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--Naki--

Christmas morning was a crazy time for me. I had to wake up at six in the morning just to be able to get Fen on time to go to church with us. It was a struggle convincing him to go-- he figured I was just going to pick him up after service but I wanted him to see the church at least. I knew he hadn't been to one and part of me hoped he'd get a better opinion of it if he tried. In the end I think I only managed to convince him to come because I made it sound like it'd be more difficult for me to get him afterwards.

"This is way too early," he complained, looking out of my car window towards the half-melted snow outside. It'd warmed up a bit and the leftovers from the big snow storm the other day had melted some. Even so, plenty was left.

"I know, I know. I'm glad you're coming, though," I said in return, hoping to alleviate any bad feelings. "I know you didn't want to so... I owe ya one."

He looked at me for a moment. "Just one?"

"Don't push it."

He smirked and leaned back in the seat, staring out the window again. "How long does it usually take?"

"Service? Two hours or so."

"Sheesh-- it's not enough to spoon-feed fiction as non-fiction, huh? Have to take forever doing it, too?"

I started to say something but he held his hands up.

"I'm joking, I'm joking. Sorry. I couldn't resist. Don't worry... I'll sit quietly and listen and I won't say anything to upset anyone. Promise."

"Fine," I responded. "You just have to say something any time I bring it up, don't you?"

"I know it riles you up. Can't help if I like messing with you sometimes. You believe what you believe in, I guess. I don't -really- have anything against you for it."

"It's hard to tell sometimes," I replied. I pulled up to the church not long after, wondering if mom and dad and the rest had already made it or not. As we got out of the car, I realized that I hadn't seen Fen in a suit since prom. He didn't seem particularly comfortable even now, but he looked good despite the bored gaze he wore. A quick stare around the parking lot was all I needed to surmise that Mom and Dad had arrived and that the others were likely around. It wouldn't be hard to find them once we got in; we always sat together-- or as close together as we could during service.

As Fen and I walked into the church, I considered showing him around just as I had with Khole. I decided against it, though. Khole was at least better at faking interest if he wasn't genuinely intrigued. Instead, I led him straight to the sanctuary where the crowd of people inside were speaking amongst themselves. The banter proved loud and varied enough that it was hard to make out any single conversation unless it was fairly close in proximity.

"Where're we sitting?" he asked.

"My family probably has one of the pews partially filled towards the front or middle. Just look for a bunch of otters."

He chuckled at that for some reason. An usher led us down the aisle towards the front of the sanctuary. I pointed out my family as soon as I found them so he wouldn't bother leading us any further. Fen sat next to Ron, who had Zeqa in his lap. I mentally crossed my fingers in the hope that this would go well. Apparently we were almost late as Reverend Lasscut started speaking almost immediately after Fen and I got settled.

"This Christmas day, I'd like to talk about the gift of family and friends. It's important that we celebrate those who truly support us and not just on holidays. Demons come in all shapes and sizes. They attempt to lead us astray, to make us think wrong is right and right is wrong. Some have silver tongues; they approach as friends and pretend they care, or provide when we are at our most vulnerable. They tear us away from our families and from our friends, breaking bonds that have withstood countless other trials, and ultimately leaving us dependent on them; unable to heed the warnings and wails of those truly on our side. They blind us."

He took a moment to let what he'd just said sink in before continuing.

"It's not all bad news, though. God actively places people in our lives who truly care and who walk in his light; believers who help us to be whole and bask in his glory. These are the friends and associates we must seek. They do not always make themselves obvious and sometimes they have their own problems and demons to face. We must keep our hearts open that we may see past the surface. Sometimes help comes in ways we could never imagine."

I couldn't help but wonder what he'd think of Fen if he knew about our relationship. Not that it particularly mattered; I guessed it would be pretty silly of me to think he might not consider Fen a demon instead of something good. At least, if he knew.

I took a peek over at the wolf whose eyes seemed locked on Lasscut for now. I knew he wouldn't come around so fast and didn't expect him to find much interest after just one church service. At the same time, my own struggle with my religious beliefs began to resurface. Much as I wanted Fen to see that it wasn't all bad, I knew that our relationship would not be condoned by a number of the members of my church if any at all. This was my struggle. Was I wrong for being in a relationship with him? Or was the church wrong? Can the church be wrong?

