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Clancy felt like he was slowly going insane. Things seemed to be changing all around the camp, but no one said a word about it. No one made any announcements whatsoever. It had started small. One day, he woke up and saw an old wooden crate standing next to his and Josh's tent, with an aged doll on top of it.
The small puppet had long white hair, matching its white beard. It was almost the same color as the snow around the crate it was sitting on. The doll was also wearing red pants, along with a large red coat featuring white, fluffy fur at the collar and cuffs. Clancy could barely tell the difference between them if it weren't for the big black belt around the puppet's waist. The oddest thing about it, in Clancy's opinion, was the hat the doll was wearing. It was the same shade of red as the rest of its clothes, but had a white pom-pom hanging off of it, nearly touching the puppet's shoulders.
When he looked around camp, it seemed some other banditos had the same type of doll next to the opening of their tent. He wanted to ask Josh what it was for, if it was some ritual he hadn't heard of before, but he was afraid the man would just laugh at him for asking a stupid question like that.
Clancy knew that the Torchbearer would never act like that; nothing the man had ever done could even suggest he'd do anything even similar to it, yet the possibility of it becoming reality made Clancy scared enough to avoid asking Josh.
As the days passed, more and more of the tents had a doll sitting beside them, and Clancy became more and more confused and curious about it.
One day, he stepped outside to see thin wooden sticks placed, seemingly at random, around the camp. Thin black wires were strung across the poles, some of the cords even circling the stick to make sure the strings were connected tightly enough and stayed in the air, and as Clancy got closer, he could see tiny lights on the wires, though they weren't giving off any actual light.
He wondered why they would need more lights; wasn't the campfire enough? Again, some part of him wanted to go to Josh and ask him about what the hell was going on, but the louder part screamed to just stay quiet and not question anything.
Then, by far the weirdest thing so far happened. After, unsurprisingly, sitting inside and journaling, Josh burst into their shared tent. It nearly made Clancy fall out of his seat and drop his pen.
“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you like that, Clance!” Josh said as he rushed to Clancy's side to make sure the other was okay.
“It's... It's okay, I'm fine,” Clancy said quietly. “What's got you so excited? You normally always let me know you want to get inside our tent, just waltzing in isn't like you.” He spoke with a smile.
Josh scratched the back of his neck.
“I guess it isn't like me, huh? I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to help decorate the Christmas tree? I don't even know if you've seen it yet, but the banditos brought it into camp earlier this morning, and we're gonna start hanging the ornaments soon. They got a really big tree this year as well. I'm not sure if we even have enough decorations to cover the whole tree.” The Torchbearer rambled, unable to contain his excitement.
Clancy tilted his head in confusion.
“Christmas? Is... Is that a type of tree that grows nearby? Are we decorating it because it's special?” He asked before he could stop himself.
In all the years he'd lived in Dema, one thing was made very clear: do not question your leaders. Although Clancy saw Josh as a friend, maybe even something more he wasn't willing to acknowledge yet, he didn't know if the other felt the same. Even then, in the end, Josh was still the Torchbearer, the leader of the banditos.
Clancy bit his lip as he prepared for laughter at his stupid questions, or even some scolding, as had happened many times before in the City.
But Clancy simply couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the bandito camp wasn't anything like Dema.
Josh's jaw dropped at Clancy's questions.
“You... Don't you know what Christmas is? God... I should've told you when we started decorating the place. I'm sorry, Clance, I've just gotten so used to celebrating it that I forgot it's not a thing over... There.” The Torchbearer said as he shook his head.
“It's... It's alright, and no, they don't have this... Christmas. What is it?” Clancy asked as he looked up at Josh, eyes filled with curiosity.
The Torchbearer immediately smiled.
“It's a holiday, we just kinda celebrate being with each other, appreciating each other, and simply having a good time. The lights and decorations are just for coziness. We also sing Christmas songs around the campfire and give each other gifts.” Josh explained.
Clancy still looked bewildered, trying to grasp the idea of the holiday. He didn't have anything to compare it to. Dema didn't have anything like this.
“So... What do I have to do?” He asked softly. Josh let out a small giggle, but not in a mocking manner. He honestly thought it was adorable how Clancy seemed so intrigued by the banditos' celebrations of it all.
