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Christmas was, historically, not the most spectacular of holidays in the Greater DSMP. It was a time to remember the Church of Prime, to give gifts, and to play in the snow. But every past Christmas had ended up in either tragedy or war, often both.
And it wasn’t like snow was a very notable occurrence in either Snowchester or the Arctic.
Still, Tubbo felt like he had to decorate for the season. If not for himself, then for Michael.
It was hard, raising a child of a totally different species all alone. Michael had many quirks that a human child wouldn’t, and some days were exceptionally difficult to deal with. Yet Tubbo couldn’t let the kid down. He had to make sure that Michael had a wonderful, happy, and safe holiday season. Especially since he only just got the piglin back.
Tubbo hadn’t returned to Snowchester after the kidnapping. It wasn’t… safe there. Not for Michael. So he’d headed to the Arctic base Ranboo had built. The building wasn’t incredible, but it also wasn’t a totally strange place to Tubbo. He’d been there before, multiple times. Despite the history between himself and the neighbors, Tubbo recognized the strength that came with numbers, with community.
Besides, Ranboo had trusted Technoblade and Philza enough to build a home near them. Michael already saw the two as some uncle-grandpa hybrid as well. When the Ghost had drifted through the door and welcomed them home, Tubbo decided it was good enough to stay.
Bottom line was that it was safe enough for Michael, so long as Michael was baby-gated to the upstairs rooms and wasn’t allowed into the basement.
Or outside.
Or anywhere near that damned cow pen. Or out into the snow without his coat and gloves. Or let out of Tubbo’s sight at all, really.
That was how Tubbo ended up staying at the Arctic Commune long after Snowchester should have been safe to return to. And now it was Christmas time, and Michael hadn’t had a proper celebration yet. Tubbo wanted to give him one, which found Tubbo outside, stringing up long chains of woven spruce branches along the edge of the house.
The cold was an old friend at this point, and didn’t bite at his fingers as he worked. Which was very helpful, because these damn branches just refused to stay in one spot. Tubbo was biting back curses every step of the way because Michael was watching, face pressed up against the window, with a curious gaze as Tubbo worked.
He may not be a good parent, but he was not going to let the kid pick up curses from him. Tommy was already a bad enough influence for that one.
It was hard not to curse, though, when he finished tacking up one strand of branches just for another to fall a few blocks away.
“Oh!” exclaimed a familiar voice. “Are you okay?”
“No,” Tubbo admitted. He sighed, shifting his balance on his ladder so he could peer down at the person below. “Hi, Niki. What brings you over?”
Niki grinned, hoisting a basket in the air. “Cookies! I was delivering some to Techno and Phil, and figured I’d bring some over to you while I was here.”
“Oh cool. You can put ‘em inside if you want.”
“Would you like a hand?” Niki asked as she carefully put the basket of baked goods just inside the door to the hut. “You look like you’re struggling a bit.”
Tubbo was stubborn, but he was no fool. He nodded.
With an extra set of hands, the work went fairly quick. They had the garland hung within minutes, and they were even able to weave in a few woolen ribbons and berry bundles. They stood back, brushing snow from their hair, and smiled at their work.
“Not bad, is it?” Tubbo asked, watching Michael stare at the large center bow through the windows.
“It looks amazing, Tubbo,” Niki rubbed her hands together and burrowed into her scarf.
“Now, I just need to find a tree,” Tubbo sighed. “Then we can really have Christmas.”
“Christmas!” Niki gasped. “That reminds me! I was also coming over to invite you to something.”
Tubbo paused where he was stacking the ladder beside the door and looked over expectantly.
“So, uh,” Niki hesitated, humming as she thought. She seemed to figure out where she wanted to start, and nodded to herself. “Alright, so you know Techno, Phil, and I were good friends with Ranboo?”
“I didn’t until recently,” Tubbo admitted. Ranboo had kept his other home a secret for a long time while he was staying in Snowchester. Tubbo never had gotten a proper reason why out of the guy, but if Tubbo had to guess, it was because of Techno’s history with L’manburg. It wasn’t really until Techno was knocking on his door that Tubbo had understood exactly what his other half had been up to. “But you could say I know now.”
Niki nodded again, and it was clear she needed no elaboration. “We always met up to… talk. About things,” she stuttered, breaking into a chuckle, “A bit like a book club, actually! This last year, we’ve tried to do some birthdays and a few holidays together as well. And since last Christmas was… well…”
Tubbo nodded grimly. The Green Festival had certainly not been the highlight of anyone’s winter.
