Author's Note: Happy holidays! Have a cute fic involving Vert, Zoom, and some convenient mistletoe. This is set during Season 1.
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A Warm Winter Night
For the first time in weeks, there had been no Battle Zones for the day or the night. Now, with Sage in her recharging pod, the Battle Force 5 was ready to fall into bed and wake up Christmas morning.
Vert, unlike the others, hadn't split off yet, and was instead double-checking that he had all his gifts put out under their fake Christmas tree. Stanford had huffed over getting a fake one, but once Sherman had pointed out that there was no good way to get a real one down to Vert's warehouse when they lived in the middle of a desert, he'd stopped complaining.
Everyone had at least two presents under the tree. Vert had made sure they were all equal in value to the best of his ability, nudging the others to make sure everyone got someone something and no one got left out. This was their first Christmas together and, while Vert didn't know how long this war would go on, he couldn't help but hope it wouldn't be their last.
He'd already spent one Christmas alone, he didn't want to do it again.
"Vert?" Vert looked up at the soft voice at the edge of the room and saw Zoom leaned against the doorway wearing a t-shirt two sizes too big. It was probably one of Sherman's, and the way it hung off him made him look smaller and younger than he already was. Like this, it was nigh impossible to believe Zoom was the most formidable fighter out of them and that he could easily wipe the floor with the rest of them without breaking a sweat.
Vert straightened from where he sat and brushed off his hands on his own striped pyjama pants. "Hey, Zoom. Everything okay?"
Zoom nodded and squinted at Vert, lips slightly pursed and confusion clear on his face. "What are you doing?"
"Just making sure everything is set up for the morning," said Vert. He bounced lightly on his heels and shrugged, then dropped down onto the couch. Little strings of Christmas lines were hung around the windows and the TV stand. Outside, the stars and moon shone bright in the winter sky from between the thick clouds, and the below freezing weather whispered of the possibility of snow.
It was rare the desert got this cold, and even rarer for there to be clouds on the way. The thought of seeing snow again, several years after he'd left the Yukon and over a year since he'd left any place where it snowed with even passing irregularity, was enough to make Vert giddy with excitement.
"You really like Christmas," said Zoom, padding across the room and settling onto the couch next to Vert. He pulled one leg up and hugged it, cracking a lopsided smile at Vert that made Vert's heart twinge. He smiled back, ignoring the whisper in the back of his mind that said he should oh-so-casually nudge Zoom under the mistletoe at the door and insist it was tradition.
But that would be wrong, to play him, so he didn't spare the thought much of his attention.
Vert shrugged. "Yeah," he said, "but I always have. Christmas is one of the best parts of the year."
Zoom tilted his head to one side, still smiling crookedly. If he opened his mouth, Vert knew he'd see the tiny gap between Zoom's front teeth, the one that always made him think Zoom was ten times cuter than he already was.
"You know, this is my first Christmas," said Zoom, leaning against the arm of the couch and looking over at the tree behind Vert.
Vert's eyebrows shot up. "Really?" he asked. Zoom nodded. "I didn't know that. I didn't know what the Order did down there."
Zoom shrugged. "We didn't really do much in the way of holidays," he said. "We're all raised Buddhist, and that technically means we can celebrate just about any holiday, but Master Takeyasu wasn't big on taking breaks."
"No wonder you left," said Vert, drily. At Zoom's half amused, half confused expression, Vert faltered and added, "Sorry, not what I meant."
Another shrug. "You're not wrong." Zoom leaned back, head dangling back over the arm of the couch and shirt sliding so that it hung off one shoulder and showed off most of his collarbone, including the little scar at the outside bottom edge that Vert had never asked about. "It was all work and no play up there. You can't… I dunno."
"Sustain it?" guessed Vert.
"Yeah," said Zoom. He straightened up, hair hanging in his face – and Vert finally noticing he wasn't wearing his headband – and nodded to Vert. "You burn out. I burned out. I know Zen hasn't it, but…" He shook his head. "I dunno, maybe I'm just not as strong as them."
"Hey," said Vert. He leaned forward and put his hand on Zoom's shoulder. "Don't sell yourself short, you're one of the strongest people I know." He shook his head, frowning slightly. "I won't talk bad about your old master, Zoom, but you can't just work your whole life. You have to have a little bit of fun."
"You think?" asked Zoom.
"I know," said Vert, firmly.
Zoom chuckled and shook his head. "Hey, you always say not to take our responsibilities lightly and stop fooling around in zones." He poked Vert in the chest and raised an eyebrow at him. "So, which is it? Fun or work?"
"Both," said Vert, batting his hand away with a roll of his eyes. "In Battle Zones, we need to keep our heads and be serious. They're there to be secured so we can keep the Multiverse safe." Zoom gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes and Vert flicked his nose, grinning when Zoom wrinkled his adorably and pouted at him. "But," added Vert, regaining Zoom's attention, "when we're out of zones, just hanging out? We can have fun, kick back, do whatever we want outside of training. There's a time to be serious and there's a time to mess around."
Zoom crossed his legs the best he could on the couch and propped his elbow on one so he could rest his chin on his head. "I'm having flashbacks to when you told me there was a time for, um…" He looked thoughtful for a second, pursing his lips. "Hot dogging and hanging it out there?" he guessed.
Vert nodded. He remembered that zone well. The freaky race track that had wanted to take them down and kept messing with them at every turn. Zoom had dislocated his elbow, Vert had had to take over the Chopper, and, in the end, it was half luck that they'd managed to get out in one piece anyway.
