#theadventures

  “What’s with all the noise? I’m trying to sleep...” Roman huffed as he rose up before the TV, rubbing his eye, wearing a royal red morning robe and a pair of fluffy slippers, hair wild and standing in all directions. It was clear he had only just woken up.

  “IT’S SNOWING ROBRO! LOOK!” Remus barked happily. Roman hummed as he stretched.

  “Don’t be stupid, we live in Florida, how much snow could it possibly… be...” Roman starred as he looked out the window. His jaw dropped and he just gaped. “By the eye of Odin...” he walked over to the window, placing his hands on the window sill to get a better look. “It really is snowing...” He was awake in seconds “THOMAS!” he called spinning around to face their whole. Thomas blinked. “GET DRESSED! WE NEED TO MAKE A SNOWMAN RIGHT THE FUCK NOW! OH AND SNOW ANGLES!” Roman kept going with every idea that you did in the snow that he’d seen in movies, but due to Florida’s normally hot weather, they’ve never really gotten to experience it. Remus was nodding along with every idea Roman spit balled out. Thomas couldn’t help but laugh at the twins's excitement.

  “If he is to go out in this weather he needs to dress accordingly, it is cold outside, so you will need to wear several layers of clothes before you put on your winter jacket to not risk frostbite.” Logan said, fixing his glasses as he rose up on his spot next to the stairs.

  “Or he just doesn’t go outside!” Virgil shouted as he appeared on the stairs, looking like he had just thrown his hoodie over his pyjamas, if the black skulled pants flannel pants was anything to go by, and the lack of shoes and make up.

  “NO! THAT IS OUT OF THE QUESTION!” Both Roman and Remus shouted “This is a once in a lifetime experience! Thomas is going out in the snow and I will not let you keep him hiding indoors!” Roman lamented pointing a finger at Virgil who hissed back.

  “Kiddos, please don’t fight this early in the morning.” Patton said around a yawn as he too rose up.

  “It’s 9 am Patton.” Logan huffed

  “It is far too early, and it is faaaar too cold for anyone to be up.” a hissing voice came as Janus appeared next to Logan, wrapped in a thick blanket and the only thing that really was visible was his snake eye glowing yellow from the darkness of the blanket.

  “We can stand here and argue all day, and risk the snow MELTING!” Roman shouted, waving his arms like an angry bird.

  “YEAH!” Remus shouted “I want to decapitate some snowmen!”

 Thomas just took all of the sides in. Janus looked like he wanted it to be summer again, glaring at the snow as if it had insulted his very existence. Logan was the only one who was dressed fully. Thomas first now realised Remus was only in his underwear.

  “Aren’t you cold Rem?” Thomas asked, Remus blinked and turned to face him tilting his head like a confused puppy.

  “Hah? Why would I be?”

  “Don’t worry Thomas, Remus is very hot.” Janus mumbled.

  “Oh I know I’m hot, snakey~” Remus smirked as he did a shimmy. Janus just sighed

  “I totally meant it that way...”

Logan clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention.

  “Thomas still needs to find his winter gear in the closet, before he can embark on any kind of activity outside.”

  “Hm, true.” Roman said before he grabbed Thomas by the arm and dragged him along “Our first quest! Find the hidden winter coat!” Thomas only laughed, while Virgil and Logan rolled their eyes.

 - - -

 In the end, most of the sides had come outside with him, after getting dressed accordingly to handle the cold.

Roman and Logan were helping Thomas make a snowman. Remus was running around in the snow like an excited ferret, diving into it before wiggling around and then bouncing up and diving into it again, leaving no part of the snow in Thomas’s backyard undisturbed. Patton had managed to get Virgil to come outside, the anxious side having acted like the snow would bite him at any moment, but when it was clear the snow was no danger quite so literary, Virgil let himself be pulled along by Patton as the two started doing some snow angles. Janus watched from the warmth of the inside. He had almost gotten dragged out by Remus, but Janus had only taken one step outside before he went nope and turned on his heel and walked back inside.

The snow and cold of the real world, way worse than that of the imagination. 

He huffed as he watched how Remus gathered snow in his hands, making it into a snowball and throwing it, striking Virgil right in the face, knocking the side over onto his back. Janus rolled his eyes as he moved to the kitchen. He’d let the kids have fun for now, as he started to prepare some hot chocolate for when they came back inside, as well as taking out some of the saffron buns and gingerbread's.

