arch-elf-bernard

[arch-elf-bernard]

Dear kids of the world, Leave out chocolate cake. Some of us love it instead of cookies. Sincerely, One tired-but-starved head elf who got dragged out on deliveries

[arch-elf-bernard]

Rhythm and Blues

Bernard x OC fic

Chapter 3

“The Toy Santa is learning things fast, Bernard! I told you that you were wrong about this!”

Bernard shot the smaller elf a look. “Curtis, you know he ate waxed fruit this morning, and then he basically steamrolled the elves playing tinsel football! He ate the wooden plate that his lunch was delivered on for crying out loud!”

Curtis shrugged. “Yeah, but other than that, he’s doing great!”

Bernard shook his head. “Except for the fact that he’s relying on the rules too heavily...”

Curtis gave him an exasperated look. “There’s no such thing! You’ve gotten too lax on the rules, Number One! You and Santa! We need the rules! Rules are what make things go smoothly and -oof!” Suddenly, a wad of snow went splat on the back of Curtis’s head, making him stumble forward lightly. “Oh come on! Who did that? Now I’ve got snow down my scarf and shirt! Ugh, now I’ve got to go get changed and dry...” he said, stomping off in annoyance, grumbling under his breath, and not noting the Rhythm Elf he passed, hands still lightly powdered with snow, her head tilted up as she whistled innocently.

Bernard watched Curtis walk off, hiding a smirk of mild satisfaction, and once he noted who was behind it, his smirk turned into a grin.

“Really?”

She stopped next to him, peering over at him, her hands behind her head. “I did nothing and you can’t prove otherwise.” His eyebrow rose, making her shrug and grin. “He was getting annoying. You know, I could hear him from all the way over there. He really does cling to those rules, doesn’t he?” Noelle said as Bernard nodded, giving her a crooked smile and an exasperated look.

“You have no idea.” he said, as he turned and started walking with her, his hands in his pockets. “Your aim is still pretty good, though. You nailed him without hurting him.”

Chuckling, she put her hands behind her back as she walked. “He just needs to learn to lighten up. He’ll get there. I distinctly remember a certain Number One who was pretty strict on the elves too, up until a few years ago.”

He nudged her with his shoulder, giving her a look. “Come on, to be fair, every other Santa pretty much just wanted us working and being his servants. It’s not like I had a choice.”

She stopped and looked at him, her eyes wide in surprise. “You nudged me!”

He blinked at her, and gave her a smirk. “And?” He started walking ahead, hands still in his pockets.

Splat!

He stopped in his tracks as snow dripped off his hat and curls, his eyes wide in shock. He turned, as Noelle scooped up another handful and balled it up, one hand going to her hip as she held the snowball out to the side in her other hand.

“Oh it’s on!” Bernard scooped up a handful and quickly shaped it, chucking it at her, making her squeal and move to try and dodge it, the snow getting her in the back.

The surrounding elves watched in surprise as, out of nowhere, an epic snowball fight broke out between the head elf and the lead Rhythm elf, both running like kids and laughing as they talked mild trash at each other, chasing one another with snow.

Snow landed on the side of Bernard’s head, knocking his beret off in one fell swoop. Before he realized and could grab it, Noelle had rushed up, grabbed it, and placed it firmly on her own head. He tilted his head to the side before grabbing for it, missing by inches as she dodged his hand. She grinned, whipping it off her head and waving it around before spinning around him to dodge again.

“I’m sorry, did you need something?” she asked, giving him an innocent look.

He gave her a look, before smirking. “I’ll do it.”

She cocked her eyebrow up and poked her chin out defiantly. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He raised one eyebrow in response, then cracked his knuckles, causing her to blink and squeak, tossing his hat at him and taking off in a sprint. He grabbed his hat out of the air and followed, watching as she bobbed and weaved between houses and buildings, a wide grin on his face.

She ducked behind a building... And he lost her. Bernard stopped, and panted, looking around. “Now where did she...Hey!”

From around the other side of the buildings she sprang, and tackled him to the ground, laughing like a little elfling. He grabbed on to her as he went down, his fingers wriggling at her ribs, causing her to let out loud squeals of laughter. He got the upper hand, and with one motion, he ended up hovering over her, tickling her until tears went down her face.

“I give, I give!” Noelle squeaked out, as he smirked and moved off to the side, letting her sit up. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she caught her breath. “Not fair, you know that’s my weakness! I can’t take being tickled!”

“Should’ve just given me my hat back.” he said, shrugging with a smirk. He stood up, brushing the snow off of his knees before offering his hand, helping her up with an impish grin.

She smiled at him, both hands going to her hips to brush snow off of the back of her dress. “We haven’t done that since we were little.” she said, grinning.

“It was fun, though.” he said, as she nodded.

