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Light cold twisted each individual breeze, and ice hovered beneath the foggy cloak as fragments of snow clung on for dear life to the strength they carried. Dampened air toyed with the ripples of wind, drawing them out against the vibrant white and crisp, crystallised grey that dominated the skies. Faint flakes crawled to the tips of the abundance of fresh pine circling this home most illustrious to the outcome of our ever so gloriously festive story, as if the fluffy heavens showered gentle baking flour to a bun of bread.
This house stood proudly in the open, an ocean of gravel cutting it off from the forest, but still it held protection from the barricade of trees running from behind. Snow frosted the roof and ice broke into the cemented cracks keeping the bricks in firm place, sneaking like opaque vines down the edge and into the bundles of rocky shingle holding the building like an island. Glacial flakes popped out from their camouflage against the clouded sky, swirling in the breezes that grew heavier as the speed increased to eventually rest someplace among this setting and leave a miniscule but consequential addition to the existing snowfall.
The temperature brewing within the cosy construction was quite the opposite, the heat burning across the radiators pinned to the inner walls being enough to eliminate all the ice outside and any that dared to try and fall afterward. Inside it was roaring as if it were mid summertime, so the natural chill of the winter day felt overlooked, and rudely pushed aside. As the house grew taller, the warmth grew stronger, so it must have been uncomfortably stuffy for a certain hedgehog attempting to gain a couple minutes more of rest at the very top of the attic.
Sonic sniffed in his sleep, his little black nose twitching at the rim of his bed covers. He collapsed into slumber with the crimson sheets wrapped tightly around his chest, with his chin nestled to the top and his neck securely tucked underneath. His fingers peeked just over the stitches, and he could massage the material at the exact chunk of fabric the stuffed fibres began. It was soothing, and to this moment he still pinched where the bumps rose inside, although leant to his shoulder rather than his back. His tiny nose surely felt midway through some sort of spasm, and it inhaled a larger sniff under no fault of his own. Eventually he awakened, angrily rubbing the moist tip in an attempt to calm it down.
Abruptly, he slammed his eyes open and tossed himself back over, his spine curved into the mattress in that same place as if the cloth remembered it. Sonic gazed at the ceiling for a short while, hoping the frail twinkles within the glass bulbs of those garnishing fairy lights wound around the wooden poles joining it to the walls would become a return ticket to the land of nod. He prayed he could recover whereabouts he was, that sleep so deep he thought he was at the bottom of the seas, and with absolute certainty nothing would have the power to relieve him of it, rising him back to the surface. Then again, his nose never crossed his mind, the little thing usually controlling itself and keeping on its best behaviour, especially at a time like this.
Gelid air was strangled by the heated energy rising into the room, the ice from outside seeming nonexistent. Elements of the wintry atmosphere were eliminated the second any passed the glass of the circular and the thinnest panels to the wood of the attic ceiling. Sonic pushed the blanket away and left his body exposed to the clammy aura, his nose twitching harder as if struggling to adapt to the sudden heat. He flopped fully straight, and rested a hand to his stomach and the other over the edge of the ivory mattress. He craved to remove those gloves, but also kept it in the back of his mind as a last resort. He took an intentionally deeper sniff, and his nostrils were smooth and clear, although the room carried a burning scent.
Sonic's eyes were glazed in gold above the enticing emerald shade coating the crystallised irises from the fairy lights, and he took a tight sigh that puffed his chest up in the tan fur surrounded by the soft cerulean. His eyes ached at the corners, and could barely remain open. His vision seemed closed in as if the frost snaking up the bricklay iced them over from the inside, and his skull felt frozen also. He rubbed a thumb over the ridge separating his eyes, and was reluctant yet ready to leave the room. He dreaded to imagine what the time could be, and to predict how short his surprisingly heavy slumber had gone on for. He groaned, rising his body up and leaning his throbbing back against the frame running above the face of the bed.
