The 24th was always tree day. Roman and Dee would bring up the fake tree so Logan and Virgil could put it together. It was like a puzzle that only the two of them could figure out. In the meantime Patton would make hot chocolate for everyone. Then they would all help decorate the tree and it would stay that way until the 1st. This year Remus was put on hot chocolate duty with Patton.
"See the trick is to use milk and real chocolate."
"So that's how you make it so good. Every year Roman cannot stop talking about it."
"So I guess you've kept up with everyone pretty well…"
"Oh. Yeah, I guess."
Remus suddenly felt a bit guilty. He had purposely avoided keeping contact with Patton while he sorted everything out, and he honestly didn't think Patton would mind. But of course he would. He was the only one left out. Even if he only noticed now that they were back together, that frown was killing him.
Patton himself felt a bit guilty. He hadn't made as much of an effort as he should have. Of course he could have just asked the others how Remus was doing or if they had an address or number. He hadn't expected Remus to change so much, though now that he thought about it, the only difference was a lack of outbursts.
"Not much happened anyway. I can show you the pictures later if you want."
"Sure! That'd be great! Now Roman likes his with cinnamon and whipped cream, Virgil likes the tiny marshmallows, Logan likes it extra chocolatey, and Dee likes it plain. What about you?"
"I usually put cayenne and nutmeg in mine."
"Oooo. Spicy. I think I'll try that too."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
After the drinks were all made up they brought them out to the others where Logan and Virgil were putting the last pieces of the tree together.
"Ok! First things first, lights." Patton was nearly vibrating with excitement.
Roman being the tallest started the top with help from Remus.
"You would have loved the light shows in Santa Fe. It was ten times better than when we used to drive around the neighborhood." Remus mentioned.
"Even better than the Johnsons?" Roman asked.
"Way better. Some people even lit up their cactuses."
"That is so cool. Virgil we need to get a cactus!"
"Why do we need a cactus?"
"To be cooler than our neighbors."
"Well at least your not asking for an alligator moat again."
"I still think that would be cool."
"But then I wouldn't be able to come visit, the alligators would eat me on sight seeing as I'm such a snacc." Remus smirked.
"Ugh! And I can't even say you're not because we have the same face." Roman pouted.
"Except I have this really cool mustache."
"... Sure."
"Oh come on, everyone loves it!"
"My boyfriend and I intend to stay neutral parties. Also I can't believe you haven't shaved that thing off." Dee smirked from his seat in Logan's lap before sipping his hot cocoa.
"Well what about you, Patton?"
Shoot. What was he going to say? It honestly suited him. It would probably tickle being kissed though… wait, what? Not him of course. Just in general. Yeah. In general.
"It's neat."
"Don't encourage him," Virgil warned.
"Well at least someone appreciates it."
"Hey, it's better than when he had the dad stache." Logan noted.
"True," Dee nodded.
"That's not hard though," Virgil pointed out.
Remus stuck his tongue out at him and Virgil copied him until they both burst out laughing.
"Now that the lights are on, it's time for ornaments!"
That was Patton's favorite part. Each one represented a memory or a story. Roman said he had told Remus to bring some too. Those would be exciting.
"So what's in your box," Patton looked over Remus's shoulder.
"Well this one used to be Bessie. She was really sweet. She used to snuggle up with me until she got too big for me to carry up to the loft. She got sick the last fall I was there, but I got to keep a piece of her… oh… That's weird isn't it?"
"It's kind of sweet-" Patton started.
"In a serial killer kind of way." Virgil gave him a concerned look.
"I didn't clarify she was a cow, did I?"
"You did not." Logan confirmed.
"Umm… anyway, this one is part of an old house I helped tear down. We kept as much of the wood as possible for the new one. Oh! And this one is dried flowers from Oregon when I camped by the river one summer. And this one is a fossil I found in Alaska."
"Wow. You've got some from all over the place." Roman kneeled down to look into the box.
"Yeah. I met a lot of cool people. At least now if I become a wanted criminal I have people to back me up in all 50 states."
"When did you go to Hawaii?" Dee asked.
"It was kind of on accident. A nice lady at the airport decided she didn't want to go and gave me her ticket. That was a couple years ago. I learned how to surf."
"And there of all states you didn't think to send us a postcard?" Logan asked.
"I didn't have any stamps," Remus shrugged. "Anyway, how about we get these up on the tree?"
"This is going to be so fun!" Patton exclaimed as he began putting up his own box.
By the time they had all put up their ornaments, their stomachs began to rumble.
"I'd say it's just about brunch time," Roman said.
"Indeed. Sustenance would be agreeable."
"Ok, Professor." Virgil laughed.
"Be nice or you won't get any," Patton smiled as he skipped to the kitchen.
Tree day was pancake day. Pancakes with chocolate chips and blueberries and cinnamon. As Patton got cooking they all moved to the table to continue chatting. The pancakes were good and they just kept coming. They'd have left overs to heat up for breakfast for a while. After four batches came out Remus walked around the island to see how Patton was doing.
"How's our chef doing."
"Good. How are they?"
"Absolutely perfect, but have you not eaten one yourself."
"Oh, well-"
"Sit down Pat. I can handle flipping these for a bit while you eat."
"That's ok. I can-"
"I know you can, but you don't have to. I can do this for you while you take a break to enjoy at the table with everyone else."
"Well… ok. Thank you." Patton looked up at him with a shy smile.
"No problem." Remus grinned in return.
He did a decent job, though his shapes weren't as fun as Patton's. He just ended up making a bunch of 'rocks'. He wondered if he would be able to make one monster pancake but Patton came back before he could try.
