Yes, She Hired Actual Reindeer

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

When Frank announced that the reindeer was ready, Erika looked at it with skepticism, suddenly regretting agreeing to this entire thing. Pointing her finger, she opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't know what one could possibly say in a situation such as this. It surely didn't look ready. It surely didn't look safe.

But before Erika had much of a chance to do or say anything at all, Frank was already pulling her closer to the beast. Her hand was placed on the creature from hell and she frowned. "It smells," she said, frowning. "It's going to eat me." Wasn't there something, anything she could say to get out of this situation? Casting a glance towards her sister's window, Erika hoped that she could ask for some help there.

She was going to die. She was going to either get eaten or stomped to death. She would never see the light of day again. On her tombstone, it would say "death by reindeer", and she wasn't OK with that.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Well, duh, it smells. You'd smell too if you were a reindeer," Frank pointed out, nodding confidently a few more times. That was an easy enough assertion to dismiss, the second one, not quite as much. Frank tilted her head to the side, considering. "Hmm, I didn't know that they ate people. They're certainly big enough to eat people, but I don't think they have the teeth to eat people. Oh!" Frank tapped Erika on the arm, "I'll go check! It'll totally be quick!"

And Frank was already moving down to the front of the reindeer. She began poking around in its mouth, which caused it to snort and back up for a bit. Frank frowned and poked a little more, finally managing to get the creature to rear back, his head shaking...

as it sneezed all over Frank. "Ewwww!" she said, shaking her hands and backing up, "it definitely launches snot, though I don't think it eats people..."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Frowning, Erika looked at Frank; was she serious? Well, of course she was. It was Frank, after all. "I don't know about that---" And there she went. Erika wasn't even surprised. Sure, she was worried for the girl, but not at all surprised. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do if...if... What if they were meat eaters? That had happened before, right? Right?

And then there was boogers all over. Reindeer boogers, too. Erika backed away, grimacing as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That-- no. Nope. Ain't happening." She was not going to risk getting covered in all of-- of that! There was no chance in hell.

"Sorry Frank, but there's not a chance. I'm not touching that piece of snot machine. You might be fine with but, but-- no. Nope. Ain't gonna happen. Not now. Not ever." And as if to prove her point Erika backed further away, shaking her head for every step.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank blinked as Erika went on about the reindeer. "Oh, c'mon! He's probably all out of boogers!" And of course the reindeer sneezed again, getting a few more flecks on Frank. "Or now! Now he is totally out of boogers!" Frank actually paused for a beat, looking expectantly at the reindeer for a few seconds. She very nearly started counting, but after a few beats without snot, she nodded.

"See, totally done with the snot," she wiped her hands a few more times, flinging the various boogies onto the snow. "You could maybe go for another? one that's less sneezy? You really shouldn't judge people just because of their sneezing issues. We've got this adorable little guy back at the school who has snot problems but he's all cute and stuff. C'mon, Eri!" Frank hopped up and down. "Don't you wanna say that you tried riding a reindeer? You're not gonna let a little thing like a few boogies stop you, are you?"

And Frank hopped down and picked up snow, using it to start wiping the boogers off, making sure to hurry. After all, she didn't figure that she'd have all that much time before Eri came up with another reason not to ride the reindeer.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Skeptical as always, Erika simply shook her head. Although she understood Frank's glee, she certainly didn't share it. There was no chance in hell she was getting anywhere near those monsters clearly sent from hell itself. "No, I really don't," she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she took another step away, eyeing the reindeer. "And yes, yes I most certainly are." Maybe if she hadn't been as scared of them, or felt as awkward around animals, then maybe she could have at least tried.

But if the snot and sneezing had proved anything, it was that clearly, she wasn't meant to be around them, and there was plenty of things Erika would rather do. Even if bailing on Frank made her feel all kinds of awful.

It was like letting down your own child, or baby sister, or something equally awful.

"You know, you have fun-- Maybe Ellen would like to ride them? She loves horses, right? Imagine how much fun she'd find this!" God, Erika hoped the distraction would work.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Eriiiiii!" Frank nearly whined, doing a little dance on the spot. "You're gonna forever regret this if you don't do it!" Frank bobbed her head enthusiastically and began walking around behind Erika. Yeah, there would be no bailing here, even if there was snot involved. Though just as Frank reached up to start pushing Erika in the right direction, Erika said something that actually distracted her.

"oooh, you're right! She'd totally love this! I think she's even just a few cabins down and I--" Frank had even taken a few steps toward that cabin before stopping. She held still for a moment, one finger raised. She bobbed that finger up and down a few times, speaking as she turned. "Wait a second!" She held the finger up, still pointing toward the sky, but waving at Erika in a disciplinary manner.

