I was really impressed. Not only did the place look a hell of a lot better and more tastefully decorated than the last party we'd just escaped, but it seemed like almost everyone I knew was here. Lia and AEGIS, obviously, Saga and Karu, whom I'd brought with me, and Eryn, who had wanted to stay behind but Karu had insisted come, but also the P-Force, Tem, Jack, Tower, even Moon. I recognized the blue-haired Exhuman from our first op, and wondered who'd invited her.

At our entrance, Tem immediately assumed a flanking position on me as ever, the others nodded, waved, shouted us a merry greeting, smiled with closed eyes, or continued reading their book based on their level of social proficiency. Lia, I think, was trying to come over to say hello or welcome us, but seemed stuck by some kind of force field which made her approach very tentatively and then retreat very brusquely.

I walked up to say hello while Karu greeted Tower, and the two of them were immediately laughing boisterously, while Saga joined Moon in the reject corner.

"Hey, Lia. Nice looking party."

"Saga is here. Why is Saga here?" she spoke quietly and quickly.

"Yeah, sorry. We just kind of ran into her on the street. She's got something important to do, so she's leaving soon. I wanted to invite her over to see her off."

"She's leaving? Again?"

"Again?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean. Gah. In Vegas."

"Oh. Right," I said, remembering the borrowed memories Saga had forced into me of that whole disaster. "I guess your last experience with Saga was...not great."

"Yeah. I don't...how am I supposed to look her in the eye, even? Oh God."

Lia began pacing back and forth, frizzing out her hair and breathing like a nervous rabbit. "I'm going to be right back," she said abruptly and turned to go towards the food.

For some reason, Karu and Tower were now arm wrestling on top of a fancy little chess table from the room, and despite the disparity of size, she was holding him off. I knew she trained constantly and he was mostly just a big guy, but being a big guy counted for a lot. It looked to me like he had the absolute advantage in terms of strength, and was definitely pressing her slowly towards defeat, but she had a lot more stamina. In a couple more matches, she'd probably be beating him every time.

But not this time. Her arm hit the table and he stood up and whooped, Tem applauding politely while Jack and Blue smiled on.

I went over to her, sitting in a chair next to her so I wasn't looming over her wheelchair. "Hi, merry Christmas," I said. She smiled and returned my greeting with exuberance. "I'm sorry, I remember you but forgot your name."

"Oh, it's no problem. Steffie. I could never forget you, Chariot, you and the others, I owe you my life."

I laughed, a little embarrassed, but feeling stupidly pleased with myself anyway. We caught up a little, apparently she had been a florist, but her shop was closing with forced relocation to New Eden soon. She was here by Jack's invitation, and it seems the man had decided her well-being was his responsibility after she'd been used as bait to force us to fight Dipshit or whatever his real name was, and then her paralysis as a result of the fight.

She laughed and apologized.

"When I put it like that, it sounds like you guys have been nothing but trouble for me, but really, I'm grateful. Even though things turned out like...like this," she gestured at herself as a whole, and I wondered if she meant being Exhuman, in a wheelchair, or celebrating before forced relocation "I know you guys saved my life and were all just looking out for me. And as an Exhuman for years, it's...it's weird...to have someone looking out for you."

We talked a little more before AEGIS randomly called me over to a corner by herself.

"Hey, got something important to tell you," she said conspiratorially.

"About your crash?"

She smiled. "I have news about that too, but let's not muck up the party with it, okay?"

"Sure. So what's up?"

"Funny you'd phrase it that way. Look up."

I did. Pinned to the ceiling above me was a little sprig of serrated leaves and bright red berries. I wasn't a botanist but…

"Mistletoe?" I asked.

AEGIS grinned in response and put her hands on my shoulders, advancing on me slowly with half-lidded eyes. I took half a step backwards and ran into something solid. AEGIS frowned.

"Why hello, AEGIS. Ashton. Mistletoe I see? A quaint tradition, but one I suppose I will endure if you insist."

I glanced back and saw Karu standing there with an embarrassed smile, appearing at the scene as though she could both sense the situation like Saga and move like Jack.

Speaking of whom, as though to complete the scene, Saga was sauntering over, still wearing my oversized coat on her shoulders.

"Like I'd let you two just have him," she said with a grin of her own. "If tonight's my last night here, doesn't it seem only fair I get him to myself for a little bit?"

They were all laughing and smiling, but as far as I was concerned this was a scenario right up there with the apocalypse.

"Hey, I'm really hungry actually--" I said, trying to shrug off AEGIS, but her grip was impossibly strong, and the more I struggled the more I thought she might just rip my shoulders off. Which might actually have been a good escape strategy. Nothing more festive than spending the holidays in a regenerator, right?

"I think you should kiss someone, Athan," AEGIS said with a singsong voice which failed to conceal the venom in it. "That shouldn't be so hard, right?"

"Ooh, he could kiss me!" Tem volunteered, completely oblivious, or at least acting like it. "I don't know if mistletoe applies to me, but I'd...I'd...I'd like that!"

