Noise pulled Frisk from their sleep. They cracked open an eye. There was a long, confused moment where they listened to distant excited chatter, before they remembered- the winter holiday.
Their present from Toriel had been in the room for a couple of days; a solid desk and chair, although some time in the night she'd tied a bow around the chair. Had that been before they'd crept out, or after? They winced at the idea of being caught out.
Nerves were rapidly erasing their sleepiness. What if nobody liked their presents? What if they were stolen? In a town of monsters who didn't seem to consider stealing and with only one human, that didn't seem likely, but they were starting to panic about what could go wrong. Remembering the instructions of their counsellor, they took long, deep breaths, focusing on the here and now. Hold it and contain it. Once the panic subsided they took a long, hot shower. It helped to soothe, leaving them feeling pleasantly warm and more in control.

Toriel was in her reading chair; a warm fire crackled, and she beamed at Frisk when they entered the room. "Good morning! Happy winter holiday, dear one." Frisk gave her a big hug in reply.
"Happy winter holiday, mum." They sniffed the air appreciatively. She chuckled.
"Yes, I made cinnamon-butterscotch pie. Enough for all of our friends to share. I also used a human recipe for mince pie, if you would like a slice for breakfast. And I made sure we had some coconut cream. I know how much you like it."
Frisk's stomach loudly attested to that; they blushed, and she smiled broadly. "I shall take that as a request for some."
"Only a little bit, please." Nerves still squirmed in their stomach. They followed her to the kitchen and put the kettle on, making themself a cup of ginger tea while she cut the pie.
"Perhaps you should put a little bit of cold water into that," she suggested. "We will be heading out soon."

Their nerves grew with her words; but they did as she suggested, and sat down with the pie. It smelled good, and they took a careful bite. The cream had cooled it enough to be easy to eat, and as the flavour hit their tongue, hunger overrode nerves and they wolfed the pie down.
"Are you sure you would not like some more?" Frisk shook their head, sipping their tea. It had been delicious, and they felt better for eating it- but they were still feeling anxious. The idea of more food only made their stomach tighten.

"Frisk!" The front door burst open, letting in a swirl of cold air and Papyrus' enthusiastic voice. "Are you ready? It's time to see what Santa has brought! Nyeh heh heh heheh!"
Frisk was not ready, they instantly decided; but the skeleton brothers were here, and there was no putting it off. They ran to get ready while Toriel tried to discourage Papyrus from eating any of her pie.
When they returned, wrapped up in a jumper, a warm coat, gloves and boots, they were unsurprised to see the brothers with an empty plate each. They smiled at the pair, despite the squirming in their belly.
"Good! Let us be off!" Papyrus bounced up from the table; Toriel- wearing a knitted poncho- gestured to the door and Frisk filed out after them. They set out towards the tree, Papyrus quickly outstripping the others; each of them carrying a bag. Frisk was only vaguely distracted by Papyrus' large red Santa sack.

"Hey, kid." Frisk glanced at Sans. "You okay?"
For once, Frisk was irritated by how observant Sans was. He didn't try to cheer them up with bad jokes and pranks; he was just there, steady and stable. Today they would rather he told jokes and pretended nothing was wrong, as he did with some others. They wanted to pretend nothing was wrong themself.
"Hey, Sans," they said, not answering his question. "If I left for a week, would you still remember me?"
"What sort of a question is that, buddy? Of course I would."
"What if I left for a month?"
"Nope. Wouldn't forget."
There was a pause. Then, "knock knock."
Sans gave Frisk a funny look. They didn't tend to make jokes, and only occasionally made puns to fire back at his own. Still, he went along with it. "Who's there?"
"See, you forgot me already."

He snorted and bumped into them. They tried to smile at him. "M'okay." It was a lie. It was a lie and Sans had always, always seen through Frisk. But he didn't say anything; just nodded, and pretended to believe them.
Alphys and Undyne were already at the tree; when Frisk caught sight of them, Alphys was trying to stuff something in a bag she'd brought, while Undyne had the skeleton in a headlock. Maybe it was a gift from Undyne, Frisk pondered; Alphys didn't like to talk about their relationship much in company. They all greeted each other, and Frisk acted like they hadn't seen anything. It was easy to do; speaking much at all was hard. But there was so much noise of the monsters all around them, talking and laughing and hugging, that nobody seemed to notice.

Papyrus was positively bouncing, desperate to know what "Santa" had brought him this year. Toriel was the first to reach for a present, though.
"Oh, this one is for..." She looked at the label on the small present and handed it to Sans.
"From Frisk, huh?" He tore it open and laughed. "Thanks, kid."
"What is it Sans, what is it?!" Papyrus was so excited that he completely missed Toriel trying to hand him something; Alphys was already opening a gift of her own.
"It's socks, bro. The kid got me socks."
"What! Well I hope you won't leave these ones on the floor! They were a gift!"
"No worries, bro." Sans pocketed the socks. "Thanks, buddy. Oh- hey, looks like one for you."

