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Sandy gave your hand a comforting squeeze as you approached the joyful chatter emanating from North's kitchen. You glanced over and he gave you a gentle smile. After all, this would be your first time meeting some of the other Guardians, as well as Jack's friends, and you would be lying if you said you weren't just a bit nervous. Not that you weren't excited! And from everything you had heard, you were sure everyone would be kind and welcoming. Large social settings just… weren't your forte.
But you should've expected that you would have to get used to them sooner or later— it came with dating one of the Guardians after all.
Speaking of…
It seemed Sandy could tell you were lost in thought as he leaned forward and pressed a quick peck to your lips, and let out a chime of laughter at your expression. Smiling, you leaned forward and pressed another, albeit slightly longer, kiss to his own lips.
"I'm fine," you reassured him. "Now let's go. The others are waiting."
When North had offered up his home for Christmas celebrations while he was gone, most of the others had jumped at the chance. Jack had been the one to suggest building gingerbread houses, and Tooth had been the one to suggest inviting the other couples.
Sitting around the kitchen table were Jack and Tooth, of course, heads bowed together as they giggled together over some inside joke. You had heard enough about the others to recognize them; Hiccup, and his girlfriend, Astrid, were deep in a debate with Rapunzel over the benefits of architecture versus aesthetic when it came to building gingerbread houses. Rapunzel's fiance, Eugene, was busy feeding gumdrops to… a chameleon? Who was changing colors to match the candy as he grabbed it with his tongue.
Eugene was the first to notice them as they walked in and gave them a wave. The others looked over as well, though Hiccup had to elbow Jack before he started paying attention.
"Sandy! You guys made it!" Jack and Tooth flew over and wrapped the two of you in quick hugs. "It's nice to finally meet you. Sandy can't stop talking about you."
If Sandy could blush, he would have been, though the little heart floating above his head definitely got the sentiment across. "He's told me a lot about all of you as well. It's great to be here."
"Come sit by me," Tooth said, grabbing your hand, wings fluttering excitedly. "I saved us the sugar free frosting!"
You and Sandy joined the group and everyone made introductions. As everyone chatted, a small troupe of elves followed by a long-suffering yeti came traipsing in carrying trays of gingerbread, frosting, sprinkles, and candy canes, along with piping bags, tweezers, toothpicks, and a blow torch that made Hiccup's eyes light up.
"Hiccup, where is Toothless anyway?" Rapunzel asked, grabbing a tray for herself and Eugene.
"Terrorizing the elves somewhere I think. Phil said he would keep an eye on him, but I think he just wanted the entertainment."
"Is it bad the elves remind me so much of the twins?" Astrid said and Hiccup and Jack broke out into laughter.
"I can see it. I can see it very clearly," Jack said. "Maybe the rest of the crew can join us for New Years."
"Maybe ask North first," Tooth said, placing a gentle hand on Jack's A swirl of dream sand floated above Sandy's head, forming a waving flag— that you could only assume was meant to be red— and an alarm going off. You and the others laughed; even North had a limit on holiday chaos it seemed.
"Speaking of the others," Eugene said, "are Merida and the other Guardians coming tomorrow?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. Merida had family stuff and didn't want to, quote, "be surrounded by you huddies bosieing up to yer hens." …Whatever that means. Bunnymund said something similar. …I think."
"They do get along rather well, don't they," Tooth mused, expertly adding another frosting tooth to the roof of her gingerbread tooth palace. Hers was only one of the impressive structures taking form around the table. Hiccup and Astrid were carefully lacing licorice bridges across the different Berkian outposts, with dragons made of gumdrops and frosting resting on the roofs. Rapunzel was off in her own world, treating the frosting almost like oil paint as she mixed different colors and used what looked like a pallet knife to create scalloped roof tiles. Eugene was working on his own ramshackle gingerbread house that had what you thought was a duckling painted on the side of it for some reason.
Sandy pulled a tray towards the two of you and a question mark swirled into being above his head. What to make indeed. You were partial to something nature themed, and it wasn't like you could make Sandy's cloud or even his dreamsand island out of the gingerbread— or, you supposed you could if you crumbled it up, but that seemed like a waste. And then, inspiration struck.
"I have an idea."
Sandy grinned and a lightbulb appeared above your head, making you laugh. You pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before explaining your plan.
:::
The evening passed far too quickly for your liking and was filled with lots of laughter and many fun stories. Sandy's friends were quickly becoming your own and they seemed eager to hang out again; maybe you could talk to Sandy about helping with a New Year's celebration.
At the end of the night, everyone showed off their various creations. The Defenders of Berk outpost was incredibly impressive, even if it did look dangerously unstable. Astrid was very proud to show off the marshmallow trebuchet outfitted to one of the towers.
Tooth's palace replica was stunning both in scale and in color. Jack had helped by dotting frosting around it to create the illusion of tons of little fairies flying around it.
Rapunzel had made more of a diorama than a house, leaving one wall missing to showcase the miniature library she had built and decorated inside. With just as much enthusiasm, she gushed over Eugene's Snuggly Duckling replica— a cozy dining establishment apparently, with some life changing karaoke.
As for you and Sandy, you had settled on recreating your childhood home. It was a simple house, but you had put a lot of work into piping the ivy growing up the side of it, and Sandy had painstakingly assembled the large tree that stood in the front yard— complete with a peach ring tire swing! A large helping of dream dust swirled with powder sugar completed the snowy scene.
"It's so cute!" Tooth cried.
"Adorable," Rapunzel agreed, and her chameleon— Pascal, you had learned— gave a firm nod in agreement.
"Thank you." Sandy wrapped an arm around you and you rested your head on his shoulder as the conversation turned to plans for the rest of the holidays and if Hiccup and Astrid really had access to a trebuchet like that.
"This was a lot of fun," you murmured to Sandy, and he nodded in agreement. He held out his hand and a little heart swirled into being before blowing towards you. You let out a giggle— and a little yawn. "I love you too. Merry Christmas."
By far, one of your favorite Christmases in a while.