He never wanted to go back to that zone as long as he lived. He would much rather face down the entirety of the Vandal army that deal with the hell that zone had brought.
Ugh.
"Yeah, but that was a while ago," said Vert, waving off the words. "You're fine, now."
"Now," echoed Zoom in vague amusement. He smirked at Vert, eyes twinkling, and Vert felt his ears redden.
"We grow at our own pace," said Vert.
"That would explain Stanford," said Zoom, drily.
Vert snorted and clapped a hand over his face to hide it. "Dude."
"What?" asked Zoom, shrugging and grinning. "I'm just saying."
Vert couldn't help the quiet laugh that slipped out of him, but he tried to stifle it anyway, lest he gave the wrong impression. He liked Stanford just fine, even if the guy could get on his nerves like no one else in the BF5. They were friends and Stanford had helped him out in ways in battle zones that no one else could. Okay, so the guy needed to get a better grip on himself. So what? They all did sometimes. They all needed to take a breather and be people sometimes.
"He's a good friend," said Vert, instead of everything else. "And aren't you two pretty close these days?" He raised an eyebrow of his own and watched as Zoom bit the inside of his cheek and looked away from Vert. It wasn't the first time Zoom had shrunk back at a question like that. Though, last time, it'd been Spinner asking it and Vert telling him to lay off.
He wondered about their friendship, half out of curiosity and half out of jealousy, and he could admit that second part to himself, if not to anyone else. But Stanford had something like seven years on Zoom, so Vert knew he had to be wrong on that count. Even if Stanford was pretty open about swinging both ways.
Vert wished he was half that confident. Even if Stanford put on a front about most things, his love of people and the world was anything but. It was something to admire.
"He's been helping me with a lot of stuff," said Zoom, vaguely. "You know, personal stuff." The way he said it, coupled with Vert's thoughts about Stanford's confidence, had a few pieces clicking into place.
"Oh," said Vert, then, as it dawned on him, "Oh."
"Yeah," said Zoom, rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks were red and he looked more than a tad embarrassed, though it was half covered with worry. "That's… okay, right?"
"'Course," said Vert, easily enough once he'd recovered. "Don't… really have a right to judge, seeing as I'm, well, you know." He shrugged and saw the way Zoom's eyes lit up at the sort-of confession.
"Yeah?" he asked, sounding more than a tad hopeful.
"Yeah," said Vert, his words half an exhale and his own tone tinged with hope. The two stared at each other for a long moment, both seemingly waiting for something, then Vert dropped his gaze and looked over his shoulder toward the tree. For a second, he thought Zoom looked disappointed, but then the look was gone and Vert figured he was just seeing things.
A few long moments of silence passed before Vert spoke again. "We should head to bed," he said. "It's getting late. Don't want to keep the others waiting in the morning."
Zoom sighed, almost sounding disappointed, and got to his feet, stretching. "I guess," he said. Yeah, he definitely sounded disappointed. Vert pretended not to stare as Zoom went up on his toes to finish his stretch. Instead, he got to his feet and let his eyes slide over to the door again, nudging Zoom toward it with a nod.
The two headed out of the room, only for Zoom to hesitate in the doorway and look back at him, lips parted in an obvious attempt at a question.
Vert leaned against the other side of the doorway and raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked.
Zoom broke into another lopsided smile, this one showing off the slight gap between his teeth. "Did you get me anything for Christmas?" he asked, voice teasing.
"'Course," said Vert. He leaned in close, feeling bold in the late night quiet. "I made sure I got you something special too."
Zoom grinned and tilted his head up to look Vert in the eye, his own gaze dancing with amusement. "Now, I'm curious." Then, his gaze went a little higher and his entire face flushed a dark red.
"What?" asked Vert. Zoom pointed up and Vert let his own gaze trail to the top of the doorway. Sure enough, the mistletoe he'd been thinking about not long ago hung above them. Vert swallowed hard. "Oh, that."
"Um," said Zoom.
Vert flushed and looked at Zoom, who stared at him with wide eyes.
"Well, uh, Spinner put it up, you know, as a joke. I don't think he meant for anyone to actually do anything with it. Besides, it's not like anyone would know if we didn't, so if you don't want to it's totally cool and…" Vert trailed off as Zoom pressed a finger to his lips. He closed his mouth and Zoom removed his finger.
Then, tilting his head and going up on his toes, Zoom kissed him.
It was a gentle kiss, barely a brush of the lips really, and he held it for only a second before pulling back and lowering himself back onto his flat feet. Vert blinked a few times, entire face hot and his heart beating hard in his ears and in his throat. Shyly, Zoom smiled at him.
Vert smiled back. "Okay," he said, a laugh in his breathy tone. His smile pulled into a grin without trying, giddiness pounding in his veins and making him a little light-heated. "Yeah, uh, okay. That… yeah."
"Can I do that again?" asked Zoom, quietly. He bit his lip before adding, "I mean, we're still under the mistletoe."
Vert swallowed and replied, "You can do that as many times as you want." Zoom wound his arms around Vert's neck and Vert cupped Zoom's face with both hands. The two shifted forward and kissed again, then again, only pulling back when they wanted to shift angles or take a breath.
Behind them, the clock chimed midnight and they both jumped, bumping foreheads.
With a breathy laugh, Vert whispered, "Merry Christmas, Zoom." He rested his forehead properly against Zoom's and Zoom laughed back, his breath ghosting Vert's lips.
"Merry Christmas, Vert." The two pulled each other in for another kiss, revelling in the contact. And, outside, without either of them noticing, the snow clouds inched their way across the sky and snow began to softly fall over Handler's Corners.