A/N: These are mostly prompts. I'm still taking Christmas prompts so if you think of anything you can drop them on my tumblr ss-staubrey, or here.
Aubrey sighed and made her way to the back of the line of children waiting to get a picture with Santa. This really wasn't how she expected to spend her Christmas break, but she promised her mom she'd take her sister to the mall. She loved her sister but the mall right before Christmas was one of the worst places in the world.
"Bree, how many presents can I ask for?"
Aubrey looked down from her phone when the girl tugged her hand. "Huh?"
"How many presents can I ask Santa to get me?"
"Just one, Case."
The little girl frowned. "Why?"
"He has to go to a lot of houses, he can't carry multiple presents for everyone." Aubrey tightened her grip on the small hand and moved forward. She had told Casey she couldn't let go of her hand for any reason, there were too many people around them and she could get lost easily.
"But his sleigh is magic, right? So doesn't he have like infinite room to put the presents?"
"He still has to take them from the sleigh to the tree and he doesn't have infinite arms."
The girl stopped to consider this, a frown still on her face, as they approached the front of the line.
The elf letting people in crouched in front of Casey. "Hey, what's with the frown? It's almost your turn."
Casey looked up at her. "Aubrey says I can only ask for one thing and I'm trying to decide what I want."
The elf chuckled. "Oh, well-" She looked up at Aubrey and smiled. "-you could give Santa options and then he'll pick one."
"Really?" Casey smiled widely when the elf nodded. "Okay."
"Awesome!" She held out her hand. "I'm Stacie."
Aubrey let go of Casey's hand momentarily so the girl could shake Stacie's hand. "I'm Casey. And this is Aubrey, my sister."
"It's really nice to meet you, Casey." Stacie straightened up, her eyes raking up Aubrey's body as she did. "And it's really nice to meet you, Aubrey."
Aubrey smiled stiffly and grabbed Casey's hand again.
"Why are you so tall?" Casey asked and Stacie looked down at her confused. "Elves are supposed to be small."
"Oh." Stacie looked around and leaned forward conspiratorially. "Can you keep a secret?" The little girl nodded earnestly. "We're only short in the North Pole. We're taller when we're here so we can blend in and report back to Santa if anyone's being naughty."
Stacie looked up and winked at Aubrey making her roll her eyes, while the little girl tilted her head trying to decide if she believed her.
She looked at the other elves and pointed at one standing next to Santa. "Why is she still tiny then?"
"That's Beca, she's the tiniest elf." Stacie laughed. "When we're in the North Pole she's like-" Stacie held her thumb and forefinger a few inches apart. "-this big. She's very useful when we need someone to go inside a toy and check that everything's working."
The boy who was sitting on Santa's lap jumped off and Stacie let them through. Aubrey let go of Casey's hand and the girl ran to the big man in the costume.
"She's cute." Aubrey arched an eyebrow at Stacie's comment and turned back to look at her sister. "Must be genetic."
"I don't think you should flirt with the clients."
"Oh, I'm not flirting. I was just making a scientific observation. She's cute, you're cute, you share genes."
Aubrey smiled despite herself. "I didn't know elves knew a lot about science."
"We do, we know all sorts of things." Stacie took a step closer and lowered her voice. "Maybe we could discuss them over coffee?"
"Do you want a tip or something?"
Stacie gasped dramatically. "Aubrey, I'm a public servant. I can't accept tips." She rolled her eyes when Aubrey didn't laugh at her joke. "I just think you're cute and thought maybe you liked me too. It's just coffee."
Casey jumped off Santa's lap and ran towards Aubrey.
"I don't think so," Aubrey said, taking Casey's hand and walking away.
The little girl waved over her shoulder. "Bye, Stacie!"
Aubrey sighed relieved when she saw that the elf at the front of the line wasn't Stacie. She couldn't believe Casey had talked her into bringing her back, and she didn't know what she would've done if she had to face Stacie after rejecting her the previous day.
