I freaking LOVE Jilli and Clovis!

(Is there a real Clovis and Santa picture, BTW? If so, can you post it?)

There isn't yet, but I'm thinking about getting one this weekend.

Clovis is so darling. Or would that upset Clovis, to hear that?

No, Clovis likes being called darling. He wants to be the cutest Evil Overlord ever.

(I have a sudden wild urge to give Clovis his own LiveJournal, but don't have any LJ codes to hand.)

(i do ...)

I catch a glimpse of Jilli and Clovis, cutest Dark Lord ever, leaving the small hut where Santa's set up his Sang Sacre branch office. I do hope Gudanov is not going to pout when the Best Of issue of the paper comes out with the listings. Hopefully the Scariest Minions category will satisfy him.

After a moment's thought, I wander in to check out the chubby ol' elf. Pagan dieties of all stripes deserve at least a Hello.

At least this one's beard is real. Though I didn't know elves grew beards and got fat. Note to self: no matter how cute Orlando Bloom is, he may not be the best example of authentic elvin physiology out there.

I wait till Santa can catch his breath after the small horde of kidlet disappears. "Yo, Santa Dude."

You'd think Santa would learn not to flinch in Sang Sacre. "Um, yo, yourself. What can I get for you this year?"

I spare him my weight on his lap. "Let's see. I could use a new printer, preferably one that doesn't blush."

"Um, blush?"

"Well, I do write porn for a living, and my current printer seems to be a Puritan. A nice Unitarian Universalist printer would be nice, they're cool with anything. Achmed the Clever needs a new robe and some of those neat slippers that turn up at the points. He says a turban is a cultural stereotype and refuses to wear one, so we can skip that. Oh, I know, Bob and the crew on top of the Folly would really like some good Pigeon-B-Gon--or a bug zapper with the amperage turned way up."

Santa kept blinking. "I don't know, that sounds dangerous."

"That's OK, Gudanov should be opening up his Christmas Bazaar any day now, I can get the specialized stuff there. Can you think of anything I can get Am-Chau for a cult-warming gift? It's her first."

"Incense burner?"

"That's an idea, something in the shape of a grapefruit." The vibe of season overwhelmed me and I kissed him on the cheek. "Happy Christmas, Santa."

"Um, oh, thank you, Merry Christmas to you too."

I dropped a tip in the jar in lieu of a picture and headed home. Evening was coming on, and my nighttime visitor had hinted he might be coming by and to leave the window that looked out on the lightwell unlocked. Last year I'd found him waiting in bed with the mistletoe--well, when I asked him if he wasn't worried about the pointy bits on the leaves poking him in delicate bits, he just smiled that pointy smile and said I could kiss it better.

I can hear The Pack howling Christmas carols from down near the river. Christmas in the Blood, it's a festive time of year.

Thank you ita!

[link]

The project is not going as well as I had hoped. Perhaps I need to find fresher parts. No matter, this is the holiday season, so I should take a holiday. It's amazing how things have just. . . become decorated around here. I haven't seen anyone doing any work on it; well, not counting the little girl with the star who rode her dog to the East Tower.

According to the The Bloody Hell (I subscribed last month), Santa is granting wishes down by the rink. Surely he can spare some velvet togs for a girl who's been working hard all year. It might be fun. I wonder if they rent skates.

Hans returns back to the Castle walking in while I'm busy tinkering with my new shipment of parts from ACME.

"I'm done setting up the Santaland next to the rink boss. Had to have the robot help me out, that Santa robot is heavy. What's the project all about?"

"It's about giving back to the community Hans. The children will sit on auto-Santa's lap look up into his glowing red eyes..." I sigh and reflect that maybe I should have looked a little harder for more human looking eyeware, also perhaps I should have tweaked the software to 'Ho Ho Ho' instead of 'Bwah Ha Ha' but what are you going to do? "...And tell him what they want for Christmas. Then the factory with the self-replicating elf-robots will manufacture it."

Hans ponders this for a minute. "So, that's the big project you've been working on all this time."

"Yeah, it's been a lot of work, but it will be worth it when the city is singing my praises."

"Hope it works out with all the work you've been putting in."

"Don't worry Hans. What could possibly go wrong?"