Word Count: 2,753
Uxekull popped open his enormous black eyes and sniffed at the air before cautiously sticking his head out of his cocoon. Upon getting nipped on the nose by the cold morning air, he retreated immediately back inside and shivered.
He heard a yawn coming from his mistress's bed and curious, ventured out of the warm comfort of his cocoon, braved the chilly temperatures, and blinked a few times at her.
She stretched a few times, blinking sleepily as she shifted out of bed and tiredly walked over to his cage. Excited now, Uxekull began to wriggle out of his own bed.
"Good morning, Uxekull," Cocona yawned before shivering herself. "Chilly one this morning, isn't it?" She hefted up his feed bag, propped it up on her knee, pulled out a handful of tasty brown, green, and orange pellets, and gently poured it into his dish. She then carefully put his food back down on the ground, unlatched his water dispenser, and gave him a good head pat before plodding off to the bathroom to fill it up with fresh water.
Uxekull fell the rest of the way out of the cocoon and darted over to his pellets. He quickly sniffed them, then turned up his nose. He didn't want them now, even though he usually loved them. He had the strangest feeling that today was a special day, and he wasn't going to stand for regular pellets on a special day. He wanted alfalfa, and a good salt lick.
"Oiii!" he heard a familiar voice call from outside the window, sending a chill down his spine. Oh no, it was the pink-haired one, Papika. He wrinkled his nose and hopped back inside his safe space so that the pink one couldn't grab him by the ears again. Just thinking about it made them ache.
Thinking about thinking about it made him want to clean them, so as he vigilantly watched for Papika, he licked his paws several times and rubbed them on his face, then he licked them again and rubbed them on his face and the base of his ears. Then he licked them again, and cleaned his ears in several long, smooth strokes.
"Co-co-naaaa~"
Oooh, how the pink one scared him. He hunkered down in his cocoon, making himself ever smaller, though it wasn't particularly easy since his squish kept on rising up around him.
He heard Cocona's footsteps again and perked up an ear, sticking it out of the hole and twitched it. The window opened, followed by a loud thud! Before Uxekull could figure out what had just transpired, his lone antenna-ear was roughly yanked, pulling the rest of him out of his soft, warm, and dark cocoon.
He struggled and squealed in protest, but alas, it was too late: the pink one had gotten him again! He gave up on struggling and simply shivered, half from the cold and half from fear, as the pink one giggled ever so slightly.
"Hey, hey," his beloved mistress chided as she reattached his water bottle to the side of his cage. Uxekull began to vainly struggle to get to her, to be safe and properly held in her arms. "How many times do I have to tell you, Papika? Don't hold him like that! It's not good for his ears."
Ah! The sweet embrace of his beloved mistress! Uxekull shivered and happily licked her shoulder as much as he could to show his unending gratitude.
"Besides, what are you here for today, anyway? I told you, there's no school on Saturdays, so there's no reason for you to come. Besides, my neighbors might see you and ask questions."
"It's Christmas! Did you think I forgot you and Uxekull on a day like Christmas?"
Uxekull stopped licking his mistress and snuggled down in her arms. She blinked at the pink one.
"We don't celebrate Christmas," she simply replied as she absently stroked Uxekull. "Although, I heard it's a very popular Western holiday. I used to get Uxekull some extra alfalfa and a salt lick, but since Granny turned out to be a robot, I haven't had the money."
Oh! Christmas! So that was why he felt like today was such a special day. Uxekull remembered it, vaguely, but only last year, really. His mistress had had that yellow-haired… yak, was it? He wasn't sure; he just remembered there had been a yellow one over around this time last year, and she gave him really tasty carrots.
The pink one pouted and shifted an enormous sack on her back around. "Does this mean I'm not allowed to give you and Uskull your presents?"
Presents? Like, the alfalfa and salt lick of years before? Uxekull perked up considerably and began kneading Cocona's arms with excitement. He wanted all those tasty treats!
His mistress let him down on her bed. The sudden urge to poop was overwhelming, but he held it in and simply dug at the fluffy comforter. Cocona laughed. It was a nice sound; it made him happy. Hoping it was he that made her happy with his digging, he began to paw faster and faster, until he slipped into the crack between the pillow, the sheets, and the blanket. It surprised him at first, but soon found that this bed was very, very soft and very, very warm, much more so than his own little cocoon.
