Huaisang finds it quite easy to tell the locals from the newcomers. The locals have that empty cheer all the time, unquestioning, with a sort of awful blankness behind their eyes which Huaisang tries not to let himself think of as horror.

"You're not very festive," Huaisang points out. "You have to be festive to blend in. And get a tree." It's important, he thinks. Blending in. Being festive. Getting a tree. It kept him safe in October--relatively so, anyway. It will keep him safe again.