Arthur had never been particularly fond of winter. It was too cold for his liking. And wet. He wasn't used to snow - he had grown up in a rainy environment - but after a while, he concluded that it was just as wet as rain, and he wanted nothing to do with it.
Sure, there were a few things he liked about winter, such as Christmas or New Years (New Years especially; it was typically celebrated with alcohol), but it was generally an unhappy, irritating period of time. It was slightly improved in that this was the first year in which Arthur didn't have to put up with any of his older brothers for the majority of break (though they would all, sadly, be home for Christmas). He had to deal with Peter, but at least he was old enough by now not to need a babysitter. It was his third winter in America, and he was sure that it would be spent in the same manner as his second year - that is, being dragged around by Alfred.
Currently, the two of them were Christmas shopping. Neither of them had been allowed to take a car, so they were forced to spend the majority of the morning huddled together for warmth on buses. By the time they stumbled out of the bus and into the mall parking lot, Arthur was freezing.
"Alright, let's go!" Alfred said cheerfully, and yanked on Arthur's hand. Upon seeing that Arthur was gloveless that morning (Peter had taken them), Alfred had proclaimed, loudly and boisterously, that no hero would allow such a fair maiden (Arthur had punched him for that) to go gloveless. He had given one of his gloves to Arthur, and told him to stick his other hand in his pocket. Alfred, being Alfred, had ulterior motives, and had used the fact that they each a had a hand that could be exposed to the elements to create an excuse for holding hands. Arthur hadn't bothered retaliating.
"Hey, look, it's one of those Salvation Army guys!" Alfred exclaimed, dragging Arthur by the hand behind him. Arthur cussed a little, and grudgingly allowed himself to be pulled along.
Alfred stopped abruptly in front of the bell ringer, who smiled up at him (women always smiled up at Alfred), and released Arthur's gloved hand. He patted himself down for a moment, and fished out his wallet. He spent a few minutes rifling through it, frowning, and looked up at his boyfriend. "Artiiiiiiiiiie?"
"What?"
"Do you have any change?" Arthur scowled and pulled out his wallet. He found two dollar bills and a few loose coins, and passed them to Alfred. "You're an idiot. Here you go, love."
Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw the Salvation Army bell ringer go stiff. She had begun to make a face, too, but caught herself and instead gave a thin smile to Alfred.
"Thank you," she said, a little tightly.
"No Problem!" Alfred said with a big smile. He turned to Arthur, and asked him brightly, "You ready to go?"
Arthur slipped his gloved hand into Alfred's and reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheeks. "Of course." He tugged lightly on Alfred's hand, guiding him toward the doors. "Merry Christmas," he called over his shoulder to the bell ringer, who stuttered her own Christmas wishes back to him.
"What was that about?" Alfred asked Arthur, amused, once they were in the store and beginning to de-thaw. "Not that I'm complaining."
Arthur brushed it away. "Don't worry about it. Now, what was it you were looking for?"
AN: ahhhhhhhhhhhhh this stuff is so old! Sorry! This is like, the oldest of the batch.