Well at least the three other girls could agree on something, as they closed ranks and shunned the outsider. The looks in their eyes definitely made it clear that having my arms ripped off would be the far less painful plan than kissing Tem out of desperation.

"Indeed, I have been feeling a bit strung along, as it were," Karu continued as though Tem had never happened. "You seem to have few reservations to swapping spit with my party guests or busting in on me changing, but when it comes to behaving seriously…"

"I mean, the choice is pretty obvious too," Saga said with a grin. "You know and I know that there's plenty of stuff I can do these others can't even come close to."

"Saga, why are you even here?" Karu asked flatly. "We are attempting to resolve a serious matter, and you are leaving on your own affairs before long. Why involve yourself?"

"Eh, seemed like fun."

"You're totally irresponsible," AEGIS chided.

"Yeah. For tonight. I was told I need to put off my quest to party for one day, so here I am partying it up. Got a problem with it, tell my boyfriend here."

"He is not your boyfriend," AEGIS fumed.

"Indeed, given the morally reprehensible actions--"

"Karu," I cut in. "You guys can fight over me all you like, but nobody's attacking anyone here tonight, got it?"

"Any risk of that was eliminated when I did not bring my weaponry."

"I meant verbally too. It's a party, guys."

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Saga gave Karu an enormous superior grin which looked out of place on her usually reserved physical demeanor.

"Saga, don't be a dick," I added with a sigh.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to be if you'd let me borrow yours."

"Can't help but to notice," AEGIS said with her eyes focused on me alone "that our boy here seems to be avoiding picking a set of lips to settle on." Damn her robotic focus.

"Yeah. So just kiss me already."

"Or, do not make a foolish decision and pick me. I would not mind."

"FooLish decisions?" I heard another girl say. "I LOve foolsih desigions!"

Lia stumbled into the group, reeking of alcohol and leaning on me heavily. The others backed away half a step.

"HEy, someone spiked the degg nog," she said. "It was meE, I sopiked the eggnot. Heeeee."

"Jesus Christ, you're drunk," I said, holding her up. "How the fuck did you get drunk so fast?"

"You'd think someone who drinks so much would be better at it," AEGIS sighed. Lia rolled around in my arms and found herself looking up.

"OH SNAails, thers misstletow up there!" she said, and then snapped her head back down. She grinned deviously and blushed, and before I could comprehend the drunk state of mind, felt her lips mashed against mine.

It lasted about a quarter second before my brain caught up and I dropped her to the ground with a surprised grunt. The overpowering smell of booze and the feeling of...of…

I retched. The girls took another step back as I doubled over and clawed at my own mouth.

"Holy fuck," AEGIS said, her yellow eyes wide.

"What in the nine hells," murmured Karu.

"Okay that is fucked up," Saga agreed.

"Me next!" Tem chimed in.

"Saga, please," I croaked out. I practically fell on her, clutching at her coat.

"Yeah. This one's on me," she said, panicking a little as she fought me off. "Calm down!"

She tapped me on the forehead and I felt my eyes roll back and then…

I woke up on a couch, wondering how I'd managed to fall asleep in the middle of the party. Lia seemed blacked out next to me, reeking of alcohol. I smiled and ruffled her hair a little. She'd really worked hard putting this whole thing together, and while it kinda sucked she'd managed to pass out so early, I hoped she still managed a good time.

I stood up, gave her final pat on the head, and saw AEGIS who was walking by with a plate of food stop and look at me skeptically.

"What?" I asked.

"Doting on your sister a little much?" she asked.

"She's my sister," I shrugged. "How much did she have to drink, anyway?"

"Way, way, way too much," AEGIS said and just shook her head. I followed AEGIS to where Karu was standing by the fireplace, and AEGIS handed the plate over to the hunter.

"Better party than the last one, huh?" I asked Karu, who seemed lost in the fire.

"What? Oh. Hello, Ashton. My apologies."

"Nothing to be sorry for."

"It is well that you are celebrating Christmas here. Could you imagine if you were still residing in the wild?"

"Yeah, that'd be one hell of a black Christmas."

"Indeed. You would not even possess a chimney. Where would Santa go?"

I laughed. Karu jokes were rare and often understated. But as I finished laughing, I noticed she wasn't.

"Uh," I said. "Sorry?"

"I was being serious," she said, still looking at the fire.

"About...Santa."

"Yes."

I looked at AEGIS for help, who just shrugged back at me with an expression of mild alarm. Across the room, Saga was laughing so hard, she was drawing looks from Moon for disrupting the girl's reading.

"You were not joking?" I reiterated.

"I do not see what is so difficult to comprehend. Santa enters your domicile via the chimney. Your previous residence had no such chimney. Therefore Santa could not enter, and you would receive no Christmas presents."

"I get your logic, the problem is, Santa's just a fictional character they tell kids about to make them behave well and go to bed on Christmas Eve."

Karu blinked at me. "No? I have seen evidence of his existence firsthand. I have received many presents from the saint, personally, through the years."

The glance that AEGIS and I shared was now frankly concerned.

"How old are you, Karu?" AEGIS asked.

"Twenty-seven. Born 2224."

