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How to Care for Your Human [Degu x Kekse]

Staring at him strangely when he opened the door for her, Eve stood there for a moment before shaking her head and slipping into the vehicle. That was almost uncharacteristically polite of a reaper, although in most stories reapers were nothing more than skeletons, so what was considered characteristic of one? She settled into the seat quickly, buckling up and glancing out the window at their snowy surroundings. At least this time she was properly dressed for the weather, so that alone was a good start compared to her arrival two days ago.

"I swear they make Christmas music obnoxious on purpose." She sighed after sitting there for some time, reaching out to turn down the volume on the radio as her patience began to thin. "I get that it's supposed to be a happy time of year, but the music is just so.. Cringe. I don't know, it's just annoying." The human shrugged, barely glancing over at him before nodding. "That's fine. There's no point in making a mess just for one day of the year. I honestly didn't think you'd want to get a tree when it's already Christmas." Was he really doing all of this in some attempt to make her feel more at home? "I get the feeling the tree is going to go up, then sit there for a month because we're both too lazy to take it down, honestly."
 
Shade began to laugh and pressed the button for the CD player. The Christmas music came to an immediate halt and Freddie Mercury's magical voice filled the cab instead. "This is more like it," the reaper crooned, adjusting the knob so the base notes shook the car but the music didn't hurt their ears. He sang along with the ridiculous lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody, his voice surprisingly clear and pleasant. He knew every word and mimicked the other voices in an exaggerated way, though whether he was simply enjoying himself or attempting to get Eve to laugh was unclear.

The rest of the drive was filled with the classic rock right up to the point the engine cut off in the parking lot of what looked a lot like Payless. "Shoe time," Shade exclaimed, finding himself in a particularly good mood for no reason he could pin down. He stepped out of the car and waited for Eve to step out and shut her door. The car beeped twice when he hit the lock button and walked to the door to hold it open for her. "I hope they still have boots. I guess if they don't have a good selection we can check elsewhere as well. It's not like I have to be anywhere until nine tonight."

Shade stepped into the warm interior of the store, immediately being hit by the smell of rubber and leather. Row after row of silver shoe racks glimmered in the florescent lighting and a pair of green-hued and snaggle-fanged orc women wandered around replacing shoes and boxes that had been left on the floor. "Ah, Shade, welcome back. Time to finally replace those old black sneakers, is it?" one of them called out, and the reaper shook his head.

"No, not today. My human, here, needs some boots for the winter. Do you have many in stock?"

The orc woman looked behind Shade and her toothy grin grew wider. "Ahh, Howl did get you a human for Christmas, then? Crazy wolf. Everyone knows you don't give pets for Christmas, but there's no changing his mind once he's made it up." She let out a barking laugh and pointed to the back corner of the store. "We should still have a few pairs back there. Not the best day of the year to find things you're looking for, though."

"You're telling me." Shade sighed and motioned for Eve to follow him to the boots. "Of course everyone in town would know what Howl was planning except me," he muttered to her when they were out of earshot of the employees. "Then again, news spreads through this town faster than wildfire when the source of the tale has as big a mouth as that wolf does." He stopped in front of a moderately barren shelf of boots and sat down on a small bench nearby. "Go nuts. Let me know if you don't find anything."
 
"That is.. Alright, not what I expected." If she was being honest with herself, the song that played was the last thing she expected the reaper to enjoy. His singing was far more shocking than the song itself though, and more than once Eve couldn't help but to laugh a bit even as she tried to stop herself. How could she not laugh, when he sounded so.. Human?

"They should have boots, considering we're still in the early stages of winter." If they didn't then she would be shocked, but how was she to know what non humans did during times of the year? Up until her capture, she'd never interacted with them past the rare encounter, and she had always made certain to stay as far away as possible. Now she was right in the middle of their world, owned by one, and walking into a store that was run by them. It gave her pause as they entered, an uneasy expression on her face as she kept herself close to the reaper. Now, he was the closest thing to a sense of safety she had, and that was saying something. It quickly became clear that they knew him here, and she remained silent and neutral until she heard the words that left Shade's mouth.

