A bit of one-shot randomness . . .
Mistletoe Mysteries
By: The not so GeniusVampire
Azure Kite did not necessarily enjoy the cold. However, the sight of silvery white snow made his heart skip a few beats. He walked the crisp, cobblestone roads of Mac Anu while concentrating on nothing more than the hypnotizing crushing sound of the soft snow. When he reached the fountain of the capital's Alchemy District a thoughtful look crossed his eyes. The fountain was frozen solid. Each plume of water arched gracefully and fell into wide swirling pools. However, it was as thought time had stopped; even the white foam of the pool froze into a bubbling globe accentuated further by the falling flakes.
The AI brushed snow away from part of the fountain and seated himself at the side of the ice kissed water. It took a short while for him to adjust to sitting at the cold fountain for he was sensitive to the cold. Even with the heavy patched sweater, thick traveler's pants, and snow boots, he could feel winter's chill. Running thick gloved hands across the ice he sighed, causing a long stream of white air to rise from his muffled lips. 'There aren't many people here today.' He thought. 'But it makes sense; seems like Christmas and Thanksgiving are the only two holidays families want to see each other.' Another sigh escaped him. 'In fact it seems like Christmas in particular is the only holiday where humans even try to get along . . . I wonder why people need a holiday to get along . . .? Isn't it easier to get along than to make excuses to not get along?'
Pulling the muffler higher up around his pink cheeks he stood up and warped away.
'Hmmm . . . I don't know this place . . .' Azure Kite looked around the snowy area. There were large shells protruding from the ground and odd statues with broad smiles. Icicles dropped from the smiling noses of the marble statues. They looked as though they enjoyed the frigid weather. Azure Kite looked in between the teeth of these standing visages. 'They remind me of the version one statues, these things creep me out . . . but . . . It's this that I've never seen before . . .' All over the area were tall pine trees each covered in various levels of snow. Some were lightly salted; others were buried up to the tip in snow. 'I've never seen trees in an area like this . . . heck I don't think I've ever seen a pine tree before . . . Hm I'm really tired of knowing about things I've never seen before . . . Hey, there's someone else here.'
Even with his eyes he could not quite make out Haseo's frame at the great distance. In fact, the rogue partially disappeared in his white floor-length coat. His hair even blended in the white skyscape. He seemed to be staring intensely at something on one of the trees. Bringing a mitten donned hand to his mouth and pulled at one of the dangling cottonballs. 'Geez . . . CC Corp has too much time on their hands . . . something about this winter attire makes me think that I'm truly in the midst of a snow covered field. Still, a part of me wishes this coat was real, not only does it fit my PC, but I'm starting to like the fur trimming, makes me feel like Santa, or Jack Frost . . . On the other hand, I . . .' He sighed heavily. '. . . I want Kite to have it. If it were up to me I'd spend all Christmas with him.' Another depressed sigh. 'At this point though, today may be the last day I see him for a while . . . Too bad I haven't seen him for a few weeks.' He ruffled his shock of white hair, sending flakes all over the place. 'Argh! I wanna see my knight right now!!!' All of sudden, he felt as though he were being watched; he looked around until he saw Azure Kite, however, their distance did not allow him the pleasure of knowing this.
Azure Kite squinted. 'I think I've been spotted . . . oh well . . .' He waved placidly, an indication of no harm.
Haseo waved back, more out reflex than anything else though.
Taking it as a sign to move, Azure Kite took a few steps forward. He was first to notice who it was. His pace quickened until not even Haseo could keep up with him.
For a brief moment, the rogue thought he had been mauled by a tiger only to realize his assailant was a cuddly kitten. "Kite?! What th- where did you come from?!"
//I'm just going with the flow, Haseo, just floating about. //
"Floating about, huh? So you're basically trying to keep yourself warm."
//Yup, now that I've found you, it shouldn't be much of a problem.// He held on closer.
Haseo rolled to the side. "Oh really? If that's the case then what's been keeping you from me for the past three weeks?"
The knight looked a little sheepish. //Well . . . I thought you'd be out shopping or basically far away from your terminal for the holidays . . . //
Haseo's cheeks colored the same red as his eyes, his voice shot. "Are you saying you didn't want to pressure me?"
//Well . . . //
"C'mon say it." The rogue goaded.
// . . .//
"Say it."
// . . . // Azure Kite turned a rather peachy color, then a reflective red, and as a finale a radioactive cherry.
Haseo laughed and picked up a wad of snow. Before the AI could protest he rubbed the rather liberal amount to his burning cheeks. Most of it liquified before it touched his skin. Haseo's shoulders shook in obvious glee again. "Oh stop being stubborn already, we both know you want to say it anyway."
//It's not that . . . // Came the slow response. //. . . I just didn't want to take up your shopping time . . . //
"I did most of my shopping during Black Friday then I finished off the day after Winter Break began. I've been free for a while now."
//But . . . //
"Kite, I've had nothing to do for the past three weeks, and to be honest, I'm beginning to reconsider visiting for the holidays . . . paying my family a visit anyway, they're dispersed all over the globe y'know. . ." He shrugged. "I may stay local then go to a Christmas party Kaoru plans to throw."
//Oh . . . // Azure Kite's eyes appeared downcast.
Haseo knew what he was thinking. "I came here to think about that, or simply spending the entire day with you."
