Ch 10: Let's Build a Snowman!
Upon hearing Leo, everyone else turned to look out the window. They watched in awe at the thick layer of snow that had fallen down on the town's streets.
"You're right!" exclaimed Luna.
"It snows here between December and March," said Nico.
"We should make snowmen!" West said.
"Yeah! Let's go!" exclaimed Leo.
They rushed outside, with Scotch in tow.
"I didn't know it snowed out here," said Luna.
"Yeah, we get a lot!" Scotch said.
Leo and West started to roll some snow into a ball. Scotch began rolling snowmen balls too.
Radley watched out the window. "Cute. They'll be occupied for a while."
"Do you want to join them, Radley?" asked Kalin.
Radley pondered, then smirked. "How about you?"
"I suppose so," shrugged Kalin.
Radley smiled and headed for the door. Kalin walked out with him.
"How's the snowmen coming along?" asked Kalin.
"Great!" Scotch said.
"Are you guys going to make some?!" West asked.
"Sure, if you need more help," nodded Kalin.
"It's fun to make them!" West said.
Radley laughed. "It is," he agreed.
"If you insist," smiled Kalin as he started to pack some snow. As he was doing so, he turned to his former teammates.
"You can join us too, if you want."
"Why not?" Crow grinned. He came over too.
Yusei did too after a moment. Jack also decided to join in.
"You know, this reminds me of your days as the Enforcers," stated Kalin as he finished the first part of his snowman.
"You built snowmen?" Radley chuckled.
"Sort of. They were pretty dirty though. And I wasn't as nice back then," shrugged Kalin.
Well, then this is your chance to really have fun with it," Radley smiled.
"Yeah. Come on Enforcers, let's build a snowman!" called out Kalin.
Yusei smiled, getting into it more. Jack also decided to join in, considering he secretly missed having fun together. Radley smiled when Jack joined in.
Kalin was also happy as well. "I'm glad you three could all come."
"I am too," Yusei smiled.
"Same," replied Jack.
"Yeah, this has been fun," Crow said.
"I didn't think we would hang out together like this again."
"I'm glad we can," Yusei said.
"I wonder what the others think of this whole thing."
Most everyone was coming outside to join the fun.
"I think everyone's excited," Radley said.
"That's the magic of Christmas!" smiled Nico.
"Yes!" Scotch exclaimed.
"Who made the best snowman?" asked West.
"Radley!" Scotch said.
"Kalin!" West grinned.
"Ha, ha, thank you," laughed Kalin.
"Aww, but I tried too!" whined Carly.
"Yours is really cute," Luna smiled.
"Thank you, Luna! I made a fairy!" said Carly.
"I love fairies!" Luna smiled.
"You should make one too!" giggled Carly.
"I will!" Luna started rolling a snowball.
"Want me to help?" asked Carly.
"Sure!" Luna smiled.
Carly started to make the wings for Luna's snow fairy.
"What kind of fairy do you want to make?"
"A happy, kind fairy," Luna said.
"Ok! How about we give your fairy butterfly wings?" asked Carly.
"Yeah!" Luna beamed.
Carly worked to shape the wings. In the meantime, Kalin had just finished the body of his snowman.
Radley smiled at the different snow creations. "Everything looks great!"
"I agree. Now, how should we decorate ours with?"
"Rocks for eyes?" Radley mused.
"Sure. And how about a carrot nose?" pondered Kalin.
"Hmm. That would be a lot of carrots if everyone wants to do that," Radley mused. "I wonder if there's something else we could use for everyone..."
"Yusei, Jack, Crow, do you guys have any ideas?" asked Kalin.
"Maybe another rock?" Crow said.
"A rock?" asked Kalin.
"Yeah, like a smooth rock for a button nose," Crow said. "We did that in the Satellite so we wouldn't waste carrots."
"Hmm, you've got a point, Crow. Ok, we'll use a rock."
"We've got lots of rocks!" Scotch said proudly.
The Enforcers went over to examine the rocks. Many would make cute noses.
"Here's a round one," said Jack bluntly.
"Cool. That's perfect," Radley smiled.
"Anything else we should add?" asked Kalin.
"Scarves! Hats!" Scotch said.
"Hmm, I like the idea," smiled Kalin. He went in the clothes store to get some spare hats and scarves.
The others followed and started picking things.
"How's this cowboy hat?" asked Kalin.
"Epic!" Scotch said.
"What did you guys find?" asked Kalin.
They held up variously colored scarves and hats and other accessories like sunglasses.
"Nice finds," smiled Kalin. "I think I'm satisfied."
"Me too," Radley smiled.
"What about you, guys?" Kalin asked his friends.
