Archive of Our Own

The cold, white ash fell from the sky. It coated the ground in even layers, making the once-green Overworld turn into a bright white expanse. For hours now, the ash had been falling and collecting and growing taller the longer it decided to rain ash from the sky. Bad watched it from the window. It wasn't the first time he had seen ash, the basalt deltas always seemed to be filled with it, and it always stuck to everything that even thought about going into it. Bad always hated when he had to go into one, because it stubbornly stuck to his cloak and his tail would drag through it, which he found to be uncomfortable. The ash in the Nether was hot, not that Bad couldn't handle it, his body was built to handle the heat, but the cold ash of the Overworld was a different story. He knew when he decided to come to the Overworld that it would be more cold, but cold ash was something he never could have imagined.

So, he stayed inside the tiny hut that he currently lived in. It was nothing more than a single room with a fireplace, a bed, a cot, and a few belongings. He didn't go out much these days, it was too dangerous, not to mention for a while there, he couldn't even get off the cot, his legs just didn't want to move. Even still, he struggled, and the cold wasn't making him want to do anything either. Thinking of which, the fire was burning low. Bad took a piece of wood and placed it on top of the embers, and he held his hand out to it. A spark came from his hand and ignited the wood with his blue flames. Much better.

He went back to staring out the window, it was his favorite pastime today. He was waiting, and he was watching the cold ash. The wind was picking up, which worried him. The wood of the hut creaked and whistled, bringing some of the cold air in with it. Bad closed his eyes, he was already getting tired of the cold and he had yet to even finish one year in the Overworld. He thought about what his parents would say to him, his best friend Entropy, all his mentors, what would they think about his leaving? Worse yet, what would they say about his getting injured by humans of all species? He would have been made the laughing stock, and despite the wounds having healed, he still found himself to be in pain because of them. He knew the pain would eventually go away, but for now, he knew dealt with it, figuring it was punishment for leaving home.

Though, that was all he could think about. Home wouldn't be cold, it would be welcoming, comfortable, and he could get the highest grade potions that his family could afford to make the pain go away, but they wouldn't do that. They would tell him to suffer, that it builds character, but Bad had plenty of that.

He felt a tear roll down his cheek, and he could feel himself losing his grip on the form he was holding now. Though it was just a smaller version of his true self, it still wasn't easy to keep. It was just exhausting to keep it, always having to expend that energy. He couldn't lose it now, the hut was too small, it was barely able to hold him. He took a deep breath, and he looked back out the window, and the familiar blue glint caught his eye. His tail swayed behind him as he pulled himself out of the chair, ready to greet the human at the door. At least, Bad was sure he was human, probably. He had the shape of a human, and spoke English, but his skin was diamond, a beautiful blue sheen and was hard to the touch. This probably-human man was the one who found Bad, who saved him from certain death, who nursed him back to health, who kept him safe.

He entered the hut, shivering from the cold air. Before he could even take off his coat, Bad had wrapped his arms around him, feeling how cold he was, and happy to share his warmth with him. "Hello, Bad," he said. Those were some words Bad could remember their meaning.

"Hi Skeppy," Bad said. He had quite the accent, Bad was aware of that, but the sounds of a human language were drastically different from the Demonic language. His voice was filled with a harshness, almost like growling. A lot of Demonic was spoken in the throat, and Bad knew that it made him sound very different from humans.

"Why are you crying?" Skeppy asked. Bad stared back at Skeppy for a moment before he wiped his eyes.

"No," he said, shaking his head. He understood more English than he could speak. He could figure out mostly what Skeppy was saying, despite the language barrier the two shared. It helped that Skeppy was emotive when he spoke.

Skeppy laughed. "That wasn't a yes or no question, Bad." He took off his coat and hung it on the hook. He could see that Bad wasn't catching on, he always got this quizzical look on his face and his eyes squinted together ever so slightly like it physically helped his brain process. "It's okay." Bad seemed to lessen his tension as he instead looked outside. He pointed out, and looked back at Skeppy. "It's called 'snow', it's normal."

"What is it?" Bad asked.

"Water, frozen water," Skeppy said. He brushed some of the snow from his coat onto his hand and held it out. It wasn't melting in his hand due to it still being cold from having to brave the elements earlier. Bad touched it, shocked to see it had changed from the white ash to plain water.

"Snow." He said, looking to Skeppy for approval. He nodded as Bad smiled.

“How are you feeling?” Skeppy asked as he started working on unpacking the contents of the bag; some food, a few extra blankets, a few other assorted things that they needed to survive.

"Better," Bad said.

Skeppy smiled as he turned to set the bag he was carrying on his bed. Bad could see that there was still something in the bag--a box or something--it was pretty obvious, but he didn’t want to ask about it. Not, that he had to as Skeppy became giddy and he looked back at Bad with excitement filling his whole body.

“Okay, Bad, does the Nether have Christmas?” Skeppy asked. Bad cocked his head, staring at Skeppy with curiosity. "Okay, you don't know what it is. This is awesome, because I get to show you!"

“Show me what?”

“Everything, Bad! This is exciting!” Skeppy laughed, and all Bad could do was stare in confusion. He turned back to the bag, barely able to hold himself steady as he pulled out the box that was in the bag. It was wrapped in decorative paper, and had a ribbon tied in a bow around it. Skeppy held it out to Bad, a wide smile on his face. "Christmas isn't until tomorrow, but I think you should open this gift now."

"What is it?" Bad asked as he took it into his hands, he tried to smell it to see if he could tell what it was, but it didn't smell like anything he recognized.

"For you, Bad, open it," Skeppy said, making the motion of ripping the paper off.

Bad looked between Skeppy and the gift for a moment. He pulled the end of the ribbon to pull it off, not wanting to break it. It was so nice, he didn't want to ruin anything so pretty. He set the ribbon down, and then started on the paper, being careful with it too. He could see Skeppy getting antsy with it, but Bad continued to carefully unwrap the gift, and he set the paper aside too. Finally, he opened the box, and the first thing he saw was a tree. Bad looked back at Skeppy.

"A tree?" Bad asked.

Skeppy nodded excitedly as he reached for the tree. It was attached to a wooden base so it could stand up straight. It wasn't very big, or filled out, it was just a tiny little tree. "A Christmas tree, Bad. Look, there's some ornaments and stuff, we can put it up together, and make it pretty."

"Do all humans do this?"

"Yeah, well, not everyone celebrates Christmas,” Skeppy said.

Skeppy set it in a corner, while Bad continued to look in the box to see what else Skeppy had brought. There were a lot of pretty little glass baubles of all different sorts of colors. He picked one up, a blue one that had the same color as Skeppy's skin. He laughed as he passed it over to Skeppy, who took it and put it up on the tree and turned back to Bad for the next one. He picked out a red one, it was his favorite color, and it would look nice to the blue one.

