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Busy times were ahead in the days leading up to Christmas for everyone who's a member of or at least affiliated with the Restoration HQ.
As part of that busyness during one afternoon, a disgruntled and high-strung Lanolin – moreso than she is sometimes given the seasonal busyness among other reasons – was walking a brisk pace carrying a clipboard in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other while Surge and Kit were following along behind her.
Though the former was in her typical outfit, the latter two were clad in wintry outfits found for them: the tenrec sporting her quills down along with a powder blue knit hat, orange scarf, light blue coat, dark grey snow pants and tan boots, while the fennec had on a dark blue knit hat, green jacket, black pants and blue boots. Through it all, the latter still also had his trusted Hydro Pack as well just in case.
"Ugh, c'mon, are we really the only ones who can do this?" Surge asked of the sheep in front of her; disposition less than pleased. "This joint's got, what, dozens of mooks at hand and all of the rest are all tied up now?"
"Considering we're juggling between a lot prepping up for Christmas ahead, then yes, all other hands are on deck and it's up to you two now." Lanolin replied brusquely, all without looking back behind her.
"Hey, you said it yourself, it's Christmastime!" Surge expressed with puffed up excitement, throwing her arms up in the air. "This should be the time for us to kick back and have a good time, not to be pushed into delivery duty!"
Indeed, she plus Kit were following the sheep as a result of being newly assigned to conduct some deliveries on the organization's behalf.
"You should've thought about that before you pulled that little stunt which put those who were originally assigned to it out of commission." Lanolin fired back.
Surge rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, you try to just once in livening up the lives of some schmucks around here by giving them a literal and figurative jolt of excitement. How was I supposed know they had jobs ahead of them?"
"Again, would've helped if you tried thinking before acting." Lanolin was quick to note again.
The tenrec grumbled and folded her arms.
"Okay, but why did Drippy need to be dragged along into this?" She asked next after a few seconds, gesturing her head over to the fennec by her side. "It's not like he had anything to do with what I did! Why punish him too?"
"W-well, to be fair..." Kit began to say. "I-I tried talking you it, so...m-maybe I do have some blame to share since-"
Midway through him speaking though, he felt a hand being abruptly placed on his head by the tenrec.
"Kit, I swear to Gaia above, we don't need another spiel of you blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault!" Surge said to the fennec in a raised tone, but she quickly took a deep breath to calm down before continuing. "Just...please don't do that and I don't think there's any point in complaining about bein' saddled with this job."
"Oh, s-sorry," Kit said, lowering his head down for just a second before looking back up and shaking it. "A-and I wasn't gonna complain. I'm totally ready to do what I can to help out, Surge."
Despite any annoyance on her end with having to be put into the position of her and Kit doing this job, Surge nevertheless showed the fennec a little smile and gently patted him on the head.
"I'm sure ya will." She told him.
"Well anyway, to answer your question of why Kit is doing this too, this is a two person assignment at the very least and given he's your companion, I have a sense he's the only one you'd at all really feel comfortable working alongside with," Lanolin got in once she had the chance. "Plus, he's just now displayed his willingness to help you, so I doubt he minds it."
"Hey, he's more than just my companion, ya know!" Surge stated somewhat irked, staring a hole right through the back of the sheep's head. "He's by far my best pal...and honestly the closest thing to a friend I have at all really."
Kit looked back up at Surge again when she described him as such and couldn't help but feel slightly mixed emotions over that. Although he did feel a touch sad and sorry for her suggesting he was perhaps the only friend she has now, he still smiled nevertheless and felt a warm fulfilling feeling inside knowing she does see him as being important to her.
To display how much he meant to her in return through action, the fennec briefly hugged the tenrec from the side. Likewise, Surge let out a light laugh as she briefly put an arm around him and lightly squeezing him close.
"Be that as it may and getting back on track, though this assignment may be for Christmas related purposes, you both should still take it quite seriously and not let anything else get in the way," Lanolin resumed speaking. "Is that all understood?"
"Can do! You better believe it, boss lady!" Surge exaggeratedly declared, barely doing much to contain some snickers as she performed a humorous salute. "Super serious mode activated!"
Looking just to her side seconds after that, she began snickering more noticeably when she saw Kit imitating a similar salute which in turn caused him to laugh as well. Meanwhile, Lanolin glanced over her shoulder just enough to see the display done by both and simply rolled her eyes.
Eventually, the latter lead the tenrec and fennec over to a garage area where Belle could seen assisting in loading some packages inside a sled alongside the Restoration's chief mechanic, Grease. Just in front of the sled was also something else underneath a tarp.
"Hey Surge, hey, Kit!" Belle greeted them with a smile upon their arrivals.
"Ah, so you two are the newly assigned helping hands for this, huh?" Grease questioned them, grinning on his end as well.
"That they are," Lanolin promptly confirmed. "I'll leave the two of you to get them up to speed on things as I need to get to other business. The seasonal grind goes on."
Then with a swig of her coffee plus a deep breath after swallowing it down, the sheep took her leave.
Right off the bat next, Kit noticed how Belle's apparel really stood out.
"Uh...your outfit looks nice." He told her.
"It's...flashy?" Surge chimed in as well. "Guess that'd be a word to call it I suppose."
Sure enough, the badnik girl was bedecked in much different attire than normally. Fitting for the season, she had temporarily traded her green kit hat and overalls for a Santa style hat and red dress.
"Thanks!" Belle said in appreciation, taking a moment to look down at it. "Tangle thought it'd work for the occasion and honestly, I'm glad she did find it for me!"
After getting done with explaining that, she went over to grab a couple more remaining boxes and placed them inside the sled.
"There we go, that's everything!" Belle said in a fulfilled tone, closing the door to the sled afterwards.