A presence made him glance to the right to see how the last side was sitting crouched on the kitchen counter, clearly munching on one of the gingerbread cookies. 

  “I see you left your room.” Janus said as he returned his attention to the milk he was warming on the stove. “Any particular reason?” a noncommittal noise was all he got

  “I got bored.”

Janus turned around to talk more only to find the counter once again empty of an orange side. He huffed and rolled his eyes.

  “You cryptid.”

He finished mixing the cocoa into the milk and removed the pot from the stove, taking out 7 cups and putting them on the counter.

Janus moved over to the door, opening it to call out to the others to get their sorry asses inside before the hot cocoa got cold.

But he barely got to open his mouth before a stray snowball struck him right in the face. 

  “AHA! HEAD SHOT!” Remus called with a cackle only to make a dying noise when one of Roman’s snowballs struck his chest.

Janus stroked the steadily melting snow from his face and shivered as he looked out at the scene. the poor snowman stood in the middle of the now all out war. Janus chuckled darkly making Remus and Virgil still.

  “Hoooooooo, is it a war you want.” Janus said as he summoned his other arms. stepping out in the snow as his clothes changed to the winter gear. “THEN IT IS A WAR YOU WILL GET YOU DAMNED RAT!” Janus called as he unleashed snowball after snowball. Remus screeched as he dove behind the snowman “DON’T YOU DARE HIDE FROM ME!”

 They were all drenched and tired when they got back inside. Janus was grousing and hissing as he snapped his fingers to change out of his wet clothes to something warm and fluffy.

The hot cocoa needed to be reheated, but no one was complaining, just happy to get some warmth back in their bodies.

Thomas was smiling, as he left the sides to go change into dry clothes himself.

When he came back downstairs Remus and Roman had already fallen asleep sprawled on the floor. Logan was sitting on the couch reading, taking sips from his cup of hot cocoa now and again. Patton was leaning against his other side, half asleep now when the excitement had died down.

Virgil and Janus were the only ones still at the kitchen counter. Janus’s cape having been changed with a thick black knitted plaid as he curled around the warm cup, Virgil was sitting cross legged on the counter nursing his own cup.

  “That was more fun than I was expecting.” Thomas said as he took the last cup and leaned against the counter. “But very cold.”

  “I kinda want to hope the snow stays around till christmas...” Virgil huffed as he put his now empty cup onto the counter to hug around his legs.

  “I hope not. If it does, I'm going to sleep until spring comes back.” Janus huffed

  “If we get you a heat blanket?” Thomas asked with a smile. Janus took a sip of his own drink and huffed a small pout.

  “SNAKEY! GET OUT OF BED!” A voice suddenly shouted from upstairs, unmistakingly belonging to a certain duke

  “GET YOUR FILTHY PAWS OFF ME!” Came another voice, just as loud and more hysterical clearly belonging to Janus, a screech followed.

It didn’t take long before Remus came thundering down the stairs holding a loudly cursing Janus, who was bundled up in a bright yellow fluffy blanket, in his arms.

  “We’re here!” Remus cheered as he unceremoniously dropped Janus down between Thomas and Patton. Janus hissed louder as he grabbed his blanket and glared at Remus with murder in his eyes.

  “Remus, I swear, you better keep your snacks hidden or I will change them for Healthy food!” Janus snarled.

  “NO! NOT MY SNACKS!” Remus cried holding his hands protectively before himself.

  “Everyone here now?” Thomas asked.

  “Is…?” Logan started turning to Janus.

  “No, he hid even harder from Remus so I doubt he will show face.” Janus grumbled into his hand that he was leaning his jaw against, as he made himself a bit more comfortable on the floor. 

  “Then yes, everyone is here.” Logan said and nodded at Thomas. Thomas smiled and sighed in relief, as Roman cheered and sat up, only to snort at the birds nest that was Janus’s hair.

  “No hat?”

  “No, because someone didn’t have time to let me finish preparing for the day.”

  “You were taking too long!” Remus nagged. Janus just clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Virgil sighed, and Logan rolled his eyes before he clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention.

  “Since everyone is here now, why don’t we get this year's secret Santa started?” A chorus of agreements followed and soon the sides and Thomas waited as Janus summoned his hat after Roman sent him some puppy eyes to use it to draw the name on who was to hand over their present first.

