Elf Help {open}

[Ichiro Yoshi]

Hiro stared up at the Santa Claus display, not quite believing it existed. Someone had taken up a good portion of the center of the mall with this... this... holiday monstrosity. Fake snow covered most of the area, positioned in such a manner that you very nearly couldn't avoid stepping on it. Various candy canes and other holiday type decorations sprouted along the rows, most of those decorated themselves, which struck Hiro as being overkill. it all led to a set of steps lined with children (and where had that many children come from anyway?), adults (including several that looked entirely too pleased with themselves), and what appeared to be elves, or at least people dressed as elves. it all led up to a throne, wherein Santa himself sat. Given where they were, the likelihood of that being the actual Santa Claus was pretty high, and Hiro found himself wondering just that.

One of the elf workers bustled up besides Hiro, and the young man felt himself being nudged. He tried to move aside, but soon found himself staring. The poor bedraggled guy in elf tights and jingly hat mentioned something about being short of help and wondering if they could somehow make it through this whole holiday thing in one piece.

And that was how Hiro found himself wearing elf gear and staring down the line of people, seriously reconsidering his career choice. He kept looking over the people, distracted by the holidays. Finally one kid tugged at the jagged red hem of Hiro's "shirt." When Hiro looked down, he heard the bell on his hat jingle, which made him wince. The kid was looking up at him with a confused expression.

"Are elves supposed to be Asian?"

Hiro sighed, running his hand over his face. Because the tights weren't bad enough. Or the buckled shoes. Or the bell, oh, how he hated that bell already. But this... Hiro removed his face, looking down at the kid, trying to figure out the best way to word this.

[Hinata Hyuga]

There was a tap on the kid's shoulder from behind as another elven helper, asian as well, was kneeling behind him. The long black haired elf, with pointy ears (courtesy of her Fall festival Costume) just smiled to him. "Of course there are elves from everywhere. Santa Clause can do alot of things , but read and speak every language is not one of them. So we help translate sometimes." She offered the kid a candy cane and walked up next to Hiro, her coworker.

flashback
Hinata was walking home after a late shift at the alley and spotted something in the sporting goods store. A skate board with a turtle shell graphic on the bottom, blue top and wheels with shuriken over the hubs. It would be perfect for Hiro. Hopefully it would help him come out of his shell some. But the price was a bit up there. And with what she made she wouldn't be able to get it before Christmas.

The wind helped a piece of paper from a nearby fire barrell free itself and smack her in the face. Apparently there was a need for elves this year. She would be working two jobs, but for the present, she would have to. Plus it felt like she was already not doing as much as she used to.

return to present day

Hinata brushed a little of the fake show from her stockings and smiled to the children making sure they were ahppy while waiting, though she gave a sly brush of her fingers across his hand to try and settle him down. "You look cute in bells." One of the more watchful girls made a kissy face to Hiro.

[Ichiro Yoshi]

Hiro just stared at his female friend, whom some may very well call his girlfriend. Hinata was... here, dressed like an elf a really cute elf. Why was she here? Why did Hiro have this nearly overwhelming urge to kiss her right now, probably underneath that strange plant that everyone insisted existed solely for people to kiss one another under? Hiro pursed his lips, trying to see if he could suppress the sensation. This did mean that he gave the kid a slightly grumpy look, but fortunately Hinata was quick with the candy. Candy worked on this particular child, who practically did cartwheels as he ventured off into the mall.

There was some finger brushing and Hiro tensed, looking down for a moment. Another quick flash, teasing eyes, glances, names, and Hiro snapped back to the present. Between his brother and his female girl but not girlfriend friend, Hiro's memories were pretty well flooding back. He was pretty sure he was on the cusp of remembering his real name. He looked into his girl friend but not girlfriend's glasses.

"Don't you already have a job?" he asked, clearly missing any compliment and cues. His eyes kept raking the elf suit though, raising up to linger on the lips. Yeah, kissing in public wasn't allowed.. oh, wait, holidays, totally allowed then, right? Hiro coughed, blushed, and looked away. "Uh, you look... uh, we should... uh, stuff," and lo, there were hand gestures.

[Hinata Hyuga]

She just nodded as she waved to the little girl keeping a smile on her face as she whispered to him so as not to disrupt the scene. "Just working for a little extra money." She wanted to tell him why but she also didn't. It should be a secret after all in this world, there was a particular day that the presents was to be given. Her elf outfit was perhaps a little better cared for, almost as if it was never used before. She was shorter than most of the other women working as elves. The red short skirted outfit had bells along the bottom hem so she would jingle with each step. But her instilled ninja training kept her silent. She wasn't wearing a hat like the male elves, instead, because of her long hair, she had to wear it in pig tails.

