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The Dorms Stairwell, Saturday Afternoon
Look, it wasn't like Sparkle had any burning need to get out of his room and wander the city streets or anything. Hell, he'd been avoiding doing just that, since last week had been... well... he wasn't thinking about last week, thanks. But cats had to eat, and even after the bag full of cat food he'd stolen after his first run-in with a pair of psychos, his canned food supplies were running on empty.
Damn it, Velcro.
Anyway, today he was going to suck it up and remedy that before the cat took to trying to eat him in his sleep or something, which was how Sparkle found himself in the stairwell, idly observing the mistletoe. It was definitely... festive. If tripping him up a little as he attempted to traverse the stairs.
"I live on the second floor. This shouldn't be difficult, Fandom."
When your hearing was better than the average person's, you didn't really get to claim to be totally surprised really to find your ex-boyfriend in the stairwell, talking to himself. Alec had heard Sparkle's voice from a floor and a half up, and then very deliberately continued descending the same stairs anyway because... well, because.
He still stopped short when he actually came face-to-face with the aforementioned ex. This would have been a great moment for a 'We've got to stop meeting like this,' but Alec wasn't going to be the one to say it.
"Sparkle," he said instead, nodding. "...Are you all right?"
He looked a little unsteady there.
"Never better," Sparkle replied, though he was trying another step, here. Steps! They were easy! "Is it just me, or is there a lot more mistletoe in this stairwell than stairwells actually need?"
Definitely not just you, Sparks.
"Most people hang it from the ceiling."
"Mistletoe--?" Alec glanced up and around, eventually concluding that, yes, there did seem to be a lot of a plant that he wasn't used to seeing around here.
"I don't think I'm familiar with the tradition of decorating stairwells," he said slowly. "Especially the -- stairs part of the stairwell. Are you stuck?"
"Little stuck," Sparkle confirmed, lifting one foot to show the way he'd somehow managed to get his whole leg below the knee kind of tangled in it. "The decorating stairwells part, fine. Deck the halls and all that shit. But this is a safety hazard or something."
Probably against his better judgment, he crouched down to try to unwrap himself from the offending plant.
"I couldn't agree more," Alec said, bending to try to free Sparkle's foot from the offending foliage. "You'd think there would at least be a brief period of respite from all this nonsense considering what happened last week, but maybe that's too much to hope for."
The mistletoe didn't seem to want to dislodge. Alec frowned at it.
It didn't seem intimidated.
"Most of the nonsense isn't so bad. I mean, there were bears handing out Coke the other day. I mean, it was shitty American Coke, but it was fr--ick."
No, the Coke was not frick. But Sparkle was having entirely new and exciting technical difficulties, now. The mistletoe seemed to have worked its way up and around his wrists. He was at least sixty-three point two percent certain that he hadn't managed to do that to himself.
Sparks gave his arm a tug.
The mistletoe tugged back.
Sparkle blinked.
"I could go run and get a knife," Alec said hesitantly. "But if it tightens before I get back, you could fall, or -- asphyxiate."
Also, there was the slight problem that some mistletoe that was coiled around the banister was now winding its way around his waist. He wasn't going anywhere.
"Oh."
"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna fall all that far." Something about the way the mistletoe was tightening around Sparkle's arms and creeping higher up his leg kind of suggested as much. "Not too big on the idea of being smothered by a plant, though."
He'd died enough already this December, thanks. He was sure Alec felt the same way.
"So. Uh. Mistletoe."
Subtle, Fandom.
Oh, yes, Alec agreed. Dying on the stairs would not be a welcome way to go. Also, not the slightest bit dignified.
"Mistletoe," he repeated. He was struggling to get the plant around his waist to dislodge, but it only seemed to be tightening. "Is that important? Sorry, I'm not familiar with it."
He knew he'd heard about traditional mundane holiday plants before, but he honestly had never cared enough to remember the specifics.
