Daemons
Christmas

“I call putting up the star!” Dust blurted out, leaping over Dream as he pulled the ornament from the box and easily plucking it from the surprised skeleton’s grasp. He even made a show of landing on one hand, showing off a bit for his nearby boyfriend who merely giggled at his antics.

“Dude, Dream literally had it in his hand!” Killer cried out, about to throw a fit over the decoration were it not for a gentle hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

“It’s alright Killer, I really don’t mind.” The golden skeleton flashed the taller a smile, one that instantly had him relax and back off. “I’m more than happy to just be able to celebrate Christmas with Night again after all these years, and I’m pretty sure Dust can get to the top of the tree easier than I can.”

With all the soulmates being aware of their partners’ true natures, they were all free to use their daemon forms freely as they set up for the Christmas party being held in the mansion. Horror and Lust had gone out to pick the perfect tree, which by the snake’s standards meant the biggest one he could possibly cut down as a means to show off his unnatural strength to his soulmate. This also meant that they’d had a lot of fun trying to actually get the tree into the house and upright, with the only place big enough to house it being the foyer. Even then, the branches extended well beyond the second-floor balcony, meaning that it would like be up to the daemons like Dust and Error to actually decorate the upper half of the tree.

They would’ve asked Reaper to assist on that front as well, but he’d been gone all day to pick up his soulmate from the hospital. While it was nothing so critical as the last few times the scarfed skeleton had been in, it was still a necessary stay that would leave the raven daemon pampering the smaller as much as physically possible.

This fact was only proven even more when Reaper finally returned to the mansion in the midst of decorating, carrying a sleeping skeleton in his arms. The sound of the door rendered everyone temporarily silent, thankfully not disturbing Geno’s much needed rest. “Ah, in the midst of merry-making I see,” the cloaked skeleton greeted, only to stop as he caught sight of the giant tree. “Now that is a tree, guess that explains the giant trail littered with pine needles I saw on my way here. Well then, don’t let me intrude upon such wondrous festive traditions... though a friendly piece of advice.” The sight of his normally empty left socket flaring a brilliant blue set many of his brothers on edge as he continued. “I would keep the volume under control if I were you. My beloved little swan is in need of his beauty sleep, and if any of you wake him, I’ll deck the halls in your blood.”

As the pair disappeared into a nearby sitting room, a tense silence hung over the others as many of the college students looked among each other. “That’s...” Blue started, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. “That’s definitely some dark humor... Mweh... heh...”

“Hate to say it baby Blue, but Reaps isn’t joking,” Dust muttered, swallowing back a lump in his throat before trying to calm his soulmate down and keep him from freaking out about the death threat. “But I’m sure we can keep a reasonable volume level, how hard can it be?”

“Yeah, I’m out,” Error grumbled, his strings retracting from the tree and setting the decorations down at his brothers’ feet. “I’m not in the mood to piss Reaper off, and I’m definitely not in the mood to get dragged into whatever hell you idiots inevitably bring upon yourselves.” He paused though upon catching a glance from his artist, sighing at the expectant gaze locked onto him. “I’ll help later once Reaper’s soulmate wakes up and he’s less likely to murder someone, in the mean time though I’ll keep an eye on him. You have fun decorating Inky.”

“W-Wow, you really can get him t-to do anything, you d-didn’t even have t-to say anything,” Sci pointed out to his friend as the spider daemon left the same way Reaper had, his usual stutter present due to the high number of faces nearby that he still wasn’t used to. Fell was at least keeping him from truly panicking, so the stutter was the worst of it.

“Mhm! Ruru knows better than to argue with me, so he usually just skips that step and saves himself a headache,” Ink giggled, clearly seeing nothing wrong with manipulating his boyfriend in such a way. When the scientist next to him pointed out his potentially toxic behavior, he was quick to brush it off as he provided a reasonable justification. “I don’t try to control everything he does, but Error can be a bit of a grumpy grump and will skip out on things that even he admits are fun for the silliest reasons. I just want him to let himself enjoy life!”

“I still find it weird to think of you of all people, Mister ‘enjoy life to the fullest’ being destined to fall for someone so cynical and reserved,” Lust commented, only to chuckle as he realized something. “Then again, fate’s choice for me isn’t someone that I would’ve expected either.” The snake daemon currently loosely coiled around his lithe frame let out a happy rumble before nuzzling closer to him, eliciting more giggles as the two snuggled together and let the others tackle the bulk of the decorating.

***

“Looks like they’re having fun,” Cross commented, watching over the others from the second story as he leaned over the railing. CC hovered nearby, unseen by all except his brother, showing a surprising amount of interest in the festivities despite his usual indifference to most things. Christmas however held a special place for the brothers as it was the first holiday they celebrated with Geno, and then later it was the first one spent with their friends.

A glance over the monochrome skeleton’s shoulder drew his attention to his soulmate, the octopus daemon huffing as he rolled his eye. “I still don’t get the point of Christmas, all I see it as is a poor excuse for robbing the capitalist world blind every year,” he grumbled.

