Alternatively titled: Don't let a group full of different tastes decorate the school for the holidays. 

I'm actually taking a bit of a leap on these ones and having the next four chapters be set in a modern a/u! SO basically it's modern times and the groups are in college instead of the monastery. 

It's the holiday season and I have decided to be festive and why not make these gremlins be festive too? 

ALSO THS FANART IS ADORABLE

[This chapter contains fluff and so much friendship. And chaos, don't forget that too.] 

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"IT'S THE HOLIDAYS," Caspars loud voice echoed in your ear as one of his arms looped around your shoulder. He used his arm to pull you closer to him until your head was practically resting on his shoulder. 

You let him pull you into his side. You wish he didn't have to shout all the time though. 

Your friends were all hanging out at Ferdinands house on a typical Sunday night. The reason? Your class, the Black Eagles, were supposed to decorate the school for the holidays. 

No big deal, right? 

Dorothea was trying to teach Bernie and Petra some TikTok dance. Petra was catching on rather quickly, Bernie... Not so much. It seemed like they were dancing to some song from Heathers? That one high school musical with like death and mean girls and stuff. 

Ferdinand was setting out snacks and drinks. If there's one thing you can appreciate about Ferdinand, it's that he knows the best snacks and the finest alcohol. For those that don't or can't drink, he made non alcoholic cocktails and mixed drinks. Best party host award goes to him. 

Edelgard and Hubert were talking in the corner somewhere. They're usually found hanging out together. Edelgard is the president of the debate club. Hubert is the secretary. They met when they were kids and have been friends, or partners in crime, ever since. You've never seen them separated. It's almost as if they're plotting something... Something big. Something world changing. 

Linhardt was... Somewhere or other. Definitely asleep. Lin could be found hanging out with Ferdinand on occasion so it's probably not a stretch to think a spare room in Ferdinands house is his. He's probably sleeping there. How those two became friends is a secret to everyone. Their personalities are exact opposites. You'd wager its their shared love of a specific flavor of tea. 

You were the last one to join the party. You had brought some craft supplies in your bag: Paper, scissors, glue, confetti, some battery powered lights, markers, pens, pencils, tape, glitter, and lots more random things to help create some holiday themed decorations. 

You would be more excited if it was any class besides the one you were in. 

You could tell each and every one of these folks were going to argue about the kinds of decorations to make. You set your bag down near the drinks table and took a glass of white wine. You're going to need it if you're dealing with these people for a few hours. 

"Alright everyone. We've gotta get down to this, let's get started. I hope we'll be done before midnight because I'm sure no one wants to drive home in the snow tonight," you remarked, getting everyone's attention. At least everyone who was in the room. 

"Can someone go find Linhardt?" Dorothea asked then turned to Ferdinand. She was smiling but her eyes were saying that she made more of a demand than a question. The man in question  sighed before moving to a room in his house to find the green haired sleepyhead. Maybe a minute later, he returned with his arm around the barely awake Linhardt who was rubbing his eyes in order to wake up faster. Clearly it wasn't working as a yawn overtook his face. 

"I'm up, I'm up... What do you want?" Linhardts eyes met yours. His question was pointed at you. His words were blunt but you knew he didn't mean to be rude. It's just who he is. He told you once you are very special to him. He said that after you brought his library books to him and a cup of tea at the café stationed in the library. 

"The school has asked us to decorate for the holidays so it's our job to do that," you replied. You pointed to your bag of supplies on the floor. Linhardt yawned and nodded slightly. 

"If that's all this is, do you mind if I sit out? I didn't get enough sleep last night. My psychology finals aren't going to ace themselves you know..." the end of his sentence trailed off into silence as his eyes drooped closed again. Ferdinand still had his arm around him so Lin wouldn't collapse standing up. Using his other hand, he gently slapped Linhardts face to wake him up. 

"Linhardt, think of this as a project for the good of the school! All of our opinions matter and are important in making the university look amazing! The holiday cheer will spread through all of the students," Ferdinand was loud, but right. You wanted everyone's input on what kind of decorations you should make. 