   “Virgil.” Logan read from the piece of paper he had taken from the bowler hat. Virgil grimaced before he huffed

  “Well… better to get it over with… I had you Logan...” Virgil said as he summoned a package, wrapped in purple paper with white stars, he handed it over to the other side who took it in surprise.

  “Are we opening the gifts now or are we waiting til everyone got theirs?” Thomas asked.

  “It’s more fun to open them together.” Patton said with a smile.

Logan carefully placed the purple present down on the floor, before he picked up a present wrapped in dark blue paper.

  “I had you Janus.” Logan said as he handed the present over. Janus blinked before one arm appeared from the blankets and took the present, a small chuckle left him as he thought he had an idea on what it was Logan had given him.

  “Thank you.” Janus said as he put the present down. “Roman I had you.”

  “Oh… yay...” Roman said only to yelp when two of Janus’s arms suddenly appeared from the floor holding a big yellow box. Roman gaped as he took it, missing how Janus’s arms disappeared back into the floor. Roman floundered a bit before he put down the big box and took out a smaller red present. “I had you Thomas.” Roman said as he handed over the red present to Thomas, while Patton cooed at how small it was.

  “Aw it’s so small and cute~” Thomas chuckled at Patton’s comment before he took the gift, not really surprised that he could touch it. 

  “Did you and Janus work together on this one?”

  “Not at all, I totally didn’t make you forget ever buying that thing.” Janus said with a smile. while Roman chuckled and rubbed at his neck.

  “Well, I had you Patton.” Thomas said before he told Patton to hold his hands open and then concentrated, a rainbow coloured present plopped down on top of Patton’s palms and he squealed.

  “Oh I’m sure I’ll love this!” he said as he put it down and brought forth a baby blue present from behind his back and held it out to Remus. “I had you Remus. Here.”

  “Oh goodie!” Remus cackled as he took it only to blink when he felt that it was a soft present. He squeezed the paper a bit, a grin growing on his lips. “Here raccoon.” He said distractedly as one of his tentacles held out a badly wrapped gift painted green with acrylic paint to Virgil. Virgil took it with a startled yelp, grimacing when he felt how the paint was still wet.

  “Ugh.. thanks...”

  “LET*S OPEN THEM!” Remus and Roman called at the same time, causing Patton, Janus and Thomas to chuckle.

Getting a nod of approval it didn’t take long for Remus to tear into his present, to find a neon green knitted scarf, it didn’t look the best but he held it up and gaped, before he squealed and hugged it close, before happily wrapping it around his neck and bit into one end of it, chewing the chick wool. Patton chuckled at the sight before a loud gasp from Roman made them look over to find how Roman was taking out a huge stuffed lion, pale yellow with a bright red mane and green eyes and Roman’s logo on a necklace around the neck.

  “Where did you get this?!”

  “I uh… made it.” Janus said as he rubbed at his hands, gloves covering all the patches that took up his fingers from where he stabbed himself with the needle. Janus couldn’t help the blush that grew on his cheeks when Roman gave him the biggest most happy smile in years.

Patton opened his gift next, a happy sob leaving him when he saw the little stuffed frog, glittering blue in the light and a pair of big blue eyes, a pair of glasses and the cat hoodie around it’s throat.

  “It’s meee...” he sniffled.

  “Yeah, I know the first time was a bit of a bad moment, so I wanted to get you something to help you feel better about it. Logan and Roman helped me figure out how to make it.”

  “I love it.” Patton mumbled as he hugged the soft frog close.

The sound of tearing present paper was heard followed by a chuckle.

  “I knew it. Thank you Logan.” Janus said as he held a thick book in his hand. “I don’t suppose you want to go through it at a later date and discuss the content.”

  “I would lo- like that.” Logan said with a small smile.

  “So THAT’s where that lego set went” Thomas said, having opened his own present to find one of the several lego sets he bought before him. “Thanks guys.”

Logan opened his own present and blinked down at a space themed cup with a bundle of book marks filling it up, all holding different constellations on them.

  “I heard you grumble about running out of book marks last time you and the snake had your book talks, and you keep using your favourite cup so often it’s always in the dishwasher.” Virgil murmured “It’s not much but-”

  “Thank you Virgil.”

