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'You look fucking ridiculous!' Gendry informed his reflection, gesturing with his arms. I'm not going out there like this. He adjusted the enormous black belt at his waist, which was considerably larger than usual given the costume he was wearing. The padded belly was already making him feel hot and irritable. While the white fur trimmed-red coat, matching pants, and black snow boots allowed none of his body heat to escape. Gendry felt like he was wearing a mobile sauna for one.
'I'm going to kill Hot Pie for this.' He slipped the beard over his head and let it hang around his neck for now, and texted his friend.
I hate u
He stuffed the phone into the pocket of his Santa suit, pulled the elastic band of the snow white beard up and over his ears, then snatched the hat off the bench, and put the blasted thing on his head to see how well he was disguised. A very pissed off Santa glared at him from the full length mirror. The change room was concealed in the interior of the North Pole display in the centre of Westeros Shopping Mall. A flimsy ply wood door to his left was all that stood between him and utter humiliation. Gendry looked back at his reflection to see if his features were concealed well enough in the Santa outfit. Maybe no-one will be able to tell it's me under all this. With the beard and hat in place, only his nose, brows and eyes were visible. Dammit. The red of the suit and hat made his blue eyes stand out all the more.
'A chip off the ol' block, son.' His father had once praised him with a solid punch of comradery to the shoulder. 'Built like a bull, like your old man...' More like a barrel these days, Dad. You fat fuck. Gendry thought to himself.
'...and with those pretty blue panty droppers, you'll have the wenches fallin' all over themselves to ride you.' Robert Baratheon laughed heartedly. 'Just make sure you give them a longer ride than most bull-riders get.' He nudged him. '8 seconds, geddit?'
'Yeah, Dad I get it. Enough with the rodeo jokes already. And who says "wenches" anymore, what are you? A fucking pirate or some-' His dad back handed him. It wasn't as hard a hit as it could have been, it hurt his pride more than his face. Gendry fist his hands at his sides and blew a hard breath out his nose before turning back to glare at his father.
'Watch your mouth boy. If your mother heard you talk to me like that -'
'She's NOT my mother!'
Gendry couldn't wait to move out, and be rid if the lot of them. His dad, Cersei, Joff. Tommon and Myrcella were alright. In fact, he was proud of the fact that they preferred Gendry over their full brother. Joff's a cunt. If it takes working as a shopping mall Santa for a few weekends to get him into his flat, and away from blonde shit and his mother, then it's worth it.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Gendry pulled off the hat and threw it back onto the bench, then fished out his phone with one hand, pulling down the beard with the other. It was a text from Hot Pie.
U wanted to make $$$
He'd known Hot Pie since they were kids, him and Arya both. Thank God she can't see me like this. The guy meant well, but his good intentions often landed Gendry in the shit one way or another. Hot Pie worked at his mother's bakery in the food court at the Westeros Mall, and told Gendry there was a job going over the next month for Christmas photos. He thought he'd be behind the camera, not in front of it. He liked photography and thought it would be easy money.
His apprenticeship at Mott's Auto Body Repairs paid dick all. Gendry enjoyed the work, pounding away at dents in car panels got his frustrations out, and working the metal back to perfection gave him a sense of pride in himself. Mott said he took to it like a duck to water, and promised to keep him on once he was fully qualified.
He liked the old guy, who'd let him have a beer or two at the end of the day sometimes. Treated him like a grown man, not a teenager, fresh out of high school. It had taken a lot to convince the man to take him on as an apprentice, but eventually he caved. "I'll give you a two month trial period." He agreed. A shake of the hand sealed the deal, and almost a year on, Gendry gave him no reason to regret his decision.
The thought of moving out of his poisonous home and into the flat above Tobho's shop was the only thing keeping Gendry from regretting this decision. Just get through this. No-one will know it's me. The man didn't even want rent, so long as Gendry paid the utilities and agreed to keep the paint stock stored in the second bedroom. Working as Santa for a few weeks would give him enough money to pay for the last few things he'd need to move out on his own, and then he'd be free of Cersei, Joff, and his dad.