“That it was.”

He smirked at her as she started walking back towards the main part of the elf village. “You always had a way of picking fights you couldn’t finish.”

“Only because you cheat.” she said matter-of-factly.

“I do not cheat!” he said, laughing a bit.

“You always cheat! You’re stronger than me, I can’t get out from under you.” she said, shooting him a grin.

“You’re faster than I am, I can never catch you, so we’re even.” he said, giving her a grin in return. She looked up, smiling a bit as he glanced over at her. “Where were you going, anyhow?” he asked, causing her to peer over at him.

“Performance practice. You’re welcome to come if you want. We’re not actually working on the routine, we’re just playing around today. We’ve got the actual performance down, but we like to do some random dancing and singing to stay on our toes.” she said, as he nodded. “You wanna come with?” she asked, making him stop for a second.

Did he want to go with her? He really kind of did, come to think of it, but he had to get a few things done. Kicking some snow, he gave her a mildly disappointed look. “I would really like to, but I have some stuff to finish up in the workshop. Can I meet you there?” he asked.

Noelle nodded in response, a smile on her face. “Sure, we’ll be there for a while. We tend to do our thing for a few hours, minimum. Just meet us over near the music hall.” she said.

Bernard gave her a nod as she gave him a wave and jogged off. He turned and headed straight into the workshop. He had a lot to get done so that he could head back out, after all.

[arch-elf-bernard]

Rhythm and Blues

Bernard x OC fic

Chapter 2

*Author's Note - I appreciate the reblogs! I am very tempted to draw Aurora for you all, as she's been a character I loved for so, so long. I actually wrote this a long time ago, and am just now getting the nerve up to post it on Tumblr. Anyhow, thank you for any love given! It's appreciated more than you know!*

Exasperated and exhausted, Bernard walked across the grounds of the Elf Village, in front of the workshop. Not only had he just lied to the elves, he’d watched as Santa began the De-Santafication process, gone through a toy duplicator that had made a disastrous looking copy of him that was now taking his place running the North Pole, and waved him off as he’d gone to find a wife and take care of his son Charlie. All in all, it had been a very long and stressful few hours.

So stressful, in fact, that it had completely slipped his mind to go find Noelle.

He rubbed his temple, nursing a mild, but still annoying, headache. Like he’d told Santa earlier, they were in way over their heads here. He could have handled things without any of this duplicate Santa nonsense. But, leave it to Curtis to overcomplicate things. Typical Curtis. It was one of the many reasons Bernard simply didn’t feel as though Curtis was ready to step up and take over as the Number One elf, despite his insistence to the contrary.

Bernard glanced up, his stomach grumbling loudly, much to his surprise. Ugh. When was the last time he’d eaten anyhow? He glanced up at the clock over the bakery entryway and let out a small sigh. It had been well over 8 hours, as a matter of fact, which also explained the obnoxious headache. Walking in, he headed over to the counter and glanced at the menu. Tomato soup and a sandwich sounded pretty good, to be honest. As he was about to order, a couple of elves walked in, grabbing his attention momentarily as he glanced behind him. Blinking, his hand flew up to his forehead. The two Rhythm elves sat down in a corner of the cafe part of the bakery chattering, their music note pins glistening on their hats, and Bernard grimaced. Oh that was just fantastic. He’d forgotten.

“Oh fudge.”

He racked his brain for ways to make this up to her. Noelle had always been a fan of sweets, but he didn’t remember if she had liked tomato soup. He thought for a moment and decided to take the risk and double his order, plus add a few strawberry cheesecake cookies to the mix. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was one of her favorites. In fact, he added a slice of actual cheesecake to it too. After about five minutes, his order was completed and he was able to take the nicely decorated bags, leaving the bakery.

His shoes trudged through the snow as he glanced over towards the living quarters, taking the side entrance in that didn’t go into the workshop. The last thing he needed was Curtis or another elf stopping him yet again when he was on his way to do something else. It got rather annoying, and the only reason he tolerated it was because he knew that Santa really needed his help in making sure the workshop ran smoothly. Something told him that she would be in her quarters at this point, anyhow. It was too late in the day for anything else to be honest.

Once Bernard reached her quarters, he kicked some of the snow off of his shoes before knocking at the door gently. He sighed, noting the time and how he should have honestly come looking for her much sooner…She was likely resting. Or, maybe not, since Noelle always was a night owl. As he bobbed up and down on his toes for a moment, he stopped, and went to knock again, right as the door opened.

“Oh! Hi.” Noelle peeked her wet, tangled head out the door, blinking in surprise as Bernard held up the bags with a sheepish grin, his curls falling into his eyes.

“I come bearing a peace offering of food?”

The surprise on her face melted into a small smile, and she nodded, moving out of the way. “Come on in.”