"All right, so give us the low down on what exactly we gotta do." Surge inquired about.
"Okay, so basically you guys just have to take all of this over to a pair of villages," Belle began filling the duo in. "From what I'm understanding, they're both quite close together and thus theoretically, you could stop at the first one and the folks there may be able to take over from there."
"That's it?" Surge said with a raised eyebrow, then she chuckled. "Pssh, if so, then this oughta be a breeze!"
Admist that exchange, the fennec's attention was trained over at the tarp.
"So, uh...what's under this?" Kit curiously asked, almost tempted to look underneath the it himself.
Grease raised an index finger. "Ah, just give me a second here..."
The orangutan pulled the tarp off to reveal that the sled was hooked up to a snowmobile.
"There you have it!" Grease proudly said before he patted the side of the sled. "And just as Belle here has said, all the stuff's been packed inside, so y'all should be ready from here."
Belle nodded. "Yep, I'd say so too. With that, I do gotta head off as I'm needed elsewhere. Very busy around here today."
She waved at everyone else before leaving.
"So, we have to take all of the stuff inside here..." Kit was saying, gesturing to the sled. "A-and bring this back here as well?"
"Oh, this sled's actually part of the delivery," Grease explained. "You'll just have to be careful on the way over to the villages rather than back."
"O-oh...all right then," Kit said, sounding relieved over that. "Guess that'd make things kind of easier."
"Heh, like I said, it'll be a breeze!" Surge repeated, briefly laying a hand on the fennec's shoulder.
Afterwards, the tenrec directed her attention over at the snowmobile itself.
"And I do gotta say that's a pretty sweet looking ride!" She stated with a smirk and chuckle.
Grease folded his arms and nodded his head. "True that! Anyway, if there's anything two of you need to know about how it operates, I'm all ears."
"Nah, I'd say we're good." Surge said, waving her hand dismissively.
"You sure?" Grease asked with a turn of his head. "'Cause I can give ya some pointers in how to operate it if needed."
Surge shook her head and again waved her hand around while smirking confidently. "Nah, I've got this on lockdown! Just leave the rest to me and ol' Drippy here!"
"Well...if you insist, then I'll let the two of you get at it!" Grease said with a wink and thumbs up. "Oh, you might need these to complete your outfits!"
Going over to the nearby workbench, the orangutan grabbed two pairs of goggles and handed them over to the tenrec and fennec. In addition to that, he opened up the garage door for the duo.
"Well, good luck out there, stay safe and happy travelling!" He told them as he headed off for whatever other business he may have ahead of him for the day.
Meanwhile, the tenrec eyed the snowmobile and rubbed her hands in anticipation.
"Um...y-you don't actually know how to drive something like that, do you?" Kit nervously wondered. "At least I-I don't think I know that you do."
"No, I ain't gonna lie that I don't exactly know, Drippy, but like hell I'm gonna pass up the chance on taking it for a spin anyway!" Surge defiantly said, toothy grin and all. "We'll figure it out as we go."
With that eagerness at hand, she climbed onto the seat of the vehicle and got herself situated.
"Well, best we get to it then," Surge said right as she got done settling, turning to face the fennec at the same time. "And I suppose you better hold on to me once we're in motion so you don't go flyin' off by chance as we're going."
"Y-you sure you'll be okay with that?" Kit asked of her, sounding rather apprehensive.
"Huh? Drippy, you hugged me like three different times just today," Surge was quick to point out to him, puzzled by his hesitance. "Dunno why you'd suddenly have a problem with hangin' on to me now."
"Well, i-it's just...I don't want to make you feel too uncomfortable or anything along the way..." Kit said, fiddling with his hands.
Surge continued to be confused over why Kit was experiencing such hesitation over this. However, a smirk arrived on her face when the thought of deploying some reverse psychology.
"Eh, suit yourself," she said while shrugging. "Guess you'll have to either ride in the sled thing back there assumin' you can squeeze in or sit behind me and just cling onto the seat for dear life."
The tenrec only meant both of those suggestions in sarcastic jest, yet the fennec's expression gave indication he appeared to be actually considering either one of them. It was enough for the former to roll her eyes and sigh in an annoyed manner.
"Kit, just hang on to me, okay?" Surge stressed to him. "I promise it's fine."
Finally with that added encouragement, Kit climbed onto the snowmobile just behind her after also putting on his goggles. He gently leaned against the tenrec's back and attempted to get further settled in.
"What's this supposed to be?" Surge suddenly wondered.
"W-what?" Kit added in.
He tried peering over Surge's shoulder as best he could to notice that Surge was referring to a GPS hooked right up front with the coordinates to and from their destination already plugged in.
"Huh, well that's convenient," she said, chuckling somewhat. "At least we don't gotta awkwardly go back and ask where in the hell we're supposed to go or get lost tryin' getting to places along the way."
"Oh...that's good to know." Kit agreed as he was sitting back down.
"All right, well...suppose we shall get a move on," Surge stated, glancing behind her to face the fennec. "You ready, Drippy?"
"Y-yeah, I'm ready if you are, Surge!" Kit affirmed with increasing zeal.
Surge bore a big smile on her face and showed a thumbs up. "Ha-ha, great! Let's go!"
Then with that and after she affixed her pair of goggles, the tenrec started up the snowmobile's engine – after taking a few seconds to first find out how to start it – and little by little, she began carefully propelling the vehicle and its towed cargo forward out of the garage.
Eventually along with the assistance of the GPS, she followed a trail that lead away from the Restoration plus the surrounding area and into some more open territory. From there, she accelerated just that bit more to really get herself and Kit officially going with their travels.
For the next several minutes, Surge and Kit's journey to the village was relatively uneventful. Part of that lack of excitement was by design due to the tenrec having to maintain a steadier pace of driving the snowmobile lest the sled break free and careen into crashing off course plus herself and the fennec befalling a similar fate.
