Archive of Our Own ^beta

It had been a long day. Edge had spent almost the entirety of it running between sentry stations in Snowdin, making sure no alerts needed raised.

It was Gyftmas time, which had always spelled trouble for other districts in the Underground. The number of times the holiday had ended in fire or deep debt was the majority. All of them, if Edge counted others’ experience along with his own.

So far, Gyftmas Eve had been uneventful. He was learning that was rather typical for Snowdin. Perhaps because of the lack of powerful social figures in the air, maybe because of the widespread poverty and lack of a wealthy class in the area. No matter what the reason, the holiday was typically quiet.

Unsettlingly quiet.

When Red had returned from sentry duty that night, he delivered the same message. Nothing had happened.

Edge sighed softly, sinking into his seat. “You would think I’d be used to it, by now.”

“used to what?” Red asked. “that the people here ain’t as nasty as the ones in new home?”

“Or even Hotland.” Edge added.

They both shivered at the subtle reminder of their Gyftmases in Hotland.

“oh, by the way.” Red sat on the other side of the couch. “sans and pap asked about gyftmas today.”

Edge inwardly winced. “What did you tell them?”

“not as much as I could have.” Red admitted. “just… you know. there’s a tree. and a gyftrot. and I added that we don’t make a big deal out of it because it’s never held that great of a meaning to us, but if they wanted to do anything, they could tell us.”

That last part surprised Edge. “What would they want to do?”

Red shrugged, clearly uncertain. “just didn’t want ‘em to think they couldn’t ask for something just because I said we don’t like the day.”

That was a reasonable precaution, Edge figured. He wasn’t sure what they’d heard about the history of the holiday, or even if Gaster had exposed them to something before they’d arrived.

“it’s getting kinda late.”

Edge didn’t have to look at a clock to know Red was right. “I know.”

“and you’ve gotta be up in the morning for patrol.”

“I know.”

There was a pause. “are you gonna go to bed or just sit here and think about it?”

“I wasn’t thinking about it.” Edge told him.

“you should be.” Red countered.

“You’re such a mother hen.” Edge complained, groaning as he pushed himself to standing.

“if I had a dry quart for every time you said something like that, I’d have a dozen pecks at least.”

Edge stopped to turn back, just to point his look of exasperated disappointment at his brother directly. “That was ridiculous.”

Red shrugged. “can’t all be prize chickens, ya know?”

“Oh my god.” Edge started walking again.

Red was chuckling at his reaction when a text notification pinged on his phone. He grabbed it from where he’d placed it on the armrest of the couch to look at it. “hey, boss.”

Edge stopped, halfway to the stairs. “Yes?”

Red was still looking at the text on his phone. “doggo texted me. he said he’s outside.”

Edge changed direction immediately and headed toward the door. “Now?”

Red nodded, standing to follow.

Edge opened the door. It wasn’t only Doggo outside. There, on the stoop with him, was also Lesser Dog. They both looked relaxed, not like it was an emergency. “Hey.” Doggo greeted casually.

“Is something the matter?” Edge asked.

Doggo shrugged, hands stuffed in his pockets. “Nah. Just wanted to show ya something.”

Edge couldn’t help his skepticism. “Show us something?”

Doggo tipped his head to indicate the interior of the house. “Wake your pups?”

Edge narrowed his sockets.

Doggo rolled his eyes. “D’you really think we’d do something to endanger you or your collared? This is something we can’t tell you about – you gotta see it. And we think the pups’ll enjoy it.”

“We?” Edge noted the plural, glancing at Lesser.

“The Dogi, us, Greater – there’s a bunch of us.” Doggo confessed. “And we wanna show you something.”

That sounded like more than Edge had the ability to decipher. He looked over his shoulder toward Red.

Red looked confused, but not nervous. He was clearly not getting anything bad from them. “it’s not gonna be dangerous, but sans and pap are s’posed to come with?”

Doggo nodded.

Red met Edge’s eyelights. Shrugged.

Edge had to admit that his curiosity was strong with this. What could they possibly go out of their way to show them without talking about it? And why should the boys come along? “Grab their things; I’ll go wake them.”

Red nodded, taking his lead.

