Work Text:
There wasn’t a reason for the party.
Well, there sort of was a reason. Multiple reasons, actually. Ranboo had an anxiety attack during one of the shoots due to the fact it was a flood scene. Then, Wilbur had fallen off one of the big sets and hurt himself. And Tubbo fell off a horse. Then Techno fell off Andrew during a chase scene. Dream, Sapnap, Fundy, and George got ambushed by monsters. Minx and Niki and Schlatt were struggling with the makeup and costumes in a way no one thought possible. Tommy’s blood sugar was acting up in a way that made it nearly impossible for him to actually pick up on it, and his protein levels dropped, and he nearly passed out on the top of a mountain during a shoot. Phil took an arrow to the shoulder. Eret had forgotten a prop and then gotten attacked by a horde of creepers on the way back (respawning had not been fun, the prop was lodged in his stomach). Quackity, Ant, Sam, Punz, and Karl had retreated to their own private worlds and refused to come back for a few weeks, taking vacation days. On top of that, Bad had been so sleep-deprived he’d cut his hands several different places several different times trying to make food. Skeppy had a temporary limp where his leg had been dislocated and hadn’t quite healed correctly when he respawned.
Dream had called the show to a hiatus.
Some fans were disappointed. Someone tried to leak the World 7 address. A few really angry haters (seriously, they had issues) sent in death threats and kidnapping threats. It was a lot of drama, and finally Dream had deleted Twitter and thrown his phone into the closet. When Fundy, Tubbo, Schlatt, and the SBI went to grab some props, though, he’d dug it out and kept calling them regularly for updates.
For the most part, though, the fans were pretty good. They understood, didn’t ask for more explanations, and wished everyone well. Actually, they kept wishing the group well, adding in suggestions of how to relax and recuperate.
Bad snapped awake when Ranboo screeched Enderman-style. Spinning around, he focused bleary eyes on the poor kid, sitting on top of the fridge while Pog sat where she had ducked through the dog door. “Poggers. Here, girl.” She trotted over immediately. Groaning, Bad eased himself up from the table and walked over, reaching up to Ranboo.
“Come on, you’re alright. She’s over there.”
“She clipped through the walllllll.” Ranboo said, sounding slightly like when Tubbo casually dumped water on Tommy’s head and declared “Now he can’t breathe”. They’re hanging out a lot. Bad mused, smiling reassuringly.
“It’s a dog door, sweetheart. She uses it when she needs to go outside.” He said softly. Shakily nodding, Ranboo reached out, took his hand, and used Bad to steady himself as he climbed down to the counter and then to the floor.
“Okay, that’s it!” Sapnap suddenly yelled, slapping his hands down on his thighs as he stood up. Everyone looked to him, poking their heads in from the rooms or the hallway or out of the pillow/beanbag fort in the kids’ case (that’d be Ranboo, Tommy, and Tubbo, obviously, although Niki had been in there until Minx had ordered her to come with her and Schlatt for…something. Hopefully it didn’t have to do with work). Cracking his knuckles, Sapnap cleared his throat. “Everyone get in here!”
Everyone walked in, confusion and exhaustion (and also a certain level of daggers, considering Minx’s expression) prominent in their gazes.
“Okay. We’re all sad and sleepy and tired, and I get it. But you know what? Rough couple of weeks, we all need to relax, I put my vote towards a dinner and a movie. Who’s with me? We can put on some music, have some nice, relaxing food, and you two,” he indicated Schlatt and Minx, “can finally stress bake because I know Bad’s been keeping you out of the kitchen. No alcohol, though!”
“Definitely not.” Phil agreed. No one argued (it’d be unfair to the kids, especially if the of-age adults all got too blackout-drunk to stand and then needed help getting to bed).
“Any protests?” No one said otherwise, so Sapnap apparently delegated himself leader. “Alright. Schlatt, Minx, list of allergies are on the side of the fridge, make sure whatever you make either doesn’t have that in it or there’s an allergy-friendly option. Bad, Skeppy, I want you to get drinks for everyone—sodas, not alcohol—”
“You already said that—”
“I’m pointing it out again.” Turning, Sapnap focused his gaze on Dream and George. “You two are going to help me pull some of those Christmas movies down because I know someone put them away—”
“It’s not Christmas—”
“Doesn’t matter, Epiphany season ends at Lent and we have time!” Wheezing, Dream shook his head and hid his face in the crook of his elbow, leaning on the couch. Whipping around, Sapnap asked, “Any movie requests? Not Polar Express—sorry Ranboo.”
