| Rexmas Eve at the Louis Estate | ||
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Rexmas at the Louis Estate is fairly calm this year. There are moderate decorations up and some soft Rexmas music being played on vinyl in the main hall. Most of the staff is given the night off. Louis walks with his wife, Azuki, to the front door. They look far less like husband and wife and more like distant friends. "I'm sure the party will go wonderfully," says the buck. "It might be better if the CEO were to make an appearance," offers the doe. "But there's nothing to worry about. Zanya will be with me. Dope, too, since you've insisted. That and he doesn't mind holiday pay." The couple take each others' hands and look to one another knowingly. "I've heard the mayor will be there. He'll know of Dope's history. Just be mindful." "For the company." "Yes, and for you. Try to have some fun. Merry Rexmas, Azuki." "Merry Rexmas, Louis." The door is opened and the stag Zanya and the lion Dope are waiting. They escort Azuki to one of the estate vehicles to be on their way. When the doors close, Louis rubs his face before looking down at the cheesy Rexmas sweater he's wearing. At least it's cozy. "Well, guys," Louis says to some of the lions hanging out. "Wife's gone. Guess you can have that party now. We can head to the drawing room. Just don't wreck things too badly or Yuta will be mad at all of us." Agata looks up from the book he was reading, face quickly turning into a smile as he places his bookmark on a page and snaps the tome shut. "Finally, we've been waiting for this!" He says with obvious cheer in his voice as he stands up from the comfy couch he was sitting on. "What Agata said," pipes in Free. "But couldn't we have at least hired a stripper?" Louis narrows his eyes as the more wild lion of the bunch suggests such a scandalous thing, but Sabu is there to remind him that such a thing just couldn't happen at Louis' house. It'd have to be at one of their apartments. "You know that." "Yeah, well, my apartment is only big enough for two lions at the same time. Maybe Louis could squeeze in, too, but then he might get between the stripper and me," replies Free with his tongue hanging free as he loosens and removes his tie. Louis simply walks on to start heading down the hall toward the 'living room' of the mansion. Or at least the biggest one out of all of them. "Not shaking my ass for you, Free," says Louis. "That's not how we celebrate Rexmas in my home." There's a mischievous smile from the deer. No longer a gang boss he may be, but the reflection is still there. "Clearly you'd have to shake your ass for me. Right, Agata?" Agata's eyes widen in response to the question and the meaning behind it. Why did his boss love to tease him so much, he'll never know. "Uhh, heh, umm..." He stumbles over his words as if tongue tied, his ears falling flat on his head with face flushed red. Sabu walks over to hook an arm around Agata's shoulders so they can all walk along toward where the boss wants them to be. "You feeling all right?" asks the bandanna-wearing lion of Agata in a hushed tone while Free and Louis trade more witty banter on the way. It's like Sabu can pick up on Agata's reaction but seems somewhat obvious as to what caused it. "I'm fine," Agata whispers back and lets loose a quiet sigh before cracking a small smile. "It's just me not being used to the boss' teasing by now and I know it's all in good fun." And it was from all the times it has happened, even if it is mostly at the dark furred lion's expense, but he can't complain. Besides, if he were really being honest with himself, the deer doing such a thing in such a nonchalant manner constantly added to the charm. "Teasing? Oh, well the boss has always had a sharp tongue. You know that." The arm around Agata's shoulders pulls away, yet ends with a firm back on the upper back. Louis opens up the door leading into the main drawing room to reveal quite a lot of decorations: paper cutouts, strings of tinsel, and a large conifer tree decorated in strings of lights and ornaments with a star on top. Beneath the tree are presents, wrapped and addressed, and to one side of the room sits a mobile wet bar stocked with glasses, a bucket of ice, tonic, and liquor. The air smells of evergreen sap and cinnamon. "Come on in. I'll text Miguel in case he's free. Pretty sure Dolph and Hino have a thing going on. Oh, and if you want to smoke, step out onto the veranda." The deer pulls out a phone and flips through a few screens. "Hey, Agata," Free calls out as he's quickly grabbing a drink. "One of these boxes has your name on the label." An idle ear flick is the only indication of the dark-furred lion hearing what Free said as he makes his way over to the box under the tree with his name on the label. A smile forms on his face while his curiosity started going into overdrive. Did Louis get him something? Was it a snow globe? Endless questions bombarded his mind, making him almost giddy on the inside. "Hey, greedy cats. At least wait until I'm done texting Miguel." Louis sounds very annoyed, but there's no hiding the faint smile on the deer's face. Tucking the phone into his pocket, the buck wanders over to pull a candy stick out of a display jar and idly looks it over. Free seems about ready to dig through all of the other boxes to look for more names he knows while Sabu walks over to look over the ornaments hung up. They never really did anything like this back in the Shishigumi days. It's more like a family this way, and less like Family, so it's a bit of a jarring difference. "Oh, right," says Louis with a raised voice. "These aren't peppermint. They're catmint." Free stops. "Silvervine extract