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When Dan’s eyes cracked open Christmas morning, they fell blearily upon an empty right side of the bed where a certain blonde would typically be stretched out and snoring softly. He reached out his left hand to palm the sheets, sensing that they were surprisingly chilly. Phil must have been awake for a little while already. Dan rolled over to the edge of the bed and stood up, pulling on the black plaid pajama pants that lay piled on the ground where he had taken them off the night prior. Grabbing one of the four used coffee mugs from his nightstand (one of Phil’s favorites: the Hello Kitty mug), Dan made his way to the kitchen, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the blueish morning light streaming through the many windows of their house. After rinsing out the coffee mug and sticking it under the now steaming nozzle of he and Phil’s espresso machine, Dan heard rustling emanating from the living room and went to investigate while his coffee brewed.
He peeked around the corner to find Phil on the far side of their living room, adjusting gift bags and meticulously wrapped boxes (definitely from family members or friends – neither of them could wrap presents that neatly). The glow of the string lights that all but engulfed their small but full Christmas tree lit up Phil’s expression of preoccupied concentration, rendering Dan weak in the knees. He was grateful he had a wall to lean on while his eyes were rather dreamily glued upon his partner. The multicolored LEDs gave Phil’s pale skin and equally pale hair a sort of otherworldly, nebula-esque sheen, gently highlighting his angular cheekbones, soft pink lips, and arched brows. Dan wondered probably for the billionth time how he got so damn lucky.
“Good morning, my beautiful freak," Dan strode across the living room to wrap his arms around Phil’s waist just after he had bent down to move a couple stray presents under the lower branches of their tree. Phil hummed happily in response, his present-tweaking flow not slowing down in the slightest. "Did Santa not leave things the way you wanted them?”
“Shut up! I’m just moving things a little more out of the way so that neither of us trip on them. With us being the world’s most clumsy people over 6 feet tall, that is. If we fall, it’d trigger the tectonic plates to shift. Can’t have an earthquake on Christmas day.” Phil straightened up after making his adjustments and turned around to face Dan, smiling and suppressing a giggle all the way up. He shifted his hands to Dan’s waist, squeezing gently and smiling again when he saw Dan’s dimples form in lieu of his own grin.
“There isn’t any mistletoe hanging precariously above us, but could I humbly request a Christmas kiss?” Dan looked up at the lack of foliage above them and then met Phil’s gaze again, wiggling his eyebrows and pulling Phil closer to him by his hips.
“Alright, but it’s gonna cost you. I’m charging 3 nights of answering the door for the Deliveroo guy. NO MATTER what you’re wearing.” Phil leaned in before Dan could protest, moving his hands from Dan’s middle to his neck and the back of his head, slowly running his right hand through his partner’s curly brown hair. The kiss was warm and held so much within it; so many moments of touch shared between these two souls, moments of teaching each other what it’s like to be known down to the very last molecule, the very last atom. Dan lightly nibbled Phil’s bottom lip and savored his love’s distinctly sweet taste, comforted by the familiar shape of his mouth.
Dan pulled away, opening his eyes gradually and drinking in the sight of his partner before him, spiky bedhead and all. “So worth it.” He leaned forward again and buried his face in Phil’s neck, inhaling a deep, contented breath. “How long have you been up?” he asked, muffled.
“Only an hour or so. Had to piss at around ten and just decided to stay up and tidy before sleeping beauty awoke from her slumber.” Phil’s arms wrapped around Dan’s middle and squeezed playfully. “Do you wanna open gifts yet or wait for a bit?”
“Eager to get some of the tripping hazards out of the way, are we?” Dan nudged Phil’s leg with his knee, earning a laugh from his partner. “How about we do one each right now and come back after we have breakfast?”
“A good compromise.” Phil pulled away from Dan, grabbing his hands from his waist and squeezing them, pulling them both down to take a seat on their chestnut hardwood floor, Dan’s knees popping as they descended.
“I’m getting too old for this,” Dan groaned as he came down with an ungraceful thump.
"You are? Need I remind you that--"
"Yeah, yeah, neither of us are spring chickens, I know." Dan smiled and half-heartedly shoved Phil in the shoulder. “You wanna go first?”