"And you've bought presents for people before, right?"

"Of course. And that reminds me, I have gifts for you, Eryn made sure to grab them--"

"And you realize," AEGIS continued "if you are getting other people gifts, they are getting you gifts as well, often times."

"Certainly."

"And you don't think it'd be possible for some of those gifts...that other people got you...for them to claim the gift was from Santa."

"Karu, Santa isn't real," I added.

She looked at us like we'd just popped a bubble she was particularly proud of blowing.

"God...damn...that man," she said, gritting her teeth.

"Um, Karu?" AEGIS asked pityingly.

"My apologies. As I have told Ashton before, I had...shall we say a sheltered upbringing, as it were. Despite living autonomously for...eight, nine years now, I still find myself blindsided by my father's lies on occasion."

"I don't think this time was your father lying to you," I said with a gentle smile. "Lots of parents tell their kids Santa is real. I guess you just never learned otherwise."

"So allow me to confirm. The bike I received at age six, and the hover pack at age ten, those were both gifts from someone other than Santa Claus."

AEGIS and I now shared a guilty glance instead.

"Right," she said.

"Probably your father," I said.

"I understand." She thought for a moment, still looking at the fire. "If you will excuse me, I need to destroy some treasured artifacts from my youth. AEGIS, please give my thanks to Lia for the party."

I stopped her and we talked her down, but she seemed unable to reconcile the fact that some of her happiest memories had been the work of her father, whom she detested.

"Hey, but, presents, right? You said you had some?" I said, hoping to change the subject.

"Oh, correct, I had nearly forgotten. I apologize, I had not anticipated so many people here...etiquette would dictate I get something for everyone. Is there perhaps some manner of convenience store still open nearby, I wonder?"

"Hey, I didn't get anything for anyone," I said. "I wasn't expecting to come here at all."

"Also, you're a really terrible person," AEGIS added with a smirk.

"Yeah, that. So don't feel too bad. I also kind of doubt everyone got something for you anyway, so you'd just make things more awkward if you did get them something."

"I...suppose. Well, regardless...Eryn?"

She had to pull Eryn out of an arm-wrestling match against Tower, who was making a very large production of how impossible it was for him to defeat her while she laughed, but came back to us with a small glossy paper bag. Karu fished inside and produced a knife which she handed to me, in a hard matte-finished metal sheath.

"Not to be crass, but the blades issued by the XPCA are crap," she said. "A knife is one's last line of defense, and one's first tool. It should be the most dependable piece of your kit. This one will hold an edge longer than your lifetime, and will never chip or break. It is sharp and dangerous. And in that danger lies safety. Use it well."

I unsheathed the blade a few inches and took a good look at it. Even to my untrained eye, it looked badass as hell. The cutting edge was obviously formed of something completely alien, looking almost translucent like it was crystal, and blended seamlessly into the black of the rest of the blade which I recognized as being constructed with carbon nanotubes rather than a cheap blackening paint job to avoid reflecting light at night.

"Wow, Karu, thanks."

"I happen to have a matching blade, if you were curious," she said almost embarrassed, and then quickly changed the subject to give AEGIS a charm of some video game character. No idea how she knew what AEGIS liked, but she adored the thing and put it on her mobile immediately, and then a plushy derpy cat for Lia, which she cuddled in her sleep and made a contented noise.

Karu upended the bag with a note of finality and a single strip of black cloth fell out of the bag onto the floor. She snatched it up and then glared daggers at Eryn.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Karu said flatly, but Eryn was coming over with her cheshire grin.

"It's a present for the young master," she said, leaning her elbows on Karu's shoulders and hanging off her.

"It most certainly is not," Karu said.

"Sure it is, you see--"

"Yes," Karu interjected, her face glowing hot. "It is...a mere scrap of cloth for you to practice with your knife. In fact, if you will allow me to demonstrate…"

She held out her hand, but instead I gently took the fabric from her other hand, Karu not really resisting, but with a growing look of pained horror on her face.

It was a plain black choker. Same as the one Karu was wearing now. Seemed totally harmless, and actually a little cute of Karu to get so worked up about, like how she's had to point out that we had matching knives but then immediately changed the subject.

"It's cool. Thanks, Karu," I said clasping it on my neck. "I've been meaning to accessorize a little more, though I don't think this will show up over my uniform at all. I was actually thinking like, maybe some sweet fuck-off leather wristbands or something, but this is a lot better. Definitely more sentimental. Thanks!"

She muttered something incoherent and drifted away like a ghost, touching the collar on her own neck. Eryn gave a polite curtsey and skipped away after her mistress.

I swear, for as long as I live, I will never understand women.

Having felt like I'd made the rounds with most people, and unable to put off eating any longer, I headed over and piled a mountain of meats and cheeses on a delicate little plastic plate, and found room for a single cream cheese puff balanced on top, and then headed to a secluded corner to sit and eat.

The secluded corner contained Moon of course, or Kaori, I guess, since we were off duty, despite my uniform sans coat.

True to form, she didn't even acknowledge my presence as I sat next to her and stuffed my face.