Virgil looked down at the sticky present Remus gave him, before he sighed and snapped his fingers to make the paint dry, before he unwrapped it, cursing every piece of tape he found. Before he found a bag full of stim toys, he picked up a fidget cube the same size as a rubik's cube, instantly pressing all the buttons. Remus caught sight of it and grinned.

 The evening found them all still in the living room, snuggled tight as they watched the Polar express, Logan’s request. In queue was the first Grinch movie, A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, and several other Christmas movies.

Thomas felt warm and content, tomorrow he would have the “real” celebration with his family, eating his fathers food and spending time with his mom. but for now, now he would bask in the calm that came, all the sides cuddled together. Somehow Logan had found his way into Janus’s blanket, hugging around the snake like side as the two leaned against Thomas’s side. Patton took up his other side, as Remus sat on the floor, purring as Patton played with his hair. Roman and Virgil sprawled on the remaining sides, Roman having the weighted lion lying on top of him acting as a weight blanket. while Virgil absently fiddled with the stim toys in the bag Remus gave him.

Thomas smiled, only to blink when a clementine was dropped on his lap, he picked it up looking around, no one else was around, Thomas turned it over to find how “Hi” had been carved out from the skin. as well as a smirking smiley. Thomas huffed and rolled his eyes.

  “He’ll show his face sometime...” Janus mumbled into his shoulder making Thomas glance at him, to see how Janus was looking at the clementine he was holding. “He’s just going to be a cryptid first.” A snort left Thomas and he chuckled, returning his attention to the TV

  “... right.” Janus huffed, before he moved over to look past Thomas and glanced at the cooking book. “If you don’t mind me asking… what are you doing?”

  “Uh, I’m baking, what does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Trying to make some weird clay?” Janus said pointing at the batter with a gloved finger.

  “It’s gingerbread dough, Janus.”

  “I knew that.” Janus said straightening up again. Thomas gave him a raised eyebrow in reply.

  “Sure.”

Thomas continued with the dough, Janus’s eyes watching him work. Thomas sent him a glance when he was almost done with the dough.

  “Do you want to help?”

  “Huh?!” Janus reared back one step, blinking owlishly at Thomas. “Not the reaction I was expecting” Thomas thought with a wry smile.

  “Do you want to help me make the gingerbread house and cookies?” Janus was quiet for a while before he huffed and inspected his nails beneath his gloves.

  “I think i would be able to put away some time for this gingerbread making from my, oh, so important schedule.” Thomas couldn’t help but snort before he smiled.

  “Good, first things first, we will use a lot of flour, so if you care about your clothes, I would advise a change, as well as getting an apron, and maybe skip the gloves?”

Janus gave him a weary look before he sighed and snapped his fingers, the capelet and shirt changed to the christmas sweater.

Thomas had thought up for the others, since Patton, Roman, Logan and Virgil already had their own. Thomas didn’t want Remus and Janus to feel forgotten so he and Roman sat down to come up with a design, before Roman created the two knitted sweaters.

Janus summoned a yellow apron and put it on, it had a big honey dripping honeycomb on the chest and a couple of bees flying around said honeycomb.

  “Honey dee?” Thomas asked with a smirk when he caught sight of the text. He wasn’t sure if he imagined the yellow that suddenly dusted Janus’s cheeks.

  “It was a gift from Patton… ” he huffed, rolling up the sleeves on the sweater, revealing some speckles of scales on his arms. appearing almost like bigger freckles. He looked down at the gloves with an unsure expression.

  “You don’t have to remove the gloves, if you don’t want to. I’m sure we can keep them protected by putting plastic bags over them.” Thomas said. Janus looked thoughtful for a moment before he shook his head.

  “It’s fine, Thomas... ” Janus removed the gloves with a flick of his wrists. Revealing nails a bit sharper than Thomas’s and a cluster of scales on the back of his left hand.

 They were just about to start on the second batch when the sound of another side appearing reached Thomas ears, Janus was fully focusing on rolling the gingerbread dough flat, tongue poking out between his lips. 

  “Hi Patton.” Thomas said with a smile.

  “Hi Thomas, I thought I smelled cookies. Do you need help?” Patton asked as he walked over.

  “I think we got it covered at the moment, but when the gingerbread house is done in the oven, I’ll need help building it.”

