A/N: ... *rolls in from the silent abyss and vomits a new chapter with no further explanation* ... enjoy. +_+

M3RRY P3R1G33'S 3V3!

Rose's sleepy, lilac eyes gradually blinked awake in the familiar warmth of her girlfriend's arms. She snuggled a bit closer, wanting for a brief moment to recapture the prior peaceful sleep she'd been enjoying. A glance to the calendar soon rectified this desire, though, as the Seer recalled that the day they'd been waiting all month for was finally upon them. Presents had been carefully lain out by each roommate's preferred celebratory living room ornament the night before, and if her suspicions were right, they were already getting picked through by one nosy Egbert.

Stealing a quick look to Kanaya to make sure she wouldn't disturb her, Rose gently wiggled free of her arms and climbed out of bed. Her light purple, fuzzy slippers were waiting by the door, undoubtedly eager to assist her as she trekked from carpet to wood flooring. Sliding in one foot and then the other, she surveyed the room one final time to confirm that both her girlfriend and Jade were still snoozing peacefully.

Out the door she went, softly closing it behind her, and from there she was quick to the living room. John's appearance underneath the Christmas tree was no great surprise, and the Seer couldn't help but smile as he curiously shook one of the colorfully wrapped boxes.

"It seems a bit early to be fussing with presents, doesn't it?" she teased, taking silent satisfaction in how he jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Jeez Rose! Don't sneak up on me like that," John protested, putting the box he'd been fussing with back down. "I swear, you're quieter than Miracle sometimes..."

"My apologies," the Seer said, taking a seat on the floor beside him. "Any sneaking done on my part was purely unintentional."

"Well, I'll let it go this time... but try to give me a little warning next time."

"Got it."

"So... the others are probably still going to be asleep for a while. It just seems like such a long time to wait for all these awesome presents," John picked up a different box as he spoke, and Rose recognized it as the one that she'd gotten for him. "How about we each open just one present now? You can open the one I got for you, and I'll open the one you got for me!"

Rose sighed, giving a shake of her head; tempting though the offer was, she had a little more patience on the matter of gift giving. However, she could understand the Heir's eagerness to get on with the festivities and it seemed just cruel to insist that he leave the presents alone and suggest no alternative means to occupy his time.

"Hmm... I'm no Jade in the kitchen, but I'm sure I could whip up something for us to snack on if you'd like," she offered instead. "Provided I had some help, of course."

She watched the gears in John's head turn at this proposition, clearly judging the exchange of eating something over fondling his presents. Finally, he seemed to come to a conclusion and he set his present back down.

"Alright, you've got me," he said, standing up and then offering her a hand. "To the kitchen!"

Rose accepted the hand with a slight roll of her eyes. If nothing else, it was pretty easy to derail John with the bribery of something tasty.

Now if she could just keep him eating long enough for the others to wake up, then this Christmas would be off to a lovely start.

Any second now.

Any mirthful, miraculously wicked second.

Gamzee's eyes were locked onto Karkat's recuperacoon, holding an intense sort of focus that betrayed their half lidded haze. The day had finally come; it was Perigee's Eve and his cute little bro was snoozing it all away. Who knew when the other would finally climb out of the slime and greet this joyous of days? The Capricorn would wait as long as it took; every torturous second would be worth the whimsical surprise he had waiting.

Minutes or hours could have passed in the time that Gamzee was sitting in front of that recuperacoon, he honestly couldn't have said. Miracle eventually made her way over to his lap, and he contented himself with petting her fur while he waited. She was just as patient as he was, the troll decided, and soon he was murmuring to her about all that he was looking forward to.

"Check it, dog sis will probably toss up all kinds of sugary dreams for getting our munch on. I bet you'll get something too motherfucker," he went on, scratching behind her ears. "I bet there's all kinds of magical colors getting their sit on up at the living space. Shapes and sizes most beautiful settling all together..."

The sound of one particularly short troll shifting inside of his recuperacoon caught Gamzee's attention once more, and he looked up with that long, stretched smile of his. With a few slow, distinctively awkward movements, Karkat made his way to the opening of his recuperacoon and blinked at the Capricorn as he began to wake up.

"... the fuck? Gamzee, what time is it?" the Cancer grumbled, stretching his arms as he climbed out. "Don't tell me you've been sitting here all fucking night."

"Nah bro, just since the sun got its peak on to our slumber sweet," Gamzee answered, still smiling as Karkat walked past him. "You getting some ablutions going, motherfucker?"

"Mm," was Karkat's response, followed with a quick shut of the trap door.

"I'll get my mirth going out here," the taller troll said, more talking to himself than to the crab in the ablution trap.

