~The Shy and The Stubborn~ (the santa clause)

Chapter 8: self-care

"Well, I think he's learning at an excellent rate!"

Here she was again, following her boss around this godforsaken factory, supervising this godforsaken clone toy, in this godforsaken job she had godforsakenly taken up. This was honestly starting to feel like a joke to Justice, and if she didn't have so much faith in Bernard and his ways, then she would've burst into maniacal laughter right then and there at how ridiculous this whole situation was. But no, she had to hold herself together, no matter how uncomfortable that plastic man made her feel. 

"Oh really?" Bernard asked, a sarcastic lilt to his voice as usual as he responded to Curtis, "This morning he ate a bowl of waxed fruit."

Her friends would've laughed away at that remark, and if she were in the right place she would have too. But this was serious, and was ever-concerning to her. 

"Hey, wait a minute," the toy called for the three of them to stop, his face stilled buried in the book though he knew where he was going as he approached Bernard, "I need the naughty and nice list."
"No," Bernard answered bluntly, dipping his head a little as he said so. 
"Oh, yes, yes," the toy insisted, bubbly in the way he carried himself, "it says I'm supposed to check it twice."
"Santa already checked it," Bernard assured the toy, trying to stay calm though Justice once again could sense something off about his demeanour. 
"No, I didn't," the toy protested, cocking his plastic brow.
"The real Santa," Bernard clarified.
"I am the real Santa!" the toy smiled, his rosy red cheeks creasing with that silicone beard of his. 
"I'm sorry?" Bernard subtly challenged the toy Santa.
"I'm in charge here," the toy continued to assert, and Bernard was beginning to lose him.
"What?" Bernard begged his pardon. 
"I'm s'pose to check the list twice, and that's the rules! I like the rules, and I think you're aware of how I feel about that."
"I think you're misunderstanding something," Bernard told him, though he was quickly cut off by the toy's tangent. 
"No, I'm the rule-maker. I like the rules. Santa likes rules! I thought I explained this to you."

In all of their back and forths and arguing, Justice instinctively went to cover her ears when Curtis interrupted the two.

"I've got a good idea!" he cut the both of them of, "how about we have some fun?"

Though his suggestion seemed forced, Justice was just glad that the two were no longer arguing simply for the fact that arguing made her feel like she couldn't concentrate on anything.

The toy turned around, confused at what Curtis was suggesting for him. 

"It's good to have fun," Curtis elaborated simply, Bernard catching on to what he was trying to do as he straightened himself up once more.
"Right," he agreed, grabbing Santa's arm, "Santa, look over there, see those elves?"

Justice's eyes followed to where Bernard was pointing to see that he was referring to the tinsel boys who were just now preparing for a game of football. The woman cringed at the sight, still not over the way she received the ball to the face, especially as someone who wasn't even playing. 

"Go ahead," Bernard encouraged the toy, nodding his head in the direction of the boys, "go play some tinsel football."

A casual 'break!' could be heard coming from the tinsel boys - some sort of vocal queue from their game, though Justice couldn't be too sure. All she could do was hope that they avoided her face this time around, or perhaps just her general direction. She didn't like to make a big fuss over these things, but being an overly anxious elf didn't make these things very easy for her, so she just bit her thumb and watched nervously. 

Santa had a brief discussion with Curtis before about how to play tinsel football, the toy handing the rulebook to the small elf as he rushed over to the game.