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Hot steam emanated from Kinich's mug as he sipped hot chocolate to warm his throat on that cold day, the warm ceramic soothing his icy fingers, seated on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, he watched the snow falling through the window. This was the first time Kinich had seen snow, as winter in Natlan was never cold enough to reach this point, and he certainly wasn't used to such low temperatures, but he still found the way the snow fell very beautiful.
He was taking another sip of his drink when his ears caught the sound of the front door opening, accompanied by some clinking he didn't recognize, and, turning his head towards the entrance, Kinich saw a person carrying boxes so large that they practically hid him behind them, the only thing visible was the blonde braid swaying with the other's steps.
"Aether, let me help you."
Kinich said as he placed the mug on the coffee table and quickly stood up to meet Aether. He didn't wait for a reply and picked up the box that was on top of the other, which seemed about to fall due to the other's precarious balance, allowing Aether's face to become visible again.
“Oh, Kinich, thank you. I think I underestimated my ability to carry everything at once a little. I almost fell several times because I couldn't see properly, haha!”
Despite what he said, Aether's expression was very cheerful.
“Why would you do that? You could have hurt yourself!”
Kinich lightly scolded him while looking at the contents of the box. What he saw completely captured his attention: they were balls in gold, red, and green, shiny and beautiful. They were Christmas decorations! Kinich knew what they looked like, after all, he had seen other places decorated with them.
Aether chuckled a little at this reprimand, but he knew Kinich was right. He was lucky the apartment had an elevator, it saved him a lot of trouble.
“I didn't want to make two trips to bring everything.”
“That's typical of you.”
Kinich answered, but his attention was really on the ornaments, since, although he had seen them before, he had never held ornaments himself. His father never allowed them to spend money on that.
“Where did you get all this?”
He asked as he followed Aether to the living room window, where the blond man placed his box on the floor, then Kinich did the same.
“I got them from the old house where I lived with Lumine. If I could, I would keep everything here to save the trip every year, but there’s no space.”
“I understand. And what are you going to do now?”
“We’re going to decorate the apartment.”
This answer surprised Kinich, and he just looked shocked at Aether, who was unwrapping the tree and setting it up, and shyly pointed to himself.
“We? You mean… me too?”
Aether looked slightly confused at Kinich, after all, for him, the situation was quite clear, but still affirmed in response:
“Yes, that’s what I meant.”
This left Kinich even more shaken, and he truly didn't know how he should act at the moment. After all, he had never decorated anything before, and, looking away in embarrassment, he expressed his concerns.
“I don't think I'll be of much help… I've never decorated anything, so I don't know how to do it. And I really don't want to get in the way, so…”
Silence filled the room for a while after that, and Kinich focused his gaze on his hands, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He was extremely embarrassed, and with each second that Aether didn't respond, it worsened. Kinich had no idea what Aether was thinking or what expression he was making; after all, he didn't have the courage to look at the other's face. All he could think was that perhaps the blond would eventually tire of him.
But, in truth, Aether was only silent because this was shocking information he was processing. He was devastated to realize that yet another wonderful experience had been snatched away from Kinich, and he took a deep breath to calm the anger that had grown inside him—not against Kinich, but against the person who had stolen all of this from Kinich. By the Archons, if he ever finds the one responsible for all this misfortune, he will smash the bastard's face in.
But he forced this feeling deep into his chest, swallowing the almost violent urge to destroy someone who wasn't even there. It was no use now. All that mattered was Kinich—the Kinich who was in front of him, nervous, insecure, feeling like a burden. He couldn't change the past, but he could create a different future.
Calmly, Aether took Kinich's hands, making him look surprised at their joined hands, and gently pulled him close, beside the tree. "Kinich…"
Aether's voice came out softer than he intended, carrying something warm and sincere. "Look at me."
It took a few seconds, but Kinich obeyed. His eyes slowly rose, hesitant, expecting some kind of disapproval that never came. Instead, he met a small, genuine smile and a look full of affection.
“You won’t get in the way at all,” Aether continued. “And you don’t need to know how to do anything. Decorating isn’t about doing it right, it’s just… doing it.”
Kinich blinked a few times, processing those words.
“But… what if I put something wrong? Or ugly?”
He asked in a low, almost childlike voice, like someone who had been criticized too many times in the past. Aether chuckled softly.
“There’s no such thing as ugly or wrong when it comes to decorating,” he shrugged. “We can do it our way.”
This answer drew a different kind of silence from Kinich. It wasn’t uncomfortable anymore—it was surprise. The concept of “our way” was still too new for him, something that warmed his chest and scared him at the same time.
Aether reached for one of the boxes and picked up a bright red ball, placing it delicately in Kinich’s palm.
“Start with this one.”
Kinich looked at the ornament as if it were something too fragile, too precious. His fingers touched the smooth surface carefully, reflecting his own distorted face in the ball's shine.
“Like this… anywhere?” He asked, pointing to the still slightly crooked tree.
“Anywhere” Aether replied.
With cautious steps, Kinich approached the tree. He slowly raised his arm, choosing a lower branch, as if afraid of making a mistake even there. He carefully attached the ornament and, when finished, took a step back to observe.
The feeling was something he never thought he would feel before, reminding him, for some reason, of when he was younger and dreamed of filling a tree with beautiful ornaments. It was an overwhelming emotion that attacked his heart—a dream fulfilled, while at the same time feeling joy at hanging his first ornament.
Kinich couldn't describe what that feeling was, he only knew that he felt strangely emotional, to the point of not being able to hold back a small smile. God, Kinich wasn't used to feelings of accomplishment and happiness in his life, so all of this was a strange but welcome concept.
Aether watched everything in silence, with a proud smile that Kinich didn't get to see. He approached from behind, without touching, just getting close enough for his presence to be felt.
"See?" Aether commented. “Easy, isn’t it?”
“Yes… I don’t know why I never tried.”
Or rather, he did know, but it wasn’t a subject he intended to address now.
“It doesn’t matter why you never did it. What matters is that, from now on, you will.”
Aether picked up another ornament—this time golden—and hung it on the opposite side of the red ball.
“Shall we fill up this tree? Or just two balls will look kind of boring.”
This elicited a low laugh from Kinich, surprised, almost incredulous. He quickly brought his hand to his mouth, as if he wasn’t used to laughing like that, without guilt, but he surrendered to Aether’s enthusiasm and picked up another red ornament, choosing a branch to hang it on.
Gradually, more ornaments appeared on the tree. Kinich began to let go, choosing colors, testing positions, sometimes asking Aether's opinion, sometimes just doing it the way he thought was beautiful. Aether never corrected him. Never changed anything afterward.
When the tree was finally full, the two stepped back a few paces to observe the result. It wasn't perfect. Some ornaments were too close together, others too far apart. But it seemed alive. And the fact that it was the two of them together who had transformed that tree filled Kinich with pride. He was so happy that, without realizing it, he had a huge smile on his face.
"It's... beautiful," he said honestly. "I never thought... that I would ever do this."
Aether turned to him. "Then let's do everything you never could," he said firmly. "One thing at a time." Kinich swalowed hard, feeling that familiar tightness threaten to return—but this time, it didn't hurt as much. He nodded slowly.
"Thank you... for not giving up on me."
Aether didn't respond with words. He simply opened his arms. After a brief moment of hesitation, Kinich approached and let himself be enveloped in Aether's arms, feeling the warmth that contrasted with the cold outside and, for the first time, understanding that perhaps… perhaps things really could be different.