“The Notebook!”
“Not a Christmas movie! Next!”
“Jingle Bell Bride!”
“Ew, gross, no.”
“A Christmas Prince.”
“Never seen it.”
“The Princess Bride!”
“I love you, I love the movie, still not Christmas.”
“Charlie Brown Christmas?”
“Love that one, it’s a classic, but we don’t have it.” (Sapnap shot a glare in George’s direction.) “Someone left it in one of the other worlds.”
“I Met Him Up In Delaware?”
Whipping around, Sapnap pointed at Tubbo, who looked like he about to jump into the next dimension. “Yes! Amazing choice! Love it. That’s the one we’re watching.”
“Whoo!” Tommy and Tubbo high-fived, then slowly extricated themselves from their little fort. Ranboo wandered over, and Pog hesitantly sniffed his hand. As Tommy and Tubbo helped him pet her without freaking out, Sapnap kept assigning jobs.
“Fundy, I want you, Wilbur, Phil, and Techno to go and…I don’t know, try to make a playlist. Eret, help them, you have good music taste and you can balance some of their picks out.” Nodding, they all went to grab their phones. “Get something everyone likes! And some classics!”
“What do you want us to do?” Niki asked, gesturing to herself and the three petting Pog. Ranboo had actually crouched down, and Pog was sitting there patiently. Normally, she’d be all over him, licking like any other dog would.
“Niki, you go find recipes, you have fun with that kind of thing. See if you can help with place settings and stuff. Maybe drinks, help there, too. And you three…” Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo all looked at him. “Go…do whatever.”
“What? Why? We can help!”
“You’re kids.” Tommy squeaked in annoyance and Sapnap sighed. “Tommy, just—go have fun with your friends. That’s what Niki and I are both doing.” Tommy took a breath, and Sapnap shoved him towards the others. “Go have fun.”
Tommy turned, rolled his eyes, and then went to the others.
+++
The movie was good.
Sure, maybe it wasn’t historically accurate, but honestly? Who cared? Sometimes all one wanted was a gay love story between a pilot in WWII and the British exchange nurse he met at a Christmas Eve party in Delaware in a secret gay bar. One that actually had a happy ending.
Settled into the couch so much he was practically vanishing, George glanced around at the lovely band of merry idiots that was the Dream SMP. Sap was leaning on Bad and Skeppy, head tipped back and snoring louder than a phantom screeched. Niki was slumped against the couch arm, head leaning on a throw pillow. Minx was right next to her, legs thrown over the top of the couch and currently on her phone as her hair dangled down to the floor. If it was an uncomfortable position, she certainly seemed to be hiding it well. Schlatt had kicked back in one of the recliners, the cosmetic ram horn props in his lap where he’d been working on them before dozing off. Phil was gone, talking with Techno and Wilbur about something (probably one of the next pieces they needed to film).
Returning from the kitchen to grab more snacks, Ranboo strode into the room and glanced over at Eret, who was leaning against the door looking at the others like a lesbian looking in at her wife and kids fingerpainting. In short, very, very affectionately. “Hi.” Eret glanced up, and then Ranboo followed his gaze. There was a tiny bit of mistletoe still clinging to the—“I am not kissing you.”
“We have rules.” Stepping over, Eret gently kissed his forehead and Ranboo stared at them for a second in a mix of shock. Well, that’s never happened. Eret chuckled and said, “You can scrub at your skin if you want, I don’t mind.”
“It’s just a friend thing, right?” Eret nodded. Shrugging, Ranboo moved into the main room, musing, “Doesn’t matter to me, then.”
With a soft laugh, Eret followed them. Someone had turned on some music, quietly so as not to wake up Niki or Schlatt. Sapnap, they could deal with, but no one wanted to deal with an angry Niki. (Schlatt was an eh, it really depended on his mood.)