“You don't have to do anything, you can if you want to, but you don't have to. If you want to help me and the others decorate the tree, you can come along with me, but if you want to stay inside our tent, that's fine as well.” Josh said as he put his hand on Clancy's shoulder to comfort him. He'd love it if the man chose to help, but he wanted to make sure the other didn't feel pressured in doing so.
Clancy bit his lip as he took a moment to think about his choice, but it didn't take him too long to decide.
“Yeah, let's do it!” He smiled. The Torchbear chuckled as he grabbed Clancy's hand, pretty much dragging him to the Christmas tree that was set up in the middle of camp, but just far enough from the campfire to avoid a fire hazard.
When the two arrived at the tree, Clancy couldn't help but stare at it in awe. It was huge; some banditos had even brought a ladder so that they could reach the top of the tree.
Josh stared at him, seeing Clancy looking in amazement at something as simple as a Christmas tree, which wasn't even decorated yet, filled him with a sense of joy he couldn't describe.
“If you think this is cool, just wait till the ornaments are in there.” The Torchbearer laughed as he walked to one of the boxes sitting right underneath the tree and opened it.
He took out a shiny red ball and handed it to Clancy.
“Here, you can be the first one to put it in the tree.” Josh smiled.
He looked at the Torchbearer, worry clearly showing on his face.
“Where... Where do I put it? I don't wanna mess this up.” He laughed awkwardly. His hands were shaking, and it wasn't from the cold. A million thoughts ran through his head as he thought about what would happen if he fucked this up.
“Clance, don't stress about it. There's no wrong way to do this. Put it wherever you want to.” Josh said as he patted the other on the shoulder.
“So there's no pattern to it? No rules?” Clancy asked just to be sure.
“Nope!” The Torchbearer said, popping the 'p'.
He smiled as he watched Clancy slowly walking towards the Christmas tree, still anxiously eyeing the other banditos who were standing around to help with the decorations.
Clancy carefully hung the ornament in the middle of the tree, being careful not to drop it.
“Is this okay?” He asked once he made sure the red ball couldn't fall out of the tree.
Josh nodded. “It's perfect.”
Clancy blushed as he nervously scratched the back of his neck; he was never good at receiving compliments, especially not if the compliments came from Josh.
The Torchbearer turned to the rest of the banditos, who were just as excited as he was.
“Thank you all for joining in on decorating this year's Christmas tree with me. Let's make it even more special and beautiful than the last!” Josh announced as he raised his fist in the air, followed by a loud clap.
Immediately, the banditos started cheering and walked towards the box filled with all sorts of ornaments. Clancy was amazed at just how many decorations there were, and also how much variation there was between them. Maybe they'd have enough to cover the entirety of the tree after all...
Josh must have noticed how much Clancy was staring in astonishment at all of the different ornaments.
“You think they're pretty?” He asked.
Clancy simply nodded, not taking his eyes off it.
“Can I hang as many of the balls in the tree as I want to?” He questioned. Clancy just needed to be assured that it was okay to go all out with this; he didn't want to ruin his first Christmas.
The Torchbearer looked at him with a kind smile. “Of course! They're called baubles, by the way.”
Clancy snickered. “A bauble?”
Josh nodded his head yes. “Not just the round ones, though; all of the other trinkets as well.”
The other giggled again. “That's such a silly name.”
Josh laughed. “I suppose it is, huh? C'mon, let's get decorating.” Clancy smiled as he all but ran to the box closest to him and began picking out different ornaments. Some were simply shiny while others were covered in glitter, the majority being different shades of red. It looked beautiful.
The day flew by, and before they knew it the sun was starting to set. Clancy was honestly impressed with himself that he hadn't let any of the baubles slip from his hands.
At the end, they did have enough decorations to cover the entirety of the Christmas tree— just barely. Once it was all done, Josh announced that they'd move on to the final step of the project: hanging up the lights.
Clancy immediately recognized the lamp-covered strings as the same ones that had been hanging around camp for a few days now. He tilted his head at Josh.
“Why are we hanging those up? The lights aren't working.” He asked quietly, still somewhat scared that the other banditos would think it was a dumb question.
For a second, the Torchbearer just stared at Clancy before the realization hit him.
“Oh! Are you talking about the little lights strung around camp? They do work, we just always turn them on at the same time we turn on the lights in the Christmas tree. We didn't use to do it like that, but one year the time we put up the lights and put up the tree just aligned perfectly, and it's sorta become part of the tradition since then.” Josh grinned.
