#thought you might like the horse. she's named after hot cocoa which is very appropriate right now

[luna-loveboop]

Snow day!!

I went riding with Cocoa :D

Sandy came too <3

sometimes there's things in this world that make me glad to be here

sometimes ❄️

[sunnybimbo]

I have no idea if I’ll ever finish this fic but have a preview anyway!

shunkeith old west au? more or less _(´ω`_)⌒)_

Snow weighs down heavy on Hunk's roof, but it's packed enough that it helps to keep the heat in as he lights his fireplace. The logs he'd stuffed it full off burn bright, bathing him in the comfortable warmth.

Winter wasn't hitting their town hard this year, thank heavens. Instead of the usual arguing, he'd noticed the townsfolk actually laughing and singing this year, joyful for the bountiful winter holiday.

Hunk, even, is rewarding himself with a nice mug of hot cocoa in the biggest mug he owned. It warms him through the wool gloves he wears- a gift from Keith. They match his exponentially, fingerless and all, except they're a stark mix of grayish white rather than his black.

When he shifts his weight from one leg to the other, the pretty blanket in his lap hardly shifts with him, it's so thick. A gift from Shiro, actually.

It leaves him giddy to know he's surrounded by warmth not only from a fire, but by two beaus of his own.

Even though the fact that he has two suitors has been a source of anxiety for him recently. Was it unfair of both of them that they've both shown interest- and he turned away neither? It was, probably. But he hadn't the faintest what to do.

If he were being truly honest with himself, he enjoyed their company too much- enjoyed the attention even more. Learning the private parts of them both was the highest point of his life so far, and he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he were suddenly cut off.

With a dramatic sigh, Hunk stands. He keeps the blanket tucked around his shoulders, though, careful not to let the wool catch against yarn.

Almost as soon as he does, there's a faint saunter of hooves crunching across snow and a brief knock to his door.

Shiro and Keith are huddled underneath his awning, neither appropriated dressed for the weather. Shiro's hat is stacked high with icy snow, and a few snowflakes fall around him in circles- as if he were Jack Frost himself.

Hunk snickers at the thought, all the while ushering them in. "What happens to bring you two over this way?"

"Your library was closed." Keith carefully steps into the corner, out of the way.

Hunk takes Shiro's hat, dusting it off on the porch before he neatly sets it back atop Shiro's head. It'd probably be too hard to do so himself with one arm, after all. "I didn't even know the two of y'all knew each other."

Shiro's eyebrows furrowed, troubled by just that short sentence even as he gratefully dips down low to accept his hat back upon his head. "Didn't you? I must’ve brought Keith up before."

"Not by name, but that's just fine." Hunk laughs, inviting them further into his home, which feels especially small with three people in it, and prepares to fix them both a mug of cocoa. "I had a feelin' you'd've known each other, though. I shouldn't be surprised none."

Keith awkwardly stands near the couch, but Hunk quickly fixes that as he waits for the milk to warm. He presses both his hands to Keith's shoulders, atop the poncho he wears that resembles something more akin to a cloak, and gently urges him to sit on the cushions. When Hunk turns to Shiro with the same look, he quickly follows by example and very primly sits beside him.

They both catch eyes, one pair helpless and one amused, just as Hunk turns away. "We came to ask you something."  Shiro says, finally, as Hunk puts the final touches on the cocoa.

"Oh? And what might that be?" For added taste, he cuts a small piece of chocolate in half and plops each into their drinks before hauling them over.

"Come with us." It's Keith that speaks, but Hunk swears he can hear the both of them sending the thought directly to his brain- the intent is so strong. They're watching him keenly, backlit by the flames of his hearth, and Hunk feels small in the moment. Not in a bad way, no, but entirely tiny in comparison to either of the two.

It takes Hunk by an immense amount of surprise when his voice doesn't tremble as he mumbles, "Where?" as soft as can be.

"On a trip. Wherever you'd like, if that much matters." Keith starts the sentence and Shiro picks up the thought without pause, as if they shared the same tongue, with, "We missed you while we were away."

They'd gone away to herd some cattle for coin, right when the first snow had started to stick to the roads. Hunk wasn't expecting the empty void in his gut that took up the space they'd left him with, and already it's filled to the brim with them just sitting on his couch.

He wants to say, "I missed you, too," but he finds himself nervously focusing on the first half of the sentence. Instead he says, "For how long would I- we- be gone?"

"A week? Two, if the weather stays ornery."

The first thing Hunk thinks of is the library. It'll be standing tall even with him away, so he isn't much too worried about it. If worse comes to worse, he can finagle Lance to watching over it and keep it closed up for the holiday.

The second thing he thinks of is his horse. She's an old, tired thing with a mane colored and shaped like sunlight, and heavy footsteps. He loves her so, his Sundrop, but she might be too frail to survive a week- or two- long journey.

And the third, and final, thing he thinks of is himself. A trip, alone, with two men whom he has the most intense of... feelings for. He's read of polygamy before, of course, but would they want that? Would they be willing- or is he assuming too much of their feelings? 

He doesn't mean to wearily sigh, but it obviously takes the both of them back. Keith's scowl is loud enough to speak an entire book's worth, and Shiro carefully places that mask on his face- neutral and uncaring.

"Could I... have a little time? 'Fore I give my answer." Hunk doesn't look them in the eye- turns away completely, actually, under the guise of swirling the melted marshmallows around his lukewarm cocoa.

He hears them shift on the couch. The sound of their spurs shifting and jingling makes his anxiety spike and urge a wave of nausea through his gut, even though he knows they'd never do anything rash enough to hurt him. How he knows, he isn't sure, but it's truer than true.

It’s only when he can't take the noisy coiling in his stomach any longer that he turns back to them.

They both have introspective frowns on their faces. He isn't sure if it's a good expression, but they turn and nod at each other- and just how long have they been together, anyway, to be so in tune?- before they stand and politely offer Hunk back the drinks he'd made.

"We understand." Shiro says. He ushers Keith to the door, and Hunk hurries to follow after them. "I'll return my book next time we come to town, if that's alright."

"Oh!" Hunk struggles to remember the book Shiro borrowed- a book of poems. "Of course. There's no rush."

Shiro smiles at him, reaching forward to give him a gentle touch to the arm before he backs off again. "Thank you."

They mount their horses- both dark enough to be invisible in the black of night if not for the faint lamp Hunk has hanging from his window. They're matching in color but wildly different in temperaments, which is apparent even to a novice rider such as Hunk, but they seem docile enough as his... friends circle around to take their leave.

Hunk clings to the door frame, taking slow, deep breaths in his nose to quell the panic taking root in his stomach.

They saunter down the path, brick inlaid in compacted mud, and the snow separates Hunk from them almost immediately as it falls heavier and heavier every second that passes.

Keith turns to look back at him, eyes cutting clear through the snowdrops. He smiles, as rare as it is small, but it’s meaningful and more calming than chamomile. Hunk feels infinitely less guilty as they disappear into the night.