#falcon rynn

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Seth: So you DO look up lists of bad puns to use in every situation.

Falcon: *quickly closing the tab* What?

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An Argument

//Hi, it’s another short story for the new year! A collab by El and KV.

Snow littered the forest ground haphazardly in the cold January winter air as a dark figure made its slow way through the trees. Gloom seemed to want to suffocate the earth today; the gray clouds above hung low as if waiting to snatch the nearest thing they could grab hold of before devouring them in a white fog of oblivion. The trees mumbled to each other whenever the biting wind made its lone way through them, hissing softly as the gale cut across them and the rest of the earth like a knife.

Seth's breath came out in little puffs of white as he made his silent way through the forest. Despite the numbing cold, he was in no rush to get back to the house even with clothing that was less than sufficient defence against the chill; if anything, the sharp sensation came as a welcome relief from the constant warm confines of the Rynns' home. Especially with Falcon in the cheerful mood he always seemed to be in, Three needed time and space to himself or he would probably go insane -- insane, or just back to normal. Whichever one was worse. Then again, 'worse' was subjective, and so was 'normal.' Three just wondered how much longer he could put up with the Rynns' kind of 'normal,' if he had ever been part of it, or if he should give up already and acknowledge the fact that nothing would ever change -- not for him.

The thought of it made Three frustrated, but why?

He scowled up at the fragmented bits of clouds he could see through the reaching tree branches, exhaling to remind himself he didn't have to let any of this get to him. It was a nice day, and he didn't have to do anything right now. It was fine. He could feel himself beginning to relax a little when a familiar voice called out from the path from behind.

“Hey, man.” Falcon jogged up, rubbing his sweater-clad arms. Seth didn't turn to look at him, but does he have to be here right now? “What on earth are you doing here in the middle of the woods?”

Seth exhaled irritably enough to give Falcon a hint. 'Trying to find a good place to hide a body.'

Falcon gave him a sideways glance and snorted, one corner of his mouth quirking up in amusement.  “If it was me, I’d just go for the graveyard.  Who’d look for a body with a bunch of other bodies?”

Seth shook his head -- though it wasn't an awful idea. But at this point, he didn't feel like agreeing with anything Falcon had to say. 'If it goes the way I'm thinking it will,' he said, 'it'll be easier to hide all the evidence scattered throughout the woods than in one small area.'

Falcon shook his head, sidling up so he was walking at the same pace as Three. “Haven’t you ever watched a forensics documentary? They’d find you anyway. Overthinking would get ya caught.”

'Not when you have the government on your side,' Seth replied cheerfully to release the sudden wave of aggression that washed inexplicably over him. 'You live a "how to cover up the evidence for forensics" documentary. And you're commended for it.'

Falcon snorted again, obviously a little less amused this time.  “Mkay, give me the run-down. How would you do it?”

Finally stopping to turn to Falcon, Three simply looked him dead in the eyes, made a finger gun, and made as if to shoot. Then he shoved his hands back in his pockets and began walking away as he added, 'Maybe a knife if I'm feeling more aggressive. Chop chop chop.'

Three felt mild disgust for himself as he could feel Falcon's exasperation, and the other boy made a buzzer sound with his mouth and kept walking to keep up with Seth. “Okay, if you did that, everyone would know it was you because literally no one else walks around here.”

'That's a bummer,' Seth said with no feeling in his voice. 'Seth Grayson would have to die again, but it is just a name, after all. You know how many different names people have called me?'

Knowing he was ranting, he held up a hand as if to start counting, then stopped as if realisation was only just hitting him. 'Oh wait, I don't even know.' Hands down. 'And that means neither does anyone else.'

'I bet I could hunt you down,' Falcon said with a sharp grin. Fang-like teeth glinted (did he mean it?) in the light to demonstrate he obviously hadn't put in his veneers today.  “Provided it wasn’t me you shot, of course.”

'Oh yeah,' Seth laughed, 'it's a small world after all. And people are so simple. No problem, friend. No problem.'

His eyebrows raised, Falcon turned to look at him.  “Are you okay?” he asked seriously, the grin falling from his face.

Oh, I wonder if I was being too obvious. Even he noticed. 'What do you mean?' Seth asked.

Blowing out a puff of steam, Falcon sighed.  “Mkay, as much as I’d like to think you immediately think of me as your friend after our little heart-to-heart the other day, I know that probably isn’t the case, and that ‘friend’ was definitely sarcastic. What’s up? Can I help with anything?”