My human.

It made her flinch before she even realized it, her eyes averted as reality quickly made itself known. His human. His property. Nothing more than a pet for others to laugh and smirk at. She barely nodded before following after him, shrugging her shoulders. Why was it her business what the loud mouth wolf had apparently told to everyone but her owner?

"I just need one pair for when you let me outside." Her voice was quiet. Not fearful, angry, or even sad, just... Quiet, tired. "Just something to keep my feet warm so I don't get sick. I'm sure the last thing you want is to be taking care of a sick human." Her body moved on its own, automatic movements as she began to sort through the different boxes of boots. There were enough there, and since she only needed something simple and efficient, it didn't take long before she had managed to find a pair that fit.

"This will work." Taking the box with her and going back over to Shade, Eve averted her eyes and simply held the box carefully in her arms. "We can go."
 
The change in demeanor caused Shade's eyebrows to lower. He chose not to say anything about it in a public place like the shoe store, so instead he decided to ignore the behavior and act like everything was fine. "Are you sure you only want one pair? Might not be bad to have a spare pair in case that one gets wet. Or some rubber boots to go over those to keep them dry?" He gestured to the displays of boots and covers, giving her a moment to respond. "I don't want you to get sick, no, but not because I would find it an annoyance." He looked at the shoe size on the box and found a pair of rubber boots one size up, making the decision for her. He picked up a pair in his own size as well and headed for the counter.

"Planning to play out in the snow?" the orc woman asked when the reaper arrived at the counter with their three pairs of boots. He laughed and shook his head, pulling out his card.

"Nah. Just never know when you might need some rubber boots, you know? Nothing worse than wet socks."

The cashier nodded and chuckled, scanning the bar codes and slipping the shoes into bags for easier carrying. She then looked up to Eve, gesturing for the box that she was still holding. "Let me scan the bar code on that, honey."
 
"I'm fine." Her mumbled response didn't seem to matter as he chose a pair of rubber boots anyway, and she stood by as he picked a pair of boots for himself before leading her up to the counter. There didn't seem to be anything to say, and she did not mimic his laugh as the cashier questioned him about their future activities. Lifting her head when the words were directed towards her, Eve nodded to the woman before tilting the box so that it could be scanned. She held tightly to it though, unwilling to let go of the one thing she had to focus her attention on. The box that her fingers were clutching tightly, skin turning slightly white as she applied more and more pressure until she nearly felt the cardboard box slip from her grasp.

"Yes ma'am. Thank you." Despite what she was, the orc woman hadn't done anything wrong to her, hadn't been cruel to her. To the orc, this was simply the way of life, and Eve didn't hold it directly against her, only holding the box with her new boots tightly against herself as she backed away from the counter and waited for Shade to finish. Once everything was paid for and they had left the store, she was still clutching it to her chest until they finally got into the vehicle, and only then did she relinquish it to buckle in and set it on her lap gently.
 
Once they were back in the car, Shade clicked his seat belt and pushed the key into the ignition switch. He then turned to Eve and frowned. "You know, things aren't going to go any smoother if you simply clam up and shut down whenever something displeases you. I happen to know that you are quite opinionated, so just tell me what I managed to do to bother you this time and I'll be more likely to avoid such things in the future."

He watched her with a resigned look on his face. Even he wasn't entirely sure if he was bothered by her mood because he found it annoying...or if he actually cared. To keep the situation as low-stress as possible he started the car and started heading for their next stop. Shade knew they couldn't actually go to a regular Walmart as long as Eve was wearing her collar, so instead he headed to an equivalent department store within the supernatural town. The selection of Christmas paraphernalia wouldn't be remotely as good as if he'd driven down south, but they'd make do.

The music remained at a much lower volume and Shade didn't sing along, just waiting for Eve to find her voice. In the meantime, his mind spun in a million different directions. What in the world was he doing? Why had he taken the human out into town this early, anyway? And without a leash, even. Hopefully he wouldn't get any dirty looks from other supernatural beings for bringing his pet into the store...But a human wasn't like a cerberus or kelpie. Heck, she could pass as a werewolf or witch if anyone asked.
 
