Setting Sail - Falice

All I Want For Christmas

Singed pieces of paper floated up from a chimney on Elm Street and into the clouds. Whoever had burned it thought that it whatever was written on those pages had been adequately disposed of, but unknown to them, a gloved hand plucked the torn scraps from the sky.

“Well what do we have here?” The ripped pieces flew together and reassembled themselves into their original form.

Curious eyes scanned the contents. It was addressed to his boss.

“Oh Alice Smith…” he shook his head lightly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He should have brought it back to the North Pole, it was addressed to Santa Claus afterall. But Jingles the Elf was never very good at following protocol, so he descended from his cloud and slipped the letter under a door in Sunnyside Trailer Park.

----

The sudden knock on her door made her heart jump. It was late and she was already in her nightgown, nodding off on her armchair with a book on her lap.

“FP?” she said, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re impossible to shop for, you know that?” he pushed his way past her and into her house.

“You don’t have to get me anything,” she said. Sure they saw each other naked on a regular basis, and yeah he was the first person she called during a crisis, but it wasn’t like they were dating or anything.

“But I want to.”

Alice blinked. The familiar flutter in her stomach that happened when he was just a little too close was making it hard to think. “Oh.”

“I got your letter. It really helped narrow things down.”

Wait.

What letter?

Alice opened her mouth to interrogate him, but he placed a finger over her lips effectively shutting her up.

“I’m determined to make your Christmas dreams come true.”

FP pulled out a sheet of paper from his jacket and smoothed out its folds before passing it to her. “You did write this, right?”

Alice glanced over the letter. The writing was shaky, but it was unmistakably still hers.

Dear Santa,

I don’t have a whole lot to ask for this Christmas. I never want to worry again, a real friend, and  I would like somebody to love me for who I am.

Say hi to Mrs Claus and the reindeer for me.

Alice Smith

Alice looked up sharply. How did he get this? She burned it!

“Here’s the thing, Alice…” he said taking a step closer to her. “I can’t get rid of your worries completely, but I will share them with you, and I will always do my best to make you feel safe.”

“FP-”

“To continue… ‘a true friend’” he grins. “I think we’re more than just friends, so I think that counts for something. Don’t you agree?”

Alice wasn’t completely caught up, but she managed to nod dumbly.

“As for your last request ‘somebody to love you’” at this point FP glanced away nervously. “I already do.”

The last part made her heart skip a beat. She couldn’t believe her ears. “You love me?”

“Well… yeah,” he admitted sheepishly.

“FP, where are you going with this?” she breathed. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, waiting for an answer.

“I’ve decided that since I’ve met your criteria, I’m giving you me. All of me.”

Alice swallowed. “FP Jones, are you propositioning me?”

“Not at all,” he protested. “I’m proposing.”