Mistletoe Mingle!

[passingthrough]

Who: Those who are about to be kissed! OTA
Broadcast: Not likely
Action: On any ship in the fleet including the Iskaulit
When: Now until December 26

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight.
Lead me out on the moonlit floor.

(Adventures in Mistletoe info post. Remember to mark your top levels with any boundaries you want to set! Enjoy!)

Comments

[candothat]

[He isn't sure that metaphor works on any level, but sure.

It's been almost two years since he's kissed Kitty--or anyone else, discounting the other recent mistletoe incidences--but he didn't forget how. His initial plan to keep it quick and professional (which seems like the responsible way to handle this situation) goes out the window; he brings a hand up to cup Kitty's cheek, closes his eyes, and kisses her.

Sorry if you were just expecting plain old lip-pressing, Kitty. Blame the mistletoe?]

[passingthrough]

[You want metaphors that work then you're looking for a different girl! This one says nonsense before kissing men she has complicated pasts with!

Fortunately, she wasn't expecting a particularly chaste kiss. Of course that has less to do with the part where maybe that would be the smarter way to go for the two of them and their history. It has everything to do with knowing these things always want more. Sure, she knows a lot less about these particular devices here in the fleet, but she never got away easily in the prison unless she was kissing a kid or a goat or whatever. Her and some guy or lady of similar age were definitely going to need to make it a "real" kiss. And she figures one and done is better than working your way up slowly.

Is she right? She really hopes she's right as her lips move freely against his and she feels his hand against her cheek.]

[candothat]

[So she says sensible things before kissing all of the men she doesn't have a complicated past with? Sounds fake.

Pavel isn't thinking about whatever rubric the Fleet's mistletoe might be grading on. He isn't thinking much at all. If he was, his other hand definitely wouldn't come up to run through her hair, and he absolutely wouldn't part his lips ever-so-slightly against hers.]

[passingthrough]

[It's the hand in her hair more than anything that makes her disengage. It's not that it's a bad kiss. Far from it. But it's not one she feels comfortable getting lost in. First she brings up a hand of her own to gently catch his and then draws back from the kiss. Now she just needs to say the perfect thing to harmlessly disperse the tension. To let him save face and remind him that she cares and assure him he did nothing wrong, but she isn't interested in further complicating things. Yep. Any moment now. She'll have words. Good words. The best words.]

Let's check the barrier. [Those probably weren't the words.]

[candothat]

[Oh.

Right.

He is somewhat mortified. Kitty has a boyfriend (or whatever Vash is), she still loves Winn, she's abundantly uninterested in him, and he knows all of that. What's he doing? Actively trying to be terrible? Good work, way to be needy and desperate and the actual worst.

Oh hey, Kitty's saying words.

He takes a few steps back and doesn't meet any resistance. The temptation to leave and continue berating himself in the privacy of his quarters is great, but Kitty would probably worry and think that she did something to upset him and that is not ideal.]

No barrier.

[passingthrough]

Good. Effective kiss. [Are these the words to use? She doesn't know. What if she just started discussing physics with him. Would that solve it? She's trying to keep her body language and face neutral, but the act of trying to do something like that probably means it's a little stiff and awkward.]

[candothat]

Effective, yes. Exactly. [It's a true descriptor, at least?

He can tell that she's trying to keep things normal, and he's trying to keep things normal, and it's immensely frustrating that this is where they are almost two years after his arrival--and he doesn't know why it's like this. Why he's like this, because it's pretty clear that he's the problem here.]

I'm sorry. [He doesn't really want to apologize since she already knows and likely doesn't want to hear it, but it beats running or saying nothing and acting aggressively normal?] I stopped thinking.

[passingthrough]

I don't know that I'd have done anything differently in your place. [Not intentionally, but in that same way where you stop thinking and start acting. That's definitely a point where she gets herself into trouble. If she had cause to kiss some version of Winn who wasn't comfortable with her advances would she have been able to handle it more smoothly? She doubts it. But it's strange to be on this side of things.]

[candothat]

Thank you. [That does diffuse some of the tension, knowing that she gets it. Not that he doubted that she'd be understanding.]

If... ah, if you ever want me to stop, or to give you room, or to stay away... will you tell me? [He's afraid that she puts up with more than she wants to out of misplaced guilt or obligation. He's also afraid to invite her to push him away. It's not like he's given her any compelling reasons not to.] In any situation, I mean, not in kissing-specific scenarios. Er, also in those, but I think that the mistletoe is a temporary addition to the Fleet...

[passingthrough]

I would tell you. [She did once when his letter was fresh in her mind and Winn had only just woken up from a coma. It was too much then. Granted, she doesn't usually know the meaning of too much. She just keeps moving forward carrying everything she can with her.]

I think we should probably keep kissing-specific scenarios to just rescue operations. [Maybe she should lay off any impulse to give affectionate cheek kisses too. Maybe not forever but until he's moved on or something?] But your my friend, and I'm okay if you're okay.

[candothat]

Thank you. [See, then it's good to issue reminders once in a while!]

I can't imagine what other kissing-specific scenarios there would be. [He has moved on in the way in which he has no expectation that she'll ever be interested in him. It's moving on in other ways that's harder. It's not like he has dating prospects, or even other close friends to confide in or be physically affectionate towards. Not since Kara left. Kitty's it, and he's been trying not to put a lot on her and to maintain some distance.] Okay.

...I should go, probably, just to avoid more scenarios.

[passingthrough]

Okay. [Going probably is the smarter move here. She doesn't know for sure it can't catch them twice. She wouldn't put it past the Atroma to just grow some new kissing weed above them. But she also doesn't love leaving it here.]

Um...I could call you later?

[candothat]

That should be safe, I think. [He manages a small smile. See, it's fine. Everything's fine.] I would appreciate that.

[Now... leaving. Preferably without kissing too many people on the way out.]