I faded in and out of listening to service and thinking. After the reverend was done with the first part of his sermon, he started talking about the meaning of Christmas. This was followed by a Selection performed by the choir and a play put on by the younger members of the church. I remember Fen becoming antsy before the play even started and before the end of it he was struggling to stay awake. Luckily, it wasn't a long play. We did Tithes and Offerings, then the closing ceremonies and everyone stood up to begin shuffling out of the pews and sanctuary.

I was tempted to ask him what he thought of it but I reconsidered and decided it wasn't a great idea. I was certain he had nothing good to say about it. Admittedly, I think this service was kinda boring myself. Not the best one to bring him to. Ron followed us out of the sanctuary and into the atrium.

"You must be Naki's friend," I heard Ron say, holding a free paw out for Fen. In his other paw stood Zeqa, a squirrel about the same height Fen would be without his cloaker. "I'm Ron."

"Fen," I heard in return as the wolf reached to shake Ron's paw. I also noticed him glance at Zeqa for a moment. She kept her eyes on Fen, or maybe she was staring at his collar-- I couldn't tell. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too. Oh, and this is Zeqa," Ron said shortly afterwards, holding Zeqa up so Fen could see her a bit better.

"Hello," she squeaked.

Fen smiled a little and held a finger out for her to place a paw on. When she did he shook gently. "Nice to meet you, too." He looked towards Ron for a moment.

"I hope you treat her well."

"Of course," Ron said brightly, pulling her back in towards him. "Why wouldn't I?"

Fen flicked his left ear gently and then gave a little shrug. "Not saying you don't-- I... didn't mean anything by it." I got the feeling that he wanted to go a different direction with that but was happy when he didn't. I'm sure he was heeding my plea that we try to keep the peace that day.

"Fair enough. So how'd you and Naki meet?" Ron asked as we began to leave the sanctuary. I could see Uncle Jerry and Uncle Orville chatting with one another and a couple church members while Dad held Reggie and worked his way out of the pews. Mom was likely out with the usher board and my aunties were laughing with one another. I looked to see if I could find Khole, and eventually did. He was talking with Nathan about something, so I decided to let him be.

"We went to high school together," I answered. "Then decided to attend the same university."

"That sounds nice. So you're attending Phalance?" he asked Fen. "What're you studying?" We made it to one of the exits and stepped out of the way so people could walk past us to get outside.

"Physics," Fen said.

"Nice. So what's it like? Are there are a lot of micros on campus?"

"I don't know how many, but it's not too different from normal. Only thing you notice is more people walking around with collars on," I responded

"And the incidents," Fen muttered before continuing. "Are you two in school?"

"I will be," Ron said somewhat proudly before looking down to Zeqa. "And uh. Well, we're talking about it for Zeqa sometime in the future. Maybe. There's... a bit to it. Plus schools around where we are don't really just allow micros in."

"I don't see why not," Fen says, pausing for a moment before waving a paw through the air. "But... I hope they decide to."

"Yea," Ron responded, looking down at Zeqa again. He seemed pretty over the topic so I decided to try and change it.

"I dunno how long they're going to take in there. Wanna ride with me, Ron? I'm gonna head to the house and we can wait for everyone else to catch up."

"That sounds good." Ron settled Zeqa in his suit coat's chest pocket and turned to walk towards the door to exit. I glanced at Fen and moved my hand to rub at his shoulder for a moment.

We walked out after Ron and got into my car. From the church to my house wasn't a long drive but the change in scenery had always been a bit drastic. The church sat at the edge of the 'bad' side of town with my house settled well within it. So as you drove from the church towards my house, the buildings began to deteriorate and become abandoned, graffitied, or both. The sidewalks and streets became uneven or filled with potholes, and more junk sat along the sides of the roads. Both Ron and Fen were used to it by now, but I've always become more subconscious of how things looked around my neighborhood when others were around. When I was younger, people would sometimes make fun of me and a few of the other kids for being poor. Not as much in high school, but definitely in elementary and middle; particularly around holidays where material goods were the focus. They got game systems, phones, and all the newest toys while I got throwbacks and a few new clothes. Not that I'm complaining-- just... back then it was kinda hard to listen to everyone talk about it. Luckily, before I could think about it for too much longer, we arrived at my house.

"You still swim?" Ron asked as we walked up to the front door and I opened it.

"No. Just watch every now and then. I've been getting more into football lately-- not playing, watching."

"Have you? What teams? And I guess you watch with Motley?"

