Book One: A Wolf Among Beasts

Chapter Sixteen

Time passes by quiet and peaceful, Bruce goes to work, Eli does the odd jobs around the favelas with Ricky close on her heel. It's normal. Human. Eli finds herself enjoying it. She never thought she would. She never thought she would like the slow, the non-violent lifestyle. But being with Bruce, with a semi-functioning normal lifestyle, she's content, happy, more so then she ever has been before. She looks forward to going home. She looks forward to spending nights in front of the cheap 80's tv drinking beer and snuggled up to a man who adores her. Even a damn dog. She's so normal she could pass as a freaking human. And humans celebrate things. Like Christmas. Eli doesn't celebrate it. Not usually and this year is no different. Until she returns home to find Bruce has some how found a tree in the middle of Rio, in the middle of summer, and decorated it with random items he's clearly found around the favelas, even Ricky has a tinsel collar on. Eli pauses slightly as she enters the apartment, slowly closing the door behind her.

"What is this?" she asks him carefully.

"Christmas" he answers, drawing out the word. She nods.

"Yeah, why?" she asks, he smiles nervously.

"I just figured...it's our first Christmas...together" he sighs a little and shrugs. "I thought it was a good idea" he whispers looking slightly dejected.

"It's great" she offers. "You took the incentive" she shrugs out of her cardigan and moves towards him. "I just normally....I'm usually alone so..."

"So you don't celebrate the holidays" he catches on and whispers softly.

"But I'm not alone this year" she counters wrapping her arms around his neck. "I have you" she offers warmly, he lifts his eyes to hers, sees that she's not just saying that because he's gone and done something stupid. But because she means it. "The apartment looks great...like an elf threw up" he chuckles and wraps his arm around her waist.

"That's exactly what I was going for" he counters smiling at her.

"Then you got it spot on" she whispers leaning closer to kiss him. Ricky barks at his side and she pulls back to look down at him. "You look great too, Bub" she teases as he spins around barking, Bruce chuckles.

"It's like he was waiting to show it off" he teases.

"He likes me more" she counters reaching down to scratch at Ricky's head before turning her attention back to Bruce who smiles warmly at her.

..................

Eli walks through the favela market with Ricky next to her as she pauses to look over stalls, buy groceries, and anything else they need. Bruce is terrible at shopping it turns out, Eli is better at bargaining and sniffing out the best products. Pun intended. She pauses, her eyes catching something at the back of one of the stalls. Well it is Christmas. She smirks and motions to it talking to the salesman who nods and picks it up. It would be perfect for Bruce. Buying and pocketing the item Eli counts it as a win in her fake-human book, gifts are good, progress, she can do the holidays. She takes a breath and walks on, a smile on her lips, dog at her side, boyfriend waiting for her at home. Yeah. Life is damn good.

................

Eli wakes Christmas morning to the smell of tea, which isn't new, and the smell of bacon, which is new, Bruce doesn't cook, he's very, very bad at it, so he doesn't even try. She pushes herself up onto her elbows to frown at the scene in front of her. Bruce is sat at his computer with his tea, he looks tense. She knows that tense. Another failed experiment. She shifts slightly adjusting the blankets around her.

"Did you cook?" he looks to her and shrugs a little.

"Yeah" he answers standing and grabbing the tray from the kitchen before returning to her. "I was hoping to catch you before you woke but I got an email through...." he shakes his head brushing over that as he joins her on the bed, setting the tray of breakfast between them, one item seems to be a small jewellery box, she ignores it for now.