Mistletoe
By Kryss LaBryn
Just a quick fluffy little Robinthorn fic for you all! Let me know what you think!
My adult TAMB fics are on ao3; check my profile for the link (or look for Kryss_LaBryn there).
The snow was thick that year for the south of England. The streets of London should have been a sloppy mess. But a few slightly warmer days had melted the dirty slush, and for the past few hours snowflakes had been lightly falling, covering the grime of the city beneath a new dusting of white, lit warm and amber by the streetlights in the early dark. Christmas was a few days past; the rush of last-minute shoppers had been replaced by people more quietly going about their holidays.
Chise looked at the decorations hanging from the street lamps, in shop windows, magical through the drifting snow, and thought she had never seen anywhere so peaceful and pretty. Elias had come with her into the city, saying he had supplies to buy as well, and with him at her side, even in his human glamour, she not only knew she was safe, she felt safe. No hostile neighbour would dare to bother her, no matter how delicious it might think her (although, to be fair, she had seen much less of that in England than she had in Japan; she idly wondered why?), and she felt free to just enjoy wandering the streets in the late afternoon. Japan did celebrate Christmas, of course, along with its own holidays; but it had its own unique take on the Western holiday that never quite matched up with the Christmas she saw on cards. People in London were no longer wearing the Victorian clothing Silky had adopted, of course; but she was excited and pleased to find that much of the city, with its old brick buildings, winding streets, and evergreen wreaths hanging from every lamp post did look much the same, especially now, with the new-fallen snow.
Her nose was red and cold, and her fingertips in her woolen mittens were beginning to go numb, but she couldn't even begin to think of stopping. Not yet. Not when there was something new and yet, thanks to the pictures she had seen, something familiar and expected, around every corner. She was delighted.
Elias paced along beside her, hands in his pockets, an indulgent smile on his face as he glanced down at her occasionally.
Still, even with her thick scarf wrapped carefully around her neck, Chise couldn't repress a slight shiver as they waited at a crosswalk. Her breath puffed white in the air. She tried to make smoke rings, blowing between her parted, pursed lips as she had seen others do, but could only produce vague huffs with no discernable shape. Distracted, she shivered again.
Elias wrapped a long arm around her. "Are you getting cold, my puppy? Your nose is all red. Perhaps we should head for home."
"Oh, no, not yet!" Chise begged, looking up at him. "Just a little longer, please?"
"She's pretty chilled," Ruth interjected from her shadow. He didn't really care about window shopping and had retreated at least an hour before; Chise had almost forgotten he was there.
"Oh, but if we leave now, I'll be stuck on a cold train platform, and then the walk home," Chise protested. "If we keep walking around a bit longer I'm bound to warm up."
"I don't see why you would," said Elias dryly, "Considering that it's walking around that has made you cold in the first place. But Silky isn't expecting us home just yet." He smiled down at her. "I have an idea. Come." He took her hand in his great, warm one, and gave her a slight tug, leading her away from the crosswalk to continue down the sidewalk. "There's a little place just a little further on," he explained. "You can come in out of the cold and get something warm into you."
"That sounds lovely, Elias," she said; "I'm not really hungry yet, though."
"I was thinking more of hot chocolate."
Hot chocolate! "With whipped cream and sprinkles?" she breathed.
"If you like," he smiled. "Have you not had it before?"
"Oh, I have," she assured him; "But I've never had it in the middle of a proper snowy English Christmas." Her grin was pure childlike delight, and Elias smiled a little wider in return.
"Then we will have to sit by the window, so you can look out at the proper snowy English Christmas while you warm your hands and sip your chocolate." He turned aside, stepping up into a recessed doorway beside a bow window, pulling the door open and motioning her in.
It reminded Chise a bit of Angelica's shop, at least on the outside; but inside, instead of quiet, dim shelves of books, the little café maintained a bustling air of cheerfulness. "Why don't you find us a seat," Elias suggested, and turned away towards the counter.
Chise immediately was drawn to the window. The sill was decorated with real cedar branches—they smelled lovely—with tiny white lights flickering amongst them, reflected in the window. Artificial snow had been sprayed into the corner of each window pane, echoed by the real snow gathering on the outside of the glass. And a small table just before it offered a wonderful view of the quieting street outside through the reflection of the warm lights inside. Smiling, she hung her coat on the back of one of the chairs and took a seat, just as Elias returned.
"Here you are," he said, placing a large glass mug of rich, dark liquid before her, topped with the promised sprinkles and a thick cap of cream. "Does Ruth want one too, do you think?"
Chise considered, gently prodding at the connection they shared in her mind. "He's asleep, I think," she said.
"Then let him rest," Elias smiled, sitting down himself, and spooning up a large scoop of the cream. "He certainly was running around enough earlier; he's probably exhausted."
