Chapter 114 – Quality Time

  “Who needs kids when you have a Val.” – Kurt, grumbling to Kristi as Val scampered out of the bedroom.

  Kurt had never been around children when they got excited for Christmas. For starters, he was an only child and didn’t have the perspective of seeing younger siblings. It also never happened around his cousins since they didn’t celebrate it in elven culture on other worlds. Finally, he didn’t have kids of his own to watch open presents and see what Santa brought them. He did, however, have a very easily excited Kitsune named Val.

  “Wakeupwakeupwakeup.” She said while shaking his shoulder and sitting astride his waist. “It’s Christmas, wake up!”

  Kurt blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Normally he was the first one up or, at the very least, tied with Kristi but apparently all he needed to get Val out of bed early was a holiday. “I’m up, calm down.” He looked out the window and saw it was still very dark, his clock confirming it was only half past six in the morning.

  “Ugh, this is what gets her out of bed without rolling around in our scent for at least ten minutes first?” Kristi groaned before putting together a very reasonable observation. Kurt assumed that was because she had been woken up first but couldn’t quite confirm.

  “Come on guys its-umph!” Val’s words were suddenly silence as Kristi introduced her face to a pillow with a fun thing that people liked to call ‘velocity’.

  “Ground rules.” Kurt declared while wrapping his arms around the now indignant fox. “No presents opened until everyone is up.” When he saw a twinkle in Val’s eye, he added an addendum. “No waking up the others until we have all used the bathroom and made coffee… in that order.”

  Ears drooping, Val sighed. “Fine, I guess I can do that.” She dismounted, sliding off the bed like she was made from Jello while pouting and grumbling about ‘fairness’.

  Kurt and Kristi shared a look and an eye roll before getting up. They put their pajamas back on and hit the bathrooms before Kurt went to light the fireplace and start the coffee. He was just planning on making two pots that morning and got out a carafe alongside a brace of coffee mugs.

  He joined Kristi on the couch a short while later, ignoring Val as she stood in the hall, tapping her foot impatiently. He handed his draconic girlfriend her coffee while sliding under the blanket with her. They each took a sip, sighing in appreciation as Val began to lose it at how they were stalling.

  Finally, they took pity on her. “Ok, go a…-and she’s gone.” Kurt said, not even finishing his sentence before she vanished, scampering down the hall like a cartoon cat. They listened intently to the sounds that followed.

  There was a sliding noise followed by a muted thump as Val slid to a stop against the wall at the end of the hallway. Then they heard the sound of a doorknob being cranked over and the door being pushed open.

  “MERRY-“

  “RRRRAAAWWWAAAARR”

  “-CHR-SHIT!” Val was cut off by a roar and they heard the door slam shut followed by the very muffled scream of one or both of the girls in the guest room.

  “She forgot about the tiger.” Kristi laughed softly into her coffee cup.

  “Hell, I forgot about the tiger.” Kurt admitted. “Still funny though.”

  “Oh, hell yes.”

  A second later they heard a door open again. “Val what in the actual fuck!” Penny screamed.

  “It’s Christmas?” Val offered in a small voice that sounded like she was out of breath, panting heavily.

  “Yeah, we know.” Penny snapped. “Do you know what its like being woken up by a tiger roaring right next to your face while pinning you to the bed with his weight?”

  The argument, which was more or less Penny scolding Val, continued and they heard the padding of feet coming down the hall. Anna emerged with Bont in tow as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. “Morning.” She muttered.

  “Morning. Coffee is on the counter.” Kurt said and watched as she diverted to the kitchen while Bont stalked into the living room and took his place near the fire.

  “I just wonder why he was on the bed.” Kristi said while looking at the giant cat and scratching behind his ears.

  “Oh, he likes to snuggle.” Anna said, coming over and taking her place in a chair with another blanket. “He likes it even more when someone is cold and they let him wrap them up with his arms and paws.”

  Kurt looked at the tiger as it stretched out, its loose skin and fur looking like a very warm place to be as long as he didn’t employ claws. Not for the first time he wondered what Bont would look like gliding and made a note to ask about it if they went outside again.

  They all sat in silence for a few minutes and tried to ignore the tongue-lashing Val was getting. Shortly after, the other two emerged and Penny went to get coffee while Val slunk over and knelt down next to Bont. She apologized to him, scratching at his chin for a minute before retreating to the safety of the blanket next to Kurt.

  After a few seconds in which they all sat and sip their coffee in silence, Kurt cleared his throat. “Ahem. Merry Christmas everyone.” He smiled as he felt Val suddenly sit a little straighter.

  “Can we do presents now?” She asked.

  Kurt nodded and pulled out his phone. “Yeah, but we gotta do pictures too.” They had gotten a group picture after dinner the night before along with some of them sledding and making cookies. But they only did one posed one with all of them in front of the tree with Bont stretched out in front of them. Kurt had sent it to everyone and promised to get them printed out at some point.

