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Arlo and his mate Damon owned a fairly large house, but during these parties it felt wonderfully cozy. The wolf and coyote frequently held court in the small kitchen, preparing drinks or the next round of snacks while chatting with animals who were seated around the spread. Cheeses, cold meats, vegetables both raw and roasted, and bite-sized desserts were arranged on the table; no plate was more than half full.

The kitchen and dining room were on one side of the long hallway that lead to the den's front door, with the huge living room on the other. There, even more animals were gathered, seated or standing in groups of twos, threes and fours, almost everyone holding a glass of wine or a cocktail glass. The air was warm with friendship, and the mingled scents of so many different species melted into a single relaxed note. Depending on where one stood, alcohol, cinnamon, and food tickled the nostrils.

Jakebe made his rounds through this crowded but easy gathering, checking in on the animals he recognized and introducing himself to the ones he didn't. He always tried to put his best paw forward, but it could be awkward; there was the initial glance at his antlers, the unspoken question of whether or not they were real, the real-time decision not to comment on them behind their eyes. He could have used his magic to hide them, but the effect would prove to be even more distracting -- others would still be able to tell there was something different about him, but they wouldn't be able to figure out why. At least with the antlers, they would have something obvious to point to; then they could process it how they will.

He always had the sneaking suspicion about the conversations that would start once he had moved on to the next group, always in quiet tones they hoped he wouldn't hear. He told himself he was being paranoid, of course, that everything was fine -- but that didn't stop the worry from being busy digging its burrow deeper into his brain. Every time he caught a glance out of the corner of his eye, or noticed an unusual inflection in someone's voice, he would have to take a beat and tell himself it was nothing. Every time, it stole a bit of his energy to do so.

He frequently wandered out into the backyard to be close to Rane when he felt himself getting too worried or tired. The dragon would calm him with a touch or a word, and wrapped a heavy arm around him whenever he leaned into the scaled bulk. Others would follow him out to the fire pit to check in, chatting about movies or TV shows that were particularly fun to talk about, or recommend their new favorite party snack from the spread inside. Rane, not wishing to be an impolite guest, asked Jakebe frequently for samples and more alcohol. The jackalope was only too happy to provide it, since it gave him an excuse to step outside into the relative cold and quiet.

It also gave him a chance to check out Rane's "progress". The dragon's bulk was steadily increasing throughout the evening, pushing against his spare clothing a little more every time Jakebe came out to give him something to drink. Baffin, of course, didn't seem to notice; he was too busy trying to down enough alcohol to get himself drunk and leaning more and more on Rane as the booze took effect. It was only when the dragon shrugged off the tiger a bit more easily than either of them had anticipated that they realized something was different.

"Were you always that tall, dude?" Baffin clapped his massive paws on the dragon's broad shoulders, standing up to his full, quite impressive height. "I didn't think your shoulders looked THAT broad when you came in."

Rane and Jakebe shared an amused look. "Pretty sure I've been this size for a little while, tiger. Maybe the beer goggles are starting to take effect."

"Nah," Baffin said. His ears flicked distractedly, his tail lashing in a manner that indicated he was a bit more compromised than he was trying to let on. "I'm not that far gone. I can tell when somebody's changed."

Jakebe flicked his ear and stepped up between the two giants, putting a paw on either thigh in an attempt to push them apart. It also gave him an excuse to get one of his favorite views. "I think Baffin might be a little worried that he won't be the biggest cat here or something."

Rane snorted, looking down at the smaller animal. He was noticeably surprised that he had to bend over the bulk of his own pecs to do so. "I don't think I'll be able to gain that much ground on him in just an evening."

"Yeah!" Baffin grinned and rose up, trying to make himself look even taller. He put his paws on his hips and rolled his shoulders, accentuating the sheer mass of his upper torso. "Even a mighty dragon knows that this tiger is too much to handle."

Whether it was because of their heavy mass, or the fact that the two of them were too focused on one another to notice, neither Rane or Baffin saw the faint glow of Jakebe's antlers below them. One of the jackalope's ears flicked towards the other animals gathered at the fire pit, gauging their reaction to the friendly rivalry brewing between the two of them. Some had retreated to personal conversations while others were chatting idly amongst themselves about who would best who in a scrap. It made Jakebe's heart warm when he learned most had put their bets on Rane.

The dragon himself grunted as he rolled his shoulders, the leather straps of his harness creaking in alarm as the mass threatened the clasps holding them to the ring that was almost digging into the valley between his pectorals at this point. "Size, of course, isn't everything, Baffin. I'm sure you would be a formidable opponent, but I'm a lot sharper than I look; a fight would be fun for me, but frustrating for you."

There was a quiet but noticeable chorus of chuckles and oohs at that. Baffin almost certainly noticed that, mostly because Jakebe had made sure of it. The jackalope stepped back from where he was standing between the two of them, glancing over to the gigantic tiger. "I don't know about you, dude, but that sounded like a challenge to me."

Baffin's eyes narrowed as he looked down towards Rane, taking a half-step towards the dragon to loom over him that much more. The tiger's eyes had a subtle shade of purple around the corner of their irises as Jakebe's magic softly called him to escalate. No one would challenge his authority, of course. Especially not on Christmas. "It sounded like one to me, too. So what, you want to go?"

The electricity of anticipation saturated the air now; two or three people decided they were warm enough and ventured indoors, while the rest watched for Rane's reaction with held breath. The dragon's glowing eyes blinked. He glanced towards his husband, who gave him a small but enthusiastic nod.

"Well, if you'd like. I'm sure I can pin your shoulders to the ground for at least five seconds before you do the same to me."

Baffin grinned, his whiskers bristling and his huge fangs showing. "It's a date, but you can't cheat or anything. No using your wings or your fire...fire breath or whatever it is."

