WubbaNottaFighta: Prompts always open

Blaine pouted as Chris was his third teammate to leave him to go to team FandFandF. This was an incredibly cruel joke, and he did not appreciate it at all. Jon Risinger read the ad for some sponsor that Blaine really didn’t care much for at the moment. He was too busy fuming at the fact that literally everyone was in on this. But he didn’t let his anger show. Instead, he just gave a blank and unbelieving stare at the champagne that Gus was pouring for his former teammates and the host of On The Spot as they talked about the sponsor.

           There was no hope in him winning, was there? He’d had his only victory last week, and his coworkers made absolutely sure that his joy would not last long. “Oh, you lost someone again?” Jon teased. Blaine knew that the game was over when he made a comment about Jon not working out (instead of remembering that the host had no sense of smell), and let out a defeated sigh.

           “I dunno… I just…” Blaine mumbled and tried to come up with words, but the frustration in his head blocked them out.

           “Who can we get? Who’s available? Can someone head over here?” Jon announced to the ‘Live Studio Audience’, to which there was no response. All of a sudden, someone walked into the studio. [Y/n] smiled before looking at Gus’s side of the stage with confusion.

           “[Y/n]!” Blaine yelled, trying not to deafen headphone users, “will you be on my team? Please?” Blaine saw this as a perfect opportunity. She knew nothing about this setup. Although everyone still believed him to be infatuated with the Tinder app, he really liked [Y/n] but had not worked up the courage to ask her out yet. He even made a suggestion to her that she should get on Tinder, but she politely declined, saying she’d rather meet and date men in real life than having to rely on a service to match her with someone.

           “Are you sure?” she asked, moving quietly to the stage. She didn’t want to be a bother if she didn’t have to be, that’s for sure. And, as much as she wanted to spend time with Blaine, she didn’t want it to be out of being his last resort.

           “Absolutely!” he said.

           “Okay, since I don’t have anything else to do right now,” she grinned before sitting down on the red chair next to the muscular man.

           “Great, what’s your new team name, Blaine?” Jon asked, placing a hand on the more built man’s shoe.

           “I don’t fuckin’ know.” He grumbled, looking at his teammate, “Any thoughts?”

           “Pretty ‘n’ plaid, PNP for short,” she smiled, “He’s pretty, and I’m plaid.” A faint blush crept across her face as she pointed to the plaid shirt she was wearing, but Blaine pretended not to notice. Apparently, no one else noticed or they also didn’t say anything.

           “Glad to know someone thinks so,” Blaine used his hand to flip hair that was not there, as if he had long flowing locks. This merited giggles from his teammate.

           “Well, it’s time to take a look at our scores before moving on to our next game!” Jon said, and after a moment the numbers appeared on the screen beneath the teams. 15 to 80, with team FandFandF obviously in the lead.

           “You’re welcome for those 15 points, Blaine,” Barbara teased as she sipped on the champagne that had been poured for her.

           “It’s time for a little redemption challenge!”

           Blaine groaned, but [Y/n] just grinned. “Apple cider vinegar this week, Jon?” she asked, “I will do a shot or two if it’ll catch us up!” Blaine gave her a strange look.

           “You drink that stuff for fun, don’t you, [y/n]?” Barbara said, making a ‘bleh’ sound at the end of her question. The girl sitting next to Blaine shrugged.

           “Not for fun, per se, but it has a ton of health benefits, so I’m much more used to it.”

           “Dude, if I get to do a body shot off of [Y/n], I’ll take the entire shot this time,” Blaine blurts out before he even knows what he’s saying, and everyone is silent.

           Everyone is staring at her, and she is turning much redder than before. “N-no! No way! I’m way too ticklish to …” her sentence trailed off as she looked over at Blaine. He wanted to win, though. She sadly scrunched her mouth to one side of her face. “I … I guess I can … maybe…”

           “I’ve got the perfect solution for this. And I’ll even reward an extra ten points to you two if you complete the challenge in full!” Jon pulled the bottle of apple cider vinegar from nowhere, as well as two shot glasses, “Here’s the deal: Blaine will do a full shot of apple cider vinegar as a body shot off of [Y/n]. That counts as 40 points. [Y/n] can do a body shot off of Blaine, and that will also count as 40 points. You can decide to do both, or you can do one or the other. If you attempt and fail, you get no points. Got it?”

           “This is a cruel redemption round,” Aaron muttered with a grin.

           Blaine looked at his partner. “I’m willing to do anything at this point, as long as you’re comfortable with it. Is all this okay?”

           She nodded, the blood still rushing underneath the skin of her face. “I’ll drink off you first, okay?” He agreed and laid down on the floor of the stage where he was clearly visible to the cameras. He pulled up his shirt, making his torso visible. He wanted to show his muscles off to his beautiful teammate.

           “I can’t believe this is happening,” Gus said, but Blaine wasn’t sure if it was out of aggravation or amusement.

           Jon filled up the shot glass before [Y/n] poured the room-temperature liquid into Blaine’s freshly cleaned belly button. The shot glass was half empty by the time his belly button was full, so she handed the glass to Blaine, who held it carefully as to not spill it and be accused of cheating, which would be no surprise in this state of events.

           It took everything within him not to jump at the feel of her lips on his stomach. He knew that she saw him tense up for sure, because she set a hand on his chest, as if to make him relax. In a moment, all the liquid was gone and she was reaching for the remaining apple cider vinegar. She repeated the process on his stomach, taking in all of the strong and bitter drink without even a cough or a sour face.

