Here we go - more Santa - courtesy of dd's inability to stay in.bloody bed and sleep!
^In London the members of the mysterious 'women only' club, The Academy were beginning to assemble. In one corner of the lavishly decorated room stood an ice sculpture fashioned in the shape of a medieval broadsword, through which flowed a crystal stream of vodka which Twiggy and Cassie were enthusiastically partaking of. Meanwhile Holly and Missy were pouring generous glasses of Chateau Gisborne and comparing notes on their respective journeys, one short, one considerably longer. Gradually other members of the Academy began to arrive, Snowy, Tights, Cupcakes and Oyster, as they were affectionately known, turned up together and were soon getting stuck into the refreshments, whilst lamenting the distinct lack of totty available that evening. Little did they know, the situation was to improve radically before the night was through.
Back at the North Pole, Nicholas flitted between his new John Forsyth novel and keeping an eye on the machine. As he reached the end of the first chapter, he was distracted as he saw something appear in the bottom of the chamber out of the corner of his eye. He squinted as slowly the objects began to take a recognizable form, and he managed to identify them as feet, clad in clean but well-worn tan leather brogues. He smiled and let out a satisfied sigh before topping up his glass and settling back into his armchair.
After a while, Nicholas checked his watch, and realised that the machine was going at far too sluggish a pace to fulfill his requirements for that evening. He consulted the instruction manual, tweaked a couple of buttons, and as the machine's whirring went up a notch, he stood, arms folded watching the chamber's contents form.
The shoes were complete now, and a pair of slightly bootcut faded blue jeans began to appear from the hems upward. Slowly the denim clad legs began to take shape, up, up, up..."Bloody hell," thought Nicholas, looking down at his own round form, "I'm going to get a complex if I don't see a bit of jumper soon."
But first, the edges of a brown leather jacket appeared, followed by a dark blue jumper and stripey scarf.
Nicholas took a glance at the monitor and zoomed into the screen shot, "Now we'll really see if this thing works," he muttered to himself.
By the time he returned his attention to.the chamber a neck and jawline were beginning to form, unmistakably masculine, but clean shaven. They were followed by soft, smiling lips, lightly chiselled cheekbones and piercing blue eyes, framed with dark brown lashes that matched his hair, short overall, but with a longer and slightly floppy fringe.
The machine peeped noisily as the man contained within looked around him, bemused but not annoyed. Opening the door, Nicholas beckoned him into the room, beaming.
"Hello, Harry," he said.^