"You... don't know mistletoe? Seriously?" Sparkle, try to look a little less incredulous. You've met Alec before. "It's normally hung from the ceiling this time of year. Christmas tradition says if someone catches you under it, you have to kiss 'em."
The mistletoe sent up another tendril that made Sparkle jump a little. And then he gave it a dirty look.
"It should be buying me dinner before grabbing my ass, though."
"Well, we aren't exactly under it, are we? More - entangled in it," Alec insisted, determined as always to be frustratingly literal to the point of unhelpfulness.
"And moreover, of all the traditions I've heard of, that has to be the most annoying and--" he gave the mistletoe a tug-- "pointless and--" another tug-- "likely to go awry--" one last, harder tug that still accomplished nothing-- "that I've ever heard."
"This is Fandom Island," Sparkle pointed out as another length of mistletoe whipped up and coiled around his shoulder. "What doesn't go awry around here?"
He glanced sideways and watched yet more of the plant making its way up the wall. For a parasitic plant that grew in clusters, it was pretty proficient at getting around with tendrils. It looked a little to him like that particular bit had taken the hint, and was trying, now, to get into prime overhead position.
"And there, you went and gave it ideas."
"So, what, it'll leave us alone if we--?"
Alec broke off, looking appalled. That was probably exactly what they had to do to get the mistletoe to leave them alone, yes. And while Alec wasn't so opposed to the idea of kissing Sparkle again that he'd rather asphyxiate (far from it, actually), he didn't really want to suggest it.
Sparkle, of course, completely managed to misinterpret that look.
"Yeah, don't look so thrilled about the idea," he grumbled, rolling his eyes as the mistletoe tentacle that had goosed him decided that it was going to get nice and cozy, winding up around his chest. He squirmed, tottered a bit, and just barely managed to catch himself before he could go for a tumble.
That would have ended poorly.
Instinctively, Alec flung an arm out to steady Sparkle just in case, even if it didn't wind up being necessary. So... maybe not quite so repulsed by Sparkle's presence, exactly.
"I didn't think you were exactly jumping at the idea either," he griped, because that was easier than correcting him.
"See, that's what you get for making assumptions," Sparkle replied, putting his nose into the air. It was dragged back down again a moment later, when more mistletoe wrapped around his forehead. "You get a bitchy ex."
Oookay, he really didn't want that mistletoe wrapping itself around his neck like a scarf, but it wasn't like he could move his arms in order to do something about that.
"Sparkle!" Alec burst out in alarm, because, yeah, mistletoe didn't really belong around a person's neck. And Alec was suddenly unable to even reach his arms far enough to tug ineffectively at the too-strong plant, try as he might.
"If it'll--" No, okay, better consolidate the message, speed things along. "Should I kiss you? Can I kiss you?"
Oh, Alec. Still ever the gentleman. Sparkle opened his mouth to reply, but his answer came out as a bit of a strangled (go figure) cough. Probably for the best, since he would have wound up coming up with some snarky reply that might have been taken all too literally, anyhow.
His hands were still able to flap kind of ineffectually at his sides, at least. Which meant that Alec was going to get two thumbs-up while Sparks concentrated on not turning blue.
That was about all the permission Alec felt it was necessary to wait for, given the circumstances. He leaned in (awkwardly, of course; his arms were pinned to his sides) and pecked Sparkle quickly on the lips.
"Oh, mister romance." Look! Sparkle was talking again! That meant that, at least, the mistletoe wasn't doing its damnedest to keep strangling him! It was kind of hesitating, though. It was feeling slightly cheated by that kiss, there. "My hero."
He was actually kind of serious about that part, at least. It might be hard to tell, what with the lopsided smirk and the way he was batting his eyelashes, though.
Alec was a very badass warrior who had died several times already this month, but right now, he was blushing. Visibly. He ducked his head so it wouldn't be noticable.
"Uh, we're not really free yet," he observed stupidly after a moment.
Sparkle raised an eyebrow at that. Really, he hadn't noticed.
"Maybe the mistletoe knows you can do better than that, Alec."