As weird, quirky, and... Unique as your class is, they're all your friends. You love them. Although you'd appreciate the chaos being toned down every now and then. 

"Your altruistic rant does little to entice me. However, if you value my input that much, I guess I can get less than 20 hours of sleep," Lin finally caved with the smallest smile on his face that if you weren't looking you would've missed. 

You grabbed your bag and sit down on the floor next to it, causing everyone to follow you onto the floor. Caspar had moved his arm off your shoulder a while ago. As much as he doesn't look like it, he is a HUGE fan of PDA. Arms on peoples shoulders, holding peoples hands, warm and tight hugs whenever his friends have a bad day. He loves physical contact. That's his loudest love language but also his friendship language. 

Once you had picked your bag up off the floor, you started pulling materials out and setting them on the floor. Dorothea lit up when she saw the glitter. Bernadetta was a fan of the multicolored lights. Caspar went for the scissors. Ferdinand struggled to get himself and Linhardt on the floor but once he did, he stood back up to grab himself some orange juice and Lin some tea. Edelgard noticed some ribbon and picked a spool up to examine it. Hubert sat and watched. Petra was carefully watching Caspar and the scissors which he has now taken to opening and closing excessively. 

"Alright, maybe we could make paper snowflakes and paint some glitter onto them? And with the colored paper we could cut out little images and use the ribbon to connect them? Like Santa on his sleigh and some reindeer. And we could cut out little light shapes and poke some holes in them to string the battery powered lights through!" The Black Eagles watched you spout ideas with fond looks on each of their faces. Your knack for amazing creative ideas were one thing they adore about you. 

"Those are all great ideas, Y/N! If I may pose an idea of my own..." Ferdinand gave his input as well. He wanted to create little paper gingerbread cookies that you could pass out to the other three classes so they could decorate and hang up in their classrooms. You smiled and nodded at his idea. 

"Oh! This probably isn't going to work, but maybe we could make origami presents? And decorate them with the ribbons?" Bernadetta piped up with a small smile. 

"Bernie! You know origami?" Dorothea asked sweetly, very excited at learning a new craft. 

"Yeah, a friend of mine from when I was younger taught me how to make some simple things. I ended up loving it and wanted to learn more, so I did," Bernie explained, Dorothea nodding eagerly by her side. 

"I would love to learn if you would help teach me," the singer said. Bernie started to blush a little and nodded softly. 

"This may not exactly be practical, but I know how to crochet and maybe if we crocheted some of the ribbon together it'll seem more sophisticated," you were not expecting Hubert of all people to pipe up, especially not with such a cool idea! 

"That sounds wonderful, Hubert! Do you have your crochet materials with you?" You asked him and he nodded. Of course, leave it to Hubie to always be prepared. 

"Alright, sounds like we have a lot of ideas! Who wants to do what?" Time to split up and delegate. 

Dorothea and Bernadetta decided to do the origami project together. Bernie grabbed a few pieces of construction paper of different colors and sizes along with a pair of scissors and one of the spools of golden ribbon. And the glitter. That's going to make such a mess. You'll help Ferdinand clean up afterwards. 

Caspar and Petra chose the lights. Caspar was still messing with a pair of scissors. Petra took the lights and some assorted pieces of construction paper. Every now and again, you'd see her head jerk over in Caspars direction to make sure the scissors were still in his hands and not either flying across the room or accidentally impaled in some poor object in Ferdinands house or another person. 

Ferdinand had taken his arm off of Linhardt who was now using the table behind him to balance himself. He still looked exhausted as he watched Ferdie gather the materials to make his paper gingerbread cookies. Those would be easy enough since the decorating part would be left to the other classes. They just had to cut out a lot of paper cookies. You're expecting Lin to complain a lot the whole way. 

