Reindeer Games Read Free Page A

children that they served. The Department of Acquisitions
    was a relatively recent branch of Santa’s operation. In the distant past, the elves
    had manufactured all the toys themselves. But especially in the last few decades,
    homemade toys didn’t make the grade. The first acquisitions department had
    consisted of elves taking the list of names from the Department of The List, then
    venturing into the other realm disguised as humans to buy appropriate toys. Back
    then, the team had been vast. These days, acquisitions had far fewer members, and
    every one of them was a computer nerd. Bok and his coworkers used established
    accounts to purchase toys and have them delivered to spots where the shipping
    department would pick them up.
    But that wasn’t why Bok and his coworkers were so popular. No, that was
    because they could and did find and purchase other things besides toys. The elves
    didn’t really need money, since food and shelter were provided to everyone in the
    village, nor did they need anything physical from the human realm. But they were
    not averse to having certain things: more mature toys, trinkets, doodads, you name
    it. Since neither Jannie nor Gus put a limit on what could be purchased—as long as
    things didn’t get out of hand and the main job got done—the elves in acquisitions
    could acquire pretty much anything they wanted. Since few of the other elves had
    access to the computers that plugged into the human realm, that made Bok and his
    fellows very busy and very popular. Bok, in particular, had a penchant for buying
    adult sex toys and accessory items. There were a surprising number of women
    among them who enjoyed them and enjoyed him , even if Bok was on the roly-poly
    side.
    “I’m not you,” Lon grumbled, staring at the paper before him.
    Bok sat up and craned his head enough to get a look at the paper. “Not much
    there.”

    Reindeer Games

    11

    Lon stared at the one line: Dearest Rom . Indeed, he’d not gotten far. “I’m not
    sure what to say.”
    Bok poked at the paper, nudging it slightly away from Lon. “That’s not the way
    to say it.”
    Lon slouched in his straight-backed chair. “Your way’s not the way to say it
    either.”
    “Mine gets right to the point.”
    Lon slapped a hand over his eyes. “That’s not the point I want to make.”
    “What is your point?”
    Lon peeked at his friend between his fingers. Although he’d been craving Rom
    for years, he’d only told Bok of it this season. Until recently, his longing had been
    manageable. He was still a relatively young man. His sexual encounters up to this
    point in his life had been brief and purely exploratory. He’d tried sleeping with
    women, and although he found it enjoyable, it didn’t compare to the race of heat in
    his veins when he was with a man. He simply preferred cock, just as his friend Bok
    preferred pussy. Not a big deal among the elves, since they didn’t make the deal
    about sexual orientation that humans did.
    “I want… more .”
    Bok studied him for a few seconds, then nodded sagely. “You want a
    relationship.”
    “Yes.”
    “That’s for old people.”
    Lon sat up, offended. “It is not.”
    “It is too. Why limit yourself to one person? It’s not like we have to worry about
    the things humans do.”
    No. They didn’t have unwanted pregnancies or sexual diseases among them.
    Couples of any pairing could request to have a child. When the time came, the
    Reproductive Committee would either grant their wish or not, in order of

    12
    Jet Mykles

    application. Usually only those couples who wished to start a family would settle
    down, and those couples tended to be older.
    Still… “But what about love?”
    Bok shook his head. “You’re such a romantic. You need to stop reading those
    romance books.”
    Lon crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s your fault. You got me the e-book
    reader.”
    “Yeah. My bad.” Bok shook his head. “Still, you could have set your sights