Day 6 - Christmas Lights

                                    

                                          
"Keith, why on Earth do you have so many lights?" Lance asked, bewildered, as he sorted through the bins and bins of colored Christmas lights, searching for one, just one, that wasn't tangled up into a big ball of knots. 
                          
"For my faithful 'Stranger Things' recreation each year!" Keith called back, off in the living room of his apartment sorting tree ornaments. 
                          
"Oh my god..." Lance sighed under his breath, rolling his eyes, "You are way too addicted to that show, you beautiful piece of shit." 

                          
"What?"
                          
"Nothing, my lovely boyfriend!" Lance ran a hand through his hair, frankly stunned at the sheer amount of Christmas lights this boy managed to store in his 'storage room', which was really just an office that Keith had no use for as a work spot, but plenty of use for as a bit of a hoarder.
                          
"There should be a relatively untangled set in a small box by the closet," Keith called to Lance, and the Cuban stepped over several rolls of Christmas wrapping paper to get to the box. Peeking inside, he noticed that he and Keith had pretty different versions of 'relatively untangled', but the lights would have to do. 
                          
Carrying the cardboard box into the living room where Keith was, Lance settled down on the floor and got to work unknotting the strands of lights. 
                          
Keith's apartment was small but nice- two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a decently large balcony that Keith and Lance liked to sit out on in the summer and springtime. Now, it was too cold for the balcony, but Keith had hung a wreath on the iron bars to make it look more festive. 
                          
Inside the apartment, it always smelled like tea and old books, sort of like a library, but Keith wouldn't let Lance burn any of his sweet or floral Yankee Candle scents in the apartment because he only liked the pine ones. So, per Lance's request, several candles with green wax and low flames burned around the apartment, keeping it smelling fresh and seasonal. 
                          
The other thing that Lance liked most about Keith's apartment was the bar where you could eat your food at and sit at to do work, but, for now, the long counter was covered in boxes of holiday decorations and other knick-knacks that Krolia had brought the last time she'd visited. 
                          
Keith hadn't had anywhere to put the things at the time, but now that he and Lance had gone out and got a Christmas tree, Keith was gradually working through the ornaments and only saving the special ones so that the rest could be donated.
                          
Lance had really helped Keith with his hoarding problem, which was good for both of them, and, within months, the apartment had gone from musty and cluttered to fresh-scented and clean. 
                          
But, at the moment, Lance felt like a mess as he worked through the knots in the Christmas lights, trying to find loops and twists that would allow them to come free of the giant knot they were in. "Seriously, babe, how do you even manage to do this...?" Lance asked quietly, laughing to himself as he undid a section of the lights. 
                          
"Lots of practice," Keith joked, hanging a few glass icicles on the tree. Lance smiled at him, amused.
                          
After a good ten minutes of undoing the countless knots and whatnot in the string of Christmas lights, Lance was finally able to untie the last double-knot, letting the strands of tiny bulbs fall to his lap. It was only then that he realized that, while he was untying the knots, he unconsciously spread the extra wires around himself. But, instead of being organized, the wires crossed over and around each other, trapping Lance in some sort of fragile, colorful net. 
                          
Lance almost couldn't believe how stupid he was. Standing, he watched in vain as the lights lifted with him, crossing and twisting over his own frame. Just then, Keith walked in and, at the sight of his poor boyfriend, burst out laughing
                          
Despite how dumb he'd been, Lance couldn't help but laugh along- laughter from Keith was seldom and savory and Lance wanted the sound to last forever.
                          
Still chuckling, Keith stepped forward, pulling Lance to him by his shoulders, his dark eyes continuing to laugh. 
                          
"I know I'm dumb, okay?" Lance groaned mournfully, his body trapped in the mess of wires he'd built himself into. 
                          
Keith shook his head and kissed Lance softly. No tongue, no hands in Lance's hair, nothing like that. Just a soft, melting kiss that made Lance's heart beat faster. "No, you're not," Keith whispered, stroking Lance's cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Now, let's get these off you. We have a tree to decorate."