  “Okay!” Patton beamed and changed into his sweater and an apron of his own, covered in cat and dog paw prints with the words “Paw-some”.

Janus was just about to use the cutters to make some more gingerbread when a somewhat smelly weight leaned atop of him. 

  “What are ya doing Jan Jan binks?” Remus asked, taking a bite from the deodorant he held in his hand. Peering over Janus’s shoulder in interest.

  “Gingerbread cookies.” Janus said “And please do lean on me, it’s not as if you’re heavy or anything.” Remus snickered but stood up to hold his own weight.

  “Oh! What are you two doing Daddy-o’s!” Remus called bouncing over to look at Patton and Thomas who were trying to get the gingerbread house’s walls to stick together.

  “Hi Remus...” Patton sighed with a small unsure smile.

  “Gingerbread house.” Thomas said with a smile. “Do you want to help us decorate it?” Remus stilled, staring at Thomas with wide eyes.

  “You want me to help you decorate?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But- Roman?”

  “He and Logan are brainstorming for the Christmas gifts I have to get for my family.”

  “Keep it pg.” Janus piped up.

  “Oh, you don’t have too, I mean. It’s not like anyone but me is going to be here to see it, and it will be eaten in the end. so maybe more like pg13”

Remus’s eyes grew wider before he grinned and threw his hands up in the air and cheered.

 It was later the day when Thomas had taken a shower to get clean and came back downstairs, finding Janus curled around two saffron buns and some of the gingerbread Remus had helped him make at the last batch of the dough. Remus was lying with his back on the floor and his butt on the couch, swaying his feet. Patton had returned to the mind palace, after having cleaned up in the kitchen.

Thomas sent a glance at the gingerbread house. It was surprisingly tame at first glance, until you caught sight of the more disturbing aspects Remus had added. But despite that, Thomas did like how it turned out. He walked over and sat down on Janus’s other side.

Janus was half asleep, arms crossed over his chest under the thick blanket he had bundled himself in. His hat a bit askew from how he was sitting. Remus was watching with a bored expression, sprawled over the back of the couch. Roman was just as trollbound as Patton as the two sat on the floor closest to the TV to see everything. Logan sipped on a cup of warm glögg, a spiced hot wine, he had only found it last year after the celebrations were over and never got to try it, until this year. He liked it a lot, and wasn’t alone. He and Janus spend a few evenings drinking it while eating some of the saffron buns and gingerbread Thomas had made prior. 

  “Wonder what they would do if her hair caught on fire.” Remus suddenly piped up. Making everyone who heard cringe or sigh.

  “I’m sure they have a fire extinguisher or a fire blanket at the ready if they would need it.” Logan huffed, not looking away from the TV.

  “Why are you still here Remus? I didn’t take this as your thing.” Virgil groused as he sent a glance at Remus, from where he himself sat on the back of the couch, leaning against the wall under the big painting. 

  “Well this is pretty boring, but did you know the saint was said to have gouged her eyes out to give to a guy who said he loved them.” Remus said with a toothy grin. Virgil hissed and Thomas made a gagging noise at the mental image that gave him.

  “Hush.” Janus muttered as he reached up a hand and patted Remus on the head. Remus made a weird chirp like noise and instantly pushed into Janus’s hand, growing quiet as Janus once more let himself relax into the warmth of the blanket. only to yelp and groan when Remus decided to flop on top of him, before shimmying in under the blanket. “You’re stabbing my spleen!” Janus wheezed as he struggled to get all of Remus’s bony and pointy elbows and edges away from his softer body parts.

They stilled after a while of movements. Remus hugging Janus like an koala, Janus sighed before he poked out from the blanket to look at the TV.

  “You okay Jan?” Patton asked from the floor.

  “Yeah.” Janus said before he yawned wide, the added warmth that Remus radiated making him even sleepier. “Wake me when this is over...” he mumbled before he let himself slump a bit more in Remus’s hold, watching the TV through half closed eyes.

Thomas smiled slightly at the sight before he returned his attention to the TV.

Virgil grumbled something under his breath before he slid down from the back of the couch to sit crouched on the couch instead.

  “The whole show is a fire hazard...”

  “As I was saying, they got ways to deal with it if it ever were to happen.”

  “Okay… well, her hair will still be full of candle wax.”

