Chapter Text
“Dream, Dream, stop!” George yelled.
“No, c’mere!” Clay responded.
Clicking could be heard through mics, as well as the occasional shouting. The Dream Team was recording their next video, to be uploaded on each of their channels. It was another mod video, in which the portals were switched.
The date was November 10th, and the radios were already playing Christmas music 24/7, and houses were putting up 12-year-old lights and decorations. Even though Clay thought it was pretty ridiculous that people felt the need to celebrate Christmas this early, he still liked the holiday. It was always one of his favorites, anyways. He loved being able to spend time with his family for the long holiday, and be able to give them even more extravagant gifts than usual.
But, unfortunately, his parents and siblings had to go to New York for the holidays to go see their grandmother, who had fallen ill. Clay had been the only one who couldn’t come because of his schedule as well as most of the planes being either booked or just really expensive. He felt awful about it, but his mother had reassured him time and time again that his grandmother perfectly understood that he couldn’t make it over.
But, that wasn’t the only thing he felt bad about. This was the first time in a while that Clay wasn’t going to be spending Christmas with his entire family. The only other time this has happened is when one year his dad had a business trip over the holiday, but came home two days later to finish the celebration.
Yet, Clay had tried not to sulk about it, and kept his spirits high. He had patches with him, after all, and she could suffice for company. She does for the rest of the year, anyways.
“Dream! Help!” The mention of his name brought him back to reality. He exited his inventory, where he had been absentmindedly organizing it. He looked over to where George’s character was, seeing it being chased by Nick.
He laughed, equipping the helmet that was in his hotbar. “What did you do, George!?”
“He stole my sword so I simply took it back!” He exclaimed with feigned fright.
“No I did not!” Nick screamed into his mic, causing Clay to flinch. “He stole my damn sword and won’t give it back!”
“I did not, you dropped it and so I thought you were done with it!” George yelled back.
“It was an accident, dimwit!” Nick finally caught up to George’s character, and started hitting him with an iron shovel.
Clay wheezed into his mic. “Boys, boys, play nice,” he said between laughs and gasps of air.
Nick and George caught onto the bit, and continued it. “Dad, he’s hitting me!” George complained.
“But he stole my sword!!” Nick chuckled.
Clay wheezed again as they kept on fighting like actual children. This went on for a few more minutes until Sapnap eventually gave up on his efforts to get his sword back. Afterwards, they got Nick a new sword, and continued on with the video.
After the video was filmed, they all moved the call to their phones and talked comfortably from couches or tables. Sapnap and George had turned their cameras on and propped their phones up somewhere, while Clay kept his off and face up on his table while he made a sandwich.
“So, what are you guys doing for Christmas?” Nick asked with a mouthful of Fritos.
George put down his bowl of fruit and leaned back into his couch. “I don’t think I have anything planned, so, nothing I guess.” He crossed his legs.
“Me neither.” Clay added.
Nick’s face turned to shock. “Wait, you’re not doing anything?” He sat up and leaned towards the coffee table where his phone was propped up. “What about plans with your family?”
Clay looked down at his now finished sandwich, transferring it to a small plastic blue plate he had found in a pack in the kid’s section of IKEA. “Nope, they’re in New York this year.”
“Without you?” Nick questioned with an unbelieving look on his face.
“Well, I guess it seems like that without context, but no.” He picked up the plate and his phone, carrying both items to the tall wood table in the dining room across the hall from the kitchen. He didn’t bother turning any lights on, since there was plenty of natural lighting shining through the many large windows looking out into the backyard. He sighed as he sat down. “My grandma got sick, so they needed to go see her. I couldn’t make it.” He frowned, still feeling guilty for not being able to go see them.
Nick frowned. “Oh, sorry man.”
Clay laughed. “It’s okay, I can go without this year. I’m a big boy.” He joked, earning a few chuckles.
The call was silent, until George spoke up again. “Well, do you guys want to spend Christmas together?”
The question caught Clay off guard, but Nick just laughed. “How are we supposed to do that?” He leaned back into his seat.
“I dunno,” George pondered, “Maybe FaceTime or something.”
“Fuck no, that wouldn’t be a real Christmas.” Nick waved the idea off.
“Watch your language.” Clay responded in a fake-serious tone.
“You sound like Bad.” Nick laughed again.
“Well, I am your ‘father,’ aren’t I?” Clay made air quotes, even though nobody could see him.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake-“ Nick slapped a hand over his eyes and dragged it down his face in exhaustion from the bit.
Meanwhile, George was deep in thought. He had pulled out his laptop from somewhere off-camera and had it opened on the table in front of him, typing furiously away at the keys. As the typing got faster, the audio began to pick it up, and it gained the two other men’s attention.
“Whatchya doin’ there, Gogs?” Nick inquired, holding his head in his hands.
George didn’t respond for a moment. “Nothing much,” he replied after a moment without looking up.
Clay wheezed. “That’s not usually the case, you look so focused. It’s honestly scaring me.”
George turned and glared into the camera jokingly with the same intense gaze had had seconds before on the computer. Clay faked a yelp, making all three laugh. Clay loved moments like these.
“There,” George said after a few more minutes of typing. “I’ve got it.”
Clay looked up from his last bite of sandwich. “What is it?”
George looked up to the camera with a wide smile. “Let’s meet up!”