Chapter Text
“Hatred, please? It's group bonding! We've been so good all year and we do all these crazy missions and Christmas is so fun!" Corane rocked back and forth in his seat on the floor. The meeting was originally to discuss some collective favor needed to be carried out by Hatred’s friends. How had it gotten here?
“I disagree,” Pinxes said with a raised finger, lying on his back. “We suck, and Christmas is kind of gay."
"Zip it!” Corane shrieked. “Hatred, he means gay as in happy! We all love Christmas, Lerone don’t you like Christmas?”
Lerone glared into Corane’s pathetic barkbeast eyes and cleared his throat. “Big fan.”
“See? Big fan!”
"Why am I hosting it in the first place? It was your idea. You host it." Hatred leaned back displeasured in her seat, the only chair in the hive.
“Uh, because you're the leader," Tamper chimed in, sitting criss-cross next to Scaumo, who nodded with her.
Hatred considered the others for a reluctant while. While this was unnecessary and stupid, there really was no solid reason for her to refuse. She’s had them over plenty of times, it was no strain to do it again for what seems to be mostly Corane’s sake. "Gah, fine. Just don’t ask me to give you guys gifts or some shit. I've done my duty.”
"Yay!” Corane cheered, his applause causing Scaumo to meekly clap along with him. “You know what… I think we should all chip in and bring something! I'll... hm... I can bring ornaments! Ooh, And a tree! We can decorate it! Lerone, what do you want to bring?"
"Uh... I don't know, popcorn?" Lerone shrugged, and Corane gave him a thumbs up.
"I can bring soda," Tamper decided.
"That's the Christmas spirit!" I wish, Tamper almost replied. "Pinxes, what do you want to bring?"
Pinxes sat up and pondered for a moment. "Eh, I don’t know. I’m not really a fan of Christmas.”
"What?” Corane cried. “What do you mean, you don't like Christmas?"
"Never had the money for it," Pinxes sighed, returning to staring at the ceiling. "Still don't.”
"Uh... that's okay." Corane relented. He turned to Scaumo, who wasn’t meeting his eyes right then. Corane elected not to ask Scaumo to bring anything. "So we can meet on Christmas day!"
Hatred tapped her fist to the floor like a gavel. All heads swiveled to her at once. "Come at five or I’m not letting you in. I don't need to be hosting a rager the whole day."
Corane giggled at even the notion. "Aha, Hatred, you silly goose! Do we look like we throw those kinds of wacky parties?"
"Pinxes does." Lerone said. Pinxes simply shrugged a response, too wrong to deny it and too lazy to accept it.
Corane hopped up to his feet, and then hopped once more in his glee. "It's a plan! A real Christmas party! Thanks everyone, I really promise you’re going to have a great time! Aha, especially thanks to Hatred for hosting!"
Hatred grunted.
"Hatred, I think you're really feeling the Christmas spirit right now," Corane commented with an accusatory finger.
Scaumo cleared her throat. "How many times have you guys said Christmas?” she wondered. “It's starting to not sound like a word."
The next night, Corane dutifully strapped on his snow boots, brandished his axe, and trudged into the woods with Behemoth in tow, who insisted he follow along.
Corane’s friends seemed more than unenthused about Christmas, but he thought they were just looking at it the wrong way. It isn't about spending money and being extravagant, it's about spending time with friends and lusii! And watching movies! And getting super drunk if you aren't Tamper! I mean, more like if you are, but you really shouldn't. He would have to request no alcohol at the Christmas party.
He scanned the woods for fit trees. Some were too small to hold more than a single ornament, some too large to carry with him at all. After a long time, he spotted the perfect specimen deep in the woods. It was about his height with thick foliage, piled high with falling snow. It was large, but not unwieldy, just glorious and grand standing to meet Corane’s eyes. He didn’t hesitate to bring it with him, axing it while Behemoth stood guard. He passively watched Corane get a face full of pine each time he swung into the needles, the foliage too thick to get an easy strike. Corane didn’t mind though, this would all be worth it to see the smiles on his friends faces when they saw the true meaning of Christmas! Hurray!
