A wild Zephyr appears!
Hugh did not have one of those as-seen-on-television type grandmothers who knitted Christmas gifts for their grandchildren every year. He'd never even learned to appreciate the fact until it was already too late. His boyfriend did have one of those grandmothers, and a grandfather too, and Hugh was learning how to deal with itchy sweaters and images of dancing Stantlers parading his clothes for the first time.
Their sweaters matched. Nate's grandparents sent him a sweater every year without fail, and this year they'd started on two as soon as they heard he was dating.
As soon as Hugh came out of the washroom, changed, Nate looked him over. The expression on his face was thoughtful, but not what Hugh had been hoping for. What he wanted was for Nate to burst out laughing or point out how ridiculous they both looked, so he could go back into the washroom, change back into his normal clothes, and dump that sweater in his closet where he could pretend it never existed.
...When that didn't happen, Hugh attempted subtlety. His mother had given him careful instruction in rejecting a gift he didn't want once, after an unfortunate fourth grade birthday party. He'd hated it at the time, but felt bad for making that kid cry later – and that was basically the result of his early experiences with "unleashing his rage". Hugh had learned to give warnings first.
"Um, you know, I appreciate the gift and all, but your grandmother really didn't have to do this. Really."
"Grandad helped too!" Nate reminded him. He had all the enthusiasm of a child receiving their most wanted toy on Christmas morning – but this wasn't even December anymore, and Hugh couldn't see the appeal no matter how he looked at it. "Actually, Grandad was the one who started first – Granny has been knitting since before I was born too though, so I think they're both almost equally good at knitting?"
Too bad the quality of the sweater wasn't what was bothering Hugh right now. But there was no way to make Nate understand that, was there?
"By the way, they're expecting pictures, so sit still..."
"Have you told them you have a boyfriend?" Hugh asked. "I don't think-"
"They're totally okay with it! Now smile, Hugh!"
He found it difficult, to say the least.