Seth looked at him again, then laughed. Friend was apparently supposed to mean a lot to Falcon. Deciding to push it further, he asked, 'So I can't call you friend?'

Unexpectedly, Falcon stepped in front of him, blocking the path, and reached out, not quite touching Seth’s shoulders but his hands hovering just barely over them.  “Look me in the eyes,” Falcon said firmly, “and tell me that you think of me as your friend, and I will gladly accept that.  You know that I think of you as mine.  But don’t lie to me or use that title if you don’t mean it.”

Looking into the green eyes that were just a little below his own, Three only saw sincerity and determination, and maybe a hint of indignation that Three didn't understand. He waited for a moment to see if he could detect any hint of… something… in himself, but when the pent-up tension in his own chest threatened to lash out, he let it loose by shoving past Falcon and letting the words slip out: 'Then I won't lie.'

Falcon waited a moment, then followed with a shake of his head.  “You still haven’t answered my question,” he insisted. “What’s wrong?”

Three didn't answer, but kept walking quickly along the path, head down as he wondered -- something. Wondered what he was wondering, really. He couldn't put a finger on any one question; maybe it was all of them, but even as a collective whole he had no idea what any of the questions were. Frustration again, what would Derik think, but how are you wondering what he would think when you can't even know what you yourself are thinking? He tried to numb it again with a blank slate as he heard Falcon still following behind him. Though Falcon didn't say anything as he shuffled doggedly through the snow, after five minutes or so, he finally sighed loudly and walked faster to catch up with Seth again.

“It’s freezing,” Falcon commented.  “I dunno if the government taught you how to avoid catching a cold, but if they didn’t we should probably get inside soon.”

Deciding to leave things short, Seth simply answered, 'Go ahead.'

“Seth,” Falcon practically whined.  “I will carry you inside if I have to.”

'Good thing you don't have to.' Seth let his warning tone convey a complete note of finality. 'I don't need you babysitting me.'

“Not babysitting you,” Falcon said, his tone also holding a note of warning.  “I’m just looking out for you.”  He paused, then sighed.  “But you’re right, I guess.  Just… come back inside soon, alright?”

Three didn't answer again, but Falcon took this as silent consent and strode off, sending one last look over his shoulder as if hoping Seth would follow. To disappoint him, Seth just turned around and continued walking in the other direction, and the two parted their separate ways in the bitter winter wind.

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About time these things were over... thank God for McDonald’s after a hard two months being stranded with a bunch of weirdos who keep making things awkward by proposing to each other. And thus concludes our series on Triptych: Simpswrecked!

You can read the stories for these comics here.

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DON’T GO TOWARD THE LIGHT, SETH

read the stories for these pictures here.

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Welcome back to Triptych: Simpswrecked, based off the Sims 2 Castaway game. What a bunch of beloved idiots--

You can read the context and stories for these pictures here.

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Have some canon art of Fal on his aerial silks lol.

why are bellies so hard to draw??

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Eleventh Day of Triptych Christmas: Decorations

//Happy Christmas Eve!!  Hope you all are having a lovely holiday!  Please enjoy the 11th day of Christmas story: “Decorations” by KV!

“Hey Fal, can you still do that thing you did last year to help me put the lights up?” Gabe asked, strings of lights looped around his arms.  

Falcon looked up with a snort and a grin.  “What kind of question is that?  Of course I can.”  He stood up from where he had been kneeling to start a fire with Seth, dusting his knees off.  "Watch this,” he said, stretching his arms above his head, then striking a dramatic pose, “and be amazed.”  He crouched by Gabe, intertwining his fingers together into a step for his friend.  As Gabe stepped onto his hands, he straightened up and smoothly lifted his friend until his hands were chest-level and Gabe’s red hair brushed the ceiling.  Gabe, balancing nonchalantly on one foot, began to tape the string of lights along the junction of the ceiling and wall.

“Are you impressed?” Falcon asked, craning his neck to see around Gabe’s sweatpant-clad leg.

Three hummed noncommittally.  “So either you’re strong or Gabe is really light.”

Annika Kelly turned a corner, holding a tray of cookies, and startled violently as she looked up.  “Goodness,” she gasped, holding a hand over her heart, “Be careful boys!  Gabriel, do not fall!”

“I won’t,” he replied, tapping the top of Falcon’s head to have him move to the side.  

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Kelly!” Falcon said cheerfully, “I’ll catch him if he falls.”

“While I don’t doubt your abilities, Fal,” Annika replied, setting her tray of cookies on the table, “It is unfortunately a mother’s job to worry, and I would rather not take my son to the ER on Christmas Eve.”

