“Mommy, look! It’s Rudolph!!”
Eric heard the sound of children shouting from nearby as soon as he made his dramatic landing, and he spun around to see if Rudy had followed him back to the resort. But, the red-nosed reindeer was nowhere in sight, and Eric soon found himself surrounded by a small crowd of smiling kids in their heavy winter clothes, who had come to the resort with their parents.
“Rudolph! It’s really him!!” one of the kids exclaimed, gazing in awe at Eric’s reindeer form.
“H-huh? N-no, I’m not-,“ he began to reply, but once the kids’ parents caught up to them he was quickly cut off.
“Oh, this is like a dream come true for my kids, sir,” a young mother said with a smile on her face. “Oh, I wish our phones worked up here, or I’d ask for a picture, Rudolph. You don’t sign autographs, do you?”
Eric was about to try to explain that he was not, in fact, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. On the other hand, it wasn’t like he could fault the enthusiastic group for making a mistake, so instead of correcting them he just played along to let the family enjoy their Christmas vacation.
“S-sorry, these aren’t really very good for doing autographs, ma’am,” Eric replied, holding up one of his three-fingered hoof-hands, getting a good chuckle out of the children’s mother. The kids started moving in closer, still amazed that they were really meeting a real-life magical reindeer.
“Rudolph! What am I gonna get for Christmas this year?”
“Hey, why isn’t your nose glowin’?”
“Aren’t you cold? Where’s your coat?”
Eric thought for a moment, trying to really stay in character to help make these kids’ Christmas as magical as he could. “Sorry, but Santa’s elves don’t let us reindeer know what they make for all the good little boys and girls,” he replied with a cheeky smile on his face, improvising as best he could. “And my nose isn’t glowing since it isn’t Christmas Eve yet, of course! Gotta save that energy up for the big night. And I’m not cold at all since my fur’s like the warmest winter coat in the whole world!”
The children ‘ooh’ed and ‘aah’ed at Eric’s response, their eyes twinkling with excitement hearing the (completely made-up) explanation Eric had given them. They quickly moved in and started petting the fur on his chest and legs, which made a deep blush rise under Eric’s fur. However, he let the kids have their fun since they surely didn’t mean anything by it, and before long they’d had their fill of petting him and let him go.
“Well, I’ll be on my way. Make sure you all be good boys and girls for your parents, you hear?” Eric said, really getting into the role by now.
“Yes sir, we will!”
Eric let out a big sigh of relief once the family left, glad that he could finally relax and head off to get his dinner. He had to admit, though, that making those kids smile felt great. Spreading that sort of Christmas cheer was all part of the job of being one of Santa’s reindeer, right? Yeah, he could definitely get used to that, assuming he got the job. However, as soon as he set off down the road, he was stopped in his tracks by a loud voice calling out to him.
“Vau, you really got the attitude down! Do you do shopping mall events, ‘Rudolph’?” a man’s voice said, with a slight accent and a playful tone.
Eric turned his head and nearly slammed his snout into the man standing next to him. It was another reindeer, but not one he had met yet. He was definitely getting the hang of distinguishing all the reindeer from each other by now, and he could tell that this one was younger than Rudy or Clyde and closer to his own age as evidenced by his slightly shorter antlers and the lighter shade of his brown fur. Eric didn’t even have a moment to react before the young man tapped his antlers against Eric’s and pulled him into a tight hug.
“So you’re the human, right? Clyde’s new friend?” the exuberant man asked as he finally released Eric from his grip. “Name’s Tag, nice to meet you!”
“Tag… You’re Bix’s son, right?” Eric replied, thinking back to his encounter with the grumpy deer over Santa’s village.
“Met the old man, did ‘ya? Whatever he said, you have my apologies,” Tag said with a big laugh, smacking Eric on the back boisterously. “Want a tip? Bring him some booze as a gift and he’ll start warming up to you, at least until the bottle’s empty. Speaking of which, I was just gonna head to the bar down the road. Wanna join me?”
“Uhh, I-“
“Great! Let’s go!”
