"Don't tell me," Akio said, shaking a box twice her size. "It's Indra in a bow?"

Face palming, her girlfriend shook her head from across the room. "I'm over here, dumbass."

Hawke coughed, rearranging the dying, leafless tree on the table. "Why the hell would anyone put themself in a box? Is that. . ." His face took on a deep crimson as both Indra and Akio looked at him with raised brows. "Oh—" Clearing his throat, Hawke grabbed a small box and tossed it at Indra who caught it out of the air. "Moving on!"

Unwrapping the large, red papered box, Akio tore open the lid of the box. "Hawke, it's empty." Akio cocked her head to the side, and took a step forward inside of it, letting her hand glide along the crevices of the wooden box, just in case there was some form of hidden compartment.

The rest of the mansion remained empty, besides the occasional passerby. With spaced out parting's, the rest of the vigilantes had returned to be with their families for the holidays. Only Chester, Hawke, Indra, Fluffy, and Jane remained within the mansion, with no one to visit.

"Exactly!" Hawke cried, clapping his hands together and tossing a medium, green wrapped box at Chester.

The Lizz hissed as it collided hard with his chest, knocking the air from his lungs. "I was going to ask if mine was to be empty too, but with that weight, I doubt it."

Akio sat down in the box, observing the others with curiosity. If this was anything like last year, the presents weren't going to be obvious. The year before Hawke had sent them on an adventure that resulted in almost everyone coming back with a sprain. The hidden gift had been eaten by a herd of Grimoire, vicious little scavengers had taken a chunk out of her arm that day. Akio grimaced, rubbing the scar. Hopefully this year he was a little smarter about his—placement.

Opening the gift in her hand, Indra glided her fingers repeatedly over the surface. "What the starshit is this, Hawke? It better not be feces or believe me, I'm going to beat your ass until you can't sit for weeks."

Taking a few steps back, Hawke laughed nervously. "N—no." He pulled a chair in front of him, creating a barrier between him and Indra. "Whatever would make you think that?"

"The smell and texture," Indra said disdainfully as she chucked it across the room at Hawke's face.

"Starshit!" He cried, racing out the door, his long, dusty brown hair flowing behind him.

Indra growled, removing her soiled gloves and slamming them on the table. "Someone throw these in the wash." Grabbing her cane, she stormed after the fleeing figure. "I know this mansion like the click of my Mamock. You can't escape what's coming!"

Akio, Chester, and Jane crept over to the open door, peeking their heads out to watch the coming chaos.

"Do you think he has a chance with his new Harkin stuff?" Chester asked, taking out a few coins. "Let's make bets. I place mine on Hawke."

Snorting, Akio took out two Drexi. "My moneys on Indra. When she's mad, it's like her abilities are amplified." Akio glanced over at Jane, the Gebul's nose twitched in contemplation. "You know who's going to win. New special abilities or not, there's no escaping that cane."

Jane stroked her brown, furry chin in contemplation. "I don't know. Hawke's pretty scary sometimes. . . I'm going to put my money on Hawke." Taking out two coins, she placed them in Chester's hand. "Your girlfriend is terrifying, but there's no matching—"

A loud yelp interrupted the conversation. All three crept cautiously down the hall. If Indra caught wind of another beating scheme, she'd go for them next. Akio didn't see a problem with a little gamble, considering she won every time. Indra was the raining terror of the vigilantes. Crossing her was worse than bringing the entire universe against you. At least death would be swift by another's hands. Akio shuddered.

"That's." A loud thwack echoed through the hall. "For." Another thwack and yelp. "Making me. Fondle. Shit."

"Stop! Ow!" Hawke cried. "I'm sorry! Indra, please!"

Akio did a shoulder roll across the open hallway, placing herself behind a statue. The other two followed. As expected, Hawke laid on the ground, covering his head as Indra delivered a final blow to his backside. Smirking, Akio wiggled her fingers. Chester sighed, placing the coins in her hand.

"I really thought he'd win this time," Chester grumbled.

"Are you gambling again?" Indra's sharp voice froze everyone in place. "I heard the exchange of coin. Akio. . ."