They continued until the little tree was finished and all the little glass baubles were out of the box and Bad couldn't have been more proud of what he and Skeppy had made together. He knew his tail was swaying from side to side with happiness, and he didn't care.

"It's good," Bad said.

"It looks great," Skeppy said. "But I got you one more thing, Bad."

"Huh?"

Skeppy returned to the bag, and Bad could tell that there was yet more in it. Skeppy gave it to Bad and watched as Bad peered in, sticking his face into the bag like a curious cat. He pulled back and reached his hand in until he found some fabric. He pulled it out, and gasped in shock as he unfolded it, realizing what it was, a new cloak. The one he was wearing was ruined, and it did him no favors blending in with humans, not that his voice didn't give it away immediately, but this one, it was still the same colors, black with a red trim, but the hood was longer, meaning Bad could hide his face better, given he could disguise his horns. The bottom of it was a bit longer, and the tail wasn't split, meaning it would be much easier to hide his tail, and with the right pants, it would be much easier to hide his identity. The only thing that he felt was vulnerable was his face, and the answer to that was a gray and white checkered scarf that was included in the gift as well.

"Merry Christmas, Bad," Skeppy said.

Bad could feel tears in his eyes from how happy he was, and he could feel his body wanting to grow to its natural height, and he could barely stop himself. He hugged Skeppy tightly. "I'll return the favor," Bad said, his tongue slipping into Demonic.

Skeppy pat Bad's back, barely phased by the language. Skeppy recognized the phrase, Bad had said it many times before, and Skeppy always took it as a thank you, but the way Bad said it this time was different, and while Skeppy did know a little bit of the language now, it only now became apparent what the words actually meant. "You already have, Bad."

* * * * * * * * * *

If there ever was a time Bad and Skeppy missed their little tiny hut, it was the night of their second Christmas Eve together. It was colder than either of them could have predicted, and even their water had frozen over. They stayed close to each other, trying to keep one another warm, and Bad had discovered a way to use his fire in such a way that there was no flame, only the heat, and with it, he was able to warm both his clothes and Skeppy's clothes, but when the warmth left, he couldn't help but feel like it was even colder than before.

They knew they had to keep walking, even as they became caught in a blizzard, they knew they just had to keep going. It was pure luck that they had found a cave where they could take shelter from the cold air, and Bad was able to build a fire from some wood they brought from outside. They both sat close to the fire and close to each other, and it was much more of keeping Skeppy warm rather than the reverse. The crystal that made up Skeppy's skin was cold enough to freeze water, but Bad's natural warmth was heavenly to Skeppy.

"You know," he said. "It's Christmas tomorrow."

“It is,” Bad said, nodding slowly.

“I was hoping to have found a place to live by then,” Skeppy said, sighing.

Bad tightened his arm around Skeppy, pulling him closer. “Me too, but it’s okay.”

“Hmm, how?”

“Well, at least we’re still alive.”

Skeppy laughed. “And warm, thanks to you.”

Bad smiled as he nodded, he leaned his head on Skeppy, and Skeppy could sworre that Bad was purring. He wasn’t even sure if demons purr, but Bad was making this deep sound from deep within his throat. It ended just as quickly as it began as Bad sat up quickly.

“Oh! Guess what I was able to bring with me,” Bad said.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

Bad opened up his bag, and he pulled out a box, and Skeppy knew what the box was. His suspicions were confirmed when Bad opened it up and pulled out their little Christmas tree, somehow still alive and doing seemingly well.

“How did you manage that?”

Bad blushed as he set down the tree on the other side of the fire so he and Skeppy could see it across the way while they sat and continued to warm themselves by the fire. “I have a few tricks.”

“Oh, really now?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work.”

“So, it was magic?” Skeppy’s voice was filled with childish wonder.

Bad chuckled as he nodded. “Yeah, I remember a long time ago reading a spell to revive dead plants since they’re few and far between in the Nether, they’re pretty valuable.”
“Like bone meal?”

“Something like that, but stronger.”

“Teach me.”

“What?”

“Teach me!”

Bad laughed again. “Even if you could do the magic, it would end up like me trying to teach you Demonic.”

“Look, I tried, and it’s not my fault you caught onto English so quickly,” Skeppy giggled.

Bad relaxed again, finally feeling warm, and he could feel that Skeppy wasn’t shivering anymore. He was comfortable too. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a gift this year.”

“It’s okay, Bad, I didn’t get you one either,” Skeppy said. "We should have gotten a horse."

Bad sat up. "Okay, so, I may or may not know how to teleport."

"You could teleport this whole time?" Skeppy yelled, pushing away from Bad.

"Skeppy, don't get mad! I don't know what it will do to humans! I can teleport because I'm a demon!" Bad said, standing up. His body was starting to smoke, a telltale sign that he was having trouble holding onto his more human-appearing form.

"Okay, okay, then what's your plan, Bad?"

"Well, there was that town a few hours back, right?" Bad waited until Skeppy nodded before he continued. "Well, I'll teleport back there, buy us a horse, and ride back, and it'll be faster because I'll be on a horse, so a couple of hours?"

"Bad, it's going to be dark in a couple of hours, and do you think a horse will make it through the blizzard?"

Bad hummed as he thought. "I got an idea, don't you worry, Skeppy, I'll be back. Will you be okay here?"

Skeppy sighed, but he nodded. "Yeah, just a few hours, promise you'll come back?"

"Of course I'll come back. I promise," Bad said. Skeppy watched as Bad's form began to grow, mainly in height, but also in appearance. Bad was so tall, nearly ten feet tall, and that was before his horns which grew up and slightly back. His tail grew in length as well, and his legs and feet changed too, not to mention his hair, which was usually at least mostly real-looking, now resembled more fluffy black smoke more than hair on the top of his head.

"You think it'll be smart to go back like that?" Skeppy asked.

"Well, this is easier for me, you're not scared, are you?" Bad looked at Skeppy quickly. He bent down so he could see better.

"It's you, no. Go get that horse, maybe the blizzard will be done by the time you get back."

"Okay, I'll see you later, Skeppy," Bad said. He straightened out as he briefly closed his eyes. He had to take a moment to collect himself before he even began to cast the spell. He muttered some phrases to himself in Demonic, and a bright, white halo appeared behind his head. At least Skeppy understood why Bad added "Halo" at the end of his name. It wasn't just because he liked the word, but because of the fact that he had an actual halo that he never told Skeppy about. That, and "Bad Boy" as a name may have sounded just fine in Demonic, but English was a different story. "Bad Boy Halo", while still odd, seemed more rounded out.

