Five months later, in the middle of October, Dawn Summers finished her step over the threshold of the living room of her former home. Carrying over her tray to one of the small tables in that room, the young woman relaxed her left arm, and allowed her burden there to drop onto the floor, with merely a soft thud as that cloth bundle fell and gently bounced. Ignoring this, Dawn then poured the pot of hot chocolate into the mugs also on the tray, and added tiny marshmallows from a small bag into the mugs.
Once this was done, Dawn picked up the filled mugs and made several trips to give them to their proper owners. Smiles and soft thank-yous came from Giles, Jenny, Xander, and Willow, with these people sipping their yummy drinks as they watched Dawn take the last two mugs over to the heaping pile of blankets, afghans, quilts, and cushions that made a large mound in the middle of the room in front of the crackling fireplace. Bending down, Dawn put the mugs on the floor with a clinking sound coming from her action.
Taking a few steps away from the mugs, Dawn now stood in front of the mound, facing the others in their seats, with Giles in an armchair and Jenny in his lap, while Willow was seated upright on the sofa at the far left position and Xander was lying on his back on the remainder of the sofa, with his head in the redhead's lap. All of these now had their amused attention upon Dawn as that young woman held out her arms horizontally, and then allowed herself to topple backwards, right onto the pile of bedding and pillows.
An evil smirk on her face, Dawn bounced a few times after landing, with the last bounce producing a strange, muffled "Oooof!" sound from somewhere deep inside the mound. Right after that, a feminine growl also came from there: "Get off me, Sasquatch!"
Lying contently on her back, Dawn wiggled herself deeper into the pile, and looking up at the ceiling while savoring the snickers of the others in their chairs, she calmly answered, "Make me, Munchkin."
"Lumberjack."
"Shrimp."
"Extra marshmallows in mine?"
"Like always."
At that last comment from Dawn, the bedding pile heaved, sending that Summers sister bouncing up and away, landing on the edge of the bedding pile the other side from where the two mugs of hot chocolate rested on the floor. Glancing over, a giggling Dawn saw blankets sliding off whatever was arising there, until Buffy Summers was now revealed, standing on her feet. Revealed, and eagerly searching for hot chocolate, with serious bed hair, and holding Mr. Gordo in the crook of her left elbow.
Buffy, ignoring the mock cheers coming from Willow and Xander lifting high their own mugs in sardonic salute to her, bent over and grabbed the left mug on the floor, straightening up and bringing her drink to her lips, as she swallowed a good half of the nectar of the gods in just one gulp. "Aaaaahhh!" she sighed, absently wiggling her body to straighten out her Slanky that now fell straight down her form to the floor.
Back when Xander had found and bought for the dryad her winter festival gift of a child's sleeved blanket of soft fleece, that man also decided to get more, larger-sized Slankys for the others, correctly figuring that the California-born majority of the Scooby Gang had no experience with real winters and would be really, really grateful for the comfort of a warm, body-length blanket with sleeves. Of course, being Xander Harris, he put his own special touch on the gifts for his family.
That man started off by making a lengthy search through the Internet, all while devotedly hoping Willow wouldn't wonder what he was doing so long on the computer and hack into his files. It would have been so completely embarrassing to have to explain why he wasn't looking for porn, but instead something much more shocking.
To wit, embroidery and needlework.
Finally, Xander found a certain master artist in the above handicrafts who was highly amused by his request, and amiably agreed to create what the man wanted. For a price, of course. Still, when the work was finished, Xander had delightedly regarded the results of what had been done to several plain, sleeved blankets formerly consisting of solid colors of fleece that had now been turned into customized clothing, and he knew it had been worth every penny. Plus, on that Christmas morning, every overjoyed expression by the recipients of his presents made it truly worthwhile. Along with his family continuing to wear their Slankys whenever they could, like now.