Aubrey smiled at the new elf and watched as Casey took her place on Santa's lap again. Aubrey tapped her foot impatiently until Casey ran back to her and they walked away from that area. She was trying to figure out if they needed anything else so she wouldn't be forced to return to the mall again, when Casey started pulling her forward.
"Stacie!" Casey wrapped her free arm around her hips and looked up at her wide eyed. "We went to see Santa and you weren't there! Are you undercover?"
"Yeah, Santa sent me around to check that everyone was behaving. You went back?" Stacie smirked and arched an eyebrow at Aubrey
"Yes, Casey finally decided what she wanted and she didn't want to risk Santa getting it wrong."
"Smart girl." Stacie smiled down at Casey. "Do you guys wanna walk around with me for a bit?"
"We're leaving." Aubrey replied quickly.
Casey tugged on Aubrey's hand. "Aubrey!"
"No, it's fine. You're busy." She took out a receipt from her pocket and flipped it over. "How about I give my phone number to your sister so she can call me and tell me if you change your mind about your present again? I'll let Santa know." She scribbled her number and handed it to Aubrey, lowering her voice. "And you can call me if you change your mind about coffee."
Aubrey pursed her lips and took the piece of paper. "Don't hold your breath."
Stacie ignored her and turned to the girl, giving her a hug. "Later, kiddo."
Aubrey went into the study and took out her phone and the receipt with Stacie's number. She'd been carrying it around for three days trying to work up the courage to call her, or talking herself out of it. She still hadn't decided.
She thought Stacie was really hot, anyone who looked hot in an elf costume was definitely worth considering. But the mall wasn't exactly her idea of the right place to meet someone, and Stacie had probably asked out other people there, she didn't seem to have any qualms about approaching total strangers and asking them out. But she had been really cute with Casey and she didn't look like a horrible person.
Aubrey groaned and put the receipt back in her pocket deciding to postpone it again.
She heard the distinct sound of someone running around the house and Casey came in a few seconds later, crashing against her. "Aubrey!"
"What is it, Case?"
Casey shook Aubrey's legs. "I need you to call Stacie."
Aubrey furrowed her brow and looked down at her sister. "It's Christmas Eve, you can't change what you want anymore."
"I know!" She kept shaking Aubrey. "But Oliver said that sometimes Santa forgets presents and I just want her to check that mine's on the sleigh."
"Oliver is an idiot, don't listen to him."
Casey pouted up at her. "Please, Bree."
"Fine." Aubrey rolled her eyes and grabbed the paper with Stacie's number again, taking a deep breath before dialing.
"Did she answer? What did she say?"
Aubrey shushed her just as Stacie picked up. "Hi, it's Aubrey. From the mall."
"Hey, Aubrey from the mall." Aubrey could picture Stacie's flirtatious smirk perfectly. "Changed your mind?"
"Actually, Casey wanted me to ask if you could check if her present was on the sleigh."
"Oh." Stacie sounded disappointed. "Sure, I can do that." She paused. "You know I'm not really an elf, right?"
Aubrey chuckled. "Yes, I know."
"Is my present there?" Casey shook Aubrey again.
"She's checking."
"You could've just faked a call to anyone." Stacie said. "Or you could've already told her I found it. I think you want to talk to me."
Aubrey looked down at her sister, she didn't really want to have this conversation with her there. "She said it's there. Go back to play."
Casey grinned and ran back out of the room.
"Stacie." Aubrey took a deep breath.
"Aubrey." Stacie chuckled. "Look, it's cool. You're not into me, I get it. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or anything."
"No, I-" She shook her head. "Why did you ask me out?"
"Umm, you're pretty, you took your sister to see Santa, twice, so you're nice, and I saw you checking me out so I thought I had a chance."
"Have you asked anyone else out?"
"In life?" Stacie asked confused.
"No, at the mall. As an elf." Aubrey replied. "Have you asked other people out?"
Stacie chuckled. "No, just you."
Aubrey bit her lip and thought about it for a few seconds. "Okay, I'll go out with you. We'll figure out the details after Christmas."
"I can't wait."
Aubrey smiled. "Goodbye, Stacie."
"Merry Christmas, Aubrey."