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Vaahn lay with his head on his father's lap, enjoying one of the few occasions he was allowed to watch the holo. It was a local channel, one designed for small-time broadcasters to rent as and when needed. The stage of the Rough House was on the screen, and the band there was in full swing. They were Kyyreni musicians, though they performed Panglish music; a style they described as 'Urokoni folk metal'. Chloe just called it noise, and was keeping well out of it. Vaahn was picking up the songs quickly. He seemed to particularly like one of their opening songs, entitled T'Rol. It was, as far as Josh could tell, a song about some ancient and bloody battle. He had no doubt his Penny son would, with minimal prompting, be able to recount the entire historical saga behind it. As time went on, Josh expanded that theory to encompass the band's entire playlist. "Wish I could have seen it live," the boy said with a sigh as the last notes died away and the screen dissolved back to its standby setting. "I don't think a rock concert is considered an event of cultural or spiritual importance." Josh replied. Vaahn sat himself back upright and straightened out his fur. Now seven years old, to his parents he looked closer to eight, perhaps even nine. Most of his presents this year had been clothes, which had been left slightly too large so he could grow into them. "Still, did you like your present?" "I did," Vaahn replied. "Thanks dad." With a simple hand gesture, Josh suggested Vaahn go back upstairs to his room. As he watched the boy he was left feeling a little uncertain about his future; he wasn't what Josh expected of a Soft Timer. Their first Soft Penny, Martin, had been very different; remorseful and eager to return to society. With Vaahn, there was only impatience and weariness, interspaced with flares of anger as years of pent-up aggression forced their way to the surface.

Thinking on the matter, Josh fetched a datapad and settled down at the dining room table to do some reading. The subject of choice was Vaahn's last session with the councillor. It wasn't a regular event anymore, but all Penitatas had such meetings, typically once a month. The report was not exactly alarming, but it rang warning bells in Josh's head. "Vaahn expresses feelings of being 'tired' of Penitatas life. He wishes to 'be his old self again'. He continues to place considerable importance on physical and martial prowess." He read on, halting at the final quotation. "I don't have much time left. I've lost too much already. I need my life back now, or else there won't be a life left to reclaim."

"Have you read this?" He asked as Chloe emerged with two mugs of tea. "While you were watching the holo," she answered. "I've asked Jas to bring it up; I think he'll have more luck than us." The couple settled down together, knowing that a proper heart to heart could take some time. In the meantime, they flicked between news and nature documentaries. "Is everything set for tomorrow?" Josh asked. Chloe nodded. "I'm dropping Vaahn off with Frost and Yuin, and Rebecca is coming over at four. I've already reminded Jas to behave himself." "Why does those two being together bother you so much? You don't mind Jas and Vaahn 'playing doctor' do you?" She scowled at the question. "They had a pre-existing relationship, and besides Vaahn is a Soft Timer; he's allowed a little more leeway. I do not hold with encouraging this sort of fooling about among Penitatas. Plus, it feels like he's cheating on Vaahn." "But Vaahn has made it clear he doesn't feel that way. Don't forget that he was married, and Jas was his concubine; their relationship is hardly what we would call normal." "Well I still don't like it," Chloe said finally.

It took a little over half an hour for Jas to emerge, passing by as though he'd simply come downstairs for a drink. "Any luck?" Chloe asked. Jas shook his head and began searching through the fridge. "He doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe he'll be in a better mood later." "Try him again after this party Frost is throwing," Matt suggested.

* * *

The front of the house was highly festive. Frost had strung up bunting and fairy lights, much to the confusion of several of the neighbours. Yuin argued it was a pointless thing to do, but the Nightsider took pride in his work. They had known the Revelry was close when they began, and now as Frost put the finishing touches on the front porch he could feel the Urge rising. It never came unannounced; there was a sense of restless energy, a distracting itch in the back of the mind that built up days before. Now it was lust, pure and primal, that consumed his thoughts. Ban was stood in the corner of the living room, nose pressed firmly against the wall. He had a spanking due, but neither parent was in the mood. It felt wrong to actively make the lad miserable now. Frost glanced at the clock as he entered the kitchen. Two thirty. Vaahn's parents were supposed to drop the boy off sometime soon. Yuin was stood over by the sink, washing dishes by hand. There was a perfectly good dishwasher right next to her, but she never used it. She claimed they didn't get things really clean. He watched her from the door way, letting his eye drift across her body. Everything she did fascinated him. He admired the way her hips swung side to side as she worked, how firm her buttocks were in her slim-fit jeans, specially tailored to suit her anatomy. Her tail was raised as if in invitation, as if she knew he was watching... "Frost! Not now, we'll have guests here soon!" Yuin's outcry was due to her husband's sudden assault. He bit down on her shoulder, running his hands in under his shirt and forcing them to her sensitive regions. His feral growl grew in urgency as his fingers found her vaginal slit and came away wet. "You want it." She pushed him away, though with obvious reluctance. "Patience, Frost. We'll get the boys settled and then..." Frost couldn't help but smile. "Alright, I'll wait."

