Dan's grin was approving. "Most of us are. Some of us are like boys, though, and have delicate egos."

"Hey," Matt protested.

"If Marissa isn't in the running for Christmas banquet, may I step in?" Renee asked. Nicky stared slack-jawed at her, but Renee didn't acknowledge his shock. She answered Neil's questioning look with a pretty smile and explained. "It seems my usual date is unavailable, but I'd prefer not to go alone. What do you think?"

Neil hadn't planned on bringing anyone, but he said, "Okay."

"First you steal Andrew's car, then you steal his girl..." Matt slipped a gloved hand into Dan's and looked at Neil. "Oh, and you've pretty much corrupted the rest of the monsters into hanging out with us outside of practice. Let me know if you need backup when you've got to explain all this to him."

"Thanks, but I can handle him," Neil said.

"We noticed," Dan said dryly, and tugged Matt with her down the sidewalk.

The rest of the Foxes fell in around them. They walked fast to beat the chill but were still half-frozen by the time they made it back to their dorm. They went their separate ways once they reached the third floor. Neil still had a couple hours before he was supposed to meet Kevin for practice, so he settled at his desk with his textbooks. Matt grabbed a beer from their fridge and tackled his own schoolwork.

"Can't believe it's almost over," Matt said after a couple minutes. "In some ways, I feel like this has been the longest semester ever, but at the same time, I don't know where the fall went. It's almost December, you know?"

"Yeah," Neil said, drawing circles over his outline. Friday was the first day of December and the last game of their fall season. The Foxes went to morning practices only next week, since Wymack wanted them to spend their afternoons studying. Neil and Kevin hadn't talked about it, but Neil assumed they'd still have their night practices.

"Shit, it's almost Christmas," Matt said, sounding almost wondering. "I still don't know what I'm getting Dan. But hey, speaking of Christmas, you figure out what you're doing for it yet?" Matt's chair creaked as Matt turned to look at him. "Are you going home or tagging along with the monsters?"

"I haven't decided," Neil said. "Tag along with them where?"

"If I remember right, last year Erik flew in from Germany and they partied it up in Columbia," Matt said. "That was before Kevin was here to chain them to the court, and before... well, before all this happened. I'm assuming they're not going to want to see Columbia again anytime soon. Maybe I'm wrong. You'd know better than I do."

"I don't know," Neil said. "They haven't mentioned it."