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At first, the commander thought it was a cute concept when Jasper and Monty had pitched the idea to her. It could help with the holiday spirit and seemed like quite the harmless tradition. Which was why when Clarke pointed out the mistletoe they were under in the landing of the stairwell, Lexa had done the most romantic thing she could think of.
She wrapped an arm around Clarke’s waist, and dipped her for a kiss. Clarke’s blue eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips. Lexa softly pressed a gentle kiss to her plump lips, careful not to tip them over too far. It would not do, to go tumbling down the stairs for a holiday tradition.
Lexa slowly pulled back a centimeter or two and opened her eyes to see Clarke’s bright blue ones staring back at her. She could feel Clarke’s breath puffing out onto her lips still. Lexa noted triumphantly that Clarke’s pupils were dilated and her breath quickened. Lexa smiled in that soft way that she only reserved for Clarke.
Clarke’s lips tipped upwards as well and her hands slid up Lexa’s arms to cup her face. “Wow”, she whispered.
“Wow?” Lexa queried with a quirk of her brow.
Clarke nodded breathlessly and licked her lips. Lexa’s eyes immediately gravitated back to Clarke’s lips. “Can I-. May I kiss you again?”
Clarke left out a soft laugh and started to pull away. Lexa frowns, this was not the answer she was expecting. In fact, it wasn’t a proper answer at all. Then Clarke’s lips pecks her and she snaps out of her reverie. “Of course you kiss me without warning and do the most romantic thing ever, but then you’re too shy to kiss me again. C’mon, Heda . You can kiss me all you want in our room after our meeting with Indra.”
Lexa pepped up at the idea of their bedroom later and started walking briskly. In a few seconds she was ahead of Clarke and Clarke was jogging after her with a knowing laugh.
-0-
The next time was a bit more inconvenient. The first rays of sunshine were barely visible in the courtyard. White puffs of breath were visible from both sparring partners. At least once a week, Clarke woke up early in the mornings to spar with Lexa, instead of her normal teacher. It was endearing. Plus, Lexa liked testing Clarke’s progress to make sure that the warrior she had assigned to teaching her loved one was actually doing his work. Most of these dawn hours were spent in a comfortable silence as Clarke tried to get through Lexa’s impenetrable defenses.
Today they once again repeated this above the snow that frosted the ground, but something was wrong. Clarke was most definitely distracted. Clarke’s eyes weren’t even on her wooden training sword half the time. Her eyes kept trailing to Lexa’s face.
While normally Lexa would bask in the attention Clarke was giving her, combat training was something Lexa took more seriously than others. So, when Lexa disarms Clarke and Clarke loses her footing for the dozenth time that morning, Lexa finally asks, “What is wrong Clarke? Your attention is elsewhere.”
Clarke takes the hand that Lexa holds out to her and let’s Lexa pull her up. Her hand is so wondrously warm in Lexa’s. “Nothing”, she answers unconvincingly and averts her eyes. Lexa tilts her head, noticing that Clarke’s flushed cheeks (which she had chalked up to the cold and exercise), were getting redder by the moment. What was there for Clarke to be possibly embarrassed about?
Lexa sighs exasperatedly. “Clarke, ai hodnes, you know you can tell me anything…”
Clarke huffed and mumbled something under her breath about a stubborn commander before walking forward with a determined expression. “Clarke…?” Said woman’s boots crunch forward and Lexa takes a nervous step back. Clarke keeps advancing and Lexa finds herself stepping back again and again until her spine hits the tree they were training next to.
Clarke plants her palms on each side of Lexa and leans in slowly, licking her lips. Lexa’s heart thuds faster and faster in her chest. She gulps. Clarke’s lips are so close…
“Mistletoe.” And then Clarke’s lips are on hers and Lexa’s brain melts. All she knows is Clarke is kissing her and she feels like she is on fire , there is nothing else in the world. Clarke is the thing she didn’t know she needed until she was there , and Lexa was kissing back with abandon.
