The Gift - 1. The Gift

As elves go, Tligg Winterbaum was pretty average. The thing about that is, most people don’t understand what a pretty average elf really is, which annoys a lot of elves greatly. Of course it’s mostly their own fault. The PR machine of the Great Elven Order is gloriously efficient, like all elven machines are, mechanical or otherwise, and so most humans imagine that elves are all short, thin, happy, playful, good natured little creatures. Whereas, things are not so perfect in reality. Short and thin, yes, and so by extension, little. The playful and good natured parts - pure fantasy.

#####

“But I don’t want to go! I’m three hundred and twenty two, you can’t make me!”

Tligg stamped his feet in a proper adolescent tantrum as his mother looked on.

“Then you shouldn’t have volunteered.”

“I didn’t! Marvtn put our names down months ago, before we broke up, and I totally forgot about it.”

“Then maybe you should pay more attention. Besides, it will be good for you to get out of the house for a few weeks.”

“But I - don’t - want - to – go. It’s stupid!”

“But you said you would, and even you know that it can’t be undone.”

Tligg stomped off to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. This was not going to be the peaceful Christmas he had hoped for.

“And finish packing, you’ll be off in the morning” his mother shouted after him. There was a loud ‘thud’ in reply as Tligg threw his still empty travel bag down onto the floor.

#####

Tligg’s Mum waved him off as he soared away, towards The Great Project. As with other such fantastical places, being simultaneously in, and not in, both human and elf realms, it also means that there is no contact with either realm. It was widely assumed, although rarely actually witnessed, that The Great Project, created every year by The Big Man, was one of the finest feats of magical engineering that an elf could hope to witness. As Tligg’s sled approached for landing, he was sure that this was true. He paused and looked over the vast and beautiful place that was to be his home until he left again on Christmas Eve. Immediately Tligg was ushered towards the official Volunteer Greeting Assembly, the large letters proclaimed it’s purpose loudly, if not also pointlessly, as it was the only doorway on the edge of what was really a small city.

With his identity confirmed, Tligg was given directions to his quarters. He knew that he’d be sharing a room for two, as that was allocated when Marvtn had first put their names down, and was apparently impossible to then change. Elvish burocracy at it’s finest! At least Marvtn had been able to transfer over to the Reindeer Care Facility so they would be very unlikely to bump in to each other. Tligg sighed as he opened the door to his quarters and was immediately assaulted by rapid-fire enthusiasm.

“Hello! You must be Tligg! I’m Craagen! It’s so exciting that you’re finally here, I’ve been waiting for days!”

“Oh god, you’re one of those, aren’t you. Hi.”

Tligg dropped his bag down onto the sofa, his heart sinking a little further.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean! Let me show you around. It’s not that big, but I think it’s cosy enough to call home for a few weeks. Oh my, it’s going to be so much fun!”

Tligg reluctantly and quietly followed Craagen around as he pointed out their bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, and the bathroom.

“So how come you’ve been waiting for days? I thought today was the first day?”

“Oh, it is. But I volunteered to come earlier, to help finish setting up. I’ve done this for, erm, fifty three years now! I just love it here, don’t you?”

“It’s my first time, so I don’t know yet. But I doubt it.”

“They why did you volunteer?”

“I didn’t. My boyfriend did before we broke up, so now I’m stuck here.”

Craagen who had so far remained oblivious to Tligg’s mood, suddenly sensed the animosity, and was confused by it. He wasn’t used to grumpy elves, all of his friends were just like him. He looked at Tligg with curiosity and bewilderment.

“Don’t worry, you’ll soon be enjoying yourself I’m sure!”

Tligg met his exuberant look with one of incredulity, his eyebrows reaching towards his hat.

“I doubt that. I’m going to unpack.”

He dragged his bag across the floor and into his bedroom, where he started to put away his things. Craagen followed a few moments later, sitting down on Tligg’s bed, and still talking. Always talking!

“So we have all day tomorrow to just settle in and get to know each other! And then the real fun begins the day after, when we get to start the machines! Things will be really busy then, but I’ve already checked our timetables and we have quite a lot of breaks and dinner times off together! This is going to be so much fun!”

“By all that is green, kill me now” Tligg muttered under his breath.

#####

A week later, Craagen’s incessant cheerfulness has started to infect Tligg. Or else Tligg was actually starting to actually enjoy himself a little. He realised that he was happy to spend time hanging out with the little bundle of happiness, moreover, Craagen was kind of cute too, in an annoying, relentlessly cheery, slightly crazy kind of way. Like a baby penguin with too much energy.

After a long day making toys and sprinkling magic elf dust Tligg was weary but feeling content as he headed back towards his temporary home. Unusually, he was the first back, so he got to enjoy almost an hour of actual silence whilst he soaked in the bath. By the time he was dressed again Craagen was back, and if possible, seemed to be more excitable than ever. As Tligg walked in to their lounge Craagen rushed over to him, hugging him and even giving him a kiss on the cheek. It was surprising, not just because of the unexpected intimacy, but also because Tligg noticed that he was feeling disappointed that it was only on his cheek.

“Oh wow, are you OK Craagen? You look like you might explode or something?”

Craagen shifted rapidly from one foot to the other, only just managing to not be bouncing up and down.

