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It was Christmas Eve, and the Lupin gang was celebrating in their latest hideout, a narrow brick apartment building in London. The English weather was especially brutal this time of year, and so they all cozied up, shutting themselves inside and having their own Christmas Eve celebration in the hideout. Even Fujiko was on her way, bringing some very expensive wine and some board games. Lupin had been decorating nonstop during the past week, and everything was almost set up, except for...
"THE YULE LOG!" Lupin's voice could be heard throughout the apartment.
"What?" Jigen yelled back from the kitchen, with minimal effort.
"WE FORGOT THE YULE LOG!" At last Lupin bounded into the living room, a spool of ribbon in one hand and a bundle of Christmas lights in the other. "We have to have that with dinner, it's tradition!"
Jigen turned, glancing at him through the doorway. "I don't remember having one last year."
"That's because this time last year, we were stealing the Hope Diamond."
"Is everything alright Lupin?" Goemon said calmly, entering the living room.
"No, everything is not alright," he stressed, dropping the decorations he was holding and shrugging his coat on. He slipped on his shoes and straightened his tie, and with an announcement of his departure, he ran out the door to procure the dessert.
Jigen shrugged and continued preparing the food. Goemon walked over, looking over his shoulder.
"Ain't no Christmas without a turkey," Jigen beamed, looking through the glass oven door at the bird inside. Goemon's eyes followed his.
"You eat it for Thanksgiving and for Christmas?"
"Don't forget Easter," Jigen chuckled, taking his oven mitts off.
Goemon shook his head. "Americans. You always have the strangest customs."
"Hey, I might not be the most patriotic guy but I like keeping to these old traditions," he countered. "I figured of all people you'd understand."
Goemon looked down. Of course he could, it seemed foolish now to joke at Jigen's expense when Goemon himself embodied tradition. "My apologies…could you tell me more about Christmas?"
Jigen smiled. "Of course."
-
After spending some more time with Jigen, Goemon eventually grew restless and aimed to sit in the living room and meditate. But by that time, Lupin had come back, and Fujiko was now here too, and that was its own bag of worms. It was growing difficult to focus with the constant noise. Jigen too had left for some peace and quiet before dinner.
Eventually he heard some sort of commotion from just outside the living room. "Rules are rules, fujicakes!" He heard Lupin yelling gleefully. He glanced over to see Lupin holding Fujiko by her waist.
"Oh, fine, just don't get all worked up before we've even had din-" but before she could finish, Lupin placed a large, smacking kiss on her lips. Goemon blinked curiously. They were underneath that plant that Lupin had been hanging up on every doorway.
"What is that?" Goemon asked bluntly, interrupting their moment.
"Oh this?" Lupin pointed up. "It's a Christmas tradition to hang mistletoe," he explained. "If you're underneath it with someone else, it means you've gotta give 'em a biiiig smooch!" He clasped his hands together and made a kissy face.
Fujiko huffed lightly. "But it's not usually on every doorway. What if it was Jigen who'd been there, do you suppose I'd have to kiss him instead?"
Lupin giggled. "That's what's so fun about it, you never know!"
What if Jigen had been there...the thought of Fujiko kissing him made Goemon prickle with jealousy. There was only one solution...he must be vigilant and keep an eye on every doorway. Maybe he would even get to participate. Surely if he was able to show Jigen the new tradition he learned, he'd be impressed.
-
When Jigen returned to the hideout, Goemon glared at the mistletoe above the doorways, making sure nobody advanced towards him. But when Lupin stayed in the kitchen preparing a casserole and Fujiko didn't look up from decorating lights, he relaxed, and went back to meditating. But the thought of kissing Jigen made it a little difficult to focus, and he decided to leave the room for a minute to collect his thoughts. This tradition was starting to stress him out. And besides, he was sure the others would be occupied for long enough while he was gone.
Turning the corner swiftly, he was met face to face with the very gunman that was on his mind. He must have startled him, because he jumped slightly, his hat pushed back and eyes wide.
"Oh, sorry Goe," he mumbled.
Goemon looked up. They were right underneath the doorway. This was his chance!
"Mistlefoot," he said nervously, and rushed forwards, closing his eyes.
He quickly pecked Jigen's lips; the kiss couldn't have lasted more than half a second. But wow, was it worth it. The moment their lips touched, Goemon felt his body heat up, a pleasant burn in the midst of the horrible December chill.
It was exactly what he was hoping for, but upon seeing the surprise in Jigen's face, he grew nervous. Did he do it wrong? He must have messed it up somehow. Did Jigen hate him now? He was so ecstatic to kiss him; it felt wonderful, but now it seemed as if he'd crossed a line. Deciding on a whim, he ran away in the opposite direction, towards the front door. He ran up the stairwell, and didn't stop until he reached the roof of the building, and felt his hair grow wet with falling snowflakes.