Falcon laughed in response.  “We’ll be careful then.”

Seth wandered over to where Annika was transferring cookies to a cooling rack.  “So,” he said, “You guys throw a party like this every year?”

“Yes,” she replied, offering him one, “At first it was just for family, then we invited a few neighbors, then Falcon became a regular in our house, and now it’s a crowd.”

Seth considered his next words as he nibbled on the cookie.  “Isn’t it a lot of trouble to have that many people in your house?  Why do you still do it?”

“Because we can,” Annika said with a smile.  “Christmas-time just gives us a good excuse to serve people.”

“I see,” Three said, masking his confusion.  He turned as a yelp sounded from behind them, finding the two boys behind them looking in disappointment at the lights piled on the floor.

“Gabe!” Falcon whined, “Why’d you drop them?”

“Just lower me down,” Gabe sighed.

“Wait, wait.  I think I can hook them with my foot and launch them up to you.”

“That’s so dangerous.”

“Pfft, it’ll be fine-”

“You boys better not,” Annika warned, untying her apron.  “One kid being lifted in the air is bad enough, but both of you on one foot is a recipe for disaster.”

Three let out a laugh.  “I’ve got them,” he said.  He walked over and picked up the tangled strings, winding them into a neat bundle as he went.

“Thanks,” Falcon said.  He paused and considered Seth for a moment.  “Want to try?” he offered with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

“No thanks,” Three replied immediately.

“Aw, c’mon, you’d be great,” Falcon wheedled shamelessly. “You’re built like a twig; it would be so easy to lift you.”

“First, that’s mildly insulting.  Second, no.”

“At least he’s warning you first,” Gabe contributed from above.  “Last year he just picked me up.”

“I thought someone was being murdered from all the shrieking,” Annika laughed.

“Mom!” Gabe complained over Falcon’s laughter.

“Alright, alright, from the singular shriek.”

“Mom!”

Falcon lowered his hands so Gabe could step off, still chuckling.

“Your turn,” he said to Seth, his grin turning a little evil as he advanced.

“No!” Seth said more vehemently.  “Falcon, I’m warning you…”

“What’s going on in here?” came a booming voice from the corridor.  A tall man with flaming red hair like his son’s appeared in the doorway and leaned against the frame.   “How’s the decorating going?”

Annika walked over to give her husband a kiss.  “Arthur, you missed the cheerleader lift,” she told him.  

He slapped a hand to his forehead in mock dismay.  “No!  That’s the highlight of my year!”

“Don’t worry,” Falcon said, “Seth’s about to do it too.”

“I’m not.”

“He is,” Falcon replied.

“I wish I was a little younger and more spritely; I’d like to be able to do something like that,” Arthur said with a little laugh and a scratch at his beard.  

Falcon stopped and looked him up and down, calculating.  “How much do you weigh?”

“Oh,” Arthur chuckled, “Much more than you can carry, my boy.”

Falcon grinned.  “Let’s try it!”  He cracked his knuckles gleefully.

“This is a bad idea,” Three said.

“Nonsense!”  Falcon  replied, “When do I ever have bad ideas?”

In the back, Gabe rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” Seth huffed, wandering back to the table, “Go ahead and break your back.  I’m not gonna be the one driving you to the hospital.”

“Isn’t there an easier way to put up Christmas decorations?” Annika asked, half jokingly but half seriously as she hovered in the background.

“C’mon Annika, where’s your sense of adventure?” Arthur teased her.  “You’re sure you can do it though, Fal?”

“No problem,” Falcon assured him, crouching with his hands together.

Arthur shrugged and stepped carefully on his hands.  “I’ll jump off if you can’t,” he told Falcon before he lifted his other foot, and the teen replied with a nod and a wink.

“Here goes,” Arthur said, and lifted his foot off the ground.

Falcon grunted and winced a little.  “Oof, okay, a little problem, but we’re still good!”

Annika and Seth sighed almost simultaneously.  “They’re so dumb,” Annika whispered to Three, who simply nodded with an unimpressed look.

Falcon’s face was slowly getting redder, but he stood firm with his feet braced apart as Arthur gleefully taped the rest of the lights up to the ceiling.

“And… done!”  Arthur announced, and Falcon immediately dropped to one knee to let him hop off.

“Whoa,” he gasped, “Okay, so I’m a little more out of shape than I thought.”

Arthur let out a booming laugh and clapped a hand on his shoulder.  “You lifted a 250 pound man for 5 minutes; I’d love to see what you can do in-shape!”