Edge signaled for the dogs to wait before closing the door and heading up the stairs. He slowly entered the dark room of the kids, knocking gently on the doorframe, just in case they were still awake.

Neither of them moved.

Edge smiled softly, a fond feeling blossoming in his soul. He moved to Sans’s bed and gently rubbed his arm. “Sans?”

He flinched slightly before waking entirely, blinking his sockets open lazily. “wha’ time’s it?”

“Nearly midnight, but it’s not an emergency.” Edge assured him. “I’m going to wake Papyrus next.”

Sans nodded, stretching slightly as he sat up, rubbing his sockets.

Edge moved to Papyrus’s bed and rubbed his arm as well. “Papyrus? Papyrus, wake up.”

He hummed a little before stretching out with a deep breath. “What’s happening?” He asked, words muddled by his slow arrival to consciousness.

“I’m not sure yet, but nothing bad.” Edge assured him. “Doggo is here to visit.”

At that, Papyrus blinked his sockets open with little effort. “Doggo?”

Edge nodded.

“what’s he doin’ here?” Sans asked, sounding skeptical.

“He said there was something he wanted to show you. So we’re all going with him.”

Sans frowned, uncertain.

Papyrus beamed. “Oh, how mysterious!” He scrambled to find the exit to his blankets before sliding out to stand on the floor. He shivered.

Edge was rarely in the room as the boys woke up, as he was typically gone in the morning. It was the first time Edge was noticing Sans moving strangely slow. Sluggish. “Are you all right?”

Sans didn’t even look at him as he answered, steadying himself on his feet. “yup.”

Edge really wished he could tell if Sans were lying. “Are you sure?”

Sans nodded mutely, shuffling toward the door.

Papyrus took Sans’s hand but didn’t pull him. Just accompanying. “What do you think it is?” He asked in a loud whisper.

“I dunno.” Sans responded at his normal volume.

Edge followed them down the stairs, and Red – already wearing his own leather jacket over his fur-lined sweater – handed the kids their coats and dropped Papyrus’s hat on his head.

After Red passed off all of the important pieces of outerwear, Edge stepped close to him, leaning to speak as softly as possible and be heard even as he put on his own jacket. “Is Sans all right?”

Red paused and watched as the kids donned their winter gear. “yeah.” Red sounded sad but not unconfident. That didn’t settle well with Edge, and Red seemed to notice. “you see he’s moving slow?”

Edge nodded.

“told me last week he’s been more tired lately.” Red said. “so I told him to take his time when he wakes up.”

That made sense. The last thing Sans needed was to be pushing himself too hard. Edge worried the stress of everything was getting to him.

“Ready!” Papyrus declared, patting mittened hands against the bulk of his coat and doing a small hop toward the front door.

The sight was normal and soft enough to ease Edge’s worry into something muffled in the background. “How about you, Sans?”

Sans gave Edge two thumbs-up, also walking toward the door.

Papyrus reached over as Sans stepped closer and pulled Sans’s hat down further to cover his acoustic meatus with a pointed look. “You’re a hippo.”

Edge’s entire train of thought stalled at the statement.

Red snorted. “what did you say?”

Sans sighed softly, pushing down his amusement. “the whole word is hypocrite.”

“You shorten every other word you can, but you have a problem with this one?” Papyrus objected.

“that’s ‘cause a hippo’s an animal.” Sans told him. “remember? big thing with super big teeth and mostly eats a lotta plants.”

Papyrus beamed. “That’s when we learned semi-aquatic!”

Sans nodded.

Hypocrite. Because Sans was going to walk outside without having his hat on properly, but he no doubt corrected Papyrus’s own hat often. Edge shook his head fondly as he opened the door.

Doggo and Lesser were still standing on the porch, clearly unbothered by the cold. “Ya ready?” Doggo asked.

“sure.” Red led the way outside, the boys directly behind him, with Edge closing the door behind them. “where are we headed?”

Doggo smirked. Traded a look with Lesser Dog. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

“ah.” Sans said, giving the dog monster a dry look. “thanks for the insight.”

Edge was careful not to let himself laugh at the look of surprise on Doggo’s face. Sans was a lot more sarcastic when he wasn’t focused on completing tasks like he was while apprenticing. His wit caught everyone by surprise on occasion. “Lead the way.” Edge requested.