"I never said you did anything wrong." Technically, he hadn't. He'd only spoken the truth. She was, after all, his human. The collar around her neck clearly displayed that, and there was no reason that he should refrain from saying it around others that knew about the trading of human flesh. Her hands still gripped the box lightly as she stared out the window, refusing to look at him for fear of what her eyes might show. She wasn't angry with him, merely angry with the situation itself. With the fact that she was nothing more than property, than a pet for one's amusement. It didn't matter than she wasn't being beat or assaulted, she was still owned by someone else.

"It's just not pleasant to be referred to as someone's human. I know I'm human, and I know that I'm yours." She finally spoke up some time later, shrugging her shoulders but not pulling her gaze from the window. "It is what it is, and I'm not angry at you for speaking the truth. It doesn't mean that I enjoy hearing it. To you, to anyone else that isn't human, I'm nothing more than a pet." Another shrug. "It doesn't matter, that's just the way that things are. I'm not going to scream at you for it, but I'm not going to pretend to be happy about it. Let's just get through this trip, and I promise I'll do my best not to embarrass you."
 
Shade sighed as she finally admitted the problem. That was it? A simple passing comment to the cashier at the shoe store? Oi vey. This trip might have been a bad idea after all if she was going to get upset at such innocent things. But he quickly returned his face to neutral and stared at the road ahead of them. "I'll stick with your name, then. And I know I cannot force you to, but I wish you'd try to enjoy this trip. I had thought you might like an excuse to get out of the house for a while. I know it's dusty and boring there."

Just as he finished his sentence, the reaper pulled into a parking place and turned off the engine. When he opened the door, the horrible Taylor Swift rendition of "Last Christmas" was playing over the loud speakers across the entire parking lot. Shade pulled a face and glared at the offending speakers. "This is the most horrid Christmas song in all of existence! If it were possible to reap a song, I would have done it the first time it cursed my ears." He waited for Eve to join him and walked toward the doors, trying his hardest to keep his mind off the music.

Thankfully inside the music was being drowned out by the hubbub of creatures going about their business. Shade grabbed a cart and headed for the holiday aisles at the back of the store. "Obviously I don't have any decorations yet, so feel free to pick whatever to go on the tree. I'm going to start over here looking at whatever they still have in stock."

And with that, he separated from Eve and pushed the cart over to the display of Christmas trees. To his surprise, they still had quite a few in stock. Green ones, white ones, pre-lit with white and colored lights...The white ones were hideous, so that narrowed it down to green. He was far too lazy to wrap lights himself, so pre-lit was the way to go. He eventually settled on an eight foot colored light tree and pulled the very last one from the shelf. "Victory!" he exclaimed, turning the cart around to return and see what Eve had picked out.
 
"It's fine." It seemed she was going to be shrugging a million times today. "It is what it is, like I said. This is your world, I'm just a part of it now, I guess. I don't have to like it for it to be true." She was thankful to be out of the house, and despite her less than pleasant mood, she was trying her best not to be rude to him. "It's not that it's.. Okay, it's a little dusty." Especially the sewing room, but she kept her comments to herself there.

"Yeah that's.. I wish you could reap that song." She cringed, quickly getting out of the car and following after him, eager to get away from the offensive music. The inside of the store was probably one of the most crowded places she had been in with creatures other than humans, and for a moment Eve stiffened up and instantly moved closer to the reaper. "Yeah. Decorations." Her face was slightly pale as she kept close to his side for another moment, but it wasn't long before he was off in search of trees.. Leaving her to her own devices, surrounded by creatures she knew little about past what she had experienced in training.

"This is fine." Eve had quickly made her way to the ornaments, snatching up the first two large boxes she had found while waiting for him to finish. There were far too many people around them, too many that glanced her way curiously before seeing that she clearly had a collar on. "Don't.. Don't leave me alone again. Half of these people looked at me like I was a literal animal that had escaped its cage." Maybe she was just being paranoid, but that's how it had felt to her. "I don't know. I'm just being dumb. Can we go, please?"
 
