Khrysta sat in her car, deep in thought. What she just discovered was going to change all of their lives, not just hers. Then there was Briggan. She knew this would hit him the hardest. Especially since it has to do with him. She had a small, plain box in the back seat but she had no intentions on giving it to it's proper recipient. At least... Not yet. In all truth, she was scared to. She had no idea how Briggan and Mastavian would react, and that terrified her more than anything. She didn't want to lose a friend. Not again. She decided that it was best to let everyone enjoy their blissful ignorance while they still could. Besides, it was getting closer and closer to Christmas time. What kind of person would destroy someone's cheer during the Yuletide? In any case, it was best not to dwell on it now. She needed to be with Briggan and Mastace. She needed them right now, and it sounded like they could use her as well.
She stepped out of the car and walked up to the porch. Before she could knock or ring the bell, the door swung open and Mastavian was there to greet her.
"Hey, we saw you pull in. When you didn't get out right away, we wondered if something was up."
"Just some... family matters is all."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, not really. I'm still pretty upset over it."
"Alright. Why don't you come inside and join us in our discussion of plans?"
Khrysta nodded and stepped inside the house. As usual, everything felt inviting and warm. Briggan sat on the couch, a different air about him. He looked to be a bit distant, like his mental self had clocked out for an unexpected vacation. "Is he alright?"
Mastace looked at Briggan and sighed. "Honey, you're spacing out again."
Briggan snapped back to reality after hearing Mastace's words. "Huh? Wha?"
"You spaced out again."
"Oh, I'm sorry..."
"You're alright, sweetheart. I was just making sure you knew what we're about to be doing."
And so, with the assent of the other two in the trio, Mastace made plans to go into the next town over and see where the ride takes them instead of just freezing their asses off in the park.
"Yeah, that sounds nice actually." Briggan said.
Khrysta nodded. "Sure, let's go. I just gotta move some stuff around in my car, then y'all can pile in."
"Sure," Mastace said. "Briggan and I will get ready while you do that. If you need any help, just holler."
"Shouldn't be a problem, it's all just stuff from my Christmas shopping. It all just needs to go to the trunk. See you two when you're ready."
"Alright, sounds good."
Briggan was the first to step out into the cold air, followed by a rather clingy Mastace. Briggan's first thought was that he wanted to make sure that he was near if Briggan spaced out again, but he noticed a slightly different tone that confirmed this was just him being snuggly. That was fine with him, he always enjoyed a lovely cuddle with his mate, private or public.
Khrysta shut the trunk door and locked it. "There, we're all set."
"Same here," Briggan said, feeling much more down-to-earth than he was fifteen minutes ago. Good thing, too. He didn't need to be conked out of his mind in the middle of the street. Having Mastace with him would definitely be of substantial benefit.
Everyone got in the car and within moments, the R and R trip began.
The triad of comrades walked around the square and surrounding areas, looking into the businesses to see if they could find anything of interest. There were mostly boutiques and secondhand shops in the square, but they still went inside quite a few and took a gander at what they had. Nothing really stood out to them, so they branched off. They found a café that wasn't half bad and got some hot drinks to help out with dealing with the cold weather. Briggan took a hot cider while Mastace and Khrysta each took coffee.
They walked a bit, then Briggan saw something that caught his eye.
"Babe," Briggan tapped the shoulder of his mate, which prompted an abrupt U-turn from the lion.
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Ever been here before?" Briggan gestured to a humble building. It had certainly seen better days, but it was still in decent condition. The paint was a little faded and the banner had some weathering to it, but the large red letting was still very much discernable: GAME
"Wanna check it out?"
"Sure,"
Mastace waved Khrysta over and she looked up at the banner. "Oh, I remember this place. My brothers and I used to come here as kids and spend our allowances. We made some great memories here."
"So did I," Briggan spoke softly, "My sister and I used to come here too."