           “Have you ever done body shots before?” Blaine asked as [Y/n] swapped places with him. She shook her head, her face the darkest shade of crimson.

           “Don’t worry about it. Just relax, and try not to move.” He lifted her shirt so that only her tummy was showing. He poured the vinegar in to her belly button, but it was shallower than his and could only take around 1/3 of the shot. Blaine placed a hand where her stomach met her pelvis to hold her down in case she flinched, and did the same with his other hand, placing it at the line of where her shirt met her skin. He didn’t want her to spill any out of fear of being called a cheater. He felt her hand on his upper arm, as if clenching for stability.

           Blaine slowly moved his face down to her stomach, before using his mouth and tongue to consume all of the burning liquid. He swallowed and coughed a few times, and could see that she had tensed at the contact. “You okay?” he choked.

           “Fine,” [Y/n] squeaked. She was all but fine, though. Her face matched the hue of the chair behind her. The man she had been crazily attracted to during her time at Rooster Teeth had just pressed his lips to a part of her body. She was soaring.

           “Okay, going for the second one,” Blaine cleared his throat, desperately trying to get the burning to go away. He went quicker this time, causing him to leave some behind. He quietly cursed himself and poured more in, not pausing to take a break as he hacked and coughed. He went in for another taste, getting the full shot this time, but still having a little remaining in the glass. He poured the rest into her belly button and went in one last time.

           This time, though, she noticed that he was lingering a bit longer. He was actually pressing his lips against her stomach like a kiss. It wasn’t noticeable by sight, but she could undoubtedly feel it. It took everything that was within her to not moan at the contact, and when he finally pulled away, she let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She sat up, pulled her shirt down over her stomach and clapped quietly, “Good job, Blaine.”

           He was standing and glanced down at her, before reaching down to help the smiling girl stand back up. “Thanks, [Y/n], you too.”

           “Well, congratulations Team PNP! You are now in the lead with 80 points!” Jon Risinger gave a small smirk.

           “Yes!!” Blaine yelled, opening his arms to his teammate. She went to hug him as she cheered, but he picked her up and spun her around. She squealed giddily before Jon interrupted and demanded that they sit down before they get penalized for a delay of game.

           “The last game is ‘Sync About It’!” Jon announced before the game title appeared on the screen. “Sync About It is the game where I will give each team a question and you guys will answer the question one word at a time between each other so you go back and forth. A little twist is that any time I ring my little bell, the other team gets an opportunity to interject with a word, and whichever answer I like the best gets the points in the end! Got it?” Everyone nodded. “Since team Fandfandf is behind, we will let them go first!”

           Team Fandfandf’s topic was “How To Get a Raise” which was very convenient for Gus since he had just taken the class from the sponsor. Despite all the wrenches PNP tried to throw into their sentence, it still turned out decent.

           “Alright, not bad. Let’s see what Team PNP’s topic is!” Something about Jon’s wicked smile made Blaine and [Y/n] feel uneasy. Then the words popped up on the screen, and Blaine had to swallow a huge lump in his throat. “How To Date A Girl According To Blaine,” Jon read aloud.

           “We’ve got this; don’t worry! Team Pretty ‘n’ Plaid forever!” [Y/n] said softly with a grin, before patting Blaine’s arm lightly. Blaine bit his lip before giving a silent nod.

           “Sixty seconds on the clock, starting with Blaine… and GO!”

           “First.”

           “Blaine.”

           “Asks.”

           “Out.”

           Ring.

           “[Y/N]!” Gus interrupted. Blaine’s face went white.

           “On.” She continued, despite the redness of her face.

           “A.”

           “Date.”

           “Then.”

           “He.”

           “Takes.”

           “Her.”

           “To.”

           Ring.

           “Herpes,” Aaron smiles.

           “Bar!” Blaine tries to save it.

           “And.”

           “Grill.”

           “And.”

           “Then.”

           “They.”

           “Go.”

           “And”

           “See.”

           “A.”

           Ring.

           “Stripper!” Chris cries out from behind Aaron’s chair.

           “Movie!” [Y/n] laughs, trying to rescue her team.

           “And.”

           “Then.”

           “They.”

           “Go.”

           Ring.

           “FUCK!” Barbara screams.

           “IF!” Blaine yells back.

           “They.”

           “Feel.”

           “Like.”

           “Doing.”

           “It.”

           “When.”

           “The.”

           “Night.”

           “Is.”

           “Over.”

           “And.”

           “Stuff.”

           The buzzer sounded and clapping was heard all around. “That was incredible!” Jon said, a smile plastered across his face. “Let’s look at your sentence!”

           The sentence read, “First, Blaine asks out [Y/n] on a date. Then he takes her to Herpes Bar & Grill and then they go see a stripper movie and then they go FUCK if they feel like doing it when the night is over and stuff.”

           “Blaine, can I ask you, where the fuck is Herpes Bar and Grill?” Jon teased.

           “Oh, you know, between to Chlamydia’s Clothing store and AIDS Grocery,” Blaine joked.

           “[Y/n], would you want to go on this date with Blaine?” Jon asked, and it seemed like the mood suddenly changed. The entire room became tense and quiet.

           “I don’t see why not? Just show me the Yelp of Herpes Bar and Grill first!” she chuckled.

           Blaine smiled, but his heart sank a little. So, it’s just a joke to her, he thought, she doesn’t really wanna go on a date with me or anything. Fuck. I can’t believe these assholes set me up like this.