Doggo nodded and started walking, Lesser Dog actually racing ahead as if to scout for them. That caused Edge to pause. Was there the potential of something they would need warning of? Or was Lesser warning someone else of them?

The walk was in silence, mostly. No one spoke, but Papyrus hummed sporadically. Edge still wondered if he even realized he was doing it. Ever since they got the radio pieced together properly, Papyrus had been listening to the music broadcasts constantly.

They moved out of Snowdin town and into the forest around it. Deep into the wood, splitting away from trails the further they went. Edge kept an eye on all of the skeletons with him, ensuring they were staying warm still. It seemed, so far, they were doing fine.

And then he saw what Doggo must have been talking about. In the distance, cut into ribbons by the numerous trees between them and their destination, was light. A glowing, warm light.

Papyrus took Edge’s hand.

Edge glanced down at the child with no small amount of surprise. He was already holding Sans’s hand – why would he want to hold Edge’s too?

Papyrus said nothing about it, though. Instead, he looked up and met Edge’s eyelights before grinning brightly and looking back at the path ahead of them being set by Doggo.

Edge could tell by the sound in the still air that there were quite a few people ahead. Back in a corner of the woods patrols rarely passed through. Every system had holes in it, especially if you didn’t have enough hands to close them, but it made Edge inwardly cringe at his misstep. He had no idea what was even over here, other than a natural clearing and a row of pine trees.

And then they stepped through into that clearing Edge had remembered.

There were people everywhere. Dog monsters of several color patterns, all turning at once to look at them.

Edge noticed Red stiffen on the other side of Sans, no doubt apprehensive about the numbers. Edge concurred; if this was an ambush, it would get messy.

“Hello!” Papyrus greeted cheerily.

There were scattered chuckles throughout the space, some shuffling.

Doggo pointed off into the crowd. “Over that way’s a fire pit.”

The dogs split so they had a clear line of sight to a softly burning flame; the main source of light. Well maintained and warm, going by the color.

“And all the logs and stumps you see lying around are out for sitting on, so make yourselves comfortable.”

“What is all of this?” Edge asked, uncertain in the strangely warm atmosphere.

Doggo grinned. “Gyftmas.”

Edge stared, uncomprehending.

Papyrus tugged on Edge’s hand, gaining his attention, but he was only waving his arms excitedly. Sans and Edge were just along for the ride. “WONDERFUL!”

Edge looked to Red, worried. Could they trust this? It felt soft. Warm. Nice. And Edge wasn’t sure he was getting the right feeling from it.

But Red seemed to relax the more he looked around. “we… didn’t bring anything.”

“Of course you did!” Dogaressa leaned out from around someone who looked a lot like her. “You brought you! And pups.”

Edge noticed the tail wagging that followed the statement with amusement.

“Go ahead and warm up by the fire.” Doggo said, gesturing to the flame. “We can do the rest after you’ve settled a bit.”

“The rest?” Edge inquired.

“COME ON!” Papyrus raced forward, dragging Edge and Sans with him.

Sans laughed, like he was delighted – certainly not a sound Edge heard often and he was entranced by it, even so small and short-lived as it was.

Papyrus released them when he was by the fire, hopping around in a little circle as he watched it burn. Extended his hands toward it as if to warm them.

Sans looked around at the monsters around them before slowly sliding onto one of the nearby logs. As if he expected someone to stop him.

Papyrus skipped over to him and Sans immediately pulled his brother as close as possible. Skeptical enough to keep close proximity but relaxed enough to make himself comfortable. Edge was surprised, though the presence of so many Sans was used to probably contributed to his trust.

Lesser Dog sat on the same fallen log as Sans, a few feet away. He waved.

Papyrus waved back enthusiastically and started talking about a recent recipe they’d tried the week prior. Lesser listened intently, tongue hanging out as Papyrus rambled.

Red stopped next to Edge, looking around. “this feels…”

Edge waited, wondering if maybe Red would say something that confirmed his own worries about the whole scenario.

“genuine.”

That was surprising for reasons Edge couldn’t explain. He looked to his brother.

