I have a personal vendetta against "The Christmas Song" (the one that has chestnuts roasting on an open fire and all that). Particularly the line about "kids from one to ninety-two"; if I wanna be a kid when I'm ninety-three and celebrate Christmas, I should darn well be able to!

I actually like that song tho-

Oh look it's Christmas (I'm uploading it on Christmas Eve in my timezone but whatever-)! Merry Christmas, people! And have a happy new year!

Also it turns out my hiatus won't begin until after Christmas :3

I dunno exactly when, but likely before the new year.

Comments are welcome and appreciated!

Please enjoy!

~~~~~

I had gone to bed last night with the intention of getting the sleep I needed before my sons woke me up in the morning. Well, I had gotten my desired sleep, but I could never escape the morning.

"Dad!" Error yelled. "Wake up! It's Christmas!"

"I'm up.." I responded, beginning my journey over to..the door, probably; it was too early to tell.

Despite the fact that I woke up before my boys almost every other day of the year, they always managed to wake up on Christmas before me, but that was fine. My sons took my hands and guided me out of my bedroom, bringing me to our destination, which was the living room. The tree looked so nice with all those presents underneath it, and my boys were excited to tear them open. I sat down on the couch, and I gestured for them to go ahead with their present opening while I sat back and watched, trying to wake myself up a bit. Killer and Dust went for their stockings first, while Horror, Cross, and Error decided to see what was under the tree; there was quite a pile this year! Error was the first to announce a gift he had received.

"Train!" He giggled, pulling out a toy train - ah, the classic. 

"Dad, look!" Cross jumped at a large gift. "It's an encyclopedia set!"

"I'm sure you'll get days worth of studying out of that." I smiled, knowing that my second youngest son's thirst for knowledge was equal to the one I had had as a child..I still had it, but I had little ones to think about, too, now.

"Maybe even weeks!"

"Ooh, this looks great!" Horror looked at the food that Sansta had brought him, and he grinned; I had no idea what language that was, but the food was hopefully good (I was fairly sure it would be, since Sansta hadn't brought something that Horror had disliked yet).

"This is so cool!" Killer exclaimed, holding up a book. "It's the newest blaster trick book on the market!"

"I'm sure Blade will love that." I commented.

"Wood." Dust smiled, happy that he had received something to make into another beautiful work of art; his smile grew when he found a new woodworking kit in the midst of some more blocks of wood.

"Dad, Sansta brought you something!" Error brought a gift over to me, placing it in my lap. "Open it, open it!"

"All right." I nodded, opening the gift.

Inside the box, I found a new book series; that would keep me busy for a bit. I started the first one as my boys continued to open their gifts, and by the time I had reached the second chapter, my boys were engaged in play. They had certainly received many toys, and they loved to play with toys; they would likely spend the next week without boredom, and that was amazing. After a few games together, they split apart to do their own things, deciding on their absolute favorite gifts of the bunch and wanting to spend some time with them. The pile of wrapping paper was discarded in the proper manner, and my boys proceeded to have the time of their lives; they had always enjoyed Christmas, and this year was no different than any other. It was nice that my boys were able to get some joy from Christmas, despite the fact that their lives weren't the best..I wanted to give them everything I could, but it never seemed to be enough..I shouldn't have been thinking about work on Christmas; this was one of the only "days off" I could get. Our Christmas was a good one, and I believed that we would have even more fun tomorrow.

At least, I hoped so.