"I suppose we can go." Shade gestured for Eve to put the boxes of ornaments on the cart and grabbed a train set as an after thought. They needed something to go around the bottom of the tree, right? He placed the box next to the tree and headed for the front of the store, careful not to leave Eve behind. He had thought she would be glad to have a few moments of freedom, but once again he managed to be wrong. Humans are so damn complicated! Howl, why couldn't you have gotten me a fish...

They went quickly through the check stand and returned to the car to shove their purchases inside. It had grown later into the afternoon than Shade had expected, what with traffic and all. Not that he had much to do before locking himself in the office to prepare the mountain of paperwork that he had to do...The engine roared to life and the reaper pulled a CD case out from under his seat. He flipped through it until he located a Styx album and ejected the Queen disc. The synthesized sounds of Mr. Roboto filled the car and Shade backed out of the parking spot.

Back on the road, the cars were barely moving at a crawl. Shade stuck his head out the window and peered up the lane, straining to see if there had been an accident or something. "I didn't see any fatalities in the files on this road today," he grumbled, stepping on the brake and coming to a complete stop as the car in front of him unexpectedly did the same. "Come on, move!"

It appeared there was no end in sight to the backed up traffic, so the reaper rolled up the window and melted into his seat. "Looks like we're going to be here a while. Might as well take some time to get to know each other a little better...or we could just talk about tomorrow. My last job is at noon, so I probably won't be back until at least one. I don't know if you care if I'm around for presents or whatever, but I won't be offended if you just open them whenever." He looked to Eve for any type of response, hoping that she would at least show a little excitement or a twinge of a smile or something to show him that his efforts to win her over weren't entirely in vain.
 
"Not like there's anything else we need to get." Not that she was aware of anyway, and Eve kept herself close to the reaper as they made it out of the store and back to the car. Helping to load everything up before getting into the front seat, she buckled up and settled in for the ride home. It seemed today was a day of learning the different kinds of music he liked to listen to, and both of her eyebrows shot up at the song that began to fill the car. Interesting.

"What's going on?" She leaned forward in the seat, frowning as she realized that traffic had essentially halted. "What, just stuck in the car?" Oh no, they couldn't be stuck together in a small space indefinitely. That wouldn't do at all. "I didn't get you anything, though.." Would it be better for her to open them alone, or wait until he was back from work and could see her reaction? Part of her didn't want the awkwardness of being face to face with him when she opened everything up, but the other part felt slightly obligated to wait for him.

"Um. I don't know. What do you want to know about me?" She could worry about what to do with the presents later, for the moment they were going to be stuck in the car, and she attempted to make herself comfortable. "I don't think I'm all that interesting. You're the one that's older, you've probably seen all sorts of amazing things, right? You have all these books, so you've probably been all over the world. Tell me about that?"
 
"I don't know how you could have gotten me anything and you don't like me anyway." Shade chuckled and leaned forward again, trying to see further up the line of cars. "It's not like it's the job of...you...to get me anything." He stopped himself from saying 'the job of a pet' at the last moment, wanting desperately to keep the trip as comfortable as possible for both of them. The song ended and the next began while the car remained completely still. The reaper sighed and dropped back into his chair, considering the questions posed by Eve.

What did he want to know about her? What could he ask that wouldn't set her off? His eyes settled on the radio and a completely innocent question popped into his head. "Well, we could start with what kind of music do you like to listen to? Obviously not Christmas music." He snickered and gestured to the large case of CDs which he had placed on the center console. "You are welcome to choose anything in there if you don't hate it all."

"I definitely am older. My kind have always existed, as long as humanity at the very least. We don't really bother with keeping a history of ourselves like humans do. We don't remember ever coming into existence, and none of our kind have ever perished. As for seeing amazing things, that would depend on what you consider amazing. If you consider the Library of Alexandria, the Temple of Solomon, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or Picasso's studio amazing, then yes. Speaking of Picasso, took him to the afterlife myself. Not to brag or anything. And I may or may not have obtained some of those books from people who...well, no longer had use for them."
 