“I got you this! It was supposed to be for Christmas Eve, but that’s weeks away and I just can’t wait any longer! I finished it today, and, well, it’s a gift! So you just have to have it!”

He was holding a large square box, very nicely wrapped.

“OK, OK. Have you been at the berry wine already?”

“No, it’s just… I love giving gifts!”

Tligg tried, and failed, to not roll his eyes a little as he suppressed a smile.

“You don’t say.”

The box was tied with a bow, like all good gifts should be.

“Come on then! You have to open it!”

Tligg took hold of the box, taking a few moments to assess it.

“So why do I get a gift again?”

“Just because.”

“Hmmm.”

Tligg wondered how one person could be both so annoying and so cute at the same time. He sat on the sofa, placing the box squarely in front of him. The weighing and gentle shaking had given no real clue as to it’s contents. Craagen watched him carefully, with more than a hint of elvish mischief in his eyes. Tligg, being playfully cruel, took his time in pulling open the bow before finally lifting off the lid and peering inside?

“What? I don’t get it.”

As hard as Tligg tried, all he could see was an empty box. The weird but distractingly cute elf boy stood next to him had given him an empty box. His disappointment was obvious.

“This is stupid, it’s just an empty box.”

“No, silly! It’s not a box.”

Craagen leaned past Tligg, brushing against him, causing him to shudder slightly and hope that Craagen hadn’t noticed. Craagen put the lid back on and turn the box through 45 degrees.

“See, it’s a diamond. Now open it again.”

Tligg looked at Craagen with confusion, tempered with something a little deeper that was causing his elf dust to vibrate. He was damned cute, and right then, looked exactly like the kind of elf boy that could get you in to a lot of trouble, of all the good kinds. Tligg, realising that he may have been staring, tore his attention back to the box, or rather, the diamond. He reached out again, and lifted the lid, and entirely reasonably expected there to still be an empty box in front of him. Craagen was now actually bouncing up and down in excitement, and was still brushing against Tligg every time. This would usually have been seen as aggressively invasive of personal space for an elf, but Tligg found that he didn’t mind so much.

In the previously empty box there was now a beautiful hat. Hats, of course, are completely standard elf attire at all times, but like all clothing, because of the magical bond between clothing and body, are usually seen as an intimate gift. Even Marvtn, in their fifteen years as boyfriends, had never given Tligg clothes.

“Craagen, this is… it’s… beautiful.”

The deep green and red velvet panels looked like they could have been made from clouds, and the gold braiding was iridescent, somehow managing to shine from within itself. Topped with an equally illuminated golden bobble, it was truly a beautiful hat. Tligg carefully picked up the hat and immediately fell in love with the luxurious softness.

“This is… I mean, wow, this is incredible! Did you make this?”

“Yes! Do you like it? I really hope you like it!”

“No one has ever given me something like this before Craagen, I don’t know what to say. Thank you! Even if I still don’t understand what it’s for.”

Emboldened by the happiness and excitement running through his body, which was most definitely emanating every time from whereever Craagen happened to be brushing against him, Tligg took off his own hat. His floppy blonde hair falling down onto his face now that it was no longer contained, and now lightly sparkling from where the magical bond between his body and his hat had been broken, leaving a trail of dust.

Craagen watched in rapturous disbelief at such an open display of undressing, it was borderline pornographic by elvish standards. But Tligg didn’t seem to care, and there was no way in the world that Craagen was going to look away.

As Tligg pulled on his new hat, there was another shimmer and more sparkling dust as it connected with his body. He pulled the hat around a little, ensuring that it flopped down on one side just how he liked, sensing immediately that it was a perfect fit, and smiling at Craagen.

“There’s more! Oh my, there’s more!”

Tligg looked back into the box, which was most definitely empty, before returning his gaze to Craagen, who gave him a cheeky knowing smile.

“Ah, OK, I get it” said Tligg as he replaced the lid and turned the box through another 90 degrees. He knew he’d guessed correctly because Craagen’s excitement seemed to escalate even further.

As Tligg removed the lid yet again, Craagen pressed himself even closer to him as they both peered in. Tligg had been thrilled enough with the hat, but now, he was temporarily lost for words. This time, the box contained a tunic made of the same luscious materials.

“I really hope you like it” said Craagen.

Tligg turned to look at him, their faces only inches apart, both of them smiling. He couldn’t help but notice that Craagen’s tunic was only doing a slightly better job than his green tights at hiding his now obvious excitement. He pulled his own tunic down a little further attempting to cover his own, equally obvious, situation.

“Craagen, I don’t know what to say… this is…”

His breath caught as his whole body shuddered involuntarily, his magic dust vibrating within him with ever increasing energy.

“Ohhhhh, by green, are you…?”

Craagen’s hand slowly caressed Tligg’s hat, gently brushing over the silky soft velvet, sending all those good feelings surging through Tligg’s body.

“Are you going to try it on?”

Tligg could only nod as Craagen’s hand softly surrounded his bobble, very gently squeezing it, causing them both to breath more rapidly. As they looked into each other’s eyes, the distance closing between them, Tligg couldn’t help but think that there’s going to be a lot of elf boy dust to clean up in the morning.

I hope you have enjoyed this little story.  It was (eventually) fun to write, and a lot harder than I imagined as it’s a little outside to my usual genre and style  
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and just generally have a good life.
Thanks for reading.
Sam