Christmas story [ENG • AU]

#1 Grumpy Christmas Elf

// There was an idea for a short Christmas story. And here it is. It's an alternate reality story... and it's probably just gonna be a shorter, romantic and very sweet story with Loki and Sylvie. The translation is only via the Deepl translator.

It was below freezing that day when Sylvie stood at work in her elf costume. Her colleagues were wearing the same costume, but even in the freezing cold they were running around the set where they worked, all of them acting far too energetic. It was a large Christmas tree shop where people from all over the area came. Sylvie hated the costume, and seeing their boss wearing a Santa hat and orchestrating everyone around him made it seem even more absurd. To add insult to injury, he started urging his employees to sing carols as well. By then Sylvie was suffering to the max and hoped this shift would be over soon. When Sylvie didn't want to join in, she was further reprimanded for not fulfilling her job duties, that he made up when it suited him. She hung in there until the end of her shift and then disappeared into the parking lot to her car as quickly as she could.

As soon as she reached it, she paused, unable to find her keys. Plus, she was still in her Christmas elf costume, as she was still hurriedly changing at the car that morning. She started to worry that her keys were stuck in the car and after a while she was confirmed when she saw them on the seat through the window. "Great! This day couldn't be better..."

On the other side of the parking lot was also a very popular coffee shop where Loki worked. He, on the other hand, enjoyed his work and didn't have to watch his watch to see when his shift would end. He worked there as a barista and his coffee skills were known far and wide. He also had a great charisma that could literally drive customers to their seats. He was the reason most of the customers came to the café for coffee, which was hard for some of his colleagues to bear. And Loki didn't even try to draw too much attention to himself, but when he saw that people liked his little show behind the counter, it definitely made them happy. He found his work and his contact with people extremely fulfilling.

He had just peered through the large window of the café into the parking lot where he saw a woman fussing by her car. He was intrigued, mostly because she was in an elf costume and looked very grumpy. But before he could think more about it, another customer came in. An hour later, his shift ended. He took only his jacket from the cloakroom, and when he came out, he saw that the woman was still standing there. The woman was frowning, looking like she wasn't having a good day at all, and he suddenly had an idea and went back to the café. He quickly made some hot chocolate, put on some whipped cream, and put a little marshmello on top for decoration.

Sylvie tried to call someone, but to no avail, and was even more annoyed when her cell phone died, as if the day wasn't going to bring anything good at all.

"Miss?" It came from a short distance away suddenly, and when she looked to see who had addressed her, she was a little taken aback. For the first thing she noticed was that the man was handing her a hot chocolate, and then she glanced at him as well.

"Umm, yes?"

"Would you like something to warm you up?" He smiled.

Normally, Sylvie would have made everyone immediately uncomfortable, but that smile, that chocolate that was still steaming in the cold weather. She immediately got a taste for it. She smiled a little at the whole situation, "I don't know if I should take something from a stranger in a parking lot," she uttered, serious but surprised at the same time. As if she couldn't even believe such a kind gesture.

Loki smiled again. "Think of it as the attention of the establishment," he nodded his head behind him.

Sylvie glanced at the café and then noticed that he had the same logo on his shirt, which was visible in his half-open jacket. She couldn't resist taking the chocolate after all. "Thanks..." Loki had to smile when he saw that she had obviously done her good. Just being able to warm her hands was nice, and when she tasted it, it was even better than she had imagined moments before. It was obvious to see how pleased she was. It was the first nice thing that had happened to her today.