           “So are you saying that you would go out with Blaine if he were to ask, despite whether or not it was this date or not?” Gus asked, with mumbles of agreeing question from the rest of his team. This brought Blaine out of his thoughts to look at his teammate.

           She paused for a few moments and stared at the floor. “Hey,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, “You’re not gonna offend me if you say no.” He was lying. He’d be devastated if she said no, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

           “N-no, it’s not that… it’s that… I would,” she whispered, causing silence to fill the room as thick as syrup.

           “What?”

           “I, uh, definitely would date you, if you were to ask. Goddamn these motherfuckers for backing me into a corner and admitting it to you,” she tried to laugh it off, but it was clear that she was intensely nervous.

           “How about we go right after this?” Blaine responded.

           “What?”

           “I wanna date you. Let’s go on a date. Tonight, right after this. Okay?”

           The girl smiled and nodded, and everyone erupted into cheers and applause. “YOU DON’T FUCKING UNDERSTAND HOW LONG WE’VE BEEN PLANNING THIS!” Gus yelled, standing up and pointing at Blaine’s face. He handed the two of them champagne and sat back down in his blue chair, and requested that Jon announced the winners.

           “Well, honestly, Team PNP really saved their asses with that last game, I have to give it to them!”

“Here you go, asshole,” he grinned as he gave you the coffee you had jokingly demanded the last time you’d spoken to Ray Narvaez, Jr. “Love you, too, bitch,” you teased, taking the coffee from him carefully and sipping from it.

“Are you shitting me?!” Ray yelled as he was once again killed during a SponsorPlay of a brand new game, by none other than you, someone who didn’t actually work in the gaming office, but rather just enjoyed gaming in your free time, like most of the RT staff. “I fucking hate you, [Y/n],” he said with a smirk. “Love you, too, Ray,” you replied sarcastically before being killed yourself and continuing on in the game.

You’d forgotten to grab your lunch. Idiot, you thought to yourself as you stood in the kitchen, rummaging for something free-range, like a NatureBox pack. Your efforts were futile, though, so you just sat at a table and thought about your options. “Do you not have a lunch?” you hear Ray’s voice behind you. You turn and see him with a brown paper sack, which you assume is filled with his lunch. “No… I, uh… I forgot to grab it today,” you admitted, your face turning red, and a lump rising in your throat. You wished you hadn’t been so stupid this morning… you were really hungry and you really didn’t have the time to go buy something. “Here, take half my sandwich. I’ve got some chips and stuff in here, too. You can share my lunch.” “Oh, Ray, honestly, I couldn’t…” “Shut up. Take it.” You smiled at him as you took the triangle-shaped half of the sandwich. As you bit into it, you thought, Love you too, Ray.

You worked quietly at your desk as you animated a part of the trailer for a new season of X-Ray and Vav. Suddenly, Team Lads Action News Team burst into your office, holding their camera and their mic, screaming their team name! “[Y/n], what news have you?!” Michael yelled before shoving the microphone towards your face. “Working on a trailer for the newest season of X-Ray and Vav, actually,” you smiled, showing them the unfinished sketch of Ray’s animated head. “Woo!” Gavin screeched, “That’s exciting! Where’s my head?” “It hasn’t been animated yet, hon,” you reply. “Awww… damn,” Gavin pouted and screamed that there was more news to be had. Before Ray left, he tossed you a bag of NatureBox Cinnamon Swirl Kettle Kernels. “Swiped you some of these from the kitchen. Saw your tweet about needing a snack but being too busy to get up. Thought I’d bring you something while we news’d it up,” he flashed a smile before exiting the room. “Love you, too, Ray,” you whisper to yourself.

Of course this would be the day that you left your jacket at your apartment. It felt like it was fifty degrees in your office, and you shivered in an unsuccessful attempt to warm yourself up. You decided you had time to go make a cup of hot coffee so you went to the kitchen. Ray was there, grabbing a Red Bull out of the fridge. He noticed the goosebumps on your arms and said, “Are you cold?” “Yeah, my office is freezing, but I left my jacket this morning because I was late and so I was in a rush and…” He pulled off his purple Twitch sweatshirt and tossed it to you. “Here, our office is pretty warm anyways.” “Are you sure?” you asked. This was his favorite hoodie, after all. He nodded before heading back into the Achievement Hunter office with his drink in hand. “Love you, too, Ray,” you muttered as you finished making your coffee.

You’d thought things had been going well for a few weeks, but then your car engine wouldn’t turn. It was already dark out, and there was no way a mechanic would take a look at it this late in the day. “Shiiiiit…” you groaned, stepping out of your car and walking back toward the office. Ray met you before you got inside. “Hey, I thought you were heading home?” “My car won’t start,” you frowned. “Oh, well, Ryan’s taking me home. You don’t live too far from me, right? I’m sure he’d be glad to take you to your apartment as well. Lemme ask him.” He did and Ryan was more than happy to drop you off at your apartment building after dropping off Ray (even promising to pick you up in the morning as well!) Ryan pulled up to Ray’s apartment, where the Hispanic man hopped out of the car and said goodbye. “Be safe!” he commanded. “Love you, too, Ray,” you sighed, to your horror. You immediately covered your mouth and looked to Ryan, who simply chuckled, shrugged, and drove you to your place.