His real mother died when he was young, he could barely remember her, save that she had blonde hair. Dad clearly has a type. She used to sing to him, he thought. Robert skipped out soon after he was conceived, and married Cersei not long after. He could just imagine Cersei's contempt when the courts granted Robert custody of Gendry after his mother died. If not for his dad, she would have had Gendry put into the foster system.
'HE'S MY BLOOD!' Gendry recalled the sound of his father's booming voice through their bedroom door. It was his first night there, and he was three at the time. He could picture that moment with complete clarity. The dim light shining out from under their door into the hallway, black in the late hour. The feel of carpet under his bare little feet, and the cool of the plaster wall, pressed against his hands and cheek as he peered around the corner to listen as they argued about him.
Gendry shook off the memory like it was something that could be shed as easily as drops of water. Cersei resented him since day one. It didn't matter now, he'd be out of there soon enough. With his mind made up, he unscrewed the lid off his bottle of orange juice and took a great big gulp, ready to go out there and see if the photographer had shown up yet.
Right then, a wet dream in red and green strolled through the door, carried in on candy cane legs and combat boots, causing Gendry to choke and shoot juice out of his nose. He laughed as he spluttered, trying in vain to hide his embarrassment. His nose burned and his eyes watered. She looked incredible. Never in even his most lust filled fantasies had he ever pictured her like this. In a green and red elf dress, it's zig-zag hem barely reaching the tops of her thighs. As short as she was, the candy cane striped tights made her legs go on for days. And while he doubted her black combat boots were standard issue with the costume, the sight of them made him smile through his tears. If she wasn't wearing her Chucks, she was wearing those damned boots.
'Gendry?' Arya asked, confused. He was somewhat composed by now and rubbed the back of his hand under his nose, taking in her appearance. He'd be going to all seven hells for the images those legs were giving him.
'The fuck?' She asked pointing out his own forgotten appearance.
'Shit.' No. Oh, Gods, no! Why? He'd have preferred anyone but Arya seeing him like this. Gendry thought there was nothing worse than being seen as just a friend. This, this was much worse.
'Hot Pie.' He explained, slumping. 'I thought he meant I'd be taking the photos, not...' He gestured to himself. '...being in them.' It was her turn to laugh this time, and laugh she did. She was doubled over clutching her stomach by the time he'd had enough.
'It's not that funny, Arya.'
She took deep breaths through her dying laughter, and wiped her eyes.
'You're right, it's not -' She looked him up and down. Gendry groaned when her laughter burst from her pursed lips like a giant raspberry. '- it kind of is though, Gen. Besides, Hot Pie got me the job of taking the photos. Unless of course you'd rather wear this.' She made a sweeping motion at her own attire, and rolled her eyes indigently. If only she knew how she looked to him.
'You look...' Hot. Cute. Adorable as hell. Dammit, Gendry pick a word. '...nice.'
'I look like a fucktard.'
This was his moment. This was where the guy in the movies would say No you don't. You look beautiful. You always look beautiful to me. I love you. But he wasn't a guy in a movie, he was just Gendry. Her best friend for years, and likely all she'll ever want him to be. Besides, the guy in the movie wouldn't be wearing a fucking Santa suit. No, his reply had to be safe, and sarcasm was always safe.
'Nice though. A nice fucktard.' He grinned, earning a swift sucker punch to his fake gut, and a smirk from Arya.
The morning passed quickly enough. A few beard tugs here and there, and his thighs ached a little from being sat on by so many kids. Some of them surely weighed more than Arya. While he was safely incognito, Arya had no such luck. It was a busy shopping mall, and quite a few people from school had recognised her. Most just catcalled or wolf whistled, and laughed, but none gave him a second glance. She was thick skinned though, and merely raised her fist, the stem of a candy cane brandished between her knuckles, flipping them off festively and inconspicuously, before popping it back into her mouth.
'You're going to rot your teeth if you keep eating those.'
'Good. Then they won't keep sticking my back teeth together.' She replied. Her tongue darting to the side to loosen the bit she just chewed.
'It doesn't bother you that people at school found out you're working as Santa's elf for Christmas?'
