Merry Christmas"Have yourself... a Merry little Christmas... may your hearts be... hmmmm... from now on, our troubles will be out of sight." Emelyn sang, filling in the words she couldn't remember with curt hums. It was her Christmas morning- and it was small, and somehow, despite everything, it was still merry.
"Hold still, sweetheart." The hedgehog woman reached her arms around the dog's neck to fasten the collar. Reuben sat obligingly still, though he twisted his neck one way and then another as the unfamiliar feeling of the leather touched his fur. The twisting was even more apparent after Emelyn pulled free of him, and he realized that the feeling remained. He shook and lifted up a leg to scratch at it. Emelyn saw a glint of the silver plate that was in front, engraved with his name and 'home address'. She didn't have to ask how the labs knew his name- it was always safer to assume that they knew everything.
Reuben accepted the collar after a few minutes- but not before a jog around the duplex and a few bouts of furious scratching. He was looking for more of the milkbones that Lucas had left him... but Em had hidden them in one of the drawers of her dresser. As he wandered, Em settled her own Christmas presents in places of their own: a beautiful blue-grey geode from a secret santa, which she placed next to her jewelry box- a childish, sweetly painted conch from Cody that also went on her dresser... and that gorgeous dress that Em was, again, not surprised that the labs would have heard her musings to other islanders about a possibility for a new wardrobe. It was a dazzling thing- and the threads that could be winnowed through her spines were delicate and easily manageable- Em didn't know when she'd have an excuse to wear it... or even when she'd be able to shed enough guilt to do so. But in any case, and until then... it was comforting to see it hanging in her closet. It was easier to accept those tops that Lucas had given her- as if having a medium give the gift was better. The pillow from him was already sitting on her bed, and the candy... that was safe in her jewelry box.
"Merry Christmas, Reu. ...Get off the bed."
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