Niki cleared her throat.“Anyway, we thought we’d have a little Christmas party. With just the four of us and one guest each. And since Ranboo probably would have invited you, I thought maybe you’d like to come? Since you’re here, anyway. Michael could come as well! And Ghostboo, if he’s here.”
Tubbo hesitated to accept immediately. The thought of Technoblade, the great and powerful, just sitting down at a Christmas party was… unusual. But it would be a great way to show Michael what the season was all about, and it sure beat celebrating alone in a house full of ghosts. “Who all would be coming?”
“Phil’s invited Wilbur, and Techno says he’s not inviting anyone. But Tommy will likely be around,” Niki said. A subtle smirk spread across her lips. “Don’t tell him I said this, but Techno gave up his invite so Wil could bring Tommy, so we don’t go over the count.”
“Oh, well, that sounds fun,” Tubbo admitted. If Tommy was there, and Wilbur and Phil were likely distracting Techno, Tubbo could probably find a little peace. It may be a bit volatile, but with Niki there to help diffuse the situation, it would probably, maybe, possibly, be okay. “I’ll think about it.”
Niki clapped her hands, smiling brightly. “Good! You have a few days to think about it, so don’t worry! We were planning on getting together a bit after noon on Christmas Day. Like a dinner party.”
“Alright,” Tubbo hummed.
They drifted into silence, Niki shivering slightly and Tubbo unsure what to do about it. Tubbo looked up at the decorations to avoid looking at her. Just as the silence was dragging on into awkward territory, he finally gathered his words.
“You should probably go warm up somewhere,” Tubbo said.
“I really ought to be heading back now,” Niki said at the same time.
A bit of stammering back and forth and a few chuckles later, and they were in agreement. Their farewells were said and Niki was on her way back through the snow toward the nether portal.
Nihachu: Hey, Tubbo, do you have any spare spruce?
Tubbo_: yeah probably
Tubbo_: where you at?
Nihachu: You know where my city is?
Tubbo_: maybe
Tubbo_: no no i don’t
Nihachu: [sent coords]
Tubbo_: ty niki
Tubbo took only a short while to locate the entrance to Niki’s underground city.
It was a magnificent place, really. Tucked right into a natural-looking ravine under a mountain, the entrance opened up into a beautiful arched ceiling and massive hanging bridge. Niki met him at the entrance, her smile genuine despite the bags under her eyes.
“Hey Tubbo,” Niki greeted, “Good to see you again.”
“Good to be here,” Tubbo snatched a stack of spruce from his Inventory, holding it out with a smirk. “Got your spruce, bossman! Where do you want it?”
“There are some chests down at the end. I’ll show you.”
Tubbo had never actually been to Niki’s city. The place was impressive; made out of stone brick and concrete, the main walkway was an elevated, hanging thing built up on massive stilts. It trailed through the long corridor and split at several major rooms, each with a huge staircase spiraling to the lower floors. One hosted dozens of floating balloons holding various lanterns. Another branch was home to a beautiful, crisp-blue aquarium. The height and beauty of the place was astounding, and it was hard to imagine such a gigantic build lying just beneath the surface of the world.
The place was mystical, and it was clear that Niki had spent a lot of time on it.
“Have you been working on this place a lot lately, then?” Tubbo asked, “Is that why you look so tired?”
“Oh, no, actually,” Niki chuckled, and there was a bitterness to the sound. “I’ve been thinking about something lately. I’m hoping some work will keep my mind off it. You can put it in there, by the way.”
“I don’t mean to pry or anything, but what’ve you been thinkin’ about?” Tubbo asked, kneeling to pop open the chest and arrange the spruce stacks in neat rows within.
Niki hesitated, frowning, before she let out a massive sigh. “The Christmas party,” she admitted. “It’s stupid.”
“Has something gone wrong?” The chest snapped closed faster than Tubbo would have liked, and he grimaced. “If there’s something you need from Snowchester, I could always go get some. Or if someone needs to bring something, or—”
“No, Tubbo, it’s okay,” Niki cut him off, “Nothing’s changed about the party. It’s just… something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.”
Tubbo hummed at that, dropping to the floor to sit and look up at his friend. He wasn’t the best at comforting people, but he knew the feeling of a single thought ricocheting around your brain for weeks on end. The type of thought that refused to be removed, and made every waking moment stressful. He’d had plenty of thoughts like that back in New L’manburg. “Weeeeeeeell,” Tubbo drew the word out, “maybe talking about it will help?”
Niki let out a breath, slumping with the force of it. She settled onto an inactive furnace, running a hand through her hair. “It’s really nothing,” she insisted, “I just… I’m the only one without a plus one right now, and it’s getting to me.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Tubbo chewed on his lip as he looked up at her, seeing if she had more to say. When she stayed silent, he made up his mind and asked another question. “Do you have someone you’d like to invite?”