Lexa’s lips chase Clarke’s a little when she pulls away. Lexa’s mind is still reeling when Clarke steps back. It wasn’t often Clarke was so forward, and whenever she did, Lexa’s world would tilt on its axis. Unconsciously, Lexa’s hands drift to her lips in disbelief.
“WHOO, YOU GO CLARKE!” a familiar voice called out from the other end of the courtyard.
Another voice hollered, “Damn Clarke! I knew putting the mistletoe there was a good call!”
Lexa’s head snaps over, caught off guard. She sees the tail end of Jasper and Monty running off back into the building. Lexa tilts her head upwards. A mistletoe hung on one of outermost branches of the tree they had been practicing next to. How the hell had they even gotten it up there?
-0-
Clarke and Lexa were chest to chest, in front of Lexa’s grand throne having another one of their infamous screaming matches, this time about the supplies that skaikru needed, when Lexa noticed Raven snickering in the background. Raven was at this meeting to discuss the materials she needed to create her new tek .
“Lexa, are you even listening to me?!” Clarke huffed.
Lexa raised a hand to silence her. Clarke fumed inside but she had learned over her time here that although she was with Lexa and she could step all over Lexa in private, it was not wise to completely disregard Lexa’s authority in public. “Ravon kom skaikru. Is there something you wish to share with us?”
Raven bites her lip in an attempt to stop laughing and answers in a shaky voice, “Just that there is a mistletoe above the both of you.”
Lexa inwardly groans when she glances up and there is indeed, a mistletoe. She would’ve just disregarded it, except she had been the one a few weeks ago, to insist that they integrate this skaikru tradition into their holiday festivities in Polis. This put her in a very conflicting place. On one hand, if she didn’t do it, it was like telling everyone that it was okay to ignore this tradition. On the other hand, if she kissed her own partner in front of the whole delegation, it would be very unprofessional of her. This was a horrifying complicated situation.
She steeled her nerves and held a hand out to Clarke. “In honor of our intention to peacefully coexist with skaikru and their traditions, may I, Klark kom Skaikru?”
Clarke has schooled her expression as well and takes her hand. “For tradition.” The warmth of Clarke’s palm is a stark difference from her practiced, cool, expression. Lexa steps and tilts her head slowly as she leans in. She can hear Clarke’s breathing quicken in the slightest and her eyes drift close.
Their lips meet and it is the sweetest, softest, subtlest, most chaste kiss ever. Clarke whimpers just loud enough for Lexa to hear. It takes all of Lexa’s self control not to deepen the kiss and show the entire room that Clarke was hers, but instead she pulls back, hoping to all the past commanders that she didn’t look flustered.
She turned to the rest of the room and projected her voice. “Now, about the skaikru supplies…”
-0-
This time, Lexa and Clarke are not even in the tower. They were checking on several programs where skaikru and the citizens of the coalition learned skill sets from each other, and had stopped by Lexa’s favorite candlemaker, Lumiere.
With a kind smile, the old man retreats to the back for Lexa’s custom ordered candles. He returns with them, all lavender scented, her favorite. She had tried several other candlemakers throughout the city, but Lumiere was always her favorite because he was the only one who could quite get the scent correct.
Lexa and Clarke hurried over to help the old man and each picked up a handle of the crate, walking back to the counter. The man waved his hand. “Skwol we.” Lexa stepped forward, involuntarily tugging Clarke with her, opening her mouth to argue.
Lumiere shook his head with a knowing smile. “Nou fok raun oyun yongness. Smuch op oyun snogon.” He points above their head.
Lexa is ready to curse when she follows his indication and sees another mistletoe. All she wants is to get back to the tower and light one of these candles. She had run out a few days ago and was eager to have one of her favorites burning in her room again.
Clarke seems to catch on and chuckles, pulling Lexa by the collar to peck her lips. “C’mon, Lexa. Let’s get back to the tower so you can put these candles to good use.”