  “Ok, ok. Me first.” Val said and surprised them all by grabbing from the gifts she had wrapped and handing two to Kurt, Kristi and Anna while giving Penny one. Their manager frowned a little but didn’t otherwise complain. “Ok, start with the smaller one. Penny, you will have to wait for your second one since it’s a group gift.”

  That seemed to make Penny feel better and she eagerly tore into the semi squishy package with the rest of them. Kurt unwrapped his to find a t-shirt with an image on the front. He unfolded it to see what it said and wasn’t disappointed.

  Screen printed onto the front of a high-quality shirt was a chibi style drawing of a generic kitsune who was gesturing to a broken glass on the floor while yelling. The speech bubble read, in bold lettering, ‘What the fox?!?’.

  “Haha, I love it.” Kurt said and held it up before looking around to everyone else. They had similar shirts, though the color varied and the character differed in its task. Kristi had one that had the same caption but showed the cartoon character holding a broken gaming controller. Penny’s just said ‘foxy and I know it.’ with the character wearing a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers with mussed hair. Under the shirts was a set of matching pajama pants that seemed to complete the set.

  Next, they opened the other gift. She had given Kurt an expansive set of engraving and polishing bits for his rotary tool, something he would definitely use. Kristi got a Gameboy DS with a brace of games, all of which were in excellent condition. Finally, Anna got a set of extremely fine combs and brushes in varying styles all sitting nicely in a roll-up pouch which she greatly appreciated based on her reaction.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Kurt went next and followed Val’s lead, starting with his fun gift. His was oversized hoodies for all of them. The sweatshirts had a thick lining and deep hoods with the bottom hem extending to mid-thigh on all the girls. He had gotten the idea after seeing all of them borrowing one of his at various times and liking to tuck their legs in while on the couch.

  After the squeals of delight, they opened his real gifts. Val got a new e-reader so she would have plenty of memory space for her books without having to cycle through them on her tablet. Kristi got an empty computer case with a gift card so she could begin building her own gaming rig. Anna ended up with what amounted to a complete starter kit for D&D with several sets of dice and mini’s.

  Anna volunteered to go after Kurt and they all opened up an envelope. Kurt raised his eyebrows at the ‘bacon of the month’ subscription and looked over to see what the girls ended up with. Kristi had a membership to the Nintendo game shop while Val got a subscription to a whisky of the month club. Penny smiled and turned hers around showing the twelve passes to a local spa that advertised a wide variety of services.

  Her main gifts were equally targeted. Kurt got a new pot and pan set to replace his dinged up ones along with new storage containers. Val got an early edition boxed set of the Harry Potter series which she eagerly began to page through. Kristi unwrapped her gift which turned out to be a humidor already half filled with a selection of cigars.

  Kristi went next and as promised, they all got socks. That is to say they got very nice socks. Kurt got several pairs of his preferred boot socks which was nice since several of his were now ruined. The other girls all got heated socks, with little battery packs that would last for a couple hours. Val laughed after seeing hers, saying that she still loved them despite not really needing them.

  Then for their real gifts, not that the socks weren’t appreciated. Kurt received a nice watch, one of the G-shock types that was both functional and durable. Val got a diagnostic and programing computer for her new car which would let her play with the tuning. Anna unwrapped a trio of books that detailed different foods and how to cook them along with wine parings since she was always curious about local cuisine.

  It was then that all eyes turned to Penny. “I know this was last minute and you didn’t get a chance to get us anything and that is ok.” Kurt began. “The four of us wondered what you would like and came up with a little something we thought would fit perfectly.”

  Kristi went over to the tree and pulled out the last two gifts. one was a short, wide box which was heavier than appearances would suggest. When Penny opened it, her excited smile turned into confusion as she looked back to them.

  “What exactly am I looking at?” She asked. She reached into the box and pulled out a board with several types of tile glued to it. It showcased a couple dozen colors and textures along with some grout colors.

  “Well, we know how much you like our shower so we all figured you would like one of your own. Those are the tile samples for you to chose from.” Kurt explained while she opened the other, more cube shaped box. “And that is your very own rock.”

  Penny held the large stone that was about the size of a volleyball cut in half. She turned it over to see the gold inlay that was pressed into carved runes on the underside. She sniffled and wiped her nose while her eyes got a little misty.

  “T-this is the most amazing gift I have e-ever gotten.” She said in a slightly choked tone. They knew that she coveted the shower that Kurt had made, with its enchanted tiles that held the heat and allowed it to be a mini sauna.

  “Well, you can thank us after you pick out your tile and fixtures and Kurt finishes the remodel.” Kristi said, beaming at the reaction they got. “We are going out tomorrow to pick the materials and have already let Frank know about the remodel. Apparently, he was excited to see what an enchanted shower was like and might even commission a few things for himself.”

  “This is amazing.” Penny sniffed and hugged the rock to her chest. “Thank you.”

  After that, Kurt made them all a big breakfast and they went back downstairs to hang out while Val put on some more holiday movies. While they used the movie as background noise, they all broke into the gifts they could use. Penny was first into her new pajamas and hoodie but needed to charge the battery on her heated socks before those would be useful.