She just shrugged and looked at him, contemplating before answering. 'There's worse things people could find out.' She was in her head at that moment. Gendry thought maybe she meant it would be worse for me if people found out, but he was almost certain she was thinking about something else.
'I know you're not real.' The young boy informed Gendry in a matter of fact tone, hands on his hips and stretching up to assess what little of Santa's face the beard and hat didn't cover.
'Why, uh...of course I am, little boy.' Gendry ho-ho'd in his best imitation of a televised Santa voice. The boy kicked him in the shin, hard.
'Oh, sh...oot.' Gendry cried out, rubbing his leg. He glanced up at Mum to see if she noticed Santa almost curse at her son. She was too busy jiggling the boy's younger sister on her hip.
'I'm not little. I'm six, and you're a -'
'Hey there young man.' Arya crouched down beside him. 'Do you want to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you want for Christmas?' She placated.
'No. He's not the real Santa. He doesn't have glasses or wrinkles. He's a fake!'
'Shh, shh, shh.' Arya raised a finger to her lips and looked around to see if any other kids heard him. 'Now listen. This is a secret.' She crooked a finger to draw the boy closer so she could tell him. 'You know Santa's reindeer?'
He nodded.
'Yeah, well, uh Rudolf... has umm...reindeer flu. Yeah. He's got a fever, and keeps sneezing. In fact he sneezed on me and covered me in reindeer snot - BLEH!' She shook her hands out as if shaking off the imaginary snot and made the boy laugh. 'Anyway, Santa really wanted to be here for the photos but he couldn't leave Rudolf like that. So he stayed at the North Pole to make him better and sent one of the big elves dressed as Santa to help out.' She pointed to Gendry and nodded her head to the boy for Gendry's confirmation. Gendry gave a wink to the kid and raised a finger to his lips to let the boy know to keep the secret. The boy beamed at his newfound knowledge of the inner workings of the North Pole and gave a nod and an attempted wink with both eyes. He gave Gendry a hug after telling him what he wanted from Santa - a Jurassic World remote controlled monster truck - and went off to join his mum.
'Thank you both.' She called out walking away.
'You remembered?' Gendry asked, as Arya triumphantly popped the candy cane she'd sharpened into some sort of festive shank, into her mouth. With nobody else waiting for a photo with Santa, Arya nudged his knee and sat in the throne beside him. She hip and shouldered him playfully, then plucked the sharpened candy cane from her lips and carefully examined it's needle-like tip.
'Yeah, 'course I remember. That time when Tommen and Myrcella went to have their photo taken with Santa, they were so little and excited.' She smiled at him, reciting the story he told her years ago. Her face turned sour then. 'But Joffrey, being the massive shit that he is, ripped Santa's beard off for all the kids to see, and told them there is no Santa. Asshole.' She shook her head in disgust then turned to face him, and the corner of her mouth curled up into a smile. 'Then you -' She jabbed at his chest with her candy cane shank. '- Super Gendry, the Christmas hero -' She continued, making him snort. '- swooped in and saved the day. While your dad dragged Joffrey away, you told Tommen, Myrcella, and all those other little kids waiting about the real Santa and his sick reindeer.'
'They still found out eventually.'
'We all do.' She climbed down off Santa's throne as another family came along for a photo. 'But, you let them be kids for a little longer.' She smiled over her shoulder fondly at him.
'I bought you guys some lunch.' Hot Pie said, holding up brown paper bags from the bakery.
'Brought.' Arya corrected.
'Huh?'
'You brought lunch, Hot Pie, not bought.'
'Are you sure?'
'Did you pay for it?'
'No.'
'Then I'm sure.' Arya said, putting up the Santa's gone to feed the reindeer sign.
'Whatever.' Hot Pie shrugged and followed Arya and Gendry into the small room.
'So how long do I get to "feed the reindeer"?' Gendry asked, taking two great bites out of a steak and pepper pie, before undoing his belt and shrugging off his coat. 'Ughh, Fffff.' He tilted his head back and opened his mouth, gaping like a fish, then finally closed it, chewed and swallowed. 'Ah, that's hot.'