They were all ready too.
"Alright, let's go decorate our snowmen!" smiled Kalin.
They bought their things and headed out.
"I bet we made the best snowman ever!" boasted Jack.
"I think all of them look great," Radley said.
Leo made the final touches on his snowman, which looked more like a robot.
"That looks so cool!" Scotch gushed.
"Thanks, Scotch!" grinned Leo.
Luna was happy with the fairy snow people.
"Hey, Luna, Carly. What did you make?" asked Leo.
"They're fairies!" Luna said.
"I thought you would make them," said Leo. "I wonder what the others made?"
"It looks like Kalin made a cowboy," Luna smiled.
"Cool!" said Leo. "Did Yusei or Bruno make one?"
"Yeah, they did," Crow said.
"Let's check it out!" exclaimed Leo.
Theirs was very elaborate, a guy on a motorcycle.
"Wow! That's awesome!" said Leo.
"I think they won!" added West.
"Yes, I think so too," Radley said.
"That's amazing!" Scotch gushed.
"Congrats, Yusei and Bruno. You win the contest," smiled Kalin.
"Thanks," Yusei smiled.
"Gosh, really?" Bruno beamed.
"Yes, it's very detailed," nodded Kalin. "To tell the truth, I was never much of an artist."
"We all have different talents," Radley said.
"That was lots of fun, getting to make our own snow sculptures!" smiled Nico.
"Yeah!" West beamed.
"Let's take pictures of all of them!" exclaimed Carly.
"We can all stand by ours!" Scotch said.
"Let's do it!" said Jack.
Everyone took their places and pictures were taken.
"Nice pictures, everyone!" chirped Carly.
"I'll put them on the bulletin board in the diner," Radley smiled.
"Thank you very much, Radley," smiled back Akiza.
"Yeah! So cool!" Scotch gushed.
"Since Yusei and Bruno won our snowman contest, I would like to give them a prize," said Kalin.
Bruno perked up. "What kind of prize?"
"Any one appetizer from the Diner," smiled Kalin.
"That's a great prize!" Bruno beamed.
Yusei smiled too. "That's really nice, Kalin."
"You're very welcome," nodded Kalin. "Let me know when you would like to use it."
"Right now!" Bruno said.
"Heh, alright. Come on then," chuckled Kalin as he escorted them to the Diner.
Bruno grabbed a menu and he and Yusei started talking over the options. Kalin listened to them in amusement.
"Wow, they really love your diner, Radley," said Nico.
Radley smiled. "I'd hope so!"
"Have you made your decision?" asked Kalin.
"Yeah!" Bruno pointed to an item.
"Coming right up," Radley smiled.
"I'm glad you guys are enjoying your time here," said Kalin.
"We always do," Yusei smiled.
"This is probably the best Christmas ever."
"It really has been fun," Radley smiled.
The smile from Kalin's face suddenly turned into a frown. "I hope fate is on our side when we get back to solving the mystery of the gems."
"Maybe we'll have good luck and the lawyer will have it sorted out," Radley said.
"Yes. Then perhaps then we'll truly have a great holiday."
"That would be wonderful," Radley said.
"So, would you help us make sure of that, Yusei, Bruno?"
"I don't think we can make the lawyer go faster," Bruno mused. "But we can hope it will all work out!"
"What should we do while we wait?" asked West.
"Just have fun for the holidays!" Bruno said.
"I agree!" nodded Nico.
Scotch put on more music as food was enjoyed.
"Kalin is lucky he found such good friends," said Luna.
"We all are," Radley smiled.
"I'm eternally grateful now," smiled Kalin.
"I'm glad," Radley smiled.
"I didn't think we would be friends when I first came here."
"I kept hoping we would be," Radley said.
"I'm sorry I turned you down before Yusei came here. You were just being nice."
"At least we understand each other now," Radley said.
"Yeah," nodded Kalin. "And Yusei, Jack, Crow, I'm thankful that you came to save Satisfaction Town."
"Of course," Yusei smiled.
"We just found you by pure coincidence," said Jack.
"Yeah, Yusei didn't tell where he was going!" Crow exclaimed.
"So, how did you find this place?" asked Kalin.
"Pretty much by accident, like Jack said," Crow said.
"I'm still thankful regardless," smiled Kalin. "And the others for providing tourist income."
"Yeah! It's fun!" Scotch said.
"I feel like I've learned so much about other cultures!" stated Luna.
"That was one of my goals," Radley smiled.
"I really like the food here!" grinned Leo.
"Good!" Radley grinned.
"I also enjoy learning about other places," said Akiza.
"That's fun," Radley agreed.
"I enjoy the drinks!" said Jack.
