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Quality Over Quantity

Sentimental is sometimes better than size.

By Monique StarPublished 5 years ago 13 min read
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Chaos erupted in the Mind Palace the Sanders Sides reside in and the source of it was an argument between Roman and Virgil, which didn't surprise anyone anymore, but what somewhat stood out was the subject of the banter: what type of Christmas tree they should put up.

"Look, I'm just saying it might be better to go for a smaller tree," Virgil suggested. "I mean, it can actually give us room to walk around and less of a hassle to clean up." As he finished his remark, it was clear that he was keeping quiet about something, but Logan stopped Patton before the dad could ask questions.

"It's a desirable activity to decorate the tree! If it was puny, where would we put up the decorations? Or even put the gifts?!" Roman demanded.

"Well, we could still put the decorations all over the Mind Palace," Patton brought up.

"Plus, depending on the size of the tree Virgil has in mind, we could put it on a table and put the gifts by the legs," Logan added, which made Virgil put his hoodie sleeve in front of his face to hide his smile.

Roman was at a loss for words. He wouldn't stand to accept that he was outnumbered and simply said, "Once you all come to your senses, feel free to call for me" with pride big enough to swell Thomas's head before vanishing to his room. Both the heart and mind looked over at Virgil to see how he felt. All he did was shrug before walking away to his room. He couldn't really blame everyone else for the confusion and annoyance that filled the room; he'd rather be under the influence of a drug that'll put his guard down before further explaining the significance of a tiny tree, anyway.

Patton was awake looking over their groceries to see what kind of Christmas cookies he could make. He made careful observations before coming to the conclusion of making red velvet and peppermint cookies that they can all decorate together.

He walked around to see if the other sides were asleep. He carefully opened the door to Logan's room and smiled at the sight of his sleeping hero. He closed the door again and went to the other end of the hall to Roman and Virgil's rooms, passing his own room in the process. As he was walking, he heard music that sounded appropriate for the season. At first, he was thinking that Roman took the opportunity to write a new Christmas jingle, but the idea melted away when he approached Virgil's door and heard the lyrics carefully:

"Hello little tree

Kinda looks like me.

Standing all alone

Sort of like it's been disowned"

Patton carefully opened the door and saw Virgil decorating his room with some Nightmare Before Christmas and Grinch decorations. He listened to more of the song with fascination.

"And so, hello, little tree

I think it needs me.

It just needs a little love,

Fits me like a glove.

Kind of low-key just like me.

Oh, just being Charlie Brown,

They may put you down

It seems kind of small.

Make a wish and look around.

Oh, it's a Christmas tree

And it's just like me.

Some may try to put us down

And call us two clowns.

We can make it if we just try."

Patton was amazed when watching his dark, strange son. It wasn't an extravagant performance and it's obvious he didn't think anyone else was watching him, but Virgil seemed to be in his element when singing along with the song. Also, Patton had to admit that the song sounded like it was waiting for someone like Virgil to enjoy it.

"They may try to pick on me

Or to laugh at this small tree

But if we can stick together,

We can weather the storm.

So, let's put this on display

In a Christmas play.

And this tree will finally shine.

Success will be mine.

A Christmas tree just like me."

As the singing stopped and the music continued, Patton found himself entering the room quietly. He watched as Virgil made a tiny tree appear, presumably just what he wanted. The more he watched, the more he noticed a red ornament ball appear on the tree as well as a blanket wrapped at the roots.

Patton smiled at the little tree and was reminded of the Charlie Brown Christmas special. He gave a soft sigh of content, but it was actually loud enough for Virgil to hear it. As a result, Virgil looked at Patton with a face of panic before he calmed down.

"Oh, good. It's just you," Virgil exclaimed.

Patton approached the purple-coated aspect carefully.

"Is this why you wanted a smaller tree?" Patton asked.

Virgil nodded before looking over at the tree.

"Do you remember that special celebrating the Charlie Brown Christmas Special being around for 50 years?"

"How can I forget? Pentatonix gave a great enough performance to deserve festive fivers."

There was a silence between the pair before Virgil spoke up again.