“Geez, you’re such a Scrooge. Christmas for us has never really been about the gifts, it’s just been an excuse for all of us to hang out together and relax, usually after a really stressful finals season. That’s why we always do a secret Santa gift exchange with a single gift limit, since not all of us have as much disposable income as you or Dream.”

“You say that like I even want to touch that stupid money.” Nightmare was clearly set on being all grumpy about the holiday despite how much the other daemons seemed to enjoy celebrating it for a change. It had been interesting explaining everything to some of them, each getting excited about different aspects. For example, Horror had been obsessed over dinner, while Dust had been by far the most eager to do the gift exchange.

Ignoring his own boyfriend’s comment, Cross rolled his eyes and pulled away from the railing. “Whatever, you grumpy calamari. Geno’s downstairs so I’m gonna go check on him.”

“Hey, calamari is squid! I am an octopus!”

“I could refer to you as a hentai reject if you’d prefer, those ones are usually an octopus,” the smaller fired back, CC bursting into a fit of laughter by his side while the other was effectively silenced. Leaving behind the blushing skeleton, he headed downstairs, bypassing everyone decorating to head the same way his brother had gone.

Upon entering the sitting room, the scarfed skeleton was currently curled up asleep on one of the couches, his head resting in Reaper’s lap. The daemon was idly tracing patterns on the side of his skull, one wing draped over Geno’s small frame to act as a blanket. Error was also present, lounging nearby yet apart from the couple while messing with his strings. The peaceful atmosphere was a pleasant change from the nearby decorating chaos, a soft smile on the monochrome skeleton’s face as he sat on the sofa opposite his brother.

“How’s he doing?” He asked, having figured out by now that Reaper was probably the only person more concerned over the scarfed skeleton’s wellbeing than him and CC.

The raven finally looked up as he switched to just petting Geno’s skull, a gentle smile on his face. “All things considered, he’s not bad. According to him, he’s mostly just tired after all the tests and medicines that they loaded him up on so that he could be released in time for Christmas. Should’ve seen him light up once the doc confirmed that he was good to go so long as he took it easy and came back for more tests after the holidays.”

“Which means you’re gonna be carrying him everywhere and fawning over him more than normal?”

“You know it,” Reaper cheekily responded, no shame in his plan to borderline coddle the weak skeleton. His attention was quickly ripped from the conversation however by the sound of a soft yawn, both looking down to see Geno starting to wake up from his nap. The smaller had already given up on trying to act tough around the daemon by denying his affections, snuggling into his hand and the warmth of the wing wrapped around him. “Have a nice nap, sweetheart?”

“Mmm... Mhm,” came the sleepy response, another yawn following before he finally opened his eye and tilted his skull upwards to look at his boyfriend’s face. “We already here?”

“You’re not in Kansas, that’s for damn sure,” Nightmare grumbled as he slipped into the room, earning a glare from Reaper that he pointedly ignored. His response only seemed to bring the frail skeleton’s gaze upon him, the intense stare refusing to let up in a way that creeped even the daemon leader out. “Cross, why the hell is your brother staring at me?”

“He’s analyzing you,” the smaller confirmed without hesitation, smirking as he started growing curious. “It’s kind of his thing, he can read a lot about the true natures of people just by observing them... which makes me pretty curious as to what you’re managing to pick up on, Gen.”

Before the octopus could comprehend what exactly was happening and stop it, Geno was all to happy to reveal his initial findings given his brother’s interest. “A short temper used to cover up insecurities. Obsessive desires to control both people and situations, with antisocial tendencies erupting when control is imperfect. Snapping at others so readily could also be a means of attempting to establish dominance and prove strength, once again pointing to an inferiority complex.”

“In other words, you’re a grumpy hentai reject that wants everyone to think he’s dangerous and throws a tantrum whenever things don’t go exactly your way, which is pretty damn accurate I think,” Cross snickered, hearing CC once again start wheezing about the teasing nickname.

While Nightmare spluttered once again at the title, Error finally looked up from the strings around his fingers that he was playing with. “I’m surprised that you can even understand what the hell he just said. He sounds like Reaper whenever he wants to be a drama queen.”

“I’ve got a lot of years behind me that required deciphering him when he gets into that mode, otherwise I’d be screwed and would require translation all the time too.”

“And the only reason you cannot comprehend my superior vocabulary is no fault of mine dear brother,” Reaper announced, purposefully speaking the exact way that the spider was referring to. “While fate was kind enough to gift you with such a perfect soulmate for yourself, it unfortunately took its payment in the form of your mental faculties. Only I seem to have escaped such a cruel hand to possess both wonders.”

Upon seeing the confused look from the glitchy skeleton as he tried to decipher what the words meant, Geno poked his head up and rolled over enough to properly respond. “He’s essentially calling all of you stupid, which I kind of agree with if you struggle to understand him.”

“Only when he gets like that!” Error cried, only to go completely ignored as the raven daemon concerned himself with showering his soulmate with praise due to his instant understanding. “You two really were made for each other,” he grumbled, earning a laugh from Cross who couldn’t help but agree. Looking at who fate had chosen for each of his friends, he could definitely see the similarities in personality that allowed them all to mesh so perfectly with each other. Even if some of the pairings looked a little weird on the surface, it was still relatively easy to see why they all worked. After all, Nightmare wasn’t the only one here with a need to constantly be seen as strong.