His chin slumped into his chest, and he pouted softly. His expression was like strings pulling his arms up to convey frustration through his stance, but were snapped as if the overpowering warmth of the loft scorched them to the core. Sonic kept his hands to the side, and they felt as if they served no purpose at this precise minute. His breaths quivered and his throat felt like the infinite grounds of a desert; dry as the marrow of the bones running under his sweating skin. His quills were pinned up from the pressure of the wall, and his head was slanted from the wooden poles leaving no flattened space below the little window gleaming with winter joy.
Unbeknownst to the hedgehog, his eyes were injected with blood at the corners where they pounded. His fuzzy eyelids hung drearily as he scratched his nose hopefully for the last time. It smelt like downstairs was on fire, and smoke threatening to murder any ounce of trapped frost gathered at the staircase and pushed the dangerous scent into the attic. Sonic stretched his legs in front of himself and yawned, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles and preparing to start the day on just under an hour of decent sleep. He felt like a battery on its last few minutes of power, needing to be charged with something truly intriguing awaiting him below that creaky exit carved into the floorboards at the foot of his charming racecar bed.
He bent his arms out above his head and pressed his socked feet to the floor, that felt dauntingly thin enough to give way. He gently tickled the irritation away from his stomach, beads of sweat clinging to each peach strand of fur. His fingers explored deeper into the fluff, and his skin felt like the glass pane hanging to the wall above with the same crisp condensation. He sniffed his fingertips - an odd activity - and it transported him through time to the night prior. Sonic absorbed another deep breath, the ebony skies alight with glittered starlight and those friable flakes now decorated to the roads falling from the darkness returning to his mind.
Last night was a buzz of adrenaline, and the hedgehog would be disloyal to honesty to say he didn't crave more of that energy. His veins still felt pumped, and it was the easy explanation to the shot of red in the white of his eyes. He dreamed to go back, as his gloves still held the scent of the depths of the city varnished in sleet to the tarmac constructing the maze within the buildings and frosted to their roofs. He could imagine the action again, and his feet wished to crush the chestnut floorboards as his waist felt tightened with that common cobalt glow. It was magical, and escaping an arrest to grounded prison was the last ingredient required to cook it tonight too. Sonic felt cockily confident he could manage, denying any suspicion even if eyes glared into his soul with questions.
He smirked softly, pressing his palms into the mattress to alleviate it of his weight, and to leave that decision to a later time. He felt the springs creak inside, although his departure was crushed by a rumble below the planked flooring. With his body on pause, Sonic's head tilted towards the door inscribed into said floor, the wood squeaking at the edges as if ready to burst open. His eyebrows slanted and his posture remained as frozen as the glacial features clinging to the rim of the roof like icicles and showered to the pines like the snowfall. It was awkward, but natural. His shoulders felt tense, and his exhausted heart thumped gently yet intensely as if a jumpscare was on the rise.
"Sonic? Are you up?"
Relief washed him over. Sonic slid from the bed as smoothly as how this abnormal feeling of being on edge left his thoughts, mechanical parts sounding as though they ricocheted from one another like a glossed pinball. He crept to the doorway with a concluding rub to his frail eyelid, carefully and cautious enough to cure the blur. He wanted to reply to the voice that steamed into the room like fresh warmth from the flickering fire at the tip of one of his many scented candles, but a yawn broke his pattern.
"Yeah."
It was simple, but served its purpose. Fingers pried the wood apart and the burnished planks from underneath, giving a hoarse cry as they scraped against one another. Light poured in like an angelic beam shot through the core of the house, brightened from the white varnishing the landscape mirrored in the windows' glass. It was like winter's ice desired to dominate the entire house, the pipework of the heating system battling it out with a soft wheeze within the walls. Sonic's socked toes greeted (Y/n) as her head popped up, her smile sneaking sideways as his charming little smirk shot into view. Cajoling emerald weaved around her entire body and seemed to drag her higher, and she giggled gently as puissant (e/c) bonded their eyes from her own.
"Morning, sweetie." She whispered so tenderly Sonic could feel the words press kisses into the fuzz of his cheek before (Y/n) had the chance.
