"Aelita, will you help me with this?"

"Sure."

Jeremy shifted to the side to allow her room. She scooted under the table further and reached her arms up toward the tangle of wires, carefully untangling one from another. They were lying next to each other under the table for refreshments; why Jim had chosen this location to put the wires under, or why he had to tape them to the table in this hard to reach position, they had no clue
They had volunteered to set up for the Christmas Ball. Yumi decided that she had better handle the snacks after Odd had been eyeing one bowl of chips hungrily, so the blond was perched on a ladder as he handled the banner with Ulrich. Of course Jeremy had been sent to work on anything tech related, while Aelita flitted around all of them and provided help where she could once she was done setting up the mixing board.

"Do you think Jim would mind if we, I don't know, actually made this possible to work on?" Jeremy grunted as he twisted for the thousandth time, struggling to turn his hand pull a blue wire from a darker one.

Aelita didn't answer. She was deeply focused on one cluster of wires that really seemed to want to make her frustrated; they were all black and intertwined in such a way that she had to follow each wire with a finger rather than just with her eyes. She bit her lip, withholding a sigh as she pulled two wires from the cluster. Two down, two to go. Her arms were tired. But the last two were even worse than before, so it wasn't very long until she let out a huff of irritation and let her arms—arm, Jeremy was pressed against her opposite shoulder on the floor, reaching upward—flop beside her.

Jeremy glanced at Aelita and imitated her movement, though less dramatically. He rested his hands on his stomach. "Problems?"

"Problems," she confirmed fiercely, throwing her frustrating into the word. "These won't come undone." She gestured to two wires.

"Here, let me help. Instead of trying to untangle each bit," he said slowly, tugging at the wires, "see if you can get them looser so it's easier. And… there."

Aelita gaped at him. The two wires were coiled beside each other, no longer tangled. "You're amazing."

Jeremy rested his hands on his stomach again. "I guess I am," he said agreeably.

Aelita grinned and nudged his side. Jeremy nudged back, and she poked his stomach, evoking a half laugh and half gasp from the boy. "I give," he said quickly.

Aelita smirked, smugly lacing her fingers with his. "I win."

"You do." They turned their heads, facing each other. Their noses almost touched. Jeremy began to blush at their proximity.

A sudden flash of light said that the cloth had been lifted.

"C'mon lovebirds. No smooching on the job. We need your help with something," Odd's voice said.

Jeremy sat straight up, hitting his head on the table. He hissed with pain and crouched, rubbing his head.

Odd snickered and let the cloth drop.

"We'd better go," Aelita said; she was no longer looking at him. That was fine. He knew he was red in the face and his hair was probably a mess now too. "Uh, yeah."

They crawled out from under the table. Odd was beckoning to them. "Come on, come on!"

"We're coming," Jeremy said.

"Jeez, Odd," Aelita said simultaneously.

Odd walked across the gym and toward the doors with them following. "Okay, okay, now stay right there," he said, a weird expression in his face, "I have to check something."

Ulrich suddenly appeared near Odd as he moved backwards. He briefly whispered to Odd, and the blond nodded. He lifted his hands up, forming a rectangle with the L's of his fingers and looking at them through the little box.

"Odd, what are you doing?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Well, what did you want us to help with?" Aelita asked.

Odd broke into a grin, as did Ulrich beside him. The latter was suppressing laughter. Odd pointed. "That."

Jeremy and Aelita followed his finger upwards. "I don't see what…" Jeremy began, then stopped. There was a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the doorway. "Oh, real mature, guys," he snapped to cover his embarrassment.

"I'm sure you know what that means, seeing as you guys are both geniuses and all," he said innocently as if he hadn't heard Jeremy, turning is palms upward and shrugged. "I mean, it's only right."

Jeremy blushed and shoved his hands in his pockets, but didn't move from his spot. Aelita was still staring up at the mistletoe. "Odd, this is ridiculous…"

"You know the rules."

Jeremy looked to Ulrich for help, but the brunette was suspiciously avoiding his gaze. He shook his head. "Just because you put us under here doesn't mean we have to—um—" He broke off as Aelita looked down, first glancing fiercely at Odd, then at Jeremy with an embarrassed expression. Ever so slowly, she began to smile.

And ever so quickly, Jeremy's eyes widened. She was going to do it. She was actually going to…. Before he could finish the thought, Aelita leaned forward and kissed him. Ulrich made a noise of surprise, and he thought he heard Odd saying, "Yes!"

"Happy?" Aelita asked a few seconds later.

"Yes," Odd repeated smugly; for some reason, Ulrich began blushing. "Go on." Then they watched as the brunette muttered something and then walked over to where Yumi was arranging snack bowls. He kissed her, making her nearly drop the dip she had been holding.

"We had a bet," Odd whispered devilishly. "I told him I could make you guys kiss. He lost; he has to kiss Yumi. Though something tells me he didn't really want to win anyway."

Jeremy looked at Aelita, stunned and expecting her to be mad. Instead she put her hands in the pockets of her jumper and shrugged. "You did kind of lose, though. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to," she said airily. And she walked back toward the table, leaving Jeremy grinning and Odd gaping.

oops I snuck in some Ulumi there

...my bad