The next day, when you and Ray and Ryan returned to the office, Geoff was standing next to your car. “Ray told me that you’d had car issues last night. I came over a little early and tried to see if I could fix the problem. It was an easy fix,” Geoff grinned before ruffling your hair. As everyone walked inside, you looked at Ray (making sure to be silent this time), and thought, Love you, too, Ray.

Several days later, Ray sat on the floor of your office eating some various NatureBox goodies as you asked him various questions about what he thought was best for X-Ray in terms of weaponry for the show. Your phone rang, and it was a number you didn’t recognize, but it seemed to be something local, so you answered it. “Hello?” “Is this [Y/f/n]?” “Yes, who is this?” “This is Officer Robbins with the Austin Police Department. I’m calling to inform you that there has been a serious break-in at your apartment building and your apartment was unfortunately ransacked. Apparently, your entire floor was robbed. Your door was knocked down, and there are several different things broken. We would like to check everything for fingerprints before you coming down and letting us know what is missing. Is that alright?” “Y-yes, sir,” your voice broke and there were tears in your eyes. Ray looked up at you confused. The officer wished you a good day and you hung up the phone, letting the tears roll down your cheeks. “What’s wrong?” Ray was immediately up, his hand on your shoulder. “My apartment was broken into today. I…” your voice cracked as sobs began to form at the thought of an uninvited and possibly (very likely) dangerous stranger in your home. “Oh, my God. Is everything okay? Do you need to go?” Ray asked “They said that they wanna check the place for fingerprints before I tell them what’s missing. But I… I don’t wanna go back there. I’m not going to feel safe there tonight if I go back.” “Why don’t… you come over to my place?” he suggested. “What?” “You can just spend the night at my place tonight or whatever, and tomorrow you and I can go to your apartment and see the damage and go report it. I’ve got a really comfy couch, I swear. It pulls out into a bed.” You nodded and gulped, trying to calm yourself down, but it seemed like the tears just wouldn’t go away. He took your hands in his and pulled you up, bringing you into a hug. “It’s alright, [Y/n]. It’s all gonna be okay. You can stay at my place as long as you need to.” He stroked the top of your head lightly as your cried into his shirt. Thankfully, he wasn’t able to make out when you sobbed, “I love you, too, Ray.”

That night you went back to his apartment. “You need anything to eat or drink?” he asked as he moved about the kitchen. “No, thank you,” you sat on the couch, which was actually very comfortable. “You sure? I’ve got juice boxes!” he coaxed with a joking tone. “I’m sure. Sorry that I’m bumming off you. I’ll pay you back for any inconvenience I cause.” “First of all, shut the fuck up. Second, I invited you here. That makes it like… a slumber party or some shit like that. Third, I got a free ride home. That’s basically payment. So quit your bitching and choose a game that I can kick your ass at.” Love you, too, Ray, you thought as you picked up a controller.

The next morning, you went to your apartment. Police tape covered the door, and a cop was outside waiting on you, since you had called them informing them you’d like to meet them that morning. Ray stood by your side, ready to help you face whatever was across the threshold of the broken doorframe. You walked in and noticed many of your picture frames carelessly tossed about, some broken and shattered on the floor. You took account of everything that was missing and told the officer. Then you gathered a bunch of your clothes, put them into a duffel bag, and began placing the valuables that hadn’t been taken into it as well. When you were finally done, Ray carefully took the bag. “I’ll carry it. You just relax.” You two made your way down to the car quietly, and all you could think was, Love you, too, Ray.

A few days later, it was storming really badly. Something about storms just made you feel anxious and uncomfortable. You slipped from your couch-bed into Ray’s room, initially to ask him if he had anything to help calm you down. “Ray?” You whispered, half hoping that he didn’t wake up. “Hmm…? Oh, [Y/n], you okay?” he asked groggily before grabbing his glasses to see you. “Uh… just, the thunder… I just… uh…” your nerves were getting the better of you. “Here, c’mere and lay down next to me for a little while. It’s okay, no big deal.”He lifted the covers, inviting you to join him in his tank top and pajama pants. You were hesitant at first but the next thunder crash made you shoot under the covers. You curled up next to him silently, thinking, I love you, too, Ray.

A week or so after that, you sat on the couch reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline while Ray streamed some game on Twitch. Every once in a while, you would look up from the book when he would yell a string of expletives or cheer with celebration. “What’s that?” he said to the chat. There was a pause before he got an answer, probably due to the delay. “Is there someone else in my apartment? Yeah, [Y/n] is here. If I turn my chair just the right way…” he spun his chair to the right and revealed you to the camera, “Do you wanna say something to the chat?” “Hey, chat, thanks for hanging out with Ray, even though he’s a loser. It really boosts his ego.” “Shut the fuck up. What are you reading, nerd?” “A book, Ray. Geez, I think you might need new prescriptions if your sight is that bad.” “What book, you jerk,” he smiled. “Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Great read. I recommend it to anyone who loves reading and videogames.” “Aw, man,” he said, “too bad I can’t fuckin’ read.” Then he returned to the stream. A few minutes of seemingly regular gameplay passed until you heard, “Yo, mods, you absolutely have permission to time-out and/or ban anyone who says shit about me and [Y/n]. What happens between me and my friends and in our personal lives is our business, and the fact that she’s on my couch right now is absolutely none of your fucking concern, so drop it. And if I see people bugging her about it on twitter or tumblr or any of that shit, I will fuck you up.” He turned around and faced you, “You got that? You let me know if they bother you about shit.” “You could just tell them what happened to me. If it’ll shut them up, I really don’t mind,” you admit. “Fine,” he turned back to his chat, “Someone fucking broke into her apartment, so now she doesn’t feel safe there. But regardless of where she is staying and who she is with, it’s none of your business, so leave her the fuck alone.” And you noiselessly mouthed “Love you, too, Ray,” as you continued to read your book.