Hubert and Edelgard had grabbed some spools of ribbon. Hubert had taken two crochet needles out of his small bag that he brings everywhere. The bottomless bag of unending random items. Hubert was masterfully weaving the ribbon around the needle while Edelgard was clumsily yet dutifully watching his every move. Occasionally Hubert would grab her hands to help guide her along. If you were looking closely, you'd notice a blush covering her pale face. That and Huberts smile was much less sinister around her than usual.

You slyly smiled to yourself. You knew they had a thing for each other. They both chose to confide in you, both on separate occasions. You knew. That's why there was carefully placed mistletoe hung up in the doorway to the kitchen. Done with Ferdinands consent, of course. 

Now, it's your turn to pick. Turning your phone on, you clicked on Spotify and put on some Pentatonix Christmas music. Everyone's faces lit up at the sound of the music. 

You chose to cut out little Santas, reindeer, and sleighs, using the ribbon that Hubert and Edelgard crocheted together to connect them all. Gently humming along to the music, you were very relaxed. 

Everyone seemed to be having so much fun! Even Lin was getting into the holiday spirit. 

Those two had taken a kind of system. Linhardt would draw the shapes on the paper with a white colored pencil which stood out very well on the brown paper. He'd then pass the paper to Ferdinand who would cut out the shapes. They were working like a well oiled machine. They already had a stack of cut out cookies that was pretty large. 

Looking at Dorothea and Bernie, the purple haired craftswoman had a few presents made. The origami boxes were put together so meticulously. The perfectly made paper presents in different colors were waiting to have the ribbon added to them. Next to Dorothea... Was a mess. There were about 5 boxes actually made and they looked a bit more sloppy. She had taken to grabbing Bernies already made presents and wrapping ribbon around them. 

Caspar and Petra were struggling to get anything done. They maybe finished one string of lights before they moved instead to just have a conversation on the floor. Petra was holding some champagne while Caspar had a glass of red wine. Their conversation seemed quite serious as Caspar wasn't holding any part of her body. He seemed intent on listening to what she was saying. A pair of unlikely friends, you knew their families had history together. 

Petra is from a different country, you believe one of the tropical islands in Central America. Sometimes she struggles to speak English but she is doing her best. She's come to you for tutoring help sometimes. In return, you've asked about her face tattoos. She loves telling you all about them when she has the chance. 

Hubert and Edelgard had made significant progress. The spool of ribbon each person had grabbed had been crocheted masterfully and carefully. The now were seated side by side and not across from each other like they were before. Edelgard was slightly leaning against Huberts right side and Hubert didn't seem to mind. He had grabbed a second spool of ribbon as she rested, casually humming along to the music playing. 

Once Hubert had finished his first spool, he had handed it off to you to thread through your little project. You smiled and thanked him as he bowed his head a little in return. 

You had finally finished cutting out all the individual pieces of each part and started gluing everything together. Stealing some glitter from Dorothea and a paintbrush, you painted some glitter on the sleigh and along the bottoms of the reindeers feet to give that subtle magical touch. Using a hole punch, you made small holes to string the ribbon Hubert gave you through in order to connect everything together. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw that Lin had fallen back asleep. That and the two of them had gone a little overboard. They had a stack of paper cookies SO LARGE it was almost as tall as Ferdinand. The man in question was currently looking at the stack. Just staring at it. His hands were clasped and raised to his face where he had them rested against his chin. There was so much regret on his face it was comical. Since they were sitting on the opposite side of the craft circle as you, you stood up to head over to the orange haired man who didn't even notice you walk over until you sat down right in front of him and patted his knee to get his attention. 

"Her Ferdinand, do you need some help organizing your paper tower?" You gestured to the tower you mentioned carefully as to hopefully not knock it over. He nodded vigorously at your proposition. 

The two of you started trying to organize the paper cookies into five stacks. One for the Blue Lions, one for the Golden Deer, one for the Ashen Wolves, one for the staff. You figured even the teachers and administrators might want to have some fun for the holidays as well. Of course you made a stack for your class as well. It wouldn't be fair to not enjoy the fruits of your labors you both decided. 

