Chapter Text
“Baaaaad..”
“Whaaaaat? I have the sniffles, leave me alone.”
Skeppy walked into the living room with the notebook and looked at his love buried on the couch underneath all of the blankets and pillows. Looking mad that he had to pull his eyes away from his tv show to look at the shorter. “You.. first of all, you don’t want me to leave you alone when you’re sick. You turn into the biggest baby that just wants me to hold you.” He rolled his eyes. “Second of all.. you have a runny nose and a scratchy throat and a stomachache, you’re not deathly ill. That’s called allergies and.. your stomach never works, I don’t know. Anyway ..” He slammed the notebook on the coffee table, and looked at Bad again.
He just looked at the book, then.. looked at Skeppy. “… The fudge you want me to do with that?”
He giggled as he grabbed it again and sat beside him, and pushed himself against him. “ We .. are taking this seriously now.” He opened it and revealed a page where he had written “Christmas shenanigans planner” at the top.
“Oh my gosh..” Bad snickered.
“And..” He giggled as he flipped the page, revealing one for thanksgiving too.
“That’s a good idea actually.” He smiled.
“Yeah. So.. it doesn’t have to be specific. For now, I just thought we’d like.. write down activity ideas. Not so much ‘plan’ anything. Like.. in order, you know..” He explained.
“Yeah! That’ll be good.”
“So are you too miserable to think about that right now or?” He asked, sarcastically.
Bad rolled his eyes. Ironically, he was really tired and still didn’t feel good. A sore throat and stuffy nose was so minor but so annoying . And a stomachache on top of it wasn’t fun. He wished he didn’t take being able to breathe normally for granted. “Actually.. I really don’t feel like thinking.” He chuckled a bit. “I mean.. it’s the fourth, we have time.”
“I know, I know..” Skeppy sighed. The thing was that he liked summer and summer only, so when it wasn’t summer, all he could do was focus on holidays since he didn’t care for the season. And now that Halloween was over, he wanted to rush into the other two. “I’m just bored. But.. I’ll leave you alone.” He leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You feel okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine..” He laid his head against the couch cushion as he curled up even more, getting comfortable.
“Well..” Skeppy sighed, rubbing his arm. “You don’t look fine. You really look like you don’t feel good.. but you’re also dramatic so I don’t know if I should be worried or not.” He huffed.
“I’m fine, I do think it’s just allergies but.. they’re bad allergies..” Another sigh and a cross between an angry growl and a miserable groan. “And my stomach hurts..”
“Aw..” Skeppy hugged him and kissed his cheek again. “I hope it’s allergies too cause I don’t want to get sick.”
“Well get away from me then.” He laughed a bit. “I don’t want to get you sick.”
“Well I can’t stay away from you so that’s not happening.” Skeppy giggled, stroking Bad’s hair. “Especially not when you’re looking all sad and pathetic. Now I really want to love on you.” He smiled.
“I guess I could’ve caught something from the campground, huh..” He sighed again.
“Yeah, you could’ve. With your shit immune system.”
“Ughhhhh.. Hey, language.”
Skeppy just laughed. “Took you a second.”
“I’m hungry..” He picked his head up and looked towards the kitchen. Obviously contemplating making the journey but not wanting to.
“I thought your stomach hurt?”
“It does .. But I think it’s from not eating..”
“Oh. Well what do you want?” Skeppy still rubbed his shoulder. “I think I can feed you.”
“You think you can?” He laughed a bit.
“I think.” Skeppy grinned. Skeppy who, after three (almost four) months of living together, still hadn’t made food for his lover. Only ordered him pizza and grabbed Chipotle for him a couple times.
“Hmm. .. Oh, I bought stuff to make that pasta..”
Skeppy made a subtle cringe face at that. It wasn’t something that could be ordered. “What, the alfredo?”
“Yeah..” He smirked. “That sounds good ..”
“Mhmmm..” Skeppy sighed.
Bad saw his face and heard his sigh, and just gave a loving eye roll. “Sgeppy.. it’s chicken alfredo. Not.. three cheese and meat lasagna.” Skeppy started chortling. “You should be able to feed us both. What if I really do get sick or hurt? Or have to have surgery or something?”
Just his dumb smile in response. “I.. I just.. would hope you never would need surgery..” He answered.
“ Ha ..” He made his own cringe face. “I wouldn’t rely on that, Skeppy. I literally hurt my hip playing with Rocco yesterday. I only stepped in a hole while I was running and it put me down all night..” He chuckled.
“Mmmmm..” An annoyed grumble. But also a sad one as he laid on his back in Bad’s lap. “But I don’t want you to-”
“ Ohhhh well, that’s just life.” He laughed. “Now I’m hungry. It’s my turn to be needy.”
Skeppy laughed. “Oh no. Oh god..”
“Go make me my dinner!” He shoved the shorter off of him.
“Okay, okay!” He giggled as he ran into the kitchen.
“Boil the pasta, make the chicken, warm up the sauce and assemble. Cool?”
“Cool.” He giggled, grabbing a pot. Is this even the right size pot?
-
“Skeppy, I literally hate you.” Bad grumbled, waving the pillow at the obnoxiously loud smoke alarm.
Skeppy could only giggle like a bad little kid as he stirred the food. “Well.. good news.. your dinner is almost done!” He giggled.
“Yeah, now that I’m nauseous and less hungry. I asked you to make me dinner so I didn’t have to get up and here I am.” Not only did he have to get up, he had to go open all the windows and doors and stand on a chair to reach the smoke alarm to wave a pillow at it. “How do you even do this?! With PASTA?!!”
“It boiled over! I’m sorry!” He laughed. “I told you! I had to go to the bathroom! I didn’t expect things to go so downhill while I did!”
“YOU'RE S’POSED TO TURN THE BURNER DOWN, YOU MUFFIN!”
“I DID, YOU MUFFIN!”
“NO YOU DIDNT!”
“YES I DID! IT'S ON LOW!” He looked over at it, and.. it was on low, yep. He reached over and turned the dial off after this argument made him realize he left the burner on.
Bad watched him do it too. “.. You left the burner on?!”
“I’m sorry! I was stressed and distracted by the FUCKING smoke alarm!”
Finally, silence. Bad sighed as stopped waving the pillow and pointed at the little circle instead. “ Be quiet !” He chuckled a bit as he jumped off the chair.
“Oh my god..” Skeppy sighed, plating the food and sticking a fork in both dishes. “There. Christ, that was difficult.”
“Because of you !” He pushed the chair back under the table and stormed into the living room while Skeppy still giggled.
“I know! I’m SORRY! I mean- How come you didn’t intervene?! You didn’t notice some sizzling or hm, the smoke ?!”
“I did notice the smoke, I just didn’t.. IT DIDN'T REGISTER!” He laughed a bit.
“That’s sad for us if our house ever catches on fire. Your dumbass wouldn’t notice.” He carried the food to the living room, and sat one on the arm of the couch next to Bad.
“Oh my gosh, you are getting on my nerves. I’m stuffy! I also can’t smell anything!”
“Excuses. Here..” He even put an unopened Mike’s next to him.
“Ooh..”
“Eat and get over it.” He threw a napkin at him to finish off serving his food.
He just gave him an evil glare as he sat down next to him. But he picked up his fork and took a bite of it, and was.. very pleasantly surprised. “.. Oh. Oh my gosh..”
“You like it?” He perked up at Bad possibly liking his food that was such a nightmare to make. Granted, Skeppy didn’t have to look up a recipe to try to follow and be extra to prove he could cook (and instead creating a problem like always), but.. he wanted to. And Bad actually liked it? Could it be?
“I love it!” The speed at which he shoved another spoonful in his mouth said enough. And it was while he was nauseous. “The best flipping alfredo I’ve had in years, what the muffin..”
“Oh..” Skeppy giggled. “Cool! Good, I’m glad. I looked up a recipe for the chicken and stuff so I could prove I could cook..” He side eyed him as he took his first bite. .. Yep, that is alfredo. It is indeed. He wasn’t even in the mood for that meal but whatever. It was still good at least.
“Well you canceled out your cooking skills by setting off the smoke alarm but good effort.” You could barely even tell what he said with his mouthful of pasta.
Skeppy rolled his eyes. “You’ve set that thing off before too, don’t act like you haven’t.”
“Well I can’t say I’ve done it by boiling over pasta so badly that it.. smoked enough to actually set the alarm off.”