He lugged the tree home with only some struggle, tailed once again by Behemoth, who occasionally nudged the end of it to keep Corane on the move. He dropped the tree at his doorstep, shuffling inside already knowing where to find the ornaments. His attic was dark and dusty, the air already disturbed by Corane previously unpacking his Christmas items. He lifted one more box and very gently carried it down to his kitchen table. The ornaments glittered lille gemstones, shades of red, gold, and green, so clear that he could see his silhouette painted on it. What's Christmas without a couple of ornaments and a lovely tree?
Lerone, upon arriving home, almost entirely ignored the contents of the meeting. The only thing that stopped him from doing so was visions of Corane's smiling face as he begged Hatred for that stupid, stupid Christmas party. Contrary to popular belief, Lerone actually enjoyed Christmas quite a lot. It was just that actually proclaiming such a thing to his friends, when only Corane vocally liked Christmas, made him feel like a pansy. So he kept his celebrations between himself and Corane, which always worked and spared his dignity. But now there’s a big party, and somehow everyone has been convinced of it, and it’s the dorkiest thing in the entire fucking world. Even still, he knows how much his best friend loved it. If he didn't do his part... he couldn't imagine how crushed Corane would have been.
Everyone loves popcorn, sure, but Lerone decided he had to come up with something more, something better (than what Ptaahe would come up with). It was Christmas! He had to do something nice for Christmas. Something... aha! He sprinted to his garage and started shuffling through pieces of scrap metal like playing cards. He had to have some lightweight aluminum sheets, something that would be good for a star. Does that count as his gift? Maybe not, he was, after all, expected to bring something anyway. Whatever. They should be grateful they were getting anything at all. He set to work.
In the evening of Christmas eve, Tamper idly rifled through her pantry after a long nap, thinking only of what she was going to have for dinner. A half-empty box of pasta, a carton of cigarettes, a carton of cigarettes, another carton of cigarettes, a bottle of Diet Coke with a themed Christmas wrapper. Oh, right, the party!
She embarked on the absolute quickest route to 7/11 and, although it was strange and almost risky to go out at this time, the attendant with her head buried in a Troll Playboy magazine paid no mind to her. Tamper marched right to the soda aisle, gliding her eyes surreptitiously over the drugs sold at the front counter as she walked. What’s festive? Festive and could get her hammered would be convenient, but not an option for a party with these kinds of friends. She’d only ever bothered to celebrate Christmas for the parties, mostly the drugs and sometimes the gifts. It was never as much fun as she hoped it would be, but it was tradition, she supposed. As she tore her eyes away from the booze section with great pain, she spied a reddish two-liter bottle of holiday cranberry soda, lying on its side at the top of a stacked triangle of other soda bottles. That’ll do! She snagged two of them and backtracked for a can of vodka soda, rewarding herself with a nice treat for being so generous with her friends. Yeah, she’s got a Christmas gift. Not bringing alcohol to the party. Corane’s gonna eat that shit up.
Pinxes totally forgot about the party until it was Christmas day at 4:50pm. Originally, he was thinking about an ad he saw for a new clothing store, which made him think about buying things, which made him think about gifts, which made him think about Christmas, which made him think about– ah, shit! He launched himself out of bed, almost hurling himself to the floor. He scrambled to the living room, where Hatred eyed him up and down in suspicion of his sudden movements, which Pinxes does not make often. Pinxes didn’t care. What was he gonna bring, what was he gonna bring? A lone popsicle stick graced the counter, the frozen treat having long since been eaten. What the hell, sure. He took it and rushed back to his bedroom to grab a paperclip from his nightstand. Using a blade, he carved notches into the sides of it like he saw once on Grubtube and wrapped the paperclip around it for… an icicle! God damn, Pinxes Hevera, you sly fox. You have saved Christmas.
Scaumo did not have the resources to spend on Christmas, nor was she asked to contribute anything, which was fine by her. She saw the idea of a bunch of broke trolls throwing a party to be a little counterintuitive to their mostly squalid situations. In any case, she’d always been nervous about parties, considering she was not known for being much fun. But there was no getting out of this one. She did not do much more than hitch a ride to the party from Lerone. It’ll be nice, she told herself warily as they pulled up.
It was always hard to find Hatred's hive, even when one had been to it a million times before. The hive itself was mostly underground with the top concealed by snow-covered earth, meaning it was often a struggle even to find the door. Corane arrived first with the box of ornaments, leaving the tree to be grabbed in a second trip. Next, Lerone with a small tote hung across his arm, bringing Scaumo in tow. Then, Tamper and a grocery bag with her bottles of soda. She nudged Lerone and opened the bag, revealing her lack of alcohol. Lerone nodded in approval and gave her a thumbs up.