Once you made as even of stacks as you could, you grabbed some ribbon and gently tied it around the stacks to keep the individual pieces in place. 

You had both failed to notice that Linhardt had fallen over onto his side and was still sleeping. Maybe his head had accidentally landed in Dorotheas lap or she had moved to be a pillow for him but she was gently stroking his hair as he slept with a soft smile on her face. 

Bernadetta had seemed to be satisfied with the number of boxes the two had made and was finishing wrapping them all up with ribbon. Dorothea must've painted some glitter onto them at some point as the paper presents glistened under the chandelier in Ferdinands dining room. 

Ferdinand is the son of a rich corporation owner in the states capital. He lives at this house by himself for the most part. Linhardt stays over sometimes. Ferdinand hosts all the big house parties. He's confided in you that it gets really lonely. You've made it a point to stop by sometimes, bringing home made snacks and treats with you. You'd think he's a spoiled brat. He can be but he's a genuine sweetheart with a knack for caring for others. He's the big brother you need every now and again. 

Hubert took the ribbon Edelgard worked on and made it into some sort of crown to put on her head which was now leaning on his shoulder. Neither of them cared who saw how affectionate they are with each other. At least, not in private. All of the Black Eagles knew about their crushes on each other. All except the two in question. It's infuriatingly adorable especially when you and the other three house leaders Claude, Dimitri, and Yuri had all placed bets on who would confess first. You and Dimitri places bets on Edelgard while Claude and Yuri bet on Hubert. You didn't bet much, losers pay for a night out for the winners. You were really looking forward to a nice dinner and drinks. Now's not the time for that though. 

Caspar and Petra had attempted to try making more lights. Attempted being the key word. They had given up about halfway through, opting instead to make paper snowflakes. Petra had her own pair of scissors now and was cutting very intricate designs into her papers while Caspar didn't seem to have much a direction with his. There were snowflakes of many different sizes and patterns around their feet. They had seemingly started this little endeavor a while back, seeing as they had many a ton of them already. 

You turned back to Ferdinand. 

"Hey Ferdie, where are the garbage bags? It's a bit of a mess in here and considering it's almost 11 pm we should probably start cleaning," you asked. Ferdinand stood up before you and offered you his hand to help you up. He didn't have to but chivalry isn't dead in this year of 2022. After he helped you up, he lead you to the pantry where he kept his garbage bags. You both grabbed a few and headed back to the dining room to inspect the carnage across his floor. All things considered, it wasn't horrible. 

The party atmosphere was clearly winding down. Everyone seemed more tired than when you first started about four or so hours ago. The music even seemed to have picked up on the more lax atmosphere as some of the acapella groups more calming Christmas carols still played through the speaker on your phone. 

You and Ferdinand started picking up scraps of paper, empty plastic glasses that used to hold drinks in them, and paper plates that the snacks were on as well as some paper napkins. Ferdinand groaned a bit once he saw the glitter all over his floor and left his garbage bag to grab a broom and dustpan. You continued your job of picking up the mess that littered the floor. 

The whole ordeal took about fifteen minutes and three whole trash bags. Once the two of you were done cleaning you both slumped back onto the floor. Everyone who had made crafts had put their things into neat stacks sans the origami boxes as that was deemed too dangerous. 

Luckily you had learned from Hubert to always be prepared. You had brought extra tote bags to carry everything in. You handed one to each set of people to put their crafts in to bring to school the next day. 

Ferdinand stood up again after a little bit. 

"Everyone, I have an idea. I do know that this wasn't originally planned and no one is prepared but I'm sure no one wishes to drive home in this weather and some of you partook in drinks. Therefore I offer to any who wish to accept that you can stay the night here. I have extra pajamas that anyone could borrow if they so wish to stay," the offer caused everyone who was awake to perk up. 

"Ferdinand, that's a lovely idea! Thank you for the offer," Edelgard said, yawning a little bit. "I am quite tired so I think I'll take you up on that." 