Frisk felt their face flush hot as he handed them the present. "O-oh, it's... From Undyne." It was soft and the wrapping was haphazard, but they started to peel carefully at it.
"Gah! Just tear it, you punk!" The others laughed at Undyne's frustration as Frisk stripped off their gloves and tried to get into it without tearing the paper; and they all cheered when they finally gave up trying to figure out her wrapping and ripped the paper off.
It was a thick red scarf with a white trim. Frisk grinned and immediately started pulling it on. It wasn't too cold, the gift having sat in the morning sun; and they turned their grin on their friend once they had wrapped it around their neck. "This is great- thanks, Undyne!"
Papyrus had just finished opening a cookery book when Toriel picked one up and made a surprised sound. "Oh- from Frisk! Oh, thank you, my child." She carefully peeled the wrinkled paper off- despite Undyne's protests- and pulled out an apron, purple and blue, with large pockets. "Oh- how thoughtful! Thank you, my dear."
"That's Frisk's way of saying you need to bake them more pie," Sans commented. Frisk elbowed him and watched Alphys opening a DVD of an anime.

"Hey! Hey human! Frisk! Hey! Open mine!" Papyrus thrust a present into their hands. It was carefully wrapped, right down to having perfect places to open it. They peeled the paper back to reveal a folder; confused, Frisk flipped through it. It was full of recipes.
"All of my favourites! And you know I have great taste! You will have to come over and cook with me more now! Nyeh heh heh!" Frisk grinned at him, blinking back tears. It was silly and cute and delightfully personal, and they hugged it to their chest.
"Fighting princesses!" Undyne suddenly whooped. She had, unnoticed to Frisk, opened their gift to her; it was a DVD set of a TV show about a very famous fictional warrior princess. Frisk grinned at her enthusiasm.

It was completely disorganised, despite Toriel's attempts. She tried to make it so only one person was opening a present at a time; but it didn't work. Papyrus got a thick knitted jumper with "cool dude" across the chest from "Santa"- he loved it, and Frisk commented that clearly they'd been spelling Santa wrong for years- they thought it had more than one letter s in it. Sans smirked at them while Papyrus told them no, just one, it wasn't Ssanta, that was silly; before he thrust another present into their arms. It was small and seemed to be a box.
From Napstablook and Mettaton. Frisk felt their stomach turn over; they felt awful for not getting either of them anything, especially once they opened it and found an MP3 player. They were glad they weren't opening gifts with the pair. It was such a lovely gesture.
They watched Sans open one to take their mind off it; so far, other than his socks, he'd only received condiments- although he seemed pretty happy with his pile of bottles. This was a pair of pyjamas though; thick and warm, from Papyrus. His genuine appreciation made Frisk feel better- even though they bickered, they loved to see how close the brothers were.

Another one for Frisk while Undyne was pulling some sheets of piano music out of an envelope; it was from Asgore. They pulled the wrapping off.
It was a soft grey teddy bear. They stared at it. They'd had a teddy once; one of the older boys had taken it, laughing, and pulled it apart. They hadn't had one since. Now they did.
They realised their friends were all staring at them, concerned. They tried to blink back the tears swimming in their eyes, but instead they spilled and they brushed them away. "M'okay," they said thickly. "Just, uh, got something in my eye."
"What've you got in your eye, kiddo?"
Frisk laughed. "Tears!"
Their laughter seemed to put the rest of the group at ease, and things resumed. There wasn't many presents left; Papyrus gave Frisk- still holding their bear- a painful hug when he unwrapped his rubik's cube; Alphys gave Frisk a couple of new games, and beamed when she received her Mew Mew Kissy Cutie poster in return.

There were only a few presents left when Sans handed Frisk one from him. It was large and heavy, and felt like a box; and they handed him their teddy to hold while they opened it. It was wrapped in plain, shiny red paper and far more tape than it needed; Frisk struggled, trying to peel it open, while Sans watched, amused, and the others were gathered around Toriel.
"Guess you're gonna have to tear it open, kid." So far Frisk had been folding the paper from their gifts and putting it in their bag carefully. He'd done this on purpose. Frisk glared at him and he chuckled.
Finally, with the others starting to take notice, Frisk tried to tear at it instead, finally putting it down and managing to get into the corner. They ripped it from there, pulling the paper back.

It was a box of practical jokes. Frisk stared, confused. It had pictures of whoopie cushions, fake spiders and the like on the front.
They looked up at him. This was the present from their closest friend? They'd never been into practical jokes- although some of Sans' more absurd actions had amused them, the whoopie cushions and his "special telescope" had mostly just left them bemused. Were their feelings of friendship that one-sided? Did he not see them for who they were after all?
Sans could clearly see they were upset. "Look inside the box, kiddo."