Bad was gone in a blink, and Skeppy was alone in that cave. Well, not completely alone, he had the fire, which still burned blue with Bad's fire, and the Christmas tree with nothing decorating it. Skeppy looked in the box, wondering if Bad had brought the ornaments too. He was happy to see them wrapped up safely in paper so they didn't break. At least he would have something to do in the cave all by himself for hours. Although, that activity didn't take long to complete, leaving Skeppy bored once again.

So, he tried his best to keep himself busy, as busy as he could, but there really wasn’t much to do in an empty cave with a blizzard raging outside. He kept his eye on the fire, making sure it wouldn’t die out while Bad was gone, mostly because he wasn’t confident he could get the fire going again.

Bad said he would only be a few hours, Skeppy knew he could wait a couple of hours for Bad to come back, that wasn't the reason why Skeppy felt so antsy. The real reason, he told himself, was because he was worried about Bad. He knew that Bad was capable of handling himself, but still, he worried. He worried Bad would slip up, or stay too long and get discovered, more and more he was wishing he had just told Bad not to worry about it and that they could go back when the blizzard had passed.

Skeppy really hated being bored. Heavens, this sucked. He could see it was dark now, but that didn’t mean it was late by any means. It did mean that it was at least a few hours later, and he was expecting Bad to come back at any moment. It was only a matter of time now.

Skeppy had been turned away from the entrance. The cold air on his back didn’t nip as badly as the cold air on his face. He huddled up close to the fire, since it was starting to get even colder now. He listened for Bad’s footsteps, or better yet, the footsteps of a horse. Eventually, he did hear footsteps, and he excitedly turned around, but he didn’t see Bad. It was hard to see with his body blocking the only light for who knows how far. He could see a figure, but the figure was definitely not Bad, they weren’t wearing the cloak that Bad had, nor were they nearly ten feet tall like Skeppy expected Bad to still be.

Then, more figures appeared, and Skeppy finally heard the rattle of bones, but it sounded too...off. They weren’t skeletons, Skeppy realized, they were strays that began to shoot at Skeppy, and thankfully missed him by a hair. Skeppy gasped as he had to jump out of the way of another arrow. There was nowhere to go, the cave was a dead end, and he didn’t have his axe on him.

“Leave me alone!” he screamed at them as he felt an arrow graze his arm, and instantly he felt that his muscles were stiff, and he could barely move. Bad was going to find Skeppy as a frozen statue at this rate. He yelped as another arrow whizzed past his head. He ran as deep as he could, trying to avoid the strays’ arrows, and he ducked behind a rock. He heard the rattle of bone again, but not just the casual rattle that they made, instead it was a rattle of pain.

Skeppy looked around the rock, and they could see Bad standing there, his halo behind him as his red magic surrounded the strays, they rattled and shook as Bad used his magic against them until they were nothing more than dust. Bad looked to Skeppy, and as soon as he saw Skeppy, his expression of worry quickly changed to a smile, and then he fell forward with his halo flickering away.

“Bad!” Skeppy ran forward, and kneeled by Bad’s side. “Bad! Are you okay?”

“Too much,” Bad said, groaning.

“Too much what?”

Bad pushed himself back up to a sitting position. He looked pale, at least Skeppy was sure he was pale, it was a little hard to tell. “Magic, I had to use a lot to get Roberto back as quick as I did, and then seeing you...I haven’t used that much magic since…”

“It’ll be alright, Bad, you look like you need sleep, and lots of it,” Skeppy said, helping Bad up as best as he could.

"Wait, did Roberto run?" Bad ask as he propped himself up to his knees.

"Roberto?"

"The horse, Skeppy."

"Oh, right, no he's here."

"Okay good, I'm gonna go to sleep now."

"Sleep well, Bad, Merry Christmas," Skeppy said as he led the horse deeper into the cave and tied it up against a rock.

"Merry Christmas, Skeppy," Bad said with a yawn. He didn't even fully roll out his bed roll, he mostly used it as a pillow as he laid down. It wasn't like he could use it properly anyway, considering he was now way too tall for it. Skeppy laid down too, throwing on a few more logs onto the fire, making it burn brighter, which would hopefully keep any further mobs away. But for now, he was tired enough to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the bedroll, and he hoped that the blizzard would pass before they woke.

* * * * * * * * * *

The next year was a lot nicer than their second year together. They had a house now, perhaps not completely built, but it was their own, and certainly bigger than the tiny hut they had been living out of. This one had two bedrooms, one for each of them, a small bathroom, and a larger main room with a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen all in one. It wasn’t too big, but it was what made Skeppy and Bad happy, and it also allowed them to have their first real Christmas together.

So, Bad had gone and found a suitable tree for Christmas while Skeppy decorated around the house with whatever festive thing he could find in town, which was admittedly not much, but it was enough, and the closer Christmas got, the more excited Skeppy got, especially since the winters here we're not nearly as cold and oppressive as his last home. It barely even snowed here, but it was fine because Skeppy hated cold anyway and Bad wasn't much of a fan of it either.

But still, they were excited for Christmas and finally being able to have a real holiday season together, they pulled out all the stops for it, they made sure to get the right foods, Bad tried his hand at making a pie--which turned out quite well actually--and they got stockings and filled them with treats, and they each put a gift under the tree. Everything was going right, for once.

Their house was filled with the delightful smells of a Christmas dinner, of which Bad and Skeppy worked together to make. They had a roasted ham that was cooked with potatoes, beets, and carrots, they had some fresh bread that they painfully worked together to bake, and of course, Bad’s pumpkin pie. It all smelled amazing, and the only regret either of them had was that they had no one else to share their meal with other than themselves. Still, they were determined to have a great holiday.

They could hardly wait until it finally got dark outside, meaning they could finally eat their hard work. Everything was spread out on the table, dishes were set out, and the eggnog that Skeppy had insisted on having was poured. Yet, they quietly sat there. Skeppy stared out over the food, and Bad stared at Skeppy.

"Are you okay, Skeppy?" he asked. He leaned forward, ready to do anything Skeppy would have wanted him to do.Skeppy seemed to be so far away. Sure, his body was sitting right there in front of Bad, but his mind was a long way away. "Skeppy?"

Skeppy blinked a few times as he realized where he was, he shook his head for a moment and rubbed his face, bringing himself back. He shook out his hands as he looked back at Bad. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I am," Skeppy said. He smiled before he reached forward to start loading up his plate with food, he knew that Bad would be doing the same soon.

"Skeppy," Bad said, drawing out his name in a bit of a whine. Ever since his accent started to fade--or as Bad described, that he was masking it with speaking more like Skeppy--he had gotten really good at getting Skeppy to listen. "Please don't lie to me."

"It's not something I want to talk about on Christmas, Bad," Skeppy said. "Can you pass the bread and butter, please?"