"Well, just Phalance's team for now. Figured I'd start with college and move to professional as I go."

"Ahh, Phalance's team is pretty good," he said as we walked in. Mom had spent a large part of the morning getting food ready-- anything that didn't need to be cooked at the last minute basically got cooked yesterday and this morning.

"They got to the finals last year. Too bad about this year," he continued.

"Yea. Motley joined the team this year. I hope they'll make it back there before we graduate."

"He plays for them? I didn't know that. Hmm. I'll have to keep an eye out."

"Yea," I responded, walking behind the staircase towards the door to the basement. During holidays, whenever we had visitors over, we'd normally fix the basement up to deal with the extra people in the house. I took them down the stairs; there'd be enough room here to sit and talk for a while. More than likely, Nate would lead Khole and the other younger members of our family down here while Mom and the rest prepared food or sat around upstairs about the television.

The basement had a small, somewhat worn bar in it along with a couple of old, musty couches and a table for playing card games. There was also a TV but it was a lot older than the one upstairs-- and the one upstairs wasn't even that new to begin with. I settled on the couch and Fen sat next to me while Ron moved to sit at the table and let Zeqa out so she could stand or sit on the tabletop.

After Ron settled, Fen shifted and stood to go sit at the table with him. I didn't realize why until he lowered his muzzle towards the table near Zeqa and spoke softly: "So how long have you lived with Ron?" Ron watched but didn't say anything-- he seemed curious.

Zeqa isn't used to being addressed directly by anyone but Ron and his parents-- aside from greetings for the most part. Well, I take that back. Zeke, my other cousin, interacted with her. Much as I hated to admit it, I hardly ever spoke to her myself. I've never had anything against her but I guess in the past I always felt like she was just... Ron's pet.

"Oh uh... my whole life. Or what I remember of it, at least." She stated.

"What about your parents?" He responded. At first I thought she was just thinking, but she'd gone quiet.

"They aren't here anymore," Ron responded. "They died when she was really young."

I actually do know how they ended up passing and I very much hoped Ron wouldn't elaborate even if Fen pressed him about it.

"Oh," Fen replied. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sour the mood or anything."

"It's alright," she responded. "It was a long time ago. I can barely remember it happening myself."

He gave a little nod and looked away. I'm pretty sure he wanted to talk about it more-- I could just feel it. He avoided the topic for some reason, though. "So you guys get together every holiday? What normally happens? Anything I need to worry about?" He gave a grin to underline the light-heartedness of the question, but I'm certain he was at least partially serious.

Ron chuckled. "Nah, you'll be fine. Well, sometimes Dad gets a little loud when he drinks but it's easy enough to just come downstairs and avoid him. Aunt Becca likes to talk a lot. She'll probably ask about you whenever she gets a chance. Once they get home, we'll pull the big 'round table out and set it up while they heat the food up."

"We clear the living room out and use that as a dining room since there's not enough room in the actual dining room for everyone," I said. "It's a big hassle, but it ends up easier in the end. Especially since we have more people than normal."

Fen nodded. "Sounds good."

I heard the door upstairs open and then Nate's voice as he walked in with Khole and what sounded like Zeke; the only member of our family that isn't an otter.

"Naki, you down there?" I heard Nate call from the top of the stairs.

"Yea," I responded just before the rumbling of them tromping down the stairwell resounded throughout the room.

"Hey guys," Fen said, perking up as soon as they came down.

Zeke is a red panda. Uncle Orville and Aunt Becca weren't able to have kids for some reason. Just didn't work out. To make up for it, I guess they figured they'd adopt and that's how Zeke ended up in our family. Where Ron is a bit younger than me but older than Nathan, Zeke is older than me by about a year and a half.

"Naki! Good to see you again," the red panda grinned and walked over to hug around my torso. I squeezed him back and smiled. He's also pretty short; just about Fen's height.

"You too, Zeke. What's up? College goin' well?"

"Yea! Goin' great. Doesn't seem like I should be halfway through already," he said before shifting his eyes towards Fen. "Who's that"

"That's Fen. We go to school together," I said, aiming my gaze at the wolf chatting with Khole. "I'll get his attention." I walked over, taking Zeke with me.

"Not bad," Khole responded. "Can't say anything has gone wrong other than Naki not being as still at night as he thinks," the otter said before shifting his gaze towards me with a sly smile.