Red was facing the fire, but Edge noticed his eyelights bouncing around the area like he was watching everything at once. “they’re not hiding anything. nothing malicious, at least.”

“Of course not!”

They both looked down at Papyrus, who had stopped talking to Lesser and was staring back at them with a curious expression. “They’ve always brought us nice things, and they’ve been nice to us! You trust them a lot, and they’ve helped you. Why would they do something mean now?”

Those were some valid points, Edge decided hesitantly.

Papyrus made a face. “You always seem very sure of the facts, but you’re just as nervous about all of this as me and Sans.”

Red snorted.

Edge blinked, surprised. “Well… yes, I suppose I am.”

“Weird.” Papyrus decided. “They’re your friends. You’ve known them longer than us.”

Friends.

Edge glanced at Lesser Dog, who was sitting by and listening casually to the exchange.

The dog monster had a happy glitter in his eyes as he barked. A confirmation, Edge recognized.

After a few more moments of quiet, the gentle sound of chatter echoing around them, there was a howl. Soft – coming from a distance – and not a warning call of any kind. It sounded as if it were to notify of a change in position.

Lesser howled back, causing Papyrus and Sans both to flinch at the sound due to its suddenness and proximity.

“They are almost here.”

Edge looked over his shoulder to Dogamy. “Who is?”

Dogamy smiled. “Rabbits.”

What?

Edge looked to Red, confused. This didn’t feel like a setup, but the rabbits were a surprise. Most of them were part of the organized crime that used to run Snowdin before Edge had become Lieutenant and moved there. And because of that, they didn’t get along that well with the Guard outside of legitimate business transactions, and the Guard was mostly made up of dog monsters in this district.

Red shrugged, as lost as Edge was, and stayed close by. Just in case they needed a quick getaway.

Doggo stepped closer, lighting the dog treat in his mouth. “Relax. We’ve got a sorta truce for the night of Gyftmas Eve. Always have.”

Edge lifted his browbones. “With the rabbit gang?”

“Yup.” Doggo’s grin was crooked with the treat in the way. “We’re not here to arrest or hurt any of them, and they’re not here to hurt any of us.”

“Why are we here, then?” Edge asked, referring to them all as a collective.

Doggo pointed out toward the other side of the clearing. “There’s a couple of trees over there. Been growing for a while.”

Edge nodded, noticing what he was pointing at but uncertain of its significance.

Doggo stuffed his hands in his pockets. “They’re… important. It’s easier to explain when you watch, so you know what all the pieces are, so do you mind if we wait?”

Edge stared at him.

Doggo stared back. An open book.

“Nope!” Papyrus decided to answer for them. “We can wait!”

Doggo chuckled. “Good.”

“I didn’t realize this Gyftmas thing was so mysterious.” Papyrus observed.

Edge hesitated. “It’s only that there is no universal celebration of the holiday.”

Papyrus frowned thoughtfully. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Not when he says it like that.” Doggo put in, moving to sit on the other side of Lesser. “Everyone celebrates everything different. But what he’s actually talking about is the nastiness that happens in the richer districts, right?”

When Doggo looked to him at the question, Edge nodded. “It’s a holiday for the rich in New Home and Hotland – mostly used to take advantage of the labor of those in poverty for the sake of a power play. None of the original traditions are upheld because of the decree made by the king about generosity.”

“Except…” Doggo smirked, leaning forward and lowering his voice as if he were telling them a secret. “For those far away from the capital. In Snowdin, monsters gather in secret on Gyftmas Eve. To honor that ancient tradition passed down through the generations.”

Papyrus’s sockets were wide, eyelights sparkling. “Wowie.”

And it was only then that Edge finally connected all of the pieces. They weren’t here in any official capacity, which he’d suspected because of the requested presence of the boys. They weren’t invited along for the sake of something nefarious that they just hadn’t put together yet.

They were celebrating Gyftmas in a way Edge had never heard of before.

Red was looking at Doggo with restrained curiosity. “ancient tradition, huh?”

“Yeah.” Doggo puffed a cloud of smoke. “That’s the part that’s hard to explain without visual aid.”

A few barks were heard then, drawing their attention. Edge turned away from the fire, using its casting light to see out into the clearing. There were a few rabbit ears poking above the heads of dog monsters, joining the group. The sound of friendly greetings and even laughter was heard among them.