“Okay well whatever! You like your food! Eat and shut the fuck up.”
“Language.” When the food is so good that you forget to get mad at your SO for cursing at you.
They went about forty five seconds without seeing a Christmas commercial. “Oh my gosh, not the Christmas commercials already..” Bad sighed.
“Oh, you know what..” Skeppy put his fork down and fully turned his attention to Bad. “I won’t make you plan anything yet but I do want to know.. does your family.. or parents, I don’t know..” He huffed. “.. do they still wanna come for thanksgiving or Christmas or.. what? What are we doing for family stuff? Cause at the least, I want to know if we’ll have to plan around.. them.”
“Oh, um..” He still didn't skip a beat with eating his food. “I’ll call them later. I don’t.. know what they wanted to do.”
“It’d be cool if they could just.. come and stay.. from thanksgiving to Christmas.”
“Ooh, yeah! That’d be great! I’ll ask them if they’ll do that.” He smiled.
“Cool..” Skeppy smiled back, but it was a nervous smile. Skeppy thought that’d be cool, but he was.. kind of not looking forward to it. Only because he was nervous about it. But seeing Bad’s smile was motivating. He was so happy about seeing his family.
Skeppy was just slightly unenthused. Having basically your new in-laws that you haven’t met yet come stay at your house for a month was a little concerning. He hadn’t even interacted with Bad’s parents past chiming in on phone calls he overheard sometimes. So he was nervous about it. Nervous to meet them, nervous about what they’d think of him, him and Bad, their home.. you know. And certainly nervous about what type of people they’d be and if they’d be chill or.. god forbid they’re snooty or annoying..
Judging by Bad’s personality and habits and things, and of course the few times he’d spoken to Bad’s parents on the phone, Skeppy knew they were probably pretty strict, probably pretty uptight and were occasionally fun. And that’s kinda how Bad described them whenever Skeppy asked him. Aka.. not the greatest traits but..
He’d do it for his love.
It did not take long at all for Bad to clear his plate. Skeppy heard the dink of him dropping his fork in his plate. He looked over and saw him get comfortable again, with an empty plate next to him on the arm of the couch.
“Christ, Bad.” He huffed, still eating his second half of food.
“What? You should be flattered. It was good.” He grinned, twisting off the cap of his lemonade.
“I mean.. I want to be flattered but you’re white, you’re not hard to impress with food. It means basically nothing coming from mister chicken noodle water.”
“AYE!”
So they went about their evening afterwards and Bad called his parents, and Skeppy even called his. And one family discussion later, they had a plan. And it was basically just that Bad’s parents would drive down the day before Thanksgiving and stay for Christmas.
Bad was happy. Skeppy was nervous. And their emotions would soon be flipped.
-
“Here, Bad.”
Skeppy handed the notebook to the brunette, open to the thanksgiving page. Where he had written down everything he and his family normally had for thanksgiving. “I got my parents' input. Our typical thanksgiving dishes.”
Bad looked at it and started to nod. Most of the items were ones his family had too, making it even easier. “Okay.. Not too bad.” He shrugged, setting it aside to resume his work on his server. “So.. do you want me to make everything how you do it or.. should I make it how I ..?”
Skeppy just chuckled a bit as he shrugged. “I mean.. I’m curious to try your recipes and stuff. And if it’s your first thanksgiving you’re doing, I mean.. I think it’d defeat the purpose to follow our likes and dislikes and our recipes. You should do it how you want! Show off your skills! It’s your cooking. Just as long as you promise not to embarrass me with seasonless, dry white people food..”
“Hey!” He put his hands on his hips. “I will not! I’ve dramatically improved my cooking skills since that dumb video, okay?!”
Skeppy laughed up a storm. “Sure you have, buddy. I mean I haven’t had any complaints ever since I last complained.. so you learned your lesson I guess.” He giggled, making Bad roll his eyes. “I have faith in you. Don’t fuck it up!”
“Language!”
So after he finished his work for the day, he still sat at his desk and started planning his recipes and shopping list. Combining his family’s thanksgiving with Skeppy’s family’s the best he could. And he was quite happy as he did.
Happy to be planning his first very own thanksgiving. In his own home, with his sweetheart. It was awesome!
I hope it’s okay for me to be this hyped over this.. I’m not gonna regret it, am I?
He would. He very much would.
He was happy about it at first, but it would start going downhill very quickly.
Once he got his list all compiled of all the dishes and their ingredients, he and Skeppy went to the grocery store to retrieve the items, only five days before thanksgiving. They had quite a lot to grab which wasn’t gonna be fun. The duo hated grocery shopping and put it off a lot, often ordering food instead. So Bad was already irritated the moment they parked the car in the full lot and got out. Even better, as they were walking up to the door, he was trying to get himself situated, and went to put his phone in his pocket. Only to miss and watch his phone hit the concrete and crack. Not terribly, but.. a few cracks in his new(ish) phone screen. He was mad .
“ OH MY..”
“Oh..” Skeppy nervously chuckled a bit as he cringed. “Uh oh..” He could tell Bad was livid. Yep, I can see how today is gonna go.
He just slowly shook his head as he sighed long and loud, successfully putting his phone away. He didn’t say a word and just kept on.
“Bad, it’s okay.” He giggled a bit. “We can fix-”
“Just come on .” He growled at Skeppy.
Skeppy.. also sighed and shook his head a bit as he just gave up and followed. Today is about to suck.
Grumpy Bad was sometimes fun. Not always. This type of grumpy Bad was terrible . Even worse out in public where his hatred for most humans escalated things. Skeppy could tell he was about to make their day a lot worse than it needed to be. And when he was being shoved out of the way by Karens and having to wait on Karens that blocked the whole aisle off with their cart, he was already definitely at the end of his rope. And Skeppy knew it.
Skeppy saw Bad eyeing the middle aged woman with burning rage in his eyes. She was taking her sweet time reading a package while her cart was horizontal across the aisle, leaving a gap big enough for one cart to fit through. But another guy was occupying that space while he fought with his wife or girlfriend on the phone about which seasoning to use.
Then the lady noticeably glanced at the duo that were obviously waiting patiently to pass. Just standing there, Bad was laying his elbows on the cart handle and holding his head up with his one hand, and Skeppy was stood beside him. Bad even glanced at her cart, then back at her. And repeated. Move your cart, woman. That thing. Right there. That thing you’re using to waste everyone’s time? See it? Right there? But of course, she ignored them, and started reading another label. .. Oh.. my..
And Skeppy was highly annoyed by it too because.. how do you have such little spatial awareness and such little care?! But he wasn’t plotting homicide like he knew Bad was.
He just heard Bad’s growl of a sigh, and started to grin. “Quit, Bad.” He chuckled a bit, putting his arm around him and rubbing his back. “We’re not in a hurry.”
“Well I don’t have to be in a hurry to want to get on with my day.” Bad growled.
The shorter could only giggle and hug Bad, but he didn’t like that Bad was obviously stressed for whatever reason. “Calm down, muffin. It’s okay. Don’t stress.” He pecked his cheek, only to get a death glare and a half sent his way.
So he tried to be as helpful and as compliant as possible. Even helping to grab things on the list on his own. .. Or trying to.
“Bad, which one..? Does it matter?” Skeppy held up two things of butter. One salted, one unsalted. But the brunette ignored him, marking something off the list. He even glanced at Skeppy for a second and.. continued ignoring him. The same thing he got mad at Karen for. “.. Bad?”
“It doesn’t matter!” He hissed. “Nothing we’re doing requires specific flipping butter, it’s the same thing , Geppy!”
“ Okay !” He quickly threw one in the cart and put the other back. “Calm down! Snippy snappy..” God.. Why is he so mean? You’d think he has his period..
Every time Skeppy opened his mouth, he got snapped at. And he was very sad about it, but he wasn’t mad about it. It was obvious that Bad was just.. upset. He’s never mean just to be mean. He always has a very good reason behind it. And that was the only part that Skeppy was worried about.
Why is he so hot tempered? I have to figure this out..
It didn’t take much thinking to figure it out. Especially when Bad was grumbling to himself out loud. “Oh my gosh, they don’t even have… I’m gonna lose it, I-” He angrily scratched something off his list. “Well I guess we’re not doing that then, huh?! We’re not doing flipping anything right!”
.. Oh.
He’s literally just freaking out about.. cooking.
.. Aww. I don’t want him to stress.. He is a perfectionist.. and always afraid he’s not doing enough when it comes to me and especially my family. This is probably torture for him.. aww..