From Kit's end of things, he was rather impressed by how quickly Surge had appeared to adapt in driving and handling everything. He's even said as much to her earlier into their trip. Although in another way, it didn't entirely surprise him too much given she at least had prior experience and adeptness in manning her Extreme Gear during the Clean Sweepstakes.
And although little in the way of other things broke up their journey, the serene wintry landscape combined with the setting afternoon sun made for a visually pleasant and pretty backdrop to bask in along the way.
At least as serene as having the whirring engine of a snowmobile running in the background can be.
After a few more minutes of travelling, the sight of what was presumed to be their destined village appeared in the horizon. Right as they were within the perimeter of the village, Surge could see a man waving his hand and indistinctly shouting in her and Kit's direction.
"Huh, wonder if that dude's been waiting for us?" She said, turning her head slightly in the fennec's direction.
"Maybe?" Kit responded, not entirely sure on his end.
Surge lightly shrugged. "Well, guess we're gonna see in just a sec..."
Slowly, the tenrec decelerated the snowmobile until it came to a complete stop and she shut off the engine. By then, the man approached her and Kit closer.
"Hey, you two from the Restoration, right?" He asked them.
"You got it, bub!" Surge answered, lifting up her goggles.
"Ah, good, good! Be right back."
The man turned around and walked back inside of the building he was standing in front of. In the meantime, Surge and Kit disembarked from the snowmobile.
Just about a minute later, the man returned with a trio of other workers arrived on the scene. They quickly got to work on unhooking the sled from the back of the snowmobile and unloading the contents inside of it.
"So what's all this junk supposed to be and who's it for?" Surge inquired to the first worker. "We didn't exactly ask before we left since my pal here and I were kinda last minute replacements for this assignment because the others who were meant to do this, uh...fell outta the job and we had to rush on out."
"Well, it's essentially a mixture of supplies for this village – the sled being part of that – and then rest is like Christmas gifts for both here plus the next village over," he explained, pointing in the general direction of where that other village is. "Which in latter case we'll take it all from here."
"Oh, so...Belle was right about that." Kit mentioned to the tenrec on the side.
"Eh, guess so." Surge responded back to him with a shrug.
While things were getting unloaded and checked out, Surge and Kit were lead inside the building by that first worker where he said the two were needed in order to sign off on the delivery. Until that point though, they were told to wait and take a seat.
However, several minutes had passed without them hearing much of anything and it was causing the tenrec to get gradually more annoyed.
"Sheesh, they're taking their sweet time, huh?" Surge grumbled. "I guess they must be helluva busy because they got a lotta stuff to prep up and ship since Christmas is comin' up, but still..."
In addition, Kit was feeling kind of restless in his seat which Surge happened to notice as well.
"Y'know, you can head outside and keep yourself occupied with something else if ya like, Drippy," she suggested that he do. "Might be better than sittin' around getting bored to tears for who knows how long this is gonna take."
"What? Y-you sure about that?" Kit wondered ambivalently. "What about you though? You sure you'll be fine? What if I'm also needed?"
"Eh, I'll make it through," Surge assured him, smiling a little. "Plus I'm gonna hazard a guess and think I'm the only one between us who can be able to sign off on all this junk anyway. So go on ahead and I'll catch up with ya once I'm done."
Ultimately at her insistence, he stood up from his seat, walked out of the building and took a second to survey the area before resuming walking down his right.
The fennec really didn't have that much of an idea of what to do. He simply spent the next few minutes wandering around the village taking in the sights, sounds and overall cosy small town vibes of the surroundings. All the while, he couldn't help but smile and let out a happy sigh along the way.
"Help"!
But then suddenly he stopped in his tracks once he heard that shout.
He looked over towards the Christmas tree at the centre of the village and ran over to it for a closer look. A gathering crowd had also been congregated around the area as well.
By the time Kit arrived near the base of the tree and squinted, he saw what appeared to be a little girl who somehow got stuck sitting and clinging on to a branch high above.
The fennec could hear all manner of mutterings from the crowd. They ranged from wondering how on earth she got up there to calls for the fire department to be brought in.
As that was all going on, the uneasiness he was already from this increasingly perilous situation only grew knowing that Surge was presently busy and not around for this. His instinct would've been to ask her what they should do in a scenario like this and hope she had a plan in mind. Saying that, the tenrec likely would've asked him in return whatever plans he could conjure up with since she'd consider planning as more within his wheelhouse.
"Help!" The girl again pleaded.
"Won't somebody please get my little girl down from there?!" A woman's panicky voice chimed in.
By the time he heard the girl's plea again echo into his ears in conjunction with what he assumed was her mother speaking, he made a split second decision.
"W-wait, hang on, I think I can get you down!" Kit shouted up to her.
The onlookers gasped and turned their gazes to the fennec. He was bound to know such attention would be drawn to him which only added to the pressure that began bubbling up big time inside of him.
Nonetheless, Kit closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and bore a determined look on his face.
Holding his hands up just slightly, two tendrils of water spawned forth from his Hydro Pack; eliciting further gasps from the crowd. Those tendrils in turn bolstered him up into the air up until he arrived right at the girl's level.
"W-who are you?" She shakily asked upon his appearance.
"I-I'm here to help." Kit told her as calmly as he could.
At first, the fennec was worried and confused as to why the girl had become more terrified than he expected. Then again, if he were in her position, the sight of someone with glowing eyes hovering in the air right in front of you while you're stuck in a tree would put some extra fright into a little one.
As another observation, he noticed the shirt this girl was wearing had a particular word emblazoned on it.
"H-hey, is your name Ivy?" He asked what he assumed was a natural question.
