== Do The Christmas Thing.
"Come on, Karkat, stop being such a loser!"
"Fuck off Terezi I don't want to join in with this stupid human shit." You growl from your place under the table, glaring at the end of the white stick and Terezi's shoes. The stick flicks forwards, hitting you in the shin as you try and grab it. The blind female above you is too fast.
Kanaya's voice comes through the wood, "Get out from under the table, Karkat, we're picking names."
Terezi steps back as you drag yourself out, still grumbling but less enthusiastic about upsetting Kanaya. Terezi hits you lightly in the back of the leg as the two of you follow Kanaya into the communal block, laughing each time you almost trip.
You enter, seeing Dave and Rose already in there... Drawing on the wall with Terezi's chalks.
"That is a seriously shitty excuse for a tree." You say, slumping down on the couch and ignoring the hit to the back of your head as Terezi walks past.
"I drew it!" She says angrily, slumping down too close to you on the seat.
"Right so everyone knows how this works now, yes?" Rose asks, shaking a small bag and making it rustle, "Secret Santa. Names in this bag. Pick a name out, as long as it isn't your own - if it is, put it back in and try again. Whoever you get is who you get a present for. Seeing as though we're stuck on a meteor with no way of purchasing multiple presents I feel as though this is the best thing we can do. It's also a chance to teach our Troll members the human tradition of Christmas and how it differs from Twelfth Perigee."
The papers go around, Rose dictating the whole procedure as people pick names out, return them once or twice before nodding and the bag is passed on. It gets to you and you get a satisfying result the first time. You look down at the pink writing bearing the word "Kanaya" and smile a little to yourself. At least you know her well enough to find her something.
Terezi grins at her piece and practically eats it with excitement. You're betting she got Dave. You would happily place every boondollar you ever earned on her getting Dave.
You all disperse once more, moving around the rooms. You take a moment to look at the decorations in the communal block while everyone starts to leave, the chalk-tree on the wall the only recognisable thing. You think those are candles, and maybe snowflakes on the far wall? You don't know. The tree is big and mostly green, switching to teal-blue for the bottom branch, probably due to the green running out and Terezi being too lazy to go get a new stick. Scribbles on the green mass indicate decorations. Dave's drawn little shitty clip-art apples all over it and the trunk looks like it's about to collapse in on itself.
You're pretty sure you've seen this tree before.
"So you ready for the present giving?" A voice comes from directly behind you. You absolutely do not flinch. "Like I don't know if generosity is a thing that exists for you bro are you gonna be okay with the responsibility?"
"Dave will you fuck off for like five minutes seriously, do you ever do anything productive? Is your entire existence on this shitty excuse for a meteor to try and piss me off? I thought we were past this." You breathe out, exasperated, as Dave switches from smirking to grinning and pushing his shades back up his nose.
"Yeah sorry it's just too much fun winding you up."
"Well go do it somewhere else." You grumble, turning back towards the couch. He hasn't left yet, even as you slide back down onto the rough fabric. You look up at him as he just stands there, his head tilted slightly as he looks at you. You stare back, unwavering. It takes him what feels like forever to shrug and leave the room, and it takes you just as long before you feel safe getting up and heading to your respiteblock.
You have two days to find something to give Kanaya.
You rummage through the multiple chests and boxes in the area you've claimed your own, finding host plush after host plush after questionable-vial-of-something-purple, nothing you could even think about giving to Kanaya. You're almost giving up when you realise that maybe you don't have to give her something that already exists. That would be pretty boring anyway.
Maybe you could find some stuff and make her something?
You set about finding suitable materials.
You sit nervously on the couch, clutching a small package to your chest protectively. You wrapped Kanaya's present up in a box and some colourful green-shaded paper you found. It fits nicely in your hands so that the whole thing is shielded from view. This is meant to be secret, after all. You'd spent all night looking over the present, checking it wasn't breaking, worrying she wouldn't like it. Kanaya was like a sister to you. You couldn't let her down.
"Okay, everyone's here!" Rose calls out cheerfully as the four of you sit around. No point expecting Gamzee to show up, he wasn't even there for the name-choosing. "You first, Karkat."
You blink, looking at the small package in your hands before passing it nervously to Kanaya, who smiles warmly at the badly-wrapped parcel. She unwraps it carefully, opening the little box to reveal a small necklace, made from rounded pieces of glass and some string you'd managed to find - the glass, you had managed to paint a light coating of ink over, making it a kind of mottled jade colour. There were five pieces in total, varying in size to the largest in the middle.
"Oh my goodness, Karkat it's wonderful!" Kanaya exclaims, pulling you over to her and hugging you tenderly. You hug back, relieved that she actually liked the present. You retreat to your seat as she puts the necklace on, the glass glinting in the light.
You almost zone out as the second exchange takes place, Kanaya presenting Rose with a cute pink package with a simple but very well made scarf in, not unlike the one you remember seeing on her human mother. Rose pretends not to be too emotional about it.
Rose gives her present to Terezi - your heart stops momentarily as your brain works out the next few exchanges, assuming you were right before - a new pack of chalks Rose claims to have had stashed away for such an occasion, and a repair kit for Terezi's broken scalemates. The blind troll is beyond excited, hugging Rose tightly enough to force a squeak out of her.