“Uh.. Bad, you-”
“Don’t distract me!” He was looking intently at his cracked phone, trying to quick search up an alternative ingredient.
“.. I.. Okay.” Skeppy threw his hands up.
Skeppy determined he’d talk to Bad later at home and try to get him to chill out. And in the moment, he just tried to be as helpful and easygoing as possible. And the store trip was definitely not a fun one, but it went somewhat smoothly til they had to do self-checkout and it was being very unruly.
“ Place your item in the bagging area. ”
“I DID!”
Skeppy just giggled under his breath, leaning on the cart handle. But he knew that yelling at a machine would not help Bad’s mood. So he went to go intervene.
“Oh c'mon ! This stupid-”
“ Item removed. Please return item to the bagging area .”
“GAHHH!”
“Okay, okay, okay.. ” He giggled, grabbing Bad around his waist and pulling him away. “Okay, muffin. Bad, stop. It’s okay. I’ll-”
“Get off of me! You are not helping!” Obviously he wasn’t gonna do it hard, but he might’ve whacked Skeppy a couple times as he tried to push him off..
“I’m.. trying to help!” He finally shoved Bad away from the computer. “Go. Get. Just take a breather. I’ll do it. Calm down, mister. It’s okay. You’re okay.” He started scanning their items while Bad sighed in defeat, swapping places with the shorter and leaning on the cart.
He felt so bad in so many ways. So stressed and panicked about this holiday hosting thing. He was excited to see his parents but.. they were his parents. His amazing but.. still picky, nagging, annoying, judgmental parents. Coming to probably judge him and Skeppy for everything and be all up in their business. For a MONTH.
He was dreading it almost as much as he was looking forward to it.
And along with that came Skeppy’s parents. Who were very sweet and kind, but.. he could tell they were just as picky and judgmental as his own parents. He was worried about what they’d think of his cooking and worried about entertaining them for an extended period of time on thanksgiving and Christmas, and whatever little gatherings and activities they did as a family in between.
He was fully expecting to have their very own versions of Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
And all of it caused him to be really stressed. Unhappy and really unsociable, and really irritable. And really quiet and snappy. And most of all, he felt terrible for being so snippy with Skeppy.
So he was very done with life. And he felt bad for feeling ‘done with life.’ And he just told himself it’ll all be over with soon because.. it honestly would be. They had five days to thanksgiving and then things would calm down for awhile.
So that was all he was doing to cope with it. Just counting down the days til his misery would end and trying to do whatever he had to do to get shit done and nothing more, nothing less.
It is what it is.
At home, the duo carried all their groceries inside, where Bad looked at them all and sighed in misery. He knew he had to clean both the fridge and freezer out to fit their groceries in before they could even put them away. Where else would they fit that huge turkey they found for cheap? I don’t wanna do this… I just wanna die.. Not actually, but.. about five lemonades and a really long nap sounds good..
“Bad, it’s not that fucking serious. You know that, right?”
Bad side eyed him so hard. Don’t you even start with me, you-
“I don’t know why you’re freaking out and being an asshole about this when you can literally just tell me ‘hey Skeppy, I’m tired. Put the groceries away.’ ‘Hey Skeppy, I’m worried about thanksgiving. Can you help me cook and clean and maybe give me a hug to calm me down?’ And why you don’t do that, I don’t know.” He didn’t even look at him. Just casually said it as he was unbagging their groceries.
Bad was taken aback a little bit by the very straightforward but calm statement. In the heat of the moment, he wanted to snap at him about how he was too untrustworthy to let him help, or about how Skeppy didn’t know how he felt and that he shouldn’t assume things and shouldn’t assume he needed a hug or help but.. Skeppy said it too calmly for that. That’d be beyond mean. So he just thought it. I’m fine, just.. mad! I…
“You’re being stupid. I’m literally right here, dude. I’ll put the food away and order you some pizza or make.. fucking chicken alfredo again whenever you’re not in the mood. It is so minor. And here you are. Freaking yourself out over a dinner with your family. Your family . The people that are supposed to love you and be appreciative of your efforts. Even if something doesn’t go to plan. You know .”
Skeppy wondered if his snarky-ish tone ruined his whole speech. But right as he was about to panic and look to Bad to see his face, he felt arms wrap around him.
“Skeppy.. I’m sorry.” He actually snickered a bit.
Skeppy’s little speech did so much for the brunette. He didn’t snap it at him and make him mad. He didn’t coddle him to make him sad. He just.. calmly called him out. Bad didn’t know what to do with that. Besides.. well.. accept it. Cause it was easy to. Skeppy’s sassy tone was familiar and easy to respond to.
Suddenly it was like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders.
He was being stupid. And sure enough, Skeppy had it all figured out.
“You know me so well..” He giggled a bit.
Skeppy already giggled too, hugging Bad’s arms on his chest. “I know I do. I knew exactly what your problem was and it only took ten seconds of thought to figure it out.” Bad even rolled his eyes. “It’s not that serious, dude. Everything will be fine. Even if we’re missing an ingredient or some food gets burnt. Who cares? No one will blame you ! Besides, the more chaos, the more funny stories we will acquire.” He glanced at Bad, who just chuckled a bit.
“Yeah, that is true. You’re right..” Ugh. Already prepping for the awkward and shameful apology for acting like a toddler. “I-”
“Well before you do, don’t apologize. It’s okay.” Skeppy kissed his cheek. “I’m not mad at you for being moody. Or for.. being dumb. But..” He looked at him with a little smile. “I will ask that you do go sit down and let me put everything away. Okay? Go take a breather.”
Bad didn’t fight. He just smiled and nodded. “Okay.” He just pressed a kiss to Skeppy’s lips, and obeyed the command.
Skeppy watched him leave, and was.. surprised but very glad. Okay. Cool. That went better and easier than expected. Um.. okay. Moving on. He just chuckled to himself and resumed his task. I guess he’s always been kinda submissive but damn. .. He probably just knows he was being an idiot and couldn’t argue it.
Skeppy put everything away as quickly as possible before he returned to his love. Who seemed a lot happier as he had put the tv on and started watching a show. Without a word, Skeppy just sat down with him and hugged him again. They just smiled at each other.
“So? You feel better?” Skeppy asked.
Bad nodded, looking embarrassed still. “Only thanks to you.”
Skeppy just grinned as he leaned in and kissed him. “You’re welcome, my muffin. Are you gonna chill out? Calm down? Be happy about seeing your family and having a nice dinner? Even if a few things are not to plan?”
He just nodded, fake looking mad. “You’re not gonna start giving me weekly therapy sessions or something, are you?” He joked.
“No..” Skeppy laughed a bit. “I’ll still do my best to leave you be. I’m giving you one more chance to handle yourself. Just.. take breaks. Ask for hugs. Don’t push through things and be a dickhead if you know that’s what’s going to happen.”
“Skeppy, I’m so sorry for anything I said or did or-”
“Waa, waa, waa ..” He grinned again as Bad gave him the evil eye. “I know, Bad. I know you feel bad. And you don’t need to. It’s okay . How you were feeling justifies your moodiness fine. It’s not like you through a tantrum or.. cussed someone out or… You didn’t do anything, Bad. You were snappy when I tried to talk to you. That’s nothing.” He giggled, and kissed his cheek again. “It’s okay! I’m not mad at you! I could never be mad at you..”
Bad definitely felt better as he hugged Skeppy back. He still felt bad, but.. he knew Skeppy was right. But instead of apologizing again, he just let it go. “I love you, Sgeppy..”
“I love you too, Bad.” He picked his head up to smile at him. “You ready to quit being nit picky and celebrate our holiday as carefree as possible?” He booped his nose.
He just shook his head with an eye roll and a little smile. “Yes.. I am..” He grumbled, making Skeppy laugh.
“Everything will be fine .”
Then Bad had lips pressed to his own, and honestly, that was calming and nice too. As was their quiet cuddle time that they had for the rest of the night.
Skeppy’s right. Everything will be fine. It’s not that big of a deal at all. I just made it out to be cause I’m such a perfectionist and a worrier.. ugh..
And yeah, I might get frustrated when I’m cooking, but.. I can cuddle Skeppy and feel better. Problem solved! I’m just stupid is all.. I don’t really know why I haven’t just ran to cuddle with Skeppy as comfort. .. Well actually it’s because I just feel like a bigger baby when I do.. but.. I guess that’s better than stress.
