Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays one and all~

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As empty bowls began accumulating on the trays, Goth let out a yawn. Raven cocked a browbone and teased, "Are you already tired?"

"Today was tough," Goth defended himself, "you try spending the day reaping souls in the snow and see how you feel afterward."

"Yup! He worked hard, so he deserves to rest," Palette nodded his skull in agreement.

"Speaking of rest, we should all get to sleep before our holiday visitor arrives," Reaper hinted with a wink toward his daughter.

Shino gasped, dragging her mom out of the fort, "We need to get Santa-san's cookies and milk! Hurry, hurry!"

"Alright, let me get out from under the blankets first," Geno grunted as he was led to the kitchen.

"Dad, I'm not tired yet; can't I stay up?" Raven requested in a honey-sweet tone; his brother only ever used that when they wanted something.

Their dad patted him on the back, "Once Shino falls asleep, ya can get up and help us with the presents; for now, go ahead and get changed into your PJs, kiddos."

"Can I help too?" Sorell asked as Raven left the living room.

"Sure thing; now scoot before Shino comes back," Reaper chuckled, watching his son scamper off to their room.

"Well I'm going to put these blankets to use," Goth stifled another yawn as he reached for one of the pillows; debating where he would sleep, he remembered an important detail that needed to be addressed, "Oh! Palette, you should sleep over here so you don't accidentally bump into my dad." Palette was the only one without immunity to his dad's touch, after all.

Palette stared at him for a moment of incomprehension before realization hit; he laughed nervously, crawling over to the space Goth indicated on the outer edge, " Yeah, that would be bad..." 

Luckily, the nerves were short-lived as Palette flopped onto the blankets, pulling one of the pillows toward himself and snuggling into it. Goth tried not to stare while organizing two blankets over himself as footsteps raced from the kitchen to down the hall, back into the kitchen two minutes later, and across the living room; Shino stopped at the fireplace in a bright purple and pink nightgown with a plate of cookies; Geno appeared soon after holding a glass of milk. Both got placed on the mantle as Raven and Sorell reentered the room and picked out their spots for the night.

"Oh?" Reaper pretended to listen for something, "I think I hear sleigh bells coming closer."

Shino dove into the blankets beside Sorell, burrowing under one of the throws to appear on the other side, snatching up a pillow, and urging the group, "Go to sleep before Santa-san sees we're awake!"

Both parents exchanged amused looks as his mom crawled into the opposite end of the fort beside his dad and pulled the covers around themselves; by that point, Shino had screwed her sockets shut to make it look like she was already asleep.

Goth clenched his jaw to keep from joining in with Raven's snickering, turning on his side to avoid looking at the spectacle. Bids of goodnight were mumbled as blankets were drawn close and fabric rustled while everyone settled down. The occasional crackle of the fire behind the screen provided calming background noise as he shut his sockets. He could also hear Palette's steady breathing next to him, but he found himself too tired to even get worked up the way he normally would... if anything, the sound only soothed him to sleep faster.

---

Goth jolted awake with a start and looked around groggily; the light from the fireplace was still burning and everyone else was fast asleep save for his missing parents, who he assumed were busy putting presents under the tree from the occasional rustling. He smirked at Raven laying flat on his back with their mouth wide open and arms splayed out above him; it seemed he was more tired than he claimed earlier. 

Drawing his blankets up past his shoulder, a groan pulled his attention toward Palette; their face was scrunched up like they were having a bad dream.

Reaching out to grasp their hand in what he hoped would be a comforting gesture, Goth was surprised when Palette not only grasped his hand in return but also pulled it closer to cradle it against their chest. His soul pulsed and his cheeks burned as he glanced around once more to make sure no one had seen; finding himself well and truly alone, he took a breath and scooted his pillow closer to his companion, lying back down a little more than a foot apart. His soul was still thrumming as he watched their expression even out, but it was pleasant rather than panicked. 

Snuggling down into his blankets, Goth closed his sockets and fell asleep to the warmth enveloping his hand.

---

Goth could hear snickering; it was coming from somewhere beside him. Opening his sockets, he didn't know what to make of his brother smirking at him.

"Well look who's finally awake," Raven's smile grew wider as he chuckled, "You look like you're enjoying yourself there."

"What're you tal-," Goth mumbled, only to freeze as warm air brushed against his bare skull. Looking up, he gaped at Palette's face being much closer than he remembered it being when he fell asleep. They were still holding hands, albeit loosely, but it appeared that one or both of them had closed the gap while they were sleeping; he was now laying on his companion's right arm while being cuddled into their chest with their left. Subtly attempting to shift their arm off, he sharply inhaled when the appendage only wrapped tighter around him; while this felt really comfortable, he really had to break free before anyone else saw them.

"Just so you know, mom and dad already know," Raven relayed as if he had read his sibling's mind, "dad's talking mom down from murdering Palette in the kitchen, but you should probably have an explanation ready."

"Oh gods...," Goth groaned, letting his skull flop backward; this wasn't how he wanted to spend the holidays...