As he slipped in the door, he glanced around, checking out her quarters curiously. There was a bed, a table and chairs, and a small handheld device sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. That was likely her music machine that Charlie had gotten her. Seeing the things on the walls of the small living quarters, he realized he really hadn’t been a very good friend over the years... She’d won awards and everything, and he’d had no idea. He set the food down on the table and walked up to a plaque, reading ‘Best Elf in Song’ on the title of it. His eyes darted over as she slipped into the bathroom area, her pale lavender gown going down to her feet. He cleared his throat and glanced over, peering into the bathroom as she brushed her hair.

“If it helps, I’m really sorry, Noelle.”

Stopping, she shrugged and glanced behind her for a second. “It’s ok. I was just going to get some sleep anyhow.” The forced indifference on her face was fairly obvious, and he winced a bit as she went back to brushing her hair, finishing up.

He looked at the food, grimacing a bit. “So you ate then?”

She had the decency to look sheepish as she turned around, letting her wet hair hang down her back. “Honestly? I had forgotten to. I wasn’t going to worry about it, but then you brought food, and...” With that, her stomach let out a loud growl as the scent of the soup hit her nose. Bernard grinned, as she came out of the bathroom with a smile. “I’m famished.” she admitted, sitting at the table in the room as he pulled out the other chair and sat. He passed over a soup and a wrapped up sandwich to her, and smiled.

“Don’t feel bad. I haven’t eaten for 8 hours myself.” he said casually, as she paused the spoon she had just gathered up a scoop of tomato soup with right before it hit her mouth, and she sat up straight, putting the spoon down.

“8 hours?! Bernard!”

He glanced over, wide eyed with a mouthful of soup. “What?” he managed to get out through the food, blinking in surprise. “What did I do?”

She narrowed her eyes and took a bite, swallowing the soup before replying. “You know you can’t go 8 hours without eating! You get headaches!”

He blinked, and looked at her, sitting up straight and giving her a wide eyed stare. “You remembered.”

She blushed, something she hadn’t done in years, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well, of course I did. I wouldn’t forget that.”

“But... It’s been hundreds of years since we’ve sat down like this. Literally. I’m just surprised is all.” he said, as he took a bite of his sandwich.

She looked down, picking the crust off her bread absentmindedly, causing Bernard to pause, roll his eyes, and grab her sandwich. Before she could react, he grabbed a small knife and cut away the crusts, chuckling as he handed it back. “I almost forgot. You hate crusts.”

She stared at the sandwich, and then looked at him curiously. “You remembered too.”

He stopped and looked up, realization on his face. “I guess I did.”

They ate in what could only be described as an awkward silence at that, neither one knowing what exactly to say. As they finished the soup and the sandwiches, he pushed the bag containing the sweets to her, giving her an awkward smile.

“Here. For you. Since, you know, I forgot.”

She opened the bag, before breaking out into a wide grin, causing him to smile broadly.

“Strawberry cheesecake! And cheesecake cookies!” she said excitedly, pulling them from the bag and setting them on the table. “My favorites!”

He nodded, grinning. “You do like them! Good! I thought so, but I wasn’t sure!”

She separated the cookies, handing him two as he looked over at her. “We share.”

“No, I got those for you!”

She shook her head, smiling at him. “I prefer to share! Here, take them!”

He took the cookies with a small smile, nodding. “Fine. But the cheesecake is yours. Deal?”

She nodded, smiling as she took a bite of a cookie and held a thumb up in affirmation. After she swallowed, she looked at him with a curious glance. “So. Why are you so stressed? You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

He looked over at her, and sighed, swallowing his bite of cookie. “Well... Can you keep a secret?”

She nodded, worry on her face as he spoke. “Ok. Well... It’s a long story.” With that, he unleashed the current situation, looking more and more relaxed as he explained it to her. As he finished up, he spoke more animatedly, his hands in the air. “And to top it all off, the toy Santa is awful! It looks nothing like Santa! It’s hair isn’t even hair, Ellie! It’s rubber! And he barely speaks! Curtis is insane if he thinks we can pass this thing off as Santa! And I had to lie to everyone, and I hate it! I’ve never had to lie like this!” he said, sitting back and looking up at the ceiling in annoyance.

Noelle looked thoughtful, and then held her forkful of cheesecake up. “You say Santa has to find a wife. I don’t think you guys needed a toy Santa, but... I mean, it would worry all the elves to watch him change so drastically, and if he doesn’t find a wife, no toys can be delivered. So that would have to happen anyhow, you’d already have that to worry about. And since the toy Santa is here... The elves need the guidance. Not the Santa’s, but yours. So, maybe don’t think of it as a lie? Think of it as...a very strategic story to keep them happy while you straighten out this mess?”