His chest felt like vessels within the heating system, burning hotter with every softened rub (Y/n)'s thumb gave to his cheeks. He leant his head sideways to indulge in her soothing palm longer than what she intended, his throat rumbling as the sensation of purring overpowered him. (Y/n) felt the gentle vibration slither between her fingers, the ridge aside her knuckle running under Sonic's chin as the hedgehog's smile brightened so innocently, and with such infectious ebullience. She ruffled the azureous fur buried among the quills atop his head and approached the most mysterious crevasse of the attic.
Sonic's ears perked up, the sound of plastic and paper and preserved materials of other kinds rustling as (Y/n)'s hands dived in expeditiously. She seemed familiar with the area, while Sonic had lived many months in this loft with no knowledge of its contents. Darkness made the curve in the poled structure ominous, shadowed in unnerving enigma as the illumination of the fairy lights hung around the ceiling appeared burnt out once they gleamed fractionally too close. He could make out the presence of boxes along with a multitude of storage solutions, but for a reason he couldn't explain it felt off limits.
Sonic tiptoed behind (Y/n) to cast a curious eye over the wrapping shielding said storage compartments from dust and filthy cobwebs as he ripped them clean, cardboard shattering the dark as she tossed them behind her. It was as if they'd burst through a portal from another dimension, or an implausible method of time travel - the lids brand spanking new under those ancient paper coatings. Plastic crinkled as (Y/n) tossed it into a pile and pushed the boxes further into the icy lighting frosting from the windows, Sonic's jade crystals pinned to them with curiosity burning into the widening pupils in the centre. He had so many questions, his mind feeling like a pop quiz. (Y/n) huffed from piling the storage atop one another, and dragging the last instalment appearing much larger and taped to the edges into the open.
"What are these?"
She tasted the interest twisting his voice with compelling zeal, curving it into a query that couldn't survive being flung under the radar. He sounded ever so interested, with a spell casted over him as he hovered around the boxes as if they had manipulative claim over his thoughts. It was like nothing else was capable of breaking into his mind, and he was so enthralled in their mystery he was chained to them with phantom shackles.
"Christmas decorations."
Now, those didn't sound as dangerous as the haunting boxes made their contents seem, lurking in the shades all that time. Sonic crouched aside the rising pile while (Y/n) hauled the last of the packages closer to the rickety staircase pouring below the crease in the floorboards. He squinted at the rough labeling and scratched his nose, more through attentiveness than annoyance. Messy letters sprawled themselves over little stickers and into the cardboard itself on some occasions, and tape kept the lids sternly closed. His fingers tingled, begging to take a peek, but the packaging refused to give way. Sonic was unaware of what this "Christmas" was, and so was burning with more questions like the answer made the existing flame melt into the wax quicker.
"Christmas?" He repeated, like he was learning a new language.
"Yeah. It's a celebration, for December twenty fifth every year-" (Y/n) began, dust puffing into the corner the larger box abandoned for foreseeable use like an old fashioned cigarette.
Sonic could see the tension in her shoulders bursting at the seams of her flimsy vest, that felt completely out of place from the blistering cold outside. She rolled her blades over and allowed her muscles to recover before her hands plunged from the weight of the boxes. Sonic could see the struggle flicker into her enchanting (e/c) eyes as they winced shut, and his instincts kicked the back of his elbows faster than his legs could run. He held the cardboard corners that didn't rest into (Y/n)'s forearms or cut into her chest, and her face brightened from where her cheek crushed the lid with her glinting gems admiring his kindly gesture.
"Thank you, sweetie."
She lowered the boxes into her stomach and clambered down the teetering ladder.
"Now, where was I?"
Sonic scrunched his nose from the soiled fragments spilt atop the cardboard in smoky bundles, scratching into the bedraggled tape to avoid a sneeze.
"Telling me what Christmas is?"
He sounded unsure as he raised the box into his chin, but he was aware he was correct. He stumbled subtly down the ladder, observing (Y/n) travel backward as he felt that assistance energy flaming in his arms preparing to take action if needed. He felt entrusted with her safety, and as if she was placed under his supervision rather than the opposite it truly was. His chest told him to stay on guard, and the steps creaked louder beneath his own weight the more he became distracted.