"Music?" That was a good question. Her taste varied between her moods and surroundings, and after a moment Eve picked up the case and began to flip through it. "I'm not really a fan of super sappy songs or anything." Flipping a page and scanning through the different options there, her head lifted slightly as he began to list off the different places he'd been. They were all ones she at least vaguely recognized the names of, although at his last comment her eyebrows shot up.

"You reaped Picasso? Seriously?" That was something she would have understood him bragging about, and it was a long moment before she went back to look at the CDs. "I bet you've reaped all sorts of big name people, though, if you're that old." She couldn't imagine living indefinitely, it sounded like it would get extremely tiresome after awhile. "I guess some rock music will work. So long as it's not from like forty years ago." She wrinkled her nose, popping a CD into the player before setting the case back down. "What's your favorite place you've ever gone in the world? You've been to all of these amazing places.. But what's your favorite?"
 
"I did indeed. A few other 'famous' humans too, but we're not really that impressed by human ranking. At least, not usually. Even reapers have their favorites." Shade grinned a toothy grin and peered out the window again. It looked like the cars up the road were beginning to move, much to his relief. Not that sitting in a car with his pet human was awkward...but sitting in a car with his pet human was awkward. As the first few bars of a modern rock song began to play, the reaper tapped the steering wheel rhythmically.

Her question came just as the car in front of them began to move. Shade shifted the car back into drive and considered, his mind running over all the beautiful places that he had visited in his long lifespan. "Probably...the Sphinx, when it was just barely completed. It really was a sight to behold before the rough literal sands of time beat it down. Not to mention the soldiers who used it as target practice." Shade's eyes darkened at the memory, still kicking himself for not breaking the rules and taking them to the underworld for the defacement. They picked up speed and he relaxed, knowing that they would be home in a short fifteen minutes.

They passed the car accident which had been the cause of the accident, and to Shade's surprise he saw another reaper there. He waved to his compatriot and made a mental note to check the case files to see what had resulted in an unscheduled death. They weren't uncommon; humans were fickle creatures, after all. About a mile down the road he realized that it probably looked strange to Eve that he had waved, since reapers on the job were in the spiritual world rather than using their physical forms and she would not have seen him.
 
"The Sphinx?" What would something like that have looked like freshly built, immaculate and untouched by age or trauma? "Target.. Practice?" That couldn't have damaged it that much, could it? Seeing his anger at the memory the human chose to leave it alone, determined to spot the signs of his moods changing to avoid trouble in the future. Not that it seemed there would be trouble of that nature, but she hadn't exactly been there long enough to know for certain. On one hand, who bought Christmas presents for someone they barely knew if they were going to turn around and be cruel? On the other, it could simply be a trick.

Eve was still caught up in her thoughts when she finally glanced over and saw Shade waving, but when she looked out the window she didn't see what he was waving at. There was an accident with a clear fatality, was he waving to some apparition, some ghost of the person who had died? Shaking her head and deciding that it wasn't a question she was sure she wanted to ask at that moment, the human took a deep breath and tried to relax in the seat.
 
"Yeah, humans like to destroy things other humans have built." Shade wrinkled up his nose and continued driving, the rest of the trip going by in mostly silence. When they pulled up to the driveway, he pressed the garage door button and slowly pulled inside, cutting the engine and pressing it again to close the door. The reaper exited the car quickly and pulled the keys from the ignition, then walked around the car and opened Eve's door for her. "I'm going to grab the tree if you don't mind grabbing the ornaments."

Shade unlocked the door as he passed it, popped the trunk, and pulled the tree out. He allowed Eve to access the trunk and headed for the door, turning his head back. "Can you make sure to close the trunk when you're done?" The reaper turned the doorknob and kicked the door open with his foot.

He flicked the lights on and set the box on the floor in the corner. There was a small end table slightly in the way so Shade pushed it aside and went to the kitchen for a knife to open the new tree. Remembering the event of earlier, he made sure to check that Eve was not coming around the corner when he emerged with the knife, whistling softly to himself.
 
"Yeah, I think I can manage that." If she wasn't capable of carrying a container of ornaments, they had more problems than the initial one of her being owned. Getting out of the car as he opened her door and slipping around towards the trunk, she hovered several feet away from him until he had moved away with the tree, and only then did she get the ornaments and close the trunk.