He looked over at her, a thoughtful look on his face too. “You know, that’s a good way to think about it. I mean, you’re right. It won’t be here forever after all. And once Santa finds a wife, he’ll be back. So... Yeah, maybe it’ll be ok.”

She nodded, before holding out the bite of cheesecake. “You have to stay positive, Bernard. If you get stressed, the elves will see it, and they’ll know something is up.”

He ate the bite out of her fork without another thought, before going wide eyed and looking over at her.

She sheepishly sat back, putting the fork down. “Sorry. Not sure what came over me.”

He nodded, swallowing the food heavily. “It’s ok. I have to go actually... I’ll come back though. Not tonight or anything I mean... I mean...” he stuttered through his words, as she nodded, an eyebrow raised and a small smile on her face.

“It’s fine, I get what you’re saying. We won’t be shutting one another out anymore. I’ll see you later.” she said, as they stood up, him heading for her door, before stopping and hugging her tight.

“See you later, Noelle.” he said, she returned the hug.

“See ya!”

She opened her door, and saw him out after that, waving as he left.

As she shut her door, she leaned against it, her eyes wide. Her stomach had gotten very jittery, almost like she’d had bad cocoa. And her face was red, heat coming from her cheeks. What...what was that?

Bernard had a similar reaction after he’d rounded the corner, glancing back at the door with wide eyes. He had never, ever had that reaction to Noelle before. So he was blind as to what it was and what exactly it meant.

He stood straight, and headed to his own quarters. Maybe some sleep would help this nauseous feeling in his stomach go away.

[arch-elf-bernard]

...1994... from 2024... Ok, yeah, that's a 30 year crush ok? And I am ok with that. I grew UP with him!

[arch-elf-bernard]

This is a fact and I won't hear anyone saying otherwise...

[arch-elf-bernard]

Bernard gif drop 2. Again, use as you see fit. Hope the gifs help make your holidays merry and bright!

[arch-elf-bernard]

Officially 44 days until Christmas!!!

[arch-elf-bernard]

Bernard Gif Drop. Use however you like. (Will continue to hunt for more.)

[arch-elf-bernard]

Rhythm and Blues

Bernard x OC fic

Chapter 1

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Noelle! Wait up!”

It was a clear, albeit dark, afternoon with the stars twinkling overhead. The days were like night in the North Pole, especially with ho Two very young, laughing elves ran through the snow, one grabbing the other one’s arm as he laughed, tugging her into the snow with him. Her face red with glee, sparkles on her cheeks, and brown hair pulled into two pigtail braids, the one called Noelle fell backwards, her hands and feet spread out in a snow angel formation. The boy, his curly black hair damp with snow that clung to every ringlet, looked thoughtfully at her.

“Have you thought about what Alexander said? You know, about what we’re going to do with our futures? I think I want to work with Santa.” He peered at her curiously, obviously deeply curious about her answer.

Noelle stopped from where she had been making a snow angel, and propped herself up on her elbows, looking up at the sky. “I dunno yet, Bernard. But you can do it, you’re a smart elf! If anyone can do it, you can.”

He shot her a smile, one hand going behind his head to scratch shyly, narrowly missing an overly large green beret. “Aw, you think so?”

She nodded, grinning. “Yep!” After a few moments, she looked at Bernard with a hopeful smile. “I could be a Rhythm Elf. I love to dance, and Rhythm Elves get to make new carols, and dance. I heard that once, a long time ago, they even used rhythm magic!”

Bernard nodded excitedly. “That would be really good for you! You’re really good at dancing! I’ll bet one day you could even top Clarissa!” Clarissa was the current Lead Rhythm Elf, and her dancing and singing was renowned across the North Pole. To hear her sing was a privilege.

Noelle blushed, before grinning at him, and standing up. “You can dance with me!” she said, making the young male elf blush crimson.

“I have two left feet!” he said, his hands out defensively as she grabbed him and hauled him to his feet.

“Yeah, yeah!” And with that, she attempted to swing him in a dance, as he stumbled, trying to keep up, before falling back into the snow, with her next to him. “Ok. Point taken. Two left feet.” She said, grinning at him as he hid a smirk and tossed a wad of fluffy snow in her face, making her laugh harder.

Then, Noelle stood up, brushing the snow off of her dress and holding out her hand to him.

“Just promise me... We’ll always be best friends. No matter what we do, and where we go.”

He took her hand and nodded, his eyes twinkling as he smiled.

“Always and forever!”

--

Over a thousand years later...

--

There had been many a Santa since the two had been young elflings, but, they had achieved their dreams. Bernard had been Head Elf, the Number One, for many years now, through at least 5 previous Santa Claus’s. The current Santa was his, and every other elf’s, favorite however. He was kind, loved the children, cared for the elves, and seemed like he was made for the job. He might even be the one true Santa, the Santa that will be Santa until the end. Noelle had worked her way up the ranks of the Rhythm Elves. She was the lead Rhythm Elf, and normally led the others with a smile on her face, at least, from what Bernard had remembered, she did.