***

As the five skeletons rested in the relative peace, a feline scream echoed from where the others were working and effectively destroyed their moment of quiet. “What was that?” Geno mumbled, shifting to sit up as he looked over his shoulder in the direction of the noise.

“That sounded like someone scared the shit out of Fell,” Error sighed, giving up on any hope for things going smoothly as he got to his feet. “We might as well go see what happened before those idiots tear down the tree and destroy the place in the process.” Both of the other daemons nodded and got to their feet, with Reaper sweeping his soulmate into his arms despite the flustered protest he got.

With Cross following behind, the group entered the main foyer to find Fell two thirds up the way of the massive tree, frantically tangling himself in the branches and continuing to let out a feral screech. Ink was on the ground, literally. The artist was rolling around in a fit of giggles, squealing something about a cucumber that nobody really understood. Sci was at the base of the tree, trying and failing to coax his boyfriend down while most of the others just laughed on the sidelines.

“Do I even want to know what happened?” Nightmare grumbled, spotting a cucumber near the tree that was likely involved. Seeing as there were only two remotely responsible skeletons in the bunch and one was still trying to calm the mountain cat down, the daemon leader turned to his twin for an explanation.

“Once Ink was reminded that Fell was a cat, he immediately wanted to see if a cucumber would freak him out like a normal housecat. So, he pulled a cucumber out of his bag, don’t ask me why he had one, and set it at Fell’s feet. Apparently, cucumbers work on feline daemons as well.” Dream sighed as he looked over to his best friend, shaking his head in disappointment over how entertained Ink had been. “Killer’s hardened slime at the base is at least holding the tree up, but please tell me you can get him out without ruining all the decorations.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll fix Ink’s mess,” Error grumbled, strings shooting out from his fingers and ensnaring his thrashing brother. “Fell, knock it off you moron! It’s just a fucking cucumber! Why the hell are you scared of a vegetable?!”

“T-Technically a cucumber is a f-fruit,” Sci quietly mumbled, shrinking under Error’s glare while the taller worked to pull Fell away from the tree and back onto the ground. Once the mountain cat daemon had been removed from the tree, Sci was quick to scamper behind him, effectively stealing his boyfriend’s attention away from the piece of produce.

“Thank fuck that’s over with,” Nightmare grumbled, one of his tentacles slithering over to pick up the cucumber and dangle it in front of Fell’s face. The guarded reaction was immediate, a growl escaping him as it was brought closer. “Seriously though, what’s so scary about a fucking vegetable?”

“Fruit,” Sci once again corrected, only to shrink even more under the powerful daemon’s gaze.

Seeing the reaction, the edgy skeleton was quick to steal the focus away from his little nerd, glaring at the cucumber as he did so. “Can’t help it, instincts. Looks like a snake, so I jumped away to avoid getting bit.”

“A sna... Fell... there is a giant constrictor literally ten feet from you, one that you regularly hang out with I might add, and you’re afraid of the fucking cucumber?” The shrug Error got in response left him pinching the bridge of his nose, grumbling quietly to himself. “Maybe Reaper’s right about the rest of you; you’re all idiots.”

Nightmare hadn’t really been paying much attention to the cucumber in his hold, only noticing when it quickly slipped from his tentacle. A flash of gold was all he caught before the laughter they’d all been ignoring was quickly silenced and replaced with a cry of pain. “Ruru, Dream hit me with the cucumber!” The artist whined childishly, holding his head and looking ready to cry.

“I barely hit you, you big baby, and you deserved it,” the golden skeleton sighed, rolling his eyes as he wandered off with the cucumber in the direction of the kitchen. “Remind me to go through that stupid bag of yours and pull any other hidden produce out of there!”

As the colorful skeleton turned his pleading gaze to his boyfriend, the taller merely snickered and shook his head. “Dream’s right Inky, you asked for that one. Now... guess we should finish decorating this tree.” Making good on his earlier promise, the spider assisted in decorating the upper half of the tree by lifting the others high enough to reach. Soon several skeletons were dangling in the air, laughter and giggles coming from Dust and Blue while Killer focused more on decorating. After giving up on trying to get some pity, Ink quickly rebounded and practically begged his boyfriend to let him help. Dream also offered to join in once he returned from the kitchen, having washed and cut up the cucumber before handing it to Horror to tide the hungry daemon over until dinner.

With so many of them working together, the rest of the tree was decorated rather quickly, leaving only the star as the final piece. “Aw yeah, time to put up the...” Dust trailed off as he felt in his pocket for the decoration he’d snagged earlier, only to frantically start looking all around him for the item. “Where the hell’s the star?!”

An evil snicker quickly alerted everyone to the culprit, looking in the direction of the sound to see Reaper flying up to the top of the tree with both Geno and the star in his grasp. “You snooze, ya lose Dust!” He called out, ignoring the shouts of protest and demands for him to return to the ground as he carried his soulmate to the very top. “Alright sweetheart, will you do us the honors of completing our tree?”

