Michael sat at an out of the way table in the resort's bar. They had some good ciders up here, good beers, too, but he had always preferred hard cider for some reason. He always claimed it was the bite, the sourness, sour fit him well. With Eric and Tom having moved in to employee housing, their cabin was now in use by himself and Tess, thank the lord there were two bedrooms. The doctor had cleared her with instructions to take it easy for a few days. She looked like she was going to pass out again at that mouth full of teeth he had.
Tom, his Tom, was a fox. It had him wondering about Eric and his growth spurt. Maybe it wasn't natural after all. He just couldn't understand why Tess was so upset, though, they weren't kids anymore, you couldn't hold on forever. They were making lives for themselves, that was what happened. He guess he had let go years ago when Eric made it pretty clear he didn't want a relationship, and Tom, Tom had always been in his own head except for when it came to looking out for Eric.
He also had picked this table as it was next to a frosted window with a faint view of the resort outside, distorted by the crystal pattern crusted to the outside.
"Mind if I join you?" The voice was deep and gruff. He looked up the the wolf, white fur with silver points, golden eyes. Instead of a stark white lab coat he wore a black vest with silver buttons up the front, a pocket watch chain leading to one pocket. Still no pants though. The wolf caught him inspecting the outfit. "One good thing about clothing optional is you can dress for look. I took a liking to vests when I was studying. May I?" He motioned at the open chair again.
Michael nodded. "Please, doctor." He couldn't keep a slight smirk off his face. "Aren't there children around?"
"Otso is fine." He replied as he set his bottle down on the table in front of him. Cider, Michael noted with mild satisfaction. "There are children, and those areas are marked off. If a kid wanders outside of them, well, its an anatomical lesson they could use. I never understood human prudishness. The need for warmth, yes, the covering up." Otso shook his head.
Unlike the others he had spoken to Otso's English was a bit more refined, and he didn't seem to slip between languages like Lars and Clyde seemed to. "When you were studying?" The line finally made it's way through Michael's slightly tipsy mind. "Where?"
"Cornell in the US for veterinary medicine, then Oxford in England for my medical degree. You need both to work well up here." Otso grinned faintly. "I have a diverse patient base."
"I can imagine." Michael said with a small laugh. Strange, despite the man across from him being a wolf, he felt like he was just chatting away with someone back home.
"And you? What keeps you busy most days?" Otso leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs as he sat at ease. But there was still that predator's edge to him. The foxes around here seemed to be boundless energy. Otso was more like a coiled spring, seemingly still but waiting for release.
"Broadcast TV." Michael replied simply, it sounded better than a more detailed job description, and the questions always turned into what celebrities have you met anyway more than his actual job.
"I must say, I'm quite impressed with your sons." Michael shifted his gaze back over to the wolf, that was not what he was expecting. "Eric especially. He's quite the young man, quickly becoming popular with all the right people just by being himself." That didn't sound like his shy withdrawn Eric at all. "He has a bright future for himself up here. It takes a special type of person to charm Santa."
"Santa?" Michael could hear the skepticism in his own voice, then shook his head. "Well, I did fly here on a train pulled by reindeer, so, I guess it makes sense." Otso simply smiled, not mocking him for the lapse at all. "How is he? I mean. He's not the same young man that left."
"He's my patient, Mr. Laine, and an adult. I can't discuss his medical history without a waiver. What I can tell you is you have nothing to worry about. He'll share in his own time. Hopefully your wife won't be visiting me again when he does." Otso shook his head. "I wasn't much help to him anyway. I had my eye on the wrong thing. Not often I learn something new, anymore." He didn't sound grudging, if anything he was pleased someone had proved him wrong.
"Ex-wife." Michael corrected and something in the wolf's attitude seemed to shift, a slightly loosening of the spring. "I'm afraid I can't really take credit for the boy, she raised him since he was eight. I just sent them money. Tom I had more of a hand in. Do you have children?" Cubs? Was children the right word? The wolf didn't seem to mind.
"No. I was down south studying and dong my residency then getting some experience under my belt for almost fifteen years. Then I came back just in time for the other doctor to join the spirits. Ah.. so I've been alone up here working for the last decade while two more are down studying. One should be coming up to give me some free time in the summer. Finally ready to come home. Needless to say, being the only fully trained doctor up here has left me with not much time to consider family. I had a few flings down south, but nothing lasting."