.. Oh well. I guess it’s fixed now, who cares? He smiled to himself as he got comfortable, focusing on the tv. It’s probably in my best interest to just act like that never happened cause that was embarrassing.. got called out big time..
And he would do just that.
-
“Skeppyyyy! SkeppyYYYYYY!”
“Ughhh..” It wasn’t his preferred awakening for sure, but Skeppy rubbed his eyes and looked towards the door. “What?? What do you want?”
“Help me cleeeeeean!”
Oh yeah. It was the day before thanksgiving. Bad’s parents were arriving in the evening. Ugh. I really hope they’re chill.
He wasn’t very quick to jump up at Bad’s request. Still grabbed his phone and hung out. It was funny that he begged Bad to ask for help because he did not want to help. At all. It was only eleven. He could wait.
“Skeppy!”
“Oh my GOD, Bad! Will you stop?! We have all day!” He yelled back.
“Not really! We have to start cooking tonight !”
“… I-.. WHY?!”
“ BECAUSE !” He came running to their bedroom doorway to harass him even more.
“Bad, what did I say about overthinking this and stressing about it?” Skeppy smirked.
He actually wasn’t stressing. Not yet anyway. Skeppy was a little stressful though. “.. I’M NOT STRESSING! I just-”
“Yes you are! Why else would you be YELLING??”
“I WAS YELLING CAUSE YOU WERE YELLING!”
“COME HERE, MISTER! YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN!”
“No!” He giggled, shaking his head. “I-”
“COME HERE!”
“NO!” He said no, yet his feet moved closer to Skeppy.
“COME- Yeah, get over here!”
With a little grin on his face, Bad shuffled his way to their bed and sat down. Skeppy sat up just enough to grab him in a hug and pull him to lay down in his arms. “.. Really?” He grumbled.
“Mhm.” Skeppy hummed, calm and casual. He even let go of him for a second, and grabbed their blankets and tossed them over them both.
“Why?” He snickered.
“Cause you’re freaking out again over thanksgiving.” Skeppy knew he wasn’t freaking out. Just being loud and obnoxious like he likes to do. This was just a joke turned into.. a ploy to still get a morning cuddle session.
“I wasn’t freaking out!” He laughed a bit. “I just wanted help! Cause you know, we have to make the pies and start the stuffing and..”
“ Okay ! We’ll do it! It’ll be fine. Chill out.” He kissed his cheek and squeezed him tight.
Bad honestly couldn’t complain. “You just wanted to snuggle, didn’t you.”
The most mischievous little giggles. “Shut up.” He chortled.
Bad giggled too, hugging Skeppy’s arms that rested on his belly. “It’s okay. I love you, you ragamuffin.”
After some cuddle time, they did get up and work together to clean. Sweeping, mopping, all the basics before they got down to the details. Cleaning the windows, furniture, appliances. And blaming each other for every mess they found.
“Skeppy, why is there a whole packet worth of skittles under this couch?!” Laying on the floor on his side, he tried to just use the vacuum hose to get everything. Do not make me move this couch and sweep.
From the other room, he heard faint giggles despite the noisy vacuum. “Bad, I told you! Every time you complain about me making a mess, I’m just gonna bring up the time you fell asleep eating ice cream in our BED.”
Bad just shook his head and growled. “Shut up!” He laughed.
“You know what I don’t do is leave HAIR.. EVERYWHERE ..” Now he was doing the growling as he was forced to pull the obnoxious amount of brown hair off the bottom of the broom.
And Bad didn’t have a comeback besides a laugh. “I can’t help that, I’m sorry..” He chuckled.
“It’s literally everywhere !”
Bad giggled again, finally getting up to vacuum the actual couch. Which.. his hair was everywhere, yep. Only making him giggle more. “It is..”
“It is!” Skeppy laughed. “I love your hair.. It’s so pretty and majestic but.. AHH! It’s literally winter! Stop shedding!”
He laughed again. “I’m sorry, I can’t.. I shed all year round..”
Skeppy might’ve been bad about messes such as spilling food and drinks and such and breaking things, but Bad was bad about ADHD messes. Unfinished projects and tasks.. everywhere . Skeppy found a pile of half open mail and bills sitting next to the paper shredder, found a book that was still open with a bookmark sitting next to it at the dining table, even found where Bad had been putting all his pens and pencils away after drawing. Right next to his book he was reading. The only catch was that he obviously stopped putting the pens and pencils away into their respective box because something else caught his limited attention.
“How do you try to clean up your mess and then forget halfway through and go make another mess?” Skeppy loved his little moron so much, but he had to shake his head as he put away his moron’s art supplies. “You know, you’re such a good artist.. But I hate to encourage you cause you’re so fucking messy.”
Then he put the bookmark in the book where it was open to, and closed it and carried it to Bad’s room along with his art stuff. He rolled his eyes the second he stepped into that room. “Oh, but your room is spotless..” His little office was flawless. His desk was a trainwreck, but everything else was super well organized and all his little nick nacks and decorations were nicely set up and displayed.
Skeppy didn’t venture into his room too often. And Bad didn’t either honestly past streaming and working at his computer. That was basically the only time his room was used. But it was still his room. His space. And Skeppy tried to respect Bad’s personal space as much as possible. Cause that was his safe space at one time. Thankfully it wasn’t used much anymore though.
When they first moved in, Bad was sad . So sad to leave his home and his family. And because of that, he spent a lot of time hiding in his little office. Drawing, reading, just trying to distract himself while he didn’t have the energy for socializing. Didn’t want to be around anyone. Even his love. And it was a weird time. Skeppy was worried about Bad a lot but he just reminded himself that Bad wasn’t used to constant attention and affection. He wasn't used to the idea of having someone to confide in or someone to cry to. And he definitely wasn’t used to someone being attentive and checking on him and making sure he ate every evening. He just.. liked to be alone and he was used to being alone. Skeppy checking on him and questioning him would probably make things worse. So he just held his breath for two weeks while Bad hibernated in his room. Hoping and praying he wasn’t being a bad boyfriend while he was also sad and lonely himself from not seeing his love other than sleeping in the same bed. But thankfully, he did the right thing. Bad was able to relax, accept it, and move on by having his two weeks of alone time. And then he even thanked Skeppy for being so patient with him and giving him space, and apologized for being uncommunicative. And of course Skeppy told him not to apologize and that he understood. Everything turned out swell.
Now when Skeppy ventured into Bad’s room, it was nice. No more awkwardly asking him if he was hungry or when he was coming to bed, or if he wanted to come watch a movie, knowing he probably didn’t want to. Now he could walk into his room and scare him, prank him, hang out with him while he worked, cuddle with him and nap in his comfy beanbag chair.. even just walk in to return some items and look around at his really good decorating skills and his cute decorations. Such as his little cork board full of pictures of him and his love and their dogs that Skeppy never really looked too hard at til then.
Skeppy smiled as he looked at them after he sat the items on Bad’s desk. He loved how sentimental Bad was and how he kept keepsakes and photos. It was adorable. And honestly Skeppy was glad he did because he himself wanted to, but he was too lazy to. He was happy Bad did the keepsakes and photos for him.
The pictures Bad had hanging up varied in size a little bit. And hilariously, the biggest one was a picture of Skeppy holding Rat. With little hearts drawn on the border of the photo.
One evening a long time ago, before they even lived together and during one of Bad’s visits to Skeppy, they were watching a movie and snuggling when Rat came waddling up to them, looking for food. And Skeppy just leaned down and scooped her up for the fun of it. But to their surprise, she didn’t seem to care. She would even lay down in his arms and try to go to sleep. Something she rarely even did with Bad, and never before with anyone else.
Of course Bad took a photo of his two favorite things in life being cute together. And of course it was the largest picture in his collage.
“Yep..” Skeppy grinned and chuckled. “A simple man, you are. Loves his partner, his kid, and food.”
But you already know. They either loved each other to death, or wished to see the other put to death. And it changed every few minutes.
When Skeppy was looking at Bad’s room and reminiscing, he loved Bad. He immediately went to go find him after putting the items away. But when he did find him in the kitchen and got a loaf of bread thrown at him, it started to change.
“Baaaad! What are-” He walked into the kitchen, and got smacked in the chest with a loaf of bread that he caught in his arms. “… The fuck.” He laughed.
“Language. Shred the bread for the stuffing.” He resumed doing dishes frantically. “We’ve got two hours left til they get here.”