However, it had meant that, due to their work, the two best friends had grown rather distant. They only spoke in passing, and it was often about work. They had not spent any significant amount of time together in a very long time.

At this point, it was about 28 days from Christmas Eve, but it wasn’t quite a normal day, although what day is ever normal up at the Pole? Usually, you see, any planes that would fly by would avoid the Pole, due to various security measures, such as the Northern Lights, or various magnetic disturbances, all of which the elves controlled in their security hub. However, today, one stubborn plane was flying closer and closer, causing the security center to go nuts. Bernard looked over at a monitor and gave the elf near it a look. “Take us to Elfcon 3!” His hair clung in neat little ringlets to his face, which was currently panicked. The planes never came this far…not even the scientific ones, usually. They all turned around.

With that, the elf turned a dial, and the alarms around the Workshop and all over the Elf Village went off, alerting those who saw it to be quiet. Nary a sound could be heard through the workshop, as every elf went eerily silent. However, the plane persistently kept coming. Bernard frowned, wide eyed and getting more and more nervous, and pointed over to the elf he had just been speaking to.

“These guys aren’t stopping... Take us to Elfcon 2!”

More alarms blared in the workshop, and throughout the Pole. No one could possibly miss this, it was simply too blatant with the flashing lights from every corner. Santa rose in the security hub, and began taking in the situation that was happening at that moment. He very quickly took them to Elfcon 1, which meant silent running. If any elf was still making any noise, they needed to stop, right now. However, someone apparently didn’t get the memo, because music was blaring through the whole place. Bernard and Santa glanced at each other, noted where it was coming from, and gave each other a look before swiftly storming out of the security hub.

As they ran into the Reindeer stables, their ears and eyes were drawn to the sleigh in the center of the next room. As they headed for the sleigh, parked for the next few weeks as it got a final polish for Christmas Eve, they noticed an odd colored cloth sticking out from the side of the sleigh. Purple satin, with a white trim. Suddenly, the music stopped, and the cloth moved a bit, as the wearer shifted in her crouched position in the sleigh. It was silent in the stables, as Santa and Bernard inched closer to see who had done their job for them, and took a moment to note the older, teenaged-looking elf kneeling in the sleigh next to Curtis, the Number 2 elf, one hand over his mouth, her brown hair in a braid across one shoulder and her purple dress bunched up as she knelt, black leggings underneath and a rich purple cloak keeping her warm. Curtis was holding a toy dancing Santa and looking surprised.

As Bernard spotted the older-looking elf, with silver specks under her brown eyes, he let out a breath in relief and let a small, lopsided smirk go across his tired face, mouthing ‘thank you’ at her. She nodded, as the roar of the engines indicated the plane was overhead. All of them glanced at the ceiling, breath held in worry.

“We’re at Elfcon 4, all clear!”

The all-clear went over the intercom, causing everyone to let out a huge sigh of relief. Noelle sat back, giving Curtis a look. “Did the flashing lights going off just not catch your attention or something? The fact that every other elf had stopped moving and was barely breathing not register? What was it?” she asked, her eyes annoyed.

“I didn’t see it!” he said, causing her to narrow her eyes, the younger elf on her last nerve at the moment, as Santa put his hand on Curtis’s shoulder.

“How about a nice set of headphones for you this Christmas, Curtis?” Santa said, slightly exasperated. He turned to walk off, as Bernard leaned over the sleigh, giving Curtis a stern, and highly annoyed, look.  

“Curtis, you’re 900 years old. Grow up!” Bernard scolded, as Curtis shot him a look, getting out of the sleigh with ease, and completely ignoring the elf who had stopped the source of the noise. Bernard shook his head, and offered his hand to Noelle, who had stood up and smoothed out her dress, helping her out of the sleigh that she had obviously jumped into in a hurry.

“How’d you know?” he asked her, curiosity on his face, as she shrugged.

“Rhythm elf. We’re trained to pick up sounds, pitch, intonation, and find a music’s source. I heard him from our practice area, got my elves to sit back and stay silent, and came over here to see which tinsel-brained dingaling was ignoring the alert.” Noelle said, crossing her arms as she glared at the retreating Number 2 elf, as Bernard let out a quick bark of a laugh, then quickly composed himself, so as to remain professional.

“Well, I appreciate it. Curtis hasn’t been Number Two for too long, but he’s been driving me nuts. You’d think with the way he clings to the Santa Handbook like it’s a teddy bear, that he’d know to watch for alerts.” Curtis’s obsession with the rules was why Bernard had waited to introduce him to Santa. He was a lot to take in all at once, and Bernard hadn’t wanted the new Santa to get an earful from Curtis and just decide to opt out.