"No, I figured I'd just leave it wide open just to be rude." There was a clear hint of sarcasm in her voice, though no malice, and Eve followed after the reaper into the home and closed the door quietly behind herself. No sense in just leaving it open for anyone to see inside, after all. The ornaments went on the moved table before she stepped back some ways, shedding her shoes and such to watch him curiously as he went to open up everything.

"Who were you waving to, when we were out?" Maybe he was a bit insane after living for so long, or maybe she simply hadn't seen who he was waving to. Either way, her curiosity had been steadily growing on the way back, and she gave him a look that said as much as she hovered near the kitchen.
 
Shade noticed how she still stood back from him and began to wonder when, if ever, she would learn that he really didn't mean her any harm. He found himself...sad? at the knowledge that she still didn't believe him. Though why would she? He sighed and cut the tape holding the Christmas tree box closed. As soon as the tension was released the flaps popped open and the branches stuck out slightly. The reaper pulled out the three sections and pieces of the base, examining them in an attempt to discover how they all went together. It was a simple thing: a T-junction with slots for the three legs to slide into. Shade fanagled the pieces until they slid in and he set the base on the floor triumphantly.

He had just flung his hands into the air with excitement when Eve returned to the couch sans shoes. He flushed a little and lowered them, clearing his throat and keeping his face turned away from her. Her question caught him off guard, however, and he turned to lock eyes with her. For a moment he considered whether she would be able to handle the truth and eventually decided not to lie. "It was another reaper. Humans cannot see us when we're working because technically, we shed our physical form and move in the spirit world. By the time you see us in that form, you've actually already passed from the physical world. I've read enough human lore to know that you think we bring death, but we're merely guides for spirits who have already left their bodies."

Whether she understood or not, he told himself he didn't care. Instead he attempted to keep things light by picking up the bottom section of the tree and shaking it a little to allow the branches to fall down into place. Shade pushed the post into the hole in the center of the stand and stepped back to take a look at his handiwork so far. "It looks....flattened," he grumbled, obviously not realizing that the branches are supposed to be fluffed. "I think we got a defective one."
 
Jumping as the box popped open so suddenly despite the fact that it should have been expected, Eve watched with fascination as Shade seemed to struggle with the simple task of putting the tree together. Then again, for someone who didn't celebrate the holiday, and had probably never done it before, it was perfectly reasonable. Still, it was entertaining enough that she couldn't help but to chuckle a bit before making her way to the couch. Was he blushing?

"I guess that makes sense." She nodded slightly, watching him work with the tree before she raised an eyebrow and snorted softly. "That's.." No, better to let him try and figure it out himself, and if she got some laughs along the way, all the better. Had this been a normal situation she might have felt bad, but there was nothing normal about their situation, not in her eyes.

"No, it's not defective." Sliding off the couch and scooting over to where the tree was put together, Eve glanced briefly at the reaper before reaching out and beginning to fluff out the branches. "You have to spread them out like this. It's designed this way so that people can choose how fluffy they want the tree. All fake Christmas trees look like they're dead when you first put them together." She glanced at him again before continuing her task. "Why don't you get some of the ornaments out, and we can put them on once I've gotten this looking a bit more.. Lively."
 
Relief and a bit of embarrassment reflected in the reaper's eyes at Eve's answer. "Oh, good. I did not want to drive back out into the mess to purchase another one." He gratefully walked away from the tree and opened the box of ornaments, setting about sorting them by color and attaching the little metal hooks which had come in a separate little box. It took him a moment to figure out exactly how they attached, but not enough that Eve would have noticed him hesitating. By the time the ornaments were sorted and assembled, the tree looked much more...tree-ish.

Shade smiled and handed Eve a couple of ornaments. "It looks good." He patted her and placed his own ornament on the tree, squinted, and moved it one twig to the left. This seemed to please him much more. The reaper nodded and continued placing ornaments very carefully until the entire box had been placed. At this point he took a step back and nodded. "Very shiny. Very...holiday."