Terezi hands Dave his present excitedly, moving over to sit right next to him as he opens it - they aren't together anymore, you know that, but you know Terezi would have been very excited about getting him for this silly game. He opens up the package and pulls out an awkwardly-stitched-together scalemate - seemingly a collage of other ones, making the body and head a kind of off-white, arms red and the legs and feet black, a pair of knitted shades sewn onto the head at an awkward angle. It was shit. It was perfect.
"Oh my god Terezi." Dave says, and that's all he really has to say because everyone's laughing too much for anything else. He gives her a half-hug with one arm, the other still holding the unfortunate toy. Terezi moves back to her seat and looks between you and Dave expectantly.
"Last but not least." Dave says, standing up and moving over to you. He leans over the back of the couch, between you and Terezi, and pulls a package from behind you. "You've been sat right next to it the whole time."
You take the package, a little bit overwhelmed at the size of it - it's only slightly bigger than the scalemate was all wrapped up, but still. You unwrap it silently, Dave having gone to sit back down but quite obviously leaning forwards in his chair and watching you. You pull it open to reveal a knitted holiday sweater - all black and red patterns and almost perfectly stitched. You fold it out and your jaw drops, because there's a grub version of you on the front in what Rose had taught you a few days ago was a Santa hat. Words above and below, worked into the pattern, read "HAPPY FUCKING HOLIDAYS" in big, bold, grey text.
It was the most amazing thing you've ever seen, and you want to wear it forever.
You pull it on immediately,unhooking it carefully when it threatens to get caught on your small horns. You can't help smiling when it's on, because it's a little too big and a little scratchy but it's perfect and it's yours.
"Holy shit he can actually smile." Dave remarks, his eyebrows raising a considerable amount as Terezi pretends to faint.
"Fuck you this is so perfect." You say, tugging at the sleeves a little and noticing how they almost cover your hands, "How did you even do this?"
"Kanaya taught me how to knit." Dave grins.
"He was an awful student." Kanaya adds in, observing your perfectly awful jumper with judging eyes, but not saying anything.
Before you can say anything else, Rose is claiming it's time to get in on some more Christmas shit, leading everyone into the next block. Dave bumps your shoulder lightly on his way past, smiling at you when you look up. You return it.
After far too long of trying to learn Christmas carols, and you and Dave changing the lyrics every time Rose asked either of you to try singing a verse, you all decide to call it a night. You don't know where the time went, but everyone's going to bed.
You sit in the communal block alone in the dark, toying with the sleeves of your new sweater and wishing you didn't have to go to sleep. You hate sleeping these days. It's horrible and dangerous, even if everyone else assures you it isn't.
"Room for one more insomniatic loser?"
You look over to the doorway, Dave stood there in his god tier pyjamas with a freaking blanket of all things wrapped around him.
"It's cool if not it's just really boring in my room."
You roll your eyes, patting the seat next to you. He walks over, dropping down so hard you jump up into the air a little. You sit there in silence for a while before Dave offers you one side of his blanket, which you take wordlessly, settling further down onto the couch next to him.
"Thankyou." You say finally, keeping your eyes fixed on the other side of the room. You pull your legs up onto the couch, still keeping under the blanket.
"For what dude?" Dave asks, looking towards you, confused even when he should know exactly why you're thanking him.
"For the sweater, dumbass." You say, nudging him in the side with your elbow. He shoves you back, almost knocking you over.
"You're welcome, shitstain." He replies. You hate the fact he's sat away from you, practically on the other side of the couch. You know he's closer than that because you're sharing a blanket, but he feels worlds away.
"Can I ask you for something though?" You question quietly. You can't believe you're about to ask.
"You can ask, but my response will vary depending on what it is you're asking."
"I was going to ask for a hug but if you've decided to be a little shit this evening don't worry about it." You grumblr, leaning away from him and feeling the soft tug of the blanket stretching to its fullest.
"Platonic bro cuddles, right?" Dave asks with a smirk, "Would you like me to also brush your cheek gently with the back of my hand?"
"Shut the fuck up about that I didn't know that was a thing with you guys!" You exclaim defensively.
"Yeah sure whatever." Dave says, pulling you towards him with one arm while keeping the blanket over you both with the other, "Just fucking lie with me already, we can talk about our dreams and the future, maybe we'll buy a house and have kids once we get off this meteor. There's a whole world out there Karkat and it's ours for the taking."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" You look up at him from where your head is resting on his shoulder, shuffling your not-trapped arm to wrap around his chest.
"I don't know." He admits, "I let that whole sentence get away from me."
"You're such a fucking loser." You grumble. You try and move your other arm, Dave evidently noticing the uncomfortable movement as he leans forwards, letting you put your other arm around his back.
"Yeah whatever." He responds. You can feel the edge of his shades cut in uncomfortably as he rests his head on yours, but you don't mention it. You can't find anything to have a go at him for right now, and you like that. You're glad you have him for a best friend, even if that's all you'll ever really be. It's not a useful title to a normal troll, but it's perfect to you.
You're starting to like this whole "Christmas" thing.