'You idiot.' Arya chuckled.
'Uh, about half an hour for lunch.' Hot Pie answered. Gendry removed the padded belly. 'Good. I gotta take a piss.' He looked at the mirror to judge whether he'd get away with walking to the toilets in his black tee and the Santa pants, then shook his head. He toed off the boots and slid off the pants unabashed. Hot Pie and Arya had seen him in his boxer briefs plenty of times. Making a grab for his jeans, Gendry looked up just in time to see Arya look away, something on the blank wall beside her catching her eye. He looked to Hot Pie whose own eyes were darting between Arya and Gendry, smiling to himself. Fuck. Gendry pulled on his jeans and zipped them up, regretting ever telling Hot Pie how he really felt about Arya, who seemed content to look anywhere but at him, while he finished dressing. Hopping on the spot, putting on his Vans with one hand, Gendry made a zipping motion over his lips with the other, motioning to Hot Pie to keep his mouth shut. With a mouth full of whatever pastry he was eating, Hot Pie rolled his eyes and saluted.
Gendry was starving, and finished off the pie in just a few more bites on the way to the toilets, stopping at a vending machine for a drink on his way back. He knew Hot Pie wouldn't tell Arya while he was gone, that didn't worry him. What did worry him, was knowing that he couldn't keep going on pretending to be happy being just friends. It was time to tell her.
He hesitated at the door to the North Pole. Just go in there and if Hot Pie's gone, tell her. Get it over and done with. Quick, like a bandaid. With a deep breath, gathering all the courage he could muster, he turned the handle and entered. Hot Pie was gone. Shit. He left his courage outside.
Arya's striped legs were swinging to and fro from her perch on the bench. She was mouthing the words to a song with her eyes closed and her earbuds in. For a moment Gendry just stood there, appreciating the chance to admire her without being called stupid for doing so.
When Arya felt the bench give a little under Gendry's weight as he sat beside her, she plucked out one of her earbuds and handed it to him with a quick smile. The bottle of water from the vending machine was icy cold in his hand as he passed it to her in return. As they shared their drink and music, Gendry couldn't focus on a single song that played. His stomach felt queezy with nerves, and his heart was pounding harder and faster than the drum beat from whatever they were listening to. Arya had closed her eyes again, and was mouthing along to the lyrics.
Her soft pink lips forming the words in his ear, drew him nearer and nearer. She was a siren in one of those stories, and he was powerless against her song. With his lips merely inches from hers, Gendry's eyelids began to close like the space between them, and he wondered if she would taste like one of those candy canes?
KNOCK KNOCK!
Grey eyes met blue, then both looked to the door as the knocking came again. Arya looked back at Gendry, her brow furrowed. Was she mad? Of course she's mad, he thought.
'Our lunch break is over.' Arya said with a soft blush creeping on her cheeks. 'You get changed, I'll go deal with whoever that is.' She hopped off the bench, popping another needle sharp candy cane into her mouth, and went to the door. Gendry made a grab for the red Santa pants that must have matched his own cheeks, judging by the heat in them.
'Ugh.' Arya groaned, holding the door ajar. 'What do you want?'
Gendry barely had the pants on when Joffrey barged passed her and into the room.
'Ha!' The sadistic blonde prick snarled, eyeing up Arya.
'The fuck are you doing here, Joff?' Gendry growled. As amused as Joffrey had been by Arya's appearance, he hadn't been surprised. He must have heard from someone who'd seen her earlier. The sound of Gendry's voice, however, had not been anticipated and Joffrey looked shocked for an instant as he turned to find Gendry picking up the red coat off the floor.
'Oh, this is just too good.' Joffrey laughed, the look on his face quickly transformed to the cruel, cunning of a predator. A look his mother often wore. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his phone, raising it to take a picture of Gendry that would no doubt be all over social media by the time he left the room.
'I wouldn't do that, if I were you.' Arya insisted, stepping in front of him. She plucked the sharpened candy cane from her mouth and poked Joffrey's chest with it. He leaned back and glared at it with disgust.
'And why not?'
