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The day was cold for him, but for others, it was warm and filled with love.
Owen walked the streets of Oakhurst, his hood pulled up high, his head down. The streets were always empty when he walked them.
Glancing to the side, he got a glance into a window, a tree with presents neatly wrapped beneath it. It looked so warm—so welcoming. He sighed, turning his head forwards, continuing down the cobblestone path. His heart ached. Everyone got to be so… so loved, whilst he was over here being shunned from society.
______________
Today was that Christmas he’d resented so long ago. There was a nicely decorated tree with a plethora of presents beneath it. It felt… odd getting things for others. He never got to experience that either.
Owen’s eyes flicked around the room as he curled in on himself slightly. It was freezing outside, with it being the dead of winter right now.
“Owen,” he heard Abolish call, his head tilting up slightly to see him. He was holding a present. For… him. “And Legundo.” Abolish finished, and Owen scowled at that. Of all people, a gift for him and Legundo?
“I hope you two like it!” Abolish’s smile was worth getting it. Seeing everyone so happy for a change warmed Owen’s heart, despite how much he despised it.
Owen had been handed it, and he tore it open noticeably softer. It was… a box. Lovely. A box within a gift. He opened the box and glanced inside, the Doc over his shoulder as he too peered in.
“…A sweater?” Owen tilted his head, Legundo chiming in.
“Is it only one?” The Doc had said as he pulled it out. Legundo sighed, for what Owen heard, and he could guess the answer.
“I- you’re kidding? I am not wearing that!” He hissed, scowling at the thing. Abolish simply gave a giggle at the glare Legs had given him, before he himself had added:
“And you two need to wear it for the whole day!”
Next thing Owen knew, he’d been forced into wearing the thing, being right up and personal with the Doc himself. He was scowling, but he couldn’t deny it felt very warm.
The sweater was red and white—classic Christmas colours, just lacking the green—with a little star design on the front. Like the one that was on top of the tree, actually… that made a whole lot more sense.
“This is stupid,” he grumbled, head turned away as Legs looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole into the ground. Maybe not… that badly, but his expression had that look to it. “Why’d you even give it to us?”
“I thought you two needed some sort of bonding exercise, plus I made it myself,” Abolish smiled. He had been scheming something. That something had been going to plan, too…
“Well, maybe just matching sweaters would have been fine…?” Legundo offered unhelpful as Owen shot a glare his way.
Abolish gave a shrug as someone else stood up to give sometimes, Owen didn’t notice, he was too busy noticing how warm the Doc was…- no, why was he thinking that. He was meant to hate the Doctor, not find comfort in being this close to him.
“Owen…” he heard Legundo start, and he just braced himself for what was next. But the Doc’s tone lacked… malice. It sounded playful, in a way. “Are you purring?” The question hit Owen like a truck. Oh, god, he forgot he did that.
“Me? No! I’m not purring! What makes you think I’m purring?” He blurted out, his natural blush concealing his not so natural blush. He forced himself to stop purring. He had indeed been purring.
“Pretty sure you were,” Legs let out a small laugh, his brows meshing together somewhat. Like someone did when they were worried, or sympathetic. “I literally felt your body vibrating.”
Owen grumbled. He couldn’t move away from the Doc, so even if he did start purring, and he didn’t realise it, he couldn’t stop it.
“No you didn’t. You’re… schizophrenic or something,” Owen muttered, his head turning away as his face heated up more.
“Saying I have schizophrenia doesn’t mean I do have it,” Legundo shook his head. “Be in denial all you want.” A shrug. Then Owen was left to his own devices, a silence falling over him.
The day went on, Owen catching himself purring or leaning a little too close to Legundo being a re-occurring thing. It happened so much he stopped himself from preventing it. Resting on the Doc’s shoulder was nice. Warm. So warm.
Legundo didn’t seem to mind, for what Owen gathered. The Doc made little effort to stop him, instead opting to tease the lumberjack.
One particular time this happened was when they were eating food. Scott and a few others had planned out… a number of meals throughout the day, and it being dinner, Owen was rightfully tired.
They had to compromise for the chairs—two being close together, that was—and it was fine, Owen supposed. Using the Doc as his personal pillow was quite nice, considering the fact that no one really batted an eye, at the present time.
Owen had a social battery, like all introverts had, and that battery had long since died. So, instead of eating, he had just been sleeping on Legs’ shoulder. He was like a cat, really. Purring and all.
This was nice. Christmas was nice when there were people who included you.
Christmas was a great day for him.