Quick heads up, I'm basing this on Swedish Christmas traditions

The snow was settling down outside, the cold powder covering most surfaces. It looked like a white, fluffy blanket. However, the weather was harsh and the winds gave no mercy to those who stepped foot outside.

It was the 24th, and the players on the Empires server agreed to celebrate Christmas in Stratos, Joel's empire. Even the hermits were invited. Due to the outside conditions only a few managed to make it there though.

Together in a building in Joel's lore village, sat three emperors and three hermits. Jimmy and Scott were sitting very close to each other, holding hands not discreetly in the slightest. Xb and Wels were having a casual conversation with one another. Zedaph and Joel just sat in a corner, wishing that Impulse and Tango respectively Lizzie was there.

The time ticked on, and eventually all of them just sat there awkwardly. Nobody really knew what to say, and it seemed like the others decided to stay home.

A buzz from their communicators snapped them out from their silence. Zedaph fished it out of his pocket, reviewed the message and sighed.

"What does it say?" Wels wanted to know, trying to spark a conversation.

"Apparently Iskall died to the cold," Zed replied and shook his head disappointingly. "Luckily respawn is on."

"I suppose it's just gonna be us here, then," Joel concluded in an attempt to bring the conversation further.

"Looks like that," Wels nodded and crossed his arms. "Shame the weather is so bad."

"How much is the time, by the way?" Scott asked, leaning on Jimmy's shoulder. They were a really cute couple in the end of the day. The question was aimed at Zed, who was still looking at the communicator.

"Oh, it's almost 11 PM- Wait, 11 PM?!" he exclaimed, unable to believe that it already was that late.

"Have we actually been sitting here for the past ten hours," Joel said. It wasn't even a question, more of a statement.

"Well, should we go to sleep?" xB suggested with a shrug.

"Nah, I prepared a whole Christmas party in the other room," Joel announced and gestured to the only other room in the building. "It would be a shame for it to go to waste."

"Soo... A Christmas sleepover it is, then?" Zed concluded, earning nods from the others.

Joel stood up and starting heading to the room where all the Christmas stuff were. The other five dudes followed.

They were met with a sight that they didn't expect. They assumed that there would be ham, meatballs, prince sausages, the things you normally eat during the holiday. But no, there was just a big bowl of candy on the table.

He had a Christmas tree, but not decorated. The TV stood on blasting some random movie with no sound on.

"Well, this is different," Wels stated as the others just stared at it. Joel stood proudly, admiring his preparations.

"It's better than nothing," Scott shrugged and fished out a candy cane from the bowl. "Where are we supposed to sleep though?"

"The floor," Joel replied, earning looks of disbelieves. "Hey, I wasn't accounting for this, y'know!"

The six fellas proceeded to consume the candy in record speed as they hadn't eaten for hours. They huddled under the Christmas tree, listening to the weather outside intensify. Every now and then they glanced at the which still stood on, and eventually they all fell asleep.

The sound of lightning woke them up. Jimmy basically flew up 6 feet in the air cause of the jumpscare, and landed in Scott's lap.

"How much is the clock?" xb yawned, his sleepiness being evident.

"Too late," Joel informed. He peeked out of the window, and saw a roaring storm. "The weather has worsened."

The second he said that, lightning hit again. This time exactly where they sat. The roof blocked it, but they still felt static electricity. This made the hair on their body stand up, quite literally.

"What just happened," Joel said. It wasn't even a question, just a statement.

"We were struck by lightning," Scott informed kindly. Although as he said that, lightning hit again. And this time it tore the roof apart, causing the lightning to actually hit them. It hit Jimmy perfectly.

His breathing slowed down, and Scott who sat next to him was in shock (quite literally). He started worrying for his husband, who now had closed his eyes.

"Calm down, he'll respawn," Joel said when tears trickled down Scott's face. "Jeez, forgive my thunder-clapping cheeks."

Zed, xB and Wels just watched the whole scene in confusion. They were still new to the lands, after all.

Silence followed the odd occurrence, and eventually they all drifted back into sleep. That surely was a chaotic sleepover.

---

Do I know what I just wrote? No.
Does it make sense? No.
Do I know how lightning works? No.
Did I kill Iskall off? Of course.