You had gotten a list of Gus's favorite things from the little index card that everyone had filled out, so on the first day, you decided to leave him a box of his favorite candy. You silently left it on his desk early one morning before walking to your own office, where you came to a shocking surprise. Your desk was covered with those shiny sticky gift bows  and had a small bag on it with tissue paper sticking out of the top.  

Chris  Demarais , who sat at the desk near yours in the same room, walked in. "Chris!" You exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him to your desk. "Look at what my secret Santa brought me!"   

He smiled and gave a little chuckle. "That's creative. What's in the bag?"  

"I don't know. I haven't opened it yet!" You moved to the present and flung the tissue out of it, revealing a small stuffed reindeer, holding a gift card to your favorite restaurant. "Oh! It's a little reindeer! And a gift card! That's too sweet!"  

"Hey, that's a good restaurant. How much does the card have on it?"  

"$30, is what the holder says," you answered.  

"Great, then you can take me out to lunch one day," he teased. You stuck your tongue out at him.  

"What did your Santa bring  you ?" you asked the young man.  

He looked on his desk to find a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a carton of milk. " Mmmm ! I'll put this in my fridge. Want a cookie?" You shook your head. You knew that this Secret Santa thing was going to be fun.  

---------------------  

"Do you have a ride home?" you asked Chris. It was already half past nine, most people were already gone, and you still had errands to run before the next day, but you wanted to make sure that your closest friend at Rooster Teeth was able to get home safe.  

"Yeah, I drove my car today," he smiled up at you.  

"What time do you need to be here tomorrow?" you asked. You really wanted to carpool with him to spend some time with him before the holidays made you both too busy for each other's company.  

"Oh, about 9:30, I guess. You don't have to pick me up, I'll be fine."  

"Come on. I want to at least see you a little bit before we both get too busy this season. Besides, we haven't ridden to work together in forever. We can jam out to some RWBY and  RvB  soundtrack songs like we normally would! Please? I just have to be here at 9:00 rather than 9:30," you begged, your eyes going wide. Honestly, you missed Chris. Something about him undeniably drew you to him, but you couldn't really say what it was. Yes, he was an attractive guy, but you could never put yourself with him You didn't hold yourself that high, honestly. You'd love to be with him, but for now, being great friends was not only bearable, but sufficient and perfect.  

He gave a half smile. "Fine. Pick me up at 8:30," he relented. You bid him farewell for the night and went home to get some sleep , after running to the grocery store to purchase Gus's favorite beer to give to him the next day, as well as some other goodies you had planned for him over the course of the week .  

---------------------  

You got up the next morning and got ready for work. After getting dressed and gathering all the things you'd need for work, you hopped in your car and were at Chris's by 8:25 . You knocked on the door of his apartment, pulling your jacket tight around you.   

"Come on in! Door's unlocked!" you heard Chris yell from inside the apartment. You walked in, shutting the door behind you.  

"You're not naked, are you?" you asked, shielding your eyes, only half-hoping to not run into a nude Chris.   

"Nah," he peeked his head around the corner with a smile, "Completely dressed. Just getting my stuff together. How are you?"  

"Freezing. It's actually really cold today. I left my jacket at home, and I'm starting to regret that decision now," you admitted. Despite living in Austin, it had gotten pretty cool this December, dipping into the low thirties almost daily, with a high of only mid- to high forties at the warmest.   

"Do you want one of my sweatshirts? I've got this really comfy college sweatshirt that's  kinda  thick. It's Texas, though, so I hope you're not offended," he threw the grey sweatshirt at you with the UT logo on it.   

"Thanks, Chris. You're the best," you smiled, pulling it on your body. You took a huge sniff as you pulled it over your head and smelled the light scent of his cologne.  

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled with a smirk before gathering his stuff and walking with you out the door and locking it. You guys rode to work and talked and sang (rather obnoxiously and badly, to be quite honest) and had a great time. You walked into your office and you jaw dropped when you saw your desk.  

Today, its bows had been partnered with beautiful Christmas lights of all colors: pinks, blues, yellows, greens, reds, and even the plain J ane white lights. They were lit and plugged into the lamp on your desk, and a small red wrapped gift with curly green ribbon flowing from the top sat next to your keyboard.  

"Look, Chris!" you whispered in awe, setting your stuff down to observe the desk in full. "It's so beautiful!"  

"You'd better watch it. Soon you'll have mistletoe hanging somewhere!" He picked on you with a wink.  

"Oh, you'd only be so lucky, Mister  Demarais ," you scoffed, causing him to feign offense. "What's that on your desk?" you asked, spotting some kind of present propped against one of his monitors.  

"I'll open mine, then you open yours, okay?" he suggested. You nodded, and he tore at the golden paper on his gift. It was a 8 x 11 canvas that had a J. R. R. Tolkien  quote on it, saying, ' Even the smallest person can change the course of the future. ' His smile was so big, you thought it might just fly off his face. "This is awesome. I'm  gonna  hang this up in my apartment as soon as I get home." He turned to you, "Okay, open yours!"  