Bad sighed as he passed them over. "Is it something I did?"

"Oh, no, not at all, Bad, why would you think that?"

"Well, it's just you only got quiet when we sat down to have dinner together," Bad said, he pushed the food around his plate with his fork for a moment.

"Oh my god, Bad, why would I be mad at you now when we spent all day together?" Skeppy said with a laugh and a wave of dismissal.

"I don't know," Bad said quietly. He took a bite of the ham, which he discovered tasted very good when it wasn't burned to a crisp.

Skeppy could see it in his face, Bad was blaming himself, and that was the last thing that he wanted. Plus, he knew Bad wasn't going to let it go. "This is the first real Christmas I've celebrated in years."

Bad squinted for a moment before he realized that Skeppy was telling the truth. "Oh," Bad said quietly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Skeppy smiled as he shoved a forkful of food in his mouth. Bad followed suit, though he was watching Skeppy's body language. He could see Skeppy fiddling with his hoodie, and then his hand ran through his hair. "Well, I don't think there's really much to talk about. It just reminds me of when I was normal. Little bit of painful nostalgia, I guess."

"It's okay, Skeppy. You can feel how you feel," Bad said.

Skeppy nodded as he took a sip of the eggnog. "I don't want to make Christmas sad."

"But you're sad, Skeppy, and if you're sad, then I want to see if I can make you feel better," Bad said.

"Okay," Skeppy said, taking in a long breath. "My family used to love Christmas. We went all out every year, and it was always so much fun, and the last two years with you, other things had been going on and I guess I forgot to feel sad, and that makes me feel so much worse."

"Do you mind if I ask what happened to your family?"

"Not at all," Skeppy said. "They're still alive and all, I just haven't really seen them since, well a year after I turned into diamond." Bad stared almost blankly for a moment. He then furrowed his brow. "What? Do you really think that I'm not human?"

"Well, no, I just thought some humans were like you," Bad said. He turned his head away from Skeppy in embarrassment as Skeppy was laughing at Bad.

"Well, I'm no expert or anything, but as far as I know, I'm the only one I've met like me. I was cursed, Bad. That's why I was living in that hut, and that's why I had to leave my hometown," Skeppy said. "I just really miss my family."

"I can be your family," Bad said. "You're all I have too, and I care a lot about you."

Skeppy smiled again, this time, it was wider, more real, and he couldn't help but to giggle. Never in a million years would Skeppy have thought that a demon would be his only family. When he found Bad in need of help, he thought he would help him, and that would be the end of it. Two years later, Skeppy knew that was wrong, and he was always happy to have been wrong about it. "I care about you too, Bad. You're a great friend."

Bad smiled and nodded. "And you're my best friend."

Skeppy went back to eating. There was still so much food, he knew that there would be enough leftovers to last nearly a week, but Skeppy and Bad we're both determined to eat as much as they could today. Skeppy looked over to their tree, and how it glinted in the light of the fire and candles around the house. The presents were still under the tree, not like they would have been moved, they were the only ones in the house. "I know we're still eating dinner, but can we open the gifts?"

"Already? Aren't we supposed to wait until after dessert?"

"Okay, here's my secret, it doesn't matter when we open gifts, and I really think you're going to love your gift. I can’t wait any longer, you have to open it," Skeppy said. He was practically already out of his seat.

“Okay, okay, Skeppy, hang on,” Bad said as he stood up too. He followed as Skeppy jumped over the couch to get to the tree. He picked up the gift he had gotten for Bad and waited until Bad walked over and grabbed the present he had gotten for Skeppy.

Skeppy passed over the gift to Bad, practically shoving it in his hands. Bad took it as he passed over Skeppy’s gift. “Open it, Bad, c’mon, open it!” Skeppy said.

“Hang on, Skeppy, I’m working on it,” Bad said through his laughter. He started by untying the bow, being very very gentle with it so it wouldn’t break. Then, he started on the paper.

“Bad, just rip it!” Skeppy said. He was laughing, and Bad just shook his head.

"The paper is so pretty, I don't want to damage it," Bad said, almost singing it like it was a song. Skeppy whined at Bad, as if it would do anything to make Bad go any more quickly, it wouldn't, and they both knew that. Eventually, Bad got the paper off and set off to the side so he could open the box. Inside were books, all of them some kind of cookbook, but the one that caught Bad's eye was a baking cookbook with a drawing of muffins on the cover There were other assorted cooking and baking tools, many of which Bad didn't really remember the name of. He could feel tears well up in his eyes. "Oh, Skeppy," he said.

"Well, do you like it?" Skeppy asked.

Bad nodded as he wiped away the tears from his eyes. "I love it, Skeppy. Thank you so much."

"I knew you'd love it. You were showing so much interest in cooking Overworld food, and I really wanted to let you learn more," Skeppy said.

"I'm going to make you so many foods," Bad said, almost threateningly. He giggled as he set the box down and gestured to the box Skeppy was holding. "Okay, it's your turn now."

"I can't wait to see what you got me," Skeppy said as he was already tearing through the paper Bad had so carefully wrapped around the box. Bad didn't mind. Just because he prefered to keep his paper, didn't mean he expected Skeppy to do the same. Skeppy opened the box, and looked inside, and his eyes widened at what he saw in front of him. It was a diamond axe, one that glinted purple with enchantments. "Bad, this is a really expensive gift, I just got you cooking stuff," Skeppy said. His face was trying to remain happy, but it quickly fell into a look of worry.

"Oh, I made it myself, well the axe I bought, but all the enchantments that make it really expensive, I did myself," Bad said, grinning.

Skeppy could breathe again as he took the axe out of the box, feeling it in his hands. It was perfect, and the blade was sharp, and the magical energy from the enchantments tickled Skeppy's skin. "It's so cool," he said. "How'd you manage it?"

"Well, you know what they say; a good gift-giver never reveals their secrets." Bad rocked back and forth on his feet.

"Who's 'they'? No one says that."

"Fine, okay, I'm good with enchantments. Just a bit of the right magical pull, and I can enchant no problem. You won't be able to get enchantments as good as the ones I put on the axe from any old enchantment table."

"So, what you're saying is I have perks being best friends with a demon?" Skeppy was already laughing again as he leaned the axe against the couch.

Bad crossed his arms. "Maybe sometimes." Skeppy let out a loud laugh as he gripped his side, it was all made even funnier by the fact that Bad was just staring at him in confusion. "What?"

"Nothing," Skeppy said, forcing himself to recover. He instead stepped forward and gave Bad a hug. "I love it, Bad, thank you."

"You're welcome, and Merry Christmas," Bad said.