“Alright, so how do we do this?” Clancy asked as he grabbed some of the cords from the box.
“You just start at the top and circle the tree, making sure it stays in place. I'll do the top, and you decorate the bottom, alright?” The Torchbearer asked as he grabbed some of the lights from Clancy's hands.
He simply nodded as he watched Josh climb up the ladder to reach the top, which already had a beautiful golden star on it. Despite knowing Josh had done this for years, Clancy couldn't help but worry about the possibility of him falling and injuring himself.
He watched as the other strung the lights around the top of the tree, making sure it circled around with the help of some other banditos, Clancy doing the same as he stood safely on the ground.
As soon as Josh stood next to him again, Clancy put his arm around the other's shoulder, relieved that everything had turned out okay.
The Torchbearer smiled as he returned the gesture. He quickly looked at the other banditos, who were all staring back at him, clearly eager to turn on the lights.
“Alright,” Josh started. “Are all of you ready?” He waited as he heard everyone applaud and cheer to let him know they were more than ready.
“Okay then, here's to another year filled with happiness and good times. I'm greatful to stand here with all of you, and I can't even begin to express how proud I am to call myself your leader!” Josh yelled with a smile on his face so big that it must have hurt.
“Here we go!” He shouted as he pressed a button that connected all of the lights strung around camp and in the tree.
Within seconds, the entire camp started glowing; it looked as if hundreds of tiny stars had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Clancy couldn't help but let out a soft gasp. Josh immediately noticed.
“What do you think? You like it?”
The other simply nodded, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. It looked absolutely stunning.
“The lights they're... They're so... warm...” Clancy said quietly as he kept staring in awe.
Josh laughed kindly. It was true, the neon lights back in Dema were just a white-blueish color. It was very different than the bright yellow-orange color these lamps had.
“I'm assuming they're warm in a good way?”
Clancy let out a sigh in disbelief at Josh's question.
“Yes, God, yes... It's... It's so pretty I just... Don't know what to say, to be honest.” He said, finally looking at Josh again.
The Torchbearer looked into Clancy's eyes, noticing tears were starting to well up.
“Clancy? Are you... Are you alright?” He asked worriedly. The other simply nodded before basically jumping into Josh's arms, hugging him tightly.
“I'm more than alright. Thank you so much for showing me this.”
Josh let out a soft laugh.
“Of course, love.” His eyes immediately widened as he realized what he had just called Clancy. He'd gotten so carried away with just enjoying seeing the other so happy that his words slipped out before he could even think about them. Josh could feel Clancy freeze.
“What did you just call me?” He asked. He didn't sound mad, just kinda shocked.
“I-I'm sorry, Clancy. I didn't mean to, I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable.” The Torchbearer mumbled, suddenly unable to look into Clancy's eyes.
The two of them just stood in silence for a moment before Clancy grabbed Josh by the wrist.
“Come on, let's go to our tent for a second. We still have a bit before the campfire starts.” The other nodded as he let himself be dragged back to their shared home.
Once they arrived, Josh instantly walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, feeling like his knees could give up on him any moment now.
“Did you call me 'love' just then?” Clancy asked as he took the Torchbearer's hand in his own in an attempt to comfort him.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just... I wasn't thinking, I promise I won't call you that, or anything like it, again.” Josh mumbled, the concern clear in his voice.
“I just want to know... Do you like me in that way? Like... more than just platonically?” Clancy gave Josh's hand a soft squeeze.
The other nodded, obviously ashamed to be feeling that way.
“I just don't want this to ruin our friendship, please?” He practically begged.
Clancy let out a quiet laugh.
“You're so oblivious, you know that?”
Josh looked up, staring into Clancy's eyes once more. He was clearly confused about the other's reaction.
“What do you mean?”
“I... I like you too. As in, romantically. I thought I was being so obvious about it, I didn't want to tell you because I figured that if you felt the same, you would've acknowledged it by now.” Clancy nervously scratched his wrist, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.
Josh couldn't help but let out a huff at that. Clancy was right, it should've been obvious to him in hindsight... The way Clancy always followed him nearly everywhere, gave him hugs, or held his hand all the time. I mean, fuck, they even shared a tent together.
“So...,” Josh started. ”Does this mean we're boyfriends?” He asked with an anxious smile.
Clancy simply laughed.
“Yes, boyfriends.”