Christmas tended to come and go like any other day for Keith; it wasn’t something he’d ever celebrated, because…there had never really been anyone to celebrate with. Cubone had been with him for years, of course, but neither of them really had kept track of the days, not when time had mostly passed with the two of them wandering from town to town, hoping that the next day would bring food or a place to sleep.
Except now they had both, in the Day Care that Shiro ran with his dad. And when the festive lights started going up around the house, Keith noticed that Cubone became increasingly interested in the changes to the décor, where before they were just concerned with having enough food to eat. Given the rapt way that Cubone was watching Shiro cart around tinsel and fairy lights, Keith should’ve known that it would get up to some sort of mischief. So he really shouldn’t have been surprised when he chanced upon a hoard of baubles under its bed, after Shiro had made an offhand comment about missing a few decorations.
“You can’t just take all of them,” Keith tried to explain, but his words were getting nowhere in the face of a stubborn frown. “They’re Shiro’s; you have to give them back.”
But Cubone simply shook its head, crossing small arms and glaring.
“You know,” someone said from behind Keith, “I think it learned that from you.”
Keith turned around, glaring at Shiro. “Did not.”
When Shiro prodded at Keith’s forehead, Keith ignored the rapid beating of his heart. “Right there. See? It’s your legendary glare.” Shiro grinned at Keith before looking down at their resident thief. “So that’s where all my baubles went.”
Keith sighed. “I’m sorry, I tried to explain that they’re not for the taking.”
Shiro shrugged. “I don’t mind. I have told you, this is your home too now.”
“Cubone seems to like all the Christmassy stuff going on. You guys ever do much of it?” Shiro’s tone was delicate, and Keith knew that he probably already realised the answer to that question. Still, he appreciated the politeness.
“No,” he said quietly. “Never had the…time.” Or money. Or house.
“Well, how about this.” Shiro sat down on the floor, meeting Cubone’s eye. “I’ll let you keep them. But you have to help me decorate the tree.” He smiled, and Cubone look enamoured with the gentle tilt of his smile and the glint in his eye.
Keith knew that feeling all too well.
Slowly, Cubone nodded, before it picked up one bauble solemnly to place in Shiro’s hand. Then it grabbed another, depositing it carefully in Shiro’s lap.
Shiro laughed. “That’s gonna take a while, why don’t you get Keith to help too? After all, he figured out the mystery of the missing baubles. Must be Christmas magic.”
Keith couldn’t help but smile when Cubone turned to him as well, handing him one of its treasured decorations. It looked happier than Keith had seen it in years, and when Keith watched Shiro smiling widely, his gentle kindness pouring from his heart, he thought that maybe it was more Shiro’s magic than anything else.
