Work Text:
Virgil and Patton, despite being childhood best friends and neighbors, had never actually spent Christmas together. Virgil generally went to his grandma's house for most of winter break, which was unfortunate because he loved spending breaks with Patton their family. Patton's family generally stayed home for the holidays.
This year was, unfortunately, no different. But that did mean they got to do their yearly tradition of meeting up at Virgil's house the day before he and his mom left to exchange gifts! Which they were both looking forward to, as always.
Patton had just been let into Virgil's house by his mom, and was about to knock on Virgil's bedroom door. Virgil's mom had said that Virgil was really excited about the gift he got Patton this year, which piqued Patton's interest. They would love the gift no matter what because it was from Virgil and that made it immediately special, but to know that Virgil was excited was exciting all on its own.
"Come in!" Virgil called once Patton had knocked, and they happily let themself into the room, smiling at the familiar space and their best friend, who was sitting in his window seat. "Hey, Patty! Are you ready to exchange gifts?" He asked with a smile.
Patton nodded happily, walking over and sitting next to Virgil. "Of course! I've been ready for a few weeks now." They said, holding up the bag. "Do you wanna go first or do you want me to?"
"You give me my gift first." Virgil said, a slight smirk on his face that only made Patton more curious to find out what Virgil had gotten for them. Regardless of their curiosity, they handed Virgil the bag with his gift in it, which had a black cat in a Santa hat on it because it made Patton giggle when they saw it at the store.
Virgil quickly took the red and green tissue paper out of the bag, pulling out the item at the bottom of the bag. He gasped softly and smiled widely once he realized what it was. A nice new set of watercolor paints with a gift card taped to the box.
"Pat, these paints are like fifty dollars!" Virgil said, looking up at them in disbelief. Patton smiled at the reaction, giggling a bit and shrugging.
"I wanted to get you something super nice!" They replied. Virgil rolled his eyes a bit, pulling them into a hug, which Patton accepted happily and hugged him back. "I figured you could use the gift card to buy some watercolor paper to paint on. I would've bought that myself but I wasn't sure if you had a preferred brand or not."
Virgil was smiling, a hint of disbelief still in his eyes. "You're too nice to me, Pat. This is.. I love it. So much. Thank you." He said, running a hand through his hair and taking a breath. "I don't even know how to express how excited I am about that." He chuckled softly, shaking one of his hands and rocking back and forth a bit where he sat.
"I get it, Virge, no need to try. I can tell you're very excited and you love them. You're welcome!" Patton said, leaning their head on Virgil's shoulder briefly. "Now! It's your turn to give me my gift!" They said, popping up and turning their body to be fully facing Virgil. He nodded, getting up and setting the gift from Patton on his desk, pulling open one of the drawers and grabbing out an envelope.
"It may not look like much, but please open it before judging it." He said, sitting back down and handing Patton the envelope. Patton nodded, opening the envelope and finding a simple purple sticky note inside. They looked at it in confusion for a moment, before pulling it out and reading the words written on it.
'This isn't your real gift. You'll have to wait to get your real gift. On Christmas.
My mom and I are staying home this year and are gonna be spending it with your family.'
It was Patton's turn to gasp, their head shooting up and looking at Virgil, excitement and disbelief swirling in their eyes. "Shut up, you're kidding." They said, but Virgil laughed softly and shook his head. Patton immediately shot up from where they were sitting and all but tackled Virgil into a hug. Virgil almost fell, but managed to stay standing and happily hugged Patton back.
"Oh my gosh, we finally get to spend Christmas together!" Patton said excitedly, pulling away from the hug just enough to look at Virgil's face but still holding him. "Oh my gosh, Emile's gonna be so excited, too. And Harley!" They said, pulling Virgil back into a proper hug, earning another laugh from Virgil.
"Your parents wanted to tell you and Emile weeks ago, but I made them promise not too because I wanted to see your reaction." Virgil confessed, walking the two of them over to his bed and flopping back onto it. Patton accepted this and happily cuddled into Virgil's side.
"Best gift exchange ever, I think." Patton mumbled happily, and Virgil nodded. "Although I am a bit upset you made me give you your gift first so now I have to wait and you don't." They said, lifting their head up and glaring at Virgil, but the smile that was still on their face gave away that they weren't that upset.
Virgil rolled his eyes. "We both know you always get me a second gift anyways to give me when I get back home, so you can give me that on Christmas. I have to wait anyways and you know that." He pointed out, and he wasn't wrong.
"Yeah that's fair, actually."