His normal bowler hat was exchanged to three beanies. With all the layers of clothes, it forced him to waddle like a penguin when he walked, but if it meant he stayed warm in the freezing winter wonderland, then so be it.

Remus was not as heavily dressed for the cold, but also, he wasn’t part snake, so he could stand against the chill better, even if he didn’t like it, his fingers and toes were already getting slightly numb despite the thick mittens and warm winter boots.

They were once again going towards the big field in Roman’s part of the Imagination where the fir trees grew.

 “It’s not that cold Remus, you just got bad blood.” Roman commented from the front.

 “Remus is a living space heater, he does not got bad circulation.” Deceit huffed.

 “No, I do.” Remus piped in only to get voiced over by Logan.

 “Remus is not a space heater, he is a side, a facet of Thomas’s personality, if he were a space heater then he would not be out here in the snow.” Logan stated with a annoyed tone.

 “Figure of speech, Logan.” Virgil pointed out, turning his head to look back at the logical side.

 “Oh, okay. I will have to update my vocabulary cards when we return.”

Remus huffed before he scoped up some snow in his hands.

 “Roman! Take this for bad blood!” Remus suddenly shouted, making Roman turn around only to squeak when a snowball struck him right in the face, knocking him over to land on his back in the snow.

 “Why You!” Roman snarled as he sat up and gathered snow in his hands and threw it at a cackling Remus.

Only for the snowball to spin to the side and instead strike Deceit on the side of the face instead. making him freeze up and give away a long loud pitched noise at the chill. Only causing Remus to laughing harder.

 “WHY ME! I WASN’T EVEN PART OF YOUR CHAOS!” Deceit cried rubbing his gloved hands at his face to try and get the slowly melting snow away from his skin, scarfs and beanies.

Remus was still cackling until a snowball struck him in the nose, filling his mouth with snow, causing him to splutter and couch before he stroked his hands at this face to get the snow away, some stayed stuck to his moustache, he looked up to find how Roman was still sitting in the snow, staring at Virgil who had his hands behind his back and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.

Remus smirked before he gathered more snow in his hands, Virgil yelped when he realised he was now the target and made a run for it, running in the direction to the fir trees. Remus hot on his heels, quickly followed by Roman who wanted revenge.

It didn’t take long before a full on snowballs war started between the three sides, Deceit noped out of it quickly, soon to be joined by Logan who was fixing his glasses who had ended up snapping in half from a stray snowball. Patton was watching the three sides with a unsure smile.

 “Come on, the faster we find a tree, the faster we can leave.” Logan said as he started to move, Deceit followed, more than happy to get this done with so he could get back inside the warmth of the mind palace and snuggle up under his heat blanket.

 “Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” Patton asked as he followed the two.

 “They will tire themselves out in due time, hopefully it will keep unnecessary chaos to a minimum once we are back inside. Also it is not like they can get lost. We are all going in the same direction.”

 “Bold of you to assume Remus will calm down.”

 “I have my hopes up, despite knowing they are likely to be crushed.”

 “Touché.”

Patton stared at the two sides with worried eyes before he sent a look back to the twins and Virgil, to see how Remus were chasing Roman and Virgil with a gigantic snowball over his head. Only for Virgil to land a hit right in Remus’s face, making him stumble and drop the snowball on himself. Patton chuckled before he followed after Logan and Deceit.

-

Logan had conjured the axe, currently carrying it over his shoulder in a relaxed manner. Patton and Deceit were somewhere amongst the trees choosing which ones they found most fitting to be the christmas tree.

Logan looked to his side when Virgil came to a huffing halt next to him, eye shadow having left runny trails down his cheeks from the melted snow.

 “That- was fun, but I’m not moving that much again.”

 “We still have the trek back to the palace.” Logan pointed out. only earning a groan from Virgil. “Where’s Roman and Remus?”

 “They left to find the perfect tree.”

 “THIS TREE IF PERFECT! IT LOOKS LIKE A DILDO!” they suddenly heard Remus scream from somewhere to their left.

 “I DID NOT MAKE THAT ONE!” came Roman’s shout from the right. “DON’T MESS WITH MY TREES!”

Logan groaned and rubbed at his eyes, hearing how a chuckle left Virgil.

 “Cold, cold, cold cold cold.”

Virgil and Logan both looked ahead to find how Deceit came walking, rubbing his arms before he reached them.