(Y/n) felt the hold to the box on Sonic's end simmer down, but the alteration to the predicament whisked over her head as she dropped to the last step. Carefully, she kept on her toes in return for Sonic's welfare, the hedgehog being famous throughout the house for being just a little too carefree. She whispered a gentle "oohh" in memory of their conversation prior, and picked up the pieces once the two of them met on safe ground. Sonic shivered from the bold transition of temperature in the air, the kitchen coming into view with a crisp white aura twinkling from the wintry windows made misty in condensation.
"It's a holiday that brings people together... celebrating family, I suppose."
Sonic sniffed, the inhale turning icy and feeling unwelcome. His skin crawled below his cerulean coating, frustrated from the reoccurring need to adjust to the conversion from cold to hot and cold once more. (Y/n) lowered the storage into the living room while Sonic drew attention to his nose, itching it with his beaming emeralds glued to the cardboard as (Y/n) tore the taped lids apart. He wafted the contamination infecting the air from the abrupt tear splitting the box open away from his face, which illuminated once it cleared.
Magic poured from the inside, sparks of glitter and marbled surfaces shimmering in the shadows, and his face dropped open. Sonic almost forgot how to breathe, and his nerves were struck at the curves of his arms to encourage them to lean forward. His knees were played like melodic chords, making his entire body crouch to see the embellishing mystery lurking in that cardboard hold. His fingertips were voltaic and held unavoidable static towards the chilled interior, and it dragged them in before permission was even spoken. It felt wrong, but his heart unleashed a peculiar pump to motivate his soul to feed that blazing curiosity.
(Y/n) gathered other boxes while Sonic investigated the one at his knees, the glacial cardboard rubbing at them as his hands dived in with no trepidation. It was gloriously long, and his fingers ran along the rim before collapsing over the edge from a sharp crease. He absorbed every dent that proved its age and limitless use, and his hands lit up as the tickle of its contents jumped upon them. He withdrew for a second, softly surprised, but with no doubt towards exploring deeper. Sonic smelt the artificial scent looming above the storage compartment, and became indulged in the foreign mystique.
He could feel an icy aura penetrate his gloves, and the surface it leaked from was more solidified than the sneaky prickles from the manmade pine. It was a pole hidden beneath the saturated green flourishing with a deceiving mask, coating it with reality of a thriving tree much like the hundreds frosted to the other side of these walls. It could have been chopped moments ago and pressed into this paper chamber, and Sonic felt tender from becoming a victim under this shield of trickery. He pressed the bottom of the box, varnished black from the shade of the tree, and his ears flicked from a gentle clink.
He tilted his head and pushed some of the wafer-thin leaf from the inner pole creeping down the core like a spine. Colour contrasting to the faint green bursted through the cracks, and inspired him to traverse into the caverns. He heard more hollow knocks as his knuckles brushed some spheres, lavished with glamorous combinations of hue choices that seemed to bring him with the most enlightening variation of joy deep in his stomach. Dazzling crimson varnished with reflective silver sparkles painted one, while a softer gold transformed another into a mirror from its polished clarity.
They were like little gems, hooked at the top, and Sonic held one in particular ever so carefully in both of his palms, positioned as if he were reading a book. It was a rich green, so vivid he could taste the freshness coursing through the chosen hue. It was strong, and would snatch his attention from miles away. Against the toned down emerald of the tree, it was like a shining star to the bold black of twilight. It looked as though it could be exactly that - an emerald; sliced so finely at the facets it made him tingle at his toes. It was cleansed so thoroughly and wrapped so firmly in the carpet of paper securing it in the box Sonic could see his face grinning back at him, dyed in that green that felt uniquely special, and somewhat important.