Skeppy could feel Bad's tail swaying from side to side happily, he even could swear he heard Bad purring, but there was no proof of that. All he knew was that Bad was genuinely happy. "Merry Christmas, Bad," Skeppy said. He stepped back. "Okay, let's go finish dinner before it gets cold."

"Oh yeah!" Bad gasped. "Let's go."

* * * * * * * * * *

Their fourth Christmas was pretty insignificant as far as Christmases go. Perhaps not so much as insignificant, but average. Nothing big happened; no storm to blow them in, no tiny trees and first Christmases, it was perfectly normal, with the usual wide spread of food, gifts being exchanged, and time spent together, relaxing instead of working for once.

Skeppy couldn't remember why Bad even remembered their fourth Christmas anyway. He knew it was decent, but Bad always remembered a lot of things, especially the things that made him happy, and the holidays certainly made Bad happy.

Their fifth Christmas together was something that they could both remember, however. It wasn't snowy, but they barely ever got more than a dusting of snow here, anyway, so that wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise was the weeks leading up to Christmas while Bad started acting odd. Skeppy knew Bad was hiding something, Bad was a terrible liar, which was always comedic to Skeppy considering Bad's origins.

Regardless, something was off with Bad, and he wouldn't talk about it, and Skeppy was beginning to get worried. He knew Bad was planning something, but that something wasn’t known to Skeppy. Was he thinking about leaving? Was he thinking about wanting to move to a different area? Had he met a new best friend? There were so many possibilities, and Skeppy could find justifications for every single one.

If he was planning on leaving, that was the easiest one to find evidence for. Bad never felt like he belonged in the Overworld. He was a fish out of water, he was a black sheep, he was whatever idioms meant that Bad simply was not like anyone else. Even among nonhumans, Bad stood out. Demons weren’t known to just leave the Nether, and when they did, they didn’t have good intentions. Bad did. He always had good intentions and always wanted to help people if he could, but between the fact that he was a demon, and his name being Bad Boy, it was a little hard to convince people otherwise.

As for Bad wanting to move to a different area, perhaps Bad just was getting bored of seeing this area, he did come to the Overworld to see all of it, afterall, Skeppy knew that, and he felt bad that they were barely ever traveling, maybe that was what Skeppy should give to Bad for Christmas; a promise of a vacation where they could travel a bit and Skeppy could show Bad some more of the Overworld.

The one theory that Skeppy had about why Bad seemed off that was the least believable was Bad finding a new best friend. He was Bad’s best friend, not that he expected Bad to feel the same–he didn’t need to have the expectation, because he knew that it was true. Bad would tell Skeppy nearly everyday how much he meant to him and how he was the best friend that he had ever had. Skeppy was sure that Bad didn’t have a new best friend, but a new friend was entirely possible, and a part of Skeppy was worried that he was being replaced, no matter how absurd that sounded.

So, Skeppy tried to give Bad some distance, not too much, just enough where he could watch Bad from a distance, see what he was up to, see what he was doing. One morning, he watched Bad when he thought Skeppy was still asleep. Bad was pacing the floor, his body slowly becoming more incorporeal as he moved. Skeppy was worried Bad was going to lose his form and his true form would come out and possibly damage their home. It was times like this Skeppy wished they had built the house tall enough for Bad to be in his true form and not have to worry about him accidentally breaking anything, but Bad had insisted on having a normal sized house for humans. Bad looked so worried, and he wrung his hands while he kept moving, and tears welled in his eyes. It pained Skeppy to see Bad like this, so he opened the door, and he spent the day sitting with Bad as they discussed their plans for Christmas.

The few weeks before Christmas were quite stressful for both of them. But still, they got themselves ready, making sure they had secured their feast, and they had gifts under the tree for each other. Skeppy almost forgot about his worry, and it looked like Bad had forgotten too. They had their food, drank their eggnog, and Bad served his pie that he had worked so hard on. It was a recipe from one of his cookbooks, but he played with it a bit to make it that much better. They sat on the couch, watching as the fire burned.

“Delicious pie, Bad, but boy am I stuffed,” Skeppy said, setting his empty plate to the side. He leaned back, resting his hands on his full stomach.

“It was just the cherry on top, the rest of the dinner was amazing too,” Bad said, reaching over Skeppy to grab his plate from him so he could bring it to the sink to wash later.

“Oh, stop being so humble, you made most of it, I just kinda sat around,” Skeppy said, laughing.

“You decorated the house.”

“You got the tree, now let’s stop trying to one up each other,” Skeppy said as he craned his neck to watch as Bad returned to the couch. He sat back down on it quite heavily as he laughed too. His hood was down, he usually had it down when he was in the home, but Skeppy always took it as a compliment that Bad was comfortable around him. The two had gone quiet, almost ready to take a nap, although Skeppy kept looking over to Bad, which Bad was well aware of and was getting worried about why Skeppy was looking at him like that, like Bad was a fragile piece of glass about to fall off of a counter but unable to reach it.

"So, Bad," Skeppy said.

"So, Skeppy." Bad giggled as he turned his head towards Skeppy. He immediately stopped when he saw the expression on Skeppy's face. He was nervous, and truth be told, so was Bad.

“Are you ever going to tell me why you’ve been so weird these past few weeks?” Skeppy asked.

“It’s Christmas, Skeppy,” Bad said. He turned away from Skeppy, dipping his head to hide his face, though Skeppy knew exactly what was happening.

“Don’t say that shit, you and I both know that we can open up to each other no matter what day it is,” Skeppy said.

“Language,” Bad said sheepishly. His voice nearly broke, and they both could hear it. Skeppy could see tears falling down Bad’s face.

“Bad, what’s wrong?” Skeppy said, reaching over and grabbing Bad’s arm. He could hear Bad crying now, he wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. “Bad, come on, talk to me. If you’re upset, then you should know that I am here to listen. I know I screw around a lot, but please, Bad.”

Bad wiped his eyes as he forced air into his lungs. He could feel Skeppy sliding closer to him. “Skeppy.” That was all he could manage to squeak out before Skeppy hugged him, tightly and securely.

“How about we open presents? Maybe that will make you feel a bit better?” Skeppy said, and as soon as he said it, he knew it was the exact wrong thing to say as Bad started crying even harder, making his whole body shake as he gasped for breaths. “Oh my goodness, Bad. Wait here, hang on.” Skeppy jumped over the couch, practically falling flat on his face in his rush to get to Bad’s room. He quickly grabbed Bad’s soft blanket that they had gotten from a nice, older lady in town. Skeppy ran back in and he wrapped it around Bad’s shoulders. “Bad, it’ll be okay, I promise,” Skeppy said as he crawled under the blanket as well, sitting immediately next to Bad.

“I’m sorry,” Bad said.

“For what?”

“Crying on Christmas,” Bad said. He sounded like he was about to cry again.

