Pucker Up
Third was in a Cocktail Dress
Christmas is a time of warmth, a time for friends, a time to rejoice in another's company. As the darkest, coldest months of the year begin to wax, humans gather to celebrate the rebirth of light.
There is never a need for despair because even in the most sinister hour, there is always a token of hope.
A kiss.
A kiss will light up even the blackest night.
It really was a black night. The lights wouldn't go on. Five hours of stapling nets of green wire to the roof, two punctured fingers, and two near death experiences all for nothing.
Ichigo's impatience was about to go haywire, but before he threw himself off the roof in frustration, he tried one more time. He unplugged the wire, took a frustrated breath, and jammed it back into the socket.
Nothing. No lights. The dreary sky above was dull and black, illuminated in gloomy shadows. The drifting snowflakes had nothing to sparkle to; no lights. Even the orange street lights seemed duller than usual.
Damn it!
Ichigo sighed. Wonderful. A whole Saturday afternoon down the drain. Maybe it was time to call it a night. He was half frozen anyways, and it was getting late. Yuzu probably had dinner going too.
As he climbed down the latter, Ichigo noticed something: none of the lights were on inside the house. Even the porch light was dead. Odd. What on earth had happened to the electricity?
Clambering down, he passed one window that that was lit up by a dull candlelight. He frowned, peering in between the rungs.
Somebody was inside.
Ichigo squinted, looking closer, and realized the somebody wasn't just anybody. It was Rukia. She stood before a full length mirror, examining the dress, running her hands down her tiny frame with an analytical expression.
Then she flung her arms out and twirled around and around. The dark fabric of her dress fluttered, weaving in and out of the shadows, and twinkling in the candlelight as if someone had snatched a handful of stars and stitched them into the fabric.
The both laughed.
Around and around and around. Until Rukia noticed the man staring in through the window. She stopped mid spin, her face went cold and hard. With one hand perched on her hip, Rukia marched over to the window.
Crap.
It just occurred to him how wrong this must seem. Maybe he should run for it?
The window slid open. "Since when did you become a peeping Tom?"
Too late.
He pointed to the roof. "I'm put up lights, you dork," he said quickly. "And since when do you get dressed in candlelight?"
"Since you father decided to rewire the television cables."
"Oh." He looked up at the unlit Christmas lights dangling over the side of the gutter. "Makes sense…"
A strange pressure built up in the V shaped space between Ichigo's ribs. His insides squished together nervously. It was a feeling that was beyond his control. He liked it and hated it at the same time.
Now that she was closer, Ichigo could clearly see that the dress was a strange color, a wavering shade of blue and black and purple all the same time, sparkling in the candlelight. Her shoulders were bare and there was a tiny ruffle of blue lace on the hem at her chest.
"What's with the fancy dress?"
Rukia rolled her eyes, although Ichigo was sure that she was smiling. "It's for that party tomorrow, stupid. Remember?" she said. "For Christmas. You said it was a semi formal event."
He had said that because it was a semi formal event. The clinic held the party every year at the beginning of the December for friends, family, former patients, and fellow doctors. The dressing up was merely for the sake of dressing up.
Rukia leaned out the window slightly, just several inches from his face so that he could smell the faint, sweet mist of her perfume. She had that wicked gleam in her eyes, just like last time. "Well, what do you think? Did Ishida do a good job?"
Ichigo thought about his second kiss. He was definitely willing to have another, but this was Rukia. There was no telling what sneaky plot she had in mind. Yet in the end, desire outshone caution.
A kiss a day will chase despair away.
He gripped the icy rungs tightly and gave Rukia a suspicious look. "You're not going to push me off the latter, are you?"
She laughed and leaned inward.
Ichigo's third kiss was very much like his second. It was one hundred times better than first: slow, deep, and gentle. He cherished the sweet glaze on her lips, felt the friction of their lips; the composure of her soft lips matching up with his, moving in a carefully measured rhythm.
Magical fireworks, tingly sensations, the whole shebang. It made his toes curl and his heart throb. Flicker, flick, ta-da! The lights still had not come on, but never the less, hope had returned.
Huh.
At this rate he was going to fall for Rukia, but at this rate Ichigo really didn't care.
- - -
A/n: Kind of a pointless drabble, but it doesn't matter because it's a drabble. I know it's a little early for the Christmas season, but I couldn't resist. So happy early Yuletide! Thanks reviewers, you guys are awesome.