You know. The mistletoe. It knew things. As mistletoe does.
Oh, that blush wasn't going away anytime soon.
"I," he said, then licked his lips, since they were suddenly in need of moisture. For a couple of reasons, really. "Are you asking me to?"
Sparkle gave his own lips a lick, raised an eyebrow, and then gave Alec one of those teasing grins of his.
"Last chance before I just start texting every boy on the island that I know is into that sort of thing."
"You probably can't even reach your pockets," Alec commented, but also, yeah, Sparkle had convinced him.
He didn't have a lot of room to move, but suspiciously, he was able to lean in - quite easily, actually - for another kiss.
The mistletoe was accommodating that way!
And Sparkle... well, he'd missed that. This. This was something that he'd missed. He leaned forward as well, the mistletoe actually being kind enough to support his weight as he did so, keeping him from toppling down the stairs as he gave Alec a proper kiss.
It was okay if they were using the mistletoe as an excuse, right?
Kissing was kind of awesome. Kissing someone you genuinely cared about, even more so. Not that Alec had much experience with the other kind, but the fact remained that he had missed kissing Sparkle in particular.
One particularly accomodating coil of mistletoe was generous enough to unwind from around Alec's arm, freeing him up to set his hand on Sparkle's hip for support. And... gratuitous touching. But support too! They were on a staircase, here.
And if Sparkle's own mistletoe was behaving itself to the point where it made sure he was good and well-balanced (or at least most likely to tumble into Alec's arms) before slithering off, well, it clearly just didn't want to accidentally kill someone on the stairwell. That would have just been tragic.
... As opposed to intentionally killing someone on the stairwell unless they kissed. That was different entirely.
In any case, Sparkle's hands were sneaking up and resting on Alec's hips, too. Because, well, where else should they go?
That was a question to which Alec did not know the answer. So, hips it was. Seemed like the best solution.
He figured that they would have to talk about this later, but in the meantime? Kissing. Lots of kissing. It turned out that Alec had missed this even more than he'd thought, and he might not be ending this by choice for a while.
[OOC: Cut for all the length ever, and co-written with the fantabulous![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
not_trivial! We needed pushy mistletoe antics, you see. And now I get back to my vacation!]
Damn it, Velcro.
Anyway, today he was going to suck it up and remedy that before the cat took to trying to eat him in his sleep or something, which was how Sparkle found himself in the stairwell, idly observing the mistletoe. It was definitely... festive. If tripping him up a little as he attempted to traverse the stairs.
"I live on the second floor. This shouldn't be difficult, Fandom."
When your hearing was better than the average person's, you didn't really get to claim to be totally surprised really to find your ex-boyfriend in the stairwell, talking to himself. Alec had heard Sparkle's voice from a floor and a half up, and then very deliberately continued descending the same stairs anyway because... well, because.
He still stopped short when he actually came face-to-face with the aforementioned ex. This would have been a great moment for a 'We've got to stop meeting like this,' but Alec wasn't going to be the one to say it.
"Sparkle," he said instead, nodding. "...Are you all right?"
He looked a little unsteady there.
"Never better," Sparkle replied, though he was trying another step, here. Steps! They were easy! "Is it just me, or is there a lot more mistletoe in this stairwell than stairwells actually need?"
Definitely not just you, Sparks.
"Most people hang it from the ceiling."
"Mistletoe--?" Alec glanced up and around, eventually concluding that, yes, there did seem to be a lot of a plant that he wasn't used to seeing around here.
"I don't think I'm familiar with the tradition of decorating stairwells," he said slowly. "Especially the -- stairs part of the stairwell. Are you stuck?"
"Little stuck," Sparkle confirmed, lifting one foot to show the way he'd somehow managed to get his whole leg below the knee kind of tangled in it. "The decorating stairwells part, fine. Deck the halls and all that shit. But this is a safety hazard or something."
Probably against his better judgment, he crouched down to try to unwrap himself from the offending plant.
