"On the 10th day of December, Santa gave to me, Two Blonde Newbies, a Gingerbread treat, a Shopping Trip, an Awkward Silence, a Lights Show, and a Tree for Three."

December 10th

"What's on the roster for today?" Arthur chirped, as he walked through the front door with his brother behind him. Yuri looked up and watched him take off his jacket and reveal a deep pink sweater with Mrs. Claus holding a plate of cookies.

She turned back to the coffee makers to hide her smile.

"Jack Frost really knows how to make it cold here." Yuri looked over shoulder and saw Noel. His face was half hidden by a black and gray striped scarf, and of course his black hoodie to match. Her lips tilted up.

She turned back to heating water and making coffee. "I thought you were from the North Pole."

"Yeah, well, it's colder than balls out there!" She snickered. "I may be from the North Pole, but I never said I was cold resistant! That's Art's job."

She glanced at Arthur over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "The cold is a part of Christmas- or at least for me it is." No one could tell if his flushed cheeks were from the cold or not. Especially his brother.

"As for the day-" She turned around and placed her palms on the counter. A smile as big as the sun- and slightly creepy -pulling her cheeks. A shiver ran up both brothers' spines. They didn't know what to make of the smile. "-we're closing early to get one of my favorite things."

The twins glanced at each other before nodding hesitantly. "Good!" She clapped her hands then shooed them off. "Things don't get done by themselves, hurry up, we open in an hour!" She yelled over her shoulder as she walked to the kitchen.

They scurried to start the routine they've had for the past couple days. Both a little excited- okay, Noel was a little excited, Arthur was incredibly excited to know what she had planned.

...

"Okay, let's go!" Arthur exclaimed as he flipped the open sign to closed. He was already pulling on his jacket.

Yuri gave Noel a look as she pulled her hair out of the back of her jacket. "He's like a puppy, never really good with suspense." She nodded, zipping the puffy jacket up.

"Will you guys hurry up!"

"Gets rude too." Noel shook his head, holding his hand out to indicate she should go ahead of him.

"Apparently so." A light smile brightened her features to the point Noel drew a blank. He just watched her walk out of the break room. A second later he caught himself and quickly jogged up to her.

"Are we leaving now?" Arthur swayed back on his heels and then onto his toes. It was all he could do from bouncing on his toes.

Noel nodded and walked out the door Arthur had quickly opened. Yuri stopped in front of him on her way out. He smiled at her, trying not to tell her to hurry. A light flush graced her cheeks and her lips pulled into a gentle smile. "You're too cute when excited." She lightly tapped his nose and let her pointer finger hover for a second, then flashed a smile and continued out the door with her hands stuffed in her pockets.

He didn't let himself think about it. He locked the door and lagged behind the other two after they grew into a comfortable silence.

His eyes dropped to the ground as he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. Then and only then did he let himself think about what happened. It started from his nose, swept over his cheeks, and stopped at the tips of his ears. A blush that couldn't be easily mistaken for the frosty air nipping at his skin.

His hand gravitated to his nose. He mimicked her action and looked over at her. She was looking off to the side, smiling. He followed her gaze and smiled at the little kids building a snowman with presumably their parents. He looked back at her and his smile grew. As much as she came off as distant and short, she was a real softy towards most things and he found himself thinking she was adorable in that moment.

He stumbled when he realized what he just thought. And in stumbling, crashed into his brother's back, making him trip forward. Luckily they both caught themselves before they ate pavement.

"Dude!" Noel whipped around, confused and mad. Mostly confused. "What're you doing?"

"I- I- I..." His cheeks grew pinker when he made eye contact with Yuri. He looked away and scratched behind his ear, "Sorry, I tripped."

Noel gave him a doubtful look, "If you say so."

They continued walking. This time Arthur walked on the other side of Yuri and watched where he was going.

It only took five more minutes for them to arrive at their final destination. "Tada!" Yuri jumped in front of them- stopping them in their tracks -and spread her arms out, wiggling her fingers to add special effect. "What do ya think? Pretty exciting, right?"

Noel raised a brow at her overly cheery smile and turned to look at his brother. He was met with the same cheesy smile. His shoulders slumped forward.

Great. He was stuck with two Christmas fiends.

"This is one of my favorite things to do!" Arthur exclaimed, finally allowing himself to bounce on his toes.

Yuri beamed, "Then what are we waiting for?" Both ran into the lot of trees. Noel dragged his feet behind them, though he was happy to see the two stopping and evaluating each tree.

"Are all of these Evergreens?" Noel felt the needles of the one they couldn't stop staring at.

"Yeah, it's like our thing- it doesn't really make sense because we're not called Evergreen, but I don't really question it." Yuri rolled some of the needles in her palm and then sniffed, nodding to herself. "We'll get this one." She dusted her hands off and walked off, leaving both brothers to watch her go.

She was an odd one. They both agreed on that, that's for sure.

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