“Sure,” Phil chirped as he searched for a gift to unwrap. He eventually grabbed a box that was about the dimensions of a hefty coffee table book. Picking it up, he took note of its weight and the small rattling sound it produced as he lifted it off the ground.
“That one’s from Sophie and PJ. They asked me about what to get you, so I may or may not be a little biased.” Dan crooned with a sly smirk, head resting on his palm with his elbow propped up on his knee.
Phil rolled his eyes jokingly and gave the box one more shake before mercilessly tearing into the blue and green snowflake-peppered paper. He removed the final shred of wrapping paper to reveal Stardew Valley: The Board Game.
“Oh my gosh, what?? This is so cool! It’s a perfect combination of video games and tabletop games! I never would have thought of this. I’ll have to text PJ and Sophie to let them know how much fun we have when we play. Or we could just invite them over to give it a go with us. We could even play this on the Dan and Phil channel! It’s just perfect.”
Dan watched in complete and utter adoration as Phil gushed about his brand new hyperfixation. The childlike glee in him is so beautiful see, he thought. When did you become so sappy? another voice inside him teased. When I met Phil, the first voice responded with an earnestness that would humble even the most honest of Abes.
“Alright, your turn!” Phil placed the board game on their coffee table right next to where they were positioned on the living room floor and looked at Dan with expectant, excited eyes. Dan, shaken from his Phil-induced trance, turned his gaze to the small heap of gifts in front of him. He reached for a suspiciously cereal-box shaped mystery item, and, after picking it up, became more convinced that it was actually a box of cereal due to how light it was and the starchy rattle it gave upon being lifted. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw Phil stifle a chuckle after the rattle came from the box.
“Phil…?” Dan started, his eyes darting over to Phil's, that trademark edge of uncertainty lacing his voice. Phil let a small exhaled laugh escape his teeth and shrugged his shoulders. Dan began peeling back the corners of the (somewhat messily done) wrapping job and eventually tore it away to find a box of Frosted Shreddies beneath the paper.
“You have got to be kidding. You legitimately went and got me a box of Frosted Shreddies?? Not only that, but you fuckinggift wrapped it?!” Dan looked at Phil with an expression split down the middle between bewilderment and admiration.
Phil hesitated a moment, and then:
“What can I say?”
He almost couldn’t get the words out before crumbling into a peal of laughter. Dan put down the box of Shreddies and lunged to tackle his partner (a-la PINOF 1). They loudly tumbled to the ground in a fit of breathless giggles, Dan on top and Phil underneath.
“I guess we shifted the tectonic plates anyway.” Phil teased. Dan leaned down and attempted to kiss the shit-eating grin off his partner’s face. It, predictably, didn’t work – he felt Phil smile against his lips and let Phil's tongue enter his mouth, running over his teeth and consequently taking his breath away. Phil’s hands wormed their way under Dan’s sleep shirt and traced lazy circles along his back, taking extra time to outline the shap of each of his vertebrae. Dan moaned softly in retaliation, pressing his body hungrily into his partner’s below him for a few moments more. He then pulled away to stare into Phil’s eyes, delirious with satisfaction and devotion.
“Your brain is perfect. I love you so fucking much, you idiot.” Dan lifted his left hand and cupped Phil’s cheek, running his thumb over his lips.
“If it wasn’t clear by that grandiose gesture of passion, I love you too.” Phil closed his eyes and leaned into Dan’s hand, equally drunk with contentedness. “Only you would ask for a box of Frosted Shreddies for Christmas.”
“And only you would actually go and get them for me.” Dan said through laughter, shaking his head. “Jesus, fuck the internet now, but thank God for it sixteen years ago.”
“Agreed.” Phil pulled Dan down all the way to the ground on his left side, and there the two men stayed, limbs and heartstrings entangled with one another's on the floor next to their Christmas tree until they were interrupted by Phil’s stomach making a noise like a beached whale.
“Something tells me you want that breakfast we mentioned an hour ago,” Dan teased with a goofy wink.
“More than anything,” Phil rasped, grinning ear to ear.
They helped each other to their feet and walked hand in hand back to their kitchen.