Fighting in space war for three yours threw everything pretty hard. Internal clock, sense of gravity and orientation, as well as expectations for climates. Visiting all these alien planets had Keith forced to get used to the extremes of extremes, neutral temperatures, and entirely new phenomena. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to experience an Earth winter.

He’d outgrown his winter clothes that he’d had, both by the force of muscle growth and the last stand of puberty. And, through oversight and the busyness of work, he’d put off actually buying new things. He’d refurbished his normal wardrobe but was left without any kind of jacket or thick pants when cold temperatures actually hit. And they hit fast. So he was forced to go and shop in the first snow of the year, wearing clothes that were only really good for late fall temperatures, to buy himself something insulated. He was back quick, not as quickly as he’d liked to be, he was freezing, but he had never been the type to dawdle while shopping.

Coming in through the front door of his shack, he shook the snow from his shoulders with a grunt, not paying you any mind yet as he was busy scrunching up his nose at the snow melting into the doormat.

You were inside, preparing for the holidays. Keith knew, of course, about all the winter festivities—more than the average person did, given his tour around multiple galaxies—he hadn’t been completely isolated as a child. But he had been orphaned. Orphaned and outcast. So while he knew of Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and all that, he’d never truly participated. Occasionally, his class would do some kind of activity or have a mini secret Santa game. But the real family experience had never been there. So he’d left it completely up to you to fix.

“Got a coat.”

He called into the small home as he hung up the item, fingers lingering on the thick sleeves as if coming to terms with his necessary purchase.

“How’s decorating?”