"If Edelgard will stay, I will as well. I did drive her here after all," Hubert mused, also choosing to stay. 

Everyone else piped in with various statements of agreement and thanks. Looks like the Black Eagles will be having their very first whole house sleepover. 

You had also agreed to stay. 

"I'll stay over, but I want to put all of these in my car so it's easier to bring to school tomorrow," you said, moving to grab your keys from your pocket. 

"Let me help you, Y/N," Ferdinand offered, taking some of the bags full of crafts in his hands. You thanked him and grabbed the rest yourself. You opened the door and unlocked the trunk of your car to put the tote bags in. 

Once you and Ferdinand were back inside, Ferdinand went to find extra clothes for everyone. You, Caspar, and Petra helped move the uneaten snacks and full glasses into the kitchen. Ferdinand is always the best party host. You wanted to pay back his generous hospitality by helping him wherever you can. 

He came back shortly after, having some unopened things of pajamas in his hands. You had to wonder why he had these but you were too tired to press him on that right now. You just wanted to get some shut eye, quite jealous of Linhardt who seemed to be able to do so all night despite the commotion. 

"There's pajamas of every size. Once you're all finished changing leave your clothes in the laundry room which is in the blue door off of the kitchen. I'll have those washed and dried for you all in the morning. When you're done with that, find me again and I'll show you the rooms you can stay in. Dorothea, do you mind waking Linhardt up?" Ferdinand asked. Dorothea gently nudged Lin to wake up. Luckily he was receptive to this form of awakening. 

"Hm? Is it over yet?" Lin asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Everyone laughed at that statement. 

Lin seemed to notice his head was resting against a cushion of some kind. When his eyes focused and he looked around, he noticed his head was on Dorotheas lap. 

"You make a great pillow," Lin said before moving to fall back asleep. 

"Thank you but you can't fall back asleep yet. We're all spending the night and I would like to sleep lying down on a bed, thank you very much," Dorothea shook him again and Lin dramatically allowed his body to rock around like he was a boat on a raging sea storm. 

"Alright, alright, I'll get up." Linhardt forced himself to stand up and move to his room, giving a small wave as everyone wished him goodnight. 

"He is not grabbing the clothes for sleeping?" Petra asked. 

"He has his own clothes here considering how often he stays over," Ferdinand responded and Petra nodded. 

"Like a squatter," everyone laughed quite loudly at Petras statement. 

"More like a house mate who doesn't do much to help around the house," Caspar retorted. 

"Then that makes what Petra said factually correct," Hubert joined in on the joking which is quite the rare thing for the raven haired man.

"I can still hear you, you know," came Linhardts voice from somewhere else in the house causing everyone to laugh again. 

You loved your classmates. 

After everyone had been shown to a guest room, Ferdinand led you to one where you could stay in. You marveled at the plush pillows and soft blankets. This is so much different from your small apartment near campus. 

"If you need anything, my room is the one at the furthest end of the hall. Do not hesitate to ask," with that, Ferdinand left you to get comfortable. 

You had changed into the pajamas he'd offered you. They were nice. Soft cotton hugged your body, relaxing you, coaxing you to get into bed. That is exactly what you did. 

Taking out your phone charger, you plugged it in to a nearby outlet. You had used the bathroom off your room to get ready to sleep as it had an extra toothbrush and toothpaste in it. 

At long last, you climbed into bed and closed your eyes. 

Today was a wonderful bonding experience for your class. You hoped there were more days like today in the future. 

-----------------------Timeskip to the next day------------------------------

You had woken up somewhere around 9 am to Ferdinand knocking at your door. 

"Y/N, it's time to wake up. We need to take the crafts to school," he said through the door. You realized he was right but the comfort of your borrowed bed was luring you back into dreamland. 

"I'll be out in five minutes. Feel free to leave my clothes on the bed, I'll just be in the bathroom," you allowed yourself to roll out of bed, almost on to the floor but your feet caught you before you could actually fall over. Trudging your way to the bathroom, you brushed your teeth again. 