Rising from his seated position on the floor, Gamzee stretched out to his full height as he stood. Bones popped with a stiff sort of resistance at first, then settled back into their former silence as the troll took up his usual slouch. Miracle rubbed against the loose fabric of his pants, purring to try and vie for his attention.

"Don't worry fluff puff," the troll said, scooping Miracle off the floor only to deposit her once more on his head. "I haven't forgotten about you... this thing just needs up and doing first. It's all fucking important and shit."

The Capricorn wandered over to their closet, shoving aside several articles of clothing suspended from hangers. Locating the guitar case in the back, he carefully dragged it out. He then propped it against the closet door and spared the briefest of glances to the ablution trap. A goofy, giddy sort of giggle bubbled from deep in his chest; the anticipation of it all was just too much. The steady stream of water from within the trap could still be heard, however, and so Gamzee knew he still had a while to wait.

Opening his guitar case, the Capricorn sat down and checked his strings to make sure they were in tune. Most of the time he couldn't be bothered with such a task. In fact, part of the miracle of making music was that it didn't sound exactly the same each time. Truth be told, though, he was starting to get anxious and needed something to occupy his attention.

Soon enough, that was finished as well and the troll found himself once more with nothing to do. He didn't want to make too much noise, so outright practicing was out of the question. Figuring that he'd be alright with just the frets, he took to quietly rehearsing those instead. Gamzee hummed the tune to himself as he went along, going over the words in his think pan as he had hundreds of times before.

At once then, the taller troll heard the stream of water stop.

Looking up from his guitar, the troll's prior concentration disappeared into anticipation once more as his purple eyes locked on to the trap door. For a solid two minutes, nothing else happened as he continued to wait for his moirail-sprit's appearance. Eventually, the door cracked open and Karkat stepped through it.

"Why are you up so early anyway?" the shorter troll asked, regarding Gamzee and his guitar with a curious, if annoyed expression.

"Uh... well..." the Capricorn said, a strange nervousness now gripping him that hadn't been there just moments ago. "... come here bro, I'll show you."

The Cancer hesitated, now looking less curious and more confused. Gamzee continued to wait, silently hoping that his onset nerves weren't showing through his face. Karkat looked as though he wanted to say something, maybe to inquire about what exactly he would be shown, but he said nothing. Rather, he complied with Gamzee's request and sat across from him on the floor.

"... okay... so what is it?"

The taller troll swallowed up his anxiousness with a soft gulp, and took a steadying breath as his trained fingers began to move along the guitar strings.

"Some might ask about this thing I have

That's got my pumper all up in a kick so lyrical.

But how could they know? It's all you bro.

You know you're my moirail, my matesprit; you're my miracle.

Our red, you see it's kind of like this;

It's all shades of the spectrum, bright and dark and magical.

I've never seen such whimsy, I mean,

You know, you're my moirail, my matesprit; you're my miracle.

Through the sweeps, and all the human years,

I want you to know you're the one that makes me musical.

You make me sing, it's a mirthful thing.

You know, you're my moirail, my matesprit; you're my miracle.

So when I'm asked, about what I have,

That's got my pumper all up in a kick so lyrical.

It's this troll disease; it's all of these

Days that you're my moirail, my matesprit; you're my miracle."

As the troll finished the last bit of his song, his fingers stilled and he watched for Karkat's reaction. Despite himself, he was holding his breath as he tried to read the shorter troll's face. He didn't look irritated or upset... but he wasn't smiling either. The Capricorn could feel that apprehension building in his chest again, and he wondered if Karkat could up an hear his pump biscuit thundering in his chest.

Finally, the Cancer moved and at once he was embracing Gamzee and his guitar in an awkward sort of hug. His arms were tight around the taller troll, and with them Gamzee felt his fears dissipate once more. Slipping the guitar out from in between them, he then wrapped his own arms around Karkat and pulled him closer.

"Merry Perigee's Eve bro," Gamzee murmured, turning his head to kiss Karkat's still damp hair. "Flushed for you."

"F-flushed for you too," Karkat managed through a fairly audible sniffle.

"... aww shit motherfucker," the taller troll cooed. "Is there red dripping from those salty face holes?"

"Shut up," Karkat grumbled, burrowing his face deeper into the crook of Gamzee's neck.

"Heh... it's okay bro, I won't tell."

Terezi sat on her and Dave's bed, holding Pyralspite frowning as she listened to her matesprit silently getting ready. This was all wrong; normally their mornings were filled with jokes and snarky commentary. Instead, there was only this cold, quiet disconnect between them. The blind troll knew that Dave was still upset with her for siding against him, and she wasn't sure how to make things right again.

Maybe an attempted return to normalcy?

