1. Bruno

1

brUNO

T he keen hearing of Bruno's cave bear alerted him to the interlopers, even before Anita's cheerful voice exclaimed, "Oh! Look at all the big shiny things !"

The factory work floor was a marvel of machines and tools, all of them kept in pristine working order. The sprawling vaulted room smelled of metal and oil, and distantly of smoke, and even the air handling system was unmarred chrome. When it was running, of course, there were metal shavings and oil rags, slag heaps and scorch marks. Workers trotted between stations, drilling and milling and grinding and shining up the mechanical lawn ornaments that were the hallmark of Wilson Kinetics. But now the space was quiet and sparkling clean, and the namesake and inspiration of the company, Frank Wilson, was touring it with his fiancé on his arm.

"Oh, Bruno!" the flamingo shifter exclaimed. "I see they got you that copper plate you wanted!"

"You could make a million pennies out of that!" the bubbly woman beside him said, staring at the solid sheet of copper on the steel form before Bruno. "No, a billion. Maybe a trillion! How much would a trillion pennies be? I'm quite good at math, believe it or not, but I have to write it down or the zeros all bounce around."

"It would be quite a lot," Frank said amiably.

"What are you going to make out of it?" Anita asked. "It's such a pretty color, and so shiny! Isn't the Statue of Liberty made of copper? It might turn green, but I like green, too. Not as much as pink, of course."

Bruno took too long to realize that she had asked him a question at the beginning of her monologue, and Frank answered for him. "A giant birdbath, probably," he said. "Bruno does exquisite metal work and I can't wait to see it."

"Did you do the one out front with the ivy and swirls? It's so beautiful and graceful! Like it's dancing! Even if it doesn't move like Frank's do."

Bruno's cave bear preened in pleasure. Hug! he suggested. The bear liked getting compliments and thought that the reward for every one of them should be a bone-crushing embrace.

But Frank probably wouldn't appreciate one, and he'd probably take affront if Bruno tried to hug Anita. So Bruno only grunted and ducked his head a little and probably looked like he was constipated.

"We'll lock up when we go," Frank told him. "I know you like to have the factory floor to yourself, but try not to work for the entire winter break."

Bruno, however, planned to do exactly that. Tobias, the gnome CEO of the company, had taken his mate off to Norway to meet his family, and Frank and Anita had tickets to a luxury resort on an island off of Costa Rica. All of the staff and mechanics had been given lush Christmas bonuses and sent home to their families for a week off, but when Frank offered to pay for a vacation for Bruno, he'd been able to imagine nothing better than having the time to create something on a grand scale without disrupting the general production schedule.

"I'll take some time off," he lied, though he had no interest in returning to his lonely bachelor apartment. "Merry Christmas."

He could hear Anita continue to exclaim over everything in the room as Frank led her out the back entrance. "All these amazing machines! So many tools! Look, a broom! What a fabulous workshop! Like Santa's, except no elves! Did I tell you that I thought of a new Christmas cupcake flavor for next year? It's gingerbread, with peppermint swirl frosting. I think that powdered sugar on top like snow would be perfect…"

Then the door finally closed behind them and Bruno breathed a sigh of relief. He liked Anita well enough, but she was a lot to take, and he liked being alone better.

No one to hug , his bear said sadly.

Bruno ignored him and got to work.

B runo shuffled back as the last echoes of the musical hammer blows faded from the empty factory floor, shifted, and surveyed his masterpiece.

The massive strikes that it took to form the cold metal required his bear's strength, and the finesse of shaping it just right took human sight.

He'd been working on it two days, right through the adjoining night, and was pretty sure it was nearly the following evening already. His stomach was rumbling, and he felt hollow with hunger and lack of sleep. His shoulders ached, and his hand was cramped around his hammer. His second hammer, actually; a particularly strong whack had shattered the handle of his first and favorite.

But it was worth it, when the thick plate copper finally found its rightful conformation.

This was the largest fountain tub he'd yet made. It wasn't a birdbath as much as it was an Olympic bird pool, big enough to sit three people, if they were friendly. Every edge was a soft leaf or a graceful flower, formed by brute force into a functional, fanciful vessel. There was a waterfall of foliage climbing one side that would hide plumbing later.

It was his masterpiece, Bruno thought. The most beautiful thing he'd ever made.

It was frivolous. Bruno didn't think that even Tobias could find a buyer willing to pay for such a monstrosity. Something for a public installment, perhaps? He had vaguely intended it for actual bathing, but he supposed it could be filled with goldfish in a lobby somewhere.

He was lucky that Frank had fronted him the cost of the giant slab of metal, without even asking what it was for.

That was the advantage of being a gazillionaire, Bruno supposed.

He peeled his aching fingers from the shaft of the hammer and set it reverently aside. He always gave a good tool the honor it deserved. His head was swimming, partly from exhaustion, partly from the euphoria of finishing.

A nap.

A nap would do him a world of good. His bear spent this time of year fighting off the urge to hibernate (and inappropriately hug people), and a rest would refresh them both.

The drive home seemed like too much, so Bruno shifted again, climbed into his new creation, and curled into a comfortable furry lump of cave bear.

No one would bother him, during this week of closure between Christmas and New Year's. He could sleep for a day, if his hunger let him, and dream of having a warm body here with him to fill all the empty places in his heart.