Edge knew that in the last few years the rabbits had grown into being beneficial additions to Snowdin’s residents, but he hadn’t realized they would get along so well when put in the same place.

“a truce.” Red muttered. He seemed just as surprised as Edge felt.

“Don’t worry,” Doggo said, standing again. “We’ll be back at each other’s throats in two days. Nothing’s changed.”

“Then why…?” Edge just couldn’t wrap his mind around it.

“Gyftmas.” Doggo said, as if that explained everything, walking back toward the crowd. “You ready to see what all the fuss is about?”

“Oh!” Papyrus stood, climbing over the log instead of bothering to walk around it for the sake of grabbing Edge’s hand again and pulling him along behind Doggo. “He’s excited – I would love to know why he’s excited.”

Edge would, too, so he followed willingly.

Doggo led them through the gathered people to stand by the opposite end of the clearing – where the row of pine trees stood, Edge realized.

An old dog monster stood near one of the trees. He was shaking from more than cold – no doubt it was simply age that unsteadied his hands as he reached down into a box near his feet. Slowly, with all of the patience of someone who had all of the time in the world, he stood with several stones and a pile of strings stacked in his hands.

The group around them went silent.

With shuffling, hobbling steps, the dog monster approached the nearest pine tree. Then, carefully, he lifted one of the things from the pile in his fingers.

The stone hung from a loop of string like a pendant.

And that was no regular stone.

There was very little light in the area, due to its seclusion in the forest, but the fire’s light caught it and it glittered brightly, as if amplified.

A crystal from Waterfall. A symbol of the stars.

“Each crystal he’s got represents someone in his family.” Doggo explained softly to them. “He’ll hang them all, and then we’ll take turns and hang ours.”

Edge frowned thoughtfully. “Yours? What if you’re his family?”

“Oh, whoever’s here gets to hang their own.” Doggo assured him. “But someone from each family gets to put up the crystals that used to belong to the rest. Family that’s already died or can’t be here this year.”

As Edge watched the old dog add another to the tree, and another, he realized the stack in his hands felt much larger than it had before when they’d been simply stones. Each crystal represented a life.

“But…” Papyrus sounded sad, which drew Edge’s attention. He was frowning. “We didn’t bring crystals.”

“Oh, right.” Doggo fumbled around in his inventory. Out came a beautiful crystal, a deep purple in shade. “Here ya go, puppy.”

Papyrus took it by the brand-new string it hung from, eyelights sparkling as much as the stone in his fingers.

Doggo passed another – a crystalline blue – to Sans.

He took it with a look that bordered on reverence, twisting it in his fingers to see how it caught the limited light.

Another stone – this one a rich magenta, was passed to Red.

And then Edge received one of his own. Green. Bright, vivid emerald. And as he was looking at it, he noticed something interesting; the string on his was worn. A glance at Red’s showed his own was, too. A contrast to the fresh ones on the kids’. “How long have you had these.”

Doggo hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck like he’d been caught in the middle of something embarrassing. “Well… I’ve only had ‘em for about a week. Before this year, Dogaressa would hang up yours.”

Edge stared, entirely uncomprehending. “But… you said these were for family.”

Doggo smirked. “Ressa’s got a lot to hang up, usually. Ya see… her family does friends, too.”

“Neat!” Papyrus decided.

“why?” Sans asked.

Doggo shrugged. “She told me, once, that it’s because they wanna include friends in what hanging the crystals stands for.”

“what’s it stand for?” Red wanted to know.

Doggo cleared his throat. “Good wishes.”

Sans frowned deeply. “good wishes?”

“Yeah.” Doggo seemed uncertain of how to explain properly. “You know – safety and health. Happiness. Peace or prosperity. When ya hang up a crystal, you’re s’posed to make a wish about it.”

“GREAT!” Papyrus beamed. “I’m going to make a bunch of wishes! Should I have more crystals?”

A couple of monsters standing around them laughed quietly.

Doggo was chuckling. “Nah, the one you got’s enough.”

“Splendid!” Papyrus said with a nod. “When is it our turn?”

Edge looked back toward the tree. The old dog monster was finished hanging his last crystal, stepping back from his work.

