"Hanna, be careful…"
"Don't worry; I got this."
Despite his words, he wobbled precariously as he tried to hang the sprig of mistletoe he'd risked a visit to Worth's for above his door. He stood upright in his partner's supportive hands, relying on balance alone as he tried to pin it in place. Dart couldn't help but be hit with a familiar sense of déjà vu as he watched and did his best to keep still.
Hanna had climbed up a rather tall tree to get this small piece of holiday cheer, and had very nearly broken his leg tumbling out of the thing. He hadn't felt it was worth the risk, but Hanna had been very adamant about it.
"Aha! Got it!" Hanna exclaimed, leaning back to admire his handiwork. He must have forgotten his current position, and very nearly ended up tumbling to the floor in the process.
Legault caught him and set him upright, much to Hanna's thanks. The both of them turned to gaze at Hanna's sloppily placed piece of mistletoe, placed off-centered to the right above the doorway.
"What's the point of this, again?" Canas inquired. Whereas Hanna found the little bit of Christmas decoration to be delightful and cheery, the zombie couldn't help but feel that it was a bit of an inconvenience at best.
"You remember I invited everyone here for drinks, right?" Hanna asked, to which Eliwood nodded. "Well," he said, grinning proudly. "Everyone includes Toni. When I go to greet her BAM! Mistletoe! She'll have to kiss me; can't go against holiday tradition."
He giggled and seemed to flush a little at the thought of smooching Toni, obviously finding no fault in his rather shoddy plan. Oswin, however, was far more skeptical. He wondered if Toni would humour Hanna's mistletoe induced demands or laugh them off. Either way, he didn't see this ending well for his partner. That coupled with the fact that the mistletoe was placed above his doorway meant that the rules for mistletoe matchmaking would apply to anyone Hanna happened to open the door for; not merely for the woman of interest.
"You know that it won't just be Toni who'll be coming through here, Hanna." Nils said calmly, putting things into rational perspective. "You invited everyone, including Veser."
It took a moment for what his partner said to make sense to the small redhead, but when it did, he was less than pleased. As the thought of having to (god forbid) snog Veser, Hanna's face paled and his feelings toward the branch of mistletoe quickly diminished.
"Oh. Oh geez. I did NOT think of that. Oh god." He frowned, and suddenly made a horrendous gagging noise. "Oh my God what if Blaney comes knocking for eggnog or something oh God Geitz help me take this down."
Hanna began hopping upward, extending his rather limited reach to try and pull down his foolhardy plan. Amused, Renault watched Hanna attempt to grab the mistletoe before stepping in and plucking it easily from where it hung.
"Thanks." Hanna said, huffing slightly. "Hey, hey, hey! What! If you could reach it all along, why didn't you hang it up in the first place?"
"I offered to, but you wouldn't let me." The green man half-smiled, twirling the branch in his fingers.
"Oh, yeah." Hanna watched as Erk spun the mistletoe, blue eyes following the way the leaves twirled. "Well, this blows haha. Guess I won't be getting a kiss after all. Worth a shot though, eh?"
He elbowed Merlinus playfully, smiling even though his plan had fallen through. The zombie hummed thoughtfully before nodding a bit in agreement.
"Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."
"Whoa, that's a little deep for what I was going for." Hanna said, laughing. "But I guess the principle's the same?"
There was a quiet pause in their conversation before he spoke again, the smallest glint of an idea in his eye.
"You know, Erk, we still got time before the party starts."
"Yes." He answered.
"And well, uh, you know we were both under the mistletoe when we were hanging it up. Maybe I'll get a kiss after all?" he asked hopefully, a sort of bashful expression on his face as he glanced up at Dorcas.
The green man's eyebrows arched up, and a smile graced his lips.
"If that's what tradition calls for." He replied smoothly, bending down to Hanna's level and placing a dead, stitched hand to the young man's face.
The kiss was so light and fleeting that Hanna almost didn't realize they were kissing till Lucius had pulled back, his glowing orange eyes watching him in amusement.
"Wow. That was uh, pretty cool. We'll have to do that again some time. Like maybe during New Years? You're supposed to kiss someone then, too. It's tradition." He babbled, unable to contain himself with the hopes of maybe having more impromptu kisses in the near future.
Bartre smiled.
"Who am I to deny tradition?"