//. . . That's not a good idea . . . Christmas is a day you spend with those you love the most . . . //
Haseo propped himself up then settled Azure Kite in his lap. "I know that, which is why I want to spend that day with you."
//Don't get cute with me, I'm serious! //
"So am I. To be honest I live alone, so I either move around for the holidays or move to a friend's place, and you know how that can feel."
//Like you're in the way . . . //
"Exactly." The white haired rogue slowly shifted into a standing position, helping Azure Kite up as well. "However, you're always alone . . . truly alone in the sense you technically don't have a family to go to." With a smile brimming of mischief as well as resolution, he continued. "Of course I want to and can change that . . . If you let me."
//How?//
Haseo walked over to the tree he had previously stared at. In between the spine like branches of the pine were binding vines. They were peppered with oval shaped, pale viridian leaves with small white berries in between. The stem wound in between seemingly every branch the intricate pine had to offer. Haseo wrapped the vine between three of his fingers and puled it off careful not to break any leaves. With the same skill he laced part of the odd vine around Azure Kite's index finger. "Did you know that in Britain mistletoe is a sign of immortality?" He asked.
The AI nodded, curious as to what Haseo was aiming at.
"Did you also know that in the Romanian culture it was a sign of good fortune and in Scandinavian mythos it is a sign of peace?"
//Sure.//
"Despite these things, the plant is parasitic in nature; on top of that it's poisonous." A thoughtful look passed through roguish crimson eyes. "Although . . . when you look at it from another angle . . . A relationship is similar to this plant."
Dumbfounded, Azure Kite's clear green eyes lit up lighter than the snow below. //How is that? //
"Well, when you meet the one person you know you're destined to be with, you feel like the most fortunate person alive. You can walk on water, fly, live forever as long as said person is alive as well. However, there are those trying times. The ones where you wished you could pull your hair out for saying something stupid or getting into trivial fights. Sometimes, when something negative comes about you feel drained of all energy. It feels even worse when both people are hurting." Haseo closed his eyes slowly. "Above all, though you wrap your lives around each other, living, laughing, and hurting all the same. Like an endless vine." He lifted both of their tied hands.
The pale knight let out a soft breath of air. //Is that what spending one day with me would symbolize? //
"Now you're getting it! To be honest, spending an entire day with you is all I've wanted to do for the longest." He suddenly pouted childishly. "Think about it, we've been together for about two months now and it always feels like something's trying to keep us at arm's length." He dusted snow from Azure Kite's nose. "And sometimes it feels like your mind is floating higher than those clouds; not that it's a bad thing . . ." The sentence floated off with an 'I put my foot in my mouth' feeling.
Not that Azure Kite took any real offense, although he scowled lightly. //Sorry, but I don't really know how to act . . . remember, I'm used to people being afraid of me . . . And you didn't tell me that you liked me, you stuttered then screamed in my face . . . It was both flattering and scary at the same time.//
Haseo blushed then laughed. "Call it nerves . . ."
//So you're trying to calm your nerves today so we can focus more on each other tomorrow? //
"Yeah . . . I'll go with that . . ."
//Well then it's probably getting late on your end, huh? //
"How'd you guess?" Haseo inquired with a note of surprise, time was not Azure Kite's strongest point. In fact he had a vague concept of night and day possibly because the days in the World changed according to area words.
//When you're sleepy you talk slower, I noticed a bit of jet lag in your voice. //
"I see . . ." Haseo stifled the yawn burning to come out of his mouth. "Even so I won't sleep until Christmas day!"
//. . . Why? //
"Silly, don't you remember the most important purpose of mistletoe in a situation like this?!" He pulled his AI closer, as to give off a 'slight' hint.
Azure Kite turned a rather radioactive crimson again. //You're seriously not going to go to sleep just so you can kiss me . . .? You're crazy . . . //
"I told you all I want for Christmas is you, and it all starts there . . . here . . . hmm . . . on top of that we've never truly kissed on the lips before, this is getting exciting!"
//Haseo, you honestly sound giddy . . . //
"So?! In 15 seconds I'll get exactly what I want for once!" An incredibly bright smile lit his ruby eyes.
Azure Kite would not quite admit it, but his heart raced faster than it usually did in the midst of snow. He wondered if thinking of snow would call this moment to rise from memory. He surveyed Haseo's growing anticipation.
"Ten . . ."
It was too much, the AI cracked and joined in. //Nine . . . //
"Seven . . ." The rogue's voice began to shake.
//Six . . . // Azure Kite felt as though he was running out of breath.
"Five . . ." The surrounding area became smaller.
//Four . . . // their distance shortened as well.
"Three . . ." No space was left.
//Two . . . // their faces touched lightly.
"One . . ."
And then . . .
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
A/N: You know I just realized that this ending is more suited for a New Year's piece, but I honestly ran out of ideas . . . Well anyway, my true New Year's piece had no prospects of a countdown . . . and probably not an end either . . . I am no good with these holiday pieces . . . they all end up being this bit of randomness that comes into my head the day before said holiday. Seriously, I did this all on Christmas Eve and proofread it so fast it is probably hard to follow, please try anyway though.
-Oh yeah, I omitted the actual 'kiss' because . . . hmm . . . it seemed more fun to end it like that. So tell me if you like or even if you did not. –giggle-