"I couldn't agree more," Alec said, bending to try to free Sparkle's foot from the offending foliage. "You'd think there would at least be a brief period of respite from all this nonsense considering what happened last week, but maybe that's too much to hope for."
The mistletoe didn't seem to want to dislodge. Alec frowned at it.
It didn't seem intimidated.
"Most of the nonsense isn't so bad. I mean, there were bears handing out Coke the other day. I mean, it was shitty American Coke, but it was fr--ick."
No, the Coke was not frick. But Sparkle was having entirely new and exciting technical difficulties, now. The mistletoe seemed to have worked its way up and around his wrists. He was at least sixty-three point two percent certain that he hadn't managed to do that to himself.
Sparks gave his arm a tug.
The mistletoe tugged back.
Sparkle blinked.
"I could go run and get a knife," Alec said hesitantly. "But if it tightens before I get back, you could fall, or -- asphyxiate."
Also, there was the slight problem that some mistletoe that was coiled around the banister was now winding its way around his waist. He wasn't going anywhere.
"Oh."
"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna fall all that far." Something about the way the mistletoe was tightening around Sparkle's arms and creeping higher up his leg kind of suggested as much. "Not too big on the idea of being smothered by a plant, though."
He'd died enough already this December, thanks. He was sure Alec felt the same way.
"So. Uh. Mistletoe."
Subtle, Fandom.
Oh, yes, Alec agreed. Dying on the stairs would not be a welcome way to go. Also, not the slightest bit dignified.
"Mistletoe," he repeated. He was struggling to get the plant around his waist to dislodge, but it only seemed to be tightening. "Is that important? Sorry, I'm not familiar with it."
He knew he'd heard about traditional mundane holiday plants before, but he honestly had never cared enough to remember the specifics.
"You... don't know mistletoe? Seriously?" Sparkle, try to look a little less incredulous. You've met Alec before. "It's normally hung from the ceiling this time of year. Christmas tradition says if someone catches you under it, you have to kiss 'em."
The mistletoe sent up another tendril that made Sparkle jump a little. And then he gave it a dirty look.
"It should be buying me dinner before grabbing my ass, though."
"Well, we aren't exactly under it, are we? More - entangled in it," Alec insisted, determined as always to be frustratingly literal to the point of unhelpfulness.
"And moreover, of all the traditions I've heard of, that has to be the most annoying and--" he gave the mistletoe a tug-- "pointless and--" another tug-- "likely to go awry--" one last, harder tug that still accomplished nothing-- "that I've ever heard."
"This is Fandom Island," Sparkle pointed out as another length of mistletoe whipped up and coiled around his shoulder. "What doesn't go awry around here?"
He glanced sideways and watched yet more of the plant making its way up the wall. For a parasitic plant that grew in clusters, it was pretty proficient at getting around with tendrils. It looked a little to him like that particular bit had taken the hint, and was trying, now, to get into prime overhead position.
"And there, you went and gave it ideas."
"So, what, it'll leave us alone if we--?"
Alec broke off, looking appalled. That was probably exactly what they had to do to get the mistletoe to leave them alone, yes. And while Alec wasn't so opposed to the idea of kissing Sparkle again that he'd rather asphyxiate (far from it, actually), he didn't really want to suggest it.
Sparkle, of course, completely managed to misinterpret that look.
"Yeah, don't look so thrilled about the idea," he grumbled, rolling his eyes as the mistletoe tentacle that had goosed him decided that it was going to get nice and cozy, winding up around his chest. He squirmed, tottered a bit, and just barely managed to catch himself before he could go for a tumble.
That would have ended poorly.
Instinctively, Alec flung an arm out to steady Sparkle just in case, even if it didn't wind up being necessary. So... maybe not quite so repulsed by Sparkle's presence, exactly.
"I didn't think you were exactly jumping at the idea either," he griped, because that was easier than correcting him.
"See, that's what you get for making assumptions," Sparkle replied, putting his nose into the air. It was dragged back down again a moment later, when more mistletoe wrapped around his forehead. "You get a bitchy ex."