 “Are we done soon? I can’t feel my toes.”

 “Not yet, we still need to choose a tree...” Logan sighed.

It took a while longer before the others came to join them. Deceit was shivering by that point, and Virgil after having played around in the snow with the twins was shivering with him.

Remus tried to get the others to choose the tree he found that looked like a dildo, but no such luck. They ended up choosing on the the trees Patton found. Logan quickly cut it down and Roman hoisted it up and they all started the trek back towards the palace.

The moment they were back inside Remus undressed his winter clothes and more, and would have run butt-naked if Deceit hadn’t hissed at him to at least keep his underwear on. Remus had pouted about it but kept them on. While Patton helped Deceit out of all the layers of winter clothes.

Now Remus was lying starfish on the couch, Deceit was curled up under his heat blanket and watched as Logan and Roman worked on getting the christmas tree to stand up straight.

Logan nodded once he was happy with it and Roman fastened the foot to the tree to keep it standing before conjuring some water for the tree.

Logan clasped his hands.

 “So, who wants to help in decorating the tree?” Logan asked. A hiss was all he got from Deceit who curled up more under the heat blanket. “I’ll take that as a no. Roman?”

 “I was planning on helping Virgil and Patton decorate the house.” Roman said as he snapped his fingers to bring forth the boxes with decorations.

 “Okay, It would seem it will be me and Remus who does the tree, and maybe Deceit later if he had thawed.”

 “I will give commentary from the couch.” Deceit said as he made himself more comfortable on the couch. Remus perked up and opened his mouth.

 “No we are not adding anything morbid or kinky to the tree.” Logan cut off before Remus even could say anything. Remus blew a raspberry

 “Oh come on!” he whined “Patton let me do gingerbread zombies!”

 “We will start with the decorations we already have.” Logan stated, earning a pout from Remus as he rolled off the couch to face plant on the carpeted floor. “Now is not the time to inspect the floor, put on some clothes and help.”

 “UUUUUUUUUUUGH! Fine.” Remus groaned as he sat up and snapped his fingers, giving himself a pair of Neon green booty shorts and a christmas sweater with his logo on it.

Deceit must have dozed off, because when he opened his eyes again the tree was near finished and Remus had one of the tinsel strings wrapped around him like a feather boa.

 “Looking good.” Deceit piped up with a smile. Remus turned to give him a look and grinned wide.

Once they finished they stepped back to get a better look. the tree was like last year full of ornaments for each sides colour. Logan hummed as he moved his hand to his jaw and thought for a moment, while Remus bounced over to Deceit giggling about how the tree was prickly and had poked him with it’s needles a lot. Deceit just smiled back and gave away a chuckle now and again.

 “Remus.” Logan suddenly said making the duke of creativity look up. “You may add one thing to the tree, but tell me what it is first so i can make sure it’s not something bad.”

Remus lit up, almost rivalling the christmas tree.

 “Oh! OH! I GOT THE BEST THING!” Remus ran up the stairs to this room, barreling past Virgil who yelped and pressed himself flat against the wall, having redone his makeup to make it no longer look like he had been crying.

 “Do I dare ask?” he questioned.

 “I told Remus he could add one thing to the tree...” Logan said slowly.

 “Oh, oh I think I know what he’s getting...” Virgil mumbled looking up the stairs. Logan looked very confused as he looked between Virgil and Deceit, Deceit had a warm smile on his lips as he looked up the stairs.

 “Am I missing something?” Logan asked.

 “It’s not bad, don’t worry.” Deceit said as he sat up a bit more, untangling himself from the heart blanket, but letting it still wrap around his legs and waist.

Remus came back downstairs a wide grin on his lips before he stopped before Logan and opened his hands to reveal a paper star with painted macaroni on it in green, yellow and purple, as well as being covered in glitter. along with two neon green feathers that looked more like they belonged to an Easter decoration.

 “... What’s this?” Logan asked as he looked at it with a curious look in his eye.

 “Remus’s first christmas ornament that he made himself.” Deceit spoke up from the couch. “It was the first christmas we all spent together.”

 “Oh, well. It’s satisfactory.” Logan said with a nod, noticing how Remus seems to beam even stronger as he rushed over and hung it up on a branch. despite being so clearly old and made by a child, it still fitted perfectly into the mayhem of colours on the tree.

