“It’s not that I don’t appreciate you coming over,” Tim said slowly. “I guess I just kind of assumed you’d both have somewhere else to be tonight.”
“My family never really did anything for Thanksgiving, honestly,” Mindy said. “And I didn’t want to leave you alone on a day like this, you know...”
“I think my parents are holding Thanksgiving dinner right now,” Callie said, “but I didn’t really feel up to it. They know what happened, but I haven’t met up with them face to face yet. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do for Chr- uh, when next month comes around. Plus, my brother’s always hated turkey, so instead we would usually have... ham...”
“Besides,” Mindy jumped in with, quick to change the subject, “having a Friendsgiving dinner is becoming really popular these days, and I thought maybe we could do something similar! Now, admittedly, we can’t really do the dinner part, since you aren’t really able to eat, Tim, and...”
“I already ate,” Callie finished quickly. Her once-bright pink skin was looking so pale lately. Tim was well aware that she was trying to lose the extra weight she’d been stuck with, but... he just hoped she wasn’t starving herself in the process.
“But what is a holiday like this really about, anyway?”, Mindy went on. “It’s not the feasting, it’s about being together with people. And we may not have much to be thankful for right now, but at least we’re not alone, right?”
“Right.” Tim smiled, the decorative piece that represented his mouth curling up into a different shape as he did so. He’d had nearly a month now to get used to the ornaments that somehow made up essential parts of his body - and the ones that didn’t, the ones that had been stripped from him not long after he was changed. And that reminded him...
“Well, you know,” he started, “if we’re going to have a Friendsgiving without a dinner, I can think of something for us to do this evening.” Tim was still a little uncertain about what he was going to announce. It occurred to him that this was his last chance to hold back what he was thinking, to forget about this ridiculous plan. Or... he could keep talking.
He pointed out a package that had arrived in the mail, and which was now leaning against the wall near the apartment’s doorway. “I thought it was going to take a few more days to get here, but it actually came yesterday. I guess maybe this would make a good activity for tonight, given the season and all?”
Mindy, the only one with unaltered hands, had taken the hint and was already ripping into the cardboard container, a little bit of glowing yellow energy following her fingers as she did so. She pulled it open just enough to see the shiny, colorful baubles inside arranged into neat rows, then stopped and turned back to look at Tim with confusion. “Wait... you don’t- what d- Are you serious?”, she sputtered out.
“I know,” Tim said, “I know. But let me explain. I was too embarrassed to say anything about it before, but ever since Halloween, I’ve felt... naked without those ornaments on. Exposed. I didn’t want to admit it at first, even to myself, but... I think it just comes with the body I’m in. It’s what I’m ‘supposed’ to be wearing, you know? And since most of the ones I originally had on got broken when I fell, I had to go online and order a set of new ones.”
“So if you two would be nice enough to, uh...” Tim still found this embarrassing to say. But he was starting to realize that it embarrassed him because somewhere, deep down, he wanted this. “To decorate me... I think that would be a really nice way to spend our Thanksgiving together?”
Mindy just stood there and blinked. Callie did the same at first, but then her snout started to curl into a frown. “You’re actually okay with this?”, she asked, with a surprising force behind her words. “When Mindy and I have been walking on eggshells for the past month, trying to convince you that you could survive the holidays, and now, after one tiny conversation with some random stranger you’re going to suddenly embrace it?”
Tim hadn’t been sure how the two of them would react when he eventually broached the subject, but he definitely hadn’t been expecting what sounded like... anger? He was about to go on the defense, to insist that it wasn’t like that, that his change in mentality was about more than just one positive interaction. But was it?
“I’m... also surprised to hear this coming from you, Tim,” Mindy said more calmly, her eyes darting back and forth between the other two that stood on either side of her as she tried to defuse the sudden tension in the room. “But I guess it’s a good thing that you’re getting more comfortable with yourself.”
“I just feel like the whole world’s losing it,” Callie went on, staring at the floor, her ears flopping down with the movement of her head. “Like, when all this started, it seemed like everybody could agree that this was super fucked up and we all wanted to go back to normal right away. But now that we’ve been stuck here, it’s like people are just... accepting it, like it’s no big deal.”
She summoned the strength to look back up and make eye contact with Tim. “How are you not angry right now?” She turned to Mindy. “And you! And, like, everybody I know! Our lives, our bodies, everything we know has just been stolen from us, and we’re supposed to just go on with our lives like nothing happened?” She paused, her words not getting any traction. “Maybe I’m the one who’s losing it...”
Tim almost felt ashamed, but then he remembered why he was doing this in the first place. “That’s why I want to do this,” he said. “The world is losing it. But if we could just find something to hold onto... maybe we can hold onto ourselves?”
“That’s beautiful,” Mindy said blithely, already fidgeting with the package in her hands, trying to get at the plastic that held the ornaments in place. “I’m guessing you’re not going to help him with this, then?”
Callie snorted as she held up her hoof-like hands. “I don’t even know if I can.” She was already walking out of the room.
“Alright then,” Mindy said, prying the first shiny red ball out of the box, and turning to Tim with a little bit of a smirk on her face. “I’ll see what I can do.”