Vaahn arrived soon after the impromptu kitchen intimacy. He stood in the hall and witnessed the idle conversation between parents, trying not to smirk at how blatant Frost's desires were. Maybe Humans just didn't know what to look for, or chose not to see the signs, but Chloe certainly didn't appear to notice anything unusual in the Nightsider's demeanour. Ban appeared at the top of the stairs in short order, and was ushered down by his mother. The boys exchanged icy stares, but kept quiet. "Alright boys, come with me!" Frost announced jovially once Chloe had said her goodbyes. "This is the Revelry, and I'm sure you both know what that means." "Sex, drugs and loud music?" Vaahn offered. Frost smiled, "not for you two! You'll have to make do with playing, eating and watching the TV quietly." "So... this is meant to be fun?" Ban asked cautiously. He'd heard enough horror stories about Christmas to be wary of holidays. "Absolutely," Frost assured him. "This is a time for you two to forget your cares and celebrate."

* * *

Yuin and Frost laid out food and drink for the boys in the living room. There were traditional meat cakes, bowls of homemade soup, sourball pastries and a generous amount of orange juice, spiked with vodka. "Ban, your mother and I do not want to be disturbed. I've put a movie in the holo for you two to watch, and you can amuse yourselves with board games or whatever. We will not have any trouble tonight, understand?" Ban nodded urgently. Frost gave the boy a pat on the side of the head before retiring upstairs. Left to their own devices, the boys decided to begin their meal. "I can't believe he gave us drink! Actual drink!" Vaahn took a large gulp of screwdriver, almost choking himself in his eagerness. Ban took a sip of his own cup. "He does that now and then, if I've been good." "What?" Vaahn stared at the younger boy in awe. "It's been a long time since he last gave me a drink," Ban added. "That you get any drink is a miracle! This is the first time I've had drink since the Winter Hall, and even then it was because Wodka slipped something into my milk without my parents knowing! Before that I'd been dry for the better part of thirty years!" Ban shuddered. "I couldn't take that. It's hard enough to get by with what they give me. Do you have any idea what I've been through?" The older boy's stare was one of disgust. "Don't you ever listen to what people tell you? I was first rejuved twenty-seven years ago! Everything they put you through, everything they're going to put you through has already happened to me. A lot of it happened more than once." "I didn't ask for this," Ban whined. "I just wanted a way to get my life back..." "You should have told them that earlier. I'm sure they'll make you an Innocentas and send you back to Urokon with all the gold bullion you can carry!" A low growl began in Ban's throat. "You are a fucking asshole, you know that? I ought to-" Both boys froze, heads turned upward. For a moment, they had both caught the creak of a floorboard above them. After what felt like a lifetime, they caught the faint sounds of bedsprings being tested to destruction, and at last began to breathe again. "I hate this world," the younger boy growled softly. "Everyone treats me like shit. They act like I deserve to be treated like shit! The kids, the other Rejuves, are the worst for it." Vaahn picked up his soup bowl and dipped the spoon in. It came out with more chicken than soup. "A lot of people hate us. Our species isn't popular; Humans claim to believe in equality and acceptance, but they despise us because we don't bow down and submit to their way of thinking. It's bad now, but it was so much worse when I began my sentence." "Do you know a boy named Cullen?" Vaahn nodded. "The short fat kid with ginger hair? Flat faced, like someone slammed his head into an anvil? I know him." "He gives me shit every chance he gets. That evil old bitch in charge of the school always lets him get away with it, but beats me for fighting back." "She does that," Vaahn agreed. "Did she ever make you bleed?" Ban shuddered. "Yeah... not long ago she really tore into me. She gave me a hell of a beating, worse than anything Frost or Yuin have. A lot worse. She healed me up afterward with some kind of tool, told me I deserved it, and if I ever told anyone about it I'd get it ten times worse." To Vaahn's surprise, there was wetness in Ban's eye; half-formed tears the young lad was struggling to hold back. "What is it? What did she do?" "She knew things, Vaahn; things I never wanted her to know! One of them-" Ban pointed to the ceiling, "-told her about my past! About what happened to me when I was a ganger! That bitch said it'd happen again, only worse!" Vaahn worked out the rest. He had never run with the gangs, but he'd seen the bloody aftermath; the brutalised and sodomised remains of some sorry bastard who picked the wrong place to cause trouble. Even he balked at the sheer brutality that was unleashed on young men in the back-alleys of Urokon's cities.