“Don’t apologize, Bad.”

“But I ruined it.”

“Who said that?” Skeppy said. “I sure didn’t say that, and I’m the only other person here. I just want to know what’s wrong so I can make it better.”

“You can’t make it better, though.”

“But maybe I can, I’m really handy, you know.” Skeppy adjusted the blanket since it started to fall off his shoulder.

Bad took in a deep, albeit shaky, breath. “Well, okay, it’s kind of hard to explain,” Bad said.

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“Okay, so do you know the different types of demons?”

“There’s more than one?”

“There’s ten,” Bad said. “And they are split up into two different groups; cored and uncored. The uncored demons aren’t as magical, and they vary in shape and size, while the cored demons, like me are magical, and are usually determined by height and strength and the like.”

“Okay, I’m following you.”

“Us cored demons run the Nether pretty much, though you humans usually don’t see it. We live on the Bottom Layer of the Nether where you humans almost never go, but this happens because we are very strong, both physically and magically, and that magic comes from our cores, which also contributes to what keeps us alive.”

“Alright, makes sense so far.”

“You’ve seen my core, that halo, it manifests when I perform magic, and while I can choose what it looks like, I can’t stop it from appearing, unless I…” Bad trailed off, he was watching Skeppy, trying to judge his reaction. It was clear that Skeppy wasn’t sure what Bad was going to say. “I can give my core to a human–well any non-demon really, but humans are the most common–-and if I do give my core, it makes it so my magic is hidden, but it also makes it so I can’t really die and a whole bunch of other things. Almost all magic-using demons have a…I don’t really know the translation.”

“So, what’s this all leading to?” Skeppy asked. Bad watched Skeppy’s reaction, seeing if he was scared, but he was just curious.

“Your Christmas gift, but I’m scared to give it to you.”

“But that sounds awesome!” Skeppy said excitedly.

Bad shook his head as tears welled up again. “You don’t understand the implications, Skeppy. You’d be a…” Bad said something in Demonic that Skeppy didn’t know what it meant. He had never heard Bad say those words. Skeppy’s smile faded for a moment, but said nothing, letting Bad continue. “A lot of hosts for cores are used like they’re nothing. They’re stolen from the Overworld and given to a demon to use until they die. It’s sad, and horrible.” Bad couldn’t bear to look at Skeppy anymore. “I don’t want to do it for that reason though, I’ve also heard of demons giving to humans they trust, and that’s what I want to do.”

Skeppy reached out and grabbed Bad’s hand. “Have you ever had one before?”

“Oh my goodness, no, never. I could never do that,” Bad said.

“Okay, then, Bad, I trust you. I know you would never hurt me,” Skeppy said. Bad looked back at Skeppy, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Really? You really like that idea?”

“Well, it’s certainly a lot cooler than the gift I got you,” Skeppy said as he laughed.

“What did you get me?”

“Don’t laugh, but I got you the promise of a trip in the summer,” Skeppy said.

Bad smiled. “I love it, I’m really excited for that.” He looked over to the tree. “So, what did you put under the tree?”

Skeppy burst out laughing. “Nothing, it’s an empty box.”

“Really?” Bad asked, already smiling wider. Skeppy nodded. “I did too.”

That was what it took to get the both of them to laugh, filling the whole house with their laughter. They leaned into each other while struggling to keep the blanket over their shoulders as they moved and giggled. The rest of the night was spent on the couch, where they eventually fell asleep.

A few weeks later was when Bad actually gave Skeppy his core, another event that neither of them would truly forget. For Bad, he had to break out his tome so he could actually remember how to do it, and it was quite difficult for him to manage to do without ever being shown how to. But he managed it, and he almost wished he hadn’t. Skeppy was rendered unconscious for days afterwards, and even when he woke up, he was rendered incapacited for weeks afterwards. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t move, but slowly, he became better, and he soon returned to normal, leaving Bad feeling horrible for what he had done.

Regardless, in the end, Skeppy bounced back, almost better than ever before. He had his energy returned to him, and he had repeatedly assured Bad that he was fine, and once Bad finally believed Skeppy fully, Bad knew that he had made the right choice. He knew there would be no one else he would ever meet who would be better suited than Skeppy to host his core.

* * * * * * * * * *

The years had gone by. Christmases came and went, gifts were given and received, seasons passed, and yet through it all, Bad and Skeppy remained at each other's sides, only getting closer and closer with each passing year. They were family, closer than anyone else in their lives, both present, and past, and they were sure for the future too. Many Christmas days passed, and like an old married couple, they never ran out of things to talk about, and they never ran out of reasons to spend time together, and their routine was unshaken by the passing of time.

Then, one Christmas, Skeppy was alone. It was easily the worst Christmas he ever had, and Bad was off who knows where. Skeppy had sent him a message on his communicator, reading "the only gift I want for Christmas is you, please come home". The next Christmas Skeppy was no longer alone. Bad came back, this time with a baby, and their Christmases were never quite the same. Bad was a dad, and Skeppy was an uncle to a little flame of a kid named Sapnap. He changed everything, he brought so much light to the world that Bad and Skeppy were happy to have. They spent a few more Christmases in their home before they spent one Christmas on the road, trying to find a new home after it’s unfortunate and accidental burning.

The first Christmas in the small town of Sleepy was unlike anything Bad had ever been a part of. Finally, he was a part of something he had always sought after; a community. Granted, it was a community of hybrids, and people who were not like normal humans, but that didn’t matter, because Bad and Skeppy found that they were the most accepting people in the Overworld. Finally, they were in something bigger.

By the second Christmas in Sleepy, their little family expanded to include George and Dream as well. Skeppy would have never expected to have a family quite so large, but Bad was more than happy to provide for the boys, especially since they really needed the help. While the boys were all young, they spent every Christmas together, and with the other children in Sleepy, it was always a treasure to keep.

Inevitably, the children grew up, and things changed, and Bad and Skeppy found themselves spending Christmases without their boys, but they still always made an effort to return sometime around the holiday.

Still, Bad treasured all the memories he had built, along with all the mementos that he had kept, including all the ribbons that Skeppy had used to tie his gifts together. It was one Christmas while they were still in Sleepy that Bad had decided to spend some time in the storage space in their basement, and he found the little box where he had kept all the ribbons, all of them neatly rolled up and filling the box. Each one brought him back to a different Christmas, and he couldn’t help but to find himself tearing up as he looked through them.

Skeppy found Bad like this, sitting cross-legged on the floor and surrounded by the ribbons. He watched him like this for a few moments, before Skeppy decided to step in. “Is this why you kept all these ribbons?” Skeppy asked. He sat down next to Bad, being very careful to not step on any of them or upset any of them as it was clear that Bad was being protective of them.

