MERRY CHRISTMAS NAN!

[squidney87]

Merry Christmas Nan! It's been.. interesting trying to keep this from you, though I'm sure you've had your suspicions. Atleast being your secret santa was easy, because I know EXACTLY what you seem to like. It worked well. But now, here's your fic. Longer than I'd expected to be, but that's a good thing isn't it?

This is a Beefnyn fic, AKA NanXBeef because that's what she wanted. :D Enjoy!


A small, lone figure quietly made its way down a long nether tunnel, running along the icy path. The tunnel started out as netherrack, with a lone strip of ice down the left side, quickly transforming into a beautiful path lined with various woods and glowstone. The small figure continued to run along the icy path which was now topped with a stone slab, saving her feet from frostbite within her diamond boots. The tunnel was long and running it was tedious, and she quickly grew hungry, and stopped to take a bite of a baked potato before she exited into a large, dome shaped room. From there, she quickly made her way to the large portals in the center of the hub, and climbed up a short set of stairs. She glanced around observantly before taking a step into the portal, closing her eyes to ignore the nausea it created.

Once through the portal, she walked to the Town Hall, constantly checking around for any sign of the life she was searching for. She didn’t have to look for long, as the person she had been scanning for was quickly making his way down the path coming from Ethocorp.

“Hey!” The man called out, voice deep, and yet chipper. She smiled inwardly and walked over to meet the man half way. Once she reached him, she was crushed in a large hug, as this man was a giant compared to her small, fragile frame. “How are ya doin’, Nan?” The man mumbled quietly to the girl he was squeezing, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

“I would be better if I could breathe.” Her reply was breathy, her face a bright red. The man quickly dropped his arms, a look of concern clouding his normally cheery face.

“You okay? I’m sorry. I always forget that you are so... tiny.” His worried expression met one of pure joy.

“I’m just fine. Just fine.” She let out a large breath she was unaware she’d been holding. “You don’t have to apologize. You’re so... Canadian, Beef.” She giggled softly, grabbing his hand gently; his much larger hand hiding hers in his grip. Beef only smiled, and Nan led him to sit inside the Town Hall. They ate in a comfortable silence, listening to the busy surroundings known as Spawn. Nan kept her eyes trained on the world outside of the Town Hall, watching as many people passed by in the time span of fifteen minutes. It seemed Beef was intent on finishing the task at hand, which was eating a chunk of steak, and planning something. Nan could always tell when Beef was planning something, and now was definitely one of those times.

*** ***

When Beef had finished his steak, he stood, quickly brushing crumbs from his apron. He looked up and grinned cheekily at Nan. “You ready to head out?” He asked her, holding out his hand for her to take. Her smile grew, and she stood with her hands resting against her hips, not taking Beef’s like she really wanted to.

“And just where are we going?” Nan questioned, eyeing Beef cautiously. When his grin grew larger she knew how he was going to play this.
“Ohhhh nowhere.” He smirked, hand still outstretched, waiting for the younger girl to give in to the mystery and follow him. She sighed lightly, and placed her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. He smiled down at her before taking off, walking at a pace that was much too quick for her to keep up with without running. His legs were much longer than her own, his strides much larger than hers. She was taking two steps for each one of his, and he was still getting ahead of her.

“Slow down, Beef!” She frowned when his steps didn’t slow, tugging on his hand gently. He turned around and stopped, causing her to crash right into his chest. Before she could back away, his arms encircled her, with much less power than before. She looked upwards and caught a receding smile, this was funny to him. She was too small, too short to keep up with him. ‘No wonder I’m a Munchkin.’ She thought, sighing.

“Little too fast for you Nan?” Beef was taunting her, and upon this realization, she pulled away. She looked up at him, determination in her eyes.

“No. In fact, that was a perfect pace. We should keep going, or it’s gonna get dark by the time we get to wherever you’re taking me.” Her tone was slightly mocking, the first sentence practically dripping with sarcasm, but Beef took it the way she expected him to: as a challenge.

“Alright then. Come on, let’s get moving then.” Beef smirked, before turning around and continuing his walk. Nan quickly followed after him, and she soon had to keep up, as he began a conversation. “So, how’re the Munchkins doing?”

“They are all just fine, as normal.” Nan was breathing heavy, this pace much too fast for her, but she refused to give up and ask again for him to slow down. She had too much pride, and that wasn’t always a good thing, especially in this situation.

“How’s Curly? Haven’t seen her in a while, which is not normal.” Beef trailed off, and Nan frowned. Curly had been really busy lately, building a room inside base, and gathering materials for the Team Munchkin project. She hadn’t had any time to see Beef in the past week, and she didn’t like it any more than he seemed not to.

“She’s been busy. She just joined the team, and she had to build a room for herself in base. It took her quite a while. She wants to hang out with you soon though. You should swing by base later and find her.” Nan was now jogging lightly when she realized they were basically in the middle of nowhere. She was surrounded by trees, obviously in a forest. A quick glance at her coordinates on her phone had her realize she was getting close to Squid’s abandoned shack, and her own seemingly abandoned home. Most of the Munchkins had ended up branching out this way, purely by coincidence. “Where are we going Beef?” Nan glanced up at the back of his head, puzzled. “Why didn’t we travel by nether?”

“You’ll see. The nether would not have brought me to where I want to be. As for the previous thing, alright. Maybe not today though, it’ll be late when we get back.” Beef continued on, before stopping briefly to snack on some “popsic”. He handed Nan a piece, and she ate it gratefully, silently thanking him. “How about Squid? I usually see her around Spawn quite a bit. Especially down by Ethocorp.” Beef chuckled lightly. Nan could only smile thinking about Squid being at Ethocorp.