“You didn’t have to steal the star from him,” Geno chastised instead of responding, frowning at the raven as the ornament was placed in his hands. “I would’ve been fine letting him put it up, in fact I’m usually not allowed to stress myself by helping with the decorating so it really wouldn’t bother me.”

“All the more reason that you have a part in this tree now that you’ve got someone to support you!” Reaper chirped, nuzzling into him in response. “Besides, Dust would’ve insisted on climbing to the top and likely would’ve destroyed something on the way, so this is better for everyone. Even Dust, as either Nightmare or Error would’ve definitely chewed him out for making a mess. My only regret is that I couldn’t produce a star that came anywhere close to matching your beauty, my love.”

“S-Shut up,” the smaller grumbled, burrowing his head down into his scarf as his cheeks flared red in response to the compliment. Looking to the decoration firmly clasped in his hands, the scarfed skeleton sighed as he pushed away any guilt he might’ve had for taking this moment away from Dust. He had to admit that Reaper made a fairly convincing argument, and it would be nice to have a hand in decorating the tree for once, even if he only held a small part. Smiling, Geno reached out to the tip of the tree, carefully setting the star at the top and trusting his boyfriend to keep him steady enough to complete the task. There was a special joy in his broken soul once the final ornament was placed and he was pulled away from the tree, his friends cheering for the completed task below. “This is already feeling like one of the best Christmases I’ve had,” he happily sighed, hearing the daemon whisper his agreement with that statement as they returned to the others gathered on the ground.

***

“Present time!” Blues shouted, still full of energy despite the colossal amount of food they’d just finished eating. While most of them were dragging themselves back to the foyer on the verges of food comas after dinner, Blue and Dust were once again proving how perfect they were as they ran and bounced around in excitement for the secret gift exchange.

Everyone had placed their secret Santa present in front of the tree, the labels even being printed from computers to avoid giving away the gift giver based on handwriting. After all, half the challenge was to guess who their secret Santa had been based on the gift. There were no extra prizes or anything, it was just a fun little tradition that they’d started and now wanted to pass onto their soulmates.

“How does he even have energy to move?” Fell whined, a yawn escaping as he pretty much leaned on Sci while they slowly shuffled along with the others. “I’d honestly prefer a cat nap before presents, or at least some sort of break to let this food settle.”

“Nooooo, presents always come after food!” The blue-clad ball of energy complained, huffing and pouting at the mountain cat in disappointment.

Sci chuckled at the look his boyfriend was getting, urging him along in front of the tree. “Blue’s right babe, we’ve always done it this way even when we made way too much food like this year.”

“I still don’t think there was enough,” Horror chimed in, carrying a plate in with him filled with items that the others had taken yet hadn’t been able to finish. “Seriously, how are you guys stuffed?”

“Not all of us are a walking trash compactor,” Error pointed out before turning his attention to the pile of nicely wrapped presents. “So... who’s going first?” Knowing exactly who would want to go first, Dream was quick to act as he put up a hand, Killer’s hand to be specific. Not really paying attention, Error merely shrugged and went with it since he saw the hand shoot up first. “Okay, guess Killer’s going first.”

“M-Me?” The frog asked, blinking in surprise while Blue pouted once again at not being chosen first. “Dreamy, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Maybe not, but I wanted to! You’ve done so much to help me, so let me repay the favor even the tiniest bit. Besides, this is the first time for you guys, so one of you should go first and not the person who goes first every year.” The golden skeleton pointedly looked over at his friend, watching his pout be replaced with a sheepish smile before the small skeleton ultimately nodded in agreement.

Shrugging and accepting that everyone was waiting for him to go, he got up and looked through the pile to find one addressed to him. The gift was a shallow rectangle, expertly wrapped with a delicate bow surrounding it. Ignoring the sets of eyes all glued to him, he carefully opened the present only to find a painting inside. It was a picture of Dream with a small frog in his hands. The frog was black with red markings, clearly meant to be him, and a little golden crown sat on his froggy head. To top it all off, his soulmate was re-enacting the frog prince by offering his small self a kiss, though the painting was unable to capture the supposed transformation that would follow.

A dark blush crept across his cheeks, and one look back at Dream showed a familiar golden hue striking his cheeks as well. “N-Now I have to guess who I-I think got it f-for me?” He shakily asked, receiving a nod from his boyfriend before he looked around the circle. The painting was clearly handmade, and there was only one person he knew here that had any sort of talent with art to produce something so beautiful. “This had to be from Ink.”

“Caught me!” The artist giggled, rocking back and forth a bit as he looked over his creation. “Guess me doing a painting was a bit of a dead giveaway though. Now you get to pick who goes next!”

Given that the frog’s attention was already drawn in that direction, he couldn’t help but blurt out the first name that popped into his head. “Uh... Error I guess, you can go next.” He then retreated from the center to look over his painting, smiling alongside Dream as they thoroughly enjoyed the gift.