Tamper shuffled forth and knocked on the door with no answer. The snow was blowing in her face and stinging her ears, the wind was making it hard to breathe. She really hoped either Hatred or Pinxes would answer soon. She waited a moment, then another, then a small, sliding bar on the door opened. The inside of the hive was so dark, even the face of the troll at the door wasn’t visible.
"What’s the password?" asked a voice that sounded suspiciously like Pinxes.
Tamper gulps. "Uh... Merry Christmas?"
"Just get in here," Hatred called from within, prompting Pinxes to finally open the door.
The group entered all together, and Hatred flicked the lightswitch on as Lerone closed the door behind himself. It was still quite cold inside, but anything was better than being out there for any longer. A pile naturally formed on a dark end table with mangled legs. Corane gestured to Hatred, then went back out the door with her nod. When he slowly staggered back inside with a giant load on his back, everyone was staring at him with mixed reactions of awe and horror.
"That's a tree," Hatred declared.
Corane smiled innocently back at her. It was hard to tell if he was playing dumb or genuinely didn’t see the issue, but knowing Corane... "Yeah! It wouldn't be a Christmas party without one!"
"And you're bringing it inside my house?" Hatred asked incredulously, very much already knowing the answer.
"I mean... I was going to."
Hatred slowly ran a hand down her face. "Whatever. Clean up the leaves."
Corane dragged the tree to the back corner of the room and propped it up by its thick trunk. It bobbed and swayed and wiggled a couple of times, but it eventually balanced itself out.
"Is that stable?" Tamper wondered. "I mean, did you bring a base?”
Corane peeked awkwardly at the tree. "Uh, no! I didn't think it needed one. Look at it! This thing is big!"
"Whatever you say, man.” Tamper eyed the tree with trepidation, but ultimately gave up on the idea that she had enough credentials on trees to speak about Corane’s decision.
Corane started off strong by adding a porcelain clown ornament to the tree, nestled higher up in the still-snowy branches. Lerone pulled something from his bag and placed it next to Corane’s. It was a small, charming snow angel, messily welded from jagged cuts of metal. Scaumo added a plain red bauble, courtesy of Corane. It was nestled as close to Lerone’s as she could reach. Lerone plucked it out and moved it the rest of the way. Hatred settled a wooden snowflake next to everybody else's, speared through the center hole in the absence of a hook. Tamper took a green ornament from Corane’s box and placed it under Hatred’s. Pinxes delicately placed his icicle on the first branch he saw, which happened to be between Scaumo’s and Lerone’s. The ornaments formed a large cluster on the side of the tree, like a bird’s nest. As Pinxes pulled away, the tree shifted and dipped, tipping over in Pinxes’ direction, who made no move to pull away. Just before it could hit him, Lerone grabbed the tree by the middle, earning himself a face full of pine.
“Ow, fuck! Corane– Corane, come hold this for a second,” he growled. Corane yelped and scuttled over to take the tree from Lerone, holding it by the branches with more caution. Lerone dipped away and through the door without another word.
Pinxes chuckled. “Someone hates Christmas.”
Corane whipped his head around to shoot daggers at him. “No he doesn’t! He’s probably doing something really awesome and important right now!” He huffed. “Don’t be a Grinch, Pinxes!”
“What’s a Grinch?”
At that moment, Lerone shuffled back through the door, both covered in snow and holding some sort of log contraption. “Listen man, if you’re gonna bring a tree, you gotta bring a fucking base! We almost had a workplace injury here!”
“Yay, Lerone saves Christmas!” Corane cheered, constrained to just a happy face because of the tree in his arms, ignoring Lerone’s chastising entirely.
“Shut up.”
Corane lifted the bottom of the tree as Lerone swooped in. He wedged the base on tight and motioned with his hand for Corane to set it back down. Once deposited, it hammered the base the rest of the way onto the trunk. It was a tight fit, but the tree didn’t sway at all, and held the ornaments fine. Lerone dusted off his hands with a smile, a job well done. Lerone Tawney, you have saved Christmas.
"So what now?" Pinxes wondered, both to himself and to the rest of the group.