He raised a brow. “… And that has what to do with the stuffing and dishes?”
“I’m just saying! Did you sweep and dust the guest room?”
I was supposed to sweep and dust the guest room? “No? When did you tell me-”
“Well why not?!” He was legitimately stressing again for whatever reason, Skeppy could tell.
“When did you tell me to?! You never said that!” Skeppy exclaimed.
“YES I DID!”
Skeppy just shook his head and grumbled as he tossed the bread on the counter and grabbed the broom. “You think you did..” Skeppy was right though. Bad never did say it. But he was convinced he did.
He didn’t bother fighting with him. Just did what he asked because it was a necessity. Then he quickly came back to him and snuck up behind him and wrapped him in a bear hug.
Bad just paused for a second. Dish and dishcloth still in hand. “.. May I help you?”
“No.” He smiled, laying his head on Bad’s shoulder.
Bad just sighed with an eye roll. Trying to ‘calm me down’ I guess. I’m fine! .. No I’m not. I’m panicking again. But it doesn’t matter, we don’t have time to panic! “Well.. can you get off of me then?”
“No.”
Sigh part two. “.. Well.. I can’t exactly bend down to the dishwasher with you holding onto me.”
Suddenly the dish was swiped from his hand, and it got placed in the dishwasher. Then Skeppy resumed hugging him. “.. You were saying?” He smirked.
Such frustration. Such adoration. At the same time. He just faintly grinned and gently headbutt Skeppy.
“Ow..” He giggled, rubbing his nose.
“I love you, you muffinhead.” Bad grumbled.
Skeppy just scowled at him. “.. I said ow and you didn’t say sorry.”
“Oh my gosh..” It was a half laugh and half cry. “I’m sorry .”
“You complain about me being rough with you. Your playing is way rougher than mine.”
“It is not! You’re just a sissy.” Skeppy just let him go and walked towards the doorway. “Wait, Sgeppy, no!” He whined through a laugh. “I’m sorry! Come back, I didn’t mean it!”
Skeppy just giggled as he ran back and hugged him again. On his frontside this time. “See, you do want the hug.” He looked at him with a smile, his arms wrapped around his neck.
Bad just rolled his eyes with his shy grin, and kissed Skeppy’s cheek. “I do. I’m sorry I was being.. a muffin. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Skeppy giggled and pressed his lips to Bad’s.
So then Skeppy was up under him for the remaining two hours. Skeppy’s affection and sassy call-outs worked so well to keep Bad calm and he was so glad. It actually worked so well that when all the cleaning was done, the two started making out standing next to the dining table at some point to celebrate, and they were interrupted by a knock on the storm door.
They frantically pulled apart from their kissing and looked, and were horrified.
At the door stood Bad’s parents. Who could see into their house clear as day through the glass door. Who just watched them sloppy kissing and making out for god knows how many seconds too long..
“Oh shit-” Skeppy just covered his mouth as he started to laugh. But boy, he was embarrassed something terrible. “Oh my god..” He was giggling cause that’s all he could do. Besides what he wanted to do.. running and hiding..
“Oh my gosh..” Bad was still really happy to see his parents. Even with the stress of it. But now he was less happy. He did not want to open that door.
That was the most awkward greeting and introduction of their lives.
-
“… Bad?”
“Yeah?” Bad drank the last swig of his second lemonade of the night.
Skeppy took a sip of his cocktail he made. “.. How am I supposed to be your therapist.. if I’m as stressed as you are now?”
Bad just laughed. “I don’t know. We’re.. muffined.”
“I mean, I like your parents a lot actually. They’re cool and really sweet. But..” Skeppy thought Bad’s and his fighting was ridiculous? Oh no. Nothing like Bad’s parents.
“I told you! I wasn’t lying when I said they’re worse than we are!” He exclaimed.
“I- For real . It’s.. impressive.” He giggled. “But hey, I see what’s wrong with you now.”
Bad glared at him out of the very corner of his eye. “The fudge is that supposed to mean.”
Skeppy burst out laughing. “Nothinggggg..”
“Yes, I have issues. I’m aware.” He himself just laughed.
“Oh, okay, just admit it..” He laughed even more. Someone’s tipsy.
Bad rolled his eyes. I’m just glad they went to bed and we can go to bed..
After the awkward introduction and greeting, the duo of course helped the parents bring all their luggage inside. Which is when the parents immediately would start bickering and fighting about everything as they tried to get set up in the guest room. Bad tried to keep the peace but quickly gave up and pretended to be busy in the kitchen, along with Skeppy. Then when they were settled, they had to show off the house and do the tour. That was the easy part. Aside from Bad’s father almost tripping and falling many times.
Then they sat down to have some snacks and drinks in the living room, and Bad had to hear about all the family drama that had been going on at home. Then both him and Skeppy got asked a million questions. The ‘new couple interview’. How have you been doing together, do you get along, have you had any fights.. a bunch of nosy questions about the two. For an hour . And they were so done .
They had to entertain their guests for a few hours, just hanging out and talking and even watching tv for a brief moment.
It wasn’t that bad.. but when they remembered they had to deal with it for the next month? They were very sad.
When Bad’s parents headed to bed at ten, the duo grabbed themselves some ‘celebratory’ beverages to ‘cheers to the holidays’. Wink. Definitely not trying to calm down or drown their sorrows. And then they sat on the couch and watched tv. Skeppy’s arm around Bad, since he was the more annoyed one and more in need of being held. And he was about to be more annoyed.
Just as Skeppy leaned over to kiss Bad’s cheek, there was a commercial for some food item. He didn’t know what cause he was too busy getting a kiss to pay attention to the ad. But he saw a pumpkin pie, and it sparked the thought.
“OH NO!”
His yell scared the crap out of Skeppy and made him pull back. “W-What?!” Jesus-”
“We forgot to make the.. MRRRRRRR.. The flipping pies .” They did the stuffing. Forgot the pies. How did they forget the pies.
Skeppy’s eyes went a little wide. “.. Oh. Uh oh..” He watched Bad just close his eyes with the saddest groan.
He had an opportunity. An opportunity to both really help his beloved, and to prove himself a little. But of course it was a complicated one. He might’ve been stressed, but he wasn’t tired. Or tipsy yet. Bad was.. a little tipsy. “Bad? How hard is it to.. make the pies?”
“Geppy..” Bad sighed, shaking his head and looking.. afraid. “I don’t know about that, mister..”
“C’mon! It can’t be that hard! I want you to rest..” He hugged him, and laid his head on his shoulder. “You don’t have to do everything, muffin. You can go to sleep. I think I can handle it if you just write the recipe down for me. I’m not completely incompetent. I can follow instructions when I try. And for you, I would do way more than just try.”
Bad was already smiling as he rolled his eyes and nuzzled his cheek against Skeppy’s. He still didn’t fully trust the shorter, but he knew he was way too sleepy to do it. He would probably be just as helpless and brainless. “Sgeppy.. I love you so much.”
He just giggled, squeezing him more. “I love you too.”
Bad sat his drink down on the end table just to cup Skeppy’s cheek in his hand and kiss him. He smirked at him and his adorable face and shy little smile when he pulled back. “Go get me a pen and a sticky note. And you can make one pie.” He grinned. “I still want to be involved cause it’s fun. So.. just make one.”
“Okay.” Skeppy just giggled again as he got right on it, jumping up and running to Bad’s room to grab the items. “I really hope I don’t fuck this up.”
-
“I am going to fuck this up.”
Skeppy looked at the empty pie crust, then looked at Bad’s instructions. “Make a wavy pattern with your fingers by pinching them..?” He tried to do whatever the hell he was talking about, and it wasn’t happening. “.. HOW?!”
Finally, he shook his head in annoyance and walked out into the dining room, only to see that Bad was asleep on the couch. Fuck. Now what do I do? He wasn’t gonna wake him up to ask him. That would ruin his whole thing of trying to prove himself. .. Google? Right as he was going to pull his phone out to google, he heard the door of their guest room. Bad’s mom was just grabbing a drink, but she saw the pie ingredients out. “Ooh, is he letting you make the pies?”
“Uhh.. yeah, about that..” A nervous laugh as he scratched his arm. “I have no idea what I’m doing. But he’s sleepy and he doesn’t trust me already so I don’t want to bother him. So.. do you know how to do this part..?”
