Eric lounged a bit in the surprisingly modern bathroom. Who knew Clyde would have a soaking tub big enough for two? Eric could have guessed, his reindeer was a bit of a sappy romantic and probably built this whole place to be a love nest from the very first day. He looked down at his legs with a frown. He had noticed the extra prong in bed, but not that the fur on his legs was well past his knees. Maybe he could talk Clyde into just swinging by the resort doc's for a quick check up.
He got out of the bath and dried himself off. Stepping into the bedroom he was hit by some amazing smells wafting from downstairs. He was torn between immediately going and getting dressed, but remembering Tom had spent the night he went to grab a pair of Clyde's shorts since his own trousers from last night were in a heap of clothes he didn't want to dig through. The shorts were only a little baggy, and git better than he expected.
He tromped downstairs, the good smells only getting stronger. He came down to the first floor of the home and peered into the kitchen. A small table was stacked with pancakes and fruit, Clyde stood over the stove, making a few more and humming softly to himself. He beamed as he saw Eric and ushered him to the table. "Clara's recipe." He said as he dished out a few pancaked that looked like they had nuts and chunks of granola in them. Reindeer liked their oats.
"I didn't know you could cook. All sorts of surprises. Wood working, cooking, what don't you do?" Eric laughed as he put some butter and jam on the pancakes.
"Clara's been teaching me ever since she started dating Rudy. I mean, you must have some hobbies you haven't told me about." Clyde flicked off the stove and joined him at the small kitchen table which was meant for two, maybe three if they got cozy, and served himself some food.
"I play video games and read books. I've never been good at making things." Eric tried not to sound ashamed so quickly changed topics. "Where's Tom?"
"Oh!" Clyde plucked a note out from under one of the serving plates and held it out. "He headed back to the resort early."
Eric took the note and scanned it. "I don't have my glasses." He said after a moment.
"And?" Clyde said between bites.
"And I'm reading, without my glasses. Well, chalk that one up in the reasons to stay column." Eric folded the note and placed it back down.
"I like adding things to that column." Clyde quipped between bites.
Eric's return joke was cut off as they both heard the front door open and close. "Clyde?" Came Rudy's familiar voice, but there was an edge to it, was that, worry? "Clyde we got a problem." Rudy came into the kitchen, his hooves thumping solidly on the wood floors. He spotted Eric and sighed. "Pikkuveli, you're here, too. Good. Saves me a trip out to the resort." Rudy ruffled the hair between Eric's antlers as he passed, like he often did with Clyde.
Too much longer up here and he'd need to learn those words they kept peppering in. Especially Tag, Eric thought, trying not to think on what could worry Rudy. "I was meeting with Santa this morning, going over some planning for the big day and he's worried I'm putting off tryouts for too long. He thinks the team won't have time to mesh before the big day. He told me to move it up."
Clyde gave an agitated tug on his own antler and looked over at Eric, looking.. Oh god, that look hurt Eric to see. He looked hopeless, like he was about to lose something he could never get back. "When?"
"Day after tomorrow." Rudy put a hand on Clyde's shoulder. "It's the longest I could put him off. I need to go let the other candidates know." Rudy picked up a pancake and rolled it up. "Thanks, I had to leave the house before Clara was even up. Don't worry, veli, we'll figure this out."
Clyde leaned back in his chair, his appetite gone as he stared across at Eric. "Well, we still have two days of training."
"Nope. One." Eric said. "Today is a relaxation day, you promised."
Clyde stared at him, but kept on. "Okay, tryouts are three tests. Basic flying, pulling, and speed. I think you have that last one nailed, and Tag's going to win pulling no matter how much we bulk you up. So we're going to spend the next two days getting your take offs and landings perfect. Tag's a little slow on getting airborne so if we can beat him there."
"Clyde. I'm not practicing today. I'll happily do some flying with you, but I'm not training." Eric tried not to sound too harsh.
"But if you don't get the spot, you'll.." Clyde's words drifted off.
"I never said it would make up my mind. It might help me decide, but I'm not staying or going based off of one stupid tryout. That was Rudy's idea." Eric got out of his seat and walked over to Clyde, plopping himself right in his lap. "Look at me. Look." Eric grabbed one of Clyde's antlers and used to to force him to look into his eyes. "If I stay it will be for you and only you. Not for some spot on the team, or because my brother or yours thinks I should. I'll do it because I want to be with you. Got it?"
Clyde wrapped his arms around Eric's waist. "That wasn't the problem. If you want to stay you need his permission. Being on the team would cover that."
"Or we could just ask him. I haven't asked for anything for Christmas this year." Eric teased as Clyde sighed. "And he's supposed to be a nice guy, right? Do you really think he would say no if we went to him?"