Running over, Tommy grabbed Ranboo by the wrist, saying, “Ranboo! Dance!” Tommy dragged his friend over to Tubbo, even though the look on Ranboo’s face very clearly said he did not want to dance. For a few moments, some of the older guys watched him, and he stood there for a moment while looking completely out of his element. “Come on, you’ll be fine.” Stepping over, Tommy hip-checked him and Tubbo laughed. “Just dance!”
“I don’t know how.” Ranboo mumbled, and Tommy shook his head. Leaning against the couch, Wilbur sighed and took a sip of his soda before looking to Phil.
“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” He joked, and Phil glanced over at him and smiled, shaking his head with a well-natured roll of his eyes. Striding over, Dream half-threw himself onto Wilbur. “Hey, Dream.”
“Hi, Wil. I’m tired.”
“Then go to bed.” Dream slumped against him. Scoffing, Wilbur darted to the side and let his friend fall against the couch. “Not on me, you lime-green-hoodie wearing dork.” Giggling (not laughing, this was not laughing), Dream slumped down to the ground. “There’s no alcohol in that, why are you acting drunk?”
Snorting, Dream wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his sleeve. “I am so sleep-deprived right now. I don’t think I could walk straight if I tried.” With a huff, Wilbur looked him over.
“Then go to bed.”
“Nooooooo it’s too early for that.” Wilbur glanced at his watch, then the clock in the kitchen on the microwave and laughed, shaking his head.
“You’re an idiot.”
“We are well past that.”
“Hey! No self-deprecation on the holidays!”
“I do what I want I’m the admin!”
Phil glanced at the pair. “Dream,” when the admin looked to him, Phil shot him a very dad-looking look. “Be nice to yourself. You deserve it.”
Laughing, Dream crossed his arms across the back of the couch and buried his nose in them, watching his friends on the couch. Slumped into the cushions, George was reading. Bad was awake, mostly, leaning into Skeppy with Sapnap’s head on his stomach. Fingers in Sapnap’s hair, he showed something on his phone to Skeppy, who laughed lightly and said something. Eret had been dragged into the little dance party with Tubbo, Tommy, and Ranboo (none of whom were the best dancers, or at least they weren’t trying. That was probably because Ranboo currently looked about as comfortable as a polar bear in a sauna, though). Pog was jumping around them, wiggling like crazy. Smiling, Dream glanced over at Wilbur.
“We’ve done pretty well, haven’t we?” He asked, and Wilbur glanced over at him and smiled right back, then took everyone in. Beside him, Phil did the same.
“Yeah.” Tipping his head to the side, Wilbur mused, “Yeah, we have.” His eyes darted out the window and he paused, frowning. When Dream followed his gaze, he saw something flickering outside the windows. “Dream. Dream, go get Techno.”
“Alright.” Wilbur and Phil turned and they spoke in another language quietly. Darting through people, he ducked to Techno’s side, grabbed his arm, and then pulled him aside. Wilbur and Phil headed over, glancing back at everyone in the main room. “What’s up, Wilbur?” He asked as they geared up and slipped outside.
“Lock the door behind you.” Wilbur hissed. Nodding, Dream did the same, and they all strode out into the falling snow. Techno drew his axe, and Phil’s wings shuffled so the razor-sharp edges glittered in the light streaming from the windows outside. “I thought I saw someone. Hopefully it’s nothing, but—”
They froze at the side of the house Wilbur had been looking through the window of.
Techno strode over. Littered across the ground were feathers and blood, and he inhaled sharply before picking something up from the ground. There were footsteps, and he stepped back. “Come close, but don’t disturb it.”
“What is it?” Dream and the others walked over, peering over his shoulder. Arranged on the ground in a macabre display, he realised they were patterned carefully, tucked into the snow. Footsteps led away, and he heard an owl screech somewhere in the night. Turning, Dream met the gaze of a snowy owl with blood splattered on its front. Orange eyes blinked, then closed, and the bird was gone in a swirl of snow. “Techno?” He glanced back, and the man’s dark eyes met his.
“It’s a warning.”
Staring down at the symbol, Dream swallowed. A snowy owl, that particular symbol…something big was coming. A theory settled in his chest, weighing down on his throat in a choking way.
This wouldn’t be good.