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“A little to the left Tech, it almost reaches.” Phil says, wings straining to hold himself still and upright while manoeuvring to attach a long strand of garland made of soft new growth pine branches, with tufts of mistletoe, strands of tinsel, to the eavestrough.
“It’s as left as I can make it, it's too small” grumbles the bute from atop a precarious stepladder, cloven fingers straining to hold the garland to the eavestrough.
“No it’s not, I measured it, it's exactly 24 feet between the roofs of the houses” phil says before flapping his wings definitely, pulling himself and the garland towards the wall.
“Okay well did you measure the garland?”
“Yes techno I’m not dumb it’s exactly 24 leaf long!” Phil says, trying to grab himself a piece of duct tape one handed with his teeth while hovering midair. If it wasn't such a cute sight Technos next words might have been more critical of the error at hand.
“Bruhhhhhhh”
“What?” Phil says, voice muffled from the duct tape held between his teeth.
“If it’s exactly twenty four feet then there isn’t any extra to attach it to the roof”
“….oh” phil deflates and his wings slow their steady flaps, landing gently onto the snow dusted deck between the cabins.
“It's fine phil, it's fine, we already strung up lights in the trees around the base, we have wreaths up, garland be damned, it's festive here. I’ll put the garland in storage with the rest of the seasonal decorations. Now come in, your lips are turning blue.”
“Here you got something right…” Phil says leaning over the table, finger swiping at a dollop of whipped cream stuck to the underside of Technos prominent snout “there.”
“Hmm” Techno looks up from his cup of cocoa, over at the immortal man across from him, besides the dim glow of the fireplace the main source of light in the small cabin was the constant unwavering low level glow from Phil’s head, his halo, a vestigial remnant of the life once had. If the wings on his back weren't proof enough, sticking him in any dark room would make any rational person come to the same conclusion Techno had all those years ago: Phil was an angel, not cast down, nor fallen, nor forgotten, just old. Older than all mortals, older than all immortals, old enough to have seen the empires rise that Techno knew only as ruins sticking up from eroded earth as his armies trudge across fighting wars that lived longer than the men he commanded. And prime he was beautiful, emerald green eyes and long lashes bat as Techno meets his gaze, blond hair that reaches his waist, held back with a loose plait, wrinkled white linen shirt with the top buttons undone, merlot red mantelet over his shoulders. A widening smirk adorned with dimples, as he catches Techno’s eyes once more.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Phil says holding Techno’s gaze.
“You” The truth always came easy to Techno when Phil was around.
“Good thing only?”
“Always” Techno says, rising from his chair, closing the gap between them over the table and gently kissing the man before him, in that moment he remembers every minute of every day they’ve spent together. Their first encounter, Techno and his most trusted men hunkered down in a cave and as the last torch burned down to cinders up above them came a soft glow, Phil had been hiding up there, not from assassins like Techno had been, but from a particularly aggressive snowy owl who had decided that Phil was its chosen mate. Forty feet above the floor of the cave and clinging onto the rocky ceiling, Phil has stayed for nine hours as Techno and his men conspired and planned, each moment Phil committed to memory each worn line on Technos face, every scar on his hands, each hair on his head. When Techno and His men looked up at the star in the east, Techno saw not salvation from the assassins who drew closer, but salvation from the life he led. As Techno muses over the man before him, he deepens the kiss and reaches a hand up to stroke Phil’s hair. As seconds turn to moments, turn to minutes, turn to chapped lips and aching backs as the two immortals lean over long abandoned cocoa, they part from one another. Techno looks around at their cabin, the life they made together and realises something. They forgot to get a Christmas tree. But that is an issue for another day, as Phil’s hand is in his and he is dragging him towards the ladder leading up to their bedroom.
“G’morning sleepy head” Techno says, sweeping long blond hairs off of his face and pushing them back down at Phil's head where it rests on his chest.
“Fiv mer mins” mumbles Phil, head buried between the thick layer of fat covering Techno’s pecs.
“Come on love we need to go get a tree” at this Phil stuck his head up, eyes squinting against the beam of light streaming through the window and directly into his eye.
“No tree”
“Wha- what do you mean ‘no tree’??? Its Christmas we need a tree!” Techno stumbles over his words, Christmas without a tree? Who heard of that?
“No tree, Tubbo insists on bringing one from Snowchester.” Phil says twisting his neck back and forth, before stretching his arms and wings out in unison, tip of the feathers scraping the sloping ceiling.
“What! That’s ridiculous! How is he getting it here? The nether??? it’ll dry up and all the needles will fall off!” Techno says sitting upright now that Phil is finally off of his, beginning on his own set of stretches, loosening up the tense fibers in his back from the cold that quickly set in after the fire died in the night.
“He’s a smart lad he’ll figure it out I’m sure” Phil says before slipping off the bed and into his waiting slippers, soft footsteps pad towards the trapdoor in the floor leading back into the main room, slipping pen the latch he climbs down to begin making another fire.