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The bar that Tag dragged Eric to was a quiet spot, a nice, warm, and out of the way spot with a log-cabin theme and a roaring fireplace that was popular with the resort’s tourists. Tag grabbed a table and signaled the bartender for a round of beer before looking over the menu for a quick dinner.
“So, you’re the human, right?” Tag asked as he scanned the dinner menu.
“You already asked me that. But, yeah. I am,” Eric replied, still getting used to Tag’s energetic attitude. “T-that’s not a problem, is it?”
“A problem!? Haha, that’s a good one!” Tag shot back, thumping a hoof on the table and getting the attention of nearly the whole bar. “Nah, not a problem unless you’re my dad! Dude, I love humans! I come over to the resort whenever I get the chance, just to hang out with you guys!”
Hearing that made Eric settled down a bit, and despite his lack of an indoor voice Tag definitely seemed like a good guy. Maybe a bit of a himbo, but he could definitely be worse.
“I especially like your vaadin. Your does, I mean,” Tag leaned over the table and whispered, eying some of the female vacationers sitting at the bar. “Or, ‘women’, I guess you’d say. Reindeer does, their tits aren’t nearly as big…”
“R-right, I guess I haven’t really been looking,” Eric said, blushing deeply and desperately looking for a way to change the subject.
“’Cause you’re gay, right? I mean Clyde’s gay and you two are an item, so that’s gotta be it, right?” Tag said knowingly, making Eric blush even deeper. “Sorry, didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything. Just that there aren’t too many gay deer up here. It took ages for the vaadin to get it into their heads that he wasn’t interested in ‘em! They just kept on bugging him, not that I can blame them for being interested. You really lucked out getting him!”
“Right… Thanks, I guess. He’s a really nice guy, and a great teacher,” Eric said, and he was grateful when the tray of drinks arrived. He grabbed a big glass of beer and began to sip at it, and was reminded of the beer he’d drank with Clyde the night before.
“Oh, yeah… I heard you were going to get the boss’s permission to try out for the team. For the same spot as me,” Tag said, never letting his cheerful smile slip away as he pounded down a whole glass. Eric blushed and looked away, but Tag grabbed him right by the antlers and pulled him back. “What’s that look supposed to mean? You think I’m mad that you’re trying out and might get that spot?”
“Uhh… Well…”
“No way, buddy! If I lose out on that spot, the only person I’m gonna be mad at is myself!” Tag said, pounding his chest with his hoof dramatically. “But, I’ll be real here… I’ve been training for a long time for this spot, and you’re… umm… What is the word? Siro? No, not that, more hoikka, ei?
“I don’t really know what you’re saying, but if you’re saying I’m a wimp, I have to agree…” Eric sighed, draining his beer and waving to the bartender for another.
“No, no, not a wimp! Well, maybe, but it’s an easy fix,” Tag said reassuringly. “You need to train! Flying is hard, but it gets easier with some of these!” He did a quick flex, showing off some fairly impressive muscles underneath all the fur, though Tag was clearly not as strong as Clyde, Rudy, or any of the other older reindeer. “And Clyde, he’s a great teacher, but he’s gonna go easy on you ‘cause you’re… you know. Not me, though! I’m at the gym all day tomorrow, so come find me and we’ll really whip you into shape, ei? If you’re going to be my rival, you’re gonna be my equal!”
Great, Eric though to himself. Out of all the reindeer he could run into, he had to run into the only gym-bro in the whole North Pole. Still, Eric had to admit that whatever Tag was doing was working, and having a friend his own age to hang with might be a good way to dip his hooves into reindeer culture.
“Well, if I’m feeling-“ Eric said, only to get cut off for the hundredth time that evening.
“So, it’s a promise, then? Excellent! But now, we drink! Kippis!” Tag exclaimed, and raised his glass high into the air.
Now, if only Tag would let me finish a damn sentence, Eric thought to himself as he reluctantly raised his second beer into the air. Here’s hoping I’ll even make it to my lesson with Clyde tomorrow…