Clyde frowned. "I wouldn't risk bothering him this close to Christmas, but after? No, I don't think he would refuse."
"And if he does, you just learn to keep better control of that human form and you can come home with me." Clyde laughed cheerily as he pressed his nose against Eric's cheek. "You'll have to learn that anyway. I mean if we do stay together my parents are going to want a wedding, they'll be devastated if I get hitched and don't invite them. Plus we'll want to visit for occasional holidays, though I guess Christmas would be off the list permanently. Or maybe not, the job is over once Christmas Eve is over, right? We could sill get there by dinner."
"You've been doing some thinking." Clyde sounded daunted, but nodded. "It's a deal. But can it be a small one? I've seen some of those human weddings on TV and, blergh, too much."
"Small. Outside." Eric agreed with a nod, and a twitch of an ear. "Oh crap." Clyde's eyes shot to where Eric's hands tugged on a no longer human ear. "One non-fun stop today. I need to see the doc."
--------------------
"I've been doing research since you left." Lars said as he strode along toward the staff housing. "It might help convince him this is where he belongs."
Tom caught up and walked besides Lars. Werefoxes were not generally tall, and so Tom had no trouble keeping up with his long gait. It did make him stand out though as they left the more touristy areas and back to where mostly werefoxes lived. "Really?"
"Let me see if I can remember it without my notes." Lars tapped the side of his muzzle. "I found a story in the werewolf tribe, centuries ago a young hunter of the werewolf tribe got lost in a blizzard. He came across a human dwelling, and disguising himself as a human asked for shelter. They brought him in. It was a terrible winter and one storm led to another, but the wolf's hunting skills added to hat of the family that lived there brought in enough food to stat alive through the winter. Except, the wolf fell in love with the family's eldest daughter and he decided to stay with them for her."
"Kind of backwards from what we want, but go on." Tommy prompted.
"Anyway, she had kids eventually, you know how that works. Twins, two boys. Except one was born human and one a wolf. They knew their wolf son wouldn't be accepted by humans, so the new father took that boy and returned to his tribe, while she kept the human son. Before he left, though, he gave his human son a magical blessing. That if him or any of his descendants should come among the tribes and wish to stay, they would find the forms they needed to do so." Lars opened the door to his apartment, ushering Tom in ahead of him.
"Nice story, you want me to convince him we're descendants of some werewolf?" Tom sighed as he took a seat. It was a nicer place than Lars had had before, much more modern, he even had electronics and was that a video game console?
"Convince? Psshhhh." Lars walked over to a bookshelf, taking down a binder and and old book. He placed it on the table in front of Tom then sat on the couch. "I have evidence. I originally started working on this intending it to help me bring you back. I knew what happened to you and Eric happened once in a while. A human would show up, feeling drawn here and sometimes would join one of the tribes, sometimes leave, and they would change on their own, no focus needed." The fox looked at him with such sad eyes for a moment that Tom felt those reemerged fox ears of his wilt. "Anyway, that bloodline is well and alive in the wolf tribe. But I also did some digging in Santa's records. He keeps weirdly accurate records of all kids for some reason. He was set up by then, even if only the elf and reindeer tribes were friendly to him at that point."
Tommy flipped to a page that was a list of names. His was at the bottom, though Eric's had been scratched in below that in pencil. But above him, his father, his father's mother, her father, all the way back to an Erik Ulfson. Lars reached over and tapped that name. "He was literally the wolf's son. Became a famous warrior actually, joined something called the Varangian guard, I dunno. But every human that has come here and changed without a focus is descended from him. Including you and your brother."
"This is a lot of work." Tom said, flipping thought the binder.
"Seven years is a long time." Lars retorted, though he kept the sting out of his voice. "But the truth is, you both do belong up here. You have blood up here."
Tom stood up and walked over to take a seat next to Lars on the couch. The fox took the chance to snuggle up against his side. "You're not a kid anymore, Tommy. And I now the main thing that pulled you back was abandoning Eric. Well, he's here, you're here. You could stay, too." Tom opened his mouth to respond but Lars put a finger over it to hush him. "I won't bring it up again. I just want you to know, if you want to, you can stay. But don't lead me on if you know you won't. I can't go through that again."
Tom just wrapped an arm around Lar's shoulders and pulled him in, resting a chin on his head. "And here I thought the resort was your attempt to pull me back."
"Well, aren't we full of ourselves." Lars teased poking Tom in the side with a claw tipped finger. "But, your visit with your friends did start it. We thought humans might be finally ready to know we're up here. Some of you, anyway, in controlled groups." Lars continued in a whisper. "I am glad you came, even if it is just for a few days."