“I know they’re worthless, but look at them! Oh, this is the one you gave me when Sapnap was twelve. Oh! And this one Phil gave the both of us when we moved in.” Bad was excitedly picking up the ribbons and showing Skeppy. “And this one,” he said, picking up an old one. It was frayed and the colors were heavily faded. “Is the first one you ever gave me.”

“If they mean this much to you, then they’re not worthless,” Skeppy said as he took the ribbon from Bad’s hands. He knew that if Bad hadn’t told him when it was from, he wouldn’t have known at all. Skeppy wasn’t the kind of man to remember such details, but Bad was, and that was one of the many features that made Bad himself.

Bad smiled as he started to pack the ribbons back out. “I was just looking for those little sock snowmen that Sapnap, Dream, and George made, you know the ones that they made to look like all of us?”

“Yeah, I think those are upstairs,” Skeppy said.

“Oh, do you think we should put them out this year? I wonder if the boys will come home before we take down the tree,” Bad said.

“I don’t know,” Skeppy said. He looked like he was about to leave before he suddenly turned back around. “Wait, Bad, I think I know exactly where the little sock snowmen are.”

“Oh? Where?” Bad stood up and looked around, his tail was swaying around happily.

“Uhm,” Skeppy hummed for a while, drawing it out way longer than he really had to.

“Skeppy!” Bad said.

Skeppy turned back to him. “Yeah?”

“Where are they?”

“What?”

“Skeppy, stop messing around, do you know where they are or not?”

“Oh yeah, they’re in that box right behind you,” Skeppy said, pointing to the right one. Bad spun around, and he reached up to reach the box, and he carefully pulled it down and unfolded the top so he could look to see what was inside.

With a gasp, Bad showed Skeppy the sock snowmen. They were a little old, but they were still mostly in shape, and it was still obvious who was who; a plain white snowmen with nothing more than a smiley face for Dream, another plain white one with round sunglasses for George, a third plain white one with a little flame painted on the front with a bandana around the head for Sapnap, a blue one with a tongue sticking out for Skeppy, and a black and red one with horns and a tail for Bad.

“See? I told you I knew where they were,” Skeppy said, sticking his tongue out at Bad.

"Where should we put them?" Bad asked as he pulled out all five of them and tucked them into his arm. He set the box back down.

"Hmm, I'm sure we'll find somewhere to put them, but hey, c'mere," Skeppy said. He started to leave the storage room, making Bad follow.

"What is it?" Bad asked as Skeppy led him into the training room instead. "You want to train tonight?"

"What? No, why would I do that?" Skeppy laughed as he looked at their collection of weapons, until he found the old diamond axe. "I just wanted to--" He almost grabbed it, but a loud crash upstairs startled both of them.

"What the fudge was that?" Bad gasped. His grasp on the snowmen tightened and his whole body stiffened.

"Uh, I'm sure it was nothing," Skeppy said, giving a nervous chuckle.

"Skeppy, I think there's someone up there," Bad said, lowering his voice. He crouched over, ready to creep up the stairs. Suddenly, there was a loud thump, which made Bad jump and drop the snowmen.

"Bad! The snowmen!" Skeppy called out after Bad, but Bad was just running up the stairs. Skeppy quickly gathered them up before he followed Bad too.

Bad was running up the stairs, going two at a time, there was someone in the house. Who would break into a house in Sleepy? On Christmas Eve especially? Bad pushed open the door, ready to...do something. He didn't grab a weapon, so he wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do.

He couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary anymore, but he did see a broken vase, one that Techno had brought back from some far off land and given to Bad and Skeppy. Bad was sad to see it broken, but that was not the forefront of his thought. Now, he heard whispering, and he could tell it was coming from the living room. He turned back to see Skeppy standing at the top of the stairs holding the snowmen.

Bad was about to turn the corner when someone stumbled out, and he could recognize that long, messy head of hair anywhere. Sapnap was glaring back at the living for a moment before he turned back to Bad and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Uh, hi Dad," he said.

"Oh my goodness! You muffinhead, you scared the life out of me!" Bad said, opening his arms up for a hug.

Sapnap gave the hug to Bad, and he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, we wanted it to be a surprise, but...well." Sapnap looked back to the living room, and Bad leaned over to see what he was looking at. There, George was on the floor, surrounded by Christmas decorations that appeared to have fallen down around him, and Dream was standing over him, laughing. George pushed up his sunglasses, and Dream wiped tears away from under his mask.

"George, you idiot," Dream laughed.

"It's not my fault, Sapnap pulled the stupid garland when I wasn't ready," George said in a huff.

Dream couldn't hold his wheezing laughter in as he held out a hand to pull George up. "C'mon, get up."

"No, I won’t." George shook his head as he crossed his legs. He looked up, and he saw Sapnap and Bad staring back at him. "Oh, hi Bad."

"We wanted to surprise you," Sapnap said again.

"Uh, Merry Christmas, Bad!" Dream said, quickly throwing a handful of glitter in the air that he pulled out of his pocket. Everyone knew they would be sweeping up glitter for years now.

Bad giggled as he looked between the three boys. Well, they weren't boys anymore, Bad knew that. They were all full grown now. "It's a surprise enough," Bad said. Skeppy walked up now, holding out the snowmen to Bad. "Did you know about this?"

"Oh, yeah, of course I did," Skeppy said.

Bad smiled so wide as he grabbed the snowmen. He had to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Dad, you're not gonna cry, are you?" Sapnap asked. He kept his voice hushed, not wanting to bring too much attention to it.

"No, I'm fine, Sap. It just means so much to me to see you three come home for the holidays," Bad said. "I know you are always so busy and far off, so it's just a big treat to see you boys home."

"Oh, Dad, you know we are only a call away," Sapnap said, patting the communicator in his pocket.

Bad laughed again. "I know, but I don't want to bother you."

Dream stepped in, finally leaving George to sit in his mess of Christmas decorations. He pulled down his hood and unbuckled his mask, hooking it on a belt loop. His freckled and scarred face had a wide smile on it. "What do you mean bothering us? You're never bothering us. In fact, you should come with us sometime."

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah! It'll be fun," Dream said. He looked back to George, who was standing up finally, and he had draped some garland over his head.

"Hey, Bad, are those the sock snowmen we made?" George asked, he peered closer. He laughed when he was sure what they were. "I can't believe you kept them."

"Of course I kept them, George, I keep everything."

"Yeah, he has ribbons from all sorts of Christmas gifts in the basement," Skeppy said.

Bad shrugged. He couldn't deny it, and he wouldn't, considering he was actually proud of it. He just walked over to the fireplace and carefully set the snowmen on the mantle. "There, now they're all together again."

