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~~Holiday Special (Day 1/7, Page 1/6)~~
Hector practiced making metallic toys for them. Small and intricate, was how he began, but when Thomas started gnawing on the dorsal fin of an iron shark, Hector decided to retry with larger, more rounded figures. Probably not the most efficient method of training for combat, but at the very least, it gave him the opportunity to work on his precision.

When Colt showed up again, he looked like hell. His clothes were a complete mess, caked with dirt and mud where they weren’t already riddled with bullet holes and bloodstains.

‘Welcome back,’ said Garovel. ‘How’d it go? Did you have a nice vacation?’

“Would’ve been a lot easier if they’d just cremated me,” said Colt.

‘Yeah,’ agreed Bohwanox. ‘I would have been able to come back here and remake him from scratch. But on the plus side, I did get to witness Colt rising from the grave like some kind of unholy abomination. That was quite enjoyable.’

‘Be thankful they didn’t need to preserve your body for a funeral,’ said Garovel. ‘It’d take days to get the embalming chemicals out of your system. They would’ve oozed out of your face, mostly.’

‘I want to see that.’

Colt ignored them, more concerned with Hector and the twins. “How were they?”

“Amazing,” said Hector, and he helped them walk over to their father.

Colt bent down, smiling but keeping them at arm’s length. “Guess I should get cleaned up first.”

“Alright.”

Colt ventured off to shower and change.

Bohwanox turned to Garovel. ‘So tell me more about embalming chemicals.’

‘Oh, well, there are all sorts. Some are dyes meant to maintain tissue color. Some are pumped into the body arterially. They have all sorts of different effects.’

‘Would they have oozed out of anywhere other than his face?’

Hector pursed his mouth to one side and figured that was a good place to stop listening. He turned his attention back to the children.