The movement had the effect of waking Palette up; blinking their sockets open, the skeleton glanced at their surroundings for a moment and said, "Oh yeah, Christmas..." Releasing a wide yawn, Goth watched them try to sit up and fail; he blushed as they made eye contact, watching them assess the situation while coming to the same conclusion he had.

Neither of them moved until Raven let out a snort, causing Palette to shoot up as Goth flopped onto the pillow. Palette bowed his skull, his cheeks painted in a light green hue as he apologized, "I'm sorry! I must have latched onto you while I was sleeping."

Goth sat up as well, trying to get his mouth to work as Raven cackled, "'Latched on' nothing, you two were all over each other."

Palette's sockets scrunched tight, "I'm so sorry..."

Goth blurted out, "Y-You're-!" He stopped when his voice crack, scowling at Raven when his brother fell onto their back laughing, "Knock it off already; it's not that funny!"

"I... I beg to differ," Raven gasped, holding onto his sides with tears in his sockets, "It's h... hilarious!"

"Onii-chan?" Shino was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her sockets as she mumbled, "What's all the noise about?" Goth opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by her gasp, "Did Santa-san come?!"

"He did," Geno's voice echoed from the kitchen, "and he brought the power back with him."

Shino squealed, turning to shake Sorell awake, "Wake up, wake up! Santa-san came!"

"He did? That's great," Sorell yawned, sitting up with a sleepy smile.

"All my helpers gather around the tree so we can start sorting presents," Reaper called out. Glancing at Palette, Goth decided to wait until they both calmed down to talk about it and crawled out after his sibling. The tree was sparkling as the lights twinkled and danced across the colorful baubles; the sight was a brilliant contrast to its gloomy appearance yesterday. 

Heading for the tree, a hand on his shoulder stopped him; he took it as a good sign that his dad's grin looked genuine, "Gen wants to see ya in the kitchen, alone. I managed to cool him off for the most part, but he still wants to hear your side."

Palette opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it and shuffled toward the group surrounding the tree and Goth croaked out, "Thanks..."

As he turned toward the kitchen, his dad patted his back once more and added in a jovial whisper, "I also captured the moment for ya; the picture's in your messages."

Flustered at the mental image that arose, Goth retreated to the kitchen to avoid the stares of Palette and his sibling; it wasn't until he crossed through the doorway and saw his mom that he remembered what was coming. Geno was pulling a pan full of cinnamon rolls from the oven as he asked, "So, want to tell me who initiated your little cuddle session?"

"I-I did," Goth mumbled, knowing it was at least partially true, "Palette looked like he was having a nightmare, so I grabbed his hand to calm him down, then moved closer to him before falling asleep." He didn't know for sure who closed the gap, but he decided not to posit any theories.

It felt like his mom was looking right through him as they processed the explanation with a sharp stare; he relaxed a bit when Geno's expression smoothed out and the monster picked up the canister of icing to start drizzling it across the rolls, "I suspected something like that was the case and it did sound like it was an accident; it still doesn't make me any happier to find my boy in someone else's arms first thing in the morning." Looking up from their work, he admitted, "If it wasn't for Palette being a good kid and knowing how you feel about him, I can't say I would have been nice about a wake-up call; your father even had the gall to take a picture and send it to your phone." The reminder of the picture waiting for him renewed Goth's blush from earlier and his mom rubbed their sockets and grumbled, "If I had hair, I swear it would be gray."

"Sorry...," Goth squeaked out.

"It's fine; just exercise a little self-control in the future," Geno gently scolded, tossing the empty canister into the nearby trashcan and placing the rolls out onto a plate "I don't want you getting into any mishaps over your feelings."

"Alright, I'll be more careful," Goth promised, hoping that was the end of the conversation.

"Good, now go take these out to the living room," Goth was handed a stack of plates that matched the one full of cinnamon rolls in his mom's hands. Following them out, it looked like the table and a stack of pillows had been rearranged for everyone to sit at while unwrapping presents.

"Good timing, we just finished sorting," his dad smiled, gesturing to a spot between Palette and a stack of presents, "Your spot's right here; we'll go in order of youngest to oldest."

"Can I start now?" Shino bounced in place as Goth passed out the plates and Geno set the rolls in the center.

"Yes, you may start," Geno stated, chuckling as the young monster began tearing at her first present.

As he watched, Palette leaned over and softly asked, "Is everything okay? You didn't get in trouble, did you?"

"No, I don't think he's mad anymore," Goth reassured him, glancing at his mom; he was currently laughing at something Shino had said, "he only told me to be more careful in the future."

"I'm sorry about earlier...," Palette averted his eye lights while looking shamefaced.

"It's alright," Goth waved the apology away, confessing in a low voice, "I didn't mind at all, actually... it was kind of nice..."

Palette stared at him, their mouth hanging agape until they mumbled, "I see... well that's good then..." His companion looked like they didn't quite know what to do with the information, but he decided to leave them alone and let them work it out on their own.

As Shino reached for her final gift ten minutes later, Goth felt a hand rest on top of his; following the arm attached to it, Palette was watching the festivities with an oblivious smile. With a feeling like butterflies swarming in his chest, he returned his attention to the gathering without a word; even if things weren't perfect right now, being together was the everything he could have asked for.

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Word Count: 2,126