“Of course!” The Skeppy was relieved as she quickly demonstrated. “And we don’t have to tell him I helped, he’ll never know.” She chuckled, making Skeppy laugh.
“Okay!” He was all for that. Cause once he had the fancy little crust done, the rest was pretty easy. Just mixing dry ingredients, and eventually the pumpkin, eggs, and milk. And.. done! He pulled an amazing-smelling pie out of the oven and it looked pretty decent in his opinion.
“Baaad!” He walked over to the brunette with the dish in his hand, but of course he slept through a simple name call. Skeppy had to kick him in the leg to wake him up. “Aye. Sir.”
His green eyes finally fluttered open and he immediately yawned and stretched. But he paused mid stretch when he saw that.. Skeppy actually did it. “.. Did you..”
“I did it.” He giggled, showing him.
Bad looked at it with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe it. A pie wasn’t the hardest recipe, but for Skeppy? It should’ve been impossible. But here he stood with one in his hands. And it looked pretty good. The crust was a little burnt in one place but all things considered, it looked perfectly fine. And it smelled so good . “.. Oh my gosh. You did it..” Skeppy laughed at Bad’s complete and utter shock.
“I did. What do I do with it?” He asked.
“Uh.. plastic wrap it and put it in the fridge.” He answered.
“Okay. And I think someone needs to get ready for bed while I do that.” He raised a brow at him as he walked back to the kitchen, til he was out of sight.
Bad rolled his eyes. “I’ll try to.” He was ready for bed. Bed bed.
“You’ll try to?” He giggled. “Are you that tipsy?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Lots of obnoxious groans and grumbles as he got to his feet.
Skeppy just rolled his eyes with a grin. Moron.
He put the dessert away and cleaned up the best that he could, and was finally able to go to bed himself and join his love. Who was already asleep again in their bed.
Being the last to fall asleep was kind of a nuisance to Skeppy. He wanted to be held like always but he couldn’t when someone was already sleeping peacefully on his side with his arms crossed. So he just had to try to wiggle his way into Bad’s arms the best he could. Mumbling and grumbling complaints as he did. “Ugh.. Damn you and your not-clinginess.” Skeppy would even have trouble falling asleep if Bad wasn’t around. He’d toss and turn for hours. Meanwhile, Bad.. did not care.
He liked to cuddle. A lot. But when he was sleepy, he was sleepy. He didn’t need special requirements and special conditions to fall asleep. He just went to sleep.
How dare Bad be content without Skeppy. It was offensive that he could fall asleep alone. And you know what else was offensive? The fact that Skeppy finally got settled how he wanted with Bad, and Bad decided to roll over and completely ruin it.
Skeppy was upset. “… You bitch .”
-
“Sgeppy.. let me up.” Bad snickered.
“No.” The sleepy little gremlin refused. He would not let go of Bad. Payback for last night.
“Skeppy..” Bad sighed and grinned, petting Skeppy’s soft hair. “Geppy, I’ll be back in like five minutes. You’re being ridiculous.” He kissed his forehead.
“Don’t leave.” He was way too warm and comfy in Bad’s arms. Fuck the turkey. Fuck thanksgiving. Snuggles .
“I’m not leaving for long ..” He reassured. “I just have to put the turkey together and put it in the oven. That’s it! Then I’ll come back.” Just a little sad groan from the shorter. “Ughh..” He didn’t want to, but he started pulling away. He had to go start cooking.
“NoOO!” He tried to grip Bad’s hoodie but failed. Or.. gave up and let go rather when he pulled away.
“I’m sorry!” He laughed a bit as he sat up and got to his feet while his boyfriend whined and cried. “I’ll be back. I promise.” He petted his head, and leaned down to kiss his cheek. Then he went to go do his seven AM task.
As quickly as he could, he put the turkey together and.. unfortunately had to preheat the oven. Fudge. I promised Skeppy I’d be back soon..
So he just returned to sit with Skeppy for the time being. Petting his head and rubbing his shoulder as he laid his head on Bad’s thigh.
“You are being extra pathetic this morning. You okay?” Skeppy was needy, but not usually this needy.
“My stomach hurts.” He didn’t know why he woke up with a stomachache. But he wasn’t happy about it. The least he could do was use it as an excuse to get extra snuggles.
“You sound like me now.” He said with a giggle. But of course he felt bad that his little muffin was uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. Poor muffin..”
So he didn’t leave Skeppy. He only did when he had to go put the turkey in the oven officially. Then he climbed back in bed, and reluctantly allowed the Skeppy to fall asleep in his arms. Knowing it would make it extra hard to get out of bed at a reasonable time still. The turkey going in the oven was a must, but he still had every other dish to make. And getting up kinda early would be smart. But he was trapped by a Skeppy. A Skeppy that apparently didn’t feel well at the moment.
“You better.. feel better.” He casually petted and cradled Skeppy’s head while he watched tv. “I can’t make dinner and take care of you. That’s a little much.”
He watched the time tick by. And he got more antsy after every minute. Just one more minute gone by that he could’ve been productive. Ughh.. don’t stress, Bad. You’ve got this. You can work your magic. You don’t need hours and.. hours..
But I’d like hours and hours..
Finally, at ten, he heard his parents wake up. And he heard their conversation in the quiet home word for word.
“Where is.. Is he not up yet?” Mom asked.
“No..?” His dad walked into the kitchen to start his coffee, and saw the oven. “Oh, he has the turkey in.”
“Well that’s all we’ll be eating if he doesn’t get up.”
Uh oh. Is that true? And when he thought about everything he had to make and thought about the time in between like preheating different temperatures for different things and baking things for thirty minutes and waiting for them to cool and..
.. Shoot, I have to get up!
He didn’t actually have to. He was just a victim of his parents and their tendency to overthink and panic about everything. And thanks to them, he didn’t waste a second trying to sneak out from underneath the Skeppy.
“I’m sorry, my little muffin..” He was as careful as possible, laying Skeppy’s head on a pillow and bundling him up nice and tight. But as soon as the warmth of Bad’s body had left, he started stirring.
“Fudge..” He looked around the room for more blankets, but none of them were very warm. Or they fell on the floor and got confiscated by the dogs. Where is my heated blanket? I bet that’d work!
He went on a whole excursion to their linen closet, found the blanket, and plugged it in and wrapped Skeppy with it. “ There .” He grinned as he petted his head. And sure enough, he was completely still. Looked perfectly happy and comfortable. “See, I know you don’t want me . You just want warmth. So there you go.” He leaned down and kissed his forehead, and he was free. Free to go.. be a slave to the kitchen. Yay.
He joined his parents in the kitchen, and.. immediately remembered why he was stressed.
He couldn’t even get his coffee without getting his ear talked off. Mostly about dinner. And the only thing he hated more than not having a plan was admitting that he did not have a plan. They wanted to know what he was making first and how he was making that dish and how he was gonna set this up and.. he was already angry before eleven.
“I DON’T KNOW! I have no idea what I’m doing! I don’t know how I’m doing that, I don’t know how I’m doing that , I don’t even know how to do that ! I’m just doing !”
His dad laughed and pat his back as he walked away. “Well it sounds like you know exactly what you’re doing! Good job!”
“Yeah, that’s kinda how your first gathering always is. It’s okay!” His mom exclaimed.
Bad just rolled his eyes, sipping his coffee while he gathered all his ingredients for his first dish. “You say that now. If one of you complains about anything, I swear.” Even they laughed cause they knew he had a reason to say that. “You can go stay.. at a hotel. Or with one of your other children, I don’t care.” He snickered. “Those jerks didn’t want to come to dinner anyway.” How dare his siblings that still lived in the area and had their own families not wanna come. At least they agreed to come to Christmas..
Aside from those pesky guests, his morning started out okay. He was actually pleasantly surprised when he opened a cabinet to grab a bowl, and the cabinet was full. Restocked.
Skeppy had done the dishes after baking the pie.
Oh boy. He’s going all out, huh? It made him smile. That little creature hated nothing more than housework. And if he would do your dishes for you, he must really love you.
Fortunately for the little creature though, he woke up feeling fine. He woke up to being really warm and comfy. And really confused when he tried to hug Bad and he just got arms full of blankets.
He opened his eyes and did not see Bad. He saw a red and black plaid blanket that was really warm for whatever reason. Then he saw the cord that appeared to come from it, plugged into the wall. “.. Oh.” It was Bad’s heated blanket. That he never used so it got buried in their linen closet. He seriously went to all that trouble to not wake me up? Of course it made him smile.