“Can we move on?” Gabe asked flatly.  “The rest of the house is still undecorated.”

“And can we please use a stepladder,” Annika pleaded, her hands outstretched to steady her slightly wobbly husband and a puffing Falcon.  “This is probably the least efficient way to put up Christmas decorations I have ever seen.”

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Tenth Day of Triptych Christmas: Sugar Rush

//Happy day before Christmas eve! The third-to-last story of our series :’) Today, a collab. Let’s get high on sugar.

It was a beautiful winter day when Reyn pummeled gracefully on the door of her friend's house with a bag full of goodies and sugar and movies, her nose red from the cold, neck enveloped in the folds of a large scarf. Ice crystals gleamed from the tops of bare tree branches around and snow glistened in the streets behind Reyn, where someone had also been recently sliding apparently on their belly through the snow and where piles of brown precipitation were now piling up on the sides.

White frost dropped from the front of Reyn's coat as she knocked again on the door and shouted, "Special delivery! One friend, a bag full of junk, aaaaand... a frozen nose."

A loud pounding of socked feet down stairs heralded the arrival of Lily, who jerked the door open with a bang and a loud squeal.

“Reyn!” she practically shrieked. “You’re here!”

"Yes, hi," Reyn said nonchalantly. "I know you missed me, I know I'm great, it's freezing out here, I need hot chocolate."

Lily quickly stepped back and ushered her friend inside, shutting the door on the cold outdoor air.

"Okay, so I brought candy canes, gingerbread, a knife, gumdrops, gummies, candles, and a partridge in a pear tree," Reyn announced, setting her bag on the table. "And I have no idea how to bake, so you're going to have to supervise my every move."

“I didn’t tell you to bring anything,” Lily said, lifting the knife to inspect it. “Also, I have no idea what we are going to do with most of this stuff.”

"It's free real estate," Reyn said dismissively. "Also, I brought three movies.  Elf, Polar Express, and" --she pulled out the last movie with a flourish-- “It.”  Looking back at it again, she frowned.  “Oh. Wrong movie. But still the same gist.”

Giggling softly, Lily gathered up the movies and brought them to the living room.  “How festive!”  She spun around to face her friend and put her hands on her hips.  “Cookies first?”

"Sugar cookies." Reyn grinned. "I have no idea how to do this."

“That’s okay, I’ll show you how! Go wash your hands.”

As Reyn rinsed her hands in the kitchen sink, Lily began pulling out bowls, measuring cups, and ingredients.

“Why did you think anything that you brought would be appropriate for making cookies?” Lily snickered as she pulled flour out of her pantry.

Reyn shrugged as she pulled up her sleeves and walked up to stand beside Lily in a business-like stance. "Gingerbread peppermint gumdrop cookies. It sounded good to me. Also, the knife was an accident; I think I grabbed it because it was next to the candy canes."  

Lily laughed again in reply. "Let me see what you have!"

“A KNIFE!”

Both girls burst out in appreciative snorts as Lily began scooping out cups of flour and pouring them into a large mixing bowl. Reyn was just dumping a good amount of sugar into the bowl when she noticed a head of fluffy dark hair appear through the kitchen window to make its casual way across Lily’s white lawn.

"Hey." Reyn squinted at the person as he made his easy way through the backyard. "I know that guy."

Lily looked up. “Yeah, that’s Falcon.  He lives next door to me.”

"And apparently thinks he owns your backyard," Reyn remarked as he disappeared over the fence with a grin and a salute towards the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, it’s part of our deal,” Lily assured her. “He teaches me parkour and in return I let him use our yard as a shortcut.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“Yeah, right?  Did you know he’s like a gymnast?  He does this awesome flippy thing; it’s super lit.”

“Bottle flips are pretty lit,” Reyn agreed.  She grabbed the nearest bottle -- her own metal water bottle that seemed to be empty -- and chucked it into the air, letting it bounce off the ground with a clang.  “How to Be a Cool Kid 101.  Rule Number 1: Flip bottles.  Rule Number 2: Trespass through people's yards.  Rule Number 3: Parkour."

She thought for a moment. "Oh," she added, "and Rule Number 4: Get stalked by creepy random guys in the park but brush it off as normal."

Lily immediately turned to her with a concerned look.  “Stalked?” she questioned.

"I'm just being dramatic," Reyn said dryly. "Because he's fine. And they're super in love and something about being written in the stars."

“Who?” Lily asked, looking even more confused. “What?”