You worked at the folds of the finely wrapped gift, pulling the paper carefully off the box. It was a simple cardboard box taped tightly with packaging tape. "Can I borrow a box opener, Chris?" you asked. He pulled one out of his desk, came over and cut the box open for you. "Thanks," you muttered before opening the box.  

Inside of the cardboard box was two jars, a bag of coffee, and a beautiful mug with your name on it. You pulled out the jars to discover that one was a cocoa mix while the other was a mix for apple cider. "This is wonderful! I'll be warm forever!"  

"Dude, now I have to come over so you can make me some nice warm drinks!" Chris exclaimed, pointing to the cider mix. You picked it up and held it to your chest  

"MINE!" you laughed before replacing it carefully in the box. "Just kidding. We can definitely do a movie night with some cocoa and cider. Maybe New Year's Eve?"  

Chris shrugged and went back to being busy at his desk. The question rolled off kind of awkwardly, but you didn't press on any further. After a couple minutes of cleaning up from the gifts, there was a knock at the door. Jon  Risinger  stood with a grin from ear to ear holding his camera.  

"Hey, guys," Jon greeted you.  

"What's up, Jon?" Chris asked.  

"Kara wants me to take pictures for the slideshow on Friday night for the party. I need pictures of you guys with your gifts and a couple office pictures if that's okay."  

You said it would be fine and held up your Cocoa and your mug as you stood next to Chris who showed off his Tolkien quote.   

"Okay, now I just  wanna  get a picture of you two since you guys work together in this office and stuff. Is that okay?"   

You nodded at first but then realized that several of the people you worked with hadn't even gotten there yet. "Should we wait on everyone to get here? I mean, there are others who work in this little office room with us... do you want it with all of them, too?"  

Jon shook his head. "They all were in the break room, so I already got a picture of them together. I was just missing you two but didn't want to take you guys from doing actual work or something. So the two of you just get close so I can get your heads in a tight shot."  

Chris grabbed your shoulder and pulled you close to him and Jon snapped a few pictures as you both smiled. He thanked the two of you before scurrying out and heading somewhere else to take more pictures. You sat down at your desk and texted Kara to find out when Gus was planning on breaking.  

"He's up here with me now. I'll stall. You GO!" Kara replied. You took the beer that you had very elegantly wrapped and made your way as calmly yet quickly as possible to Gus's office, placing the gift on his desk. you sprinted back to your own office to be greeted by more of your coworkers and a glance from Chris.  

"What've you been up to?" Miles, who was standing next to your desk, asked.   

"Oh, nothing," you smiled, sitting at in your chair and beginning to work on your computer. "Something I can do for you, Miles?"   

"Yeah, I'm here to ask if you wanted to write a RT Christmas Short for this week? Burnie said he'd really like you to do it, but if you can't, then if you could come up with the RT Recap for the week that'd be great. You up for it?"  

"Can I get back to you?  Gimme , like three hours to try to come up with an idea. I'll let you know right after my lunch break. Is that okay?"  

"Sounds good to me. I'll swing back by here around 1:30 unless I see you before then, alright?"  

You nodded and got out your legal pad and favorite glitter pens. As Miles walked out, everyone looked up and grinned at you. "Requested by the Boss man! Moving up in the world, young  padawan !"   

"Shut up," you whispered with a smile wider than the seas. You began jotting down ideas and brainstorming until you finally came up with something concrete and usable. Every once in a while, you'd look up and see Chris looking at you, only to quickly transition back into his own work. His face would turn a light pink as he typed away on his computer, probably writing scripts or coming up with ideas for Social Disorder.  

Your idea for the RT Short was called "Secret Santa" where one person keeps on getting these weird gifts, like pentagrams, things with 666 on them, and other demonic things and keep wondering why all this horrible stuff is happening when everyone else is getting wonderful presents. When the Secret  Santas  are revealed, the main character's Santa is revealed to be someone dressed like the Devil, who is dyslexic  or just read the note wrong   and said "I thought it said Secret Satan..."  

You also came up with o t her ideas to back up in case Miles thought that was too out there, as well as some Recap ideas.  At around noon, Chris rolled his chair over to your desk. "How's it coming?" he asked, looking over your shoulder at your yellow legal pad with multicolored ink and posts its covering the pages.  

"Great. I think I've got a few solid ideas," you respond, adding the last sticky note to the third page and flipping it back to the front.  

"Aaron, Barbara, Brandon, Monty, Miles,  Arryn and I are all headed to Chipotle for lunch and wanted to know if you wanted to come, too?" You nodded. and joined them, bringing your notepad with you to give the idea to Miles. He thought what you had planned out with the Secret Santa video was hilarious, and that he'd run it by Burnie as soon as you all got back.  

"Speaking of Secret Santa," Barb began, "What all have you guys gotten from your Santa's so far?"  

You glanced over at Chris and smiled before nudging him with your elbow. "Someone gave me a painted canvas with a Tolkien quote on it. It looks incredible. [Y/n]'s Santa was pretty creative, too."  

"Yeah," you smiled, "Yesterday, there were those stick-on gift bows on my desk and a little stuffed reindeer with a gift card to my favorite restaurant. Today, there were colored Christmas lights surrounding my desk! It's super pretty. Today I got some hot drink mixes, like apple cider and hot chocolate and stuff, and a nice mug with my name!"  

"I got some candy," Monty smiled before taking a bite of his burrito.   

