"Hyvä, but I want to play a human woman with massive munkit." Tag shrugged at his blank character sheet after pushing the open book towards Tom, who had been trying to explain the different available races. "Just tell me what to do."
Tag, Eric, Clyde, Lars, and Eino sat around Bix's table marking down their statistics as candles flickered around them. Tess busied herself making some snacks while Bix lounged on the couch with an ice pack on his knee. He had taken one look at the thick book and declined politely. "Not for me, anteeksi. You boys have fun."
Practice had ended early after Arvo had taken a nasty spill, sparks sputtering from his hooves as the lights in the facility blinked out. He was just a little scraped up, but Rudy wasn't willing to take any more chances. It had been the third such mishap in as many days and he wasn't willing to risk the health of his team so close to the big night. He looked incredibly stressed, though his nose seemed to glow less than Eric would have expected, considering. "Go home and rest up. I need to see if Humphrey knows where Santa's gone. We're grounded until further notice. No flying. Tomorrow we'll focus on weights and ground exercises only. Have a good night." He'd barely finished the sentence before storming out of the room, his ears twitching wildly.
As Christmas neared, the teams were practicing more and more together to promote synergy, and it had given Eric some time to interact with Eino--who he found to be a lot more likeable than he had made him out to be in his head. His first impression, compounded with the jealousy of feeling replaced, had caused him to wrongfully vilify the buck who was just trying to do his best. He was a bit of a try-hard, sure, but they were making friends. Especially once Tag had mentioned that Eino was looking into TRPGs. That had sealed the deal of their future friendship.
Tom had been more than willing to dust off the old campaign he used to run for Eric as a kid, and he dragged Lars along with him. Apparently they'd been making progress with the internet, but had been likewise forced to give Tom's friends the day off when the power had gone out again. "I sure hope we can get it all figured out, or Dad's plan's never going to work. Just wait until he shows you tonight. I think it's gonna be really cool."
Eric had brushed off his old Elf Rogue, and Clyde had decided to go with a Gnome Sorcerer. "They got these all wrong. These gnomes should be called elves." Lars opted to be a Bard--he'd insisted on playing a fox and they adapted the Elf stats to appease him. Eino had come with his character sheet ready: Orc Paladin. Tag settled on a Human Fighter (with big tits).
"Ok. So you're walking along the road and suddenly a large creature comes tearing out of the woods. It looks to be a mixture of owl and bear. What do you do?" Tom began.
"Is it hot?" Lars asked immediately.
Tom blinked and rolled a die. "...Yes. It's kind of hot, I guess." He sighed.
"Wonderful. I want to fuck it." Lars didn't miss a beat.
"You can't just--"
"I. Want. To. Fuck. It." Lars' tail flicked with mischievous amusement.
"Fine. Roll a, let's say...straight Charisma check." Tom shook his head with a laugh.
"Hmm. A 4 plus...3. So 7?" Lars consulted his character sheet.
"Nope. Sorry. You walk up and it starts to growl, feeling threatened. I need everyone to roll for initiative."
"Mitä nyt oikein tapahtuu?" Tag asked, flipping his sheet over in confusion as Clyde and Eric grinned at each other.
-
The power had returned by the time Michael and Otso knocked on the door. "Sorry, I've had back to back patients," Otso looked exhausted as he collapsed on the couch, "I haven't been able to catch my breath all day! People are beginning to panic. The magic is going haywire!"
They tried to put their worries aside as they gathered around while Michael was finishing setting up. He'd been plotting something for the last couple of weeks, and promised to finally reveal his big idea. He'd come with an easel and some handwritten presentation boards in case the power went out again.
He cleared his throat and began, "As you all know by now, Santa has reached out to me with a potential job offer. We haven't been able to meet yet, for obvious reasons, but since I got the letter a couple of weeks ago I've been doing some thinking because I want to be prepared. Now, as you know I've been working in sports broadcasting for the better part of my career, and I've had a hand in starting several new networks. And I think a lot of that could easily translate to here." He spoke excitedly, his tail wagging behind him. He was clearly in his element and Eric nodded--he'd seen Michael in 'workmode' when he'd been dragged on a facility tour, but he'd never been this passionate.
Michael continued, "Now, I know you're worried about keeping the Tribes and the area safe. Which is why I thought of a new approach: Streaming. I've been talking to Tom and his crew, and I think once things are up and running, we could easily set up a small production studio and could broadcast over the satellite internet. That way we could maintain complete creative control over what we put out, and we can even do it with relative anonymity." He placed a poster board on the easel with a list of topics. "Sketch Shows, Video Games, Talk Shows, you name it. We could even broadcast one of the hockey games you had mentioned, Tag."
