### Selena Chilver

Selena let a wry little grin tug at the edges of her chapped lips. Ah, Eva liked it. Sure, the gift didn't really mean much to her, but still, she liked making her little sister happy. Selena didn't get to see their cousins-or her father or uncle-a whole lot, so she had a soft spot for Eva. Not to mention, well...with Mom out the picture, and no girl cousins...Eva was the only girl friend that Selena really had. Only person who could make sense of how to dress and whatnot. Sure, the rest of her family had done a great job raising her-Selena could shoot a rifle like nobody's business, knew how to do all the important stuff, but when it came to dealing with guys, clothes, some of the more nuanced social conventions, well, Selena was at a loss.

And Selena didn't like being at a loss, or anything that was within pissing distance of loss.

Selena took off her boggin and shook out her hair for a minute. She had a somewhat strange blend of regular hair and dreadlocks (she added another dread for each momentous kill-small game like rabbits or turkeys wouldn't cut it. Had to be something special), which made maintaining her hair, ah, a bitch. Plus it felt kinda weird sometimes. And made barbers cry. But the number of fucks that Selena gave could be counted on the appendages of quadruple amputees. Selena ran a hand through her hair-which was, at the moment, a dirty blonde, caught in the halfway-place between the poles of the lunar cycle. She slipped the boggin back on over her ears and turned back to her sister.

"Food, yeah," Selena agreed, although she wriggled free of Eva's grip. _You afraid of losin' me in this crowd, little sis?_ Selena wasn't paying too close attention when the smoker drifted by. Eva's yelp kicked her into action-something cold and impersonal, but at the same time furious and bristling with energy, began to settle across Selena's features. Her eyes dilated and her fingers danced into knuckles. Deep breath. Cigarette smoke. Harms Eva. Too many scents to count. Like trying to have a conversation in a concert. Lots of sights. More colors, now, than there had been a moment before. Barely picked up the rat at Eva's feet. Part of her, some strange, macabre part, just wanted to crush the son of a bitch, but she silenced that part quickly. Selena moved to push Eva out of the way, shield her from any more smoke (_protect your kin_) , but Snow White's little friends had already taken care of the bastard for her. Selena knelt down as he fell at her feet and gave him a smile. "Buddy," Selena chided, looking down at the upside-down, thoroughly-confused smoker. "You know the health risks with those things, don't you? They greatly increase your chances of pissing me the hell off. Scram. Don't smoke near her." 

Selena saw no reason to kick this guy's ass or anything. After all, it had admittedly been an accident,and unless he tried to do it intentionally or something, she had no real reason to. No point in getting kicked out of another Christmas Festival. No, wait, that had been a Hannukkah Festival. Heh. She was back on speaking terms with the fire department now, at any rate.

Selena stepped over him (letting her boot come uncomfortably close to his groin as she did so) and moved to her sister, placing a bracing arm around her and brushing some of the hair out of her face. "Hey. You good?"