Chise smiled in agreement, wrapping her hands around the deliciously hot mug. "Let's not tell him, then," she suggested, "So he doesn't feel left out."
"All right," Elias agreed, and they spent a lovely half hour sipping the rich, creamy chocolate and discussing the sights.
By the time they stood to leave again, full dark had fallen, and the snow had stopped. The café was nearly empty, as were the streets, only a few last people hurrying along, presumably home to dinner. Leftover roast goose, Chise thought, and bread stuffing, and roast potatoes… She was beginning to like the idea of supper, and the delicious Christmas foods Silky had been preparing all week for them.
Chise paused on the stoop, adjusting her scarf before venturing out into the evening. Glancing up at Elias's tall form patiently waiting for her, she saw something familiar dangling from the eaves of the little porch. "Is that..?"
Elias glanced up. "Mistletoe? It is—although I think it might be plastic," he added, looking closer.
"Does it still count?" Chise wondered aloud, before glancing at him, uncertain.
"I expect it does if you want it to," he said; "Plastic mistletoe is still mistletoe, after all." He stood quietly, awaiting her response.
"Do you—would you like to—?"
Elias flashed a quick smile. "Sure." He stepped a little closer.
He was a little shorter, although still very tall, in his glamour, and Chise still stood upon the raised stoop. He wouldn't have to kneel. Chise moved a little closer to the edge, suddenly bashful.
She had kissed him before, even kissed him under the mistletoe before; but it was different with this human face upon him. This face that felt slightly like a stranger (even if he still sounded, moved, and smelled like Elias). This face that had lips.
She'd never kissed a face that had lips before. I mean, unless you count Miss Redcurrant, she thought—and she didn't. That was someone kissing her, and taking her rather by surprise. This would be entirely different. This would be by choice. With a man. With Elias.
She shivered again, this time not from the cold. An odd tingle took root in her belly, a fluttering up her insides. She felt both excited and scared, and for a brief moment almost regretted pointing the decoration out.
Elias leaned closer, still smiling at her, regarding her steadily through half-lidded eyes. Placing her hands lightly on his chest, she rose up on tiptoe, and lightly pressed her lips to his.
Soft. Warm. A pleasant warmth pooled in her belly, and she stood there, motionless, her eyes drifting closed, enjoying the sensation. His hands rose, gently clasping her waist, and she slid one hand up his chest to cradle his neck beneath his hair.
He moaned, very softly, and increased the pressure, tilting his head to angle his mouth against hers better, pulling her closer against him, his lips moving against hers, gently taking her lower lip between his own, tugging on it slightly. The very tip of his tongue lightly, slowly traced her upper lip, and she gasped against him, the feeling electric.
Feeling her mouth open, he groaned, a deeper sound that vibrated through her, and pressed his tongue further, finding hers, tasting her mouth. He tasted of chocolate and cream and Elias, and it was wonderful. Delicious.
"Chise," he somehow moaned, not bothering to use his human mouth to form the words, "You taste so good…"
Chise's hand fisted into the hair at the back of his head, pulling him closer as she pressed herself more firmly against him, a move that, by the way he copied her, pulling her tightly against him even as he pressed back against her, he fully endorsed.
Inhaling sharply, he pulled his mouth from hers, but only to work his way along her jaw to the sensitive spot just below her ear, kissing her, licking her, gently sucking and nipping her skin. Chise's head fell back into his hand as she gasped and moaned, her head whirling with unexpected sensations. Elias took her earlobe into his mouth, gently sucking on it, softly biting it, before pulling back to trace the shell of her ear with the tip of his tongue, around and around, and back to her earlobe. And back down to the dip just below it, and down the column of her neck as she gasped and trembled, knees weak, only his strong arm around her waist keeping her upright against him. Turning her head she found his ear with her own mouth, echoing his movements, sucking, nibbling, licking, and he gasped and pushed himself against her, something extremely solid hard against her belly, and she wondered if—
"Oi! Get a room, you two!"
Chise blushed furiously as they reluctantly separated, hiding her face and embarrassment in Elias's chest, as what sounded like an older man stumped away down the sidewalk, grumpily complaining about the "bloody Yank tourists" just loud enough to ensure they heard.
Elias gently stroked her head. "Sorry," he said thickly, not sounding sorry at all.
"I'm not, either," Chise murmured, grinning despite herself.
"No? Good." Elias gave her a squeeze. "We should go home. All warmed up?" He stepped back, offering his arm.
"Definitely," she smiled up at him. He looked a little dazed, too. Certainly she felt dazed. Dazed, and disappointed…
"Perhaps next year we should hang plastic mistletoe up," Elias mused quietly, as they headed back down the sidewalk towards the distant train station that would take them home.
Chise giggled, and blushed again. "Yes, perhaps," she agreed, giving his arm a squeeze.