A Christmas Kiss - 1/3

AN - I'm not really doing advent fics because worst at keeping up on an everyday basis. This is a small series of holiday ficlets, and if i come up with more, i will stash them here. I am also working on my WIP, I promise. I'm tyring to wrap it up in one long epilogue... we'll see.

AN2- Anyway, this is from the following prompt. 1800 typos. sorry. working on it. "Your majesty, the invaders have breached the castle walls – you must flee!"

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It was nearing 7pm, and Alex was thinking about leaving for the day when Casey entered her office, grinning and nearly laughing.

"Your majesty, the invaders have breached the castle walls - you must flee!"

"What are you talking about?"

Casey chuckled to herself and came to stand next to Alex's desk. "The ad-hoc holiday party is roaming this way," she said.

"The Winter Holiday Party is next week."

"Yes, the official one that most people want to ditch out of is, but the unofficial one - the kind that Jack McCoy, and apparently you as well - pretend to ignore,….the one with the white-elephant-exchange, is tonight, and here, and heading your way. I thought I should warn you."

"There's a gift exchange?"

"The third floor crew came up with it. Instead of secret santa, it all has to be alcohol, and it has to be 10$ or less, white-elephant exchange style."

"There has to be some terrible alcohol in there."

"Yep."

"No wonder no one told me about it."

"You are one of the bosses," Casey said. "I only escaped to check on my messages while they looked for a better conference room to settle into."

"This can't end well."

"Relax, everyone is pretty much behaving, and the coordinators have bribed security with food, so they're watching out for us and going to call cabs when it's over."

Alex sighed deeply. "Well, at least they wouldn't dream of coming to my office."

"I did," Casey said, matter of fact.

"Well, you've never exactly been normal," she smirked.

They heard the elevators bing open and voices come out. "I know you think all the juniors and half the senior adas are afraid of you, but they've all been downing cheap booze, and that makes them a hell of a lot more familiar with each other."

At the sound of music starting up from unknown portable speakers, Alex stood. "Oh, god, close the door," she said to Casey as she turned off the lights and closed her blinds.

Casey laughed but did as she was asked. "It's just a party," she said, turning around to find Alex a little closer than she thought.

"They should be at a bar."

"No BYOB at a bar. Kind of kills the point of the exchange."

"You know it's bad enough that they decorated," she said, waving her hands around.

"I don't think the 'decoration crew' was more than one of the junior adas, and it was one of the ones you actually like."

"Yeah, but she didn't have to get my office too." She pointed at the wreath on the outside of her door. "Not to mention she had the balls for that," she indicated the sprig of flowering plant hung above her doorway.

"She's just looking for her role model to have a little holiday fun, I guess."

"She's lucky that she has promise as a prosecutor, and that I tolerate her more than some."

Casey stepped a little closer, though she realized that she didn't have to move very far.

Alex's eyes widened, though the now dim room made it a little hard to fully appreciate her full expression. She cleared her throat weakly. "Take it easy, Novak, it's just holly."

Casey grinned. "It's mistletoe, and you know the rules about mistletoe."

"It has red berries," Alex said. "It's holly. Mistletoe has white berries."

"Are you going to ignore the spirit in which it was hung?"

"It was hung in the spirit of someone who is going to get in a lot of trouble with her boss."

Casey tilted her head to the side and shrugged. "Don't you think holly is a little bit like a mall santa. It's so often mistaken for mistletoe that it really could call itself Mistletoe's Helper," she said.

"Have you been drinking?"

"They made me do two shots of some godawful cinnamon alcohol, but I'm hardly intoxicated, and it is tradition," Casey winked, and Alex felt some of her self-control wither. "Within consent, of course."

"You're very… uninhibited right now," Alex said, not moving to make any more distance between them.

"It's a mood I get in now and again, especially under the mistletoe with an incredibly stunning woman."

Alex's brain had absolutely no answer to that, and before she could react, Casey leaned in slowly, as if waiting for any sign to stop, and kissed her on the lips. It was firm and relaxed and unhurried, and Alex's skin burned as if Casey were fever-warmed.

Casey pulled back from the kiss and deeply inhaled through her nose. She bit her lower lip and slowly released it, chasing the impressions of the kiss. "This part isn't as traditional," she whispered. "But I really think we should do that again."

Alex nodded, even though she knew she absolutely should not, and let Casey kiss her again. And despite knowing better, she felt her eyes close and her own hands pulled Casey closer.

And somehow, she knew, that she would remember the taste of cinnamon and the touch of Casey's tongue against hers - every time she saw the woman from then on.

The second kiss wound down as the revelries of the work crowd grew louder. Casey laughed awkwardly as Alex stiffened at the noise.

She smiled and squeezed Alex's hand as they stepped apart. "I'll go and redirect them to the big conference room so you can leave unseen."

Alex was still a bit bewildered t the evenings sudden turn of events. "Thank you."

As Casey turned the knob to open the door as inconspicuously as she could she looked back up at her boss. "Merry Christmas, Alex."

"Christmas isn't even until next week."

Casey grinned even harder. "Then, goodnight."

"Goodnight."