"You're trying to distract me, aren't you!? Ha! I'm onto your little game! You can't distract me, nope, not this time!" Frank nodded and then marched right back around, putting her weight behind Erika and pushing her toward the deer. "now quit stalling and hop on up onto the reindeer's back! We got awesome riding stuff to be doing!"

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"I can live with regretting this," she replied with a shrug. Really, Erika didn't hang around animals for a reason, and she hadn't regretted that thus far. In fact, this would most likely make it worse. If she was going to start, she should at least start with something easier that a pack of reindeer ran by Frank Cox.

The relief washed over Erika as it appeared as if she had successfully managed to dissuade the hyperactive blonde. However, the relief didn't last for long, and shortly after, she felt herself being pushed towards the reindeer. Kicking her heels against the ground, the brunette pressed her lips tightly together. "Frank, seriously," she said, shaking her head. "I don't want to."

The closer they got to the reindeer, the more panicky the brunette started feeling. Side stepping, she crossed her arms over her chest. "I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not comfortable with this." She cast another glance towards the reindeer, furrowing her brows. "At all."

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank's eyes narrowed as Erika insisted that she could live regretting this. Several counterarguments formed, and a handful of them actually started popping out of Frank. She sort of jumbled them together as she worked at pushing Erika. However, Frank was finally beginning to realize that her friend wasn't just pretending to not be for this: there was something like panic leaking in there. Frank recognized panic: she'd experienced pretty well every flavor of it possible. That's what happened when you had as... outgoing a personality as Frank. So she actually stopped as she heard Erika's last.

Stopped and then moved around, her hands on Erika's shoulders. Frank gave the girl a long, hard look, staring directly into her eyes. Then she shrugged. "Okay then," she turned and took a few steps toward the reindeer, before spinning, bringing her hands together and pointing them at Erika when she stopped. "But you should still totally be involved with this. Soo....." Frank spun the hands as she hopped toward the reindeer. "How about you totally get a phone or a camera or something and then you can totes take mah picture when I'm all on the reindeer and you can narrate it and we can put it up on the facebook and the youtube and be super hawt celebrities?"

Frank wiggled her eyebrows and swayed her hips, grinning wide. Clearly there were going to be shenanigans, clearly involving the reindeer, and just as clearly, Frank wanted Eri involved.. just not uncomfortably so. Or, well, not panic-inducing uncomfortably so.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Erika was glad that Frank actually seemed to understand that Erika didn't actually want to do this. She even had to smile as Frank came up with some kind of compromise, and she couldn't really find it in her heart to say no once again. After all, Erika didn't really mind being near the animals, as long as she didn't have to actually touch them, or stand close enough to get hit by the flying snot. Nodding, the brunette leaned in and planted a kiss on Frank's cheek. "Thanks," she whispered.

Pulling out her phone, she gave it a little shake in front of Frank's face and offered the girl something of a smirk. "Alright," she said, pursing her lips as she slid her thumb over the screen of her phone. Clicking herself onto the camera app, Erika turned to face the lens against herself. Clicking the green button, she started filming. "I'm standing here today with the ever beautiful Frank Cox-" she turned the camera to face the hyperactive blonde.

"Today we're going to show you how to properly ride and conquer one of nature's most wild..." stopping as one of the reindeer let another shot of snot fly, Erika grimaced. "Or that..." she chuckled awkwardly.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank waved Erika off as she kissed and thanked her. "No, thank you," she repeated, not caring if it made any sense at all. Soon enough she was grinning and waving at Eri's phone as the brunette got things around and together. Frank paused for a moment to give the camera her best "I'm adorable" pose before turning to head back to the reindeer. After all, riding them was still very much the priority and what Frank was pretty well there to do.

She'd started toward them, half listening to Eri's narration, when another one let out the sneezing. "WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP WITH THE REINDEER BOOGERS? NOBODY WANTS TO SEE THAT!" Frank yelled, waving her hands. "You're supposed to be adorable creatures that people are totally excited to see beautiful girls riding. So stop being gross!" she gave another one a little swat, and was rewarded with a grunt and another head shake that looked dangerously like a sneeze.

This clearly wasn't enough to stop Frank. She grabbed onto the creature, using the harness that they all wore to hold. Once she gripped that, Frank turned to Eri. "Right, make sure you get this, 'cuz I'ma gonna totally mount one," Frank took a practice hop, then giggled and tilted her head back, leaning, "not in, like, a gross way," and then she got ready to take a running jump onto the beast, who still looked mostly bored and definitely unaware of what was coming next.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Erika shot the blonde a sharp glance before an somewhat awkward smile spread across her lips. "Sounds like my beautiful co-worker her summed it up nicely for you guys. Reindeers are today's topic." She kept the camera directed towards the blonde and the horde of animals surrounding her. Sometimes Erika wondered how it was even possible for someone to be this eccentric. It was admirable. Then again, everything about Frank seemed to be.

