Donna sighed and slumped against him. “Ugh, we’re too old to be having this much difficulty with our relationship.”

“I agree!” A new voice grunted, interrupting their conversation. It was the town’s mostly good-natured local grump, Dave Willmarth. He was fishing the icy river with his two dogs instead of participating in the Christmas celebrations. “You two need to learn how to talk to each other. It’s the basics of any good, healthy relationship. Now go away, you’re scaring my mini-wolfs.”

Ray raised his brows at that. The two dogs were huge, but he also knew they were giant softies. “Maybe you should practice what you preach and start talking to people more.”

“People have cooties.”

Donna rolled her eyes and pulled Ray along. “Have a good one Dave, make sure to get some food before it’s all gone.”

He waved and then went back to petting his dogs.

“He’s right though, we do need to get better at properly talking to each other. So much of what everyone has been doing lately is simply reacting. I can see why you might have thought some of my interest could have been the same as all of them. But it’s not Ray. I can’t say what the future holds. All I can say for now is that this is real to me.”

“Then that is good enough for me.” Ray squeezed her hand before letting go and putting his arm around her shoulder instead. “Now, it’s a beautiful day out. Let’s enjoy it while we can.”

“Beautiful? It’s freezing! Even with my coat and your body heat, and I can barely stand it.” She retorted.

“Well, we should probably move away from the river then.”

They hurried away from the water, rejoining the festivities, and taking the chance to mingle with people they rarely saw. With the explosive growth of the town, the days of knowing everyone were already long past.

“Did you hear about the lightning that fell from the sky the other day? I was in a search and rescue party when it happened. One of the ladies with me was hit and burned up in an instant. There was nothing left behind. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Ray heard someone say as they passed by.

“You think that’s scary? I heard it happened all over, and that the one responsible was Charles!” The other party gasped.

“Do you think he did it?” Donna whispered as they headed inside the main hall with all the food.

“Probably, yeah, he can be scary when he wants to be. Personally, I would be more interested in the why he did it than the if.” Ray reached for a cup before approaching one of the new casks their local cooper had made.

He was a fellow who was somewhat oddly enough even named Cooper, Harmon Cooper. Apparently, he had kept up the family’s namesake as a hobby. It was something that everyone was finding extremely useful now.

Gaia had it out for plastic and making metal barrels for water or other liquids was not a good idea if you lacked the equipment to properly treat it. That wasn’t the case for wood. The man had slid into a needed position with little difficulty and was one of the more interesting people to talk to.

“Why do you think he did it, then?” Donna whispered, trying to keep their conversation private.

Ray handed her a cup of juice and then took one for himself. “Not sure. I couldn’t even make a guess. But if it happened all over and it didn’t target everyone, that tells us something. I just don’t know what.”

“Hmm,” She took a sip and grimaced. “Ugh, that is way too sweet.”

He took a swallow and shrugged. “It’s not that bad.”

“You and your sweet tooth.” She poured the rest of her drink into his cup and set it off to the side to be washed later.

He downed the rest of the sweet juice and set his cup beside hers. “Come on, let’s go back to my apartment. I want to give you your present. It’s a little something I made for you the other day.”

“Well, now you have me curious.” She followed along behind him, skirting the crowd growing around a large, decorated tree singing carols. “I wonder what it could be?”

“Well, I can tell you what it isn’t. It’s not jewelry. I thought about it for a minute and realized that outside of looking pretty, they no longer have any value. Besides, I wanted to make something for you.” He looked down at his large, rough hands. “And I’m not exactly equipped for the delicate work required to make something of that nature.”

She held up her own large hands. “Can you imagine me wearing jewelry these days? One good fight would destroy anything like that anyway, no matter where I wore it.”

He smiled appreciatively at her for understanding. “So, after that, my thoughts went to the fight we had participated in with Charles and the rest.” He swallowed.

“Yeah, I don’t know that we put up the best showing back then.”

