11. Wrapping Paper

December, 2005

Drakken watched Shego's scowling expression as her eyes traveled back and forth across the room, following the culprit. He himself was seated among the mess, picking up scraps of torn and shredded wrapping paper and cardboard and trying to figure out what went where.

He took a deep breath.

"Shego—"

"I know I said until New Year's—"

They stopped and looked at each other, having spoken in unison. Drakken nodded for Shego to continue first, and noted she seemed to be trying to keep calm when it was clear she just wanted to explode.

"I know I said until New Year's," she repeated, "but after this..."

The culprit had vanished behind the downed Christmas tree, but just then the furry poodle head poked up out of the fir boughs and announced his presence with a bark. Drakken sighed.

"You're right," Drakken said before Shego could finish. "Maybe...just until the end of the week?"

"Look, we agreed. He'd be better off with your mother because he needs constant attention, and she needs someone to baby all the time."

"Yes—"

"But clearly even on vacation you don't have time to give him what he needs. So he needs to go back."

Drakken said nothing, but knew his expression bore the sadness he felt as he continued attempting to sort through ruined presents and wrapping paper. He dearly missed his pet, but Shego was right. And his mother did care for Commodore Puddles very well.

"And...okay, the pink was one thing, but what was your mother thinking this time? And how did she tie-dye a dog?" Shego continued.

Drakken looked at the newest shade of the poodle's fur, or rather shades, as his mother had managed to indeed tie-dye the fur in blue and green swirls that occasionally meshed into a vibrant teal. It was an outlandish color for a dog... But he thought he knew what his mother was trying to imply. And he bit his lip on any response he might have given, in hopes Shego wouldn't figure out the same.

"It's almost like she..."

Drakken looked up as Shego trailed off. Her eyes had gone wide, and with a jolt of adrenaline he knew she'd gotten it.

As his mind swam circles looking for a distraction, he found his thoughts dissolving as he lifted up an item that was wholly unfamiliar, and not one of the gifts he had wrapped.

"Shego... What's this?"

He glanced up at her beyond the item he held, and she looked away almost nervously and crossed her arms.

"Oh, well... After the other day... You told me you had more gifts for me and I didn't have any for you... And when your mother told me what she had made you for Christmas..." She straightened up and cleared her throat. "I didn't want to be seen with you wearing that, so I got you this."

Drakken nodded at her feeble explanation and examined the scarf she had bought him. He could tell without even reading the tag that the fabric was alpaca wool. He gently ran his fingers over it as he examined the pattern of faint stripes that was woven so as to look natural, as it blended the colors seamlessly from a dark green with a hint of blue to a paler green with a hint of yellow.

"It's green," was all he managed, as his mind suddenly began racing. He heard Shego say something about liking green, but his thoughts were on a roller coaster as a burst of adrenaline hit him anew. He glanced at the dog his mother had dyed, her implications very clear from the color choices, and then back to the scarf Shego had given him. He found his mouth dry as his heart thudded in his chest, his mind refusing to form a coherent thought for the possibility that had just occurred to him.

"Do you not like it...?"

Drakken blinked back to awareness and caught sight of Shego's atypically concerned face. He glanced briefly again at Commodore Puddles before taking a deep breath and looping the scarf around his neck. He looked back at Shego and smiled.

"Green does go good with blue."

A/N: The idea of Mama Lipsky caring for Puddles/dyeing him different colors when he's not on the show is borrowed with permission from split-n-splice.