"Y-y-yeah," she said nervously with a nod. "W-what's yours?"
"I'm Kitsunami...or Kit for short," Kit answered, then he wanted to assure her further. "Listen, it's gonna be okay. I'll get you down from here, okay?"
She wasn't feeling any less scared over the whole situation, but she also realized that in the immediate here and now, she had little other options beyond accepting the fennec's help.
"O-okay..." Ivy spoke softly and nodded her head.
Carefully, she began shuffling towards Kit while he in turn got a little closer to her. He extended his hand out and she grabbed on it. Little by little after that, the fennec gently pulled her closer until she kind of suddenly threw her arms around him and clung on for dear life.
That may have taken Kit slightly off guard, but nevertheless he maintained his balance and helped steady Ivy by putting his arms around her as well.
Finally, the fennec began lowering both himself and Ivy back down until they were on solid ground again.
Admist the sounds of the crowd cheering and applauding the successful rescue, the latter let go and no sooner did that happened did her mother's rush over, fall to her knees and wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"Oh, thank goodness you're all right, sweetie!" She said in relief. "What were you doing up there? How did you get up there in the first place?!"
However, she wasn't really in the mood to make a huge scene over exact specifications of what lead to Ivy's harrowing predicament. Instead, only relief mattered in the immediate here and now.
After releasing her daughter from her grip, the woman stood up and looked over to face Kit standing to her side.
"I cannot thank you enough, young man...or Kit, I should say if I heard rightly while you were up there," she expressed to him in the utmost sincerity. "That was so brave of you to do."
Kit rubbed his arm bashfully and smiled. "Uh...y-you're welcome."
Ivy looked at the fennec again and then suddenly, it's like a light bulb came on in her head and realization struck.
"Wait, I remember you!" She said, her eyes starting to light up while she smiled. "You were with Surj! Wait, if you're here, does that mean she's here too? Is she? Can I see her again if she is here? Can I?!"
"Heh...guess you'll ask and you shall receive, kiddo!"
Hearing that familiar voice, Ivy turned her head to the right and saw Surge arriving on the scene big toothy grin and all. She gasped out loud and the smile on her face only got wider.
"SURJ!" Ivy exclaimed.
The girl excitedly ran up to the tenrec while the latter crouched down to the former.
"Heh, wasn't quite expectin' to see you again!" Surge said, raising her hand up like she was requesting a high five.
Ivy didn't waste any time in enthusiastically answering to the tenrec's request before proceeding to speak really fast.
All the latter could gather in the excitable marathon monologue from the former is how happy she was to see the tenrec again and how Kit managed to save her.
"And...and...and..." Ivy was saying near the end.
"Okay, come on now, sweetheart, we got to get going," her mother insisted with some laughter as she grabbed the girl's hand and glanced at the duo before her. "Nice seeing both of you again and thank you once more for your bravery, Kit."
It took a bit of further convincing for the little one to relent, but eventually she followed her mother off in the opposite direction.
"Bye, Surj!" Ivy told the tenrec while waving, then she did the same in the fennec's direction. "And bye, Keet! Thanks again for saving me!"
The tenrec and fennec waved back and afterwards, the former looked to the latter with a smirk.
"Say, was I hearin' things or did she call ya something like 'Keet' just now?" Surge asked the fennec with a chuckle.
Kit chuckled as well. "Uh, sounded like it I guess."
As the crowd was dispersing, the duo also went on their way.
"So...look at ya, you heroic little man you," she said, playfully jabbing the fennec's shoulder. "Way to go out there."
"Oh...you saw that happen?" Kit asked, sounding somewhat shocked about that. "I-I thought you would be too busy waiting around signing off the stuff we've delivered to see it."
"Eh, I didn't see the whole show, but I did kinda catch the end there right as you were bringin' the little one down," Surge explained while winking. "Only regrets I have is not bein' there from the start to see it in full, maybe lend a helpin' hand along the way and get a share of that cheering crowd in my direction."
"I, uh...I wouldn't doubt you would've wanted to do all that." Kit added.
Surge laughed before bringing her arm around the fennec's shoulders and brought him close to her in a one-armed hug.
"But for real though in all seriousness, I'm super proud of ya for what you did, Kit," Surge told him in earnest. "Between that and me smackin' down Sonic – oops, I mean, the Phantom Rider – during the Clean Sweepstakes, maybe both of us really gonna be cut out for this whole hero biz after all."
The two of them shared another laugh over recalling that.
"Actually, now that I think about it, I shouldn't be too shocked you can pull heroics off on your own since...well..." she said next, pausing to let out yet one more small chuckle and tighten her arm around Kit. "You've pulled my own butt outta the fire a few times before. Gotta appreciate that about ya among other stuff."
Kit giggled again, smiled and then he graciously returned her kind words and gestures by hugging her.
"Thanks, Surge," He said with reciprocal earnestness. "And you're welcome too."
After a few more seconds, the tenrec pulled her arm away and for about another couple of minutes, she and Kit decided to simply stroll around the village together. It was kind of similar to how the fennec was conducting himself prior to his rescue of Ivy.
"Oh, wait up there, you two!"
Suddenly, both Surge and Kit stopped in their tracks and looked behind them to see a light blue dog gentleman running towards their direction.
"Sorry...don't mean to...bother you..." He spoke between exhausted breaths by the time he was right up to them. "Also, I'm...totally not built for running...at my age..."
He hunched over and took a few seconds in order to catch his breath. At the same time, Surge and Kit could see this man appeared to be holding some kind of tin underneath his arm.
"All right, whew..." The man said as he arched up straight again. "Anyway, where are my manners? I'd give you my actual name, but for the sake of brevity as I'm needed back pretty quickly, you can simply call me the Conductor. It's like a nickname of sorts...well, that and I am an actual train conductor by profession."