"I only woke you up once," I muttered before looking at Fen. "Fen, this is my cousin Zeke."

"Good t' meet you," Zeke spoke brightly, bringing his paw forward and clasping Fen's. "We have a lot of Requorans this year. Usually, it's only Zeqa. Oh! How is Zeqa?" He asked, spinning around towards Ron who'd remained in his chair speaking quietly to the smaller female on the table.

"Hmm?" He looked up to see Zeke's eyes settled on him. "Oh uh... she's fine," he responded, but nothing could stop Zeke from walking over to greet them now. I just watched as the panda sauntered past towards Ron.

"I'll be right back, guys," he said as he moved.

"Adopted?" Fen asked gently and I gave a confirming nod.

"By Uncle Orville and Aunt Becca," I stated. The ceiling above us creaked as people upstairs began walking around; likely to get food prepared. As uncle Jerry and my dad walked past the door on their way in I could hear a bit of their conversation.

"Did you see them, though?" Uncle Jerry said loudly. He always did have problems keeping his voice down when he became excited.

"Yea, I saw'em," Dad said.

"I understand wantin' to help the micros but doesn't the church come first?"

I knew for a fact that Fen heard that but he didn't say anything.

"He hasn't even had anything to drink yet," Nate quipped with a snicker.

"Except for the wine we got at the church," I muttered, hoping to brush whatever he was talking about with Dad off.

"I hope you two are ready for a bunch of questions," Zeke said, peering at Khole and Fen. "Much as I hate to admit it, we don't have the most positive experience with micros here."

"It's not that bad," Ron responded. "Zeqa's never had any trouble."

"Yea, but Zeqa's special. If anything ever happened to her you'd have thrown a fit to end all fits."

"Damn straight I would," he muttered, petting a finger down the smaller squirrel's backside.

"I think it'll just be like all the other years. Yea, sure, things get a bit loud at times but nothing more than that," I said. "Why should having them over change anything?"

"Not saying it'll change things. They'll be just the same as every year. And -that's- what I'm saying," he snickered. "But maybe with them over, I won't have to deal with the 'you're not an otter' jabs from Dad."

To clarify, Zeke's father, Uncle Orville, would never admit it publicly, but I'd always heard from mom that he was -not- happy to have a non-otter kid. Aunt Becca was insistent and apparently Zeke had been at the orphanage for a long while. She fell in love with him on first sight but Uncle Orville wanted to hold out to see if an otter might be put up for adoption in the near future. Not hard to see who ended up winning that fight. Zeke had endured his fair share of slights from his father-- not that I'd noticed them. At least, not until Zeke started pointing them out. It'd gotten better over the years but when he got enough alcohol in him sometimes we'd have to take Zeke out of the room. It'd really only happened two or three times that I remember.

"You're gonna scare them before they've even met anyone," Ron responded, giving Zeke a look "They're not bad people. Everyone's got their issues."

"Yea yea," Zeke said, waving a paw. "Just being honest. I'm sure it'll be fine, really. We know what to do if the kitchen gets too hot. Anyway, better topics... you guys go to Phalance, right?" Zeke asked. "They're cool with Requorans. Same with my school."

"What school do you go to?" Fen asked

"Akre University in Lisol county."

"Lisol... that's pretty far south. They're really accepting Requoran applicants?"

"Well, not applicants," he said, thinking about it for a moment. "But whoever was already there is fine to stay. They're deciding whether they're going to accept more or not."

"Well that's better than a lot of places. What're you studying?"

"Graphic design and illustration. I wanna help make video games or something neat. Not sure what I'll actually end up doing, though."

"Still sounds like fun. Kinda wish I could draw," Fen replied. He seemed to mull over something for a moment before looking at Zeke again. "So how're you related to Naki? Just out of curiosity..." I guess he was just fishing for conversation since I'd just told him.

Zeke looked back before a little grin spread his muzzle. "Doesn't seem like a red panda fits in a family of otters, huh? Maybe I should work on my otter impressions..."

The wolf blinked. "Er, no I didn't mean it in a bad--"

"I'm playing with ya," he waved his paw dismissively, flitting his tail a little. "Yea, ever since I was four. Parents dropped me off and never came back.I remember bits and pieces; a fuzzy face here, a tail there. Not enough to identify anyone, though. Was a long time ago."

