YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO
1+2, ficlet, lime, humour
For misao_duo for gifting me with such a fabulous Secret Santa banner!



Heero didn’t turn around to look at his visitor, even at the sound of a loud, deliberate cough. “Go away,” he said.

Duo smiled, ignoring such unseasonal rudeness. He leaned over Heero’s shoulder and dropped the small green sprig with white berries into Heero’s IN tray.

“I’ve seen the stuff before,” snapped Heero. He stared down at the papers on his desk, resolutely. The tip of his ears looked a little pink. “In fact, I just dumped some in the trash.”

“The sprig I left in your desk drawer?” asked Duo, with genuine interest.

“No.” Heero growled the words. “The bunch you left in my coat pocket. But now you mention the other one…” His hand jerked open his desk drawer and snatched out another sprig. He tsked, and dropped it distastefully into the nearby trash can.

“Ah, yes.” Duo nodded, unfazed. “Never mind. My Secret Santa left a full box of Christmas greenery on my desk last night and a ‘good luck’ card, for some reason. There’s plenty more where that came from.”

The muscles across Heero’s back tightened. “If you mean the deposit in my coffee mug, I dragged that out and dumped it too. And the bunch in my pigeonhole. And the bunch under my car wipers.”

Duo smiled. “Mistletoe is a Christmas decoration, it adds to the joy and visual delight of the occasion.”

“It’s a nuisance and a mess,” snapped Heero. His hand tightened on one of the papers in front of him, crumpling the edges of it. “Especially when you dash out to the shop for a quick coffee and turn the wipers on without realising it’s there. I had to wash my windscreen twice to get it all off.”

“Ah,” said Duo, again, a little ruefully. “So you’re not going to be too pleased with -”

“ – the sprig in my boot?” Heero’s voice was a little strangled. “Oh yes, I found that, too. Eventually. After I’d pulled them on and stood up. I had to change my socks, Duo. Some of the stickiness is still there, seeped in between my toes.”

Duo nodded, gazing thoughtfully at the back of Heero's head. “It’s Christmas, Heero. Join in the spirit of it all – I know you want to. We’re the only guys working here over Christmas and it’s going to be a long and miserable time otherwise. It’s the only present I got, and I wanted to share it with you.”

“And with my salad?” Heero complained. “I couldn’t fail to notice another bunch in my lunchbox, nestled between the lettuce and the grated carrot.”

Duo sighed. “It has other connotations, you know. Sometimes people use mistletoe to inspire -”

“ – you think I should kiss my salad?” interrupted Heero, with a groan. “Pucker up for my parmesan? Ravish my radish? Slip some tongue to my celery -?”

“So you do know what it means,” said Duo, softly. His smile had grown much wider. “What to do with it…”

He was startled when Heero’s chair scraped across the floor, thrust outwards as Heero abruptly stood up. Duo took one step backwards, but Heero whirled around, grabbing his arm. They both staggered back a couple of steps and Duo’s back hit the partition wall with a thump.

“I know what it is,” snarled Heero. He waved the bunch from his IN tray above their heads. “I know what to do with it. I don’t need constant reminders and mystery deposits in my clothing and green and white booby traps around every corner. You hear me?”

Duo’s eyes widened. His tongue darted out and moistened his lips. “I hear you,” he said, quite calmly, considering Heero’s fierceness.

Heero's eyes were following the movement of Duo’s tongue; the soft silver saliva on his full lips. “And one more thing -” he hissed.

“Bah, humbug?” asked Duo, innocently.

“I don’t need mistletoe to kiss you,” growled Heero. He tossed the sprig across the floor, took hold of Duo's face with both hands and proceeded to do so. At length.