"Anyway, you might not remember this song, but it's basically about what might've been going through Charlie Brown's mind when picking this tree. I may not be the biggest fan of Christmas music, but the more I paid attention to it, the more it felt like... like it almost hit home for me."

Patton just smiled at Virgil in a way that showed he understood what about the little tree stood out to him: they both weren't bad at all and maybe just need a little love.

"You know, if you want, this can just be between you and me," the dad genuinely brought up.

"Honestly, I don't care if anyone else finds out as long as it's not Prince Sugar Gump Fairy," he answered while trying to make a joke out of what happened during their last Christmas Carol.

Patton just carefully hugged him and Virgil found it in himself to finish the song.

"They may try to pick on me

Or to laugh at this small tree

But if we can stick together,

We can weather the storm.

So, let's put this on display

In a Christmas play.

And this tree will finally shine.

Success will be mine.

A Christmas tree just like me.

Just like me."

Patton faintly clapped for his kiddo before leaving to check on Roman. Virgil put the tree on a recently-materialized desk and climbed into bed. He kept the music on to help him fall asleep. He was glad that if anyone were to find out about his reason behind his choice of tree, Patton would be the first. He also felt grateful that Roman was too busy listening to Disney and Broadway songs in his head to hear him.

The next morning came, which meant that Patton was making breakfast for everyone, Roman was watching some Disney AMVs on his phone, and Logan was working on a sudoku puzzle. Neither of them saw Virgil that morning, so either he was sleeping in due to struggles the prior night or he was just lying in bed scrolling through Tumblr.

Logan started to get up since he knew Patton was occupied and Roman would complain if told to do it. Not only that, but Logan felt Virgil would be in a better mood if he came to his room instead of the Prince even though their banters haven't been as severe as of recent. The MatPat wannabe walked toward Virgil's room, but as he heard the sound of music that wasn't what the emo grape would normally listen to, he almost thought he made a wrong turn somewhere. He felt something was off until he got closer to the door and heard the song's chorus. Logan cautiously entered the room and looked around at the decorations. At first, he seemed surprised that Virgil would decorate his room, but then he figured Virgil would want to get festive in a way that would accommodate himself. The singing stopped with the music continuing to play and that's when Logan saw it: the small tree. Logan figured that a smaller tree wouldn't be as overwhelming for Virgil, but he had no idea he meant the one from A Charlie Brown Christmas. He thought about the context of the film and the song in the background and came to the conclusion that the tree reminded Virgil of himself. Logan might not be the Professor of Emotions, but he can tell why the tree might be sentimental to Virgil.

Logan suddenly remembered why he was in the room and sat on the edge of Virgil's bed before gently shaking him.

"Virgil, Virgil, wake up," he said in a tone that wasn't too loud.

Virgil moved around a little and slowly opened his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he took notice of Logan's presence and the fact that the song was still playing and waved his hand to turn off the music.

"I guess that's pretty pathetic, huh?" he asked before stretching.

"Honestly? No, it isn't. It's great that you managed to find a way to feel comfortable during this time of year, especially since the song seems to address something that's almost like what you've gone through. Is that reasonable to say?"

Virgil looked over at the nerd while they're both sitting in bed and nodded silently.

"I can definitely see why you'd want that little tree and still stand by the suggestion of using a table to put it on. I just wish Roman could see there would be more to the tree than just its size," Logan expressed.

"Don't tell him, please. Only you and Patton know about this and Princey would never let me live it down," Virgil retorted.

Logan nodded before standing up and approaching the door. He turned to face Virgil again.

"Patton would be upset if you let your breakfast get cold," he told Virgil before closing the door behind him.

Virgil looked at the door and felt relief that two parts of his family seemed to be understanding. He still wished he was somewhat bold enough to explain to Roman, but he figured that Roman would be too stubborn. He kept those thoughts to himself as he prepared to look at least slightly decent for everyone else. As he was doing so, he smiled at the little tree on the table and thought that there would be more hope for him just like there was hope for it.

Roman spent a good amount of the morning picturing how his big tree would look and what part of the common room it should be in. Virgil was wearing headphones and going through his phone in order to ignore Roman's planning and Patton's attempt of reasoning with the Prince.