"O...kay?" Surge said following a pause, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. "But what's your story, dude? Whaddaya want?"
"Well, I just heard that the young man over here is responsible for rescuing my daughter," he explained. "Many, many thanks for that it must be said. I'm sure she and my wife have already heaped praise on him, but nothing wrong with a little extra on top of that, right?"
"I...I guess not," Kit said, smiling bashfully while ever so briefly looking away. "You're welcome by the way. I...I-I just wanted to help out was all."
All the while, Surge smiled at him and gave the fennec another congratulatory pat on his head.
"Anyway, at Ivy's insistence and the fact that my wife had brought several along with us, I just wanted to present a token of appreciate to you on her behalf." The Conductor went on to say.
He fully showed off the tin to the duo and opened it just enough to show it contained some cookies inside.
"Whoa!" Kit said excitedly after a gasp. "Thanks!"
"Yeah, we ain't ones to turn down complementary treats!" Surge added with equal zeal.
The Conductor handed the cookie tin over to Kit which the latter eagerly accepted into his own hands.
"So, what...do y'all live here or somethin'?" Surge proceeded to ask next.
"Oh, no, we're just passing on through and staying the night over at the inn right there," The Conductor clarified, pointing over behind him. "Little family Christmas trip in essence. What about you kids? What's your business here if you don't mind me asking?"
"Eh, delivery job for this place we're stayin' at," Surge answered succinctly. "We're just about to bounce before you came runnin' about."
"Oh, well, all the better that I caught up with you just in time and..."
But before he could finish speaking, he got interrupted by the sudden arrival of Ivy returning. She barrelled right past her father and right up to Surge and Kit in order to hug them.
"Ivy?!"
"Sorry, Daddy, but I wanted to say bye to them again!" Ivy said, looking back at him. "Mom said it was okay!"
Surge and Kit shared a surprised glance at one another, but then they smiled as they returned their glances back to the little girl gripping one arm around each before they returned the favour to her.
Eventually though just like what his wife had done mere minutes earlier, the Conductor had to gently coax his daughter away from the duo and take her hand into his own.
"Anyway, we better get back to her mother now," he said, turning his attention one last time to the duo. "Thank you so much again! Merry Christmas and have a safe trip back home!"
"Bye again, Surj and Keet!" Ivy said in addition while waving. "Merry Christmas!"
The tenrec and fennec waved back at both of them and after the latter two were out of sight, they looked down at the tin of cookies in Kit's hand as he opened it up further.
"Heh...I guess bein' heroes does pay off in one way, huh, Drippy?" Surge said with a big grin, wasting no time in grabbing one out and munching on it.
"Yeah, I'd say!" Kit agreed, following suit with the tenrec in eating one of his own.
With the cookie tin firmly in Kit's grip, he and Surge resumed being on their path back towards the snowmobile and to leave the village.
As they were walking, something caught the tenrec's eye and she made a split second decision.
"Uh...Kit, I'll be right back!" Surge rather suddenly said. "Gotta, um...handle some extra business. Catch ya in a jiffy!"
"W-what...?" Kit uttered confusedly.
But before he could inquire any further about whatever business the tenrec was referring to, she ran off in the opposite direction and around the corner out of view.
Kit wasn't quite sure what to do now. However, Surge's assurance she get things done quickly made him figure that staying put was his best course of action.
Luckily, there was a nearby bench for him to take a seat on and wait it out.
As he waited, the fennec couldn't help but observe a spot of snowfall starting up.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Kit saw from his peripheral vision the sight of Surge coming back around the corner and running towards him.
"I'm back, hold your applause!" She humorously said upon arriving back by his side.
"Oh, good," Kit said, standing up from the bench. "What did you have to do?"
"Um...don't worry about it right now." Surge answered him.
While she said that though, Kit did subtly saw the tenrec patting one of the pockets of her pants.
"All right, now we should be getting a move on, Drippy," she said following that. "Gettin' kinda dark out, it's startin' to snow and I suppose we don't wanna freak out the Restoration bigwigs too badly if we're not back pretty soon."
Nodding diligently, the fennec followed along as Surge lead them both back to the snowmobile before they climbed back on it.
"We'll make it home before it gets too dark, right?" Kit asked in an unsure tone.
Surge wanted to respond right away with confidence in the affirmative, yet she paused because she couldn't help but be struck by how the fennec described the Restoration as their home.
In a technical sense, it really was. It may have not been their first choice and it wasn't like they originally planned on staying there for as long as they have nor slowly move past their previous goal of tearing the organization down from within. Rather, they've actually gotten quite accustomed to their surroundings there and though they'd hardly designated a lot of the people associated with it as friends per se and vice versa, but yet things between all parties had been far more cordial than they've previously been.
Combined with how much closer they both had gotten with each other to the point Surge considered Kit as her closest friend like she called him earlier in the day, it all turned up to be a pretty good deal for them.
Finally though as she regained her train of thought, the tenrec glanced over her shoulder to face Kit.
"We're gonna make back there before then." Surge casually assured him.
With that being said out of her, the fennec meanwhile got himself full situated and awaited the journey home.
However, several seconds passed on by without hearing the sound of the snowmobile's engine of starting up and instead he heard Surge growling.
"Aw, crap..." She muttered soon after.
"What? I-is something wrong?" Kit asked, worry being apparent in his voice.
"I think screwed up somehow," Surge began explaining, sighing in an annoyed manner. "The path back ain't showin' on this thing."
The fennec tried peering around the tenrec's shoulder to see what was going on. He could observe Surge tapping furiously at the GPS.
"Hey, maybe you can take a look at this, Drippy," she suggested to him, still tapping away anyway. "Might know more than..."