She nodded, as they just glanced at one another for a moment, an awkward silence in the air. “Well, I’ve got to help Santa. Take care, Noelle.” Bernard said, as he rushed to catch up with Santa.  

Noelle quickly followed behind him, heading out of the stables and into the center plaza of the Pole, before turning to head back to the practice area, pulling her purple cloak back over her head to keep warm. Santa’s voice calling her caused her to pause, however, her head whipping around as she stopped in her tracks.

“Noelle! I heard from a little bird that you’ve got a really good Christmas Eve routine planned before take off.” Santa said, smiling at her. The Rhythm Elves had really been whipped into shape in the last 300 years or so, and she was doing what she needed to in order to keep them on their pointy toes. Looking at Santa, Noelle nodded, her hands moving to clasp behind her back as she turned and walked back towards them, into the center of the plaza.  

“I do, but I’m not telling you about it. That spoils the surprise and all of the hard work.” she said, as Santa smiled, Bernard standing off to his side. They had been working on an original song, and she didn’t want that to be spoiled. Every Rhythm Elf had been sworn to secrecy until Christmas Eve.

“Can we get something to tide us over until the performance? It doesn’t even have to be a carol, I know you’ve been using some of that music Charlie sent up on his old Ipod.” Santa said with a smile, as she looked up thoughtfully. They really didn’t get a chance to perform live nearly as often as she would have liked, and this was a really good chance to get them some practice.

Noelle smiled broadly and gave her best uncertain look, although anyone who looked could tell it was purely fabricated. “I’m not sure... I’d hate to disturb the other elves working.” She said, continuing to look up and continue to ‘consider’ the option, although her mind was in fact already made up. Santa shot her a look at that, raising an eyebrow at the impish elf, causing her to look over. She grinned. “Ok, ok. Give us a few minutes, I’ve got something we can whip up really quick. We’ll be on the second floor of the workshop.” The second floor was really the only place big enough to hold the elves as they performed in there, and it had some good acoustics.

Santa nodded, smiling. “Looking forward to it, I enjoy all of the Rhythm Elf performances you all do.” It was true, their rare performances had gotten quite popular.  

She nodded, and turned to leave, a bit more of a spring in her step than she’d had before. She knew just what to have them perform. Her mood had dramatically improved, so by the time she had gotten back to the other elves, she was able to quickly get them organized into an old, but always good, number.

Within a time frame of half of an hour, the Rhythm Elves were assembled on the second floor balcony area of the workshop, ready to go. Their music began to play across the workshop, causing all of the elves working to stop and look up anxiously and excitedly at the small group gathered, their feet tapping to the music. As Jingle Bell Rock began to play, Noelle’s voice began to echo across the workshop, her voice clear and harmonizing to the beat and tone of the music playing.

Bernard glanced up, blinking, as the elves began to perform. He’d really not had the time to pay attention to the Rhythm Elves’ performances, as he was usually so busy working, but he had to admit, they’d gotten rather good compared to where they were so many years before. He remembered some of the cringe-worthy performances he’d seen when he was younger, and this definitely beat them. The lead had been fantastic, but the others? Well, let’s just say Bernard could have danced circles around them.

‘I’d forgotten how well ‘Rora could sing.’ he thought to himself, watching the other elves as they twirled with their partners, but surprisingly, Noelle was dancing alone. Rhythm elves usually paired up, so they could perform duets, dance in pairs, and the like. He glanced up, curiosity on his face as she twirled alone, her feet moving swiftly. He blinked, as small bits of what could only be described as subtle sparking seemed to come from her hands. ‘Rhythm magic?’ Bernard thought, giving her a curious look. ‘That’s impossible. There hasn’t been a rhythm magic user for over 2000 years. Heck, since before I was even born.’ Clarissa had been a fantastic dancer, but she was no magic user. Rhythm magic was a lost art unfortunately, and there was little to no interest in attempting to revive it.

Noelle smiled as she sang, her face pure joy, which was actually rare nowadays. One of the only times she had a real smile anymore was when she was performing. Especially since she’d become so... different... from the other elves. Older looking, which was a rarity for elves. They usually stayed very young looking for all of their days. And the fact that she was so much different left her as the topic of conversation for many of the elves. Bernard was not scrutinized nearly as much, because Head Elves tended to age somewhat. Maybe they didn’t usually age to the point Bernard was at, but they were known for aging. Other elves? Not so much.

