#comicbookreider

Others would argue; winter was filled with snow and ice, requiring a lot of work to shovel and drivers being cautious and slow. Christmas music is in the air, causing headaches, as well as Christmas shopping stress making those headaches even worse. Heating bills are going high up, kids are home from school for winter break. There’s several things that would make someone argue with Keith, but there’s many reasons why Keith loves winter.

Firstly, compared to their terribly hot summer, where Keith felt uncomfortable almost all the time, Keith had no problems getting comfortable as soon as winter started. Wearing a binder was hard in the summer time, where the fabric stuck to his skin and sometimes he found it hard to breathe properly. Taking it off in public would make him feel dysphoric, especially since he couldn’t wear many layers or risk passing out from the heat. He wouldn’t take off his binder unless he was home in his apartment, and even then he felt uncomfortable not wearing it. But at least he could breathe normal, and his boyfriend wouldn’t look at him any differently if he didn’t wear it.

With that note, Keith’s pleased to know he could wear as many layers of clothes as he wanted, and no one would know if he wore his binder that day or not. The soft sweaters he had felt nice against his skin, and earmuffs blocked out the loud honking from irritated drivers when people were going to slow. And with winter, Keith had a valid excuse to stay indoors. Sometimes he felt socializing emotionally draining, and sometimes he just wanted to be alone even if his boyfriend was home. His boyfriend, the kind soul he was, seemed to understand that perfectly and waited for Keith to come to him.

The second thing he liked about winter is that he could cuddle up against Hunk all he wanted. In the summer, he and his boyfriend couldn’t cuddle as often because it was simply to hot too. Keith loves the feeling of Hunk’s strong arms around him, with one hand stroking his back and the other going through his hair. It was the most comfortable feeling in the world, especially combined with their body temperatures.

And, sure, autumn would be the perfect weather for all of this, too, but the noise of the leaves crunching loudly beneath his and other peoples feet bothered him. He couldn’t seem to get away from the noise and it would cause him to shut himself out sometimes. Whereas, with the snow, noises are softened and the snow doesn’t crunch as bad as leaves did. Pavement and streets are covered in soft snow, so even boots don’t hit the pavement; the snow just crunches softly underneath their feet. And that doesn’t bother Keith as much as the leaves.

And thirdly.. well, ever since he started living with Shiro, Christmas seemed to mean more to him. There was a big tree in the living room, and lights hung up all around the house. It’s no different in Keith’s and Hunk’s apartment. They have a tree, too; big and covered in garland, lights, and ornaments. There’s an angel atop the tree that Keith can’t seem to stop staring at. Then there’s presents under the tree, each wrapping paper different. Their friends had agreed to have a Christmas party at their apartment this year, too, which is why tons of presents are under the tree instead of just a few between the two of them.

The Christmas party starts tonight; it’s Christmas eve after all and there’s still things they need to prepare for. Keith’s nervous, he’s not going to lie about that. He’s nervous about the loud noises; music and voices both. He knows his friends will understand if he needs to shut himself in a quiet room for a while, but he still doesn’t want to spoil the party any by leaving. Besides, he and Hunk are supposed to be hosts of this Christmas party. How could he get up and leave?

But as of right now, Keith’s still curled up underneath his and Hunk’s shared quilted comforter. He’s wearing one his own long sleeved shirts, with one of Hunk’s shirts on top of it. He’s very comfortable underneath all this warmth that he just doesn’t want to get out of bed. As comfortable as he was, he was awake. His body didn’t want him to sleep anymore! With a sigh, he tries to force himself to go back to sleep, but he hears the front door open as well as jangling of keys. Followed by the crinkle of paper bags and then footsteps across the hardwood floor. They get closer, and then the bedroom door opens and Keith peeks his head out from underneath the comforter.

“Babe?” Hunk softly calls out, and there’s a wide smile on his face to see Keith awake. He walks softly to the bed and sits down on it, leaning in to press a chaste kiss to Keith’s forehead. “Glad to see you’re awake, but won’t you get out of bed?”

“I’ll think about it,” Keith says at first, giving himself a second to think before shaking his head. “Nope. Staying here. It’s warm under here.”

“Keith.. Come on, I bought you a sweater for tonight. It’s soft, I promise you.”

“Will you make hot chocolate while I get ready?” Keith questions and Hunk nods as a response. “With--”

“No marshmallows and extra whipped cream,” Hunk interrupts. “I got it, babe. I’ll leave the bag on the bed.”

Hunk sets a plastic bag on the bed and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. Keith takes a moment to get out of the bed, wandering to the door where his binder hung on a hook, air drying since the night before. Hunk had washed it out for him by hand so he could be comfortable and feel clean for tonight’s party. Sometimes Keith wishes he had a second one, but they were rather pricey and even with them both working – Keith helping in the kitchen of the cafe Hunk works in – he knows he should save his money for bills and things than spend it on a second binder when he has a perfectly good one right there.

Keith decides to take a quick shower first, drying himself off before slipping on his binder and a pair of festive boxers to go underneath his jeans. He knows no one will see the Christmas light boxers he had on underneath, but he thought they were festive and hilarious looking so he decided to buy them at first glance. (Plus, he needed more boxers, no matter how stupid they looked as long as they were comfortable.)