"Mmh," Fen intoned. "Sounds like it was a bit rou--"

"Hey, guys! Time to come set the table up and get ready to eat!" Mom called down from the top of the stairwell. Nate stood up with a groan and the rest of us followed suit; shuffling up the stairs.

"Ehh, I have my problems. I like to think they're no worse than anyone else's. We'll have to talk about this later, though. Time to set the table!" The rest of us had already begun marching upstairs. Zeke and Fen followed up the rear.

While I'd wanted Fen to be here for the holiday, there was a part of me that worried about what might happen at the table. After all, this would be the first holiday like this one-- with non-neotrians. If it went sour, I'd have to try that much harder to make it work in the future.

It only took about fifteen minutes to get the floor mat put down and the table moved into the room, covered, and set. We'd had a lot of practice with it and since we're all older, it wasn't nearly as much of a hassle as it'd been in the past. It also seemed quite a bit smaller than early memories of it might've suggested. I sat next to Fen. He was on my right while Khole was to my left. Next to Khole was Nathan, Reggie, Jerry, and Caitlyn. Next to Fen was Ron, Zeke, Orville, Becca then Mom and Dad with Dad sitting almost directly on the opposite end of the table from me.

We'd also taken time to really try and decorate the room to fit the season. The tree was up and glowing with green and red lights, ornaments, and various pictures that'd been taken of me and my brothers over the years. A reef hung from the wall above the television and we'd put an otter-ized version of Santa Claus in the corner of the room next to the tree. There were also lights outside but I'll admit I'd only seen them once or twice.

Once everything was ready, Mom stood up and beamed around. "Let's say grace and then we can eat. Everyone hold hands."

We took one another's hands and bowed our heads. Even Fen participated.

After 'amen' was murmured around the table, there was only about a two second pause before someone was reaching for one of the many bowls at the center. They'd put a lot of work into cooking; we had turkey, chicken, sweet potatoes, candied yams, potatoes, gravy, greens, green beans and more.

"Did you bring Zeqa's set, Mom?" Ron asked, rubbing at his pockets. "I don't have the box."

"You walked right out without grabbing it-- but yes, I have it," Aunt Caitlyn stated, pulling it from her purse and handing it to Ron. He opened the box to reveal a small set of plates and silverware sized down so that Zeqa could use them without a cloaker.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"Christmas gift from last year," Ron said. "Had to have them custom-made but it was well worth the price. Now she doesn't have to sit on my plate."

"I wish we had a little set for Khole," I said gently, recalling the fairly primitive set of bowls and silverware we had for him-- mostly things that were meant for another purpose but could function as silverware or plates.

"One day hopefully you'll just be able to buy them at a store like any other silverware," Khole said.

"If this exclusion thing ends I bet there'll be a market for just about anything that can be made smaller for you guys. Especially technology-- can't be too hard to make a small keyboard and mouse or something for a Requoran to use," Zeke commented.

"Are you going to introduce us to your friends, Naki?" Aunt Becca asked, which is when I quickly realized I hadn't done so.

"Err, sorry..." I looked around the table for a moment. "Uh, this is Khole-- I met him at Phalance and..." I then looked to Fen. "This is Fen. We met in highschool."

"Ahh, I did hear Phalance was doing that. You boys enjoying it?" Uncle Orville directed towards Fen and Khole.

"Yea," Fen answered. "Its been a lot of fun."

"Definitely," Khole followed up.

"Are you in the integrated dorms or the micro-only dorms?"

"I'm rooming with Naki," Fen stated. "Along with a friend of mine and Naki's friend Motley."

"Really? You trust Naki that much?" he asked with a smirk, giving me a little wink.

Fen smiled in return. "I do, actually. He's been great."

"That's good to hear. You're not rooming with them, then?" he asked Khole.

"No, I'm in the Requoran-only dorms."

"Ahh. See, that's the option I would've picked in your situation, I think."

"You wouldn't have stayed with me?" Aunt Becca asked with a smirk. "What? Afraid I'd do something?'

"I'm not even a micro and you -still- picked at me back then," he muttered in return.

"You liked it. You're with me now, aren't ya?"

He just grinned a little and started eating at his food.

"So where're you guys' parents? I'd have thought everyone would be with their family on Christmas. Not that I mind you being here or anything," Aunt Becca said.

Fen splayed his ears a little, but he was scooping a piece of trout into his muzzle so he had a reason not to answer immediately.

"My parents are in Barli. Going back would have been a little dangerous so I asked if I could stay here for break."

