Page 13 of The Grinch Who Stole Orcmas

“Here. For Grum’s…supervisor.”Grandmother starts puttingmellatonson a paper plate, one of every flavor. “You try them all. Tell me your favorite.”

When Joy pulls out her wallet and asks how much she owes, Grandmother says, “My treat. Are you going to tame our grumpy Grum? You’d do the whole Integration Zone a favor.”

After praying to the Goddess to spirit me away before I’m embarrassed further, Joy and I settle on a few outdoor chairs set up nearby and I put half amellatonin my mouth to hopefully put an end to the discussion.

“Mmm,” Joy says after breaking off a small bite and tasting it. “Flakey, crisp… apricot. These are amazing.”

I can tell she’s trying hard to hide a smile behind the piece of pastry. Thankfully she lets the subject about taming me drop as she proceeds to take a bite of each of the six flavors, remarking on how each is tastier than the next.

“Dibs on the rest of the apricot,” I grouch, trying to regain at least a shred of my dignity.

Chapter 8: Unexpected Encounters

Grum

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t the Grinch himself!”

The booming voice cuts through the bazaar’s din. Turning, I see Kam striding toward us, his arm around Emma, his petite human mate. Behind them, is Thornn and his human mate, Sarah.

Sighing heavily, I mutter, “Joy, meet the bane of my existence, Kam. And his lovely mate, Emma.”

Kam’s grin widens. “Aw. See? You do care! I’m your bane. And who’s this lovely lady? Don’t tell me our Grum’s finally found his Christmas spirit?”

Joy doesn’t seem to sense my irritation. Instead, she bounces over, all smiles and tinkling earring bells. “I’m Joy! Grum works with me on the Santa’s Workshop event and has been showing me around the bazaar. It’s so exciting!”

Kam’s eyes light up mischievously. “Grum working on a Christmas event? Now that’s something I never thought I’d see. Tell me, Joy, how did you manage to drag our resident Grinch into the holiday spirit? Did you bribe him withmellatons?”

Sarah steps forward, rolling her eyes at Kam’s antics. “Ignore him. I’m Sarah, and this is my mate, Thornn.” Thornn, massive and smiling, nods in greeting, proudly showing off his tusks.

Emma rubs her hands together excitedly. “Oh my gosh, are you the Joy from Jingle All the Way? I thought you looked familiar. I love your shop! It’s a shame it’s so close to the Zone. I spend far too much money in there.”

“Speaking of jingle, did you hear about the Christmas tree that went to the hairdresser? It wanted to get itself trimmed!”

A collective groan rises from the group, and I wonder how—and why—Kam’s managed to live this long without someone telling him his jokes suck.

“Hey! You’re Joy?”

A human teenager strides up with an orc female at his side. This is odd. Normally, humans aren’t quite at ease with Others, especially a group of three big orcs.

“Um?” Joy answers, flustered.

“I’m Tyler. This is Vakra. The grandmother grapevine put out the SOS. Said you needed help because all your presents were stolen.” For a teen, he sounds so mature. “We worked at the community center all day fluffing and hanging wreaths.”

This whole moment is odd, but the oddest thing? Is he happy about fluffing?

“Oh,” Joy reaches to shake his hand, then offers her hand to Vakra, who politely takes it, although shaking hands isn’t something we orcs do. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m so grateful. I guess Marcy told you about the theft?”

“Yeah. We were happy to step in and help.”

I’m normally not one to intrude on people’s personal lives, but I can’t control my question. “Uh, how do you two know each other?” Other children are kept in segregated schools here in the Zone, so I’m not sure how these two met.

“My mom is cool. She wants me to be exposed to everything, so years ago she began taking me to open swim days in the Zone. Vakra and I became fast friends and have been buddies ever since.

Maybe I’ve been hanging out with Joy too much, but hearing that almost makes me optimistic about the future.

As the conversation is about to end, Joy makes sure the pair plan to attend the Santa’s Toy Exchange—a mighty bold offerconsidering we have no gifts to “exchange” at the moment—and the pair wanders off to one of the raffle booths.

Before we can start a new conversation, Kam’s booming voice cuts through the chatter. “So, Joy, tell me more about the stolen presents?”

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