Reyn sighed, mixing the ingredients together ferociously and spilling flour all over the counter. "It's weird. They're weird."

“Who? Give me the tea, girl!”

Reyn gave her a weird look. "Tea or teaspoon?"

“No, the tea!  The word on the street!  The gossip!”

"The word in the park," Reyn said, scowling at the mixing bowl like it was sinning against her, "is that there's a new kid in town who was looking for Falcon for some reason. And apparently found him, but the thing is -- well, do you ever feel like Falcon's a little... weird? Or off?"

“I mean, yeah,” Lily replied, putting a hand on the mixing spoon to prevent Reyn from flinging all the ingredients over the counter, “sure.  I don’t know why I get that feeling, but I figure it’s his story, yanno?  He’s a nice guy, and I like him, so I guess it doesn’t matter to me that much what his deal is.”  She paused.  “What makes you feel like something’s off about him?”

Reyn shrugged, stepping back with a wipe of her hands to wisely let Lily take control of the mixing. "Everyone seems to be waiting for him to slip up or something. Even if the two of us haven't been around here for that long, I feel like people are waiting for something bad to happen around him, like something was weird before.

"I know," she went on, "that people like the Dewhursts and all seem to like him, but at the same time, it's like they're protecting him from something. I don't know what it is, but sometimes I almost feel like they're trying to protect him from himself. It's… weird. And then the other day there was this other guy, Seth, who came from out of nowhere, and he was really weird. Like he could do something bad and not even think twice about it and still smile like everything's okay and nothing has changed. You know?"

Lily stuck a cookie-dough covered finger in her mouth and shrugged.  “Isn’t everyone kind of weird?  If anything, I want to get to know Falcon because I think he’s interesting.  I don’t think he would hurt anyone, intentionally at least.  I don’t know this Seth guy you’re talking about, but it might be the same for him?  People like that interest me more than scare me, I think.”

"Usually, yes," Reyn agreed. "And I'm not saying Falcon is that way; I'm just saying he's a weirdo with some kind of funky past that we'll probably never find out."

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Lily said with a nod.  “He’s like a superhero: highly athletic student by day, and masked vigilante by night.”

Reyn huffed. "So you've seen him pull Batman stunts, huh?"

Lily lit up.  “Have you seen him do his acrobatic thing?  He just goes swoosh!-” she mimed swinging through the air- “and then he just goes flip flip flip!” She jumped excitedly, then paused and sighed wistfully.  “I wish I could do that.”

"Have him teach you that on top of parkour," Reyn suggested with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "But really, Seth isn't like Falcon. I mean, something about them both is weird, but Seth seems like the dangerous type. Like the kind of person a neighbor might say, 'He was such a nice kid' of after he's murdered ten people."

“Pepper spray him,” Lily said.

"Only if I can borrow yours." Reyn leaned down to study the raw cookie dough with an impressed look. "I think... we're baking geniuses and we should start a bakery."

“Oh, without a doubt,” Lily agreed. “We can call it ‘Reyn or Shine’.”

"I was thinking something like 'Lily's Lil Lovelies' or something stupid like that. That way when we take over the world, it'll be really funny."

“Hmm, I like the way you’re thinking,” Lily replied, blobbing spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet.  “We need a super cutesy cheesy title that has both of our names.”

"'Lily's Lovely Reyn and Shine,'" Reyn suggested. "'Reyn of the Lily,' like 'reign' but 'Reyn' so that everyone should know we're taking over the world, but by the time they recognise our punny genius, it'll be too late!"

“Perfect, I love it!” Lily giggled.

Reyn took the pan as Lily plopped the last dough ball onto it, then opened the oven door and shoved the pan noisily in. "It also sounds like I come from a place called Lily. 'Reyn of the City of Lily.' But that's less relevant."

Lily quickly turned the oven temperature from 500 back down to 300 and set a timer.  “Okay, they’ll be done in like ten minutes!”

"I think," Reyn started out slowly before her speed began to pick up, "we should first spread the reach of our dominion to the people I trust the least so that we can get them under our control before they destroy the world we're trying to conquer. If that's the case, we should get the frosting ready to lather on as sloppily I mean beautifully as possible so they can appreciate the skill of our hypnotism and amazingness. What say you, companion?"

“I only registered like half of what you just said, but yeah!” Lily cheered. “Let’s do it!”