A few rabbit monsters stepped forward, then, and began to hang crystals of their own on the same tree.

“we just gotta wait, pap.” Sans told him softly.

“Okay, I’m good at that.” Papyrus responded.

Red was looking intently at his crystal, lost in thought. Edge didn’t want to interrupt him, but he did wonder what it was Red was thinking.

Eventually, most of the monsters present had hung up their crystal ornaments, and there was a reasonable gap for them to step in. Doggo led the way. He hung four crystals.

Edge didn’t recall Doggo having a family. It must have been before they arrived.

The thought made Edge sad.

Papyrus stood on his toes to hang his crystal as high as he was able, seemingly unsatisfied with the height he was getting.

“Would you like help?” Edge asked.

Papyrus nodded.

Edge tucked his crystal into his pocket and lifted Papyrus from beneath his arms, so he could reach higher in the branches. Papyrus giggled as he accomplished his mission and Edge set him down again.

Sans was smiling at them, pushing his hands into his own pockets. Edge saw his crystal sitting in a branch near his elbow.

Red placed his and Edge found a space somewhere for his own.

By the time everyone had hung their crystal, two trees were full of them, sparkling gently in the scattered, flickering light of the one campfire.

“They look lovely.” Papyrus observed.

Doggo nodded, looking slightly sadder than before. “They’ll look even prettier in a bit.”

“Why?”

“Because next, we light candles.” Doggo said. “For anyone we’ve lost since last Gyftmas.”

Edge watched a pair of rabbit monsters carry a wooden crate out into the area around the decorated trees. They set it in the snow and one removed a candlestick from inside. The other struck a match. Together, the candle was lit and placed beneath the tree.

More people stepped forward, grabbing candles and using matches. When they all stepped away, both trees sparkled brightly from the light refracted through the crystals hanging within the boughs.

“wow.” Sans whispered in awe.

Edge concurred.

Papyrus sniffled. “That’s a lot of candles.”

Red settled a comforting hand on the kid’s shoulder. “yeah, it is.”

A pair of white dog monsters were weaving through the crowd, stepping out near them.

Papyrus smiled even in his gathering tears. “Dogi!”

“Hello, puppy!” Dogamy greeted, hugging Papyrus.

Dogaressa smiled at the exchange before looking to Red and then Edge. She tipped her head. “Lieutenant.”

“Dogaressa.” He greeted in return.

She smiled at him. At Red. Then at Sans. “Merry Gyftmas.”

Sans was looking at her curiously.

Papyrus was hopping on his toes. “Yes, I think it might be!”

A few minutes later found them once again by the fire, this time with glittering trees opposite of them in the clearing. The Dogi had followed them to the flames, sitting around as if to warm themselves as well.

Edge looked to Dogaressa. “Doggo told us. That you used to hang crystals for us.”

Dogaressa stilled where she was rubbing her hands together to look at Edge with a hesitancy bread in uncertainty. She didn’t know how Edge would react.

But the crystals you hung for others were supposed to hold good wishes.

“Thank you.” Edge said finally.

Dogaressa’s smile was back. “Good wishes, always.”

For what might have been the first time in a long time, Edge heard her words and didn’t doubt them for eve a second. No second thoughts. No searching for potential falsehood. She spoke, and he believed her.

Doggo sat across from them on the other side of the fire’s pit, lighting up another dog treat. Then he cleared his throat. “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?” He sung softly, staring into the flames. “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?”

“For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne.” Someone else sang – a rabbit monster with a gentle voice. “We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”

Edge looked around as nearly everyone began to join in, singing a song like a whispered prayer.

“We two have run about the hills, and picked the daisies fine. But we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.” They sang. “For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne. We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”

Red seemed just as awed and surprised by the display, observing the monster singing in harmony.

“We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun ‘til dine. But seas between us broad have roared, since auld lang syne.”

When they sang the chorus again, Edge was drawn by a new voice. “for auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne.” Young. Barely audible in the mix of the rest, but he turned to find Papyrus staring at his brother, entranced as Sans sang. “we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”

The brothers smiled at each other, enjoying the moment.