Everyone else began talking about what they had received and about how they couldn't wait to thank their Santa's for everything. "I was warning [Y/n]," Chris chuckled, "that she'd better watch out because there might be mistletoe coming her way soon by the looks of how her Santa is decorating."  

You stuck your tongue out at him again as everyone laughed and giggled around you. The lot of you finished up and  returned to the office to finish up work for the day. At about 8:45, Chris looked up at you. "You about ready?"  

"Yeah," you responded, "I have to go home and do Secret Santa stuff anyways, so I guess we need to go ahead and get going."  

He nodded and you gathered all your things before hopping in your car and driving Chris back to his apartment. " Wanna  come in for a few minutes?" he asked, "We could play a couple of games or something, or watch a movie?"  

You gave him a sad smile and shook your head. "Chris, I've got way too much to work on for tomorrow. New Year's is still an option, though, right?" Another shrug made you feel awkward about asking and you looked down and tugged at your sleeves, only to realize your were still wearing his sweatshirt. "Oh, do you want this back?" you asked, beginning to pull your arms out of it.  

"No! No. It's fine. I wouldn’t want you to be cold on the way back home. Just... keep it or whatever. I didn't really wear it anyways. I'd rather it go to good use," he said.  

 You nodded and asked if he needed to be picked up tomorrow at the same time. He shook his head and mentioned that he needed to get to work early to get some work done for Matt  Hullum . you nodded your head  before driving home and building a gingerbread house for Gus and placing the Baby Gus that you had printed from the 3D Printer in front of the door in some frosting. You put the house in a cake carrier for the morning.  

You got to the office and were able to sneak into Gus's office and place the gingerbread house on his desk and returned back to your office where you saw your desk and your jaw dropped. You had not previously believed that it could get better than yesterday, but it did. Multicolored glittery and shiny t insel was draped carefully over the lights. Chris walked in, and you heard an audible gasp escape his lips as well.  

"Beautiful," he whispered. You quickly made your way to your desk and opened the bag sitting next to your keyboard, which contained you favorite snacks and candies. You looked up at him, tears in your eyes.   

"Whoever is doing this is going way beyond what they should. This is just too sweet... too nice." you whimpered with a broken smile. Chris titled his head, almost in confusion as he walked over to you. He pulled you into a hug for just a moment before Kara knocked on the door frame.  

"Is everything okay?" her light and naturally bubbly voice sounded odd when it was laced with concern.   

"Yeah, she's just a little overwhelmed by all the things her Santa has been doing," Chris responded.  

"Speaking of Santa," Kara grinned, "I have a delivery from your Santa, Chris!" You pulled away from him so that he could go and get his gift, but he didn't let go of you quite yet.  

"Are you okay?" Chris asked softly. You nodded and sat in your chair to watch him get his gift. He opened the card first, which read: The first gift shall help you make meals... the second... well... "May it be a light for you in dark places when all other lights go out." He pulled the wrapping paper off of the gift and found a Hobbit Cookbook and a hand-crank lantern that had been custom made as if it had come straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie.   

"I think I might cry too!" Chris teased.  

"Let me see the cookbook," you demanded, and he handed it to you. You flipped through the pages and noted several things that you could make very easily. "Chris, I could definitely make some of these dishes." He grinned and took the book back.  

"We'll have to schedule a party or something," he laughed.   

You both went on with your day, hard at work. Burnie called you to his office to talk with you about the RT short and you two worked on that for a few hours before settling on primary and secondary casting, editing in the scripts, and other things. He said they would get it filmed and that he'd send it to you before posting it to see if you approved.  

You asked Kara if she could ask Esther about books that Gus had been wanting. Esther told Kara  about some  science-y book that he had heard about that he'd been wanting to read but hadn't had time to buy yet, so you picked it up after work and wrapped it neatly for the next day.  

You came straight to your own desk before going to Gus's to find ornaments hanging around your desk, even from your small lamp. You laughed  at the adorable sight and suddenly wished you had been getting day-by-day pictures of how your desk had "evolved" throughout the week. You ran to Kara and asked her to deliver the gift to Gus and ran back to your own desk to open your present, which had been stuffed down inside of a stocking with your name on it.  

Beautiful little picture frames, as well as a small bag of Hershey Kisses, a pack of stickers, and new crayons, colored pens, and sharpies filled the stocking. Arryn snuck in and made eye contact with you, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Shit," she muttered, "Uh... don't tell Chris!" she placed a gift on Chris's desk before sprinting off out the door and around the corner. You simply laughed and began taking the pens out of their packaging.   

Chris arrived about an hour later. "Man, it just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" he said, referencing your desk.   

"Yeah, I just... man. Whoever this is..." you let the sentence drift off, and you notice a disappointed look on Chris's face. "What's on your desk, Chris?" you pointed to the present neatly wrapped that Arryn had placed earlier.  

"Hm..." he ripped the paper and found a Lord of the Rings Lego set. "Sweet!" His smile was back, and you were satisfied. The day sped along quickly, and you saw bits and pieces of the filming for the RT Short as you walked from your office to the break room or the bathroom.   

You went home and prepared for the final day. You had your day present, which was a $15 gift card to his favorite lunch place, and your final present for Gus was a $35 gift card for one of the nicer restaura nts of Downtown Austin, so that he and Esther could have a nice night out. You would give him  the final present at the party tonight, which is what all the Santa's were supposed to do.   