Khrysta's ears drooped and she fell silent. Her tail swished this way and that. Her gaze fell to Briggan's feet and her face was full of something that neither Briggan nor Mastace could easily determine. There was discomfort for sure, but there was something about it that didn't seem like typical social discomfort. Mastace and Briggan stole a quick glance at each other and instantly knew they were in silent agreement. Something was wrong.
"Hey, is everything-"
Mastace didn't get to finish the sentence before Khrysta interjected. "Let's just go inside, it's getting colder out here."
The other two nodded, and they all headed inside the game shop.
The inside of the shop was immaculate. It was organized in such a fashion that one might expect the shopkeeper to have military experience. Game boxes lined up the shelves with inhuman precision and every surface looked as if it were wiped regularly.
"Talk about deceiving looks," Mastace gasped.
"Right? No one really expects the place to be very nice until they've been here one or twice. Heheh, look at that, I made a rhyme!"
The three of them turned about until they came face to face with an older man, a softly violet dragon with a black underbelly and dark magenta eyes. His wizened appearance silently commanded reverence and have of an aura of inherent kindness and honor.
"Woah, how did you sneak behind us so fast and quietly?" Mastace asked in wonder.
The dragon, now chuckling greatly, gave Mastace a surprisingly sturdy slap on the back. The dragon may be old and rather diminutive, but he still had the power from his youth in his bones. "I suppose it's just in my nature to catch people by surprise. Is there a special reason you've come into my shop?"
"Just looking around, sir." Khrysta replied.
The dragon looked at Khrysta and began taking in all of her features. It only took a few moments for the dragon's face to light up. "My, my, my... It's that... You wouldn't happen to be Ms. Khrysta Westbrook, would you?"
"It's good to see you again, Saul."
Saul then turned to the wolf, and a look of pure shock feel upon him. "I'll be damned... Briggan Harou..."
"Mr. Fudo," Briggan greeted as they shook paws.
Saul Fudo looked at Mastace and his smile widened. "Hello there, it's always nice to see new faces!"
Mastace smiled in return. "Likewise, Mr. Fudo. My name is Mastavian Marcellus."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Marcellus." Saul chirped.
"The pleasure is mine, sir."
The four of them spent a few hours talking and catching up and playing games to get to know one another much better. Saul told stories of his younger years and the other three marvelled at most of them. Saul's grandson, Yuya Suto even paid a visit just to see how his childhood game buddy was holding up.
"Duel Monsters? Man, I haven't played that in forever!" Briggan exclaimed. "We should have y'all over for dinner or something and we can have a Duel night! How's that sounding to ya?"
Yuya looked at Saul, who nodded. "Sure! That sounds great! Next week?"
Mastavian chuckled. "Alright, we'll stop by again when we're ready for ya."
Saul handed Mastace a business card. "Just so you can get a hold of us."
"Alright, thank you. Hey, could we look around and maybe make a few purchases? I know it's past closing, but I need to get some Christmas shopping done. "
"Sure thing!" Saul said.
Mastace thanked him and looked about the board games while Khrysta and Briggan looked at Duel Monsters cards.
"It's been a while since we did this together, huh?" Briggan sighed longingly.
"Yeah, it has." Khrysta agreed.
"Hey, may I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Outside the shop, before we came in, you seemed to be really upset about something. Moreso than I've seen in a long time. Is everything okay?"
Khrysta froze a moment, then immediately relaxed. "Could we talk about it when we get back? It's something that should be discussed at home, not out here in public."
"Is what happened with your family really that bad?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about... It's got nothing to do with my family... but has everything to do with yours."
That's when he felt the pit in his stomach rise to his throat. He felt so sick that he came close to actually throwing up. Dizziness overcame Briggan as his vision spun and his legs became weak. Suddenly, he found it hard to breath and keep himself upright. He only had enough time to call out to Mastace before the shock of this revelation forced him to succumb to the darkness that crept over his vision. He didn't even really feel himself fall to the floor.