a/n The ships in this chapter are dedicated to my lovely friends. They know who they are. *squinty face*(also, most of them are my ships. I love ships.)

The One Year That Tavros and Dave Try to Host Christmas at Their Place

It takes you a while to finish cleaning. You have to scold Dave for keeping his swords in the fridge again and make him go put them in your room somewhere, which he whines about for a solid minute. You message everybody around noon to make sure they all know how to make it to your apartment, and everybody confirms it.

At 1:30, a half hour before you're expecting your first guest, somebody knocks on your door. Dave sighs, mumbling that it's probably Bro, before he opens it to reveal the older Strider, who flashsteps in and rests his puppet on your horns, in turn making you squeak in surprise.

"Aw c'mon big guy, It's just lil Cal." He says from his place, now leaning on the wall across the room where you can see him in all his cool glory, even with his ugly sweater that matches your own.

"But, uh…"

Then he's gone. He flashes forward and takes him off of you, placing him on his own shoulder and holding out one of his hands.

You've been around the Striders enough to know that that means you need to fist bump him, and so you do. That seems to be enough for Bro, and he flashsteps to the couch and sits. You glance over to the door to see Dave bringing in a folded card table, and walk over to help him.

"Gee, thanks for the help bringing the table in, Bro," Dave calls into the living room.

"You're welcome, little man."

Dave rolls his eyes and laughs while you help him carry it the rest of the way in and set it up in the corner. Once that's done, Dave joins his brother on the couch and pulls you along with him.

"So who all is coming today?" Bro asks, "Y'all didn't invite everybody you know, didja? There ain't enough room in this place for twenty-some people."

"Nah. We're expecting about seven more guests."

"Yes. Some of our friends, uh, couldn't make it. But, we're expecting John, Aradia and Sollux, Nepeta and Equius, and Karkat and Eridan. Gamzee would come, except he really doesn't get along, with Nepeta, or Equius, or Karkat, and he said, he had plans."

Bro nodded. The conversation slowly moved into more ironic Strider things, and continued like that until there was another quick knock on the door about five minutes before 2. You jump up to answer it, finding Nepeta and Equius.

"Tafurros!" She squeals, jumping up and hugging you tightly.

"Nepeta. May I remind you, that is not an appropriate way to greet somebody, no matter their placement on the hemospectrum."

"No, Equius, it's okay," You laugh softly and hug her back, "I haven't seen you guys, in I think maybe a year?"

"I would say slightly less. I believe the last time we saw each other was around January of this year."

"AC rolls her eyes and giggles as she takes Equikitty's hand and leads him into the apartment," Nepeta narrates her actions, "Equikitty, it's human 12th Perigree! Don't be silly! Everybody deserves a nice big hug!"

"Yes, I suppose you're right. It would be a shame, if we did not show proper holiday spirit. But I forbid you from pouncing on anybody, for the rest of the night. Is that clear?"

"'Oh alright, I purromise, I won't pounce on anybody today,' AC says with a sad sigh."

They make their way to the living room. While Nepeta greets the Strider's, Equius drops off a dish in the kitchen. Once it's on the counter, he greets Dave and Bro and takes a seat on the floor. Nepeta, on the other hand, perches on the back of the couch.

Aradia appears before you can close the door, having arrived just on time, giving you a quick hug with a wide grin on her face, "Tavros! How are you? Happy 12th Perigree!"

"Happy 12th Perigree!" you respond, "I'm doing well."

"Wow, Tavros. Great sweater," Sollux comments, voice as bored as it has ever been.

"Uh, thanks. It's an ugly sweater."

"No kidding."

"Sollux, be nice!" Aradia warns, pulling him inside in much the same way as Nepeta had done.

"No, it's okay, it's a Strider tradition, to wear an ugly sweater. Dave and Bro, are also wearing them."

Dave hears and looks back, "You bet it's Strider tradition. And we look sexy as fuck."

Bro guffaws and Nepeta giggles.

"Equikitty, we should get some ugly sweaters! With hoofbeasts and meowbeasts on them!"

"That is absolutely preposterous!" Equius only argues for a second before Nepeta gives him a pouty face.

"AC looks at her meowrail with big eyes, pouting cutely before she speaks. She says 'Aww Equikitty, but it would be fun! I don't think it would be too prepawsterous!'"

Equius only sighs and shakes his head as Aradia and Sollux walk into the living room. Aradia hugs Nepeta quickly while she speaks, "I think that ugly sweaters would be fun. We should all do them! Maybe we can find a way to make them with our patterns on them! How fun would that be?"

You close the door and join them again, taking your seat next to Dave, "I think, sweaters with our signs, would be kind of, uh, cool, maybe."

Aradia takes another dish into the kitchen, then she and Sollux both sit on the floor, across from Equius. After a few moments of planning, there's another loud knock at the door. Nepeta jumps down from the couch before you can stand.

"AC leaps up from her perch and stalks to the door, telling her furriends Tafurros and Dave that she will get the door."

She continues to narrate her actions until she opens the door.

