Under My Skin

Ornaments And Eggnog

I ran to answer the knock on my door, my shirt not even buttoned back up all the way yet.

"Connor!!" I threw the door open for him, smiling already

"Hey, you! ...Did you get a haircut?" He welcomed himself in, setting his bags down on the kitchen floor

"I did, I-I just finished cutting it, actually.." I nodded, clumsily attempting to button up my shirt

"Look at you.. you look so handsome!" He took over for me, slipping the last two buttons through the slit in the fabric for me, my hands a little too shaky to make much progress

"Thank you.. I-I haven't done it in a while, I was nervous I'd mess it up.."

"You look great.. Merry Christmas, Kevvy." He grinned

"It's not Christmas yet."

"Okay, fine, Christmas Eve, but if we're going to decorate, you'd better change your attitude, I don't want to hang ornaments with a grump."

"That's fair."

Connor made his way over to the record player,  beginning to flip through the records in the shelf beneath.

"What are you trying to find?"

"Something Christmas-y."

"I only have the Sinatra Christmas album.."

"That'll do." He pulled the record and put it on, the familiar faint crackling of the old vinyl almost soothing to me.

"..I-I bought eggnog"

"....Really?"

"Yeah.. y-you seem surprised."

"I am."

"Why? I love eggnog, always have.. my mother used to buy it from the store every Christmas. Do you want a glass..?"

"That sounds wonderful."

"Coming right up" I scurried back into the kitchen, opening up the previously refrigerated bottle and pouring it into two glasses. "Cinnamon?"

"Please and thank you."

I returned to the living room no more than thirty seconds later, with both of our drinks, lightly topped with cinnamon

"For you" I handed him his glass

"Thank you, Sir" he chuckled, taking a small sip

I followed, taking a much larger sip than his.

"Wow" he scoffed in disbelief

"What?"

"You just go for it, huh?"

"Yeah.. you don't?"

"No, I have to pace myself."

"...I mean, I guess it's a lot of dairy.." I took another swig "this one tastes a little different than usual, though.. different brand, though.. I bought the glass bottle this time, it looked fancier.."

"Ah. I usually get the cheap stuff, then mix in that fancy-ass bourbon Steve left behind.. though, I hid that when I heard my parents were coming"

"Not a fan of Steve?"

"Not a fan of alcohol. They don't know I was back with him."