Theresa was used to picking holes in Michael's plans. "Don't you think having a bunch of animal people on TV will be a little risky, though? I thought the point was to keep the general public away from here unless they've been properly vetted through the resort?"
"That's the thing!" Michael was prepared, "We ease into it. Most of the Tribes can change into human forms, and tails or ears here and there would pass as a quirky costume and even make us stand out. Once we've established things, we can start easing into more and more, which will most likely pass as CGI. We would have complete control. The second something goes wrong we pull the plug and back off." It seemed like a good idea, and there was definitely an audience for it in some corners of the internet at least. Eric didn't quite understand how they'd implement the whole thing, but he wasn't the one up for the job. "I've got plenty of contacts I can reach out to and I've already started putting together a list of the equipment we'll need so I can present it to Santa for budget approval."
"You mean I can be on TV?" Tag was bought in immediately.
"That's actually really cool, Dad." Eric offered. "Do you know what you'll call it yet?"
Michael beamed. "That's actually the best part!" He placed the other poster board on the easel, which prompted laughter from the audience. In bold black letters filled in with red, green, and yellow marker, the sign read: "REINDEER GAMES" The wolf laughed along. "I took some inspiration from you, Eric. Just like the song."
A light applause quickly became cheers, though not for the reason Michael likely expected. His tail wagged excitedly behind him as his nose, which was already beginning to turn black, darkened further and his face pushed out into a full muzzle. A soft glow radiated around him before fading away just as quickly. Otso was already pulling him into a wolfish kiss as they embraced. Evidently Michael had made his final decision, and he was soon swarmed with hugs and congratulations.
----
"So you...think it went...well?" Michael had to ask between kisses from Otso, who lapped and kissed at his muzzle ravenously. The doctor had dragged him home immediately after the presentation was over, and was all over him. He was sure someone had seen his throbbing wolfhood on their trip home--the perils of being naked. Any fallout would have to wait, though as they were consumed with each other.
Otso had clearly gotten his second wind as his tail whipped back and forth while he pushed Michael towards their bed. (He had insisted on Michael referring to it as such, even if they still hadn't figured out the full-time logistics.) The wolf crawled on top of him and grinned at him toothily. "Marvelously, love." His voice was more of a growl. "It honestly couldn't have gone better." Michael was unsure of whether Otso was talking about the presentation or the transformation, though he had a feeling that it was a little of both.
"I want to knot you." Michael was surprised as Otso kissed him again, relishing the way their muzzles fit so well against each other. It wasn't so much of a question as it was a demand, and he felt his dick pulse at the implications. For all of their explorations, penetration had been the last thing on the list to try. Michael had topped and given blowjobs; he'd even tried rimming the wolf, but there was just something about being fucked in the ass that felt final. He pushed Otso back for a moment to look into his golden eyes for a moment before he nodded. He'd already made one big decision today--why not two?
Before he knew it, he was on his stomach, bent over the bed as Otso worked his cock from behind and between his legs. He felt claws tracing down his back through his fur as he breathed and steadied himself. The teasing stopped and Michael soon began to feel something thick and hot at his entrance. "Are you ready, love? Just relax. I'll try to take it as slow as I can." He gritted his teeth and nodded, his tail twitching between them, and saw stars. Otso's pointed dick entered him a few inches before stopping to let him acclimate. Sensing that he was fine, Otso continued to press in before stopping once more as he felt the claws on his back again. "I'm about half-way in. How are you doing?"
Michael grunted into the bed, "Don't stop." He found himself pushing back, hoping for it to go deeper--a request the usually reserved doctor was more than willing to humor. They were soon going at it like, well, wolves as they growled roughly together, their connection now beyond words. Whether he was gay or not, or just in love with his wolf did not matter. Michael could absolutely get used to this. Otso alternated between running his paws up and down Michael's back and jacking him off.
Their fucking began to pick up pace as Michael felt a thicker portion of the dick stretching his entrance in the pounding--Otso's knot. So this is what it felt like. He pushed back at it, their thrusts becoming more frenzied and desperate, and he groaned as the knot pushed him open. So fucking close. Finally, with a particularly barkish growl, Otso thrust forward and Michael felt the knot force its way in before holding them together as he panted into the bed. This sent the new wolf over the brink as he howled into the covers. The jackhammering continued with smaller, quicker thrusts and soon Otso was howling with him as he felt his bowels fill with hot seed.
Otso collapsed on top of Michael and breathlessly lapped at the back of his neck as his cock continued to spasm inside, fully tied. He chuckled and breathed deeply, content. "Fuck. That was wild." The satisfied chuckling made his tail wag, stuck between them as they cuddled while waiting for the knot to recede.