~~~~~

Dream. Yes, we're doing this again.

~~~~~

It was Christmas Day, and I had slept until noon. Due to the fact that Ink and Blue had forced me to take at least five holidays a year in which I didn't even fight my brother, I had no reason to get out of bed today..at least, not until I heard the consistent knocking at my door. After five minutes of that, I rolled out of my bed onto the..warm, carpeted floor, and I covered my skull with a pillow; I hadn't gotten this much sleep since Thanksgiving, and I was going to enjoy it!

"Dream!" Ink's voice yelled from outside. "We're coming in!"

I groaned tiredly as my friends kicked down my front door (again) and barged up the stairs into my room, where they lifted me up off the floor and laid me on my bed. 

"Is he dead?" Ink wondered. 

"I think we walked in on his relaxation." Blue chuckled nervously. "Merry Christmas?"

"Lemme sleep.." I mumbled, rolling over to stuff my face into my pillow. 

"But it's Christmas!" Ink argued. "Don't you want to see what Sansta brought you? He brought me some new slippers! They have little reindeer on them!"

"Tomorrow.."

"But what about Blue's coal giveaway?" Ink questioned, reminding me of that..

I whined slightly before deciding to help them; it was for a worthy cause. "Five more minutes.."

"Okay! We'll be downstairs, trying to guess what Sansta brought you!"

"I'll make you some breakfast!" Blue volunteered, which was kind of him to do.

My friends left me to my rest, and I managed to stay awake, despite every bone in my body telling me to take a break; I really had to learn to say no to people sometimes. When I had woken enough to process thoughts fully, I sat up and went to my closet, changing into some black clothes that I had put aside for this day; the coal would have stained anything else in my closet. When I was dressed, I trudged downstairs, where the smell of pancakes brought me further out of my slumber; Blue had made great advancements in his cooking since we had first met. I had soon eaten some breakfast, and I found myself in my usual energetic state; why had I wanted to skip Christmas gifts?! I bounced out into my living room, finding Ink next to the Christmas tree; he was vigorously shaking one of the many presents that had found themselves under my tree. I proceeded to open the gifts, finding everything I had asked Sansta for; he was truly a miracle worker. The last gift that I wanted to open had been perched on a branch of the tree, and it seemed special; I wondered what it was, since I had already received everything else! I took the thin present in my hands, and I tore the wrapping away, finding..

"When did that happen?" Ink wondered.

"I..I don't know." I didn't remember that..that had never happened! "Maybe it was photoshopped?"

"Does Sansta do photoshop?" Blue inquired.

"I don't know..I just don't know.." 

"Are you going to keep it?" Ink asked.

"Of course I am! Photoshop or not, it's great! It..makes me feel good."

"You look good in that.." Blue mentioned. "You don't look as tired as usual."

"..Yeah.." I paused, looking at the rendition of myself. "I wonder how Sansta did this.."

"Well, let's get going; I wanna move some coal!" Ink sung, hopping into a portal, with Blue following after.

I nodded, putting the picture down on my coffee table; I wasn't sure how Sansta had made a picture of myself along with my brother and his family, but I loved it, and I would treasure it forever. Perhaps someday we could make another one like it..I hoped so, at least. When I had put down the picture, I followed my friends through their portal, and I found myself in an AU, next to a giant pile of coal. Blue had done this every year for the past half a century, and it was one of the most selfless acts I could think of; he consistently refused himself Christmas gifts, while ensuring that others were able to last through the winter. He had begun small, but the loads of coal eventually became so much that he had begun to ask for help in his endeavours, and several beings in the multiverse, including myself, were happy to assist him. I wasn't sure how he managed to convince Sansta to give him so much coal - he was such a kind person - but he made good use of every last bit of it, and people were always thankful for what he did for them. He distributed to about twenty different AUs, since that was all he could do, but we knew that he did his best, and we enjoyed helping him.

This year, I was going to distribute some coal in a small town, where many people were too poor to spend money on coal (in this AU, it was about two hundred times more expensive than in most), and if Blue could help, he would. Ink and I were paired together for this AU, and we decided to start our mission in the poorest part of town, where..it was honestly depressing. The negativity surrounding this area would have pleased my brother..it was probably why he had never attacked this AU; there was no need to. Ink and I spent an hour giving away piles of coal, and the people's spirits were lightened considerably by the donations; this was the part I loved, when I could see all those happy smiles. 

"I think that was the last one, Dream." Ink stated. "Where are we going next?"

"We're going to go to the suburbs next." I said. 

"Why?"

"To hand out more coal."

"Right!" Ink paused. "Why are we doing this, again?"

"Because Blue asked us to, Ink."

"Oh, yeah!" Ink didn't seem as if he completely remembered why we were here, but that was fine, as long as he helped.

Over the course of the day, we handed out coal all over the town, and by the time we had finished, we were covered in coal dust; that was why I had worn black. Ink had, unfortunately, worn one of his nicer sets of clothes, but he had refused to change, and that was entirely his fault. When we made it back to the AU in which we had started, the giant pile of coal had shrunk to almost nothing, only leaving behind enough for the Christmas bonfire, which was apparently almost ready! After a hard day of work, Blue offered everyone who had helped distribute the coal some food, and he had a bonfire with the rest of the coal; it was always a highlight of the season, and everyone enjoyed it greatly! As soon as the fire was lit, multiple marshmallows were held  next to it, although I wasn't necessarily sure if that was the best idea regarding health..nobody really cared, since we were magical creatures, and things that affected other beings didn't always affect us! In any case, no one had become ill yet, and that was surprising, considering the way Ink decided to roast things.

"Ink, you just put a piece of coal between two slices of bread." I pointed out to my friend.

"It tastes good!" Ink..

"You haven't even tried it yet, Ink!"

"Yes, I have! This is my third one!"

"..I worry for you sometimes, Ink."

"A lot of people say that to me, but I don't know why.."

I winced as I heard a crunching sound behind me; Ink's teeth were strong, I supposed. I wondered what my brother was doing right now..perhaps he was having just as good of a time as I was. I hoped he was having a nice Christmas.

"Do you want some more hot chocolate?" Blue offered, holding up a hot kettle.

"Yes, please." I nodded.

"Coming right up!"

Blue was amazing; he could make a cup of hot chocolate within only a few seconds, stirring and all. I thanked my friend when my cup was full, and he went on to the next person, Ink, who asked for a bowl of hot chocolate. Blue obliged him. Overall, this had been a very merry Christmas, and I had enjoyed it.

Christmas never failed to make me happy.

~~~shorts end woot~~~

Beans celebrate Christmas!

I don't know how I managed to make this about coal. 

It just happened!

Anyways, I hope that your holidays have been happy, and if you celebrate Christmas, have a merry one!

And yes the picture was from that time Dream stayed with the beans for a week but had his memories wiped.

Thanks for reading my merry writing!

Bye!