“But wh-why I just don’t get why Tubbo is bringing a whole tree from Snowchester, I mean we live in a tundra for primes sake!” Techno says as his cloven feet walk over to the bureau, before grabbing clean clothes for the day. Out from the trap door comes his answer
“It’s a peace offering Tech, an evergreen beach if you will, us and him haven’t always been on the same page with ya know…. everything. He cares about Ranboo, prime I mean they got married, they have a kid, Tubbo he cares about Ranboo and Ran cares about us, so Tubbo cares about us too.
I mean… yeah, that doesn’t make bringing a whole tree over here any more nonsensical.” Techno grumbles brief responses of agreement and continues dressing before thinking of something better.
“If he cares he can bring a dessert!”
“Tech what is this really about?”Phil says, popping his head out of the hole in the floor, having finished building and lighting a new fire.
“I-i ah I dont” Techno says, briefly meeting the mans gaze before turning away once more and rummaging for a belt.
“Tech?” Phil says fully emerging from the floor and closing the trapdoor behind him as before walking over to Techno’s side.
“The kids, Ranboo and Tubbo” Techno says, meeting Phil’s eyes in the vanity mirror.
“mmhm?”
“Before ya know they were always giggly maybe some innuendo but ever since they spilled the beans they are so… overt?” He says turning away from the mirror and leaning against the vanity. “I mean us, we are so guarded around others, the first month after Ranboo moved here we didn’t even step foot in the other's house, we-we didn’t eat together we never saw each other it was hell Phil, I was in hell.” The brute finishes, a deep red blush covering his face.
“I know, Tech…” Phil says reaching a hand up to cradle the brutes jaw, thumb rubbing slowly over his cheekbone.
“They… They intimidate me. They are everything we aren't” Suddenly all traces of a flush are gone and Technos face returns to its regular blush pink, lips pursed together keeping a firm neutral line, a face that without the pale hand of his immortal paramour stroking his cheek would be intimidating.
“Techno… they are newly weds.” Phil says as a soft smile slowly grows until his eyes framed in crinkles. “Twenty year old newlyweds!” Finally taking his eyes off Techno to take a hearty laugh, breathing in deep Phil starts “I met you when you were a hundred and twenty and you were HORNY!” That is what broke Techno, the serious solemn face abandoned for a deep flush and a smirk right before Phil wheezed out a final “I can’t even imagine you at twenty!, your dick would’ve fallen off!”
“No-ph-Phil” Techno laughs, grabbing Phil’s hand off his jaw and holding it to his chest over his heart. “What I’m trying to-“
“I know what you’re trying to say, I know. But it’s still a little funny” Phil says, turning his head to meet Technos gaze once more. “Think about what it was like when Ran found out”
“Oh my god I was so embarrassed” Techno says, turning an even deeper shade of red thinking back to the tall ender hybrid stumbling into them just on the other side of the nether portal by the base.
“You were mortified? I was the one with my legs around your waist and my back against the obsidian!” Phil laughs before continuing “it was awkward and weird for a few days then it got normal, yes we aren't as physically intimate as them around each other, but who cares? accumulatively we have probably spent more time having sex then they have been alive.”
“We have, yeah.” Techno remarks looking down at the blond.
“this smp is more full of war then the last few we’ve been in, but this world is all they know, of course they escape into the relationship and are lovey dovey.” Phil looks up at Techno then places his arms around the taller man's waist. “We were like that once, running hand in hand away from bloodshed and into one another's arms”
“Yeah” Techno replies, setting his own arms around Phil’s shoulders.
“I think comparing our relationship to anyone else’s is a futile effort, we have lived longer than all of them, and we will live long past their death. We do our own things at our own pace, they do their relationship at their pace.”
“Phil?” Techno says leaning down at the man below him.
“Yeah love?”
“Kiss me.”
“Turkey in the oven, Phil can you peel the potatoes while I pop over and put the dinner rolls from the other cabins oven?” Techno rises up from the open over door thermometer in hand and turns towards Phil.
“Yes love, it’s nearly 5 they’ll be here soon, after you grab the rolls out do you want to make up the sofa bed over there for Micheal?” Phil responds, before taking Technos place at the stove, grabbing the masher from a drawer as he walks over.
“Can do” Techno responds before placing a quick kiss on Phils cheek.
Tiny cloven footsteps bounding up the deck stairs came before the knocking, tiny cloven hands rapping on the front door as a small voice yells out.
“TECHIE FIL! TECHIE FIL! TECHIE FILLLLLL!!”
“Now who could that be???” said Phil standing up from the couch by the fireplace and walking over to the door before leaning down and peeking through the mailslot at the tiny eye looking back at him.
“FILLLLLL!” screeched Michael followed by a string of giggles and squeals, the same squeals that Techno makes after hearing a particularly good joke, but only when Phil is the only one around to hear.
“Calm down sport you need to move back for him to open the door” Yells Tubbo from across the snow covered yard, dragging behind him a sled with a very sad looking tree. Beyond him still was Ranboo, tugging a second smaller sled outfitted with a small seat for Michael to sit in during longer treks.
