Clyde stood in the falling snow outside of Bix's house as they approached. He looked absolutely mortified when he realized Santa was carrying Eric again. It must've looked hauntingly familiar to him, Eric realized with a twinge of guilt. He waved exhaustedly from Santa's arms. "Look who I found!"
"Again, Eric? What happened?!" He rushed forward, looking incredibly confused as he realized Santa was back. His cheery demeanor didn't quite match the situation, and he hesitated after running up to them. Eric reached out to caress his muzzle.
"What happened is Eric saved me from making a terrible, terrible mistake. You sure know how to pick 'em, Clyde." Santa winked. "May we come in? The Mrs. will be along shortly!"
Clyde blinked and nodded as he turned to get the door. "Uh, yes. Absolutely, sir..."
Eric couldn't help but laugh at all of the confused expressions on his family's faces as Santa ducked into the house. Seeing the large man, who had been all but missing for the last month, carrying the injured looking reindeer must've been quite the sight, and it wasn't lost on Eric that he was making a habit of this particular entrance.
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"It was insane! And when the Australian guy moved, it was like rainbows trailed after him in the air. And the big Egyptian guy? I think that was Anubis. Oh! And there was this huge furry guy with massive feet..." Eric told his reindeer everything that had transpired.
Clyde sat in the chair next to the bed, which Eric rested in. His body felt exhausted, but he couldn't stop talking as the reindeer looked on in a mixture of interest, confusion, shock, and relief. They held hooves as he talked, and Eric felt comforted by his protective gaze.
Santa and Mrs. Clause had been quite the welcome guests as they proclaimed their gratitude for what Eric had done, and chatted about everything that still needed to be done in the next few days. They couldn't stay long, however, and had gone home a couple of hours ago. The power was back in full force and the storm had relented. His family had allowed Eric and Clyde to rest with the promise of a full interrogation soon. He had some explaining to do.
"I'm taking credit for this, you know," Lars had joked, "I'm the one who booked you for that first lesson, after all." They laughed and hugged before he and Tom went home.
All the while, Clyde had refused to leave from Eric's side. He felt guilty, and couldn't blame him. But he felt an overwhelming sense of relief. "I felt it when you..." Clyde trailed off. "In my chest. I felt it. It's weird, like I can always feel you, but for a moment I couldn't. And it nearly killed me."
Eric frowned and squeezed his hoof. "I'm still here, Clyde. I'm so sorry for making you worry. I couldn't just stand there while Santa threw everything away. I couldn't let him do that to you. Honestly? The worst part of the whole thing was the thought that I wouldn't be a reindeer anymore. So that even if I made it out of there..."
Clyde nodded and climbed onto the bed with him. He sighed as his eyes danced over Eric's body. Though he seemed to make a decision as he smiled softly. He brought Eric's hooved hand to his lips.
"This looks Reindeer to me." He kissed it before moving to his other hand. "This also looks Reindeer to me." He kissed it as well. He moved down to Eric's hooved feet. "Reindeer, Reindeer." He kissed both and began to kiss up Eric's leg. "Reindeer, Reindeer, Reindeer..." He stopped at his sheath before pressing his soft nose into it and inhaling deeply. "Definitely Reindeer." He kissed it and began to nibble up Eric's stomach as he squirmed, laughing. He placed his ear to Eric's chest, listening to his beating heart. "That sounds like a Reindeer." He continued his playful nipping.
Clyde stopped when he got to Eric's face, as he sat straddling his legs. He looked him over before tapping at Eric's unbroken antler. "Reindeer." He tapped at the wooden piece. "That's wood. Still Reindeer, though." Then he nipped at Eric's nose as he felt a stirring in his sheath. Their gaze met and they smiled at each other dreamily. "This though? There's no question. All Söpö." He pulled Eric into a deep, loving kiss.