Edge looked to Red. Red looked back. The moment of unity - in voices and in heart - made the cold of snow a distant feeling. Everyone singing together, making something beautiful. A moment of peace in a place they’d grown to know as hostile between people they’d thought were enemies.

That warmth stuck with them. Blanketed them as everyone began to head back to their homes.

The trees still sparkled with the crystals. Dogaressa told them the ornaments would stay for a few days, until the candles burned out completely, and then they would come back and be sure to grab them.

“How will we know which is ours?” Papyrus asked.

Dogaressa smiled softly. “They are all made special.”

Edge tipped his head, curious enough to want to ask further questions. But his attention was drawn by a wide yawn from Papyrus that ended with him clicking his teeth together.

They’d been out for hours, Edge realized. Sans and Papyrus both looked tired.

“Be safe getting home.” Dogamy requested, taking Dogaressa’s hand.

Red nodded. “you guys, too.”

“Are we leaving?” Papyrus asked.

“Yes, that seems for the best.” Edge told him.

“thanks for inviting us.” Red told the dogs.

Doggo waved a hand, dismissively. “We shoulda invited you last year. We just didn’t have the guts.”

“Why did you this time?” Edge asked.

All eyes turned to the two skeleton children.

“We wanted them to know.” Dogaressa answered then. “To learn.”

Sans took Papyrus’s hand.

“Well. G’night, fellas.” Doggo said with a wave, turning to leave. “See some of ya tomorrow.”

“Goodnight.” Edge returned, still trying to process all he’d learned. All he’d seen.

“I can take us back through a shortcut.” Red offered.

Edge nodded. That sounded like the easiest way.

Papyrus waved his free hand with much enthusiasm, leaning to see as many people as possible. “MERRY GYFTMAS, EVERYONE!”

Several people waved back, all with smiling faces.

Once Red had them all in his reach, they were in the living room.

Papyrus yawned widely again. “That was beautiful.”

“Yes.” Edge agreed easily. “It was.”

“I didn’t know gyftmas was that nice.” Sans confessed.

“we didn’t, either.” Red concurred.

They all stood in silence for a brief moment.

“I am tired.” Papyrus announced. “Happy merry Gyftmas, but I think I might go to bed now. Again.”

Edge shook his head, amused. “Sleep well, Papyrus.”

“You too, Mr. Brother.”

He chuckled and looked to Sans. “How about you?”

“I think I’m going, too.” Sans decided, following his younger brother up the stairs. “see you in the morning.”

Once they’d made it to their room, Edge looked to Red.

Red was staring off at the wall, distracted. “that was…”

“Yes.” Edge wasn’t totally sure how to describe it himself.

Red seemed confused. “it… they were all nice. and it was peaceful. and actually kinda sweet, if sad there for a bit.”

Edge nodded.

Red gave Edge a devastated look, eyelights sharp in a way that suggested it wasn’t only his own thoughts leading his words. “but they’re just gonna be against each other again. we’ve seen the evidence every year before now.”

“Yes.” There was no avoiding that – even Doggo had said so himself. “I wish that were not the case, but…”

“yeah.” Red said with a nod.

They both knew it was an impossible wish.

“we’ll take a cup of kindness.” Red muttered.

Edge recognized it as some of the lyrics in the song Doggo had begun to sing. “We did.”

“what?”

“We took a cup of kindness.” Edge elaborated. “I think that cup of kindness was the best Gyftmas present I’ve ever received.”

Red snorted. “yeah. beats donuts.”

“Stars, yes.” Edge concurred, amused in spite of the previous trauma around the words. “Especially since the donuts still cost what they normally did. So it wasn’t much of a gift.”

“this was cool, though.” Red decided.

“Very cool.” Edge agreed.

There was a pause between them.

“I kinda wanna pay it back anyway.” Red admitted.

Edge felt the same. “We don’t have much.”

Red shrugged. “we have the ingredients for anything they might like?”

Edge grinned. That was something he could do. Something easy. And it was something the boys would enjoy, if nothing else. “Cookies.”

Red grinned back. “sounds perfect.”

The next morning, Edge left for patrol and his normal duties. When he returned to the house, Red had gathered the ingredients for their gift, and all four of them spent the evening baking.

Everyone who received cookies the next day were delighted to have them.