"Yay!" she said quietly but enthusiastically not wanting to call attention to herself and her boyfriend who was in the process of drinking "special" eggnog. "Snuggles is a given," she smiled but eyed the teachers around the room. "We'll have to be sneaky," she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Hmm, Anastas de Kooning... evil plot..." she teased him with her thinking face and put her arms around his shoulders. "You are... you are a nice fat kitty boy," she giggled, letting her head drop against his shoulder. She was really beginning to relax around him. It had been a subtle change, taking time to really show but she had stopped punching him for minor infractions, she had stopped freaking out about his sense of humor. There were still moments of shear terror where she would tear away from him but things were changing.