Rane nodded. "Of course not. That's just poor form."

"I think you two should probably go out a little further into that field." Jakebe piped up now, turning to make his way a bit further from the den of Arlo and Damon. Baffin watched him as if fascinated, then thumped along after him.

A small part of Jakebe wondered what he was doing. At first thought, having Rane and Baffin rough-house was an undeniably bad idea. The localized earthquakes would set off car alarms, startle pets, and more than likely cause some minor structural damage to the nearest houses. Even for someone like him, that would be a fairly big job to fix and it might discourage folks from inviting any of the three to their neighborhoods in the future.

But on second thought, Jakebe should be able to create a magic field that would mute the effects of the fight after, say, 60 feet away; as long as neither of them rushed out of the field too fast, he should be able to contain the effects fairly well. Besides, if it was possible to watch two giants fight how could he not encourage that to happen?

Baffin was an astonishing 25 feet tall now, his oversized footpaws leaving clear prints in the grass as he walked along. Rane, however, wasn't as dwarfed as he was at the beginning of the evening. He had grown up to a little over 18 feet tall, and his shoulders were already threatening to rival the taller feline's massive set. The leather harness was practically vibrating with the strain of keeping itself together around his hulking torso, and every movement yielded increasingly stressed sounds from it. His own talons dug deep grooves into the soft earth, the dragon's step a bit unsure. Even though he was tall enough to see inside a second-story window, his muscle mass made him look almost squat.

Jakebe followed behind the pair, closer than the small pack of other animals keeping their distance while clearly being interested in what was about to take place. That was probably smart, all things considered. The jackalope knew from experience that giants can cover an astonishing distance of ground in a disturbingly short amount of time. While he could probably undo most damage with magic, he'd rather it didn't come to that if at all possible. He gestured behind him for the audience to stop, then called for Baffin and Rane to stop after a few more paces. He gauged the distance from the guests to the dragon and tiger, and from the behemoths to the trees separating the small clearing from the street. That should just about do.

"All right!" Jakebe turned to face the audience, their features shrouded in shadow and flickering firelight from behind. "You folks are about to witness the fight of the season! Rane versus Baffin, in a five-count pin-fall match!"

The seven or eight animals actually applauded. Jakebe grinned, trying not to look too surprised. The fact that they were willing to play along made it that much easier to get into this.

"For your safety and the consideration of our dear neighbors, I'll be placing a barrier on the grounds to mute noise and tremors from our combatants!" Jakebe turned to the two, and startled. Rane's eyes glowed down from what must be twenty feet now; the straps of his harness were practically digging into the scales of his chest, fraying with every movement. Baffin stared down at him with lazy confidence, his tail flicking casually but eagerly -- he was ready to fight. "You two, if you're pushed out of the barrier, you have until the count of ten to return to the ring. Understood?"

Both of them nodded, and Jakebe lifted up his hand high. He snapped his fingers, and a ring 120 feet in diameter outlined the ground. Light shone from that ring, illumating everyone on the field, and rose up high above Baffin's ears. The light bent 30 feet up in a clearly impossible display, forming a ceiling that raced along an invisible plane until it came together. In seconds, both Rane and Baffin were trapped in a cylinder of hard, glowing light. Their growls and snorts were suddenly much quieter.

"Well, you two." Jakebe grinned up at his dragon, the cocky tiger. "Fight's on!"

Baffin wasted no time. He immediately barreled into Rane, his striped bulk rippling gracefully as he slammed into the dragon. The sound of their impact was surprisingly loud even through the barrier, and Rane's wings spread instinctively as he tried to catch himself and stop the tiger's momentum.

"No--!" Baffin began. He had lifted Rane off his feet and ran with him towards the far edge of the ring, and as soon as the dragon hit it he roared an interruption.

The air shook with the volume of it. Rane's head tossed back out of the barrier's edge and his body visibly pulsed. Jakebe's eyes widened as he felt the magic holding the barrier in place surge into the talisman around the dragon's neck; the cord briefly strained against the thickening muscles before using a bit of magic to lengthen, but that sudden, violent expansion snapped the harness with an audible clap.

Baffin stopped right there. Rane's talons slammed into the earth near the trees, digging up huge chunks of earth, then swelled over the gashes they had made. The tiger grunted as he was pushed back by the dragon's growth. In one heartbeat, Rane was glaring at him eye-to-eye; the next, his horns pierced through the hard-light "ceiling". At the new source of contact, the speck of Jakebe's talisman glowed star-bright and Rane ascended higher with another shocked roar.

Jakebe immediately ended the spell and looked at the now-smaller group of animals watching on. Two had run back towards Arlo's den now, and the remainder were likely frozen by the shock. He offered them an apologetic smile, back-tracking towards the rapidly growing dragon. "I...think we'd better cut this short. Tell Arlo and Damon that we had a lovely time, OK? See you later!"

By the time the jackalope had reached Rane, he was twice as tall as Baffin and still rising. Muscles that had grown cable-thick roiled under scaly hide, testing even its durability as brawn surged and multiplied. Baffin's small ears had folded as he looked up at the dragon's incredible wingspan, then glared at Jakebe.

"Hey, no fair using magic to cheat! You supernatural creatures are all the same..."

"Wasn't intentional, trust me!" Jakebe called back to the giant tiger, looking up at Rane. "It might be a bit of a problem with his Christmas present."

"Can you fly out of here?" Jakebe called up. Rane knelt down and lowered one immense hand. Taloned fingers audibly stretched right in front of him, pushing dirt aside as if it were sand.

The jackalope wasted no time climbing aboard; Rane rose up and immediately took off, kicking up a gale of branches and dirt. His growing silhouette rose higher and higher into the air quickly, leaving the din of car alarms behind.