“There,” Niki paused, clearing her throat. “There is, but I don’t know how to… I don’t know how to not make it awkward.”
“So who is it?”
Niki’s reply was cut off by the chime of a noteblock. “That would be the oven!” she exclaimed, pushing off the furnace and hurrying back toward the entrance.
And now Tubbo was one part curious and one part worried. And maybe three parts too invested in this, so he bolted to his feet and dashed after her. “So, who is it?” Tubbo pressed on when he caught up, deathly serious as he stared through his overgrown bangs.
“I don’t—” Niki stammered. “It’s none of your business.”
“Oooh, Niki has a crush?”
“What? No!” The way Niki paused at the kitchen gate, ears turning red as she squeaked out the words made Tubbo laugh. She pushed on through the gate, pulling on some gloves and heading for the oven.
Tubbo leaned on the gate, watching her work with a smirk. “Niki has a crush! Niki has a crush!” he teased, enjoying the spluttered protests from the baker.
The kitchen was a homey sort of thing, all brick and mortar with a simple open flame stove top and iron oven. There was a smoker under a hood in one corner, an icebox next to the counter, and a variety of baked goods sprawled across every surface.
“I don’t have a crush, Tubbo,” Niki insisted. She busied herself with a bowl from the icebox, which she began piping onto a flat sheet. “I thought back in L’manburg I did, but it... wasn’t.”
“That’s spicy,” Tubbo chuckled, “Who was it? Alyssa? Hannah? Jack?”
Niki shook her head wistfully, setting down her piping bag and staring at the little pink mounds on the sheet. “No, none of them. I actually thought, at one point, that maybe I liked Wilbur.”
Tubbo blinked.
Niki cringed.
“You thought you were straight,” Tubbo stated, “on this server?”
Niki made a face, sliding the tray into the oven and fiddling with a small redstone contraption on the side. “Anyway, it turns out I didn’t think of him as anything more than a friend.”
“Well, he’ll be at the party, won’t he? He can’t be the one you want to invite.”
“I’d rather he not show up, actually,” Niki murmured. Something clicked near the stove when the baker pressed a button, and the soft clicking of a hopper clock started up. She turned back to face Tubbo. “No, Tubbo, I don’t have a crush on anyone. Yes, there’s someone I’d like to invite, but I’m—” she paused, pulling her lips into a tight line. She tossed the piping bag back into the bowl and put it away in the icebox. “I’m sorry, I’m really bad at this,” Niki trailed around the island to lean against the counter and meet Tubbo’s gaze. “I shouldn’t be worrying you with my relationship problems. It’s not fair to you.”
“It’s fine, Niki, that’s what friends are for,” Tubbo hopped up on the gate and settled on a post. “I can try to give some advice if you want?”
“I’m not sure how much you can help, though,” Niki said. She started to pull some cupcakes out of the pan she’d removed when they first arrived, stacking them neatly on a cooling rack. “You had a successful relationship with Ranboo, you two were in love, and—”
“Me? In love with Ranboo?” Tubbo cackled, “Hell no, we got married for the tax benefits!”
The cupcake Niki was holding slipped from her grasp. She yelped, fumbling to catch it. When it was safely on the counter, she looked up at Tubbo with wide, concerned eyes. “You didn’t love each other?”
“Oh, we did,” Tubbo waved a hand in dismissal, “But only as friends. We weren’t, like, in love. I’m not interested in all that kissy lovey shit, and neither was he. We just got married because it was fun.”
That was the truth of the matter, too. Niki was staring down the cupcakes like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Tubbo had been, too, back when he realized what was going on with himself. When he’d gotten married, it had taken a lot of talking and a fair bit of negotiating and trial-with-error before Ranboo and he’d been comfortable. They’d settled into a totally platonic partnership, focused on Michael and safety and finding peace after the wars.
Tubbo missed that company-filled peace.
“I’ve never understood romance, like, as a whole thing,” Tubbo commented. “You hear about it in books and shows and stuff, but it just doesn’t make sense to me, never has.”
Niki blinked a few times. Then, she carefully picked up the cooling rack and moved it to another counter along the wall. “So you and Ranboo were married but… not in a romantic way?” Niki spoke faster. “How did that work? Did you date at all? Did you just live together?”
“We went on a few dates,” Tubbo explained, “But mostly just out to eat or little playdates with Michael. It was nice, while it lasted.”