While the spider wasn’t expecting to be picked next, he could care less about when he went, so he wandered over and quickly found his present. The relatively simple wrapping was torn aside and the box opened to reveal a gift he wasn’t expecting. “Is this... knitting yarn?” Sure enough, several different colors were present in the bundle, complete with knitting needles as well as a few other supplies for general sewing and bundles of fabric. All it took was one look though to realize who gave it to him, smirking at the obvious reaction. “Well it’s obviously from you.” The spider pointed at Cross, snickering at how he jumped before offering a timid nod.

“Didn’t know what else to get ya. Nightmare said that you were always spinning webs and stuff, and I noticed that you patched your own clothes, so I figured you’d be able to make new ones this way if you wanted.” The monochrome skeleton scratched his skull, not sure what to think of his gift considering he’d been going in with zero knowledge of Error’s likes and dislikes.

After taking another look over the contents, the daemon smiled and nodded. “A very practical gift, thank you.” Cross perked up at the appreciation, smiling back and causing Nightmare to chuckle at how happy he seemed to be once his gift was received. Now it was Error’s turn to pick who was next, deciding to pick whoever’s name he saw first in the pile. “Lust, you go next.”

The dancer jumped a bit as his name was called, hesitantly wandering over to grab his present. The cute print on the wrapping left him smiling as he opened his gift, only to gasp at the contents inside. It was a bright purple coat, not unlike his own hoodie, though the material was far thicker and extended along the backside to mid-calf height. It was clear that the coat was meant to keep him warm in the colder winter months, and there were even some fashionable knee-high boots in the box that would keep his feet warm and dry. It was tough to think of who could’ve gotten him a gift that took into account his recent style change and yet still looked amazing, so he turned to the wrapping job to tell him who it was from, smirking. “Dream honey, you really need to get yourself more than one roll of wrapping paper. You used the same one last year!”

“I did? Dang, I thought I used a different one! And for the record I do have more than one... that one’s just my favorite.” The college students all shared a laugh at their friend’s typical forgetfulness, though this time was a little more understandable given that it had been a year since any of them wrapped presents. “I really hope you like those though, once I saw how thin that old hoodie of yours was, I had to get you something a little more winter appropriate.”

“I do love it, thank you Dream.” The dancer blew a kiss in his direction before tapping a finger against his mouth as he thought of who would be next. “Well, I would call on Dream next, but that’s too boring. Let’s do Ink instead!”

“Woo!” The artist rushed the present pile, barely waiting for Lust to sit back down before he searched for and ripped into his present. Inside were an assortment of art supplies, specifically ones that he’d needed recently and hadn’t had a chance to pick up yet. There were also some very high-quality items in the box that he usually wouldn’t splurge on, causing him to light up in excitement like the nearby Christmas tree. The only problem with getting art supplies though was that he didn’t have a clue who had given it to him, trying to think of who would know just what he needed and wanted. “Geno, was this from you?”

The scarfed skeleton chuckled and shook his head, pointing to something within the box. “Sorry Ink, but I don’t know how to sew so I doubt this came from me.” Following the direction that he was pointing, the colorful skeleton caught sight of two handmade plushies at the bottom of the box, one made to look like him and another that looked just like Error. The resulting squeal of happiness caused some of the gathered skeletons, especially the daemons with enhanced hearing, to cover their ears, though all seemed to smile at the sight of Ink hugging the toys to death.

“Aw man, now I know who got me this and can’t say! Oh well, guess that’s what I get for not looking through everything first.” Taking the arm of the plushie that looked like him, Ink squinted his eyes before pointing the fabric arm at one of his friends. “Sci, you can go next!” With that he took his box of goodies back to his spot before giving Error the biggest kiss he possibly could.

“A bit of a random choice, but okay,” the scientist mumbled, picking his present out of the pile. It was pretty small compared to the previous ones, but that didn’t deter him as he opened it up and looked through the contents. The gift was a collection of comics, and rare collector’s ones at that. His inner nerd was going nuts at the sight of them, finding that some of the issues were even signed by the artists or writers. “Oh my god, this is amazing! Oh my god!” It took him a moment to calm himself down enough to think of who might be the giver, his mind immediately going to the first nerd he could think of. “Okay, this had to be from Geno!”

Once again, the frail skeleton shook his head, offering a smile as he did so. “Those look pretty awesome, though I don’t think I would’ve had a clue where to find them. Guess someone else here appreciates comics as much as we do.” That’s when it hit him. There was in fact another nerd among them, though one that was far less likely to show off that side of himself. These had to be from his boyfriend, and he almost felt bad for not guessing him first. He’d definitely have to make it up to him later.

Focusing on the present, the scientist knew that he first had to pick the next person, looking around and wondering who to choose. His attention was ultimately stolen by one of the daemons, watching him bounce on the spot as a way of betraying how excited he was. Silently pointing towards Dust, he scurried back to his spot to show his boyfriend some appreciation, offering some scratches right behind his ears that instantly resulted in some soft purrs.

Dust wasted no time in hopping over to the dwindling pile, quickly picking his present out of the bunch and ripping into it. Again, it was a smaller box, even smaller than Sci’s had been, but the monkey quickly didn’t care about the size once he pulled the leather pouch out of the box. “Who gave the murder monkey a knife?” Nightmare called out in disappointment, seeing the younger daemon giggle maniacally as he unsheathed the blade and toyed with the razor-sharp edge.

