An extra Special Christmas Procedures night with -A, cute, comfy and much less dominant. The pair settle down by the Foundation standard issue hearth and enjoy each others company.

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It was Christmas night and if you made your way up through the hundreds of metres of blast shielding, concrete and security perimeters you would find it to be snowing quite heavily, the heavy white blanket covering the isolated landscape. Silence broken only by the occasional crackle of a guards radio, muttered sentence or crunch of heavy combat boot on packed earth, on this particular night however you would find things a little merrier around the facility. Guards cracking jokes and sharing hip flasks, senior researchers looking down from their desks with a grin rather than a grimace, junior researchers laughing as they attempted to fill a barrel with warm cocoa from 294 while their friends looked on. Task force members sharing classified tales and playing cards, even a place such as this became a little more hospitable to mirth on Christmas night. Decorations hung up and presents delivered. A certain couple however hung back in their quarters among the merriment. As well meaning as they were they both knew full well that venturing out would quickly quell whatever parties or exuberant celebrations, making way for whispered controversy and rumors. Still, even this absence of others by no means meant the two were void of celebration and happiness themselves, there were a good few people that were on friendly terms with them, and so a fair few presents adorned the floor beneath the small plastic tree -A had so skillfully erected in a corner of the room, draped with a small string of lights and an even mixture of metallic red and green baubles, she had even dressed for the occasion, forgoing her usual black uniform and battle armour she was wearing a rather cute outfit, a festive red dress. Fairly tight on her body due to her height and rather firm musculature, a hole cut out of the bottom for her wolfish tail to hang out of, a small red fabric bow tied around the tip of it, adorned with a little golden bell. They had a fire roaring in the hearth, crackling and rather comforting, the smell of woodsmoke in the air.

-A was currently cooking, an apron draped over her dress as she swished her hips from side to side, grinning a little as she seasoned and started to gently pan fry a single steak, she had learnt how to cook initially from Rick, however had soon mastered the art and very thoroughly surpassed him at this. Rick watched her cook with a gentle smile upon his lips, "need any help dear?" he asked, raising his voice a little over the sizzle of cooking meat. "Oh no I'm perfectly fine" she replied, the delicious aroma of the meat making his mouth water. Rick still walked over and began to give her shoulders a gentle massage as she continued to cook, her tail flicking up against his legs as she backed up just a little bit to press herself against him, turning her head to look him in the eye, licking her teeth in a more than suggestive manner. Quite obvious that she'd like to sink her teeth into much more than the steak cooking before her, fabric up against fabric as she breathed out in a shaky sigh. "Not while I'm cooking Rick, you don't want your steak burned do you?" she chastised him, he just chuckled in response finding it quite unfair since she was the one who had taken it further than a gentle shoulder massage. "I didn't say you could stop" she muttered, quite contradictory, turning back to the task at hand as he began to work at her admittedly tense shoulders, silky black fur and tense, hard muscle under his fingers as he gently worked his fingertips into her shoulders, feeling her relax and drop her shoulders slightly against him, leaning back up against him as he continued. Suddenly cutting things short she sniffed a little and moved forward, shrugging off his hands as she placed the steak on a plate to bleed while she prepared her own. Taking a large, raw slab of meat out of the fridge and gently seasoning it with an assortment of herbs, she placed it on an identical plate, taking Rick's cooked steak off the now bloody plate and licking it clean, washing her saliva off the plate under the tap before placing his steak back onto it, unorthodox but it did the job.

The AC unit hummed, the scent of burning wood and well cooked meat filling Rick's nose, this was the life. No scheduled training, no tests, no interviews, no battles. Just him and his wife, in their small but cozy quarters. After going public with their relationship they had been given the provision of a larger room to share. Nice and comfortable, much more so than their earlier cramped living conditions. This room was nowhere near spacious but far from what it had been in the past. -A herself smiled and set down the two plates on Rick's desk, pulling it out and folding out one portable chair for herself, while Rick sat in his usual drab grey office chair as he placed himself across from her as she skilfully poured two glasses of red wine, licked her teeth and sat, flicking her wolfish tail to the side with a jingle of bells so she could comfortably sit without squashing it under herself. The cutlery was already laid out on the wooden table, and -A watched Rick intently as he cut a small piece off his steak, raised it to his lips and took a bite, it was delicious, cooked to perfection, seasoned beautifully, tender and juicy. -A's ears flicked back with anxiety as his eyes met hers, she was always so eager to please and the thought of him disliking her cooking was a hard one. Rick noticed the look of stress on her face and decided to tease her a little, pursing his lips with a thoughtful expression on his face before slowly voicing his opinion on the particularly tasty steak. "Delicious, a wonderful job there -A!" he pronounced quite smoothly, chuckling afterwards as she sighed. "Don't tease me like that, I know you enjoyed it from the start" she lied, vowing internally to get him back for it later as she took a bite out of her own raw but seasoned meat, forcing herself to maintain decorum as she ate and chewed only small pieces and tried as best she could to sip at her wine, Rick ate in a similar manner, enjoying the food immensely but rather impatient to get closer to his wife, she was similarly yearning to move past the table separating them from each other.

