day 29 - something sweet

"I heard about this thing from Momo," Mary said carelessly, flipping through her book. There was something in the forced casual tone of her voice that made Seto look up and pay attention. Mary was sprawled sideways across his lap, reading.

"Momo sure knows about a lot of stuff," he teased, raising his eyebrows at her. She didn't look up, and her eyes were focused firmly on the book in front of her, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. It had become increasingly clear that any time Mary wanted to bring something up and didn't know how it would be received, she'd tell everyone that Momo told her about it. He wondered what it was this time.

"It's this thing," she said, buying herself some time, "where two people kiss."

Ah. "We already kiss," Seto reminded her gently, ruffling her bangs.

"I'm not done!" she huffed, glancing up at him, and she was definitely blushing now. She lifted her book to cover the lower half of her face for a few seconds to hide it, and he waited. "Two people kiss," she continued finally, "and sit apart and stuff, and the first person to touch the other loses."

"If you're kissing, aren't you already touching?" he asked with fake innocence, and she puffed up her cheeks at him to show him his contribution was not appreciated. "Sorry, sorry," he laughed, "did you bring it up because you wanted to try it?"

She flushed harder and looked away. "Maybe," she squeaked, and he chuckled again, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"It sounds fun," he said, and she relaxed a little. "But you're probably going to have to get off my lap if you don't wanna lose right away."

She scrambled off his lap and perched on the couch cushions a little ways away, her hands on her knees. "Also, whoever wins gets to boss the other person around for a whole day."

Seto wondered if she'd made that up on the spot. He didn't really want to boss Mary around, but it could be strange if she won. He'd probably end up carrying her around even more then normal, and even if he didn't mind, he did have other things to do. Therefore, he had to win. He didn't think it'd be particularly hard.

"Ready?" he asked her, and she nodded.

It was surprisingly hard to kiss her without touching her cheek or shoulder. He folded his hands in his lap with determination, and leaned over to brush his lips against hers. He heard the couch cushion shift under her as she moved closer, and smiled to himself.

He was unprepared for her to tilt her head to the side and slide her tongue across his lips. His head jerked back, his eyes snapped open, and he got a glimpse of her with her eyes shut, looking angelic and not at all like she knew what she was doing. Then she closed the distance between them again.

Seto's fingers dug into the fabric by his knees and he kissed her back open-mouthed, taking advantage of his height to lean over her. Her head tilted back and she whined deep in the back of her throat. He could feel her trembling, and he knew he was winning, which was good because he was about half a second from pulling her back into his lap.

Desperate, he leaned closer, and she promptly fell sideways off the couch with a thud.

"Mary! Are you okay?"

Mary was sprawled on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, rubbing her head where she'd hit it on the edge. He knelt down in front of her and reached over to help her up. She took his hand and then grinned up at him.

With a shock, he realized what she'd done. "…Did you do that on purpose?"

"Nuh-uh! No way!" But her cheeks were red and the way she'd grinned had him doubting it. He shook his head, but smiled ruefully.

"Anyway," she continued, "I won, so first I want you to pick me up and carry me to the kitchen to get a snack, and then I want you to carry me upstairs."

He laughed, knowing it probably would have ended up this way either way.