He slips on a pair of jeans, and a belt around the loops before he digs through the bag and pulls out the sweater. It’s a soft, knitted material, and it’s rather festive, too, fitting for tonight. It’s red; neither too bright or too dark. There’s white snowflake, tree, and reindeer designs on it. On the shirt, it says ‘Ho-Ho-Ho HOMO’ in white, and the two symbols for male are interlocked underneath, the pattern repeating around the back of the sweater, as well. Keith snorts at the sweater, wondering who would make such a thing, but he loves it all the same. He slips it on over his head, realizing it’s a size or two too big for him, making the sleeves go over his hands a little, fingertips poking out from under the cuffs.

He loves it. After slipping on a pair of socks, he steps out of the room to the kitchen, where Hunk is making hot chocolate and baking cookies at the same time. Hunk notices Keith coming into the kitchen and he beams when he sees Keith wearing the sweater.

“You’re wearing it!”

“Of course I am,” Keith’s smiling wide, too, and he walks over to the counter, sitting up on a stool by the little island in the kitchen. “Where did you find this thing?”

“There was a store in the mall that had it on the clearance rack,” Hunk explains as he uses Christmas cookie cutters to cut fun shapes into the cookie dough. “It was either that size or something six times too small for you. And since you like wearing my shirts a lot..”

“I love it, Hunk. Thank you.” Keith rests his head in the palms of his hands, watching his boyfriend bake. “When is everyone coming over?”

“Not until six. So we have a while to prepare.” Hunk responds, and stops his baking to take care of the hot chocolate. He drops a few marshmallows into one mug and then puts some whipped cream in that, followed by putting tons of whipped cream in another. “Here you go.”

“Thanks. Do you need help with anything?”

“Actually,” Hunk puts some festive sprinkles over the cookies before popping them into the oven, setting the timer. “can you sit out here and then come get me when there’s five minutes left on the timer? I have some more presents to wrap.”

“I thought you got everyone something?”

“I bought a few extra things. I should be done wrapping by then.”

“Okay,” Keith leans in, pecking Hunk’s cheek. “I’ll stay here.”

“Thanks, babe.”

Hunk leaves the kitchen, gathering up a few more paper bags he left on the kitchen table and moves to the bedroom. He had bought Keith a new binder a month ago that came in yesterday, and he was thankful enough to be at home when it came. Plus, at the mall, he had bought Keith a liquid motion bubbler, which was somewhat like a lava lamp but Keith could move around. With it’s slow and rhythmic motions, it’s supposed to help autistic people with sensory issues and stay focused.

Also he may have noticed that Keith bit on his pencils a lot and his nails, so he bought him a silicone brick that was around a thin cording that he could chew on instead. He honestly hopes Keith would like these things, as well as the pack of boxers he bought him and the other clothes he purchased from the men’s section. With Shiro’s help, he was able to find things that Keith would like style wise and that would make him feel comfortable in every season, not just winter.

He knows Keith’s not a huge fan of wrapping paper, so he got decorative boxes instead. They came in different sizes, so Keith could stack them or put them inside each other if he’d like to. At least wrapping was easy for Keith’s presents, and this just meant he’d be ready for when Keith came to get him about the cookies.

“I buy too much for people..” Hunk tells himself as he wraps a set of books for Pidge before setting them in a messenger bag; thick and durable to hold many books and their laptop. He starts wrapping that, as well, and once it’s wrapped, he ties ribbon around it and sets it off to the side. “Let’s see.. that should have taken care of everyone.”

There’s a soft knock on the door and Keith peeks his head inside, “Hunk? There’s five minutes on the timer.”

“Thanks, babe,” Hunk grabs the boxes and Pidge’s gift and makes way to the tree, setting them down with the other gifts. “We have to wait for the cookies to cool off though before you can have first dibs.”

“I’ve been saving some of my hot chocolate to dip the cookies in. To soften them up.” Keith says as he walks back to the kitchen with Hunk. “But will it be cold by the time the cookies are cooled off?”

“I’ll make you another mug of hot chocolate, Keith. It’ll probably take thirty minutes before they are cooled off. We can watch something in the meantime.”

“Sounds good.”

----

The Christmas party goes off without a hitch. Everyone either shows up early or on time, some too early to help Keith and Hunk with final preparations. As soon as everyone was there and accounted for, Christmas music was played and refreshments were served. There were a few times during the night that where Keith had to leave because the noise was too much for him but each time, it was either Hunk, Shiro, or the both of them that followed after just to make sure he was alright. If it was past Keith, he would have preferred to be alone, and sometimes he still does, but having Hunk and Shiro in his life seemed to help him through the years.

Close to the end of the party, gifts were passed out. Christmas music was turned off and everyone found a seat either on a chair, the sofa, or on the ground. Things were given to Hunk and Keith, as thank you’s for hosting such a lovely party. Other presents were passed out and as everyone was talking amongst themselves, Hunk gathered the things he had gotten for Keith and gestured him to their shared bedroom, where Keith follows. Once in the bedroom, Hunk places the presents on the bed and Keith shuts the door.