"No! No, we're just, wagering, that's different. Right?" Akio asked hurriedly as she glanced between Jane and Chester.

"It was Akio's idea!" They cried, bolting back to the office.

Clenching her hands into fists, Akio threw a glare in their direction. "Those little—"

"Starshits?" Indra finished for her, her voice clipped as she did an about face and marched in Akio's direction. "Since it's the holidays, and you have more decency than to gift me a literal piece of shit," Indra said, placing the tip of her cane below Akio's chin. "I'll spare you this time."

Hawke groaned, getting to his feet. "Do you want to do the quest or not?"

"We do it every year. But next time, don't give the feces to the blind Se'li," Indra spat, whacking him in the shin as she stalked past.

"Hey!"

Waiting for her girlfriend to disappear around the bend, Akio strolled over to Hawke. "That was pretty. . . Shitty of you."

"I heard that!" Indra shouted in the distance.

Hawke and Akio exchanged glances, doing a speed walk back to the office.

"Just don't tell her it was my idea," Akio whispered. "Indirectly, but still."

"Oh I will," Hawke declared. "But not till the quest is over. That way, you have to do whatever I ask or face the wrath of the scariest Se'li alive."

Once they reached the office, the remainder of the 'gifts' were opened. Chester received the forearm of some bird fowl, while Jane got a rusty knife. Every year, it was supposed to switch who was in charge of the quest. But after Haim's demise, no one wanted to learn the game, so Hawke had been the one ruling it for the last two years. Though Akio had to admit, with his knowledge of the planet and sectors, Hawke was the best leader of the game.

Stepping up onto the desk, Hawke cleared his throat, holding himself like a game host. "Now that you've received your clues, I will give each person a hint about someone else's gift. If you want, you can share the knowledge, and aid your comrades, or—you can keep the knowledge to yourself and steal the other gift as your own. The rules of the quest are simple, try not to die. I will tell you which sector I isolated them to, but that's it. Because of the recent uprising in danger, we're going to do teams this year. One of the teams will have three people instead of two. I will only be present to give bad, but believable advice."

"Not it!" Jane and Chester cried in unison.

"Ah, so it seems I will be with Akio and Indra," Hawke said with a satisfied smile.

Starshit. That bastard arranged this. Akio rubbed the back of her neck until Indra grabbed her wrist. "Nervous, darling?"

"Nervous? Aha, why would I be nervous?" Akio slowly inched away. "I'm not nervous."

Indra raised a brow, her ungloved hand wrapping tightly around Akio's arm. "Liar."

"So!" Akio said, pulling away. "What sector are we visiting this time?"

A shadow fell over Hawke's face, a sneer tweaking up the edges of his lips in a horrifying image. "Sector seventeen."

..... ..... ..... .... ..... .....

"Stars! Why did it have to be seventeen?" Indra grumbled, wrapping her arms tightly around Akio's neck.

"Indra," Akio coughed. "You're choking me."

Not loosening her hold, Indra clung tighter, her legs digging into Akio's side. "That's because I don't want to die! No more stopping. Please."

Letting out a long breath, Akio reached for the neck handhold on the side of the cliff they were scaling. It wasn't even halfway yet. This was going to be a long ass day. A small crumbling of stones rolled down from beneath Hawke's foot above, tapping against Akio's face. Of course the Se'li backpack free, blackmailing, son of a—

"Ow. Could you— could you stop hitting me in the face with your angry oi'ek, stars, Akio, it's like you want me to die," Indra whimpered.

Indra, the being that feared almost nothing, was terrified of heights. It shouldn't have been all that surprising to Akio, being that if she slipped scaling a cliff like this, she wouldn't be able to see the next hand hold or plan a way to save herself.

Letting out a deep breath, Akio willed her oi'ek to still. "Sorry, love, we're almost there, okay? Just hold on a little while longer."

The heels of Indra's boots pressed into Akio's stomach as she let out a shuddering sigh. "Okay."

Other than Hawke's obviously intentional rubble, the rest of the climb remained uneventful. The roots and vines that often grew in this sector proved a great aid in picking up speed once they got a bit closer to the top. Akio made sure she was over ten feet away from the cliff side before setting her girlfriend down on the solid ground. Indra tapped around with her cane, getting a feel for the new terrain.