“Perfectly balanced, perfectly sharpened, perfectly contoured... Clearly whoever got me this is an expert in weapons, namely Reaper.” As he came to his conclusion, he even pointed at his brother with the knife, a wicked glint in his eyes that left Sci and Lust on edge.

The raven daemon only chuckled at the gesture, not at all threatened or worried. ”Knife to see you were able to figure it out,” he joked, earning a groan from some of his brothers and a soft chuckle from Geno. “Figured it could never hurt for you to have a weapon to back you up if shit gets dangerous considering you don’t have a lot of offensive firepower compared to the rest of us. A knife just seemed to be the best thing I could think of to suit your style, plus it’s something you’ll be able to conceal and carry with you at all times. How did I do?”

“You did fucking awesome bro! This is great!” After a moment more of appreciating his gift, the monkey then turned to the remaining skeletons he could choose from, deciding to pick one of his remaining brothers. “Alright Fell, your turn!”

The cat merely grumbled about having to get up, leaving Sci and his wonderful scratches behind to pick up his present. His was by far the largest box there, big enough for him to fit in, and the most lazily wrapped as it literally just had his name stuck to the side and an oversized bow on top. Lifting it revealed the box to be very light too, making him all the more curious as he opened it up. Upon opening it though he instantly frowned, glaring over at his leader without a second thought. “Nightmare, why the fuck did you get me cat toys?”

“Oh come on, how did you know it was me?!”

“You’re the one that always refers to me as an overgrown housecat in sparring matches,” he growled, going through the contents much to his brothers’ amusement. “Plastic balls, fake mice, feather wands... a collar that for some reason says Peaches-”

“Apparently there’s some mountain lion in a video game named Peaches, so that’s what the internet gave me,” Nightmare explained, though he was clearly proud of himself for the gift all the same. That’s not even the best part of the gift.”

“Are you referring to the large jar of cat treats you put in here or the pouch of catnip?” Fell asked sarcastically.

“Oh, I forgot I threw those in there. I was actually referring to the box.” At that, everyone burst out laughing, Fell’s cheeks growing progressively red at the mockery that was his present. The frustrating part was, part of him really did want to crawl in the box.

“Fuck you guys!” He snarled, storming over to his spot next to Sci where he proceeded to dump all the contents of the box out, tip it on its side with the back facing the circle, and then he crawled inside where nobody could see him except for his boyfriend. “Reaper, you’re less of an asshole, you go!”

The raven had no problem with taking his turn next, wandering over and picking his present out of the small pile. His talons made quick work of the wrapping paper and tape, revealing a dazzling collection of various stones, gems, and jewelry that left a happy gurgling noise coming from him. A couple high-pitched caws even escaped him as the collection of shiny objects called to the more animal side of him. “These will make a lovely addition to my collection. As for who gave them to me...” Reaper trailed off in thought, partially tempted to name his own soulmate were it not for their shared love of books being more prominent than his love of shiny things. “I’m going to guess they came from you,” he declared, gesturing to Lust with a confident smile.

A shy smile and a chuckle were all the answer he needed to prove that he was right. “Horror said you were part raven, and it reminded me of this one raven that was constantly stealing jewelry or precious stones from me when I was younger. Looked it up and saw that was a normal thing for ravens, so I figured it was the safest option. I’m glad you like them.”

While he was tempted to fawn over his new shinies right away, Reaper looked to the presents at his feet to see who still had to select one. “Horror, since your lovely soulmate got me such a wonderful gift, you can go next!” He then returned to Geno’s side, eager to show off the various objects as well as attempt to convince his partner to try some of the jewelry on.

Horror, having long since finished the leftovers he’d snagged on the way out of the kitchen, set the plate down before slithering over to his present. His was the exact opposite of Fell’s, a small gift bag that seemed to be filled with more tissue paper than anything. As he chucked it aside and finally got to the bottom, he was greeted with a bunch of cards bundled together with an elastic band. It didn’t seem like that exciting of a gift at first, until he caught sight of what was on the card. It was a gift card to one of the best all-you-can-eat buffets in the city, one he’d dreamed about going to yet had been repeatedly told he wasn’t allowed due to how expensive and high-class it was. But this gift card would pay for a dinner for two, which screamed the best date night with Lust he could think of.

As he shuffled through the rest of the cards, they were gift cards of a similar nature, all to restaurants that he otherwise wouldn’t be allowed to go to despite the heavenly smells coming from them. He practically felt ready to cry as he hugged the gift cards to his chest, wondering who could possibly have given them to him. That’s when he detected a familiar scent on the gift cards, quickly shoving them into his pocket before darting over to Dust and giving him a hug in thanks.

A strangled squeak escaped his brother at the sudden hug, a hand moving to shakily pat him on the back. “O-Okay, love ya too big guy, b-but you’re k-kinda constricting my bones!” His voice came out raspy and strained from the minimal air he was able to get despite the bone crushing hug, a huge gasp for air being the first thing he took once he was let go. After taking a moment to recover, the monkey chuckled weakly as he patted his brother’s one arm. “G-Glad ya like your p-present,” he wheezed, collapsing back into his spot as Horror returned to his and quickly coiled back around Lust. “You haven’t gone yet, right?” The snake asked, pointing to Cross who shook his head and took that as a sign that it was his turn.