“What is it?”

“Your presents,” is Hunk’s response at first, but that response is too vague and makes Keith raise an eyebrow. “I figured it’d be better if you opened your gifts in here. I know it’s a while before Christmas, but everyone else opened theirs, so..”

“You want me to open mine now.” Keith says and Hunk nods as a response. Keith glances at the decorative boxes before moving towards the bed, going to sit down on the edge. “There sure is a lot of them..”

“Of course. Is that bad? I have receipts for everything you don’t like, but this is our first Christmas together in the apartment. I wanted it to be special,” Hunk tells him, sitting down right besides him and placing a hand on his shoulder. “But I have a feeling you’ll like them all.”

Keith smiles softly at Hunk and starts from smallest to biggest. Most of the items are either sensory toys or clothing – which the latter Keith did not have enough of. His clothes are either all of the same things with either black or red or hand-me-downs from Shiro when he started living with him. Keith never complained, but he found cloth shopping to take up too much of his time and very draining. Which is why he rarely goes shopping with Hunk, and Keith prefers buying things online over going into the stores.

There were shirts, and pants, and athletic wear – so many clothes Keith feels as if it’s too much. Hunk’s the best boyfriend he could ask for; accepting and stuck with him for nearly three years, and even longer before they became boyfriends. Keith gets to his last box, the biggest one of the stack. He opens it, and there’s jogging pants and a new jacket in there, and underneath those two items is a new binder. Keith freezes when his eyes land on it. He was just thinking that he needed a new binder, and Hunk went around and got him another one. He looks up at Hunk, with wide eyes and jaw dropped. Hunk has a wide smile on his face but fades into confusion when he sees Keith’s reaction.

“Do you not like it?” Hunk questions. “You’ve been wearing the same one for a long time now. It might not be worn out because you take good care of it, but you really needed a new one, Keith, so..”

“No!” the sudden response and the raise of his tone made Hunk flinch for a moment. “No, I mean.. I love it. I love everything. You seem to have read my mind since I was thinking how I needed a new binder anyway. You’re so-- you’re so thoughtful, Hunk, and I love that so much about you. And no matter how many times I tell you that I don’t deserve you, well-- to be honest, I don’t? I really don’t, especially on holidays and birthdays because you go all out and yet, it’s so hard for me to find the perfect gifts for you..”

Keith lets out a deep breath and moves from the bed to their closet, opening the door and taking out the gift bags he had for Hunk. There were three of them; two large and a medium sized one. And compared to all the gifts Hunk got for Keith, the gifts he got for Hunk couldn’t possibly own up to what Hunk got him. Keith’s nervous, but he hands the bags over anyway and sits back down on the bed, pushing his presents off to the side. That gives Hunk enough space to open them, starting with the medium sized bag. In that bag, there’s several small things. There’s a small box, that contained a watch; beautiful and silver with a black band and a buckle for a clasp. He knows how much of a fan Hunk is of Disney, as well as the Kingdom Hearts games, and with Keith being a fan of Hot Topic, it seemed easy to find Disney merchandise for the big guy.

And you can never have enough knick-knacks, which is one of the many things Keith was looking for. They had a few empty shelves in their bedroom and living room, not the mention all the space they had on the front of their fridge. Sure, there were having a few magnets, but Hot Topic was having a good deal on their Disney magnets, so Keith had picked up quite a few of them. He grabbed Belle and Chip from Beauty and the Beast and then the two Kingdom Hearts magnets of Sora and Riku. There were a few blind bags in there; one of Mickey and friends, the other having Aladdin, Abu, King Triton, Genie, and then the animals and/or mascots from other movies, and the third blind bag is of the Disney Princesses. They’re all keychains, and he knows Hunk will find some place to put them up for show. Finally, there’s a pop figure of a Heartless from Kingdom Hearts, one of Rajah from Aladdin, and one of Mulan.

In the two larger bags, one contained a new jacket; big and bulky so Hunk can layer up underneath without feeling stiff. And the other large bag had a ‘Funcle’ shirt since Keith knows how much Hunk loves his nieces and nephews, a couple long sleeved shirts, and a cookbook. He knows Hunk has several cookbooks, as well as a container filled with recipe cards, only this one is a 365 days of cookies cookbook. Hunk snorts at the name, and even though he silently agrees he has enough recipes, he and Keith could try out some of these recipes together.

“Aw, Keith..” Hunk starts, scooting over to his boyfriend. He hugs him close, pecking kisses all over his face. “How can you say that you don’t deserve me? You’re gifts are perfect, Keith, and I love every single one, just like how I love you.”

“That’s so cheesy that we’re going to have a mice infested apartment.”

“Mm, I don’t care.” Hunk continues peppering kisses over Keith’s face, making his poor boyfriend squirm from all the attention. “As long as they don’t interrupt us.”

“Huuuunk. We have to get back to the party!”

“They’ll be fine without us,” Hunk says and then he sighs, pulling back a little before resting his forehead on Keith’s. “Merry Christmas, Keith.”