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To Phil - watching from the warmth of his living room - there was little surprise that the snowball fight had turned so serious. In fact, he was somehow surprised it had taken so long to turn into all out chaos. Tommy had started it, because of course Tommy had started it, and he’d recruited Tubbo to his side quickly. Technoblade and Wilbur had been making snowmen, and were only pulled out of what he assumed was a detailed, technical conversation about the perfect size for the balls for the snowman’s body (to which he had no doubt Wilbur was ignoring) when two arms full of snow were dumped over their heads.
He couldn’t help but break down laughing where he stood when Technoblade and Wilbur both turned around, and even from inside he could hear Wilbur shouting Tommy at the top of his lungs.
Of course, despite being sensible and staying inside where it was warm, Phil was still on the side of chaos. He left the window for a moment to ensure all the doors were locked, preventing Tommy and Tubbo from running away from what they’d started. He reasoned with himself that he was teaching the boys a valuable lesson, and that’s exactly what he thought to himself when he pulled out his phone to record.
While Tommy and Tubbo had started with the upper hand, Technoblade and Wilbur seemed to have made a silent strategy. Wilbur acted as a distraction, whilst Technoblade built up defenses and started to roll snowballs together behind said defenses. He looked up for a moment and caught Phil’s eye, flashing him a smile, and Phil chuckled. He hoped that whatever Technoblade had planned, it wasn’t going to turn into a visit to the hospital.
Tommy had dumped another load of snow on Wilbur’s head, and Wilbur turned around immediately to wrestle him to the ground. The sound of laughter filled the air, and Phil smiled. It wouldn’t be long before his little family sought refuge inside if they continued like that - he made a note to tell Tommy to change his clothes so he didn’t catch a cold. He’d never stop hearing Tommy lament about how he got sick on his watch if he did.
“Tubbo, join us!” He heard Technoblade yell. “Join the dark side!”
“You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy Techno and Wilbur, not side with them!” Tommy shouted, his voice a little strained as Wilbur kept him pinned in the snow. “Bring balance to the garden, not leave it in darkness!”
“You were my brother, Tommy.” Tubbo said as he walked backwards toward Technoblade, and Phil struggled to hold the camera steady. “I loved you.”
And with that, Tubbo was handed snowballs, and as Wilbur got to his feet and ran Tommy was attacked by the two of them. Snowballs hurtled through the air as Tommy struggled to get to his feet, and Wilbur used Tommy’s own tactic of an armful of snow against him.
Eventually, Tommy gave up trying to escape their wrath, and the man was quickly buried by snow. When the last strand of hair disappeared, the three stopped their attack, and instead helped him up. Phil was no idiot. He’d stopped recording the moment he knew what they were trying to do and had gone through to the kitchen to put milk in a saucer to boil. He left it for a moment to search for towels in the storage cupboard, and returned just in time to hear knocks against his door.
With the towels on the side and the four cold, wet boys coming in from the snow, he instructed them to take their boots off immediately and dry off, and that Tommy and Wilbur bought ought to get changed into something warmer, before he went back into the kitchen to add dark chocolate to the milk as it warmed. He was alone for a minute before quiet footsteps signalled that someone had joined him, and he looked over his shoulder to see Tubbo watching.
“What are you doing?”
“Making hot chocolate so those idiots don’t freeze to death.” Phil said. “Want to help?”
Tubbo nodded, so he stepped back from the stove and handed him the spoon he’d been using to mix.
“It’s always nicer if you melt down actual chocolate rather than just using the powder, I figured we should go all in. I’ve got squirty cream, marshmallows, and chocolate to grate on top, too.”
“Can I do the cream?” Tubbo asked, and Phil leaned against the counter suspiciously.
“You want to squirt it straight into your mouth, don’t you?”
“Yes, absolutely, I cannot lie to you Philza Minecraft.”
Phil snorted, shaking his head. “I had a feeling someone was going to, my money was on Wilbur.”
The conversation paused for a moment when they heard the TV switching on in the living room, and from where Phil was standing he could see Technoblade flicking onto Netflix to find something to watch. The two continued to chat quietly in the kitchen while they worked: Tubbo added more chocolate to the pot and Phil took the decorations for the drinks out. They heard Wilbur and Tommy barreling down the stairs together, then heard one of them jumping on top of Technoblade (Tommy, by the sounds of his screams when he was pushed onto the ground), and as they bickered over what to watch Phil and Tubbo started to decorate the drinks.
As Phil filled up the five mugs with an equal amount of hot chocolate, Tubbo started squirting on the cream. It was obvious to him which hot chocolate was going to be Tubbo’s.
“At least save a little.” Phil said, going back into one of the cupboards. “I’ve got mince pies, too. People might want cream with them.”
Tubbo gave a mumble as a reply, his mouth wide open and head leaned back as he squirted the remainder of the can on his tongue. Phil just rolled his eyes, glad he’d bought a second canister.
With the mince pies heating up in the microwave he went back to help Tubbo with decorating the mugs, putting marshmallows on top of the cream (with an extra one for himself, and Tubbo picking at the marshmallows directly from the bag), and grating a mix of milk and white chocolate on top. It wasn’t exactly beautiful - in fact, they were incredibly messy looking - but they would taste brilliantly.
Tubbo took his and Tommy’s mugs through and Phil took a mug for Technoblade and Wilbur, before returning to take his and the heated up mince pies through. He took in the scene before him, watching the four with a fond smile on his face. Technoblade and Wilbur had their feet up on the coffee table, awful Christmas socks keeping their toes warm. Tommy had curled into Wilbur’s side and had one of Wilbur’s arms thrown around his shoulder. Tubbo had squeezed onto the edge of the sofa besides Tommy, smiling as he used his marshmallows to scoop up as much cream as possible in one go.
“Right.” Phil said. “I suppose if there’s no room for old dadza, I’ll just eat all the mince pies myself to make up for it.”
“There’s room.” Technoblade said, holding his mug a little higher. “You can lie on top of us.”
Phil snickered, shaking his head and inside sitting himself on the floor in front of the sofa, placing the plate of mince pies on Technoblade’s outstretched legs.
“I think this is just fine.” He said. “You’ll do for a table.”
No argument was made against this, and the group watched Up for what had to be at least the fifth time together. Over the course of the film, Tommy and Wilbur nodded off, and plenty of photographs were taken. When it was over and the boys still slept, Phil tucked a blanket around them. Tubbo and Technoblade took the empty mugs and the plate to wash, and Phil was left with a content smile on his face.
Sure, they were all a group of streamers that had come together online, but they were more than that. They were a family,
his
family, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.