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Remus didn’t like Christmas for one reason. It couldn’t be the traditional viewing of the Nightmare Before Christmas, a spooky spin on a classic tale was one of the things he and Virgil has bonded over. Nor could it be the creation and decoration of little gingerbread men— encouraging Thomas to eat human-shaped food? It was one of the most enjoyable things to do for the holidays! No, it was none of those things. The one thing Remus was dreading above all else was gift giving.
Naturally, before Thomas was aware of Remus, the dark side only had two gifts to give— one to Deceit and one to Virgil. Although he was aware of the light sides and them of him, he never truly interacted with the three. Of course there was Roman but when his gifts were never met with a positive reaction there really wasn’t a point to try to make his presents appealing.
Unfortunately, Patton has decided to take a leap of faith and invite the other sides to join the Light Sides in their game of secret Santa, and while that meant one less gift to conjure it also meant that Remus had the chance to draw the name of a light side.
Soon the day to pick names had arrivied and all six sides were settled in Thomas’ living room to pick out of a hat (Deceit’s had gone missing mysteriously the day before). Roman went first, gracefully whipping out his slip of paper. Logan reached in next, picking out another. Patton rummaged around and eagerly fished out the third. Quickly, Virgil stuck his hand in and pulled another piece of paper out. Deceit carelessly plucked the second to last name out of the hat. Finally Remus put his hand in and took the final name. They all opened their papers at once and Remus would have screamed if Deceit hadn’t elbowed him sharply in the side.
Remus had pulled out Patton’s name
All six sides agreed the day to swap gifts would be Christmas Eve since Thomas would be incredibly busy Christmas Day which gave all of them about a week to make something. Patton had suggested they kept the names a secret from the others as well so everyone could be surprised about who got who and the other five sides agreed on the plan. And with that, they all sunk out to their rooms to prepare.
Two days in Remus was pacing nonstop and furiously scribbled on a notepad before pausing to rip off the piece of paper he was on, crumple it up, and throw it to the floor which was almost entirely covered in bad ideas. Half of them involved giving the puppy-loving side a weapon but somehow Remus knew that wouldn’t be well accepted. Any other time Remus had to give a gift he knew it wouldn’t be enjoyed as much as he thought it would so he needed to lower his expectations and accept that what he made wouldn’t be “good”.
But Patton /did/ invite remus— not just him but Deceit too. The moral compass was really trying to understand how the different sides worked and Remus had to respect that open-mindedness. So with a heavy groan and a lazy kick Remus went back to pacing and planning.
Four days in and Remus had completely given up on trying to plan and started to conjure random things in the hopes of finding inspiration from the demented items he summoned. Finally, the dark side threw the third battle axe he had conjured into the pile of unusable items and laid down on the ground. The last time he had made anything that any side had actually genuinely enjoyed was the Nightmare Before Christmas poster that Virgil had hanging in his room. If only Remus had gotten anxiety or deceit, maybe then the gift giving would be easier. But no, the dark side of Creativity just /had/ to get Morality. Even Logic would have been easier— heck, Remus would have been satisfied with Roman, at least a gruesome gift would scare his brother. Still, he only sat on the ground for a few more seconds. He pushed himself up and went back to summoning objects.
With Christmas Eve being one day away Remus was at a loss. He was exhausted from all the things he made and summoned that he could barely think of another item to create. He knew he needed to get this gift right, otherwise Patton might not invite them back next year. He didn’t want to spend Christmas in his room again and he knew that Deceit was lying when he said he didn’t mind being alone. No, he was going to get this right. He was going to do something right. He could be good.
Christmas Eve arrived and with it brought excitement from Roman and Patton and apprehension and amusement from the others.
The gift exchange began with Patton who had made a card for the logical side that said “you have me star-struck” with a simple drawing of Logan in an astronaut suit in space. As quietly as he tried to brush off his fondness, there was a distinct gentleness to the way Logan held the paper, as though not to crease or wrinkle it.
Quickly, the tie-adorned side passed Roman a journal with a set of multicolored pens. Logan explained the practicality behind having another place to organize ideas but could barely finish his thought before Roman thanked him flamboyantly.
While holding the pens and book to his chest, Roman presented a snake themed onesie to Deceit who accepted it without looking into the other’s eyes (although the others saw how tightly he held onto the plush fabric).
Deceit passed his gift to Virgil, it was a simple fidget cube, similar to the one Patton had given the anxious side but many of the sides had different types of buttons instead of only one side with five buttons. Virgil stuffed the toy in his right pocket without a word but his hand never left that pocket for the rest of the night.
Virgil handed Remus a CD playlist of all of Creature Feature and Insane Clown Posse’s most gruesome songs. Remus adored the two bands but never found the time to organize his favorite songs, so now he could just listen to them in loop.
He gratefully accepted the gift with a small shoulder shimmy and placed it gently on the glass table before pulling out a small silver drawstring bag and handing it to Patton. Remus expected the nervousness on morality’s face but he had hoped it wouldn’t be so prominent. Slowly the cardigan clad side opened the bag and turned it upside down into his hand. What Patton saw was a small pin button with a walleyed dog with the words “Pugs not drugs” written across the top. When Remus dared to look at the paternal side’s expression he was greeted with the biggest smile he had ever seen on a face. Patton thanked him and exclaimed his appreciation and fondness over and over again as he proudly pinned the button to his polo.
The evening ended with all six sides sitting on the couch watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, each enjoying their new present in their own way: Logan would occasionally glance at the card on the coffee table when he thinks no one can see him; Roman would flip through the leather bound pages of his journal as he quoted the movie; Deceit was already snuggled up in his onesie although it was only because it was so cold in the apartment and he didn’t want to share a blanket; the sides would hear gentle clicking sounds from Virgil’s pocket every now and then but it was the first time they had seen the purple side sit through an entire movie without having to get up to do something; Remus was cradling the CD case like a precious treasure and wouldn’t even set it down to eat a gingerbread man; and Patton would find himself gently touch the button on his shirt. So maybe, Remus relaxed into the back of the couch and let out a content sigh, Christmas wasn’t so dreadful after all.