Scaumo shrugged. Hatred looked at Corane, prompting everyone else to look at Corane.
"Umm…” Corane tapped a finger to his chin in thought. “Ooh! Tinsel! Guys, we need to add tinsel!"
Hatred raised an eyebrow. "You say that as if you happen to have tinsel somewhere."
He did not, but Corane knew, like any good clown would, that one must always have tricks up their sleeves. "Well, not yet, but we can do those pretty popcorn ones! And that’s way more awesome because it’s fun and we can eat it after Christmas is over. Lerone brought popcorn, because he’s awesome!”
“I think it looks fine as it is,” Lerone said.
“No you don’t,” Corane corrected him, already looking for the popcorn bags amongst the goods on the table.
Lerone sighed wearily, because Corane was technically right, the tree was kind of hideous, and adding a little something extra couldn’t hurt. “How much should I make?”
“Probably a lot,” Scaumo answered. “If you make too much, we can just eat it later.”
“And watch a movie!” Corane added with a wild, waving hand to catch Hatred’s attention.
Hatred just frowned at him. “I don’t own a TV.”
Corane immediately deflated. “Oh… on someone’s phone?” Wordlessly, Tamper scooted to Corane. He grinned at her and pulled her closer until they were side by side.
“So are we gonna get started or what?” Tamper asked, drumming her hands against the sides of her legs in anticipation.
Lerone disappeared into the kitchen with the popcorn, Pinxes returned (nobody ever saw him leave) with a roll of dental floss and two sewing needles. “I guess Tamper has nobly sacrificed herself to be the beading buddy,” he commented.
Tamper shrugged. “Hey man, who doesn’t like free popcorn?”
As the first bowl of popcorn dropped in front of them with a most unceremonious clatter, she pulled up a pirated version of troll Elf and propped it up against the bowl so everyone could see. She and Corane got to work stringing the popcorn as they watched, while the others picked from the bowl or poured themselves soda.
To Tamper, stringing the popcorn was simple, mind-numbing work, backlit in the dim room by the movie playing, nothing she had to pay attention to. She liked it, she felt serene not having to worry about anything, she felt warm surrounded by her friends. Her inner turmoil dimmed, if only for that time. It felt better than drugs, by just a little bit.
Pinxes slotted himself behind her and wrapped his legs around her, breaking her trance. He slid a glass of soda up to her, to which she mumbled her thanks. He looked at the movie, then to Corane. Pinxes poked him on the shoulder. “You know, Buddy always reminded me of you.”
“Why, because he’s so friendly?” Corane asked, momentarily distracted.
Lerone immediately shot Pinxes an evil glare of warning from above, lightly kicking Pinxes on the back to ensure he saw.
“Ow– yeah, sure,” Pinxes decided for his own good.
Although Hatred seemed none too pleased about having her resources wasted on frivolous things like a garland for a christmas tree, she allowed Tamper and Corane to exhaust the last of her dental floss. She just couldn't find it in her to tell Corane it was a dumb idea, especially seeing how excited he was, and how that excitement was bleeding into the rest of the group. Her friends watched the movie and talked and sometimes laughed. Hatred herself stood behind them, sipping the soda, which had a sugary, fake cherry flavor she wouldn’t tolerate in any other situation. She felt a glimmer of sweetness in her heart, which she quickly stamped down before it went anywhere. Frivolous things.
“So, how’s everyone enjoying Christmas?” Corane asked them.
“Fine,” answered Lerone, coming back from the kitchen with a new bag of popcorn.
“Hm… I don’t know. I’d usually be drunker than this by now,” Tamper said, earning her a mumbled not funny from Corane. “But for real, I’m having a good time.”
“It hasn’t been a disaster, which is more than I can expect from you guys half of the time,” decided Hatred.
“I like it,” mumbled Scaumo, taking courage to speak after Hatred.
“Hm?” asked Pinxes, who was paying attention to the movie. “Oh. I mean, I usually don’t do anything for Christmas. So this is better than nothing, you know?”
Corane grinned. “So maybe a Christmas party wasn’t so stupid after all?” He received no reply, but that was fine by him. He continued to watch the movie.