By the time the smell of cookies permeated the kitchen, the two were working diligently on decorating the golden discs of delicious yumminess on the table, leaving traces of frosting everywhere as they tried their pitiful best to make the cookies look somewhat presentable. In the end, they had a couple plates stacked with some cookies whose frosting designs vaguely resembled random Christmas-y things like trees, stockings, Santa Claus's, and wreaths. Reyn surveyed the work with her hands on her hips, critical eye apparently rather satisfied with the result as she announced, "We are ready."

Cackling quietly to herself, Lily carefully transferred some of them to a festive bag and stuck a bow on it.  “Our preparations are complete!”

"Complete with a bow on top." Reyn wiped away a nonexistent tear and skipped to the front door. "Let us bestow the gift of conquestment onto the beautiful world outside, starting with the weirdo next door."

Snatching up the bag, Lily was quick to follow, and the two made their way along the snow-covered sidewalk to Falcon’s house next door. Reyn strode confidently up to the front door and rang the doorbell with a flourish.

After a few moments, the door opened to a tall man, his dark hair in disarray and the faintest shadows of purple smudged under his brown eyes.  “Oh,” the man said, “Hello.”

"Hi Mr. Rynn," Reyn greeted cheerfully. "We're just here to drop off some Christmas cookies. Home-made. Which is kind of evident by the design, but they'll still taste great."

Lawrence Rynn took the proffered bag of cookies with a slight raise of his eyebrows.  “Thank you very much.  Are you, by any chance, friends with my son?”

Reyn shrugged and jabbed an elbow at Lily, who nodded emphatically.  “Yeah!” she chirped. “Fal’s my friend!”

“Would you like me to tell him you are here?”

“Yes please!” Lily replied as Reyn shrugged again.  “Is he in right now?  We saw him pass by a while ago.”

Lawrence nodded.  “He returned a while ago by the main gate,” he explained as he turned back into the house.  “Falcon!” he called into the warm interior.

A faint shout of “Yeah?” floated from the kitchen to the right.

“Friends of yours,” Lawrence replied, stepping aside as his son appeared in the kitchen entrance.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, “Hi, Lily!  Hey, nice to see you again, too.  Reyn, right?”

Reyn saluted him with a knowing grin. "Mr. Gay Lover."

His jaw dropped.  “I can’t believe-” he spluttered as Lawrence burst into laughter.

“Who?” asked Gabe, entering the room.

“Oh, the angel of the Lord!” Lily called happily, her face lighting up.  A few seconds later, Seth appeared in the kitchen doorway as well.

"Ho, Mr. Emo Kid," Reyn greeted, to which Seth just raised a hand in reply. "The angel of the Lord's been third-wheeling?"

“For the last time,” Falcon bemoaned, “Seth’s not my boyfriend; I am straight!”  He wheeled around and pointed an accusatory finger at him.  “This is all your fault!  Now even the neighbors are saying it!”

Seth just shrugged as Reyn gestured to the offering of cookies. "We brought cookies for you guys because they're amazing and we're great people. Try them; they're great. Though we weren't expecting it to be for this many people, so the couple might have to split one or something."

Falcon threw up his hands in despair.  Gabe snorted and said, “It’s okay, I’m a guest here so the Rynn’s and Seth can have them.

"Seth's not just a guest, but he's family already?" Reyn asked.

“He’s just visiting,” Falcon practically wept.  “He’s my cousin.”

"Cool story, bro." Reyn grinned. "Either way you have our blessing in the form of cookies. Enjoy them greatly."

“Thank you very much,” Lawrence said graciously, ushering them out to spare them from the chaos erupting inside as Gabe tried to keep Falcon from football-tackling a smirking Seth.  “We will enjoy them.”

Reyn laughed as she and Lily headed out to walk the short distance back to Lily's house.

“Wait a minute!” they heard from behind.  Turning, they saw Gabe trotting quickly up the path, steam puffing from his mouth and nose and a plainly-decorated gingerbread house in his hands.  “Would you like a gingerbread house?” he asked, offering it to them.

Reyn looked it over. "Did you guys drop it or something? Why don't you want it? All the candy already fell off."

“It’s Seth’s,” Gabe said by way of explanation.  “A thank you for the cookies.”

"He's so much more generous than I thought." Reyn took the house. "I didn't realise he had such a nice, good, thankful heart."

Gabe rolled his eyes.  “The thank you is more from me and the Rynn’s.  Seth just provided the house.”

"Well, thanks," Reyn answered. "And tell Seth thanks. I guess."

“You’re welcome,” Gabe replied, turning to head back to the house, where Falcon was waiting in the doorway.  “Merry Christmas.”

"Merry Christmas!"