candy? That's for children, boss." There's a beat. "But I'll take one anyway, HEH HEH HEH." Trading signature smiles with one another, Louis hands Free the fancy stick and takes the box with Agata's name on it while giving the lion a raised-eyebrow expression. "Hey, I bought the gifts. I get to hand them out, so...here. Merry Rexmas, Agata," says the deer to smileycat while stepping over and out of the way just in time. Jinma pokes his head in the door. Free and Sabu respond in greeting loudly in unison. "JinMAAAA." "Hey, did the missus leave already? Nobody told me." "You were on the shitter." Free tosses a candy stick to the flat-top maned lion. "Relax. I washed my hands." Lions party loudly, it's only going to get worse. Agata pouts slightly from the gift being taken away from him until realizing what's going on as the deer moves out of the way from what's going on currently. With ears perked up, he follows Louis to the side and takes the box with a smile. "Thanks, boss." He doesn't waste much time in opening it. The introduction of Jinma to the mix already makes things pick up in energy. Jinma, Free, and Sabu begin to chatter on about things completely Rexmas unrelated while snacking on the candy sticks available. Even Sabu, beneath his mask, sucks on a broken-off piece. Agata's gift box is about the right size and weight for it to be a snow globe, but upon opening it...it's not. There is, however, a picture of a snowglobe of Sunahama -- that's one of the nicer beaches available in the area about two hours by train from Denko -- and a small chunk of brick underneath it to weigh it down. There's a lot of multicolored paper strips to help fill it all out. Louis seems to expect some confusion at first and is ready to offer a 'flip the picture over' if needed to expose the ticket for travel and lodging at Sunahama for a date listed in late Spring. Something about a Freediving Expo? "What the hell is this?" Jinma finally asks with a gesture to Louis and Agata. Free and Sabu turn to look. "Gifts?" "No, not that. That." A pointing finger moves from the lion and deer...upward. Louis perks an ear and half-catches the conversation and his eyes move upward, too. Agata stares at the gift for a small moment, confusion etched across his face and about to question until Jinma speaks up. An idle ear flick and head turn reveals a finger pointing up, causing his eyes and head to move in that direction. Louis' jaw goes a little slack and his eyes widen -- a true deer in headlights moment -- as it all becomes clear. Earlier that day: Yuta, the head butler, is aware that Louis wants to throw a small party for his close friends and employees staying at the estate. A brief talk with Louis was all that was needed to plan the decorations and refreshments. All the same, Yuta decided to add a few extra touches. Oguma was unmarried, so there were some Rexmas things that were never used. Louis, being married to Azuki, prompted a few nice things that may or may not help make some nice memories. Unfortunately, Azuki decided to accept a last minute party invitation as a means to rub elbows with more of the city's elite and Yuta took up the offer to have the evening off (especially since staff would be present the following day for dinner planning). As such, those special touches were never adjusted or removed. Presently: Agata and Louis both look upward to see a rather magnificent display of hung mistletoe in a position that would make a great picture when taking in the large tree and fireplace decorations. Behind Louis' wide eyes, gears turn, and he is able to figure out just how this happened, but it doesn't solve the awkward predicament punctuated by a rather lewd statement exclaimed by a silver vine addled Free. "That means you've gotta KISS!" Laughter erupts. Agata's eyes widen in almost the same way as his boss right now, jaw slack before coming to a close and looking back at his boss, face flushing heavily. He already knew the significance of a mistletoe and with Free not so subtly shouting out what happens next, his heart started to beat rapidly in his chest. Louis thinks over all the different things he could say or do: I could play the vulgar route and yell at them to fuck off and eat their candy. I could play it super smooth and transfer the pressure onto Agata by testing if he's bold enough to even try. Or I could laugh it off, too, with a shake of my head and a smile and turn my focus back toward the presents. It IS Rexmas, after all... Louis crosses his arms and smugly closes his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Free. This is Rexmas. If Agata has to kiss me, so do all of you. ...well?! Your boss is waiting. Otherwise let's get back to the gifts." The deer lightly tips his head to the side and cracks one eye open to peer upward at the dark-furred lion's face. "...right, Agata?" Smirk. Agata nods his head and clears his throat to shake off the nerves. "Uh, y-yeah that sounds good." He had to give his boss credit, defusing situations such as these and many others that are otherwise embarrassing was a talent he often admired about the deer. "Maybe if you were a cute lady lion. Definitely would have to have bigger tits," says Free. Clearly, the Nekojarashi -- as his chest tattoo states -- would never be inclined to kiss a guy. He may be a wild force of silver vine-fueled chaos, but he knows what he likes. A few more laughs come of it, but that's all. Louis points to the box and lowers his voice to a conversational tone once again. "It's a VIP ticket to some beach event. If you don't want to go in April, let me know. I just thought it might be something you'd enjoy. Suppose I should dig out their presents, too, huh? Wanna help?" | ||