Chuckling softly, Erika shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll get it," she winked at her before stepping closer, still holding the camera up. She placed her other hand against it to help keep it steady, and hopefully avoid that annoying shaking you often saw in home made videos.

It struck Erika just how damned brave Frank was. Not because of the ease she felt around these kind of things, but just everything in general. She was a beam of bright, positive light and without her... Well, needless to say, the world wouldn't have been the same. Erika surely wouldn't. Frank had rubbed off on her in more way than what she cared to admit.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank nodded again as Erika offered first narration (there was a beam and a hi and a wave in there), then again as Erika said she'd get it. "You'd better, 'cuz it's not like we have reindeer all over the school!" Frank paused, midway toward leaping onto the reindeer, tilting her head to consider. "Why don't we have reindeer and stuff at the school? I'm totally rich, I could, like, buy a reindeer farm. Eri!" She turned and pointed. "make a note: see how much it would take to buy an alpaca farm!"

Frank waited for Erika to respond (or ten seconds, whichever came first) then turned back to the reindeer. "Right, time for the riding!" at the last word, Frank took a running jump, grabbed onto the reindeer's harness, and flung her body onto his back. This actually caused the animal to finally react, as his eyes seemed to widen. He only had a few seconds of the actual climbing process before he had all of Frank Cox on his back. She scrambled upright surprisingly fast, adjusting herself on the animal's back and reaching for its horns.

"BAM!" she yelled, swaying. "I'm on a reindeer!" Frank giggled, throwing her head back and letting out a whoop that had the reindeer taking a few startled steps forward. And sneezing, because apparently he was still into the whole boogers thing.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"No," Erika insisted. "No reindeer at the school. We have enough with the horses and the various shapeshifters running around. If you really want a reindeer, find someone who can shapeshift into one and befriend them." Though, Erika honestly doubted that the school would ever agree to letting Frank buy reindeer and keep them there, so she wasn't all that worried to be perfectly honest. Not that it would have mattered either way, as Erika stayed as far away from the stables as she possibly could.

Cautiously, Erika took a few steps backwards. She still held the camera up and towards the eccentric girl and the reindeer, but the animal didn't look all that happy to have the girl on its back, and Erika didn't exactly want to be close to it if it decided to go on some horrible killing spree. She was already afraid of the animal and she didn't need more reasons to be.

"Well, uh," she began, furrowing her brows. "There you have it folks. The beautiful Frank is riding a reindeer." Because this obviously couldn't go wrong. Like at all. Every plan Frank had was tooootally bulletproof. Or something. "You okay over there, Frank?"

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Reindeer's more of a winter thing. I'm thinking llamas," Frank said. She managed to squeeze it in there, mostly because the whole thrill of actually being on a reindeer made talking something that was a lesser priority. Yes, even for Frank. She squealed and rocked and then lunged forward, to grab the antlers.

Frank's eyes shone with the type of manic brilliance that only Frank could possess. She grinned wide at Erika. "I AM SO MUCH BETTER THAN OKAY I AM AMAAAAZHZHZHAAHH!" the word turned into a garble as the reindeer ducked his head, yanking Frank over his head. She still gripped the antlers, and seemed to land on her butt in front of the creature, still holding the antlers.

And giggling. "That," she said between giggles, "was so," more giggles, "awesome!" She was already scrambling up, clearly intending to do it again, despite the reindeer giving a "bitch be crazy look" in her general direction.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Oh, llamas. Because that made Erika feel more at ease. Yep. No. Not at all. Ah well, she figured there was little she could actually do if the girl had really put her mind to it, so she'd let the school handle the blonde's eccentric mindset for a change. Besides, as long as Erika didn't have to be around the creatures she didn't really care, just as she didn't care about those damned horses that kept giving her the stink eye. Okay, she totally cared about that, because she was fairly certain they wanted to eat her.

Erika opened her mouth to speak, but before she could even react, the reindeer tossed Frank off and she landed onto the ground. Putting the phone down, Erika moved closer, eyeing the animal warily. Her brown eyes moved from the animal to Frank and back at the animal again as she tried stepping closer.

Thankfully, Frank talked, which had Erika stopping and letting out a relived sigh. Shaking her head, the brunette chuckled. "You are absolutely adorable. Did you know that?" The smile on the brunette's lips widened ever so slightly as she stepped back again.