Arya cocked her hip and began examining her weapon's pointy end before enlightening him.
'See, the thing is.' She began. 'If anyone finds out about this, or so much as sees a picture that you claim to be Gendry dressed as Santa -' Only now did she meet Joffrey's green glare. '- I'll tell everyone about the website Gendry caught you jacking off to the other day.' Green eyes saw red as Joffrey looked past Arya to Gendry, who raised both hands with a shrug and a grin, letting Joffrey know the choice was his. Hell, he almost wished the son of a bitch would do it, so Arya could follow through.
'Oh, he knows if you've been ba-aa-aa-ad or good...' Arya bleated.
Joffrey pointed a finger, still clutching his phone, at Ayra. Arya raised her chin and stepped forward. Gendry curled both hands into fists and began to walk toward them. If that little blonde fucker so much as touches a hair on her head, I'll cave his face in. Whether it was the threat of Arya's words or Gendry's fists, Joffrey's phone was soon back in his pocket, and he, out the door.
'That Stark bitch needs to be kept on a leash.' Joffrey called out from the safety of the other side of the door. Gendry wanted to walk out there and beat him to a pulp. Being half dressed as Santa wasn't about to stop him, but Arya did. She leaned back against the door, putting herself once more between them. But, the look on her face told him this was no longer about that. This was about the near kiss. Gendry swallowed hard. His mouth went dry.
'I...' He started. Arya raised an eyebrow.
'I...better get back out there.' He finished, turning to get his boots. The door opened and slammed shut behind him. Every tread Arya walked away may as well have been stomped on his chest. She knows now, and she hates me for it.
The rest of the day went by painfully. There were awkward glances, but they were polite to each other for the sake of the kids who came to give their endless lists of what they wanted from Santa. Gendry Ho-ho-ho'd, and wished all a Merry Christmas. All the while, wishing he could tell Arya what he wanted.
He watched as she chatted pleasantly to the mother of a small girl, maybe three or four years old, who came walking up to him shyly.
'Hello, little girl. I'm Santa, what's your name?'
'Weasel.' She almost whispered in awe.
'W-Weasel?' He asked, looking to the mother for confirmation. Surely he heard that wrong. What kind of a parent names their kid -
'Liesel.' She corrected. 'She's starting speech therapy. Her L's and R's come out as W's.'
'Oh, that's so cute.' Arya gushed.
Gendry couldn't help but smile at the little girl. 'Well, Weasel. What would you like for Christmas.' He asked, plonking her onto his knee.
'Mmm.' The little girl stuck out her tongue a bit, concentrating hard. 'A doh-wee?'
'A doh- a dolly?' Gendry interpreted.
'Yeth.' Apparently S's were tricky too.
'Ok. What else?'
'Uh, a puppy?' She asked, her own puppy like eyes pleading. Gendry looked to the mother again to see how to respond. The woman smiled and nodded, and with that Gendry told little Weasel that he'd see what he could do, earning him a surprisingly strong hug from such a little girl. Gendry returned the hug carefully and smiled at Arya, his heart warming when she smiled back.
'Thank God, that's over.' Gendry groaned, yanking off the hat and beard the second the door closed behind them. He was wrestling himself out of the stifling coat and fake belly when he caught sight of Arya standing in the middle of the room, looking up at the ceiling nervously. Dropping the things to the floor, Gendry's eyes followed hers to the mistletoe hanging above her head. Was that there when he got back from lunch? His shoulders dropping, Gendry explained the likely source of the mistletoe with one word.
'Pie.' That bastard was playing cupid all along.
'Hot Pie didn't put it there. I did, you idiot.' She tried to sound angry but that rosy blush was creeping on her cheeks like it had earlier.
'You?' Gendry asked, slowly walking closer so that the toes of their boots almost touched. Arya worried her lower lip and gave a nod, her storm grey eyes peering up at him, waiting. With a quick glance up at the mistletoe, Gendry looked back down to Arya and raised both hands to cup her face. He sought her eyes and drew a thumb along her lip to free it from her teeth, then brought his own lips down to taste hers.
She tasted like peppermint.