"Done so soon? Did you get enough?"
"Plenty, thanks. I would have chatted a bit longer but they started arguing about the best way to top a pancake."
"Yep. That sounds like them. It's kind of lucky we all only argue about stupid things though."
"That's true. It reminds me of highschool."
"It seems like you really liked your high school experience."
"Well of course I did! That's when I got to know all of you! I knew you and Roman in middle school, but we didn't really start hanging out until highschool."
"Well I'm glad you had a good time."
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Did you like high school?"
"Oh, well, some of it was good. I liked my art classes. Anatomy and physiology was pretty cool too. It was nice that Roman and I weren't in all of the same classes. And hanging out with you guys was fun."
"And the rest?"
"School wasn't really my thing."
"That's too bad. But I'll bet you learned a lot through experience while you travelled."
"Yeah. I learned how to do a lot of things and a lot about things."
"Like knitting?"
"No I knew how to do that before. I picked it up in highschool."
"Wow. That's pretty cool. I guess I'd better get back to these pancakes before Virgil starts a riot." Patton said looking over to the table.
Remus chuckled. "I guess you're right. We definitely wouldn't want a Virgil riot on our hands."
After breakfast, Patton got to baking. He always insisted on making the desserts for Christmas and the others really weren't that good at baking so they let him. Remus had been informed that Patton would likely be busy all day. He, Roman, Logan and Dee sat and played cribbage while chatting and Virgil painted, occasionally joining in their banter. Roman and Remus ended up losing by just a hair.
"So are you going to make Logan and I crowns or do you only do that for Patton?" Dee asked.
"You're already wearing a hat, where are you going to put a crown?"
"On top of my hat."
"... I'm not making you a crown."
"So it is just for Patton."
"No." Remus said just a tad too defensively.
Dee raised an eyebrow, "If you say so. In any case, Logan and I are going to read over his students' papers."
"I suppose we should get that out of the way," Logan agreed.
"Virgil, did you still need a model?" Roman turned to his boyfriend.
"I mean yeah if you wanna."
"Of course! My great form shall be memorialized for future generations to see!"
"Uh, sure."
"Well then I'll get back to writing. This story isn't going to finish itself."
After approximately 20 minutes Remus saw Roman Virgil sneak into the kitchen only to be shooed out moments later with fresh cookies burning their hands and Patton waving a spatula. This happened several more times. Remus found he was too distracted to keep writing so he'd take a break and see how Patton was doing. He walked into the kitchen and-
"Ow!"
"Oh! Sorry! I thought it was Roman or Virgil coming back to steal more cookies."
"Well they are best fresh out of the oven. I just came to see if you needed help or a break. You've been in here a while."
"Well actually, I could use the little boys room. Could you work this into dough for me?"
"Of course. Anything you need."
"Oh! And if Roman or Virgil come in shoo them out as quickly as possible."
"Got it."
Remus worked the dough and luckily didn't have to deal with Virgil or Roman. Patton came back quickly to take over again.
"You can go back to what you were doing now if you want."
"I think I'd rather hang out in here."
"Really? Great! It's too bad it's cloudy today so we won't be able to see the sun set."
"You really like them, huh?"
"It's like a different world up there where nothing else matters and it's just the two of us. It's nice. Plus the sun sets here are so pretty."
"They are," Remus agreed, though he found the man in front of him much prettier.
"Oh! Tomorrow will be our first Christmas with you here! This is so exciting!"
"I'm glad I could make it this year."
"Oh, so he gets to hang out in here?" Virgil suddenly appeared in the doorway.
"He's not eating all of the cookies! Shoo before I tickle you!"
"You wouldn't…"
"We'll see about that."
"Fine. You win this round, but those cookies will be mine." He backed away from the door frame trying and failing to look devious as he bumped into a wall.
Remus chuckled which got a tired smile out of Patton.
"I think you could use a break. A real one."
"I'm ok."
"I can tell you're tired. Sit down and relax. I can handle this for you."
Patton didn't want to admit it was his fitful rest without Remus and not the work that was making him tired so he laid down on the couch. He only intended to stay that way for 10-20 minutes, but when he woke up he smelled something dinner-like cooking in the oven. He sat up straight startling Remus who was sitting at the end of the couch by his feet.
"Woah there, you good?"
"What time is it? How long was I out?"
"Shhh. Relax. The cookies are all done and I had Roman take care of dinner. You've been asleep for a couple hours but I think your body needed it."
"And everything is ok?"
"Yes."
"... Ok. Thanks. I feel bad that you keep doing everything for me."
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's no problem, I promise. I told you I would be honest with you, remember?"
"Yeah but-"
"No buts. I'm telling you I honestly enjoy helping you and would like your permission to continue doing so. You don't have to say yes, of course, but-"
"No buts," Patton broke out a smile. "I give you permission."
"Did you want to look at the pictures I mentioned before dinner?"
"Yeah! You've been to so many cool places. I wanna see."
"I'll go get them. Be right back."
Remus showed an excited Patton pictures from deserts, beaches, lakes, the ocean, forests, rock formations, and snowy mountains. He asked a lot of questions which Remus was more than happy to answer. Dinner finished and they went to eat. Afterwards the others insisted Patton head to bed early. Patton complied but asked Remus if he could borrow the pictures to look at before bed. He thought over the stories in his head and began to feel something he hadn't really felt before. Remus had friends in most of the pictures and Patton wished that it was him there with Remus instead of them. Only because he wanted to travel, of course. He always felt longing when he saw pictures of other places, so that was it. That night he dreamed of travelling the world with Remus as his guide. He slept much better.