“Oh her? Well… She has been busy as well. She’s pretty dang lazy, so she hasn’t been building her room like she should’ve. She hasn’t really been at base either. I think you are smart enough to guess where she has been.” Nan giggled. In reality, Squid had spent most of her days in recent times helping Etho with his PVP map. In light of it being a PVP map, Nan often saw death messages from the two of them killing each other. Everyone was surprised at that first death message. ‘Squid87 was slain by Etho”. Even Nan herself had been surprised. The two were often inseparable, and the sheer fact that Etho had killed Squid was shocking to the group. When they explained it was because they were working on a PVP map, the death messages came more frequently, often in little spurts of the two killing each other and everyone’s initial surprise disappeared. When she had seen Squid, it was because she somehow caught her sneaking into Munchkin HQ, most often to get something they needed for the project. She had gained stealth after hanging out with Etho so often.

Beef laughed, understanding what Nan had been hinting at, and nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, we know where she has been. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I saw Etho either.” Beef smiled, and, standing up, took Nan’s hand. The moment of rest made him lighten up, and when they returned to walking, his pace much slower. Nan relished the idea that she no longer had to jog, and happily walked alongside Beef.

“Well, as long as they’re happy right? Although it would be nice to see Squid more.” Nan sighed, thinking about the small amount of time she’d spent with Squid recently. They’d argued of course, and Mew had to break it up, otherwise the Munchkin base would have been louder than ever, filled with the sounds of yelling, mostly about nothing.

“Eh. Yeah. Sure. Happiness is great.” Beef mumbled, and Nan laughed. “We’re moving on from that interesting topic. How is Lemmy?” Nan pondered that for a moment before responding.

“Lemmeh is fine. She has been spending more time with Vechs lately, and she couldn’t be happier. They go careful-caving and giggle about bats. Just doing Vechs and Lemmy things.” Nan rolled her eyes lightly. She could do without bats herself. They were annoying little creatures, but the duo loved them.

“I see. We’re getting close to our destination by the way.” Beef looked down to his side to see Nan studying their feet. “What are you doing?” Nan looked up and noticed the confused look on Beef’s face. She looked back down at their feet, and studied the pattern. She took two steps for each of his. He noticed it too, and his face gained a knowing look. “You take small steps.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s really inconvenient when walking with taller people.” She glared up at him, earning a laugh from Beef. “What is our destination? You still haven’t told me.”

“You’ll see. It’s a surprise.” Beef grinned, and walked at a bit of a faster pace. Nan groaned, picking up her pace which turned to a light jog, not too bad. “Oh hey. We can’t forget Mew, how’s she been recently?”

“Mew is an interesting girl, that’s for sure. She has been trying her hand at some redstone. Along with that, she built some farms that were like yours. They work nicely.” Nan glanced up, only to see Beef looking ahead with a large smile.

“Nan, do you know what today is?” Beef questioned, looking to Nan with an aderpable smile.

“Uh… Is it... Tuesday?” Nan was puzzled, and looked up at Beef confusedly. Beef only smiled lightly.

“You really don’t remember? Don’t girls usually keep track of this stuff? Today’s our one year anniversary Nan!” Beef laughed as Nan fumbled around with an apology, mixed with excuses. She was quickly shushed by Beef, who grabbed her hand once again and led her quickly into a thick growth of trees. He was again walking too fast, and she had to skip along beside him. Nan found herself lost in thought, unsure how she could forget this day, and still curious as to where they were headed.

“Where are we going Beef?” Nan was still extremely curious, but now felt ashamed that she forgot this day. ‘How could I have forgotten? I've been counting down for weeks! I must’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.’ She thought, and her mind wandered to that morning. She hadn't done anything out of the ordinary; woke up, ate breakfast, chatted with Curly and Lemmy, argued with Squid about her absence, all around usual things. So how had she forgotten this day? This… anniversary? She didn't know.
“Trust me. You’ll love it. I promise. We’re almost there anyways. Maybe 2 more minutes. Alright? Just relax, okay?” Beef gave her a gentle smile before leading her through a snarl of branches into an open clearing. “Or we’ll be here now. Hah! Okay! Ready to see where I've been leading you?” Beef asked, enthusiasm exploding from his features.

“Well. Obviously! I've wanted to know the entire time!” Nan exclaimed, following Beef closely as he led her through the clearing to another area shrouded by towering, seemingly custom made trees. “Beef.. Did you make these trees?” Nan was fascinated, and stunned into immobility by what she saw next.

The path led through the trees and opened into another, larger clearing. In this clearing, an amazing display. A huge wall, seemingly bare until you got closer; on the wall were signs, each with only two to three words on them. At the top, in bolded letters read, “Things I love about you,” and each sign stated one of those things. ‘There has to be a hundred signs here!’ Nan thought in awe, quietly walking up to the wall to read them. She didn’t get through three before Beef was behind her, hands around her waist.

“Do you like it? I spent several hours just collecting the wood for this!” Beef exclaimed, causing Nan to giggle. She looked back up to see if she could see the top, it had to be 25 blocks tall.

“I don’t know how you even found time for all of this!” Nan smiled and turned to face him, his arms still wrapped firmly around her waist. “I love it so much. Thank you Beef.” She said warmly, her eyes glittering with contentment. He only smiled before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her lips, then one to her forehead.

“Now come on, you gotta read all of these before we go!” He laughed, and she groaned.