The rest of the garland went by quickly and casually, with the last puffs being strung at about the end of troll Elf. Tamper rubbed her eyes, Corane stretched his legs. Slowly but surely, they collected themselves and stood. They carefully tied off the garland and dangled their masterpiece in between them, muttering to both themselves and each other as they maneuvered and wrapped it around the tree, starting from the base and spiraling all the way to the top. Corane seemed surprised once they finished, as if he didn’t think his own plan would work. He did, he just didn’t think he would get so far with it as to actually see it complete. They all took a step back to marvel at their Christmas tree.
The moonlight from the window illuminated the shining ornaments with silver, dusting the tree’s needles with light and fresh snow. It left an almost magical halo around it. Although the ornaments were still set in one cluster and the garland was laid impressively unevenly, with only just barely enough length to cover the tree, it seemed like something beautiful at the moment, and it was. This beauty was not based on looks but on character, like macaroni art or a Jackass movie.
“Wow, that’s… really nice!” Scaumo exclaimed.
“Better than I thought it would look,” Hatred added.
“I think it looks amazing!” Corane cheered. “Great job, guys!”
“Wait! One more thing,” Lerone exclaimed, turning back to his bag. He pulled out a lovely metal star, textured in such a way that it caught the light in rippling waves. He handed it to Hatred with two hands like it was made of glass.
“What’s with this?” Hatred asked, for once in a non-rhetorical manner.
Lerone smirked. “A star? The kind you put on a tree?”
“Don’t sass me,” Hatred warned. She continued to stare at it.
“Well… go ahead. Put it on,” he offered, gesturing towards the tree. Hatred scoffed at his patronization, but nonetheless marched to the tree and capped it with the star as if it had personally wronged her.
“Now we’re finished!” Lerone decided. Corane clapped and hooted, Pinxes joined in with his own, softer applause. In all honesty, it was a nice sight. Without the pressure to deliver something, which he has known intimately and painfully for all his life, Christmas was… nice. His friends were all together, and he felt safe and comfortable. It was strange. Decray always celebrated Christmas with him, but this didn’t feel like Christmas with Decray. This felt new, and he enjoyed it in a way he never has, never was able to before.
Tamper let the next movie play on its own, a cheesy Christmas romcom that seemed to enthrall Lerone in particular. While the movie played, Hatred shuffled to the kitchen unnoticed, moved by a warmth in her heart and a force far outside of herself.
Her kitchen was desolate and near-empty of food, but she had an idea. She rooted around in her pantry and wrestled a sack of flour from a dark, cobwebbed corner. She also discovered a crystallized sack of sugar, hardened and folded over itself like a dried bag of concrete. In her fridge, she had one egg, which she also took out. She had no oil, but that was probably fine.
In a bowl, she dumped a healthy heap of flour, cracked an egg on top, and added a large helping of sugar. What did she need oil for, anyway? Nothing, because this was going to turn out fantastic. She poured some water and mixed violently, spraying flour over herself a couple of times, stirring likely well past homogenization. It certainly looked like cookie dough, despite her lack of measurements and ingredients. She brought a tray to the counter once she was satisfied, generously floured it in place of oil, and formed her little dough blobs in cute rows. She didn’t have the ingredients for too many cookies, about twelve total, but that was more than enough for her and some cronies. Now, how long does one put cookies in the oven for? Thirty... forty-five minutes, she figured? What the hell, sure. She cranked the oven to forty-five minutes at four hundred degrees and shoved them in, hoping for the best. She sauntered out of the kitchen with the full confidence that this would go very, very well.
Scaumo waved her down as she rejoined the herd of people squatting in her living room, sitting on the couch with Lerone and a bowl of popcorn. "Um, so what were you up to in there?" Scaumo wondered.
Hatred suddenly began to feel a bit queasy at the thought of her sudden episode of kindness.
"I thought I heard a rat in the cabinets," She asserted quickly. Lerone sent her a curious look, but Hatred ignored it, because she was the boss and Lerone could suck her big fat green balls if he wanted to cast doubt on her activities in her own home. She perched herself next to Scaumo, who leaned into her, and Hatred laid an arm across her. What even was that? In all her sweeps of living, never once that she remembered had she felt such an urge to... do something nice. And followed through on it! She, of anyone, was quite aware of her own strict nature, so an anomalous urge to give gifts and... generosity, eugh... shocked and almost worried her. Almost. Despite the very possible brain tumor causing her to act so hospitable, she didn't quite want to let go of the feeling yet. The party really hadn’t been so bad after all. At first, and even still slightly now, she was totally convinced it was going to be a wreck, like when Corane brought a giant fucking tree into her hive and got pine needles everywhere that he still hadn't cleaned up, but she was feeling the Christmas spirit after the second movie began so she opted not to force him to clean it up right then. Once the movie ended, maybe. Maybe… she smelled smoke. The cookies! Shit!