All that was left, as far as he knew, was to move the presents from the couch to the tree. He stretched his legs and back to remove the stiffness from leaning over to decorate the bottom branches of the tree. It took four trips to get all of the packages over to the tree, and a good ten minutes for Shade to be happy with the organization of the gifts. When all was said and done he took a step back and nodded at his handiwork. "There. It looks just like a picture from a children's book. What do you think?"
 
"I don't think either of us would want to go back out in this." The absolute last thing she wanted to do was deal with the holiday rush, much less the people rushing around crowding the stores. Like a plague, they were, everywhere and messy. "Are you sorting them out?" Her eyes flickered in his direction for just a brief moment before they moved back to the tree, and she laughed quietly while finishing up. Watching a reaper struggle with a tree and sort out ornaments in a specific manner was just.. Too much.

"It does." There was only a minor twitch when his hand landed on her gently, her fingers tightening on the ornament's hook before she placed it on a branch. "Yes, Christmas trees tend to be very shiny. It's part of the.. Charm, I guess." Eve shrugged, scooting back and standing up to stretch out before moving out of his way. There hadn't been that many packages earlier, had they?

"A children's book?" She took a moment to slowly look over the tree and presents underneath, lips pursed before she nodded. "I guess it kind of does, yeah. It looks really nice though, to be honest." She paused for a moment. "Far more than I expected to have."
 
For some reason, Shade felt warmth rising in his face at Eve's final statement. "Well, I suppose I wouldn't expect much if I were in your situation as well. But I hope that if nothing else, you realize that I have truly been trying to convince you that you will come to no harm in my home. Despite my profession." He offered her a smile, an unfamiliar expression for his usually solemn face. "Now, you have a choice. Either you can open your gifts now, or you can wait until I get back from work tomorrow. Busiest day of the year and all that so it will be late afternoon or evening, but I'm sure you already knew that."

The reaper sat down on the left side of the couch, leaning against the arm and tucking his legs up underneath himself. He rested his face on his palm and watched Eve's face. She's rather pretty, as far as humans go, he found himself thinking. This caught him even more off guard than the smile and he shook such silliness from his mind. Just because he wasn't worried about her attacking him anymore did not mean they were remotely close to being friendly. Much less anything more...

"If we do gifts tonight, we will have to hurry up. I have to leave for work in a little over an hour. I actually feel bad leaving you all alone this evening, but on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if you look forward to that." He actually let out a chuckle and, upon further thought, picked up a single gift from the pile. It contained a 4-pack of bath bombs, something he didn't pretend to understand but knew that women of this generation seemed to be obsessed with. "If you choose to open gifts tomorrow, I want you to at least open this one. You might enjoy it with a long evening and day to yourself."
 
"Despite my profession."

Well, he certainly wasn't wrong there. Would any normal human being feel comfortable living with a literal reaper? Her eyes flickered to the presents and then back to him as she debated which choice seemed better, especially when he mentioned he'd be back later than usual. Nearly a whole day of working? Then again, he didn't have to sleep, did he? Eve found herself lost in thought for a moment over that little detail, head snapping back up when he spoke again.

"..I can wait." She spoke slowly, deliberately before nodding as if to agree with herself. Having to rush through a task sounded too stressful if she was being honest with herself, but just one present wouldn't hurt, right? "What is it?" Her cheeks immediately took on a pink tint as she realized how stupid it was to ask, her hand reaching slowly for it before retrieving the small package.

"Let's just pretend I didn't ask that." Honestly, what kind of stupid question was that? The whole point of a present was for it to be a surprise, and her cheeks remained a deep pink as fingers worked at the wrapping paper. Rather than tearing at it like an excited child expecting a toy she worked it open slowly, and when she saw what it contained her eyebrows shot up in surprise. There was something so ironic about a reaper purchasing bath bombs for his human, and after a long moment of stunned silence she burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but it's hard to imagine you standing in line with this in your cart." He was right though, it was something that could help her to enjoy the evening and relax. A bath and some time to herself before bed, a fresh start to the next day. All in all.. Things weren't looking too bad for her.
 