He didn’t stay in bed too long though. He heard chatting and noise from the other side of the house and the curiosity was too much. He had to go be involved.
After scrolling his phone and stretching (and unplugging the blanket), he ventured to the living area. Where Bad’s parents were watching tv and happily greeted him. He talked with them a little bit while he watched Bad in the kitchen. He was already very busy, but he didn’t look mad yet. A really nice thing to see. He seemed content mouthing the words to the music that played on his speaker while he went from here to there and everywhere, slowly but surely checking dishes off his list.
He even finally noticed Skeppy’s presence, and smiled so big and cutely. “Sgeppyyy!”
Skeppy grinned as he went over to him. “Hey.”
“ Hey .” Bad smirked, leaning in to kiss him. “Good morning. Feel better?”
“Yeah.” Skeppy looked at everything he was doing.
“That’s good.”
There was just.. stuff. Everywhere. Skeppy couldn’t tell what were defined projects and what wasn’t a defined project. It just looked like everything was taken out of the pantry and fridge and placed on the counter. “What even..” He giggled a bit.
“Don’t worry about it.” Bad chuckled. “Listen, I-”
Skeppy even saw Bad’s new snack obsession sitting on the counter next to his phone. “Are jalapeño potato chips an ingredient for something?”
“I- Yes.” He laughed. “Yes they are. See, you need me to cook, right? Well I need sustenance to cook. Potato chips in my belly is an ingredient for me to have some energy and be happy. Which in turn is an ingredient for success, yes.”
“I see.” He giggled. “Fine then.”
“I have it all under control-” Thank god Skeppy noticed Bad was about to push that bowl of chopped up sweet potatoes off the counter with his elbow. And thank god he caught it.
Bad didn’t know what happened. Just felt his elbow bump something and then Skeppy jumped behind him to grab it. He whipped his head around and saw him start laughing with the heavy bowl of yams. “Under control?” He giggled.
“I.. Limited counter space.” That was his only comeback as he grinned.
“Well can I help you? Help put things away as you’re done with them or..?” He already knew he probably wouldn’t offer any help in the cooking department. The pie was difficult enough. But maybe he could help keep things organized or help with other things.
Bad just felt terrible accepting help, but he knew he needed it. He didn’t let himself feel too bad. Besides, it was his and Skeppy’s holiday. It was fair for him to put in effort. And he wanted to help Bad. So he didn’t feel too sorry for the shorter. “Uhh.. yeah. If you wanna just.. keep putting everything back over there.” He pointed to the bar where there were definitely ‘ingredients’. Bags of sugar, flour, spices, etc. “I’m trying to keep all the random stuff over there. And then things I’m done with over there.”
“Okay.” Skeppy nodded.
“And if you want to clear off that shelf-table thing..” He pointed to the little shelf/cubby that they had a bunch of picture frames and nicknacks on, in between the living and dining room. “I was planning on putting the food on it. As like the serving table.”
“Oh, yeah! Okay.” He nodded and headed to do that.
And what do you know? Teamwork was actually really nice.
All day, they were able to talk and work together to make dinner in total harmony. A very rare occurrence for a regular dinner, and it was Thanksgiving. Even more amazing.
Even when stuff did go wrong, they still kept their cool. Surprisingly.
“Oh- Skeppy! Can you move that?” Bad needed to set down the hot pan, but there was another hot pan in the way. Poor Skeppy didn’t know it was hot.
“Yeah, here..”
“I- Oh, not with your han-”
“OW!” Too late.
“Skeppy!” Bad couldn’t help giggling a bit as he just used the pan in his hands to push the other pan aside. What he should’ve done from the start apparently. “Skeppy, I’m sorry!”
“Owwww..” He whined and whimpered as he looked at his poor pointer finger. A really red spot had already appeared on it.
“Geppy, I’m sorry!” He hugged him as he tried to grab his hand. “I should’ve warned you!”
“No, it’s okay..” He didn’t want Bad to feel bad. He felt at fault cause it would make sense that the steaming dish of macaroni was hot.
“Here, let me see.” Bad finally grabbed his hand, and looked at it til he found the mark. Skeppy rolled his eyes in the meantime.
“I’m fine, Ba-”
“Aww.. Here, rinse it under cold water.” He dragged him over to the sink, and held his hand under the water.
“Okay, okay.” He huffed. So Bad let go of his hand and hugged him again. “It’s not that serious. Chill.” He snickered.
“I know.. My bad.” He chuckled, finally pulling away.
“It’s okay.” Skeppy giggled.
Don’t worry. Bad got a little injured too.
“Are you done with this, Bad?” Skeppy held up a dirty spatula.
Bad looked back just long enough to see what it was before he looked back to the potatoes he was chopping for the mashed potatoes. “Uh yeah.”
“Okay.” He went straight to wash it. In case Bad would need it again for something else.
“I just have to-o…” He made a boo boo. Literally.
Skeppy raised a brow. “… Have to..?”
“.. Uh oh.”
“What?” He chuckled.
“.. Well at least I didn’t contaminate the potatoes.”
Skeppy finally finished washing the utensil and looked to see whatever Bad was talking about. And it was pretty obvious with the knife in his hand and the red on his other hand and on the cutting board that he made a mistake. “.. Oh god.” He laughed. “What’d you do, muffin?” Now it was Bad’s turn to be hugged and have his hand grabbed.
“I’m fine..” His little nervous giggle said he was actively trying to convince himself that he was fine.
“Yeah, I don’t know about that.” Skeppy finally snatched his hand, and was able to look at it. Bad was holding the potato down on the cutting board with his knuckles- the safe way. But he still managed to mess up. And he put a really good slice in the back of his finger. “.. Oh .” Skeppy wasn’t quite sure what to do about that. But he knew it was bad. “Oh my god..”
“I’m okay..” He pulled his hand away and just.. went to wash it in the sink. “I’m fine.”
“Bad, no. Don’t do that..” He chuckled a bit. “That’s gonna hurt..”
“Yeah, I know.” He just bit his lip and scrunched his eyes and tried not to swear. While his love just laughed and shook his head.
“Oh Bad.. buddy.. That’s.. That’s um..” He made a cringe face as he scratched the back of his neck.
“It’s fine ..” He squeaked, still giggling a bit at himself in the midst of his misery.
“That.. seemed hospital-worthy but okay.”
“Nah nah nah, we don’t say that word here.”
Skeppy laughed so hard. “Oh my god. Seriously? How about the doctor?”
“No.”
“.. Emergency room?”
“Nope.”
“.. Urgent care?”
“No!” He laughed. “Not the minute clinic either.”
Skeppy calmed his laughter but boy, it was hard. “Jesus, Bad. You’re.. so funny. You’re tough but you’re so dumb. Let me get you a bandaid..”
So they had a few mishaps, but against all odds, by five thirty, they had everything done and ready.
They did it.
Everyone was dressed and everything was ready, and Skeppy’s family came to join.
And Bad might’ve been a little stressed about everything, but it was quickly proven to have been worth it.
Everyone complimenting their cute home and their awesome looking food was good in itself. But most importantly, when Bad got to have (most of) his family.. everyone he loves.. all in one place, hanging out and mingling happily.. it made it all so worth it.
He was very happy. So happy that he was holding back tears of joy a few times. So happy that he decided to embarrass Skeppy by announcing their dinner dramatically and stupidly, and thanking everyone for coming dramatically, and then starting a giving thanks chain that was.. actually quite cute.
Bad thanking Skeppy’s parents for Skeppy and for being accepted into their family. Skeppy’s parents thanking Bad for being him and being good to Skeppy. Bad’s parents thanking Skeppy’s parents for loving Bad. Skeppy thanking Bad’s parents for Bad. Bad’s parents thanking Skeppy for being good to Bad.
And last but not least, the lovers being thankful for each other and for every moment they spend together.
“And of course, it goes without saying that I’m thankful for you .” Bad booped Skeppy’s nose as he sat down. While Skeppy rolled his eyes with a grin, mad that he was embarrassed. “Thankful that I tolerated you and your trolls long enough to fall in love with you.” He cupped his chin in his hands and kissed him. Ignoring the judgmental glares from his parents that he could see out of the corner of his eye.
Skeppy might’ve been mad about second hand embarrassment, but he couldn’t refrain from smiling at his love. “And I’m thankful for you . Thankful you are so.. so forgiving.” He giggled. “Thankful you still love me after everything I did to you.”