Oookay, he really didn't want that mistletoe wrapping itself around his neck like a scarf, but it wasn't like he could move his arms in order to do something about that.
"Sparkle!" Alec burst out in alarm, because, yeah, mistletoe didn't really belong around a person's neck. And Alec was suddenly unable to even reach his arms far enough to tug ineffectively at the too-strong plant, try as he might.
"If it'll--" No, okay, better consolidate the message, speed things along. "Should I kiss you? Can I kiss you?"
Oh, Alec. Still ever the gentleman. Sparkle opened his mouth to reply, but his answer came out as a bit of a strangled (go figure) cough. Probably for the best, since he would have wound up coming up with some snarky reply that might have been taken all too literally, anyhow.
His hands were still able to flap kind of ineffectually at his sides, at least. Which meant that Alec was going to get two thumbs-up while Sparks concentrated on not turning blue.
That was about all the permission Alec felt it was necessary to wait for, given the circumstances. He leaned in (awkwardly, of course; his arms were pinned to his sides) and pecked Sparkle quickly on the lips.
"Oh, mister romance." Look! Sparkle was talking again! That meant that, at least, the mistletoe wasn't doing its damnedest to keep strangling him! It was kind of hesitating, though. It was feeling slightly cheated by that kiss, there. "My hero."
He was actually kind of serious about that part, at least. It might be hard to tell, what with the lopsided smirk and the way he was batting his eyelashes, though.
Alec was a very badass warrior who had died several times already this month, but right now, he was blushing. Visibly. He ducked his head so it wouldn't be noticable.
"Uh, we're not really free yet," he observed stupidly after a moment.
Sparkle raised an eyebrow at that. Really, he hadn't noticed.
"Maybe the mistletoe knows you can do better than that, Alec."
You know. The mistletoe. It knew things. As mistletoe does.
Oh, that blush wasn't going away anytime soon.
"I," he said, then licked his lips, since they were suddenly in need of moisture. For a couple of reasons, really. "Are you asking me to?"
Sparkle gave his own lips a lick, raised an eyebrow, and then gave Alec one of those teasing grins of his.
"Last chance before I just start texting every boy on the island that I know is into that sort of thing."
"You probably can't even reach your pockets," Alec commented, but also, yeah, Sparkle had convinced him.
He didn't have a lot of room to move, but suspiciously, he was able to lean in - quite easily, actually - for another kiss.
The mistletoe was accommodating that way!
And Sparkle... well, he'd missed that. This. This was something that he'd missed. He leaned forward as well, the mistletoe actually being kind enough to support his weight as he did so, keeping him from toppling down the stairs as he gave Alec a proper kiss.
It was okay if they were using the mistletoe as an excuse, right?
Kissing was kind of awesome. Kissing someone you genuinely cared about, even more so. Not that Alec had much experience with the other kind, but the fact remained that he had missed kissing Sparkle in particular.
One particularly accomodating coil of mistletoe was generous enough to unwind from around Alec's arm, freeing him up to set his hand on Sparkle's hip for support. And... gratuitous touching. But support too! They were on a staircase, here.
And if Sparkle's own mistletoe was behaving itself to the point where it made sure he was good and well-balanced (or at least most likely to tumble into Alec's arms) before slithering off, well, it clearly just didn't want to accidentally kill someone on the stairwell. That would have just been tragic.
... As opposed to intentionally killing someone on the stairwell unless they kissed. That was different entirely.
In any case, Sparkle's hands were sneaking up and resting on Alec's hips, too. Because, well, where else should they go?
That was a question to which Alec did not know the answer. So, hips it was. Seemed like the best solution.
He figured that they would have to talk about this later, but in the meantime? Kissing. Lots of kissing. It turned out that Alec had missed this even more than he'd thought, and he might not be ending this by choice for a while.
[OOC: Cut for all the length ever, and co-written with the fantabulous
not_trivial! We needed pushy mistletoe antics, you see. And now I get back to my vacation!]