His hammer had shattered, something that wasn’t supposed to happen when they were made properly. And one of the gauntlets she was using had been destroyed, along with her fist. The metal had dug in and broken the bones in her arm and hand. Charles had healed her up afterward, but it was a painful memory.

Neither of them had fought anything seriously since.

“Well, I remade my hammer, properly this time, and then when I was done, I made you this.” By this point in their conversation, they had reached his apartment. Ray pulled a large cardboard box from his inventory and presented it to her. It had a clumsily tied bow on the top.

“Oh, a box just what I’ve always-“

Ray groaned and withdrew the box. “No, no dad jokes. I’m the guy that’s supposed to be my job.”

Donna narrowed her eyes and swiftly grabbed it from him with a victorious grin. “Just what I’ve always wanted.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“What are you, twelve?”

He smiled despite himself and sat down on the sofa nearby. “Well, open it.”

“I already know what’s inside.”

“I know, but I want to know what you think of them. They’re slightly different from what you’re thinking, that I can guarantee.”

Intrigued, she tore off the ribbon and opened the box. Inside were a pair of fighting gauntlets, just as she had thought, but they weren’t made from normal metal materials. Every inch of them was covered in red, black, and brown scales. While underneath, she could feel a soft supple leather unlike any other she had felt before.

“What? How did you make these?” She picked one up in astonishment.

“They’re the scales of that dragon we all fought. Not all of the scales that dropped, and we collected, were useable, but more than enough were. The leather also came from those pieces. It was still attached after everything that had been done to it. Just small amounts mind you, but it added up.”

“Charles said I could use as much as I wanted. He was interested in seeing what I could make with them. This one won’t go breaking on you… hurting you like the last one. Or at least I don’t think it will.”

She cradled the spiked gauntlet, that was perfect for her pugilist fighting style, at a loss for words. This was so much more than anything she had expected to receive. Sure, a new pair of gauntlets had seemed likely to her, but nothing on this level. These were too precious.

“Are you,” She swallowed around the lump in her throat and tried again. “Are you sure about this? These are too valuable. Ray, I can’t accept them.”

“They won’t really fit anyone else. I used molds of your fists to get them just right, and besides, value is something we create ourselves. I think they’re most valuable used in protecting you, not being sold to Lars at the store.”

“It’s not just that, I feel like my gift is inadequate now! Okay?” She blurted out, suddenly angry.

“No, it’s not okay. That’s for me to decide. I made this because I knew you had a need, and I had the ability. Any cost and value you are putting to them beyond that is imagined. Now, give me my gift, please.” He held out his large rough hands in a greedy gesture, eager to take her mind off the subject.

He wasn’t simply saying the words to pacify her, either. To most people, the money system still had no real value, outside of a few basic necessities they bought from the store. They had started to incorporate it into their daily lives somewhat with what they grew and made, but it was still very much early days. Most people were content to use a mixture of the money and bartering for their goods.

He had deliberately never had the materials appraised because he didn’t want to place a monetary value on his gift.

Ray had the ability to give her something she needed, and he wanted to do it. For him, it was as simple as that. There was no reason to make things more complicated than they needed to be.

“Alright, just know I’m thinking I might remake this now. I didn’t know Charles had given you all the scales that it dropped before he looted it.” She withdrew a neatly wrapped package. “I hope you like it.”

He slowly unwrapped it, being careful not to tear the paper, and revealed a handmade blacksmithing apron with attachable sleeves.

“The leather came from a bugbear one of the groups came back with. I had noticed yours was getting rather burned and ratty, so I made you a new one. This time with optional sleeves for when you are sharpening things. I know how much you hate getting the metal shavings all over your arms.” She looked at his face, searching his eyes for any indication of his feelings. “Do you like it?”

“I love it.” Ray told her in a broken voice. He clutched it to his chest and smiled tearfully at her. “No one’s given me such a thoughtful gift in a very long time. I absolutely love it, Donna. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.”