As they finished up their song, she beamed, the music coming to a stop. Grinning, the elves bowed, as the workshop burst into applause. All of the other elves began to chatter with one another, heading into the workshop to talk to friends, leaving Noelle to clean up her Ipod, pull on her cloak, and tuck some stray hair behind her ear before standing back up. She walked down the steps, waving to the other Rhythm elves as they left. Santa gave her a curious look at that, and she shrugged, smiling. “That wrapped up practice.” she said simply, as Santa nodded.

“Well, that was worth it! And you say that the Christmas Eve performance is going to top that?” Santa asked, as she nodded. Of course it would! She would never give their best performance before Christmas Eve!

“If I have anything to say about it, it will. We’ve been working hard on it!” she said, standing up straight and proud. A workshop elf would become offended if you suggested he or she had not worked to their utmost ability on a toy, and it was the same for Rhythm Elves and their music.

“I can’t wait to see it. You should go rest too. I’ve got to check up on a few things, so Bernard, Curtis, take a few minutes off too. It’ll do you some good.” Santa said, smiling as he turned to head over to one of the other areas of the workshop. Bernard gave Curtis a look, as if he was upset at Curtis about something more serious than the music incident earlier, and threw his hands up as Curtis just shrugged a bit and walked off. With that, Noelle turned to leave, her face falling a bit as the excitement of performing faded. Bernard followed her, grabbing her arm gently to stop her.

“Hang on, Noelle. I’ll walk you to wherever you’re going.” Bernard gave her a small smile as she simply looked at him, shocked.

She nodded, pure surprise on her face. “Are you sure? Santa...” She didn’t want him to get himself in trouble, after all. She knew that he was always so busy, even if it did annoy her that he never spoke anymore.

“He said to take a break. This Santa is different, you know that. He likes when we get some rest.” Bernard smiled, as Noelle nodded, and gestured for him to walk with her. They headed outside of the workshop, Noelle pulling her cloak to her closely in the chill of the cold. She rubbed her arms slightly as they walked, Bernard’s hands in his pockets and his beret firmly on his very curly haired head.

They walked in silence for a little while, before Bernard finally spoke up, giving her a friendly smile. “You were great. You still dance just like I remember, like when we were elflings.”

Noelle smiled a bit at that, memories of him trying in vain to help her practice her dancing coming into her head. “Thank you. I guess we both finally got what we wanted, huh?” She looked over at him, as he looked down at the ground at that. They both missed spending time with one another, that much was apparent.

He nodded, sighing a bit before replying to her with a simple. “Yep.” There wasn’t much else to say about that. He’d gotten the job he’d dreamed about, but he was lonely, with little to no real friends anymore. All of the other elves saw him as a supervisor, and not much more. He had accidentally pushed all of his true friends away. After a moment, he turned to look at her. “I noticed you don’t have a Rhythm partner... Why not?” he asked, as she looked at him, and he realized instantly he’d struck a bad chord with the musically inclined elf.

“Have you looked at me lately?” she asked him incredulously, as he took a moment to really take in her features. Hips that had slightly widened, longer legs, and even a small bust. Not the figure of a typical elf. Similar, in fact, to him, in the fact that they both looked older than their peers. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t noticed, because he was the same. “No one in my group can dance with me. I’m too tall and I look too old. I dance by myself, it simplifies things. I’m probably going to step down after this Christmas, actually...” Noelle said, her eyes forward and slightly sad. As much as she loved her position, she was the odd one out in every number, and that got tiresome, especially when she felt like an oddity among her peers.

Bernard turned his head quickly and stared for a second, completely shocked. Dancing was her passion, it always had been. Her voice had just been a bonus, but to her, dance was life. “What?! You can’t! You’re one of the best Rhythm elves we’ve had, if not the best! You’re up there with Clarissa, and she was legendary!” Bernard said, their eyes meeting as she stopped herself from blushing lightly, her eyes quickly darting back down to the ground.

“You really think I could tap my bells nearly as good as Clarissa could?” she asked, skeptical. Very few people thought that the legendary Clarissa could have ever been beat, that’s for sure, and many were unhappy when she had stepped down, due to her age and wanting to pursue other things.

“You’ve always had Clarissa beat, Noelle.” Bernard said, giving her a faint smile as she blushed. It was something he had always told her as an elfling, and it never failed to make her turn cherry red. That having been said, it didn’t help her actual issue.

Her face turned back to look at him once more, her eyes still somewhat sad despite the compliments. “Still... I don’t fit in anymore, Bernard. You know for a fact very few of us mature. And the lore as to why some elves mature doesn’t fit the reasoning for me.” Some elves did age, a long time ago. However, it was due to something that never happened anymore. They were called soul-elves, and they were elves that were linked together by fate. That was also a time where elves had more magic that they used freely as well, and that didn’t happen anymore either. “I’m just a freak, and I accept that with pride. But I can’t keep pretending anymore, and to be honest I can’t keep handling the snide remarks.” she said, as Bernard stopped and looked at her, hurt on his face.