Jigen was left speechless, standing under the doorframe by himself in silence. Eventually Lupin walked over.
"Hey Jigen, have you seen Goemon? We're about to start dinner."
Jigen turned around, looking stiff and flustered. "Hm? Oh, I'm...not sure. I think he ran past me."
"Huh? Well could you go get him? I told him we'd be eating at seven, I don't know why he's disappearing now of all times."
Seeing that it was snowing out, Goemon probably didn't go too far. Jigen guessed he was on the roof, as he often was, meditating or something. Sure enough, as he made his way to the top of their building and exited into the cold, he saw the samurai on the far end, looking out over the edge.
"Hey, Goemon," Jigen called out, trying not to spook him. He turned around quickly, cheeks red from the cold. They only seemed to darken further as Jigen approached. He stood next to him on the roof, looking out at the London fog.
"Jigen."
"Mind if I have a smoke?"
Goemon shook his head, and so Jigen took out a cigarette and lit it. He waited a minute, then spoke when he was sure Goemon wasn't going to say anything.
"So...do you wanna talk about what happened?"
Goemon fidgeted. "You mean to ask about the mistlefoot?"
Jigen gave a hearty chuckle, to Goemon's confusion. Was he making fun of him?
"It's called mistletoe, not mistlefoot."
"O-oh. I misspoke. Did I do it wrong?"
"Uh, no, but…I guess I just didn't realize you were that forward."
"Forward?"
Jigen took a deep breath, bracing himself. "Mistletoe is mostly made for couples...and otherwise, if you're not, you usually kiss someone on the cheek…"
Oh god. He'd completely misunderstood. Lupin must have kissed Fujiko that way because they were already...well, nevermind that, he still didn't know what they were to each other. But it was certainly more than what he and Jigen were.
"...you knew that, right?"
Goemon's face turned bright red. His jaw dropped as he tried to find an excuse for his actions, but there was no coming back from it. He had very plainly revealed his feelings.
"Hey, I never said I didn't like it," Jigen murmured, uncharacteristically quiet. Turning to Goemon, he held up a sprig of mistletoe, just above their heads. Goemon eyed it, then looked down to meet Jigen's gaze. "Wanna try this again?"
Goemon nodded quickly, eyes wide, and leaned in once more. Jigen mirrored his movements this time, and Goemon's heart fluttered as their lips met. Jigen's lips were cold and chapped, but felt warm against the snow that tickled his cheeks. White flakes melted in his beard, dripping slowly down their faces as they kissed.
At some point, Goemon felt Jigen's hand make its way to his cheek. Feeling the need to be closer to him, he wrapped his arms around Jigen's neck as the gunman deepened the kiss.
On second thought, Goemon was glad Lupin had hung up so much mistletoe.
-
"Where were you guys!" Lupin cried, as Jigen and Goemon entered the dining room. "It's time to eat!" Fujiko sat patiently at the table, arms folded in annoyance.
"You sent me to find Goemon, didn't you?” Jigen answered. “He was meditating outside in the snow, I only just managed to drag him back in here."
Goemon just stood there, dumbfounded, as Jigen made up the excuse. Everyone's eyes moved to him.
"Uhh…I've been working on a new mantra," he stammered.
Lupin sighed. "Goemon, I'll never understand what you get up to, but I'm just glad you're here now. Now let's eat before the food gets cold!"
With everyone finally at the table, dinner was served. The yule log was a little squished, and the casserole a little overdone, but Goemon was too ecstatic from earlier to care.
Later on, they exchanged gifts, another Christmas tradition. Goemon was particularly excited about his gift from Jigen, a monogrammed scarf with his initials embroidered on the end. It looked and felt very expensive.
"So you can keep yourself warm, when you're out meditating under a snow drift," Jigen had said.
Jigen seemed very pleased with his gift from Goemon too, a vintage Zippo lighter dating back to the 40s. Jigen had started collecting them recently, and Goemon would be lying if he said he didn't scour every nearby antique store just to find the perfect one.
They ended the night with a movie, some cheesy Hallmark film that Lupin insisted they watch, and everyone huddled close on the worn old couch. Jigen and Goemon shared a blanket, and if Goemon just so happened to fall asleep on his shoulder, then Jigen was perfectly content with keeping that detail to himself.
All in all, it was a pretty great Christmas. And when it was time to take the decorations down, Goemon made sure to keep some extra mistletoe tucked away for later. He had a feeling he'd be using it again soon.