It starts every November.
October's air isn't quite crisp enough for Matthew to start (and sometimes he even waits until the first snow until he gives up shaving for the winter.) It's a funny sort of ritual, but one he keeps every year.
..
Alfred complains about the stubble, how it pricks him when they're lying in bed and Matthew runs his teeth down his back. He'll wake up with red marks, burns and scratches on his back and thighs and each place Matthew had gotten to the night before and he isn't sure if he likes the prickly in between phase until he scratches at his burns and bites his lip—thinks about everything they had done a few hours earlier.
Maybe it isn't so bad.
..
By the time January is blown in by rough winds and heavy snows and even colder air his jaw is blonde and fuzzy now, Alfred says after he kisses him, he's fuzzy and it's fun to kiss him when his beard tickles. (Sometimes he plays with it, runs a hand over Matthew's jaw, pulls gently and kisses him on the cheek once before kissing him on the lips.)
Their kiss on New Year's Eve is always longer than it should be with others around, but they don't pay much attention. Alfred says it's the most fun to kiss him in January and Matthew takes it to heart, waits for the first month of the year with more anticipation and excitement than Christmas (but he doesn't let Alfred have the satisfaction of knowing that.)
..
Early March means shaving again, unless the biting cold decides to last longer.
Sometimes Alfred will shave his jaw for him, set him down on a chair in the kitchen and go to work (usually taking time in between to kiss and Matthew smiles, tells him he can go longer than that without kissing him even though he doesn't really want Alfred to stop.)
He runs his hand over his mouth, over his chin, and under his jaw and every year it's the same odd feeling—he has time to get used to the stubble on his chin growing out but never his beard when it's shaved away in almost no time at all. He forgets what he looks like for part of the year, almost doesn't like himself once it's gone but Alfred will smile and say he's handsome any which way and it certainly helps the doubt.