He questioned the reasoning holding up this reaction until (Y/n) returned, her mildly entertained giggle shattering the galaxy of inquisitiveness he thought to have been locked into for the remains of his life. Sonic felt his shoulders jolt, and his heart pounced to ensure his hands wouldn't drop this truly mesmerising ornament. More boxes gathered around the stumped mahogany legs of the sofa and television cabinet, rushed handwriting scribbled to the white sticker labels having grown an ivory tint over the years. Sonic nestled the emerald into the frilly paper like a bird's egg to a nest, and followed his magnetic intrigue to the new arrivals.
Baubles, lighting, tinsel... gonks? So many of these words were from a lingo crafted moments ago, the formation of the lettering never having fallen beneath the hedgehog's starstruck eyes. A finger ran over the slice in the cardboard slapped with tape, although caution coursed in his blood. He felt strangely anxious, until (Y/n)'s palms pressed to his waist and passed her energy into his stream. Sonic's erratic frown soothed into a smoother smile, and he melted into the grip she provided from behind. His chest heated like the core of the radiator and crushed any guilt ridden ice from the guilt of last night, (Y/n)'s lips alleviating the top of his head.
"Wanna help me put them up?"
"Up?"
(Y/n) ruffled the silken cerulean fur buried below his cobalt quills, the crease in her finger enlightening his cheeks as she traced it around. Her heartbeat sailed from the cherishable innocence sparking from his endless supply of questions, and the childlike beauty from their repetition of her own speech.
"On the tree. It's a tradition around this time."
Sonic nodded softly, and his heartstrings felt weaved around her wrists as she stepped back, his torso spinning along with her. He was reluctant to removing his gaze from the joyous trinkets waiting to be explored in those unopened compartments, but the miraculously appearing shadow emerging over his spine and leaving a phenomenal freeze across his shoulders drew him in. He was so immersed in those fabulous decorative objects he didn't see (Y/n) haul the tree from the box and stand it upon those plastic feet. He caressed the branches, spread more evenly than before like the space of the room had inflated it into freedom.
They felt thin enough to commit no damage, yet were sharp enough to slice the surface of the sturdiest of skin. Even through his gloves he could feel their tension, and dust from its capturing showered the floor like the glittered snow coating to the ground outside. It held a peculiar luminance, and enticed him to massage it down to the metallic core. It was warm, and grew cooler to the tips of the artificial arms, as if it had its own pumping bloodstream that thrived in that hidden pole. It was tall - towering over Sonic by a noticeable few feet. The top scaled down in size, and formed the shape of an icicle clinging to the rim of a gutter in the opposite direction; this one didn't drip cold water, only bliss.
(Y/n) relieved her view from any rogue hair, and got to work. Sonic absorbed her every move, and brought a tender smirk to her face from his imitations. She took the ornaments and hung them with the fiddly plastic and unbelievably frail string that clutched them from the top so professionally. Sonic was astounded by the lack of fault in any of her actions, each bauble and crystallised item polished to perfection dangling from the branches close enough to one another to punch impact and far enough away to not seem too clumped together. He cuddled his knees into his chest and observed from the sidelines, doubt already smashing into him like an unexpected snowball attack.
Ornaments gripped the branches with their golden chains and silver ribbons, wounded carefully and with enough strength to avoid accident when bombarded with movement. Every one stood out against the antique green, with a palette of crimson and deep purple and frosty blue varnished across each spherical decoration. Sonic could never picture or predict such satisfaction to occur in such simple items placed so perfectly, while never hopeful such delicate organisation could be achieved. (Y/n) fingers amazed him, and his own glistening emeralds watched on precisely as she entwined little lights around the baubles' ballet arms.
"You can help, you know."
Her words pierced the bubble of silence clasped around his body going numb from the position he sat in. His lower back ached from the hardened flooring, but he quickly clambered up to follow her suggestion. Sonic really did want to help, but was almost afraid to touch any of the precious embellishments, his fingers instantly appearing clumsy in comparison to (Y/n)'s. She arranged them in unbeatable elegance and he knew his clone would be full of flaws. He took a gentle breath, and decided to forget his doubt. Sonic ruffled the papers in the boxes and located that magical emerald, and the moment his eyes landed upon its varnished facets his memory took a fall.