Remus just pouted and twisted his hand. Snowflakes, that looked more like ash and ice, fell from his fingertips. Landing on the ground covered by dead leaves, turning to a small pile of slush.

 “It will just be the bad kind of snow… the one no one likes.” Remus huffed putting his hands in his pockets, kicking the pile of slush with his boot, pulling his face down to hide in the scarf again.

 “Now don’t say that, Bro, I’m sure there is someone who liked the slushy snow, but we can make this work! We just have to work together.” Roman said throwing his arms out to his sides before he grinned wider.

 “Not like you needed my help before...” Remus grumbled, giving away a slight shiver despite the warm clothes. Roman’s smile fell a bit, and he sighed.

He wanted this to be a good thing, a memorable thing. The things they had made with Deceit last year were precious to him, and he wanted this years december to be just as precious now when he actually could spend time with Remus, without Virgil or Patton going into a strict Freeze out.

 “I know, but I want to do this with you. I want this to become a thing. We have so many years to make up for, please?”

Remus looked to Roman who gave him a hopeful look, Remus grumbled before he sighed.

 “Once, if it doesn’t work, I’m going back to sleep.” Roman made a happy noise and pulled Remus into a strong hug making the other twin yelp at the suddenness and kick his feet that was off the ground as he groaned when Roman hugged him harder.

 “Thank you, Remus! You’re the best!”

 “Gha! Put me down! Your goddamn gorgeous muscles are breaking my back in half!” Roman laughed and put Remus back down.

 “Not my fault you’re a beanstalk.”

 “I’m taller than you!”

 “But you’re still younger!”

 “ONLY BY TWO MINUTES!”

The beeping of the watch made Roman blink and look down, it was now 5 minutes left until December.

 “Let’s try small scale first.” Roman said.

 “I- You saw that I just did, and it didn’t work.” Remus huffed.

 “Let’s not give up, I know you can do it, we just need to find out how.”

 “This is stupid...”

 “That’s not a no.” Roman sand and held out his hand. Remus grumbled as he took it.

The remaining 4 minutes were spent by Roman doing his best to show Remus how to make snow. Remus did his best, but slowly and surely the slush grew less ashy looking and more like small ice pebbles now and again they were flat like normal snowflakes. Roman was full on speaking praises and giving some pointers to help Remus.

The watch beeped one minute till midnight and by then a thin layer of snow was already between the two twins.

 “You ready?” Roman asked with a beaming smile.

 “... As I’ll ever be I guess...” Remus replied. Roman just grinned. Before he started to concentrate and move his hands in an intricate pattern, Remus followed his moves to the best of his ability.

in the space that their hands moved around red and green magic started to swirl, growing brighter and paler until it the colours were hard to break apart from each other.

 “You ready?” Roman asked Remus gave a nod “On the count of three throw this as hard as you can towards the sky.” Remus nodded again.

Roman smiled which caused Remus to give away a wobbly smile as well.

 “One, Two-”

The watch beeped midnight

 “Three!”

Remus and Roman threw the magic ball as hard as they could up into the air, it swirled, before it gave away a swoosh and shot up higher and higher before it exploded into a bright light that lit up the whole mindspace for a short moment.

Roman was grinning.

Remus could only stare as gentle snowflakes started to fall from the clouds that now started to cover the night sky.

Falling slowly and gentle first before they grew in number and soon everything was steadily growing white.

 “We did it!” Roman called happily as he turned to Remus, grinning from ear to ear, a small layer of snow on his shoulders. Remus did too, as well as on his hat.

Their breath fogged before them and Remus slowly turned his head to look at Roman with wide, sparkling eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Roman reached out and patted Remus on the shoulder.

 “I knew you could do it.” Roman said with a bright smile.

Remus just gave away a laugh.

-

Patton yawned when he came downstairs to start breakfast, only to halt at the bottom of the stairs when he saw how Roman and Remus had fallen asleep on the couch. snuggled close to each other. Patton chuckled as he walked over to pull the blanket over them both, sending a look outside to see the thick layer of snow that now coated the imagination, sparkling in the morning sun.

He smiled as he stroked his fingers through Roman’s hair, making Roman smile wider in his sleep. Hesitating a bit before he did the same to Remus, blinking in surprise at how soft his hair was, despite how greasy it looked and how Remus sleepily leaned into the touch.