"No, no, it's okay. You went through the trouble of getting us presents. You're more than welcome to give them to us; I'm not offended. In fact, Yayaka likes giving us presents, too, even though she doesn't celebrate the holiday either, so I always prepare her something…" His mistress trailed off and began to pat at the covers. "I had it here somewhere." She stuck her hand underneath the blankets and brushed up against his squish.
He licked her hand, happy to have found it in this dark, but very comfortable, land.
"Uxekull?" she asked, and pulled him back out into the cold. He blinked a few times at her, sneezed, then twitched his nose. She sighed and put him back down on the duvet.
"I didn't know you celebrated Christmas, so I didn't get anything for you, Papika," his mistress sighed as he snuggled up against her, tucking his feet in so that they wouldn't be exposed to the weather. "I feel bad."
The pink one plopped herself down on the bed, tossing Uxekull up in the air with the momentum. He hopped around confused for a few seconds before settling down between the two girls, where it was warmest.
"It's okay, Cocona. You don't need to get me anything. I'm fine giving you and Uxekull and Yayaka and Dr. Salt and Dr. Hidaka and Dr. Sayuri and Bu-Chan your presents! I'm happy as long as I'm here with you." She leaned in to sniff Cocona affectionately, then hugged her tightly, squeezing Uxekull between them, much to his dismay.
He squealed and wormed his way out of the nearly-suffocating embrace and back onto his mistress's lap. He squinted up at the affectionate pink one. She seemed to be making mistress happy, but at what cost?
Cocona laughed and hugged the pink one back, and Uxekull decided that she was… okay. Having nothing better to do, he began to lick his mistress's knees.
Cocona began to laugh even harder, breaking the embrace and scratching him between the ears. "That tickles," she giggled, picking him up and away from the knees. Still wishing to show his affection, he began licking the next best thing: her cheek. The pink one soon joined in the laughter and pet him as well, somewhat roughly, but not as bad as their initial encounter.
They were suddenly disrupted by a knock at the door.
"Yo," the person called. Uxekull's ears perked up again. It sounded like the yak! The one who had given him those excellent carrots the year before! He leapt out of the group hug and straight onto the wooden floor, where he scrabbled for a good few seconds, his claws trying to get a good grip on the smooth surface, before running towards the door and sniffing it.
"Oh! Yayaka's here," his mistress exclaimed, getting up as well and opening the door for him. Uxekull instantly sprinted out and straight into the yak's shins. He paused for a few moments to orient himself as the yak laughed and picked him up. She planted a little kissy on his forehead and to show his unending gratitude, he licked her nose, making her laugh even more.
"Ey, Cocona, teach your bunny that boogers aren't sanitary to eat," she said, trying to steer his happy little tongue away from her nose and onto her hand. But Uxekull would not be deterred or fooled! He continued to happily lick her face until his mistress took him back, where he settled again in her arms.
"I wanna hold hiiiiim!" the pink one whined, leaning in very close to his face. He blued ever so slightly, still unable to overcome his fearful instinct.
"Papika, you're scaring him! I can feel his heart rate go up when you do that!"
The pink one backed away and pouted. Though it made her unhappy, his own pulse calmed down.
"Co-co-naaa, you didn't tell me that Papika was going to be here! I would have gotten her a present if I'd known," the yak complained, crossing her arms. "I only brought something for you and Uxe."
"I hadn't known she was coming, either! She just showed up five minutes ago!"
Papika suddenly gasped, and her frown turned upside down into a bright and sunny grin. "Yayaka! I got you a present! Lemme get it!" she exclaimed as she darted back into his mistress's room. Remembering that the pink one had also acquired him a gift, Uxekull squirrelled his way out of his mistress's arms and onto the floor, sprinting after her, excited for alfalfa and a salt lick.
The pink one was rummaging around in her enormous sack of presents as his mistress and the yak came in and sat on the bed. Uxekull sat obediently on his mistress's feet (to keep them warm with his squish), grinding his teeth together in excitement. The urge to poop was once again back, but he was strong and in control of himself! He hadn't pooped on his mistress since he was just a little tiny squeesh.
The pink one violently popped back up and out of the sack, triumphantly holding a strange sculpture that vaguely resembled a butterfly, made of colorful, twisty wires and pretty rocks. "Yayaka," she simply said, looking extremely pleased with herself as she dropped it on the yak's lap.
"Er…" the yak began as Uxekull softly pawed at Cocona's still bare shins to pick him up. She obliged, giving him a much better look of the yak's confused face.
The pink one's face was bright as the sun. "It's a Flip Flap!" she proclaimed. "Because you're one of us now!"