The wolf smiled, and despite the sharp teeth it revealed there was something warm about it. "Now, I can't decide if I would just want something casual, or someone I could just grow old with. It doesn't help when everyone up here has been your patient at one point or another."
Michael felt fur under his hand and looked to see he hand placed it on Otso's arm. He snatched it back, but Otso caught it, staring into Michael's eyes with his golden ones. He hadn't felt like this since.. He was a bit more gentle in loosening his hand. "I need to go, I promised Tom and Lars dinner."
Otso nodded and leaned back in the chair as Michael stood up. He swore he caught a bit of red against the wolf's white fur, at the tip of his sheath. He shivered at the thought, and not in a bad way. He needed to get the boys settled down and get out of here. It seems Laine men just weren't safe to be left alone up here.
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Tom excused himself and Lars to go meet Michael for dinner. Even here Tess had to split time with him because they couldn't linger in the same room without it turning to bickering. Tom talked about himself and Lars freely, but whenever she asked about Eric he clammed up and said it was for Eric to share. But after her.. reaction to Tom. Well, she was worried Eric was not going to have an easy time opening up to her like he usually did.
Maybe it was good he got pulled away on that new job of his for a couple days. It would give her time to process. A knock on the door had her furrowing her brow though. Maybe Tom left something behind.
She opened the door to one of the most imposing men she had ever seen in her life. Tall, broad, thick-chested, and what she would guess was her age by the white peppering his brown hair and full beard. He wore boots, jeans and a thick parka, and had a rather gruff expression on his face. "You're Theresa? Eric's mother? I'm Bix. I wanted to talk with you."
"Bix..?" She asked softly, but gave a nod at his questions.
"Just Bix, we don't really do the last name thing." He rubbed at the back of his head. "May I come in?"
She sighed and stepped aside, holding the door open for him, gesturing him inside. He took of his parka revealing not a speck of that bulk he was carrying around to be fat. The man was a solid wall of muscle. "May I get you something to drink, Mr. Bix? I just put on some tea."
"Just Bix." He repeated, looking around the cabin curiously. "Water is fine."
She poured him a glass of water then herself a cup of tea. She carried both into the living room and sat the drinks of the table between the couch and a lounge chair which she took for herself. "So, just Bix, what about Eric brought you to come talk with me."
He eyed her sideways, like she was a snake about to bite him. She made him nervous? He was probably more than twice her weight, well on the way to a third her. He finally say and picked up the water, taking a sip. My god, he would put more than half of Venice beach to shame, she thought. "Whatever he shares with you, when he shares with you, and what I know of him, he will, I just ask you approach it with an open mind."
"Well, my other son is now a fox, so I don't see as it could be any more bizarre than that." She said coolly. She new she shouldn't be snippy with this man, but the audacity of butting into her relationship with her sons. "Do you have any children?" She scanned his fingers for a wedding ring but saw none.
"Two sons." He said after a moment as if he wasn't quite used to that. "Good lapset, both of them. Best a father could ask for."
"Are you even human?" And Tess knew the moment she saw his expression, when the words came out of her mouth that she had stepped in it.
"No. Does that matter?" He asked, his voice low and his eyes hard.
"No. And yes." She said, sighing and sipping at her tea. Bix stood up, shaking his head. "I feel like I'm losing them, this is more than just moving away, this is... how would you feel if one of your sons did this?"
"One of my sons did, I was just lucky enough to be the one he was coming to. And as much as he isn't my blood, he's mine." Bix oddly looked startled at his own words for a moment. "And if my other son decided he needed to seek himself elsewhere, I'd just be glad he was happy and safe and someone had the chance to learn to love him as much as I do." Bix snorted. "Besides, we have flying reindeer. Better than planes. Your sons could wake up, be down to see you for breakfast, and be back in time for lunch. You're not losing them, they're finding themselves." He pulled his jacket back on. "Eric will be back the day after tomorrow from his business trip."
With that, just Bix left, leaving her alone with her thoughts.