Cross didn’t know quite what to expect considering that he barely knew half the people gathered here, looking to the present for him and simply hoping that one of his friends were responsible. He would’ve hoped for Nightmare too, but he was clearly assigned the mountain cat daemon still pouting in his cardboard box. Sighing, he opened the gift, only to be pleasantly surprised as he got something he’d been talking about in recent months. “Definitely better than what I gave,” he chuckled, pulling out the collection of hot and cold massage products. The monochrome skeleton was notorious for pushing himself way too hard during his workouts, almost always left with aching bones for several days after. These would help lessen and treat the pain when he inevitably went overboard, making them a gift he would definitely make use of.

This gift clearly came from one of his friends that knew of his bad habit, and one in particular was always chastising him for his recklessness. “I get the hint Blue, I’ll try to take better care of myself after workouts,” he chuckled, earning a laugh from his shorter friend.

“Mweh heh heh, it’s about time you started listening to my amazing advice! Now hurry up and pick me!”

“Wait, you haven’t gone yet? Well in that case... Night, I think it should be your turn next!” He couldn’t help but laugh at the exasperated cry from his friend, shooting him a look when he started getting puppy dog eyes. “Dude, you always go first! This is what you get!”

Nightmare chuckled a bit as well at his soulmate’s cruelty, getting up to grab his present from the four remaining. While he was pretty calm and indifferent as he opened it, that quickly disappeared as he saw what was inside. A stuffed black octopus was sitting in the box, staring up at him with a perpetual glare that he knew was a jab at his own typically grumpy demeanor. Just pulling it out of the box set many of the others to snickering, including Fell who had crawled out of hiding and had the smuggest look on his face right now. “You did this, didn’t you? You think you’re so funny,” the octopus growled, his grip tightening on the toy in his hand.

That just set the mountain lion off, a raspy chuckle following his accusation. “Oh, I like to think I’m hilarious, but I can’t take credit for your gift. Maybe the idea, but not the actual present.” His tail wrapped protectively around his soulmate’s waist, only then alerting Nightmare to how badly the meek scientist was trembling.

“You’re a bastard and you know it,” he grumbled, turning around and chucking the plushie at Cross while Fell returned the sentiment. The monochrome skeleton was a little confused, but wasn’t going to complain since he thought the little toy was cute in how it reminded him of Nightmare. When nudged to pick from the remaining three, the grumpy skeleton was in no mood to think about it and simply pointed to Blue who was clearly trying to get his attention.

“YES! FINALLY!” Blue wasted no time in ripping into his present, clearly anxious after being forced to wait so long. And what he found inside his present only resulted in more excited screeching that once again had daemons covering their ears. “SUGAR!!!”

“Oh god, this has got to be the worst present of them all!” Lust whined, most of the college students watching in dismay as their excitable friend pulled package after package of various Christmas-themed sweets, ranging from candy canes to cookies to chocolates and everything in between. “Whoever did this, fess up. We need to know who’s responsible for releasing this monstrosity upon the world.”

“You’re being over-dramatic,” Blue insisted as he was already peeling the wrapping off both a candy cane and a chocolate bar. “I’m not that bad!” Ignoring the chorus of ‘yes you are’ he got while he stuffed his face, the small skeleton noticed that one of his friends didn’t seem to be nearly as worried as the others. “Gewo, y’re tha bst!”

All eyes were suddenly on their frail friend once they deciphered what Blue said through his mouthful of candy, a chuckle and shrug being the only answer he had for his actions. “What can I say? He clearly likes his gift!”

“You’ve doomed us all,” Lust insisted before turning back to Blue. “Since your mouth is full, just point to whoever’s next. Geno or Dream?” A gnawed-on candy cane was quickly directed at Geno, likely as a way of thanking him for a gift no others would dare get him, before he turned his attention to splitting his treasure with Dust so that they could both enjoy them.

Before Geno could even think of trying to get to his feet to move towards his present, Reaper had already jumped to his feet and collected the gift, presenting it to the smaller with a bow. “For you, sweetheart.”

“I could’ve got it myself.”

“I’m sure you could’ve, but we both know you would’ve struggled without your cane. Besides, this lets me spoil you!”

A muted grumble escaped the smaller as he once again hid in his scarf to hide his growing blush, though he quickly turned his focus to the present now resting in his lap. With wrapping paper being flung everywhere and a quick request to his boyfriend to cut the box open, the frail skeleton blinked a couple times in surprise before noticeably growing quite happy. “I’ve been looking everywhere for this set!” he blurted out, pulling out the first of three books and thumbing through it with a huge smile. When he examined the inside of the front cover he had to stop, his smile growing wider as he read over what had been written in there. “You got them straight from the author and got her to autograph them?! Thanks Killer, these are great!”

“Wait, how did you know they were from me?!” The frog blurted out, many of the college students chuckling at his comment.