But in the middle of her speaking, the sheer amount of times she'd been tapping the GPS caused it to suddenly go out. She smacked it around a couple of times in vain, but it hardly helped matters and ultimately she assumed it was officially broken.
"Oh, you gotta be..." Surge had begun saying, stopping short of saying anything more colourful and opting instead to groaning in frustration. "Great, now it looks like we're flyin' in blind..."
What started out as simply just worry had now morphed into a genuine fear rising within Kit.
That fear in turn caused him to lower his head and release a little nervous whimper on top of that.
However, he did look back up when he felt Surge placing a hand on his shoulder and had a determined look on her face.
"Hey, we're gonna make it home, Kit," she said, her voice matching her expression. "No matter what it takes. I can and will promise ya that."
The fennec still had plenty of uncertainty inside of him, but the very least though, he mustered up a visible smile on his face.
"O-okay, Surge," Kit said. "I trust you."
Hearing that made the tenrec smile back at him and moved her hand up to pat his head. It was fulfilling to her in the sense that she's known Kit long enough to understand him saying that wasn't out of pre-planned obedience, but out of a genuine and wilful trust, friendship and admiration he's developed and shown for her over time.
All qualities she's come to have towards him in return.
"All right, we've got this!" Surge said following a few seconds, spoken with more of her signature confidence. "We've made it thus far and we'll get across that finish line!"
"You bet we will!" Kit declared, now having his own resurgence of confidence on his end thanks to to the tenrec's encouragement.
They shared a fist bump before Surge retrained her focus up front and started up the snowmobile's engine. Given how it was getting darker outside, she naturally flicked on the vehicle's headlights before she began accelerating forward and embarking the journey of her and Kit returning to the Restoration HQ. All the while, the latter held on to cookie tin given to them.
At first, things were going pretty smooth on the way back aside from the falling snow and the darkness outside ever slowly becoming more pronounced. What also helped was the relative familiarity of the surroundings which made remembering the path back somewhat easier.
One aspect that was a tad bit more worrying came in the form of a light breeze forming that kicked up the snow in the tenrec and fennec's face. At least now they both knew why they'd been given pairs of goggles for the trip or otherwise thankful for their availability.
"Kinda wish it wasn't snowin' some more or getting darker on us and all that," Surge stated at one point. "'Cause I really wanted to see what this puppy could do without lugging around that dang sled."
That temptation was still somewhat inside of her, yet ultimately the conditions she's just described prioritized the safety of getting herself and Kit back to the Restoration did enough to suppress those urges.
That goal mattered more than anything else now and she was set in achieving it for the sake of the both of them.
At last following another several minutes of a hectic drive back, Surge and Kit had the Restoration HQ in their line of sight and not a moment too soon as the snow had really begun to fall heavily and the winds kicking up in intensity.
Luckily for them, the door to the garage was open where Grease and Belle were awaiting their return on top of that.
The very second Surge drove herself and Kit inside the garage and shut the snowmobile's engine off, the orangutan shut the door securely behind them.
"There you are!" Belle said in total relief. "We were getting so worried about you guys!"
Slowly, the duo disembarked from the snowmobile.
"Geez, it's like a friggin' blizzard out there!" Surge grumbled, taking a moment to brush off snow from her clothing.
In the midst of the tenrec doing all of that, Belle's attention was drawn to the snowmobile plus the somewhat dishevelled status of Surge and Kit which lead her to gasp.
"Whoa, did something to you two?" She inquired to the duo with further increased distress.
Surge released a prolonged sigh. "Yeah, we...we took somethin' of a tumble on the way back."
The only thing Kit did on his end was nod to further confirm the account.
The minute Grease heard Surge's explanation, he was quick to take a look at the vehicle himself.
"Ooh, it does look a little banged up, but nothing too serious that can't be buffed out and fixed," He observed before turning his sights back to the duo. "But more importantly though, are two all right?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're fine and peachy..." Surge said in a muttering tone
"You certain about that?" The orangutan quickly asked in reiteration. "'Cause you must've taken a pretty nasty spill out there to-"
"Dude, Drippy and I basically died many times over because some platypus psycho wanted me and him to be modified into his ultimate obedient weapons for his own ends," Surge assertively followed up with on her end. "I'd say crashing and taking a tumble in the snow is chump change by comparison. We'll both gonna live to see another day."
She turned her attention to Kit and assisted in brushing snow off of him as well.
"Surprised we ain't bein' welcomed back by Boss Lady Lano at all, let alone with a death stare burning a hole through the both of us since we're back later than she probably wanted us to be." Surge said after that.
Almost as if on cue, both Belle and Grease started to point behind Surge and Kit. The latter two turned around to indeed see Lanolin having just arrived and standing there with her arms folded and looking less than pleased. At the very least though, she didn't appear to have a "death stare" like the tenrec had humorously theorized.
"Okay, yeah, yeah, we're back kinda late and we may have been in a teeny bit of an accident," Surge said, rolling her eyes and roughly sighing. "Being back in one piece and gettin' the job done should be satisfactory enough for you, but bring on the lecture if ya must."
Both she and Kit awaited to get an earful out of the sheep – the latter tensing up in addition and even grabbing on to the former's arm.
"I suppose at least you've saved us the effort of having to dispatch a rescue team out there in that mess for the two of you." Lanolin said after a few seconds of gathering her thoughts.
As much as Surge was tempted to make a snide remark over how lacking of a lecture that sounded from the sheep, she assumed that Lanolin was perhaps about as worn out from the day as she and Kit were and thus wasn't up for handing out anything other than a light indirect verbal reprimand.
Still sensing though that Lanolin's mood wasn't exactly the best, Kit had an idea right on the spot.
"Want a cookie?" He asked, opening up the tin containing them.
