe and tried to hide a smile, her eyes heading to the stage. Again the gestured finger flip, so she got to work setting up the order. When she delivered to Woods and the impromptu stage group, Tweety rubbed Woods’ back a little bit as she set down his drinks. 

Not an “I’m sorry”, nor “I forgive you”, just a nonverbal “thank you for coming home.”