“I’d be more surprised if Geno didn’t figure it out,” Cross commented, some of his friends nodding in agreement. “Every year without fail he guesses who got him his present correctly.”

“Also doesn’t help that you originally gave the author your name when getting it signed,” Reaper added with a chuckle, taking the book from his soulmate and spinning it around so that the others could see the scribbled-out K right next to Geno’s name.

“It was the last copy of the first book she had available,” Killer muttered, his face growing hot in shame of such a mistake in his gift.

Taking his new book back, Geno fondly ran his fingers over the cover before turning back to the daemon. “Well, I still really appreciate it. I’ve never been able to make it to any of her signings since I was usually in the hospital, and she’s my favorite author. Also, couldn’t seem to find this trilogy anywhere, so thanks a lot.” As he slid the book back into the box, he turned to the last skeleton in the group to receive their present. “Well Dream, looks like it’s finally your turn. Hopefully you get an awesome present that’ll really end the exchange off well.”

“I hope so too!” The golden skeleton giggled, getting up and grabbing the small box that was the last one in the center of the circle. He shook it around a bit, only to frown at the lack of sound that came. Now extremely curious, he opened the box only to find a small note written at the bottom. Head to the closed-off room to the left of the front door to find your real present. “Okay... not what I was expecting,” he shrugged, pausing long enough to show the note to his boyfriend so that they knew what he was doing before heading off and disappearing into the nearby room.

“Wonder who got him this one,” Blue commented, turning to his boyfriend once he heard him snickering.

“It’s pretty obvious that this one’s from Horror, he’s the only one that hasn’t given a gift yet,” Error pointed out. “Even the ones that were guessed wrong were pretty obvious.”

“I’m still sorry about that by the way,” Ink added, turning to see where his best friend was. “So, what did you get him, Horror?”

The snake just chuckled as he hugged Lust close. “Trust me, you’ll find out real soon.”

“PUPPY!!!” Came the shrill scream from the nearby room, everyone now seeing what Horror meant.

“No! You did not get my brother a dog!” Nightmare complained, halfway between frustrated and exasperated. “He’s got enough to deal with! He doesn’t need a dog on top of everything!”

“Actually, I disagree Nightmare.” All eyes were on Killer as he went against their leader for once, possessing a surprising amount of confidence despite the glare boring holes into his skull. “A pet could be exactly what he needs, someone completely dependent one him for survival and that can be a constant companion to offer comfort whenever he needs it.”

“Isn’t that what you’re for?” The octopus hissed, grumbling at the excited barking he could now hear.

Lust turned up to look at his boyfriend, chuckling at how proud he was with his present. “How’d you get the dog to stay so quiet?”

“Food,” was all he said in response, though the answer made perfect sense considering who it came from. “By the way, that’s only half his present.”

“Oh, what the fuck else did you get my bro-”

“KITTY!!!”

“OH, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” Before he could lay into the scarred skeleton for gifting his twin two pets that he’d ultimately have to deal with, Dream came running out with a fluffy puppy at his heels and a kitten in his arms. “Oh my god, I hate this so much.”

“Night! Lookie! I got a puppy and a kitty! And they’re so soft and cuddly and they already love me!”

“Oh cool! You managed to get the two from the shelter that really liked him!” Killer congratulated his brother, giving him a big thumbs up.

“Those two almost look like purebreds,” Lust pondered, though he couldn’t place the breed.

Horror nodded in agreement to the comment, confirming their purebred nature. “Rescues from breeding mills is what the lady said. Dog’s an akita, super loyal, smart, and observant dogs that always keep an eye out for a threat. Cat’s a ragdoll, cuddly thing that loves attention and cuddles. At least that’s what the lady told me.”

“So you’ve got a protector and a cuddler as well as two new best friends!” Ink blurted out, already running over to meet the pets that would be living in the same apartment as him.

“This was a horrible idea,” Nightmare moaned, burying his head in his hands.

Cross chuckled at the grumpy response, finding himself looking at the little plushie he was still holding onto. “Oh come on, you hentai reject. It’s not that bad!”

“It is! And quit calling me that!”

“Come on Nighty, where’s your Christmas spirit?”

“Bah fucking humbug,” he grumbled, only to look up as the cat wandered directly over to him. Ignoring the attempts to shoo it, the cat immediately crawled into Nightmare’s lap and curled up, purring contently. “The fuck? Why does this thing want to be anywhere near me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It knows you’re a good person Night!” Dream insisted, his smile never falling as he watched over Ink playing with his new dog.

“But... I’m not...” The daemon sighed, reluctantly petting the small creature in his lap. “Okay... maybe this present isn’t so bad.”

That caused Cross to throw his arm around his boyfriend, doing so gently to avoid startling the cat. “There’s that Christmas spirit I was looking for!” As much as the octopus wanted to deny the comment and try to maintain his grumpy disposition, he had to admit that this was definitely a better Christmas than the few he remembered from his childhood. Sighing, he let his frown go, holding his soulmate closer as he finally started smiling.

“This is the best Christmas ever!” Dream happily declared, giggling as his dog had hopped on top of him and was now licking his face. And every single skeleton present was in complete agreement with him on that statement.

Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.