Okay. That's not what he's expecting—even the good townsfolk have been pretty hands-off about their aggressive cheerfulness—but by the time it occurs to Jupe to protest he's already indoors, the warm air comforting as a thick blanket. He shivers—but it's exaggerated and pleased, with a smile to match.

“Uh, you know, I moved in right before Christmas,” he says, a questioning undertone to it. Only once the door's all the way closed, though, does he drop the smile to ask: “Is something wrong?”