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Marv & Janka’s Party

Marv and Janka had a nice split-level out in the burbs of Lang Island. All the old gang was there as well as colleagues and some valued clients. They even had a live stream of Chad and his family attending the holiday get-together. It had taken some doing, but Bryce convinced Luz to come along in order to twist Veronica’s arm. Meirhe transported them but elected not to stay.

“So, things are going well?” Janka asked.

“He’s nice.” Veronica conceded.

“And?”

“He saved my life twice.” Veronica rolled her eyes as she poured some punch.

“What?” Janka took the cup from her and put it down. “What does this mean?”

“I bumped into Bryce on the train and invited him to come see my audition. On the way in, this giant bag of coal almost crushed me. If he hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here.”

Janka grabbed her in a crushing hug. “That’s horrible!”

“It’s okay. I’ve got Bryce and Mary Christmas watching out for me.”

“Mary Christmas?”

“You know. The superhero?”

Janka shrugged in confusion.

“Nevermind. The police assigned me a bodyguard and besides, Bryce has already saved me twice.”

“Twice?”

“Yeah, the guy who dropped the bag the first time decided he really wants to get me. Bryce stopped me short of the second bag and the police gave me a superhero to protect me until they catch the guy.”

Janka hugged her again. “I am so glad you are safe.”

“Thanks. Hey, I want you to come meet my cousin.”

Bryce was walking by the monitor when he saw his friend’s face. “Chad?”

“Happy Christmas!”

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“It’s pushing 2 here but I wanted to say hello to everybody before I went to bed. You’re the last one on the list.”

“You look pretty tired.”

“I’m absolutely knackered but it was worth it. How are you getting on?”

“It’s been a weird couple of weeks. I ran into that girl on the train after I dropped you off. We’ve been seeing each other a bit.”

“My hero.” Chad laughed. “If you can manage the Genetti Triplets, you can handle that one.”

“Shh!” Bryce hissed. “How did you even hear about that?”

“Mum’s the word, mate. Let me know how it turns out. I’m going to say cheery-bye now.”

“Really?”

“Cheery-bye!” Chad waved and the screen displayed ‘Call Ended’.

Marv was wandering past and noticed the screen. “Hey, where’s Chad?”

“He had to go to bed. It’s like 2AM over there. He said he was waiting up for me.”

“Good thing I invited you. The poor guy would have stayed up all night.”

“Yes, thanks for the invite. Have you met Luz?”

“Yes, Veronica introduced her to me. She’s a card.”

“She is that.”

“Have you taken the plunge?”

“Which plunge are we referring to?”

“Well, you met her cousin but have you met her parents yet?”

“Have you met Janka’s?”

“Yes, very nice people. You ought to give it a try.”

“I don’t want to impose. We’re only kind of dating.”

“Do you like her or don’t you?”

“Well, of course I do.”

“So, why drag your feet?”

“I’m not dragging my feet. I just don’t want to be pushy. I’m lucky I get to see her as much as I do.”

“This is so unlike you, man. You used to have game enough for ten of us.”

“It’s not about game, Marv. I had all that at college. I’ve moved on. She’s special and I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

“Which is what, exactly?”

“We’re having fun together.” He looked over to where she was at the punch bowl. “Well, as much fun as you can have with a bodyguard.”

“A bodyguard?”

“Didn’t you hear about Krampus?”

“Isn’t that a horror movie or something?”

“Yeah but it’s also a guy who’s trying to kill her.”

“Whoa! What? What do you mean ‘trying to kill her’?” Marv grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“The first one was a random attack but since I pulled her out of the way, he decided to try to finish the job. That’s why she has a bodyguard.”

“You pulled her out of the way?”

“I saw the shadow and realized something was falling, so I yanked her out of the way.”

“Why?”

“What kind of question is that? I’d have done that for anybody. Who wants to see somebody get something dropped on their head?”

“So, you saved her because you’re a basically decent person and she doesn’t mean anything more to you than anybody else on the street.”

“She didn’t.”

“What?”

“She blew me off at the party and then she bumped into me on the way back from dropping Chad off at JFK. All of a sudden she’s all ‘come see my audition’. I didn’t have anything planned so why not? We were having a nice enough time and just as she’s going in the door to the audition she invited me to…”

“Something fell off the roof. What was it? A brick or a piece of the ledge or whatever?”

Bryce locked eyes with his friend. “Dude, it was two hundred pounds of coal in a huge Santa bag.”

“What?”

“Yeah, there’s this nutcase running around Empire City committing weird Christmas crimes and he decided to start this year with Veronica.”

“So, she’s just a damsel in distress for you to save?” Marv looked over at her.

“What? No. We like each other. It’s not just the Krampus thing.” He looked over at Veronica. “Is it?”

“Guess you’d better figure it out, buddy. You’re not the most likely couple.”

“We’ve been having fun.”

“You could have fun with Adolph Hitler, Bryce. You’re a likable guy. Is that all there is to you guys? She just latched on to a nice guy who saved her life?”

“No!” Bryce snarled. “I like her.”

“You’re ticked off at me because you like her? Seems kind of weak, buddy.” Marv winked at Janka.

Bryce grabbed Marv by the lapels and pulled him down to eye level. “I LOVE HER! OKAY? I LOVE VERONICA!”

The party went dead silent. All eyes turned to Veronica.