"What have you found?"
(Y/n)'s comforting breaths blanketed Sonic highest quill, her palms rubbing his arms like a silken pillow crushed into his back. He felt their rhythm alter from the sight of the replica gem, as if the looming intrigue burning inside him had caught her alight from behind.
"I feel like I've seen this before."
(Y/n) nodded into his head, her lips curving against his fur into a smile. She hummed with gorgeous warmth rippling through his tender quills and seeping down to his skin, the soft sound tilted upward in question.
"I dunno." Sonic shrugged, careful enough to keep the stone in hold.
"Why don't you hang it?"
(Y/n) felt his smile widen at the front of her shoulders, his cheeks puffing out alongside her chest. Sweat became a salty trail of stains bleeding from Sonic's socks and onto the chilled floorboards, his knees trembling as he stumbled close enough to hang it. He intertwined the string seized at the golden cap around his clammy fingers, and parted the branches to leave a gap wide enough for the majestic trinket to gleam. It sounded hollow as the false leaves scratched it at the back and brushed it to the top, and made it sound more breakable. Sonic's tongue touched the humid air in concentration as he shuffled it into place, admiring his own face in the green so vicious it could incubate in his vision infinitely.
"So what's the deal with this being on the twenty fifth? Pretty sure today is something like the third."
(Y/n) caressed his quills.
"We have to do it early, to be ready for the twenty fifth."
He wished to lean into (Y/n)'s hold, and melt into her fingertips deeper than ever before. He felt a peculiar rumble attack his neck and shallow realm of his chest, and a raw red snuck across his cheeks. Just as he was squeezing succulent enjoyment from their connection, (Y/n)'s touch faded away. Sonic forced himself away from that little emerald once the tear of more taping rippled from his right, and he observed (Y/n) dismantle a clutch of smaller and heavily wrapped ornaments and obscure items. He crouched aside her, and his nose twitched from the heat wave bursting from the radiator rattling against the bricklay behind them. Fragments of dust rained from the box roof and into the creases of the auburn floor tiles, causing it to twitch harder and faster.
Decorations shaped alternatively from the fascinating circular crust of the baubles encasing their vacant cores created a carpet across the floor, and Sonic's little fingers fondled with every one as conscientiously as they could manage. These items were softer in material, and from the sound they produced when tapping the raw flooring they sounded much more difficult to smash, leaving Sonic comfortable within his curious fiddling.
Some were stitched fabric forming friendly festive faces - like a sewn angel with artificial feathers from a craft store glued to the neck of her satiny skirt - while others were light to hold from their polystyrene build, such as a foam snowman. They were intriguing, and Sonic was spellbound by their intricate detail. (Y/n) could see it glossed over his eyes, and her heart grew wings to see him so engrossed after not quite an hour. She watched his fingers rub the glue crystallised around the softer features, allowing them to bond.
"You can hang those, and then I have a super important job for you."
Sonic was tantalised by that arcane smirk inscribed to her face as she spun the silver chain from the cap of the angel and wove it around a branch left exposed from the gathered trinkets elsewhere. He cradled the foam snowman, twining the lilac string piercing its head to allow it to join the other ornaments on the tree. As lightly as its weight, he balanced it within the branches, filling the last gap. It all looked complete, and like a varnished rainbow of unique garments from the proud distance Sonic stood away from it; hands confidently plastered to his hips.
"Perfect." (Y/n) grinned, stepping over the wreck the boxes and shreds of crumpled paper leaving the room in a magically glamorous rubbish tip, all the excess glitter spicing up the flooring and rogue beads stabbed in the baubles having fell from place scattered in alluring fashions.
She fished into the last box to be uncovered, her fingers searching the bottom like snakes slithering for prey at the ground of a rainforest. She snatched the last item, kept frustratingly secretive to Sonic's keen glare that craved to understand what was so special about the object that thrived beneath that paper. The coating was thicker and held bubble wrap under, and (Y/n) could feel Sonic's breaths scorch her shoulder as she unveiled a shining star - quite literally. Outlined in angelic silver and transformed into solid gold to the core, so sparkly it looked shockingly genuine - extracted straight from the night sky. Glitter varnished the surface, and its crafted three dimensional structure was truly extraordinary.
