Eric stepped out of the computer room, with his mind no more made up than when he went in. Tom had always been his sounding board. They were so alike, a bit nerdy, though Eric took the prize in that category, both gay, Tom had been the first one he had come out to. But Tom was stronger than him and had always looked out for him. Tom would be the one he'd miss most if he did stay.
Lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed Lars trying to flag him down from the front desk. Eric blinked a few times when he noticed the bouncing fox and walked over. "Something wrong?" The fox looked so excited he was practically vibrating.
"You have a visitor." The fox said, sounding weirdly giddy about it, the pointed over to a man waiting by the lobby's Christmas tree.
"Thanks." Eric said with a small wave for the fox then headed off towards the tree. He spotted the man right away, and thought for just a moment Clyde had come back. But it wasn't. Oh they looked alike. The same broad nose and strong chin, same slightly wavy brown hair, though this man had it slicked back, and wore a full beard rather than just stubble. He was also bigger than Clyde. Not taller, just broader and more muscular, and older. Maybe around thirty. When he met those eyes though, he knew. Rudy. Clyde's brother had come calling.
"Let me see them." Rudy said in a tone that expected someone to do as he said. Eric looked around uneasily but pulled off the knit hat, exposing the pair of antlers stubs on his head. Rudy nodded so Eric put his hat back on. "Walk with me. Hope you don't mind the human form. If I showed up here with my nose the tourists would swamp me." Rudy turned and made for one of the doors outside, Eric quickly scrambled after him.
"So. What are you going to do?" Rudy said once they were outside in the cold, he was headed towards a stand of evergreens, and Eric fell into step.
"I'm not sure." He answered honestly, looking towards the reindeer, expecting to see annoyance, but Rudy only nodded. "Part of me wants to stay. Badly. But another part is scared to give up everything. And I mean everything, even my.." He put a hand against his chest.
"You wouldn't be giving up your old life completely. You'd be separated from them, but no more than if you moved away elsewhere. In case you haven't noticed we can turn human and fly anywhere on Earth we want." Rudy said, finally cracking a small smile, but his expression became serious again. "I just want to make sure you're thinking this through. I don't want my little brother getting his heart broken. You haven't seen him mope."
Oddly, Rudy was beginning to remind him a little of Tom. Stern, but only in protecting his little brother. "I am." Eric assured the older reindeer. "I like him. A lot. Apparently enough that my body decided to go into rebellion over it."
Eric stopped when Rudy put a hand on his shoulder, turning him to face him then grabbing the other shoulder. "Look at me. As much as I've met you, I like you. And my brother seems absolutely smitten. I'm willing to give this a chance, but no outsider can move into the Village without the big man's say so. I can put in a good word, but it's his decision. So here's what you need to do. You're going to try out for the open spot on the team."
Eric opened his mouth to say something but Rudy stopped him with a finger held up in front of his face. "If you want this. You're going to do it. According to the doc it's a few days before the point of no return. You won't be the first non-reindeer to try out, but you will be the first human. We use it to narrow down the nominees for the team, but Santa makes the final choice. Picked or not it's also your chance to plead your case to stay. Otherwise it's impossible to see him before your time is up, not this time of year. Understood?"
Eric gulped but nodded his head. "I need to finalize the candidate list soon, you have to two nominations from existing team members you'll need to try out. Mine and Clyde's. So I'll need an answer soon. You have a flying lesson with Clyde tomorrow, right?" Eric bobbed his head in acknowledgement. "Good, you can come over for dinner tomorrow and let me know." Rudy smiled and slapped Eric on the shoulder. "Oddly, I have a good feeling about your chances."
They turned to keep walking. Eric tripped, falling face first into the snow. Right after Rudy said he had confidence in him and he does that. He felt Rudy take his arm to help pull him up. But as soon as he was on his feet he couldn't keep balance anymore and fell on his butt in the snow again.
"Everything alright?" Rudy asked as he crouched down in front of Eric.
"Dunno, my feet feel weird." Eric watched as Rudy pulled off first one of this boots than the other, revealing a pair of black hooves. Pushing up his pants showed about six inches of brown fur above those hooves, ending at his newly reshaped ankles.
"Well, looks like the magic gave it's vote." Rudy stood and held out a hand to haul Eric to his feet. Hooves. With his boots off, it was pretty easy for him to walk, no different than when he was completely changed. "Let's get you back to your cabin."
Eric could only nod his agreement, looking behind him at the new tracks he left in the snow.