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You stood at the foot of Viktor's bed, your emerald green ball gown heavily outshining his wood furniture and dark walls. He wasn't a man to own colour, he highly appreciated antique and classic decoration, but there you were amongst it all. The only thing he had to celebrate the festivities was a huge Christmas tree placed in his living room, gleaming with golden lights that matched his eyes. Its baubles reflected you like a mirror, casting your figure with red and golden hues. As traditional as his apartment was, his tree also followed suit. It was basic but incredibly beautiful.
He placed himself at the end of his bed, hardly a metre away from you, as he laced up your corset with gentlemanly grace. Every time he cinched your waist with the cord, you winced from the discomfort of your insides being squeezed. And every time he noticed your pain, he landed gentle kisses on your arms. You both knew he didn't intend to hurt you, but it was a necessary sacrifice if you wanted to transcend the rest of the guests.
His hands danced deftly across your body as he passed the cord through the eyelets of the garment, icy hands grazing against the fabric. Whenever his skin brushed against yours, a calm heat built within you - you were so in love with him even after all these months.
Once he'd accomplished the corset, you turned to face him and his breathing stopped entirely for a few seconds. Amber eyes passed over every inch of your body, analysing every aspect of your beauty you had to offer. While you were insecure about yourself, his absolute admiration for you filled that hole as you watched him come undone at your image. He looked rather understated in his dark suit, despite having pops of deep reds in his waistcoat, its paisley pattern revealing a whole host of tones that glimmered beneath the lights. His cane also matched his outfit, a corresponding dark wood, with glowing crimson and gold accents.
~~~~~
Before you even entered the hall, the loud blaring of festive music could be heard from miles down the corridor. Many other people, also higher ups from the academy, were making their way towards the hall but you recognised very few of them. You figured Jayce and Caitlyn had already made their way there.
The second you entered the hall, all eyes were focused on you. You knew you looked amazing but you figured most of it had been exaggerated by Viktor out of his pure love for you. Seemingly not. Before any ambassadors had the opportunity to approach you, you both began scouring the hall for Jayce, and when that failed, your eyes fell on the familiar bright blue hair of Caitlyn.
"I'm afraid our golden boy has been stolen," she chuckled, hands gesturing to his lean figure in his usual white attire a few metres away from you.
He looked so miserable and bored you all couldn't help but laugh. As he turned to face Caitlyn, he noticed the new presence of you and Viktor and gave a greeting glance before dismissing the man he was talking to. He headed over, rolling his eyes and glancing weakly at the man who had now wandered off to bother another scholar.
"Well I must admit, you look absolutely amazing. You provide huge competition with Caitlyn I have to say." You laughed at his comment; he was right of course, but the pair of you looked incredible together all the same.
Caitlyn had paired a deep purple dress with a black corset, the shiny satin hanging loosely from her frame. It had a lot less layers of skirt than yours did, and you silently cursed her for it - god were the skirts a pain to wear.
~~~~~
You'd been so wrapped up in endless conversations with ambassadors, consistently filling the gaps with Caitlyn and Jayce, easing the boredom of their limitless questions to have not quite noticed how Viktor had weaved himself between your body, hooking his arm around yours, head leaning against your shoulder. Given the sheer height (and pain) your heels gave you, you were suddenly rather tall compared to him.
Once the painstaking flow of questions loosened, he dragged you away to a corner filled with buds of holly and poinsettias, the reds matching his suit and contrasting beautifully with your garment. His hands caressed your cheek, pushing a strand of hair out of your face. He was careful with his hands, trying his best not to smudge your makeup he knew had taken you hours to do. You gazed into his golden eyes as they melted more and more every second he touched you, and he gazed straight back at you.
You could've sworn you saw Jayce and Caitlyn giggling away to themselves at their table from the corner of your eye, but your focus remained on Viktor. His free hand wreathed around your waist, other hand gripping to his cane as he gently lay his lips on yours. You were the one to deepen the kiss, pressing your lips further into his and taking his hair into your hand, feeling every strand as you ran your fingers through his chestnut locks. Had the music not been so deafeningly loud, you could've sworn he had moaned a little from your lips touching his.
As you regretfully pulled away from each other, remembering where you were, you followed his stare as he looked up to the ceiling.
"I suppose I can finally say I've kissed somebody under the mistletoe," he whispered directly in your ear, just about so you could make it out over the noise of the music.