"Dangerous?"

"I've heard that some Requorans are being captured, having their collars removed, and then ending up given to the government for the reward they're offering. I'm also just not keen on being alone for too long. Easy enough for someone to simply slip a cloaker off due to anti-insurgency laws."

"Right," she replied. "Well we're happy to have you."

"Happy to be here," Khole responded as he moved his fork down to pull more food up.

At first Fen didn't say anything. Understandably, too; I knew how much he missed his mom and dad. I was surprised when he answered.

"My parents aren't citizens; they aren't allowed to stay," he replied. "The courts are still deciding whether I'm a citizen."

I cringed a little, feeling weight on my head to look down and eat some more so I wouldn't feel so inclined to say something... or hug him.

"Right, that makes sense," Becca says softly, seeming to think. "I heard a lot of Requorans in your situation are around your age..."

"How long is it going to take them to iron this all out?" Zeke asked. I didn't know the answer. I was sure no one knew since I'd not heard a peep in the news about even a potential deadline for releasing people who were taken to be interned.

"I don't think there's a deadline," Mom answered. "They're just going to hold them indefinitely for now."

"I haven't heard one if there is," Fen said afterwards.

"I hope you get them back, for what it's worth," Ron piped up.

"That's why the church has been pushing this community housing program so hard. A lot of micros who ended up not excluded were just kids or teenagers. Some ended up homeless, others got into adoption agencies... better not to have more at-risk people to make the neighborhoods worse. That's why taking them in is exactly what the church needs to do," Mom stated. I don't know whether she was just making the comment or if she was responding to a conversation I'd not been part of from earlier in the day. I assumed the latter.

Uncle Jerry had remained mostly quiet; same with Aunt Caitlyn. Jerry was gulping down quite a bit of beer on his end; faster than usual-- not a good sign.

"I didn't notice that many at service," Becca stated, seeming interested in what Mom had to say.

"Well, they don't all have those devices. Lasscut let some of them sit beneath the podium if they wanted, but the board is working to see how to solve that problem."

"That makes sense."

"But isn't he supposed to be working paying off the church's mortgage? Last year he wouldn't stop going on about how the church needed donations to stay afloat," Jerry finally spoke up.

"It's... more under control now. I'm not part of making those decisions but it's consistent with the church's goals," Mom responded.

"I don't see a need to worry about what Lasscut does," Dad spoke up. "Hasn't done anything wrong yet. "

"I'm just not convinced," Jerry said, drinking and peering towards Khole for a moment. "And weren't they supposed to be eating without those devices?" he asked.

"Jerry," Mom started.

"I'm just saying that's what you told us, isn't it? Zeqa isn't wearing one."

"Zeqa doesn't have one," I muttered.

"She doesn't need one," Jerry replied. I'd never gotten so angry at him so fast.

"It's not a big deal," Dad said. "No harm, no foul. Plenty of food."

"Yea," came his response. He gave my dad a look. "That's not what you were saying before. That's why we had to bring so much food. You were running low and couldn't buy enough yourself and now you're being irresponsible again. All I'm saying is it'd be less wasteful if they weren't our height."

That was the last straw. Nevermind why he even saw fit to bring the damned topic up in the first place, but I wasn't about to wait for this train wreck to happen.

"Fen, let's just go eat in the basement," I said, standing up with my plate. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me as all eyes at the table shifting to peer in my direction.

"Naki, sit do--"

"I'm not going to listen to him talk crap today," I said towards my mom as forcefully as I could without yelling. On a whim, I looked at Jerry "You wanna talk about problems? Try going to AA meeting"

"Oh please--"

"Shut up, Jerry," I shouted. Surprisingly, he did. For a moment. Fen stood up, ears lowered and inched away from the table. I wasn't sure if it was me who caused his expression, or Jerry. I didn't particularly care at the time.

"Sorry," I said to the rest of the table before looking at Mom. "I'm going downstairs."

She hesitated and then gave a little nod, soon looking down at her food again. I walked with Fen towards the stairwell to go to the basement.

"So what? We can't even have a conversation--"

I slammed the door to the basement shut and sighed as I walked down the stairs with Fen in front of me. "I'm really sorry about that," I said as he settled at the table Ron and Zeqa had been at before we'd started eating.

"I haven't seen you that pissed since after graduation," he responded with a reserved smile. "I uh... you don't need to apologize. I think you handled that splendidly," he said with a little flick of his tail.