As she was waved over to the other side of the line, she tip toed up and gave Hiro a peck on the cheek since they were under the mistletoe and hurried off to the end of the line to help. The bells, not jingling. At the end was a little girl crying while clutching a teddy bear. She knelt down in front of her and smiled reassuringly. "What's wrong Sweetie?"

The girl looked up to Hinata. "My brother just said that Santa can't be real because there is no way he can get from house to house that fast and not wake anyone up."

The raven haired elf just pulled a candy cane from her sleeve. With as tight as that sleeve was it was easy to see she had quite a stash around her wrist for such emergencies. Sure the parents might not like sugar hyped up children, but it was something they told the female elves to do for little girls. Then again tight outfits weren't really a Hinata thing. Those that knew her knew she only wore them for those close to her or if the job required it. And right now she wasn't even nervous. "Oh you can tell your brother Santa is really real. He's just a ninja." Her coworker was a bit surprised at this logic and the girl looked a little bit more confused. "He trained really really hard to move like the wind so he can bring good girls like you gifts." She then poked the girl's nose playfully eliciting a giggle.

[Ichiro Yoshi]

"Extra... what do you need..." began Hiro. He probably would have prodded further, but Hinata pulled the move that always stunned poor young men like Hiro: the kiss. It was just a little peck on the cheek, which Hiro supposed was totally acceptable given their current location. But it was still very much a kiss, which was enough to stun poor Hiro for several seconds. That was more than enough time for Hinata to move over to the child.

Hiro moved over to the other side of the line, parallel to Hinata's course but not quite alongside her. It probably wouldn't be conducive to his productivity if he remained close to his female friend. A few of the other workers were already giving him looks, looks that darted from him to Hinata and left Hiro wondering if he should be offering some kind of explanation for his behavior. He worked his way down the line anyway, entertaining people and arranging them into their little groups. He still caught sight of Hinata heading toward the end of the line, and he tried to focus his attention on what was going on down there.

Some weird conversation, something about how there was a reason not to believe in Santa. Given all the crazy stuff that happened around here, Hiro wasn't sure why someone would even ask that. He was tempted to call out that info as a possible explanation, but Hinata offered up something else. Smiling, Hiro figured he could help. He caught the sleeve of his fellow elf on that side of the line, whispered his plan, then nodded. Hiro then took off, moving completely silently,

completely, and that was with the bell. Just as Hiro got within range, he jumped, landing on top of one of the candy canes. He hadn't practiced this part earlier, but he still managed to perch atop the cane. it shivered and dug a little into the fake snow, but it held. Perched, Hiro smiled down at the girl. "See? Like that. Only I'm just an elf, so you know Santa's got to be more badas----err, awesome, more awesome than me." Hiro's smile had an edge of bashfulness to it, more for the slip than the sudden display of his ability. It was nice to know that he was pretty well back to normal, except, well, the turtle thing.

[Hinata Hyuga]

Hinata just clapped her hands once and smiled to the girl after she saw the elf appear from no where silently. "Santa is definitely very real. So don't be sad." The girl gave Hiro a wave, hugged Hinata and then went to join the line. Standing back up, the kunoichi unsheathed a candy cane from her sleeve and stealthfully threw it at Hiro. Not that anyone but the two of them would see it happen. It was a little more to poke fun with Hiro and possibly knock him down off the cane, than if she had used an actual weapon. It's aerodynamics would also make it a lot less impactful and easier to catch, but the white and red would be hard to spot at that speed.

[Ichiro Yoshi]

Fortunately, Hiro was a ninja. He totally had great reflexes and years of training and all sorts of stuff going for him. He could totally stay perched on a candy cane while someone threw something at him, even if that something was a candy cane, and even if that someone was another ninja.

Unfortunately for Hiro, he also happened to be a teenager, even worse, a teenager who had drastically shifted his body a few months ago and hadn't quite worked out all the kinks yet. So while he deftly caught the candy and grinned at his "girl"friend, Hiro soon felt his balance shift. He swayed backward, which meant compensating by waving his arms madly. Which worked for about two seconds, as Hiro shifted forward. He turned the forward shift into something resembling a roll, though it was probably more like a fall. His feet did go over his head, and he soon wound up on the other side of the candy lane, hearing a bell ringing in his ear.

"Please say that's mine," he muttered, reaching around for his hat and trying to get back to his feet. One thing was for certain, this whole working as an elf thing sucked.