  Kurt programmed his watch, setting the time and a few of the other features before going to put his new tools in the vault. Kristi was engrossed in her Gameboy, apparently playing one of the Pokémon games that Val had gotten her. Anna was peering over her shoulder, watching on and off as she broke into the D&D books.

  Val on the other hand was curled up on the couch, wrapped in her new sweatshirt and with the first of the Harry Potter books opened up and propped in her lap. Kurt sat with her for a while, acting as a snuggle buddy while he watched one of the holiday specials and commented on the team that Kristi was building in her game. He sighed happily and put an arm around Val while just taking the time to appreciate his situation.

  *****

  “That was actually really nice.” Anna said to Penny as they walked back home through the Order portals.

  “Yeah. I didn’t really expect to enjoy it so much.” Penny agreed. “I mean the gifts are nice and all, but I just liked being around people that genuinely care about me.”

  Anna agreed, expressing how she had not expected such a welcoming and familial atmosphere. She didn’t even expect it to be all leisure like it was. She figured there would be some work going on or at the very least Kurt would be enchanting something.

  “I am actually a little surprised that you and Jamie didn’t do anything.” Anna commented. Penny’s boyfriend had been over several times and even ‘stayed the night’ on a couple occasions. She didn’t mind and was just happy that neither of them seemed to care about her lurking around the apartment either.

  “Yeah, he and his sister had something going on with their family. That’s why the coffee shop was closed for a couple days.” Penny explained. “I think we are going to try and do something when he gets back.”

  Stopping before they went through the portal to Kurt’s building downtown, Anna waited for Bont to change colors, making his black stripes wider and the rest of his fur greyer to better blend with the city at night in the winter.

  “Want me to make myself scarce?” Anna offered.

  Penny looked a little shocked at the offer. “What? No, I don’t want to kick…”

  “You aren’t kicking me out or anything.” Anna said with a little laugh. “Remember that Kurt offered for us to come over so Bont could get out of the city and roam around. I am sure they would let me have the spare room for a night or two.”

  “Are you sure?” Penny asked. She wouldn’t say no to the offer but didn’t want to force the girl out.

  Anna nodded after they stepped through the portal. “Yeah, it’s really ok. I uh, I really trust them and like them.” She didn’t feel like she should hide that but also didn’t know why it would be a big deal.

  “Really? You trust them that much?” Penny pushed a little more. “I thought you would still struggle after everything that happened.”

  Shaking her head, Anna answered. “No, I think I just needed some space to realize how good they are. Like I know they saved me, Kurt specifically but the others had a big hand in it, but I didn’t know if I had traded one prison for another and was kind of panicking. So, when I got the offer to move out, I didn’t hesitate for long.”

  Penny thought about those first few days when Anna was like a light switch being flipped on and off. Except instead of light, she was flipping from one behavioral or emotional extreme to another. Things had gotten a little better when she got into a routine and was forced to move around and interact with more people.

  The big shock was when they had moved in together. Val had pulled Penny aside at one point and told her about the night terrors and some of the strange quirks they had noticed while housing her for a couple days. It was all well intentioned, and she was glad for the advice because she knew what to do the first time the little woman had suddenly started screaming in the middle of the night.

  Things had improved significantly since Bont was summoned. The tiger was never far away, and Anna seemed to always be either in close proximity or actually touching him. It was like a big, fluffy, fang filled security blanket. A literal security blanket in some cases as she found out last night. Though she didn’t hate the feeling of being snuggled in the fuzzy warmth of the tiger’s belly.

  “That’s good!” Penny said while taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “I am glad that the little distance helped with perspective.”

  “Yeah, really helped.” Anna squeezed her hand back before letting go. “I think I want to see if I can have Kurt help me with an enchantment. I’m scared but I think he might be able to help me get over it. He seems like the guardian sort. Like he won’t let bad things happen.”

  “Oh, that’s great! Just don’t go too far and remember to be honest and open, he doesn’t always do feelings well.” Penny couldn’t disagree with Anna’s assessment of Kurt. She had noticed early on that he had a sort of dedication to those he considered friends. She had noticed a little shift in that behavior recently, however.

  The situation in Florida when there had been a little misunderstanding was one such shift. The way he had jumped to defending his position when she had accidentally challenged it was… scary. But for all that she knew the danger he posed to her in that moment, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Still, she found his recent handling of the rifts and the raids on covens actually more terrifying.

  She had seen the camera footage. Seen the way he fought- no, not fought. The way he hunted his enemies was frightening. She saw the way he had dragged those rat men to their deaths, drowning them in the cold dark water without a moment’s hesitation. The way he hunted with his pack at that coven house. She heard the screams in her nightmares and in that little part of her mind that shouted ‘danger’ when she looked at him.

  But for all that he was a monster, he was their monster. He was almost as docile as a lamb to them, never losing control and endangering them. She also knew he was dealing with some things far above her pay grade, judging by his aura. But all that could wait for later, for now she was just planning out how to spend a couple days with Jamie after he got back. After that she could worry about what was going on with her agents and their expanding auras. Perhaps Jay could enlighten her? He had been hinting at things after all.