-A soon finished her own raw steak, draining the rest of her wine in one smooth motion, tilting her head back and pouring the rich burgundy liquid down her throat, licking up any errant droplets that beaded on her jaws. She looked decidedly cute in this new attire, so different from her functional and angular combat armour and not as overtly seductive as the black dress she sometimes wore. Her hair was impeccable as always, flowing back along the shoulders in a slightly curled manner, framing her ivory white skull quite nicely, ragged ears pricked up through it all, triangular points with the left looking like someone had punched a small ragged chunk out of it. Her tail was in a similarly ragged state, long and wolfish, the actual fur silky smooth but quite wild and untamed. She had been like that since initial manifestation, along with the few cracks in her otherwise perfect skull. No eyelids either, so she was constantly observing her surroundings. "We should just relax" Rick said amiably, getting up and carrying their empty plates to the sink with a clatter of ceramic on metal, he ran the tap and let the dishes soak for a while, washing up could wait for later as he dried his hands and sat down on his standard issued bed, the springs creaking as he put his weight on the poor quality mattress. -A obviously agreeing with his idea got up, pushed the desk back into its usual position against the wall and practically threw herself into Rick's lap, the bells tied to her tail jangling pleasantly as she shifted herself into his lap, she was really rather warm, and Rick buried his face in her shoulder, savouring her scent of copper, machine oil and cinnamon, a scent so metallic you could almost taste it but with a sweet, very pleasant touch of spice and warmth. She was suspiciously weighty, it didn't show in the way she carried herself, nor in her relatively thin figure. But it was the weight of pure muscle and bone, her skull was surprisingly heavy, coupled with the good amount of toned muscle on her body from a good year of vigorous combat training.

Cuddling on the bed Rick slipped an arm around her waist,reclining back a little. She was facing forwards, both of her strong, black furred arms wrapped around his back as she pressed her skull into his collar, licking at his neck with slow, gentle movements. Her wet, black tongue pressed against his flesh, it was cold, ever so cold. He almost flinched as she first made contact, but she soon warmed, the heat coming off his skin was intense to her, he already felt claws dig into his back, as she possessively gripped him, mind racing. She was so close to taking him right there, but there were things to be done first, and it was best if she savoured his closeness and comfort for now rather than escalating it to intimacy. He kissed her lower jaw, firm lips pressed against icy bone. She pulled back in response, a slick, cool wet patch left on his neck as he took her skull in both his hands, brushing back a lock of beautiful black hair as he gazed into her eyes, pale white pools, alive with light and clarity, no pupils nor irises, just a gentle, milk white, some gray tracing of veins throughout. Although her tongue was cold, her breath was passionately warm on his face, the heady scent of wine fresh to his nose as the fire crackled, her weight pressed against his lap and chest. He spent a few more seconds just gazing at her skull, as she reached up and placed a clawed hand on his, her sharp black nails pricking against his skin as she ever so gently caressed the back of his thumb. It was so strange to him, something that inspired such love and attraction to him was ever so terrifying and alien to others. He had even briefly toyed with the idea that there was something wrong with him, but he soon had brushed it aside, no one working with the Foundation would fit the definition of mentally stable, it was a danger of the job he supposed.