“Do you think I’m a freak, too?” he asked, as he made eye contact with her. He’d never thought he was odd or anything, but come to think of it… he was different too, and maybe she was right…

“No, you’re Number One. Number One’s tend to age...” she said, raising her eyebrow at him.

Bernard gave her a look. “Name one Number One other than me who looked this tall or this old.” He turned in place, arms out, causing her to really look at him for the first time in years. To her, Bernard would always be Bernard. But, he was different. He was taller than her, even, and his arms had gotten larger, slightly more muscular, but a lean muscle. Even his face had grown slightly longer, and leaner, losing the boyish baby fat that it had as a younger elf.

Noelle honestly had no answer for him, but she chuckled a bit, and shook her head. “Maybe you should join the Rhythm elves. You could dance with me.”

He smirked a bit at that, and caught up with her. “You know darn good and well that I was born with two left feet and even less rhythm.” He really was all klutz when it came to anything more than swaying in place, at least, that’s how he’d been as an elfling. He’d always hated that he couldn’t keep up with her in that category, even if he had liked sitting back and watching her dance alone.

She smiled, and nodded, reminded of when they used to try dancing as children. Sighing, she smiled at him, her eyes sad through her smile. “I missed this, you know.” She really had missed spending time with him. It had made her cold, all of the remarks and comments that the other elves had, and left her nearly friendless. She was often by herself now, and she truly missed spending time with the person who had always been her best friend.

He went silent and nodded, his face a bit sad as well. “I guess I broke our promise, didn’t I?” He looked guiltily at her. He truly hadn’t meant to stop spending any time with her, but his work had taken over. Up until this current Santa, he never had any time to do anything, especially fraternize. He had been worked to the bone. He had finally, in the last two years, finished teaching this Santa all of the ins and outs about the Pole. He had even put some of Santa’s ideas to use, and added new kinds of coffees, new places to shop, new kinds of fashion, and even some games played in the plaza on occasion. But he was just recently getting time to really breathe.

Noelle shrugged, maintaining a small smile. “You weren’t the first elf to break a promise to me. You weren’t the last one, either.” she said, as he looked at her. She was so cold, and he didn’t mean in just how she was speaking to him. Her whole demeanor was icy, like she had built a wall up to protect herself from others.

“Has Frost been by or something? Your heart is like ice.” he said quietly, reaching for her hand to stop her from walking, as she gave him a look, glancing down at her hand in his, noting the warmth of his skin and the way his fingers felt in her hand. It reminded her of so long ago, and it made her look him in the eye, her cheeks slightly reddened.

“A few years ago, I would have asked you the same thing. I’m tired of being hurt, Bernard. You get enough elves calling you names behind your back, and it wears you down.”

Bernard cringed at that, but to be fair, it hadn’t been his fault. The Santa before this had insisted that all of the workshop elves stay working, and he had left Bernard in charge of it all. He’d had to be strict, harsh, and keep them on their toes, and it had left a sour taste in his mouth all the while. But, it had been to do that, or to get Santa’s wrath himself, and then the other elves. It was better for them to be kept working than to miss meals or worse. He grabbed Noelle’s shoulders and made her look at him. “You listen to me. Ignore them. You’re better than anyone who would stoop so low as to talk about you behind your back like that. Remember that, do you understand? It’s what I’ve had to do all these years, and trust me, it works if you let it.”

Surprised, she nodded. He let go of her shoulders, looking at her with a smile. “I’ve got to go... Look, can we catch up? I miss talking to you, ‘Rora.” He really did want to spend some time with her, and talk about all the things he’d missed in the last few decades.

“Of course. I never could tell you no anyhow. I overheard that the Council of Legendary Figures is having their meeting here later. Meet up with me sometime after that?” she asked, as he nodded, giving her another smile.

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll come and find you, ok?”

She nodded, as he let go of her hand. “See you later, Bernard.”

He nodded. “I’ll see you later, Noelle.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*Author's Note: So, this is an older story I put on FF.net YEARS ago and have been meaning to upload to Tumblr for a while now. I am planning a new story too (featuring an OC daughter to Scott Calvin and starting from TSC1 instead of 2), but I also want to upload all seven completed chapters of this on here. I hope you like it! (SOME of the chapters got rewrites, and like I said, please remember that this is an OLD fic, and I sincerely hope the writing quality improves with the new stuff that I'm working on. <3 Also, keep in mind that every single story I write will have TSC2 Bernard in mind... even if it takes place in TSC1. Just... *hand waving frantically* keep that in mind. Older-looking Bernard. Bringing that up because I don't always write family-friendly stuff. Thanks.

[arch-elf-bernard]

Early November is BERNARD SEASON!!! <3