With any thought of the film forgotten, an uneasy quiet fell over the Penitatas. The drink, intended to help them relax and enjoy themselves, became a source of comfort as they shared their mutual pain. "She told me not to tell anyone what she'd done to me," Vaahn confessed. "She said nobody would believe me, because a Penitatas can't be trusted. She was right; my parents accused me of lying to try and cause trouble. The third or fourth time it happened, my parents punished me themselves for my 'evil, hateful lies'. They have rules about how they're supposed to treat us, and yet when we speak out against someone who breaks those rules nobody will listen." "I think Frost will," Vaahn said thoughtfully. "I think any parent who'd let us get drunk would stand up and fight our corner." From behind a glass Ban replied, "He wouldn't have to if we weren't here." The unspoken idea lingered in the air; they were alone, unsupervised. It was the perfect time to slip away. "I tried that," Vaahn sighed. "It didn't work." "And you didn't try again?" He shook his head. "I decided to bide my time and pick my battles. I guess it worked, seeing as I might be free in three years." "Might," Ban emphasised. Go out that door and we're free now." "For a given value of free," Vaahn countered. "We'd spend the rest of our lives on the run, in hiding." Ban paused long enough to eat one of the meat cakes. "We could go off-world, couldn't we? You have contacts, people who can slip us away..." "They'd be hell to pay." "Hell's been paid already," the younger boy snarled. "As far as I'm concerned, hell overcharged. I deserve a life, and I'm damn well going to get one! Now, are you coming or not?" Vaahn finished his glass and refilled it from the jug. "One for the road," he whispered.

* * *

Frost and Yuin descended, having paused only to pull on enough clothes to make themselves decent. Like any parent of a flight-risk Penny, the doors of their home were wired with alarms. The blinking alert light and alarm-clock chirrup had brought them downstairs, where the front door was still open. "Fuck!" Frost snapped. His hackles were up, and he clenched and unclenched his hands. "I'll alert the police," Yuin said. "No, not yet. Give me a chance to hunt them down myself. He won't have gotten far." He went into the night. Streetlights turned the darkness a dull orange, and the light pollution obscured all but the brightest stars. He scanned the street as his mind settled into a hunter's thought patterns. Where would his quarry go? West. West towards the edge of the city; to open country. He broke into a run, taking the first turn down another street, one that headed south, but curved westward again. They'd have taken it, if only to break line of sight in case Frost or Yuin came out looking. The street ended in a cul-de-sac, but there was a gap for pedestrians to get back onto the main road. He went south again, pausing after twenty metres to consider an alternative route. There was another path, following westward, that threaded in between back gardens. It would hide them from traffic, and the bulk of the security cameras the Penitatas neighbourhoods possessed. He took two steps and thought against it. People would be more suspicious of noises in the alley; out in the open, where the sound of footsteps would draw far less attention, seemed the more sensible option. He took the road. His bare feet pounded the paving stones as he ran tirelessly in pursuit of his quarry. Despite the severity of the situation, he found he was enjoying himself; there was a simple, feral joy to the chase. He almost hoped Ban would run away more often. Almost. Frost's nostrils flared, catching the scent of the boys upwind. They must have taken the alley, but had come out somewhere nearby. He trusted his instincts and his nose, following the course. He was almost on top of them.

Vaahn was sat on the sidewalk when Frost found him. He didn't seem overly concerned by the Nightsider's approach, making no attempt to run and hide. Sweat clung to his fur, and though he'd been there several minutes his breathing showed he was still tired. "Where is he?" Frost growled, breathing hard. "He carried on," Vaahn answered, pointing further down the road. "And why did you stop?" Vaahn pointed across the street. "That's my house." Frost realised he was right. The Johansson household was right across the road. Vaahn pushed himself to his feet. "Actually, I was kind of hoping you'd help me get in." "And why would I do that?" Vaahn looked toward his parent's bedroom window. "I had time to think. If I followed Ban I could get my life back; I could go to ground and find passage on a ship. I could get back to Urokon and rejoin my family... but that would mean losing everything I have here. That would mean losing Jas. I realised that I want to be here, so when it's over we can choose our own path together." "That still doesn't justify you running away," Frost said firmly. The Penny boy gave the Nightsider a weary look. "I know I did wrong, but I did it for the right reasons. I was going to go inside... I'd just like to be able to go inside without regretting it." Frost thought long and hard on Vaahn's words. "Alright," he said at last, and ushered the boy forward toward his home. Chloe answered the door. "Hello? Oh, Frost! What are you- Vaahn?" "We've had some trouble at home," Frost said. He'd suddenly developed a slight slurring in his voice. "Ban has decided to do something foolish, and I felt it best to bring Vaahn home." "I don't see your car..." "We walked." The answer shocked Chloe. "At this hour?" Frost shrugged. "Yuin had a few to drink, and I had a lot more than a few. Besides, exercise is good for growing boys." Chloe smiled, ushering her son inside. "Well, I hope my son hasn't-" "No trouble whatsoever." Frost cut in. Vaahn gave him a very appreciative smile. "Thank you, Frost. I really appreciate everything you've done for me tonight." The Nightsider gave a weary sigh, "I wish my son felt the same. Good night, the both of you."