"It's unfair that Hawke brought us to somewhere I haven't scouted before. I have literally no idea where anything is," Indra said, reaching out for Akio's hand. "You'll have to guide me. I trust you."

Hawke smiled broadly, glancing at Akio. "We should continue straight ahead, it's the best path to where we need to go. No traps, whatsoever."

Rolling her eyes, Akio grabbed a stone from the ground. "Oh really?" She chucked it forward, watching vines snap and a bunch of sticks stab into the ground where it hit. "Nice try, Lizzassed starshit."

Akio led Indra toward the left, making note of any indicators that Hawke had traipsed through the landscape. Now that his wings came and went, he always made sure there was enough space in the event that they decided to, for lack of a better word, spawn. Foot prints, wide, twisted tree spacing, and the remains of brown feathers that had been not so cautiously hidden created a very obvious trail to follow. The question was, what awaited the other side? Would there be more traps surrounding the gift or along the way?

Twirling her bow in her fingers, Akio prepared for something to come to light at any moment. Five minutes passed with nothing but the crackle of the foliage beneath their feet.

"Are we almost there, Hawke?" Indra asked. "You did agree to give vague time indicators this year, after that one time we ended up getting lost for days."

"It's not my fault those monsters ate my map," Hawke huffed, crossing his muscular arms. "But yes, I did agree to that. We're only a minute out. But, whose gift are we finding?"

"Both of ours," Akio stated. "We deducted from the hints given that you decided to go cheaper and give us a shared gift this year. Being that everything was so similar in the tales we were told, that's the current theory."

Hawke stroked his nonexistent beard. "Interesting."

Ahead, a small shack came into view. The workmanship was marvelous, with perfectly aligned, carved wood, and a roof of solar absorbing metal. It appeared like something out of a fairy tale story, one where the couple flees to the hills and lives happily ever after.

"Did you create a house just to put a gift inside?" Akio asked, shaking her head. "Hawke, while it's cool, it's kinda ridiculous."

He shook his head. "The house and furnishings are the gift."

Indra choked, stumbling over her feet. "What—Why? That's too expensive, why would you do that?"

Hawke shrugged. "There was spare material lying around after the most recent renovations. All I needed was the roofing, and voila! You two have been so stressed with everything lately that you never get time to yourselfs. I made this so that anytime you need to, you can get away from the world and exist in a temporary peace."

Throwing her arm around Hawke's waist, Akio gave him a tight squeeze. "Thank you, so much. I—I honestly have no words."

"Oh, and there is a way to teleport here so you don't have to scale the cliff every time, just so you know. We only went the long way because of the quest, but I had technology installed to prevent it from being inaccessible to Indra," Hawke stated, patting Akio on the head. "You'll have some words for me in a moment."

Akio stiffened, pushing away. "Hawke—"

"It was Akio's idea to give you the small box, she thought it would be easier for you to open, so I traded your clues," Hawke stated before sticking out his tongue at Akio.

Indra inhaled deeply. "If I hadn't just used all my energy for the day, clinging on for life, I'd be throwing hands right now. Take me inside before I change my mind."

Quickly, Akio closed the rest of the distance to the cabin, flipping Hawke off before slamming the door and locking it behind her. Throwing her under the cane like that—he could sit outside for a little bit debating whether he was going to suck up to her or walk back.

It only took about five counts before he knocked on the door and apologized. Akio patted his back intentionally hard with her cybernetic hand. "Just remember that I'm leading the quest next year." She sneered as Hawke walked over to the teleporter. "Thank you so much for this, for everything." Leaning in, she grabbed his arm, and yanked him down to the other. "But know that I'm going to make your quest absolute hell if you try to sic Indra on me again."

Hawke laughed, waving as he clicked a button and disappeared from sight.

When Akio turned back to check on Indra, she found her girlfriend sprawled out on the bed two rooms over, fast asleep. Grabbing the blankets and tucking it up to her chin, Akio planted a kiss on Indra's head, not intent on letting her know how much more of a hand she had played in this quest, in this gift. "Merry Christmas, love."