"Heh, maybe that oughta simmer your attitude some." Surge humorously said.
Lanolin rolled her eyes over the tenrec's words. Yet nevertheless, she reached inside the tin, pulled out a cookie for herself and took a bite.
"All right, you're both dismissed." She told them after swallowing.
Smiling, the fennec turned around and faced the orangutan and badnik girl.
"How about the two of you?" Kit offered to both of them.
"Ooh, don't mind if I do!" Grease happily agreed.
Due to the Grease's hands being bigger than the tin itself, the fennec did the lifting for Grease by reaching in and giving the latter a pair of the treats.
"Uh, none for me obviously," Belle politely declined. "Can't eat anything myself, but appreciate the offer anyway and I bet maybe the others would like them though."
Finally with all their business done for the day, Surge and Kit took their leave and wanted to return to their room; albeit taking a tad bit of a gingerly pace in doing so.
Throughout their walk back, Kit followed through with Belle's suggestion and handed off cookies to whomever else he and Surge passed on by.
Finally back within the confines, security and privacy of her and Kit's shared quarters, Surge went right away in getting the majority of her wintry attire off. She removed her jacket revealing she had a long sleeve shirt underneath and casually kicked aside her snow boots before sauntering over the couch in the middle of the room and sitting down; punctuating with a long, deep relieved sigh.
Likewise, Kit removed most of his own winter clothes plus putting his Hydro Pack to the side whilst slipping back on his standard pair of boots for the time being. He too would also joined alongside the tenrec in taking a seat after placing the cookie tin on the table in front of them.
"Oh, right, almost forgot..." Surge said soon after that had been done.
She reached inside one of her pockets and pulled out a small rectangular shaped box out.
"What's that?" Kit wondered as he stared right at it.
"Little somethin' I nabbed while we we're at the village," Surge mentioned. "Yes, that was the thing I ran off to get done if you're gonna ask."
The fennec took the box into his hand and observed how it appeared rather nondescript in appearance; thus making it hard for him to discern what it could contain within.
"What's inside of it?" He asked the tenrec as a natural follow up.
Surge smiled. "Maybe you'll find out once you pop it open and see for yourself."
The thought was rather tempting for Kit in all honesty.
However though, he placed it on the table right in front of both himself and Surge; confusing the latter right away.
"Wait, aren't ya gonna open it?" Surge quickly asked.
"N-no...I-I mean, not yet at least..." Kit answered plainly. "Gotta wait until Christmas."
Admittedly, Surge was a tiny bit disappointed to hear Kit holding off until the big day to see what she got him.
But that disappointment was fleeting when the feeling turned into a mix of further confusion plus some worry as she noticed the fennec lowered his head and could hear little sniffling noises coming from him.
"Drippy...?" Surge inquired in his direction.
She shifted closer towards him.
"I-I'm...I'm sorry, Surge...it's j-just..." Kit tried saying.
He attempted to keep his composure under control, but that was easier said than done.
"I-I've been meaning to get s-something f-for you too, but..." He resumed, sniffling becoming more prominent. "B-but I've been having s-such a h-hard time figuring out w-what to get f-for you. At least you w-were smart enough to h-have already gotten m-me something..."
The way that the fennec phrased the last sentence only added to Surge's confusion.
"Uh...I think you're givin' me a little more credit here than needed, Drippy," she said along with an awkward laugh. "I mean...I practically forgot all about getting you somethin' for the occasion up until we were passing by that gift shop and all..."
"B-but...at least you did g-get me something!" Kit blurted out. "Now I-I think you're gonna mad a-and disappointed in me if I-I don't have anything for you by then, so..."
Whatever the fennec was going to say next, Surge wasn't going to have any of it as she swiftly brought him into her arms.
Being within the tenrec's grasp broke apart whatever remaining walls were keeping Kit together as he devolved into a series of soft sobs.
"Kit, don't beat yourself up so much over this..." Surge spoke up after a sigh and giving a minute to think it over. "I ain't mad or disappointed at all."
At least for now, that was the extent of reassuring words she was able to conjure up. In lieu of anything else, all Surge did was tighten her embrace of Kit and allowed him the time to get things out of his system.
After a few minutes, the tenrec pulled the fennec away from her arms and had him look up at her.
"Listen, there's still like a couple of days to go until Christmas," Surge mentioned, smiling and giving Kit a light pat on the head. "I'm sure a smart little guy like you can come up with somethin' and get it done before then."
"Y-you sure you'd be okay with that?" Kit asked after he gathered himself a bit better. "Even i-if it won't be a s-surprise anymore?"
"Hey, all I'd really care about at this rate is the fact you wanna get me somethin' in the first place," Surge admitted. "Wasn't entirely expecting it to be totally honest."
Then just like that, something else sprang into her mind.
"But in all honesty besides that, even if you hadn't actually gotten me anything...you've already, well..."
She tried looked away from Kit and did everything she could to suppress laughter as she didn't want to give him the wrong impression that there's humour to be found in what she's planning to say. If anything, it's as serious a sentiment as she's ever going to say to him.
"Oh man, I gotta admit this is gonna sound kinda corny and sappy comin' from me, but...it's nothin' but the truth and I wouldn't be sayin' it unless it's what I truly believe."
Eventually though, she looked back at him and warmly smiled.
"Because...you've already given me a pretty dang awesome gift."
Kit was seriously confused. "I-I...I did? What? What do you mean by that?"
Finally, she took a deep breath, reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You," Surge underscored with sincerity. "You are that gift, Kit."
Upon hearing that, Kit gently gasped and widened his eyes.
"W-what...?" He said in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
"Well...I mean, you've stuck by my side through all we've gone through..." Surge attempted to explain. "And then there's what I said back at that village about how many times you've gotten me outta jams and how you're just...uh, generally a great pal and..."