Skeppy walked up beside Bad so he could get a better look at them, and soon Sapnap followed. Dream and George weren't far behind either. Dream wrapped his arm around Sapnap and George, pulling them close, and Bad's tail wrapped around Sapnap's leg. Skeppy stood close to Bad. None of them could remember the last time they were all together, and the last time they all felt like a family. It must have been ages ago, but regardless, behind here, together, one family, was nice. Bad couldn't help but to test up again.

"Oh, we almost forgot," George said, worming his way out of Dream's grasp. Bad and Skeppy turned to him as George ran over to their pile of things that would have to be brought up to their room later. He picked up a round present, of course with a bow. “Here, from all of us,” he said as he held it out somewhere between Skeppy and Bad. “For both of you.”

Bad took the gift, and like always, he was carefully removing the ribbon, not wanting to damage it, but as soon as he got it off, he passed it over to Skeppy to finish tearing into the paper. Inside was a container with a cake inside. “Aww, did you guys make this?”

“Yeah!” Sapnap said proudly. “We all did something. Dream got the ingredients and put it all together, I baked it, and George decorated it.”

“Wasn’t easy to do on the road,” Dream said, laughing. “Especially since Sapnap kept burning the cake.”

“Hey!”

“What? You did.”

“And you made us eat them,” George added.

Sapnap crosses his arms. “Whatever, the point is, that we made it for you and Uncle Skeppy, Dad,” Sapnap said.

“It’s perfect,” Bad said.

“Oh! It’s chocolate, which means if it is burnt, we wouldn’t be able to tell,” Skeppy said.

“Heh, right,” Sapnap said.

“Anyway, I’m hungry, what’s for dinner?” George asked, already starting to head into the kitchen.

“Yeah, me too, you got something cooking, Bad?” Dream asked. He started to follow George into the kitchen, and Sapnap wasn’t far behind.

“If dinner’s not ready, what do you have for snacks?” Sapnap asked.

Bad shook his head. “Well, if you’re all hungry, we could eat some of your cake.”

“Dessert first?” George called out from the kitchen.

Bad and Skeppy followed the boys too. Dream was reaching over George’s head to grab some plates from the cabinet while George was getting some forks out. “I didn’t know all of you would be home tonight,” Bad said as he started to cut into the cake.

“Pizza?” Sapnap suggested.

“Pizza sounds good,” Dream said as he passed the plates over to Bad so he could serve the cake.

“Uh, we’d have to go into town, we could get some though,” Bad said.

“I’ll go,” Skeppy said. “Save me a piece, okay?”

“Alright, we’ll save you one,” George said as he was already shoving a bite of the cake into his mouth.

Bad already knew he would be in for an hour alone with the boys, where they would excitedly tell him about their escapades. Ranging from joining competitions, to just traveling around, and exploring the world together. Anything they had to say would be interesting to Bad, and he was always excited to hear it and to hear that his boys were doing well for themselves.

They clearly had only just begun when Skeppy returned with three pizzas and immediately, they all began to dig in, going quiet as their hunger for an actual dinner overtook their need to talk. It was only when they were almost done did they start talking again.

“I don’t know what it is about the holidays, but it always makes me nostalgic,” Sapnap said.

Skeppy laughed as he looked at Bad. “You get it from your father,” he said.

“Sorry, Sap, but it’s true,” Bad said.

“Like, I’m just thinking back to when we first moved here,” Sapnap said.

“Oh my goodness, that was such a wild year,” Bad said. “That was the first year we really saw snow. Well, I had seen snow before, but not like that.”

“Wilbur helped us make a snowman,” Sapnap said. “I think we played in the snow all day.”

“That was the same year we met you guys too,” Dream said. “Right after Christmas.”

“Remember all those snowball fights?” George said. “Sapnap always cheated.”

“What?” Sapnap was already laughing. “I didn’t cheat.”

“You made ice from the snow with your stupid fire!” George yelled.

Sapnap shrugged as he looked at Bad. “You’re just a sore loser, George.”

“I am not!”

“Rematch, then?” Dream asked. “Plus Bad and Skeppy, c’mon it’ll be fun.”

“You’re on,” Sapnap said, standing up from the table quickly. He ran over to the coats and threw Dream’s, George’s, and Skeppy at them before he was already running outside.

In a rush, everyone left the house and into the yard. Lights from the other houses lit up the area enough so everyone could see just fine, and before anyone knew it, they were in an all out war with snow. No one was safe, everyone was getting pelted with snow, and everyone was laughing. What could have easily been hours passed while they were in the snow.

Skeppy was the first one to go inside. He got too cold too quickly and figured the others could have fun in the snow while he warmed up inside. George and Dream were next. George started to complain about the cold as well, and when he went inside Dream wasn’t far behind. That left the two who rarely got cold, Bad and Sapnap.

Bad had lost sight of Sapnap, and he had to get the last hit, he couldn’t allow his son to win this time. He checked around, making sure to look up trees and around bushes and passed snow banks. He had just finished checking one and was turning around to continue to look, when he was blindsided and tackled into the snow.

“Hah! Gotcha!” Sapnap was laughing as he pinned Bad down. “Do you admit defeat?”

“Oh, you muffinhead,” Bad said. “Fine, fine, you win this time, Sappy.”

Sapnap stood back up and threw his hands in the air in celebration. Though, he didn’t get to vocalize it before he was knocked back down by Bad throwing a snowball right at his face. He fell onto his butt and looked at Bad in shock before he started laughing.

“Heh, guess I actually win?” Bad crossed his legs.

“You got me there, Dad,” Sapnap said as he wiped the snow off his face. “It’s really good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you again too, Sap.” Bad’s tail dragged in the snow as it swayed gently. He had a purr in his voice that Sapnap easily caught on to.

“Thank you.”

“For winning the snowball fight?”

Sapnap snorted. “No, not that, for everything,” Sapnap said.

“Aw, Sappy, you don’t need to thank me.”

“I know, but I just wanted to say it, because I could be a little shit when I was younger.”

“Language.” It didn’t even look like Bad realized he said it at first. “But yeah, you could be a handful, and with George and Dream too…oh my goodness I am happy to have Skeppy here too.”

Sapnap chuckled. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Sapnap.”

Sapnap stood up and held out a hand to pull Bad to his feet too. When they both stood up, Sapnap hugged Bad. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Bad said, giggling softly. Despite it being quite cold out, Sapnap and Bad both felt so warm. Yeah, they both had their own friends and their own adventures, but there was nothing warmer than a hug from family.

When they finally went back inside, the others were waiting for them in the living room with a cup of hot chocolate for them. It may not have been Phil’s famous hot chocolate, but it still was delicious and warmed them up, not that either of them really needed it. Still, it was a perfect way to end the night, with everyone sitting in the living room in front of the fire, wondering what the next Christmas would bring.