"If you think it is hard to imagine that item in my cart, you will be completely creatively stumped with the rest of it." Shade's voice was dry, but a hint of a smile appeared in the corners of his mouth. He stood and turned away from the tree, looking back over his shoulder. "I need to finish preparing my paperwork and then I'll be off." The reaper gave her a moment to respond before drifting into his office, gathering up the enormous stack of paperwork, and exiting again.

He picked up his keys from the table and left the house, again locking the door behind him. More to keep others out than Eve in, obviously, since she could just unlock it if she wanted to...Shade shook his head a little at that thought and climbed into the car, driving a couple of blocks away before parking and slipping out of his physical form and into the spiritual realm. As expected, his night was soul after soul after soul, the majority of them following along without argument. They had called him to them tonight, after all. However, there were a couple of ice-induced vehicular incidents and a gunshot victim whose souls insisted on returning home first. It was Christmas, after all. They couldn't leave!

The entire time he was out, Shade was just a little distracted. Was Eve using the bath bombs he had purchased? What might she be doing right now? Was he doing the right things to try to make her happy? She hadn't tried to run away yet, so he took that as a sign that he couldn't be doing it entirely wrong. Time ticked by slowly (even by immortal standards) and when the final soul on the route had been ferried, Shade found that it was nearing evening.

By the time he had returned to his body and driven back to his house, the sun had gone down. The street was lined and lit by various Christmas decorations and strands of candy-colored lights. Were these here every year? Surely they must be, but he had never really paid much attention before...With this thought in his mind, the reaper pulled into the driveway, shut off the car, and headed for the front door. He found himself filled with excitement to see Eve open her gifts, and for a moment he almost felt...alive.
 
"The rest of it?" Her curiosity grew stronger at his words. What else could he have gotten that would look stranger than the bath bombs? "Alright then." She was still staring at the package when he left the room, lifting it to sniff before realizing how ridiculous she probably looked. Oh well, it wasn't like he could see from the other room, could he? Or maybe he could, and reapers had some odd power to see things like that. It wasn't like she knew all that much about them to begin with, so anything was possible.

She had already put the package back down when Shade left the house, eyes on the door for several seconds before she decided to move. If he was truly going to be gone for as long as he said, that essentially gave her nearly a whole day to herself. No one looking over her shoulder, no one breathing down her neck. Just.. Silence. What could she do with a day of silence?

The fact that she could bathe whenever, and however long she wanted was a blessing in itself. The addition of something that was supposed to relax her only made it better, and after some initial hesitation she had gone and started up the water. What was the worst that could happen? Maybe it stained her skin and left her an odd color for a day or two. It was almost an amusing thought that made her chuckle as she tossed in one of the colored balls. Worst case scenario she looked like a smurf afterwards.

The hot water felt heavenly on her skin as she stripped down and sank into the tub, immediately relaxing once she'd submerged herself as much as was possible. No guards shouting, no footsteps thundering down hallways. Just the sound of the water gently moving as she shifted and nothing else. It was nearly enough to lull her straight to sleep before she snapped out of it, the water splashing as she sat upright with a confused mumble. Just how long had she been in there, now? Apparently long enough for her skin to prune and her stomach to rumble with hunger.

Draining the water and rinsing off the remnants of the bath bomb quickly, Eve dried herself off and wandered off in search of clothes. At least those fit well, and a pair of sweatpants and sweater later she was moving around the kitchen. Food, actual food that she could choose from rather than whatever was shoved into her room. Between the bath and the proper meal, she was more than ready for sleep once both had been accomplished. Some sleep, spend the following day doing.. Whatever she wanted, really. She could sleep in, read, do *anything* as long as it didn't involve leaving.

The night passed quickly and she slept peacefully, waking up groggy before stumbling to the bathroom and then for coffee. Oh sweet, sweet caffeine. A quick check showed that she had slept in quite late without Shade's morning arrival to wake her, but she finally felt rested. Enough that her mood remained positive throughout the day despite still being someone's pet. Books were sifted through and investigated before she settled in with one for the afternoon, and she was still tucked into the corner of the couch when he came back that evening.

"You weren't kidding about it being a busy day."
 
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