"... so... what's eggnog taste like?" she asked, trying to cover up her troubled thoughts with a snicker. "Is it anything like your cool kid apple juice?"

Dave didn't answer right away, and when he did it was little more than a mumbled, "No."

The Libra tucked her legs closer to herself, further disheartened by his half-assed response. How was she supposed to patch things up between them if Dave wasn't willing to even try and fix things? He wasn't exactly an easy one to pin down on serious issues like this either, so she had a feeling that just talking things out wouldn't go very far. The human was too stubborn and angry right now to just push things aside. Terezi decided that anything was better than this silence, though, and so she attempted conversation once more.

"I can't wait until Rose sees what you got her," she said. "I bet she doesn't even remember telling you about that journal!"

This time, Dave didn't say anything and the troll could smell him heading for the door. Terezi's expression fell, and she squeezed Pyralspite a little tighter.

"... Dave, please," she said, tone serious with a hint of desperation. "I'm sorry... can we please talk about this? I don't want to keep fighting... it's Perigee's Eve."

She kept her face down as she spoke, partly from her feelings of guilt and partly because she wasn't sure how long she was going to be able to stave off tears. It was horrible to know that the human she was flushed for was so upset with her, and it hurt in a way that the rare fights between them never had before. She knew that some level of fighting was normal between them, but she didn't want to see this break them up.

The door opened, and the blind troll flinched as she heard it shut.

Reaching a hand up to wipe away the droplets of tears in the corners of her eyes, Terezi hugged Pyralspite close to her. Sighing into her scalemate, the troll set it aside, got out of bed and went over to the closet to find a bathrobe to put on. She wasn't feeling quite up to her original idea of a hideous human Christmas sweater anymore, and her bright red bathrobe was cinched tight around her waist. Her hands wiped at her eyes once more, though she was pretty sure she'd gotten any trace of tears, and then she was heading to the door herself.

Icky fight with Dave or not, it was Perigee's Eve and there was no sense ruining it for her friends.

"Hey Terezi!" John greeted as she made her way over to the kitchen. "You've got to have some of Jade's Christmas cookies. Also they set out the eggnog, didn't you want to try some?"

"Oh... yeah," Terezi said, forcing a smirk at the mention. "Let's see if this egg drink lives up to the hype."

"Okay, well not all of it does," John warned, following her as she went to pour a mugful. "Like, some of it's actually really gross... not this kind though! Jade made it from scratch and I've already had a few glasses. It's pretty delicious."

Taking a long sip from her mug, the troll sniffed out her surroundings over the sweet scent of the eggnog. Rose and Jade were conversing at the bar top, each snacking on what smelled like some sort of crumb cake. Karkat and Gamzee were sitting on the couch, surprisingly close for how private the shorter troll usually was. She couldn't smell Kanaya, and decided that she was probably either still getting ready or in the ablution trap. Dave was leaning against the wall near the Christmas tree, and the troll felt her pump biscuit drop at his offset presence.

"So? How is it?" John asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Huh?" she replied. "Oh! The eggnog. Yeah, it's pretty good... but it could use more red."

"Red? Whoever heard of red eggnog?" the Heir laughed, grabbing another cookie from the counter.

With that, John made his way over to the couch to sit just close enough to get Karkat grumbling. Festive music was playing from their sound system, and the troll took another sip of her eggnog to try and lighten her mood. There were so many colorful presents between the behemoth leaving and the tree, and yet this day wasn't nearly as exciting as the troll had been hoping it would be.

"Alright!" Kanaya's voice came as suddenly as she appeared from what was once her and Terezi's block. "Sorry, I just really needed to freshen up a bit before we began with everything."

"Understandable! It's a little hard to get in the holiday spirit with morning breath," Jade laughed, getting down from the bar top stool to sit around the respective holiday icons.

Rose got out of her seat as well, but reached over to give Terezi's shoulder a comforting squeeze before joining the others. The troll gave an appreciative smile to this small gesture, then followed after her so that they could begin.

"Oh man, I've been waiting for this forever! It's been way too long since Christmas happened," John said excitedly, earning a scowl from Karkat.

"Calm down, you're acting like a wiggler," he growled. "And get off the couch! We were here first."

"What? You guys can't claim the whole couch," John protested. "Besides, there's plenty of room for me. You two are pretty much on top of each other so-"

"We are not!" Karkat yelled, scooting a little further from Gamzee in spite of this. "Just open a stupid present so we can be done with this already."

"Can I?"

The group gave approving nods and shrugs at the eager Heir's request, but all it took was one for John to snatch up the closest present with his name on it. Before he could tear into it, though, Rose spoke up.

"Hold on, we need to have some sort of system for this," she said. "Now you can open that present, but then whoever gave it to you gets to open a present next, okay?"