"Did I?" I asked, grinning as I sat down next to him and settled my plate in my lap. "I still wanted you to get to know the parts of my family that aren't obnoxious."

"The night's not over," he said. "Still have to exchange gifts and all that. Maybe he'll be better by then"

"Maybe," I muttered. "It's always someone with my family. Don't get me wrong, they're all... decent people. Just... y'know. It's always something. If it's not Jerry, then it's Orville or Becca or my dad..."

"Hey, I'm not gonna hold it against you. I mean, I guess I don't know my extended family but I've heard the stories about relatives during the holidays. You handled my dad-- I think I can deal with your uncle."

I chuckled. "Well, at least your dad's heart was in the right place."

The door to the basement opened again and I braced myself a bit. I hoped they didn't let Jerry come down here. When I looked to the stairwell I saw Khole and Zeke walking down with their own plates.

"Man, Jerry really broke the record this year. Fastest he's ever gotten to anyone," Zeke chuckled. "You okay, man?"

"Yea," I responded. "Just... I'm not in the mood today."

"Nah, I get it. He was bein' an asshole plain and simple. Decided to come chill down here instead-- better atmosphere."

Khole sat on the couch and Zeke took a seat next to him.

"Did anyone say anything after we left?" I asked.

"He apologized," Khole said. "Reluctantly. So this happens every year?"

"Uncle Jerry is a... confrontational alcoholic," Zeke stated. "If it's not him then it's my dad or aunt Caitlyn."

"Why? Just because of alcohol?" Fen asked.

"No... well, not in the case of Dad or Caitlyn. Jerry just speaks his mind a lot and alcohol makes him way faster to speak before he's fully thought out the repercussions. My dad is just... mouthy. Starts interrogating Aunt Melina and Uncle Jeff; Naki's mom and dad-- I don't know if you knew their names-- about how they spend their money and things like that. How they can afford this or why they bought that... why they're still in this kinda neighborhood-- why they haven't moved back."

"To where their parents lived?" Fen asked.

Zeke peered at him for a moment. "Oh, so you know what happened?"

"Loosely," he responded, peering at me cautiously. I had told Fen that my mom and dad left their home to move up here away from their parents. I hadn't told him much about what happened afterwards.

"Ahh. Well, I won't say more."

"It's not a huge secret anyway," I said with a gentle sigh. I picked at some of my food for a moment. "Mom and Dad haven't been in direct contact with their parents for a while. They mostly talk through one of our uncles and aunts which has gone a distance in straining things all around. They see my mom and dad... but particularly my dad, as irresponsible-- which isn't wholly untrue. It all goes back to them running away before I was born and has only smoldered on. Maybe if they'd found a way to make more money it'd be less of an issue... but I dunno, it always felt like there was more to it. Something my parents have to deal with if it's gonna end. Dad's prideful, though. And so is Mom."

"Why do you get together every year if it always ends up sour?" Khole asked.

"It doesn't -always- end up sour. At least, not in the end. It's also 'cause they wants us to know our cousins and not lose touch with the rest of the family-- which you'd think would be obvious since this kinda thing even happens but... this really isn't a holiday conversation I wanna have with friends."

"Yea, we always have fun together despite whatever happens. Makes for good stories later on," Zeke said.

"Does your family and Ron's visit one another often?" Khole asked Zeke.

"Mhm. We're much closer to one another than we are to Naki's distance-wise. Though, since I'm in college it happens a bit less now. Works for me, though. Less time for Dad to remind me I'm the odd-panda out," he muttered.

"Does he actually accost you about it?"

"Not directly, per se," Zeke responded, seeming to think for a moment. "It's like... if you went to a swim meet with your dad and all he could talk about was how good he used to be and how he wishes he had someone to teach. Or maybe if, when you wanted relationship advice, he prefixed his statement with 'Well, I only really have experience with otters, but--'" as if it would make a huge difference. A girls a girl," he rubbed over his head. "Sorry, I'll admit I've got some pent up, unresolved issues with him. Maybe it runs in the family."

"Heh, don't worry, Dad always says I'm supposed to settle down with an otter myself. Which doesn't seem likely at this point," I stated.

"Hmm? You have a girlfriend or something?" Zeke asked in response.

I stopped for a moment. "Well... no," I spoke, trying to find the words quickly. "Just... there're so many choices. Why uh... limit myself, right?"