You got to work and handed Kara Gus's lunch gift card for delivery. Then you excitedly walked into your office where your desk was now covered with holly, as well as the previous decorations. Next to your mouse was a small box, wrapped in silver paper with a golden bow on top. Chris walked in just as you were about to open it. "You were wrong," you teased Chris.  

"About what?"  

"Mistletoe."  

"Huh?"  

"There's no mistletoe."  

"Open your damn present," he set his stuff down.   

"Wait!!" Kara's voice came from the hallway before you had a chance to tear the paper, "Your Santa wanted to film your reaction." She pulled out her phone and began recording. "Okay, go!"  

You tore open the paper to reveal a blue velvet box, just like one that would hold jewelry. You gasped and looked up at Chris and Kara. You opened up the small box to reveal a silver heart-shaped locket. You pulled the locket out and a note was attached to the chain. "I'll give you the picture for your locket tonight." You opened the locket to find it empty, which only made sense.  

"This is gorgeous," you muttered, tears beginning to escape your eyes. "Thanks to whomever my Santa is. You're wonderful." Kara turned off the video, gave you a quick hug and scurried back to do her work. You wiped the tears from your face, and Chris tossed you a box of tissues.   

"Why, specifically, are you crying?" he asked, his face sad and confused.  

"I... just... I've fallen hard for this person, Chris, and I have no idea who it is. Like, what if it's someone who's married and their wife is helping them out with what to get me? Or what if it's Barb or Meg or someone like that? I'm terrified of getting my heart broken or dreams shattered tonight, Chris. I don't want that to happen."  

"But what if it's somebody like... uh... Kerry or Jordan? It'll be okay, I promise," he said re assuringly,  though there seemed to be a twinge of pain in his voice ,  "And if anything happens, I swear on my life and on my precious Ring of Power that I will sit around in my PJ's with you and eat tons of ice cream and watch as many chick flicks as necessary until your heart is in one piece again. Deal?"  

You nodded. "Can you help me put this on?"  

"Of course," he smiled. He clipped the locket behind your neck .   

"How does it look?" you asked.  

"Amazing," he smirked before heading to his desk and giving a disappointed sigh. You knew that if you asked about it he would turn you away, so you two went about your day.  

---------------------  

The party that night was really cool. They cleared out everything in the annex and had it like a ballroom kind of deal with music and lights and food. There was a mailbox for each employee lined up across one wall where you could place your Secret Santa goods. You were in the middle of placing Gus's gift card when he caught you at his mailbox. He hugged you and thanked you for all the wonderful gifts, and you told him that you were glad he enjoyed them. He made some small tal k and asked if you had met your Santa yet, and that he had heard the Saga of the Desk from around the office.   

"No, I'm about to head over to my Mailbox now though," you said, clinging to your necklace. You bid him farewell before heading to your mailbox. You opened it to find nothing but a plain yellow post-it inside, saying "Meet me by the bathrooms so we can have a peaceful conversation." You smiled and took the post it with you, knowing it was Kara's handwriting. You were shocked at how much effort your Santa had put into not giving their identity away. You walked down the hall to the bathrooms and waited for a few minutes silently.   

You looked at the bathroom doors and neither said "occupied" so you didn't expect anyone to exit from them. Suddenly Chris came stumbling around the corner, nearly falling to the floor. "Shit, Chris, are you okay?"  

"Yep, just tripped over myself. I'm  kinda  clumsy. Are you waiting for the bathroom?" he asked.  

"No... I'm, uh, waiting for my Secret Santa. They said that they would meet me here... so... here I am. Waiting," you chuckled nervously, hoping your Santa wouldn't walk up on an awkward conversation.   

"Oh. By the bathroom? That's a weird place to ask to meet," he mentioned. You nodded in agreement before shrugging. "Oh, by the way, I have a Christmas present for you, [Y/n]."  

"For me?" you asked, "But I didn't get you anything."  

"You weren't supposed to," he whispered, pulling something from his pocket. It was a folded heart shaped picture - the picture Jon  Risinger  had taken of the two of you earlier that week on one side and a quote saying "I  would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone." on the other.  

"What?" you gasped incredulously, "But... you can't be! I got to work earlier than you every day!  And you were so disappointed earlier about everything..."  

"That's called acting, my dear," he said, opening your locket and pressing the picture into its chamber, "And I definitely did all your stuff the night before or had Kara place it. I was sneaky- sneaky." He took your face in his hand, caressing your cheek with his palm.  

"You son of a bitch," you scoffed with a grin, "I had you crossed off of my list. The way you seemed so down and out about how in love I was with the gifts... you truly had me fooled, Chris."  

"One more thing..." he smirked.  

"And what's that?"  

" Wanna  know why I made you come all the way to the bathroom to meet up with me?"  

You nodded.  

"Look up," he whispered.  

You lifted your head toward the ceiling and saw just the smallest piece of mistletoe hanging there, just above where you stood.   

"You were wrong," he murmured into your ear.  

You looked at him for just a second before pressing your lips against his and wrapping your arms behind his neck. You felt his arms snake around your waist and finally he pulled back for a moment. You expected him to say, "I love you," or something sweet like that, but the words that escaped his lips were "I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone..."  

"Oh shut up you fucking nerd," you kissed him. Then something came to your mind. "Why wouldn't you make the date with me on New Year's? Got something planned that's more important than your girlfriend?"  

His cheeks turned bright red and he rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "I didn't know if you'd want to hang out after you found out it was me," he admitted. You planted another kiss on his lips. "Like, I didn't know if the whole girlfriend thing was... well, a thing."