Kitchen: Hugh/Open
Hugh had arrived with Theodore, and after making introductions, he'd excused himself with the cheese tray, the hot cocoa, and the shortbread, rugelach, and cranberry orange bread, to lay it out in the kitchen where people could easily get to all of the goodies. For most of his life he had spent Christmas with his family, even though there were times where he would have preferred being at a party in Seattle. This year he had mixed feelings about not being in his parents Bellevue home, and being here, but he liked the idea of being here with new friends too, and it hadn't made sense to try to go back for just two days - which is really all he could have managed. And so he was here, dressed in soft charcoal wool trousers with a festive fair isle sweater, his curls wrestled into place for the time being, and he was looking forward to the day nonetheless.
The cheese tray was mostly done, and all he had to do was pull the cover off, lay out the utensils he'd brought for it, and it was ready. The baked goods, likewise, he'd put onto a large platter at the house, and he laid it out and took the cover off. The only remaining thing then was the hot cocoa, which he'd decided to heat up in his smaller slow cooker, which was where he turned his attention to next. Milk poured in, the chocolate mixed in with that, and he stirred as he turned it on to let it start heating up.
As he did so, he pulled his phone out, snapping a shot of the tray for his Instagram, before he leaned over to stir the hot cocoa again. Once it got warm he could turn it to warm and probably leave it for the rest of the day and it would be good. The kitchen smelled good, and he slid his phone into his back pocket for easy access, as he reached for a cup to test a small sip of the cocoa for temperature.