Just a little response to the Mistletoe Challenge while I work on my long response, which has become rather epic. If you'd like to participate, the criteria can be found at Onesimus' profile, or on the profile of Batwings79. Anyway, enjoy!
Pairing: Carson Hughes
Rating: T
Prompts: Christmas Hickey, a kiss under the mistletoe with half of your ship and another character, singing.
Word Count: 466
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Mistletoe was hazardous to your health, Elsie Hughes decided. Daisy, the fool girl, had hung the stuff downstairs as well as up—Elsie suspected the kitchen maid had conspired with the new Mrs Bates.
Unfortunately for her, this meant everywhere she looked there were people singing—singing!—carols in the middle of the day, not to mention the countless pairings of housemaids and footmen she'd had to chase out of doorways.
By the time she stormed into the butler's pantry after lunch, she was in a thoroughly foul mood.
"That fool housemaid of yours won't be happy until every possible combination of staff has embraced under the mistletoe!" Elsie seethed.
"Kitchen maid of mine? I'm afraid Daisy is under Mrs Patmore's jurisdiction, and Beryl is in full support of the plot." Charles watched in amusement as she paced in front of his desk.
"Stop smiling, Charles, it's annoying me." She sat heavily on his settee.
"Maybe you'd allow me to annoy you in another way," he said with a smirk, coming to sit next to her. He showed her a small cluster of mistletoe tied with velvet ribbon. "I liberated this from the east upstairs hallway when Lady Sybil caught me under it this afternoon."
"Lady Sybil, hm?" Elsie raised an amused eyebrow. "Should I be cross with her?"
"If you got your own fair share of Christmas cheer, Elsie, I don't think you would have a problem with it at all." He wrapped his arm over her waist, pulling her a little closer to his side. She was smiling as he bent his head closer to kiss her.
Elsie pulled him closer, twining her arms around his neck. As it often did, the innocent embrace became decidedly less so, as Charles pulled away from her lips to kiss down her neck to the neckline of her dress. Using one finger, he peeled it away from her skin and slipped his lips under her collar bone. Elsie arched up the tiniest bit, and he nipped rather forcefully at her skin.
A knock to the pantry door interrupted them, and they sprang apart. Charles stuffed the mistletoe in the cushions of the settee as Elsie got up and moved away, calling, "Come in."
Anna poked her head around the door and smiled at them. "His Lordship and the others are back from the hunt, Mr Carson."
"Thank you, Anna," Charles replied, standing and moving away, throwing her a backwards glance of apology. Elsie smiled gently and shook her head, going back to her sitting room to cool down.
Elsie sighed, half way between exasperation and amusement, the next day as she put on a dress with a higher neck line to hide the mark Charles had given her. Yes, mistletoe was most definitely hazardous to your health.