Xaviers!

Sam's family certainly made no less an effort of feeding Tereza on four legs than they had when she was on two. They even made an effort to ensure there was room for her as presents were opened. However, not long afterward Sam's parents seem to be giving Tereza a bit of a wide berth. Kat had also retreated upstairs with her gifts, presumably to Facetweet them.

Sam herself is now sitting by the tree, looking at the one package that hasn't been opened yet. It's not hard to tell she's feeling a bit down, but right now Tereza has free roam of the house.

What's wrong? Tereza's muscles were tense under her pelt. And was she bigger? Must just be a trick of the light.

"I'm just... I don't know. I guess I was hoping for a Christmas where I didn't have to keep remembering that we're... different."

She reaches out for Tereza as the wolf approaches, making contact with her mind.

"Not your fault."

It sort of is. I'm sorry. She rests her head on Sam's knee, looking up at her.

"They... mean well, really." She sighs.

"I'm still glad you're here. How are you feeling?" She asks, running her fingers along tensed muscles.

"It's fine. My family is... they really want to be supportive. They're just... kind of bad at saying they're reaching their weirdness limit."

The package in front of Sam smells of fresh wrapping paper. Plastic tape. Tissue paper. A hint of a perfume Sam wore on date night. Just at strategic places, as if she knew Tereza might try to smell the package before she got to open it. It doesn't quite cover up the smell of... leather? Not new leather. A bit of wear on it, and the faint scent of another woman, though it's definitely got a bit of dry-cleaning chemicals over that.

She turns her head to look at the package, tilting her head as she considers it. You got creative.

She moves over and noses at the package, sniffing it more intently.

The more she sniffs it, the leather seems to be the most consistent smell, oily and gamy. There's a whiff of metal here and there, and as she smells the center of the package there's something that almost smells like paint.

"Still don't want a hand? If you're gentle, I don't think you'll harm it."

She contemplated the package and then made a careful attempt to nip at one of the seams. Might as well.

The paper comes off easily enough, and though she leaves some toothmarks on the white garment box under the paper, it's evident that what's inside isn't damaged. The smell of perfume is a little more prominent now that the paper's not muffling it.

"Think of this as an incentive," she smiles faintly.

Incentive? She looks at the box and then noses it over to Sam for her to open.

Sam opens the box and pulls out a vintage looking leather jacket.

"Incentive to have arms," she chuckles softly. "Or to get the motorcycle up and running."

Turning the jacket around, she shows the back to Tereza. Painted across the back of it is a silvery-white wolf's head and 'LEADER OF THE PACK' in stylized writing.

"Too corny?"

She grins. No, I like it. Though Isolde might argue with the sentiment.

"Isolde can go fly a kite," she smirks, draping it over Tereza's shoulders.

As she got it around Tereza's shoulders, Tereza's body took that moment to shift back to human. "Umm..."

"...wasn't expecting the incentive to work that quick," Sam mumbles, turning beet red before getting up and scrambling to hand Tereza an old afghan draped over the couch.

Tereza gratefully accepts the afghan and wraps it around herself. "Hasty retreat to the bedroom?"

"Right! Ah... let me make sure the coast is clear."

Sam scurries towards the dining room, looking about.

Tereza keeps her ears open, but follows behind her shortly.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Sam's mother asks from the kitchen.

"Everything's... everything's just fine, Mum." Sam stammers, making motions behind her back to gesture to the staircase.

Tereza moves back and heads for the indicated stairs.

"Do you two want some sandwiches? Or I guess I could just... put it all in a bowl for Tereza."

"No, that's... we're fine. Thanks for asking!"

Sam nervously glances over her shoulder to see if Tereza is out of sight.

Tereza begins stalking up the stairs towards the bedroom, which is easier said than done trying to hold a blanket around yourself.

"Alright, just let me know if you need anything, aye?"

"I'll be sure, Mum. Don't worry."

Sam starts backing towards the stairs, realizing a moment too late when her heel comes to rest on the trailing edge of the afghan.

The sudden stop of the afghan brings Tereza up short, pulling it off her as she tumbles forward into the stairs with a loud clonk. She picks herself up and Sam can sense that she's a little hurt. The pain's enough to rattle her and, having been so wolfish recently, Sam doesn't really need to look at her to know she's fighting the yellow out of her eyes.

"Gah! Sorry, sorry!" Sam mumbles, extricating the afghan and hastily tossing it at Tereza as the blush returns with a vengeance.

"Just... calm down," she murmurs.

She lets out a low growl, licking at her sharper teeth before she wrestles herself back under control enough to wrap the afghan around her again as she tries to head upstairs.

"Look, we're almost there," she whispers as they reach the top of the stairs. She scurries down the hallway, her gaze focused on the door to Kat's room...

...which opens a crack.

"Crap. Crap, crap crap..."

Tereza takes a deep breath and her eyes turn yellow as she shoulders around Sam and scoots quickly and quietly into Sam's room.

"What's going on out there?" Tereza hears Kat say in the hallway.

"Nothing! Just had to get something from my room."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Cause she does that at the drop of a hat," Tereza says from Sam's room.

"Not helping!" Sam calls from the hallway.

"She's not wrong," Kat replies. "Changed back, huh?"

"I'm supposed to be helpful?"

"So aye, she changed back. We kind of had to hurry her to my room."

"I won't tell Mum if you do my bathroom cleaning the rest of the time here."

"How about you don't tell Mum, and I won't tell her you ate the last of the biscuits and blamed it on Tereza?"

"How about you two treat each other like sisters and not like the other's the enemy?" Tereza snipes at them, sticking her head out the door, "Cause you're lucky, you have family and you still care about each other."

"Alright, truce?"

"Truce. Happy Christmas, Kat." She says as she slips into her room.

Tereza snorts and ducks back in too, shutting the door behind her as she finishes pulling her sweatpants on.