They pulled the lid off, glad for an excuse to look down, away from everyone. They paused. Then they started to laugh; a real laugh, tears squeezing from their eyes.
The box itself was a practical joke. Inside was a sketchbook; bigger than their others, covered in embroidered fabric. They lifted the cover; the paper inside was thick and good quality, perfect for pencils or paint. They let the pages fall and saw, on the front page, Sans' scrawl.

for my good friend frisk. hope you find as much inspiration as you give me.

Frisk let the book close, jumped up and grabbed the skeleton in a big hug, tears spilling out free and fast. He wrapped one arm around them.
"Urk- easy kiddo. Hey." He spoke quietly into Frisk's ear; the others were all watching, but the noise of all the other monsters stopped his words from being audible to anyone else. "I knew you weren't looking forward to this. I just wanted to remind you- you got a lot to be happy about here, Frisk."
They pulled back, snuffling and beaming. He had a blue tinge on his cheeks, and looked faintly embarrassed at Frisk's very public display of affection. They realised he was blushing.
"Thank you. And, um. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." They took the teddy back from him and hugged that instead. The others, they noticed, were pointedly digging out the rest of the presents, giving Frisk space- their friends all knew they didn't like too much attention, especially when they were upset.

Nobody mentioned it while they were opening the rest of the presents. Papyrus got a stack of puzzle books; Alphys had amassed a collection of DVDs and games; Toriel had books and some baking supplies- including a couple of novelty pie tins. Sans got the last gift; he gave Frisk a funny look.
"Two, huh? Is this attempted bribery? 'Cause you're not having my pie later."
"The socks were... just 'cause I thought it was funny."
"Alright." Sans opened it without ceremony. Inside was a new hoodie- thick and soft, a deep blue scattered with tiny silver-grey stars. It had reminded Frisk of the night sky, and Sans' love of quietly watching it. There was a moment where he didn't say anything; holding it up, his smile was faded, his eyes no longer bright. Then he turned a full grin on Frisk.

"Hey, kid, that's- man, I think you even got the size right. Wow. Almost worth giving up my pie." He quickly shrugged out of his old hoodie and piled it on the human's head. They smiled and wrapped it around themself while he pulled his new one on.
"Yeah, look at that- that's- wow. Frisk. Thanks." He didn't seem to know what else to say. Frisk returned his grin and put his old one on properly over their coat. He chuckled.
"Uh huh. It was all so you could steal that one, huh?"
"Oh yes. That was the purpose of all of this," they said, deadpan. "That's why I came down into the Underground. To get your hoodie."
Everyone laughed. "Man, if I thought that was all it would take I woulda started stealing his tops ages ago," Undyne remarked.
"Nah, that wouldn't have worked. I had to wear it to lure in a human."
"Would that have helped me capture a human?" Papyrus pondered.

They were interrupted by a cough behind them. Toriel was suddenly very busy with packing everyone's presents. Frisk turned to see Asgore.
"I just- oh!" His eyes saw that Frisk was holding the teddy and he seemed to forget what he had been saying. Then he smiled. "I wanted to wish you all a happy winter holiday!"
"Aww, Asgore, thanks for the mugs," Undyne said. Asgore chuckled.
"Well, thank you for the teapot," he said. "And Alphys, thank you for the tea. And- Frisk..."
For a moment he seemed awkward; then Frisk stepped towards him, one arm out, the other still holding their bear to their chest. He smiled and bent, giving them a tight hug.
"Thank you for the flower bulbs," he said. "I know just where to plant them. Do you like-"
"Yes!" Frisk hugged him tighter around the neck. "I- thank you. I really, really do."
"Gosh- Frisk- I'm so glad. I thought- with your nightmares- well, maybe having it there would help."

Frisk pulled back and hastily wiped their eyes before everyone else saw. Asgore's eyes were damp too; he squeezed Frisk's shoulders gently. "Would you like to come over for tea tomorrow? Your friends can come, if they don't have other things to do."
Frisk nodded eagerly.
"Jolly good. Well." He stood up. "I'll let you all get back to it." He beamed at them all before leaving.

This chapter- and partly the last- are perhaps the most personal to me, and the ones where more of myself creeps into Frisk. I have a similar aversion to Christmas; I didn't want to focus too much on how negatively they feel about the time of year but I hope it came through okay. I think I managed to get the joy to shine through!

It was hard to actually think of gifts for and from each character- I didn't want anything "filler" or impersonal, with the exception of Sans' pile of condiments. I feel like most characters probably don't see beyond the surface personality that he projects, which of course makes it harder for them to see what he'd really like. I'm a little bothered that I didn't spend time really showing his love of the stars and sharing that with Frisk- perhaps that's something to cover in later chapters.

-Ren