"Karkitty!" She squeals, bouncing for a second before very carefully hugging him.

"Yeah, yeah, nice to see you too Nepeta," He pats her back before pulling away, "Can we come in or are the hosts going to be assholes and not even invite us in?"

Dave looks over his shoulder again, "Hey Karkat come in."

Karkat rolls his eyes and steps in, Eridan walking in after him, "Hello landdwwellers."

"Oh, hi Eridan," you call back, smiling.

"Hey Tavvros, how's it goin? Is anythin good actually goin to happen here for should Karkat and I go find another place to be?"

"Shut up Eridan we're staying here for at least a few hours."

Karkat leaves Eridan standing in the entryway, immediately going to put his dish with the two other dishes that your friends had brought.

"Wwhat, do I have to sit on the floor? It'll get my pants and cape dirty, I just got these cleaned two days ago," Eridan whines when he sees that the couch is full.

You stand on instinct, "No, I guess I don't mind, sitting on the ground."

"Nope." Dave grabs your hand before you can move and pulls you onto his lap. It looks a little funny, considering you're a bit taller than him, and you laugh a bit, "My lap's a perfectly good seat, don't laugh at it."

You cold back another laugh, hiding your smile behind a hand, "Sorry."

When Eridan sits, Karkat comes back from the kitchen and climbs into his lap. Eridan wraps his arms protectively around Karkat and Karkat places his hands over Eridan's.

Nepeta comes skipping back a moment later, leaping up to perch on the couch again.

"Almost efurrybody is here!" She comments happily.

"Yup. Then I've got some shit for y'all. Woke up early this morning to make this shit, you better all love it."

"He really did, he was up making it at four, in the morning," you confirm.

"Real fucking early," Dave repeats, nodding.

It isn't long after that a guest is at the door. You were already off of Dave's lap, getting everybody drinks, when you heard the knock, so you get to the door before Nepeta jumps up again. John is smiling at the other side and slips in when you open the door.

"Hey Tavros!"

"Hey, John, how are you?" You ask. When you were younger, you didn't have a great relationship with him. He was kind of a jerk. But he's friends with Dave and after a while, you got to know him better and became closer with him.

"I'm great! Because of this party I don't have to deal with Dad's Christmas cakes!"

"AC wonders quietly. She thought that humans loved cake?"

"Yeah most do. John's just a freak. And his dad pretty much shoved a cake in his face three times a day for the first thirteen years of his life so he got a little sick of it," Dave explains before looking back, "Egbert where's your ugly sweater?"

"I told you I wasn't going to wear an ugly sweater this year, Dave, stop trying to make stupid ugly sweaters a thing."

"Wow John, I'm disappointed," Bro said, leaning back on the couch as John walked in and dropped off some drinks on the card table, "I thought we had something. But you know how it is. All Striders have to wear ugly sweaters."

John blushes lightly, "I'm not wearing a stupid ugly sweater!"

Dave facepalms, "Bro stop trying to flirt with John."

"Yeah, stop trying to flirt with me!"

"What? Why shouldn't I? He's cute when he gets all flustered."

That only causes John to get more flustered, and you watch him as he blushes and huffs, sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Before you can sit on his lap, Dave stands.

"Well now that everybody's here," Dave says, changing the topic quickly, "I'll be right back." He absconds to your room, and you take his seat on the couch.

"What's he even bringing?" Karkat asks, and you shrug.

"He wouldn't let me see."

"It's probably something lame like a pair shades for everybody," John comments, exclaiming "ow!" when Bro knocks him on the top of his head.

"Shades are cool. And I doubt Bro would think a that. I'll have to do that next year, though. Get bull boy here a nice pair. Maybe find a pair for you, John."

Nepeta giggles as she watches Bro and John, pulling out her notebook and starting to draw in it.

Dave shows up a moment later, carrying a cake pan.

"I made cupcakes. Well, I bought baked cupcakes and decorated the fuck out of them since I can't bake for shit. Each of you get one."

He started handing them out. Aradia's has her sign, turned upside down and decorated like a tree. Sollux's is done half in blue, and half in red. Karkat's has a…you think that's supposed to be a very badly drawn human bulge? He smirks when he hands it to Karkat, saying he thought Karkat would laugh at the memory. Karkat just licks over it, ruining the decoration. Eridan's you don't get to see. He skips over you, saying you get yours last, before giving Bro his cupcake, with what looks like a pair of pointy shades on them. Nepeta's has a cat, and Equius looks like it has a bunch of cracks in it.

Finally, he comes back to you, holding your cupcake behind his back and leaning in for a kiss. You give it to him, just a small peck on the lips, and he holds out your cupcake. It's a big heart, with your symbol and what looks like it's supposed to be a record symbol like the one he likes to wear on it. You smile when you see him and give him another kiss while Nepeta leans over to see the cupcake over your horn and squeals.

a/n each chapter just gets longer and longer, and I haven't even gotten to the gifts yet. Yeah this fic will at least be 5 chapters long. And I may or may not end up writing this entire story in one night.