Vaahn headed back up to his room, though his mother insisted on leading the way. She opened the door and looked inside, seeming almost disappointed to find the two occupants fast asleep, and in separate beds. "Well, at least they behaved themselves," Chloe said quietly. "Since Rebecca's in your bed, you'd best sleep with Jas. In fact, let's give you a bath first." Vaahn nodded wearily, struggling to stay awake as he was undressed, bathed, put into pyjamas and helped up into the top bunk. He placed an arm around Jas, dropped his head onto the pillow, and was asleep before his mother had time to close the door.

* * *

Ban staggered onward, struggling to breathe but too terrified to stop. A Drakonian had come outside as he rounded the last corner and tried to confront him, forcing the boy to scramble over a fence and start cutting through gardens. He was caked in sweat; his limbs burned from the exertion and he felt like he'd been stabbed in the kidneys. He fell over the latest fence, landing with a crunch in a bush and rolling clear. He lay on the grass, face down and panting like a dog. He needed to sleep; he could feel himself nodding off right there and then. Somehow, he found the strength to rise again. He slunk around to the side of the house, carefully opened the gate, and slipped out into the street once more. He was utterly lost now, and had no idea where to go. Vaahn had said to keep going West, but he didn't know which way West was. The sound of a Hovercar made him duck back into the garden, but voices on the other side of the fence forced him to bolt. He made it halfway down the street before turning back and seeing his father. In thermal sight his body glowed, muscles burning from the flat-out sprint he'd made to gain ground on his fleeing son. Yet where Ban was flagging, Frost seemed more than able to keep up his full-speed pursuit. The Hovercar was back. Ban caught one look at the police vehicle and panicked. He ran for the nearest house, aiming to try and clear another fence. "In here lad, quick!" Ban turned toward the man at the door; an older sort of Human with greying hair and wrinkles. Ban didn't question the offer and went for it, hearing his father and the police in hot pursuit. He ducked into the door and came to a sharp, painful halt. The old man had hold of his collar and forcefully pushed him against the wall, where he was held, pinned in place. "NO!" Ban screamed. "Let me go, damn it! Get off of me!" He kicked and clawed, but the old man held firm long enough for Frost to take over. One hand gripped his muzzle and held it tight shut; the other took an outstretched arm. The next instant he was on his backside, legs hooked out from under him. "You have no idea how much trouble you are in, lad!" Frost growled, pulling the boy back to his feet whilst holding both arms down behind him.

The boy was brought straight back home. Fear and fatigue were fighting inside of him, and fear lost. He woke up in his mother's arms, with his father sat on the sofa, examining what remained of the meal the boys had been given for the evening. "Let's hear it then," he said flatly, helping himself to a meat cake. "H-hear what?" Ban stammered back. "Why you did it. You must have a reason, or at least an excuse you think we'd buy? Let's hear it." No answer was forthcoming. Ban dropped his head and mumbled into his chest, "it's not fair." "What isn't?" Yuin asked, her tone hardly sympathetic. "I just w-want a life." Ban replied, tearing up. "You don't know h-how hard-" "We've heard this before," Yuin cut in. "We know your past, Ban." "But it doesn't justify the choices you made. You had every chance to claim the life you wanted, but instead you chose to become a criminal; a thug, a murderer, a pirate. You are here because you made one bad choice after another, and now that you have to pay for those choices, you decided to try and run from it." The boy gave a loud sob. "I'm s-sorry!" "Don't you dare give me a false apology." Frost shot back. "You say you're sorry when you mean it, not when you think it'll get you out of trouble. Now go to bed." Ban looked from one parent to the other in confusion. "I... I'm not getting punished?" "Not yet," Frost answered. "This is a Holy Time, a time when all grudges and grievances are forgotten. You will answer for what you did tonight, but not now. Go, get to your room."

Frost and Yuin sat together for a while, speaking on the night's events. "Did you believe what Vaahn said?" "I want to," Frost said. Yuin sighed. "Wanting to isn't enough. We should tell his parents." "No. No... I am sure he was telling the truth. He just needed a little more room to grow." "I wish the same could be said of Ban." "So do I," Frost answered. "So do I."