"A Flip… Flap?"
"Mhm!"
Uxekull thought it was very pretty, but somewhat lacking. Maybe a bit more sparkle, or a bit more green. Yes, green would become the Flip Flap sculpture nicely…
"And youuuu, Cocona," the pink one continued happily as she dug around in her sack again, "Get this!" She pulled out a very fat sketchbook and plopped down next to his mistress.
She flipped it open to the first page. It was mostly white, with a bit of blackish-blue and yellow on it, and vague, oblong outlines of something strange Uxekull couldn't recognize, though they reminded him very much of a large slab of salt.
His mistress said nothing, though her awed expression told all, as the pink one flipped to the next page. It was much more colorful than last, with bright pastel yellows, pinks, and greens. He sniffed at the page, then hastily turned the page again to find it again, much darker, but with a familiar green shape as the focus. He thumped his back leg rapidly on the sketchpad, and grunted. He recognized this rabbit; it was his archenemy that he hadn't seen in months.
"Papika, you're scaring him with himself!" his mistress scolded as she pushed him off the paper and flipped the page again.
The pink one pouted again. "Don't you liiiike it?" she whined as the yak quietly pulled the sketchbook onto her own lap.
"Of course I like it; it's all of our adventures in Pure Illusion! You just happened to scare Uxekull with that drawing of the humanoid version of him!"
"Eugh, that was Uxe?" the yak cut in. "When did that happen?"
"Second time we went to Pure Illusion," Cocona answered. "He got sucked into a vacuum, so we had to follow and rescue him."
"He looks like a reverse furry."
"What's a furry?" Papika asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"It's a person so obsessed with animals that they want to become one, so they dress up in these things called 'fursuits' and act like an animal."
Uxekull stopped paying attention to their conversation at that point. What was in the bag for him? He wanted to know! He pawed at Papika's thighs to get her attention and hopped and squealed when he got it, trying to tell her he wanted his present now. She lit up again and jumped off the bed and at her sack again.
"Uxekull!" She reached her entire arm, all the way up to her shoulder, into the sack, searching for his gift. His pupils dilated (he hadn't known they could get any bigger than they already were) and he fidgeted excitedly. Finally, he was going to get his alfalfa and salt lick!
"Oh yeah," the yak said, reaching into the little plastic bag she had brought along, and pulled out a bunch of fat, orange carrots. "Merry Squi— er, Christmas, Uxe. Eat up."
The little green squish leapt at them and attacked them ravenously, savoring their crunchy texture and sweet flavor, temporarily forgetting about the pink one's present he was so looking forward to.
"Aha!" The pink one pulled something out of her sack while he was distracted with the carrots. Too busy to notice her, Uxekull was completely shocked when he was scooped up into something cold and kind of itchy. He squealed and squirmed, and hated to admit it, but he pooped inside that whatever-it-was in alarm.
"Uxekull!" his mistress cried, taking him from the pink one's strange bag. She looked inside and groaned. "You scared him into pooping!" she scolded as she carefully scooped his terrified little self out of the mysterious, itchy bag and gently placed him back next to the carrots.
That was not the alfalfa and salt lick he'd been expecting. He quivered for a minute, just recovering, before he began to voraciously attack the yak's gift again.
"I can't believe you just went and wasted a Santa hat like that," the yak commented as his mistress got up and tossed the itchy bag away.
"Besides, Uxekull can't be around polyester. He's allergic; it makes him itchy," his mistress added.
He glanced over at the pink haired one, who looked devastated. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, dragging her feet as she returned to the bed.
"Naw, it's okay, it's Christmas."
Uxekull paused from his meal for a moment and pondered that last word for a second. Christmas. It could be made better. He hopped over to the pink one. He stared up at her face, with its watery eyes and quivering lip, and pulled himself up onto her lap. She was warmer than most, he pleasantly discovered. Quite warm. Quite warm.
He started licking her hand, and her budding tears dried up as her mood swang back to its default giddy excitement.
"See? He forgives you," his mistress said, sounding pleased.
The pink one scooped him up in her arms and squeezed him tight, but not so tightly that he couldn't breathe. She buried her face in his back squish. "Merry Squishmas."
Author's Note: you will pry my love of uxekull out of my cold dead hands. he is best bun and my fave. i miss calling yayaka yak yak lol. i feel like i made some Quality Memes for the flip flappers fandom. i should write something new for it soon... anyway, reviews would be wonderful. have a greaaaaat daaaaaay~~~~~ :D