The panda's eyes stayed locked on me for a moment before he broke out in a grin. "Hah, yea, exactly. I mean, unless you really wanted to have pups I guess."

I took a glance at Fen and he just had this smug look on his face. I knew he'd tease me about it later but I'm glad he kept his muzzle shut on that topic.

"What was it like when you were younger? Being a different species than your parents, I mean," Fen asked.

"Not all that different from normal, I imagine. I wondered who my real parents were sometimes and if I might have more family out there somewhere. I'm sure I could find them but I don't know if I want to, honestly. Much as I could complain about Dad or Mom or having everyone ask why my parents aren't the same species as me I think I've had it pretty well. Wouldn't've met Naki or Ron if what happened didn't. So what about you two? What was it like growing up with that secret of yours?" He looked towards both Khole and Fen.

"Khole can go first. His story's more interesting than mine."

"How so?," he responded.

"There's way more to yours than mine. I grew up like a Neotrian would. You didn't," Fen said.

The otter smirked but didn't argue. "Well, I grew up in Kupai--"

"The Requoran city?" Zeke interrupted, seeming slightly surprised. "So you didn't grow up with a cloaker?"

"No, no cloaker at first. My parents worked for what you could call the Kupan government, as informants. I didn't have a bad life all in all. Not compared to a good number of others around me. Food was always there, I saw my parents now and again, they taught me what they could. After they died I ended up with my current adopted family out in Barli, which is where I spent around five years at a Neotrian school and then applied for and attended Phalance."

"Wow. So... you're adopted, too. If you don't mind my asking-- what happened? And what do you mean by 'informants'?"

He looked at Zeke for a moment. It seemed a bit like he -did- mind but I wanted to know the answer, too. I hoped he'd spill the beans.

"What I mean is that when their boss needed information they went and got it. And I don't know. I was never told what happened. The details were kept from me. The most I'm aware of is that it was one of their longer stints away from home which means wherever they were going must've been outside of the land designated to Kupai by the Neotrian government."

The room was quiet for a moment as we digested what he was saying.

"So wait, your parents were... spies of some sort?" Fen asked.

He kind of shifted in his seat. "Well, you could call it that."

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear. Sucks that you don't even get to know what happened..." Zeke replied. "What are your adopted parents?"

"Mice," Khole said. "It didn't come up much in school but that's probably 'cause I wasn't there for too long and no one really knew me well enough to care. I say I didn't have it that bad, though, because I always had someone to look out for me. Even in death my mom and dad had enough resources and foresight to keep me safe. More than a lot of people in Kupai could say."

"Well I'm glad it turned out well enough," Zeke stated. "Heh, I feel like I'm just whining now compared to that."

"You can't really compare apples and oranges, though. Everyone has their problems," Khole stated before looking at Fen. "Your turn."

Fen crossed his arms. "I still want to hear more... but fine, I'll go. It's only fair. It's gonna be repeats for Naki, though. And I bet you already know most of it too, Khole." He sat up a bit before beginning. "I grew up with a cloaker, unlike Khole. I remember thinking that everyone had one when I was really young-- at least until Dad told me otherwise."

He thought for a moment before continuing. "Our parents told us that no one could know from the very first day of school. What we were had to be kept a secret at all costs. We weren't allowed to take them off most times except to wash or when we begged hard enough."

"We? You have a brother or sister?" Zeke asked.

"No... I say 'we' because I'm kinda including Sian. He's a friend of mine. His family and mine were very close. Like, inseparably close."

"Ahh"

"So it was mostly normal, I guess. We kept our secret with the exception of one or two people. There were some other Requorans at school we learned about over the years that we could talk to about it as well-- though Mom and Dad didn't like us doing that much, either. It only became an issue during the very last year of highschool when everything became public."

"That must've been scary."

"It was. Luckily we had some good friends to back us up. Naki included," he smiled.

"Yea, I'm actually a little surprised at that. I remember you saying you were neutral on the whole matter not too long ago when we were talking about Zeqa," Zeke aimed at me.

I hesitated to answer, then rubbed over my head. "It's... a bit difficult to explain," I started to say before the door to the basement opened and the voices of Uncle Orville and Jerry could be heard as they made their way down towards us. I remember praying silently that it was just a quick trip to get something and not to continue what'd been started at the table. If there were any time I just needed Jerry to let something go, that day was the day.