With a slam of her fist into the armrest, Hatred shot up from the couch like Santa’s sleigh, tumbling her poor red reindeer off of her. She dashed back to the kitchen, nearly tripping over Pinxes by the doorway, and investigated the scene. The smell of smoke was strong, but the oven wasn't visibly smoking or anything, so the cookies might have turned out... she opened the door, and no. No, they turned out terrible. They smelled like garbage, looked like coal, and she was never doing this ever again.
Hatred returned out of the kitchen bearing a tray of rocks that held a vague resemblance to something like cookies. Hatred appeared incredibly unamused with herself, holding the tray in such an iron grip that it nearly dented.
Scaumo spoke first. “Hatred, are those… cookies?”
Hatred was about ready to throw the tray at her. Stupid question, what else did they look like? “If you want them, you shouldn’t ask those kinds of questions,” she replied with gritted teeth.
Scaumo, in fact, did want them really bad. Food was food, even if food was charcoal. She inched closer to Hatred, nervous as if she would bite. When Hatred held still, glaring holes in the opposite wall, she snatched a cookie, which she was forced to peel off with her short nails, considering the lack of any oil, and retreated back to her spot on the couch by Lerone. When Hatred continued to hold still, Scaumo scooted over to make more room for her on the couch. Too afraid to seem condescending and offer for her to sit on her own couch (actually, it was probably Pinxes’) she simply stared until Hatred sighed, set the cookies down on the table, and joined her.
Scaumo indeed tried very hard to eat it. There wasn’t anything mentally holding her back, the cookie was just so solid that she found she was completely unable to take a bite out of it, leaving it inedible barring swallowing it whole, which she was also unable to do because she was not a pelican. That was fine. Scaumo was still enjoying this night, with or without a cookie. Christmas had never been a holiday she enjoyed, she had neither the luxury nor, admittedly, the graciousness for it. Celebrating it then, it made little difference to her that this was a big holiday. She simply liked having fun with her friends, laughing at Hatred’s cookies with Lerone when she wasn’t looking (even if she was, Scaumo was sure Hatred would be inclined to solemnly agree with her), and basking in the happiness of her friends. She had never thought of Christmas that way before, but to her surprise she liked it when she could celebrate it like this. She hoped they kept celebrating like this.
“Hey, coal for our stockings, thanks!” Tamper giggled. Hatred grumbled to herself, but wasn’t totally put out, considering her friends were still consuming the hellfired cookies as a courtesy to her hospitality. Tamper actually managed to break off a piece using a hammer from Lerone. She agonizingly chewed and swallowed it with a pinched face and heavy gagging, but miraculously managed to keep it down. It was clear without words that the general consensus matched Tamper’s reaction. Corane was licking his cookie like a lollipop, but that didn’t make much of a dent in it, akin to trying to lick through a brick.
The third movie began on its own, which Scaumo could identify with her limited pop culture knowledge as troll Home Alone. She doubted many were paying attention to it, or anything in particular. Inch by inch, they all slowly migrated closer to the couch, bringing with them the remaining bowls of popcorn and bottles of soda, which were being passed around to take handfuls or swigs from. Eventually, Hatred tossed blankets from Pinxes’ bedroom to them, which were then cuddled under for what must surely only be body heat reasons.
Hatred was by a wide margin the first asleep, which was per usual, resting with her head leaned against Scaumo’s shoulder. Then, Lerone’s deep snoring echoed within the room, which very much did not prevent Tamper from falling asleep clutching an empty bottle like a teddy bear. Then, Corane stopped having any reaction to the movie, so had most likely fallen asleep. Scaumo was unable to see Pinxes from her point of view on the couch, and was unable to move considering Hatred, but she was curious.
“Pinxes,” she whispered in her most careful voice.
“... Yeah?” Pinxes eventually slurred from under her with a similar whisper.
Scaumo yawned. “I really think we should do this more often.”
Although half asleep and fading quick, Pinxes couldn’t help but nod.