Its glaze shimmered back into Sonic's eyes, glowing in his own desirous peridots as if they were green mirror panes. It was as if the coruscate bounced directly into his soul, and he felt a buzz swivel in his stomach. He circled his fingers into the cap moulded to the bottom, already daydreaming of the enchantment it could add to the tree. (Y/n) smiled, breaking his fantasising flow as she pressed her palms under his arms. Sonic's neutral expression became a concerned frown, his feet leaving the floor and the sensation of hovering pulsating over the surface of his skin.
The very top of the tree snuck closer as (Y/n) raised Sonic towards it, and she was amused by the energy fluttering in his chest as he leant towards it. With no need for any instructions, he carefully balanced the star in its traditional spot, ruffling the branches and miscreant leaves deep inside to leave it clean and tidy. (Y/n) could feel his chest lift up in a sense of achievement, and it was quite adorable how chuffed he looked when back to the ground. He admired their teamwork, although unanswered thoughts remained in the dark crevasses of his mind about that emerald ornament, beaming the brightest to him.
I wonder what that's all about...
"Just got the finishing touches." (Y/n) reminded him, tossing some flamboyant tinsel of the boldest reds and golds frosted with the lightest of silvers and positioning them to avoid concealing any other awe-inspiring trinkets, while Sonic headed for a box labelled "gonks".
Paper was already removed inside, revealing fabric and stitching surrounded by tender feathers and false fluff that still held a realistic aura. Colours bursting inside were like that belonging to a kaleidoscope, but with all combinations available simultaneously - burning crimson, crisp gold, faint white, and the entire rainbow in a pastel form. Sonic scurried to the bottom, ensuring no more little secrets were willing to take him by surprise and capture him in that pit of astonishment that made him forget his own name.
These so called "gonks" were like silly little gnomes, varnished in festive glitter, light functions, and sparkly hats. One was a creamy white with red dungarees weaved into its torso, while another was a true black with steel glitter speckled all across its hat. Some had plush arms while some lacked such a feature, and some had additional items in those hands like wooden skis. They possessed no visible eyes, only chubby noses to accompany their chubby bodies. Sonic found them ever so humorous, grinning while squeezing their beanbag butts and organising them in groups beneath the tree to finish it off flawlessly.
"You have to save room for the presents under there."
Sonic clutched his knees into his chest, cherishing their work to the core of those emeralds widened at the pupil.
"Presents?"
(Y/n) smiled at his question's reoccurring format. "Yes, on the twenty fifth, we wake up to lots of presents under there, and we can spend the whole day opening and playing with them."
Sonic smirked softly. "Hmm. Sounds fun."
(Y/n) nodded, the little cerulean hedgehog rubbing his nose left deathly dry from the evolution to cope with the sweltering heat overnight that felt like it was born to combat the icy atmosphere outside.
"But I don't think I need any presents."
(Y/n) felt a frown drag her uplifting grin down into her jawline, the sadness coursing through Sonic's voice poisoning her ears. She crouched aside him, prepared to interrogate this statement to peel it apart and discover the meaning behind it. She leant her head atop of his, ready to feel some sort of distraught throb above his skull as if his thoughts were veins in his skin. A jolt from his cheeks threw her off-guard, and she glanced down to witness his expression illuminating into a tender chuckle, much to her consternation.
Sonic's emeralds interlocked with her (e/c) jewels, bonding as firmly as two divergent chemical sources. She felt the gold bolts glossed over his green stare electrocute her heart and send it into an unhealthy rhythm of frantic pounding, her entire body feeling ready to collapse forward as her limbs grew numb from the anticipation. His smile was like anxiety medication, her chest shattering the stuffy sensation crammed inside as his face put her at ease. (Y/n)'s heart fluttered, another kiss to his top quill connecting them.
"Because I already have the greatest present I could wish for...
...you."
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