“So Rick” she said softly, her teeth bared in a gentle smile as she motioned towards the beautifully wrapped presents underneath the tree all tagged with names. Three moderately large boxes and two smaller looking packages, each sat quite nicely under the tree. “Let’s start with yours!” She purred ever so sweetly to Rick, who just smiled, he was wearing the same as always, grey Foundation shirt, grey digi-camo combat trousers and black combat boots, freshly shaven and with his dark brown hair kept in a neat, if a little rugged cut. His eyes a warm hazel as they met with -A’s milky white orbs. "Why not, pass one of the large ones up" he replied merrily, taking his combat knife off his desk with the clatter of metal against wood. She carefully passed up one of the larger boxes, it was from a certain Foundation researcher, Rick chuckled a little in response as he carefully slit open the wrapping paper, red and gold striped with a little green bow tied around it. He placed his combat knife aside and lifted out the proffered gift, it was deceivingly small, a little USB inside such a big box, -A's ears pricked forward and she gave it a curious sniff, she was about to ask what it actually was when Rick pulled out a small note, covered in neat handwriting. "Hello Commander Rick (and of course -A). On this USB drive you will find your SPECTRE training videos, just thought you two may like to reminisce over them one day. Enjoy!" there was no name signed on the card but they both knew full well who had sent it, -A chuckled a little before gently shaking her head. "Why don't we open the two smaller ones, they look fairly similar, I reckon they're addressed to both of us." Rick said smoothly, setting aside the USB carefully, they could watch it later in the evening sometime.

Indeed the two little packages, hastily sealed with tape were addressed to both of them, one bearing the name of -A#01 and the other simply stating Rick. The package felt fairly light and slightly soft in his hands, he would have examined it further but -A set about cutting through the wrapping quite rapidly, her claws making quick work of the thin paper while he himself used his combat knife to slit open the package. Inside was a small tube of lubricant, he almost laughed, a chuckle slipping past his lips as -A looked up at him and back to an identical tube of lube with a rather bemused expression on her face. "It seems word of our nights together have spread" she remarked in a questionable tone, a strange mix of discomfort and pride. "Indeed it does" he responded, letting out a final, abrupt laugh before setting aside the tube of personal lubricant. Unscented, unflavoured, just a clear gel-like substance. He mused that it might come in handy sometime tonight if the way -A had looked at him over dinner held any promise. "Well, this one is for you, from yours truly" Rick said, handing -A one of the two remaining large parcels, he had wrapped it himself and had done an admittedly shoddy job of it. But it was indeed the thought that counted, and seeing the grin on -A's face made it more than worth it as she tore through the wrapping there were four objects, neatly stacked in the box. Firstly was a new knife, a beautiful black carbon steel combat knife, the KM2000 of German manufacture, secondly a pack of metal straws, -A laughed a little at this, there had been many incidents in the past of her shattering glass and cracking plastic with her jaws when trying to drink. Thirdly there was a new sidearm, well sidearm was a loose designation for the Kel-Tec KSG shotgun that lay there, which -A raised out of the box with care that approached reverence as she set it aside, her eyes continually flicking to Rick and back to the box as she withdrew the last item. A new explosive collar, "I figured you didn't need quite that much explosive anymore." Rick said, a small smile on his face as he shifted a little closer in order to help her put it on.

Slipping off the heavy black rubber and steel wire collar from around her black furred neck, fingers brushing up against her skin as he took off and then almost dropped the thing, packed with enough explosive to pretty much vaporise her upper half. "Damn, this is a pretty heavy piece of kit" he remarked smoothly to which she responded "Yep, it's rather irritating at times. But it's worth it to remain in active service." He nodded and took the small black collar from her hand, it was a plain black band, matching quite nicely with her fur and with an functional steel Foundation symbol, an ornament of sorts that hung down to the throat, reminiscent of a common canines ID tag. The weight of the otherwise small looking collar belied its true intent, although it did actually look pretty over the other more bulky model it still had multiple bands of titanium wire lining the inside, along with enough plastic explosive to effectively decapitate her, and on the back was a small metal clasp, clicking shut with surprising force as Rick fastened it around her neck, giving her ears a gentle rub, much to her amusement as she tugged at it, positioning the collar a little more comfortably than before. A huge improvement. "So dear, going to open your last present?" -A said so very sweetly, her words almost dripping with that thick tone of amorousness that was so common when she was masking her true intentions with him. She remained where she was on the bed as he got up and strode to the tree, kneeling down to pick up the final present, he could hear the bedsprings creak a little, and the bells adorning -A's tail jingle, but assumed it was just -A getting herself more comfortable. The box was wrapped very neatly, but felt empty, much too light. He took the same combat knife from earlier off his desk and slit open the wrapping before flicking up the lid of the box, as suspected it was empty. He almost turned to -A until he noticed something taped to one of the boxes sides, peering at what seemed to be a note, all that was written on it in large, block capitals was a single phrase "LOOK BEHIND YOU"