Niki deflated at his words. “Right, sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay, really,” Tubbo shook his head, hopped off the gate, and made his way over to where Niki was staring at the cupcakes again. “I miss him, yeah, but it’s not gonna bring him back. Being sad, I mean. I’ve gotten to acceptance with that one.” He snagged one chocolate cupcake from the rack and bit into it before Niki could protest. “I reckon,” Tubbo continued, “that if you want to spend time with someone, you ought to do it. Because you never know when you’ll not be able to anymore. Doesn’t have to be romantic or anything, either. Just say ‘hey, I wanna spend time with you, no strings attached.’ And if they feel the same, they'll say yes. You just got to ask.”
Niki started to speak, but seemed torn between responding to what he said and what he’d done, just as was planned. Tubbo took another bite of the cupcake and continued speaking.
“Seriously, just tell them what you want out of it,” the teen stuffed the rest of the cupcake in his mouth and licked the chocolate off his thumb, “and I’ll see ‘em at the party, right?”
The glaze he was met with was solid disbelief.
“Right?” Tubbo shot her finger guns while slowly retreating toward the exit. “You got this.”
It took a couple tries for the finger guns to work, but Niki eventually sighed, smiling softly. “Yeah, Tubbo. See you at the party.”
Tubbo_ whispers: can you help me make a path for Michael’s boat
Ph1lza whispers: Sure thing, mate
Tubbo_ whispers: Thanks a lot big man
It seemed like just yesterday Tubbo had been stringing up spruce and hanging bows around the house. Yet today, Christmas Day, he found himself loading tiny little Michael into a boat on the covered walkway Phil had helped hang between the shack and Techno’s place.
Moving Michael anyplace was a two man job, at least. Though Ghostboo had been around for a while to watch, he hadn’t been too much help. The ghost had, at least, kept the small piglin entertained long enough for Tubbo to usher him into the boat and across the way.
They’d closed up the trapdoors on the main floor, so when they arrived, Tubbo just let the little guy loose behind the child gate at the front door.
The cabin was toasty warm inside thanks to the crackling fire in the corner. Which, of course, Michael ran directly toward. He was stopped by the iron bars in the hearth, but he decided to run small circles in front of the fire out of excitement. Then, he turned and started grumbling toward Edward, the tall Enderman in the living room boat.
“Seems like he’s already made a friend,” Phil commented, brushing snow from his cloak as he entered the house. “Let us know if he gets into any trouble, Tubbo. I’m gonna go help Techno in the kitchen.”
Tubbo was the first to arrive through the snowstorm that greeted them Christmas afternoon.
The next was Wilbur, who strode through the door with a presence and arrogance that was perfectly in character for him. He tossed his jacket on the hook by the door, greeted Tubbo with a nod, saluted Edward, and high tailed it to the kitchen. His arrival was also, presumably, the reason Techno rushed out of the kitchen and up the ladder to the attic, mumbling something about gapples.
Tommy was the next to arrive, throwing the door open and letting cold and snow bombard the cabin as a whole as he shouted his existence to the heavens. He then promptly tackled Tubbo into the couch, and they stole Techno’s jukebox to play a few discs and liven up the place.
Niki, however, was nowhere to be found.
Tubbo hadn’t realized how late she was until he noticed Phil staring at his communicator with a frown while Techno pulled several steaks from the smoker. Whatever Phil was typing went unspoken as he called everyone to the table, wrangling the whole group into grabbing dishes and settling down for a few minutes to help get food plated.
It was only as they were sitting down, Techno and Phil on opposite ends of the table and two empty seats set on one side, that the door opened again. It was already dark out, the hanging lights on the porch railings the only light in the darkness. Niki stumbled in, shivering despite her heavy sweater and cloak, snow sticking to her eyelashes.
And there was another person waiting just behind her.
Tubbo smiled at that, craning his neck to see who she’d brought.
“Sorry I’m late,” Niki said. “It took longer to pack everything up than I thought it would. But we have desserts!”
The announcement got a cheer loud enough to obscure any confusion over the mystery guest, so by the time Puffy got through the baby gate and had shook the snow from her curls, the rest of the group were carrying several boxes of cupcakes and macarons to the kitchen.
Niki settled into the chair next to Tubbo and Puffy took the seat to her right. And when everyone was busy laughing at Tommy, who had attempted to steal a cupcake early only to drop it on the floor frosting-down, the baker nudged Tubbo’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” Niki whispered.
Nihachu: Puffy and I are going to reopen the old cafe! Everyone is invited to opening day!
Tubbo_: pog
Technoblade: do you do doordash?
CaptainPuffy: maybe if you ask nicely
Technoblade: im giving you a one star rating already
Technoblade: no doordash
Technoblade: a sin, truly