Surge trailed off at the end there as it had become harder for her to come up with the precise words to express what she meant by referring to Kit as a gift. It got her concerned that the latter wasn't going to find her explanation satisfactory.
Luckily for her though, she figured everything struck the right chords with Kit that he basically dove right back towards the tenrec and hugged her with all his worth.
"T-thank you, Surge..." Kit spoke tearfully yet with the utmost gratitude. "Y-you're like a g-gift to me as well. One of t-the best I-I could ask for..."
He resumed crying while he also spoke indistinctly. The fennec's emotions were so overwhelmed with cries of happiness and gratefulness that it got hard for Surge to understand what he was saying. Despite that though, she was able to make out multiple additional quiet "thank yous" admist it all. She let out a small chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, no trouble, little man," Surge said softly while smiling, eventually putting her arms around him once more. "And thank you too, Kit. You really are a cool and good kid."
She could feel Kit tightening his arms around her just slightly more by the time she got done speaking. It was also from that she gathered he had no plans of letting go or leaving her be for the time being.
Not that Surge minded it. She was still feeling worn out from the delivery job plus the subsequent events attached and she safely guessed he was feeling the same. Thus, there were fewer ways she could think of to relax than along with the company of her most important little pal.
In return, she also fastened her arms around Kit better and sighed as she leaned herself further back against the couch.
A couple of days later and the first rays of Christmas morning light were making themselves known.
Little by little, Surge began stirring awake from where she laid in the top bunk bed. She opened her eyes and grunted while slowly sitting on up.
In the process of doing that, her gradually clearing vision caught sight of something wooden poking just underneath the pillow.
"What the hell...?" Surge muttered at this discovery.
She grabbed the visible end of it and pulled it out fully into view.
The item in question was a relatively small square piece of wooden board with an emblem painted on it in a lime green hue kind of similar to that of Surge's own fur.
The emblem looked just like the one which was emblazoned on the jacket and Extreme Gear she used during the Clean Sweepstakes.
Beyond that though, there was something written in light blue ink right in the centre of it. She took a moment to read it before speaking it out loud.
"To my best friend who is practically my big sister."
"I-it's the truth."
That familiar voice of Kit suddenly speaking put a startle to Surge to point she nearly dropped the board and almost fell down from her bunk bed. Luckily, she was able to avert total disaster on that front.
"Phew...close call..." she told herself with a spent chuckle before turning her attention to the fennec down below. "Uh, anyhow, mornin' Drippy! Didn't see ya or think you were awake now."
"Oh, I was just getting done using the bathroom. I wasn't actually quite ready to wake up and get the day going yet," Kit explained things. "S-sorry for startling you."
Surge shrugged. "Eh, well, I was kinda wakin' up anyway. No biggie."
Taking a quick moment to stretch, the tenrec slipped down from her bed with the board at hand.
"So...you made this?" Surge inquired.
Kit nodded. "Y-yeah, during yesterday when I had a bit of time for myself. Belle helped out a little too."
The fennec began to rub his hands anxiously and looked away to the side somewhat.
"I-I know it may not be much of a gift and I-I don't know if it'll compare to whatever you've gotten me, but still..."
His speech would be cut off when the tenrec put the board aside and gave him a big hug.
"Ah, quit your worrying and bellyachin'," Surge said, rubbing his back. "I love it, Kit, I really do. Thank ya kindly."
That was all the assurance he needed. While having a big smile on his face, he returned the favour by hugging her back.
"You're welcome. I'm so glad to know you love it, Surge." Kit said, sighing in both of in a mix of happiness and relief.
After a little bit, Surge let go of the fennec and grabbed the board again to give it another look. She paid special focus to the heartfelt message Kit wrote for her, smiled and once more patted him on the head.
"Well, I dunno about you, Drippy, but since I got my gift, I'd say it's high time for you to check out yours!" Surge said next while grinning.
Kit nodded and met the tenrec's smile with one of his own. "Y-yeah, sure!"
He walked on over towards the table where he last placed the box containing whatever the former had gotten him. He took it into his hand, sat down on the couch and proceeded to pop it open all while Surge joined alongside taking a seat next to him while placing the board down on the table in the process.
When he opened the box, Kit gasped at the sight of what was inside.
He pulled out a necklace that had what looked like a little water droplet shaped pendant anchored on it.
"I kinda went with it outta impulse if I wanna be totally honest here since it was sorta on the cheaper side," Surge stated, chuckling a little awkwardly. "But still, it made me think of you 'cause, y'know, 'Drippy', drop and all that, so..."
Regardless of her reasoning, the tenrec had to know Kit was overjoyed by how tightly he flung his arms around her and burying his face into her shoulder. That was after he placed the necklace almost symbolically right on top of the emblem of the board.
"I love it so much!" Kit muffled into Surge's shoulder. "Thank you, Surge!"
Chuckling again, only this time out of thankful relief, Surge proudly hugged him in return.
"Ah, you're welcome, little man." She told him.
Then she heard the fennec sniffling, her shoulder getting a tiny bit damp from tears coming out of his eyes and thus couldn't quite stifle yet another laugh.
"Dang it, Kit, don't go cryin' on me again," Surge said in jest. "'Cause this time I might be joinin' in with ya."
Sure enough, she did get a touch misty eyed on her end as she also heard the fennec laugh a little.
"Merry Christmas, big sis." Kit said in pure happiness.
Smiling all along the way, the tenrec tightened the grip she had around him and then like a proverbial bow to complete a gift, she gently kissed the top of his head.
And naturally based on how he spoke of her just now, there was only one way she was going to appropriately designate him as in her view going forward.
"Merry Christmas, little bro." Surge reciprocated to him in kind.