“You heard the man scoot over Micheal.” Small cloven footsteps scrape away from the door just enough to allow Phil to open it up, quick as a flash Micheal pumps inside and hugs Phil’s Legs shouting as he does.
“FIL!!! WHERE TECHIE?”
“He's over on the couch, knock the snow off your hooves fir-” before Phil can finish his sentence Micheal is off into the cabin towards Techno on the couch leaving behind small clumps of snow behind him as he runs.
“Hey Phil, merry Christmas!” Ranboo says pulling the sled they lugged under the eves of the cabin and out from the falling snow.
“Hiya mate, merry Christmas to you as well” phil responds, grabbing draping a cape over his shoulders and stepping out into the cold.
“Can you give me a hand with the tree Phil?” Tubbo asks, head barely visible from Phils vantage on the deck The shorter man is wearing a brown sheepskin coat that trails down to his knees, his left horn horn pokes a hole into his red knitted cap, his face is obscured from the sheer amount of brown hair covering it, under the mob of wavy brown hair is a large scar across half his face, deep red in colour, the last remains of a long since forgotten transgression.
“The tree looks…” Phil turns towards the sled at the bottom of the stairs, the tree which looked sickly from afar looked much worse up close, singed branches still smoking gave a pretty good answer to Techno’s early query about if they would be travelling overland or through the nether, the trees branches were caddywumpus from the straps holding it in place, most tragically of all, the tree seemed to lack any unsigned greenery, it was a very brown affair. “Toasty.”
“Yeah, we uh… we tried to go overland but someone and I'm not naming names ….ichealmay was fussing before we even left Snowchester.”
“It will look wonderful once it's up, I'm sure.”
It didn't.
“It has… character” Ranboo says meekly, towering over the rest of the group, after placing a small golden star atop the sad tree, bare branches sticking out at odd angles, red glass baubles hanging precariously on singed clumps of needles.
“It's horrible” cries Tubbo before turning away from the mess of a tree before him, the mess of a tree he insisted on trekking across the esempe.
“No it's not, Tubbo, it's just missing something.” Techno responds before turning towards the trapdoor in the floor and climbing down into the small chestroom under the floor. Micheal walks over to the open trap door and leans over to peer in.
“Tree?”
“Almost shortstack, gimme your hand” Micheals reaches in and grabs from technos hand, he stands up triumphantly and shows off what he found to the room, the start of a long strand of garland, the one Phil has erroneously miscut just days prior.
“The garland!” Phil exclaims crouching down and holding it between Micheal and the trapdoor. “Come on Michael, let's wrap this around the tree”
“Okay fil!” Micheal shouts before waking over towards the tree. The grown ups take their spot on the couches and chairs dotted around the room and look intently at the small zombie piglin thinking as he wraps the garland around the lower branches, pausing winding turn, planning out his next one in his head and when the remaining bare branches are too high for him to reach Tubbo steps in and picks up Micheal letting him reach higher and higher. When Tubbos arm grow tired Ranboo stands up to take over, as Tubbo holds Micheal with his hand still straight up in the air between the tree of them up above was a sprig of mistletoe, seeing the small red berries Tubbo and Ranboo both lean in and give Micheal a kiss on his cheeks, delighting the boy, squealing and wiggling in his papas arms as they laugh before quickly kissing each other. “Papas GROSS!!!” yells Michael before dissolving into yet another fit of giggles and squeals.
“I concur” Techno pipes up from the couch before leaning in towards Phil and pressing a small kiss to the mouth of the surprised blonde.
“Tech” Phil whispers after they part, leaning his forehead against the brutes. Smiling at the blushing man before him.
“Yes love?” Techno responds with a whisper meant only for one to hear.
“Kiss me again?” And so they did, and when they parted they saw a beautiful sight, Tubbo, Ranboo and Micheal standing next to a beautiful Christmas tree. Techno stands up from his place on the couch and walks over to the group, stopping just short of Tubbo. “You brought a good foundation, it just needed a coat of paint” Tubbo looks up at the brute through his hair and laughs before responding.
“Couldn't have done it without ‘cha,” Leave it to these two to come up with the most convoluted round about way to set in stone that bygones are bygones thought Phil before he himself stood up from the couch, and made his announcement.
“Turkey should be done now, are y'all ready to eat?”
As the evening drew to a close, and the stars began to shine, laughter could be heard from the cabin as smoke drifted up from the chimney. When dawn broke the next day yet more laughter came from within as presents got opened from far flung friends and once foes, an orange from Eret in everyone's stockings, a Las Nevadas snowglobe from Quackity that Micheal spent hours staging into, a basket of muffins on the doorstep when they awoke, still warm from Bad. As the day dragged on, sizzling of eggs and frying sausages eaten by hungry mouths and washed down with eggnog. Before departing back to Snowchester, Phil made Tubbo, Ranboo and Micheal each a leftover turkey sandwich, topped with stuffing, cranberry jelly and thin layer of mashed potatoes. And as the evening began once more, everyone returned to their beds, bellies and hearts full of Christmas cheer and love for one another.