"I'm telling you, Patton, a big tree will have a lot of room on it for it to be the most decorative thing you've ever seen!" Roman proclaimed.

"But a big tree wouldn't benefit everyone. Some of us would prefer Jack Frost nipping at our noses, not too many pine needles," Patton remarked while trying to make sure he didn't mention Virgil's reason.

"Don't you want to put up your dog decorations?" Roman asked, hoping to get Patton on his side.

"I'm putting them up by my room and in the kitchen," Patton explained.

Patton was looking over at Virgil, who was still wrapped up in his phone. Roman followed Patton's gaze and sighed.

"Alright, I'll get some decorations for him to go on the tree," he proclaimed before stomping toward Virgil's room. Patton initially wanted to stop him, but thought it would be best if Roman found out.

Roman went to Virgil's room and opened the door. He glanced at the Nightmare Before Christmas posters before looking over some of the other decorations around the room. As he walked further into the room, something caught his eye. It was the tiny tree with a single red ornament ball and a blanket wrapped at the bottom. He thought he had seen the tree before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Eventually, he realized where he had seen it last: A Charlie Brown Christmas. He stared at the tree for a little while before looking around and seeing Virgil's music player was paused. Out of curiosity, he waved his hand in front of it to play the music and, to his surprise, the song was about the little tree. He recognized that it was from the 50th anniversary celebration of A Charlie Brown Christmas, but he never really thought about the lyrics that much. As he listened to the song, he looked at the tree and felt shame at the thought that he was like everyone in the cartoon that laughed at Charlie Brown and his tree; he hated the thought of being like the kids that belittled Charlie Brown, especially Lucy. Not only that, but it sounded as if Charlie Brown and even the tree had more in common with Virgil than he initially thought.

He turned off the music and put his hands on the edge of the table. He thought about it and felt that it wouldn't be right for him to move it on his own.

"Hey, Patton?" he called out.

Patton jogged over to Virgil's room after hearing his name called.

"Yes, Roman?" the dad responded.

He entered the room and was approached Roman and the tree.

"I think I might ruin the tree if I move it on my own. Care to help me bring it to the common room?" Roman asked.

Patton smiled and grabbed one side of the table. They both carefully lifted it to the common room and put it in the corner where Roman initially planned on having a big tree. Logan heard the noise and looked up from his sudoku and notice the two right-brained traits backing away from the table with the tree on it. He approached the two and glanced at the tree before looking at Roman.

"So, Roman, did Patton persuade you with fast-paced educational brainwashing or did you swallow your pride?" Logan asked with a smug expression.

"Hey! I'm capable of doing something nice for Brendon Furie!" Roman defended.

Logan rolled his eyes and approached Virgil, still focused on his phone. He tapped Virgil's shoulder causing the latter to quickly turn around with the intention of telling someone off. However, before Virgil could open his mouth, he saw his table and tree in the corner of the room as well as Patton and Roman standing by it. He took off his headphones and approached the tree in disbelief as if it were fake and a massive tree would reveal itself elsewhere. He looked at Logan, then at Roman and Patton.

"Did Patton beg you with his puppy dog eyes?" he asked the Prince.

"Of course not. After some thinking, we just felt the tree would be better suited out here," Roman explained.

Virgil was in awe that Roman would drop his ego to actually do such an action. It wasn't as big as moving a mountain for someone, but it was still sweet.

"Why didn't you tell me the suggestion of the tree was more sentimental?" Roman asked.

"Well, when arguing with someone who wants a tree big enough to compare to his puppet chin, do you think it would be easy for Anxiety to say 'Hey, I feel more connected to the tree Charlie Brown picked out without too many fancy gimmicks'?" Virgil retorted.

Patton walked over to Virgil and rubbed his back as an alternative to hugging him.

"Well, you made a great choice, Virgil. This tree definitely holds a lot more meaning within it," Roman complimented.

They all gazed at the little tree with smiles on their faces before Patton said, "So, now that the tree is done, let's work on the rest of the Mind Palace."

fan fiction
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About the Creator

Monique Star

I'm not the most sophisticated adult out there. I'm also not the best at communicating all the time, but I do try my best to get my thoughts out there into the world verbally or nonverbally.

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