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Robert doesn’t know much about the mistletoe and what it even is, but he already hates it.
Apparently, it’s one of those unnecessary Christmas traditions, one where you and someone else have to kiss if you both stand under that stupid plant. And given that the dispatcher has reluctantly gone to SDN’s first Christmas party, that thing is hung on the walls and from the ceiling everywhere.
The thought alone of having to kiss someone just like that has Robert shiver in dread. Nope, no way he will do that. But that isn’t his biggest problem.
Mandy, Courtney, and Malevola are all individually trying to pull him under the mistletoe with them, not even hiding what they want from him. They’ve been trying since the start of the party an hour ago, and they just won’t stop.
It already has Robert utterly exhausted, too busy trying to avoid the women than enjoying the party. As much as he wants to catch up with Chase and talk to the other members of the Z-Team, Robert can’t even look at that cursed plant without getting nervous.
Or at the three women who want him under it, for that matter…
So, when everyone is at the make-shift bar getting themselves drinks, Robert slips away from the room into the hallway, finding the darkness comforting. He finds a what looks like a quiet corner a good distance away from the party. Robert lets out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes, enjoying the quiet.
“Rough night?”
Robert jumps out of his skin upon hearing Chad’s voice, turning to his right to see his colleague standing next to him, leaning against the wall.
“The fuck are you doing here?” Robert asks, a little annoyed that his former archenemy of all people had the same idea.
“Enjoying the quiet, like you.” Chad answers, glancing down at the smaller man. “You have a problem with that?”
“No...” Robert sighs, knowing that the hero is absolutely right on this one. “Don’t you want to drink at the party or something?”
“I can ask you the same thing.” Chad responds, sounding a little irritated.
Robert doesn’t answer this time, knowing the other man actually has a point, and simply rolls his eyes instead.
“Why would you look at that.” Chad says after a short silence, looking up at something hanging from the wall.
Naturally, Robert looks up as well, having a slight suspicion of what it is but hoping he’s wrong on that. To his horror, there’s a mistletoe hanging there.
And they’re standing under it…
“What’s that thing called again? A mistlefoot?” Chad asks a little exaggerated, glancing down at the smaller man with a sly smirk on his face. “Do you know, Bobert?”
“A mistletoe…” Robert sighs, knowing that the hero is trying to bait him into saying that answer, and with success.
“Then you know what we should do, hm?” Chad says, leaning in to the smaller man. It catches both men off guard, their faces are now inches apart, feeling their warm breaths against each other’s lips. As much as Chad wants to close the distance, he wants Robert to want this too.
“Only if you burn that stupid thing first…” Robert says without thinking, his mind too busy focusing on how pretty his rival’s amber eyes are.
Without taking his eyes off the smaller man, Chad summons a small flame from his index finger and sets the mistletoe on fire. With that done, Chad holds the back of the other man’s head, gentle enough to still give him the choice to back out whenever, and captures Robert’s lips with his own.
The kiss is quite tender, almost loving, something that catches Robert by surprise. It’s nothing the dispatcher expected from his colleague, yet he finds himself enjoying it. Unable to resist, Robert wraps his arms around Chad’s neck, deepening the kiss a little, longing for more now that he has a taste.
To Robert’s annoyance, it’s Chad who pulls back, and that guy has the audacity to look a little surprised, maybe even a little shocked. Robert just guesses he tasted good, secretly hoping it, even wanting to ask Chad just to confirm it.
Fuck, does he want to kiss him again, if only because it just feels so nice, way too nice…
“There…” Chad breathes, a shit-eating grin spreading on his face. Sliding his hand from the back of Robert’s head to his shoulder, the hero places a gentle kiss on his dispatcher’s lips for good measure. Well, it’s more so because his dispatcher looks too cute to resist, but Chad isn’t going to say that out loud. “Merry Christmas, bitch.”
Before Robert can even say anything, the hero turns around and heads back to the party, leaving him in the hallway.
The dispatcher can't help but smile, with his heart feeling warmer.