"No,"

"But Kei, it's Christmas! We have to at least decorate a little bit!"

Kei sighed and went back to his book, doing his best to ignore Shouyou's puppy dog eyes. He knew what they did to Kei and damn it he was doing it on purpose. Shouyou knew exactly how cute he was and was constantly using it to Kei's disadvantage. It was just as annoying as it was endearing.

"Kei, come on. Just a couple lights? Oh, and a tree, because we have to have a tree!" Shouyou was practically lying on Kei, draped over his boyfriend to try to distract him from his quickly-failing reading attempt. Unfortunately for Kei, it was working.

"And why do we have to have a tree?" Kei closed his book and set it aside with a sigh; he knew there was no way he'd be doing any reading until this argument was over.

Shouyou flopped into his lap where the book had been, looking up at Kei with his stupidly endearing pout. "Because it's Christmas! We have to have a tree so we can decorate it and so that we can put presents under it and open them and have hot chocolate and cuddle and stuff!"

Kei stared at Shouyou for a long moment, visibly unimpressed. Even with as childish as Shouyou was being, his wide, eager eyes got to Kei quicker than he would've liked to admit. He had always been weak to Shouyou's puppy dog eyes and his pout, both of which Shouyou was using against him at the moment.

"Fine. Only a little bit, though. Nothing over the top, got it, shrimp?"

Shouyou pouted more at the nickname, but his eyes were still shining happily so Kei knew that he hadn't truly taken it to heart. "Of course! When have I ever gone over the top with anything?"

Kei raised an eyebrow skeptically at his boyfriend; the cute-and-innocent wasn't as effective that time. "Oh, I don't know, every birthday party ever?"

Shouyou opened his mouth to argue, then closed it and pouted. Kei smirked; even Shouyou couldn't deny that he went more than a little overboard for celebrations. After a moment he got over it, in typical Shouyou fashion, and bounced over to the cupboard that held the Christmas decorations Kei's mother had forced her son to bring with him when he moved into his and Shouyou's apartment. Shouyou cut open the tape with a pair of scissors, then his face fell when he looked inside.

"Is this it?"

Kei turned around, raising an eyebrow. Shouyou was holding the two strands of lights and the door wreath that had been in the box, looking at Kei incredulously as if he couldn't believe his boyfriend.

"Yes. Is that an issue?" Kei didn't see what the deal was. They lived in a relatively small apartment; they didn't need a ton of decoration.

Shouyou stared at Kei like he was insane. "Yes, it's an issue! This isn't enough at all! We have to go shopping."

Shouyou bustled around, grabbing coats and shoes, as Kei watched. Shouyou's spontaneity never failed to shock him. "Now?"

"Now. Get up, lazy!" Shouyou tossed a coat at Kei and the only reason it didn't hit him in the face is because of years of volleyball conditioning.

"Why do I have to come? You're the one who wants to do the decorating."

Shouyou's face went red and he turned away, pretending to be fiddling with his already-tied shoe laces. He mumbled something that Kei didn't quite catch.

"What was that?" Shouyou went even redder and turned around, glaring at Kei.

"I said that I need you to reach the tall shelves!"

Kei snickered, hiding his smirk with the back of his hand. "I see."

Shouyou threw a shoe at Kei this time. Kei decided that he had teased his boyfriend enough for the next fifteen or so minutes and slipped on his shoes and jacket, then wrapped a scarf around Shouyou's neck. Shouyou grinned and pulled Kei down for a kiss.

"Don't forget your gloves," Kei said, trying to ignore the heat in his cheeks. Shouyou grinned brightly and slipped his gloves on his hands, wiggling his fingers at Kei.

"I've got them! Now come on, let's go!" Shouyou grabbed Kei's hand and pulled him out the door, barely leaving time for Kei to lock the apartment door behind them.

Shouyou lead – read: dragged – Kei down the stairs and out of the apartment building, chattering the whole time. As much as Kei complained, he didn't mind; Shouyou's voice was bright and happy and made Kei feel warm. He knew how lucky he was to have Shouyou as a boyfriend and did his best to make sure Shouyou knew how much he was appreciated. It probably didn't work because Kei was still too socially awkward for his own good, but at least he ended up trying. It was more than he could say for a lot of things.

Shouyou prattled on as he shopped, letting Kei stay mostly silent for once. It was nice to just be able to sit and listen; one thing that Shouyou didn't understand was that sometimes Kei just didn't want to try to hold a two-sided conversation. Sometimes Kei just wanted to observe, even if being a bystander in his own life was considered lonely by outsiders.

When they got back to the apartment, laden with far too many bags for Kei's taste, he left it up to Shouyou to do the actual decorating. Shouyou flitted around the apartment, hanging lights and putting together the small fake tree they had bought and hanging the wreath on the door so that it was centered just so. He was still talking. Every time he wanted approval for something, Shouyou would turn to Kei with bright, hopeful eyes. Every time, Kei would nod and Shouyou would grin, then fling himself at Kei and kiss him. Kei had to admit that if he had known that letting Shouyou decorate would get him kisses every two or three minutes, he would've agreed a hell of a lot sooner.

When he was done, Shouyou made hot chocolate and curled up beside Kei on the sofa. With Shouyou in his lap and the apartment dark, Kei couldn't deny that the tree looked good. Kei got the feeling that that first Christmas in their apartment would be neither the last nor the best and he looked forward to the next several years.