Buffy Summers, as she stood in the middle of her mound of bedding she'd made into her lair and drank from her mug of hot chocolate, wore a sleeved blanket of golden color, laid over with an image of the DC comics character Wonder Woman that covered the entire front of the blanket. This majestic superheroine was posing in a triumphant stance, facing the viewer, black hair billowing to the rear from an unseen breeze, beautiful face proud and joyous, her voluptuous body in that woman's famous colorful costume from tiara to red boots, with her golden lasso attached to her hip, and toned arms with their famous bracelets, as Wonder Woman grasped with these the staff of a fluttering American flag, and had perched on her other upraised arm a fierce bald eagle, wings proudly displayed.
At the very bottom of the blanket were embroidered in real gold thread the words: Bullets and Bracelets Forever!
Buffy brought down her mug and fondly eyed Xander drinking from his own glass, as that man laid sprawled on the sofa in his own Slanky. Pure blue, with another DC comics character over the front also, a Neal Adams Batman with his endless cape flowing behind the defender of the innocent, the son of Martha and Thomas Wayne sternly stared through the white slits of his cowl (the artist had to work overtime on the expression, since she received from her client the urgent demand of "NO brooding!"). Still, under a full moon, the mortal hero stood watchful in front of a cityscape he was clearly guarding, while at the bottom of this were the words in a black, spiky, Gothic script: Protecting Gotham City Since 1939.
A witch looked equally fondly down at the man resting his head onto the lap of that woman's Slanky. This was pure white, with only two more shades over the entire blanket. Black thread cunningly outlined and showed the features of at least a dozen women, all having the faces of famous Hollywood actresses in their iconic roles and poses: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, Marilyn Monroe in a close-up with her sultry smile and the mole on her left lower cheek, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and so many more. Yet, there was one single thing these shown images of renowned females had in common: all now had red hair, in different hues of thread for each and every one, strands colored in copper, coral, crimson, russet, cherry, and numerous others both envied and yearned for worldwide.
Willow Rosenberg idly shifted her legs in her chair, with this now showing the scarlet words at the bottom of her robe: Redheads Are Hot.
As he finished his drink and leaned over to put his empty mug on the table next to him in his armchair, Rupert Giles exposed his khaki Slanky with its exquisite needlework showing a dead-on Sidney Paget illustration of a life-size Sherlock Holmes head shot. Keen eyes blazing with intelligence, this celebrated detective was regarding those watching him with both fondness and impatience, as he articulated the line shown at the bottom of the Englishman's man's clothing: You Know My Methods, Watson.
In his lap, Jenny Calendar handed her lover her own empty mug, and as he also put this on the table, she bent her head to kiss Giles on his forehead, leaving behind a very pleased man as the woman pulled back, revealing on her own royal purple Slanky another Sidney Paget illustration of a Victorian figure walking down a sidewalk in a long coat and a bowler hat, in male clothing yet with her turned head clearly displaying a beautiful woman's face, as she uttered the words that were also shown below: Good-Night, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
During all this, Dawn had scooted over on her hands and knees to sit cross-legged on the floor next to Buffy, as she drained her own mug of hot chocolate. Once she'd finished, Dawn got up, and accepted her sister's empty mug. Walking over to the Sunnydale natives, the young woman took the pair of mugs Xander and Willow handed her, and stepped to the table where she'd put the tray. Placing all four mugs onto this serving platter, Dawn now bent down and picked up the cloth bundle she'd also brought into the living room. With a few quick wriggles, Dawn got into her own Slanky, and headed back to the middle of the room, affectionately patting Xander's right foot as she passed by the sofa.
Willow kept her eyes firmly squeezed shut as Dawn went by the witch's seat. Only when Willow heard Dawn dropping into the pile of blankets and other cushions did the witch warily open her eyes, to then glower at where the young woman was now curled up with her sister in the mound, both shifting their bodies to find the most comfortable spot among the heaped bedding. In the middle of this, Dawn caught Willow's eye, and smirked at how uneasily the redhead was regarding the Slanky the youngest Summers sister was wearing.
Kermit the Frog smiled from the blanket, with this image of a cheerful amphibian in bright lime over an olive background, and in emerald thread, the embroidered words glittered at the bottom of Dawn's robe: I Am Green, And It'll Do Fine.
