hot chocolate and thrift shopping

december 4 - run run rudolph

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

*͛ ͙͛ ⁑͛⋆͛*

unlike usual, foolish arrives at the café to find everything already switched on and running. kelly clarkson's rendition of run run rudolph is playing just a little too loud, and foolish glances behind the counter to see punz nodding his head as he sings along to the song and refills the caramel syrup pump.

foolish heads over to the speakers, turning the music down to the volume it should be at.

punz turns back to look at him, grinning knowingly.

"we won't be able to hear customers over that racket," foolish points out.

"that's not my fault," punz defends, and if his hands were free, foolish imagines he would hold them up in surrender. "this is a bop."

foolish fondly rolls his eyes at the blond before heading out to the back of the store. he makes quick work of swapping his coats for his apron and rushing off to the bathroom.

looking in the mirror, foolish tries his absolute best to convince himself that his cheeks are red from the cold, not the fuzzy feeling circling his heart and pushing out his chest.

he takes a few long, grounding breaths, and splashes some water over his face in an attempt to lessen the redness. once his hands are dried, he heads back through the staff area and into the front room.

foolish almost freezes entirely at the sight before him- punz, with his hair pushed back under a headband with reindeer antlers on top, the little bells on them jingling quietly as he shifts to face foolish.

he makes eye contact with the brunette, clearly trying not to laugh. "how do i look?"

foolish giggles like a teenage girl, feeling his tummy roll from the strength of his unspoken fondness towards the blond.

"like an idiot," he teases.

"don't speak so soon," punz says, sounding sure of himself as he turns back to grab something off the counter beside him, "there's some for you too." he holds them up, waving them about so the metal chimes. "everyone has to wear them."

foolish scoffs. "you won't catch me dead in them." he says, turning away from the blond to face the opposite counter. he can't wear the antlers, because he doesn't want to look stupid in front of punz, simple as. he distracts himself with shaking their cream containers to check if they're still full enough.

when foolish feels the sides of the headband being pushed into his hair, he instinctively bends down away from them, folding his body over and squealing just slightly as he attempts to hide from the unexpected attack.

behind him, punz laughs brightly, leaning over the brunette's now curled-over body to shove the antlers messily in his hair however he can- just to make sure they're in there. he steps back proudly.

foolish stands straight again, turning to look at his coworker with an unimpressed expression. he knows he looks awful, because he can feel that one side of the headband is in front of his left ear, and the other is digging into the back of his head. not to mention the clump of hair obstructing his vision.