"What about you, Yusei?" asked Kalin.
"I like seeing you happy," Yusei smiled.
"You're so unselfish, Yusei. I wish I was more like you," Kalin smiled back weakly.
"You're a wonderful person, Kalin," Yusei said.
"Thank you," replied Kalin.
"You definitely are," Radley smiled.
"Bruno, what's your favorite thing about here?"
"The food!" Bruno said.
"I know right?" grinned Leo. "It's awesome!"
"Yeah! The recipes are awesome!" Bruno exclaimed.
"Maybe Radley could give you some to take home."
"That would be great!" Bruno beamed.
"I would love to try to make some of the recipes as well," added Akiza.
"I'll be happy to give you both some," Radley said.
"Thank you so much, Radley," bowed Akiza.
"What kind of recipes do you want?" Radley said.
"Pasta!" Bruno said.
"Salad sounds good," said Akiza.
"Cool. I'll get some of those kinds," Radley said.
"You know, it wasn't until after the town was liberated that I started to appreciate Radley's cooking," stated Kalin.
"At least you finally did," Radley smiled and winked.
"What did you think of it before?" asked Luna.
"I didn't really think about it," replied Kalin bluntly.
"Radley had a hard time getting him to eat much sometimes," Virgil said.
"How did you get him to eat?" asked Leo.
"It was difficult," Radley said. "I had to tell him things like I didn't want him fainting during the taxing duels."
"It's amazing how patient you are, especially considering what Kalin went through," said Akiza.
"What did you think when you saw Yusei?" asked Luna.
"I didn't even know about any of that for a long time," Radley said.
He sighed. "I was afraid he'd come to take Kalin away."
"And I admit after what did in Satellite, I didn't want to see him again," grunted Kalin.
"That's understandable," Radley said.
"I wonder what was going through Yusei's mind when he saw me."
"I was shocked," Yusei said.
"That's what I thought," sighed Kalin.
"I wanted you to come home with me," Yusei said.
"I know. But I didn't think the City would be as welcoming as you."
"Hmm, that isn't the only reason you stayed, is it?" Radley said playfully.
"No, I also wanted to help repair the town after what the Malcolm Crew did to it."
"Yeah, they sure made a mess," Crow said.
"But maybe I could take some time off work to visit you guys."
"That'd be cool," Crow said. "But we hang out a lot as it is."
"Hmm, that's true." Kalin turned to look at the clock.
It was getting late by now.
"Hmm, it's getting late. Perhaps we should be going home now.
"Yeah, we probably all should," Yusei said. "Thanks for a great Christmas party, guys!"
"Thank you all for coming over and celebrating Christmas together with us, smiled Kalin as he got up to hug Yusei.
Yusei hugged back. "Any time. You made it really special."
Kalin blushed a little. "Um, hopefully fate is on our side when we get back the reports."
"I hope so," Yusei said, although he didn't believe in fate.
"See you tomorrow!" waved West.
Everyone called goodbyes and headed out.
"That was really fun!" grinned West.
"It was," Nico beamed.
Jordan smiled, happy they had fun.
"What was you two's favorite thing?" asked Kalin.
"Presents!" West said.
"Seeing everyone happy," Nico smiled.
"I see. Yes, same here," Kalin nodded in agreement.
Radley smiled. "It has been a wonderful time, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has," smiled back Kalin.
Radley gathered up things to take back home.
Kalin double-checked the tables to make sure they were clean before leaving the diner. Radley led them all back to their street. The Bunch called goodbyes.
"Well, let's go home and get some rest, Radley."
"Yeah." Radley unlocked the front door and went in.
"Tomorrow I need to remember to show the papers for the taser to Bruno. As well as give a treat to Monkey."
"Oh yeah. They'll both be delighted," nodded Radley.
"I hope so too."
"They will be," Radley said.
"I'm going to wash up and go to bed now," said Kalin. He took him pajamas and walked into the bathroom.
Radley started putting his gifts on shelves while he waited.
Kalin finished showering and got into bed.
Radley smiled. "You'll probably be asleep when I get back, so Goodnight." He headed for the bathroom.
"Heh...yeah probably..." chuckled Kalin in a sleepy tone.
Radley smiled and headed in. He showered and soon came back. True to Radley's words, Kalin was fast asleep by the time he came back out.
Radley smiled fondly and tried to quietly get into bed. Kalin made some incomprehensible noises. Radley settled down and dozed. A small smile crept on Kalin's face as the night passed by peacefully. Radley smiled too.
A/N: Yes, this chapter was shorter than the previous ones. I thought it would be better to make the part where they built the snowmen its own separate chapter, rather than cram everything into one.