“M hm .. You should be thankful for that, I’m not even gonna lie.”
He just burst into laughter as he pulled away from him. “Oh shut up!” He smacked his arm while the rest of the table laughed.
“Hey! Rude!” Bad laughed.
“I’m sorry ! I’m sorry, I love you..” He leaned over and wrapped Bad in a hug.
Bad rolled his eyes as he hugged him back. “I love you too. And you know what else I love?”
“What?” He looked up enough to peek at him.
“Food. Let’s eat.”
“Oh, okay.” He sat right up. “Yes. Let’s.”
-
“… Well? Is that it?” Skeppy was plenty satisfied with dinner. Delicious. But.. what was next?
Bad didn’t even know what he was talking about as he slumped down in his chair, getting comfy. Or trying to with a full stomach. “.. What? Is what it?” He asked.
“I guess we made it.” He chuckled. “We did dinner. It's over.”
“Oh.” He snickered. “Yeah, we did it. That’s it. Party’s over.”
“You don’t have any good news or anything? No dinner announcements?” Skeppy’s dad asked.
They just looked at each other and laughed. “Like what?” Skeppy giggled. “I mean.. we told you we got engaged. And nothing else has happened. No more pets or.. anything. There’s no updates.”
“How about kids?” Bad’s mom joked.
Skeppy’s eyes widened a bit as he laughed. “Uh no? Definitely not? We can’t even keep a plant alive?”
“Does a food baby count?” Bad nodded down at his stomach that he was holding. They all just shook their heads and rolled their eyes.
“Bad.. no.” Skeppy huffed.
“Ugh, fine.” Perfect time for Rat to waddle up to him and beg for food. “Oh..” He leaned down and scooped her up. “How about this? Does this count as a baby?”
“I mean it’s a pretty cute baby.” Skeppy’s sister, Sam, giggled.
“She is a cute baby.” He hugged her tight and smothered her with kisses.
Skeppy, meanwhile, was still thinking about what Bad’s mom said. Obviously they’d never have kids, but it was interesting to think about. “I don’t know, Bad. Skeppy Jr IRL?” He chuckled.
“ No .” Bad snickered, making Skeppy and everyone laugh. “Absolutely not. I had my fair share of kids already in life. Nieces and nephews and.. teaching.. No! I don’t want any! Especially not one that’s also being raised by you.”
“ Wooow ..” Well it was obvious that it wasn’t the marriage situation all over again. But Skeppy was glad cause he didn’t want kids. He was glad he had the confirmation of no kids. But he still had to be offended.
Bad just laughed it up as he put Lucy down, then hugged Skeppy. “I’m sorry! It was a joke! I’m sure you.. definitely have the ability to raise a child!” He laughed a bit.
“Obviously.” Skeppy rolled his eyes. “Hey, I made the pumpkin pie at least. I did something you thought I couldn’t do. Gimme some credit.”
“Oh yeah!” Bad pulled away with an excited grin, still holding Skeppy’s shoulders. “The pie! We have to try it!”
He hurried to get out the dessert. The pie that Skeppy made, the one he made earlier in the day, and the coconut cake he also made despite hating coconut himself. He jokingly encouraged everyone to try his own pie in case Skeppy messed up, but they actually listened and he kinda felt bad. That was until he tried Skeppy’s pumpkin pie, and.. it was good. It tasted just like the ones he’d been making for years. “.. Oh my gosh. You did do it..” Skeppy just proudly giggled beside him. But his joy was short lived. With Bad’s next bite, he bit something crunchy. Way crunchier than the pie crust. He furrowed his brows a bit, and managed to get whatever it was on his tongue for further investigation. And it finally registered. “… Geppy.”
The shorter looked over at him, and he stuck his tongue out and.. picked some white pieces of something off of it? Eggshells. They were eggshells.
.. God fucking damnit.
“Geppy, you almost made it.” He just chortled as he shook his head.
“UghhHHHH..” He just held his head in his hands. “I don’t wanna hear it. Don’t say anything.” He was embarrassed. And really mad. Christ, I actually can’t do anything right..
“Hey, it’s not that big of a deal!” Bad could tell that Skeppy was genuinely upset by it. And he couldn’t have that. “It’s fine !” He gently bumped him playfully. “ I’ve done it before too.”
“No, I..” He knew that it was not the time for communicating relationship concerns and looking for reassurance, but.. fuck it. Just try to be quiet. He had to vent right then and there. “You don’t.. understand. It’s really frustrating as fuck when I do want to help you with things and.. apparently I can’t. I just.. feel so bad.. All these jokes we have about me being useless and helpless and.. fuck me, they’re not even lies.” How was he twenty something years old and still getting away with not doing his own laundry or making his own food? He should feel ashamed of that, right?
Bad didn’t think so.
Bad’s happy expression had completely faded. He knew it wasn’t a serious matter, he just had to reassure Skeppy that it was okay. But he didn’t wanna do it at the dinner table. “Sgeppy, c’mon.” He grabbed his hand and started getting up. “Let’s go.. get the board games ..” He smirked.
Skeppy understood the assignment and followed his love into the corner of the living room. To the little storage cubby with all their games. Board, card, and their video games for their consoles.
“Okay, now.. Sgeppy?” He hesitantly looked Bad in the eyes for a second, too embarrassed to maintain eye contact. “Geppy, I know we joke about you being helpless. And.. you are, I know. But ..” Even with the ‘but’ in there, Skeppy didn’t exactly appreciate him agreeing. But he held his tongue and let him finish. And he was so glad that he did. “.. it’s not your fault, Skeppy! You had too many people that loved you too much. We love you so much, we won’t let you do anything. And that’s not inherently your fault.” He giggled a bit.
.. You know, he is right..
“At any time, I can teach you how to do everything. I can show you how to do the laundry and show you how to cook and make you do it. But.. I don’t want to. I like taking care of you. You think you don’t do anything and don’t help me around the house but.. that’s not how I see it. I promise you. I see it like.. you help me every minute of my life by existing. By being you.” Skeppy’s lips curled into a smile so fast.
Yep, he’s fine. No need to worry. He still loves me for whatever reason.
“You just help me by existing. Seriously.” He chuckled a bit. “My happiness every day is.. mostly because of you. And that more than makes up for taking care of you. If anything, I see it as payment! Me doing your chores and making your food is payment for you bettering my life every second with your existence. And I think that’s a fair deal.” He smiled. Skeppy was already shaking his head at his sweetness. “Even if it’s not a fair deal, I don’t care. You could hate me and I’d still do everything. For sure.”
Of course Skeppy trapped Bad in the tightest hug. “I love you, Bad..” He buried his face in his shoulder, hiding his uncontrollable smile the best he could. “I should’ve known you can’t be mad at me. Like.. ever.”
“Aw, I love you too. And no, I can’t. Well.. genuinely mad, no.” He pulled back a little to smile at him. “But.. just a little bit mad.. ehhh..” He shrugged. Skeppy rolled his eyes and (gently) slapped him in the face. “Aye!” Skeppy just evilly giggled as he pulled away. “Why’d you slap me?!”
“You’re mean!” He giggled.
“WHAT?? You just slapped me!” He exclaimed.
“Cause you said you do get a little mad at me!” Time for the fake crying for dramatic effect.
“.. Well yeah ! Cause you do things like slap me in the FACE!” Bad had been waiting for awhile for someone to think they were actually abusive to each other. Surely someone in public would raise a brow at their play-fighting that looks like they’re beating the shit out of each other sometimes. They tried not to hurt each other for the most part but.. Skeppy had no self control and Bad had a flawed understanding of what was acceptable for play -fights. They tried.
“I’m sorry!” Skeppy giggled. “Just say you’ll never be mad at me!”
“.. I can’t say that!” He laughed. “It’s not true!”
“Well.. live a little! Say something that you know is a lie! Do it!” He laughed.
“.. Are you gonna get mad at me when I break the promise?” He asked.
“No, dude. It’s fine.” He snickered. “Don’t take everything so seriously.”
“Okay, fine! I’ll never be mad at you.” He said with an eye roll.
Skeppy laughed as he hugged and kissed him again. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
So then they got out the board games, and that was really fun too. All night, the duo kept looking at each other and looking at everyone and smiling. Silently telling each other how much they were loving the moment. Spending the lovely evening with great food, full stomachs, and the people they loved.
And they still had one more holiday to celebrate. Arguably the most exciting one of them all.
...