True to what you asked, Ferdinand left your now clean clothes at the foot of the bed. After you used the bathroom you went to change into them. They were soft and smelled like lavender. 

You cleared your things out of his room and went to leave the pajamas you used in the laundry room. Once you had all your stuff together you met up with everyone in the living room. Everyone besides Ferdinand who was missing at this moment in time. 

"Hey everyone, how'd you guys sleep?" You asked, tiredness still obvious in your voice. 

"That was the best nights sleep of my life," Bernadetta was the first to speak up and everyone agreed with her in some way or another. Ferdinand appeared at last motioning to some plates with food in the kitchen.

"It's not much but I made some breakfast for everyone," the muffins looked delectable. There were some potatoes and bacon as well as some orange juice. Everyone grabbed a paper plate that was on the dining room table and moved to the kitchen to grab some food. 

"Ferdie, this food is amazing!" Dorothea said happily with a pleased smile on her face. 

"Yeah! I didn't know you were such an amazing cook," Caspar said with his mouth full of food. 

"Caspar, please chew with your mouth closed," Edelgard grimaced in disgust. Caspar quickly closed his mouth. 

"I was not knowing the food in the early morning was so good!" Petra said with the smallest hint of a smile on her face. Linhardt nodded, opting to not say anything. 

"I underestimated your cooking abilities," was all Hubert said. 

"These muffins are great! What did you use to make them so fluffy?" Bernie asked. 

"Just use the egg whites instead of the full egg, like you would with a cake. Whip all the wet ingredients before slowly adding the dry," Ferdie told her with pride. 

You smiled as you ate, appreciating the food and early morning small talk. Once everyone had finished their breakfast you collected everyone's plates and cups to help throw them away. 

"Alright folks, time to deliver our hard work to the university," you spoke up, ready to get the tote bags full of stuff out of your car and to the school. "Who's carpooling with who?" 

Dorothea and Bernadetta had walked since they lived close by. They chose to go with Caspar and Petra. You were terrified of Caspars driving. 

Edelgard and Hubert were going together. No surprise there. 

Ferdinand and Linhardt offered to go with you. You accepted and appreciate their help. 

The drive over to Garreg Mach university was filled with jokes and slightly off key singing to Christmas carols while Linhardt held his head in his hands to cover his ears. The three of you held major sibling energy, Ferdinand being the older brother, Lin being the middle child, and you being the youngest. 

When you arrived, it was time to start passing out and placing your decorations over the school. You left stacks of paper cookies and materials to decorate them with on each professors desk. The decorations you all worked tirelessly to make hung in the windows of each classroom. The presents Bernie and Dorothea made lay under the small plastic Christmas trees that were on the professors desks as well. You also visited principal Rhea and vice principal Seteth and handed them some decorations as well. Rhea was delighted that you thought of the staff. 

You all finished decorating about an hour after. It took a while but the university was positively gorgeous. Your classes hard work paid off significantly. The school was glowing with holiday cheer. 

The Black Eagles all stood proudly in front of your homeroom class. Caspars arm found its way over your shoulder once more. Ferdinand had shyly grasped your left hand with his right, his other hand holding Linhardts arm. Dorothea held Bernadetta in a side hug. Edelgard had her head on Huberts shoulder once again. Linhardt had his hand on Petras shoulder. You all looked like a happy family. 

And in a way, you were. 

A happy, chaotic, diverse, family. Each with your individual strengths and flaws, but you all came together to create something wonderful. Something no one else could replicate. You wished you could take a picture of this moment, capture this moment forever. The love you felt for your closest friends and classmates. 

This is gonna be a holiday to remember. 

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HOLY. CRAP. 5k. WORDS. 

THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN FOR THIS BOOK. ISTG. THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN VERY OFTEN. 

Anyway, I have 3 more holiday themed chapters in the works!