"Yes! Yes okay already, can I please open it now? Please?"

"Oh Rose, let him open the present already!" Jade giggled.

"Go on, rip apart the flesh of that colorful box," Rose said smoothly, earning a smirk from Kanaya.

They were all so happy... except for Dave who was still silently brooding off to the side.

Terezi smelled the box John was opening carefully, but was unable to identify it as either hers or Dave's. It had Jade's scent on it, though, and as John withdrew a new movie poster and thanked the Witch, the blind troll's guess was confirmed. This now meant that it was Jade's turn, and it didn't take her long either to pick out the present from a particularly short and grouchy troll.

"... aww! Karkat these are adorable! I love them, thank you," Jade beamed as she pulled out a green scarf with black paw prints on them and a green beanie with two ear slits already cut out.

"Yeah yeah..." the troll said, obviously trying not to smile at his success.

Dave shifted against the wall, and Terezi took another sip of her drink to keep from sighing.

Karkat picked out a present from Kanaya, a stylish new outfit, and then Kanaya picked out a present from Gamzee.

"Er... thanks," the rainbow drinker said politely, setting aside the multicolored, sparkling chainsaw blade she'd received.

"Honk!" Gamzee said, picking up a present from Rose. Inside were neon guitar strings, some new face paint and a spectrum of colored bike horns.

Terezi couldn't help but smile at how excited Gamzee got over these simple things... and how equally annoyed his excitement made Karkat. She could smell Dave's disdain, though, and so her smile was short lived.

Rose took a moment longer to choose her present, sifting through the ones that were strewn about as if she were looking for one in particular. Terezi paid close attention, even more curious as the Seer finally picked out the present from Dave. For the first time since they'd started with opening presents, the Knight perked up with mild interest as his biological sister began to open her present.

"Oh!" she said, an amused smile on her lips. "That journal from the thrift store... thank you Dave. I'll be sure to fill it with all sorts of wizardry tales."

"Please, fill it up to your heart's content with the riveting tales of Wrinklefart."

"No, I'll have to name the character after you in homage... Dave Wrinklefart."

"Most magical wizard in fairy elf land."

Terezi tried not to be hurt by the fact that her matesprit was joking with someone else, but she couldn't shake it quite so easily. He had never been so cold to her before, and she wasn't sure how to handle it. These festivities that she'd been looking forward to for weeks was now something that she couldn't wait to see end. With any luck, it would be over soon and she could go back to her room to sleep through the rest of the holiday.

"Here Dave," Rose said, picking up a present and handing it to him. "It's your turn."

The blind troll was pulled from her depression by the realization that Rose had just handed Dave her present. A light blush rose to Terezi's cheeks, and she finished off the rest of her eggnog to try and hide it. In the turmoil of their fight, she'd forgotten that she'd actually put a pretty special present under the tree for Dave. With how he was regarding her lately, though, she now almost felt embarrassed of it.

Would he even still want anything from her?

The cool kid was obviously hesitant to open the present and that made the Libra feel that much worse about all of this. She couldn't exactly snatch it away and run off, though, so she just listened quietly as he opened the present. Holding her breath, Terezi scratched at the side of her mug as Dave discarded the wrapping.

"... holy shit..."

From within the box, Dave pulled out two smuppet like plush dolls, one red and one teal, that Terezi had hand sewn for him. The teal one was wearing a tiny pair of black aviator shades, and the red one was wearing a pair of equally red pointed sunglasses. Other than these tiny additions, they were as close to the real things as the blind troll could manage.

"Wow! Dave those look just like those weird stuffed toys your brother had," Jade commented. "Terezi, did you make those yourself?"

"Um... yeah..." the blind troll said, fidgeting where she sat.

The Knight finally left his pouting slump against the wall, setting the smuppets down on the ground before walking over to the Libra. He stopped in front of her, and Terezi tilted her head up to try and smell him a bit better. She wasn't expecting to feel the other's soft lips against her own, but she eagerly leaned up into the first bit of affection Dave had shown her since they'd started fighting. The Knight then sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer.

"... I'm sorry," he mumbled, earning him a pointy, earnest smile.

"Heh... it's okay cool kid," she answered, snuggling closer to him. "I guess I'll forgive your super personality wedgie this time."

She gave a playful jab to his side, now unable to keep the smile from stretching across her face. They could sit down and hash out a proper talk over everything later; right now she was ready to join in on all of this merriment. Reaching out to pick up her own present, the blind troll decided to bring everything full circle by selecting John's present to her. As she took up her spot back in Dave's arms, though, she knew that she already had the only thing she could want for Perigee's Eve:

All of these wonderful people in her life.