Work Text:
“So, let’s talk about our Christmas plans!”
Shelby looked up at Lynette with a blank expression, as he neatly put away a stack of paper, getting ready to leave the office together.
“Huh?”
“Our Christmas plans!” she repeated, figuring he was still too focused on his work. “I want an advent calendar before December starts, and you need one too! Should we buy a tree? Do you have any festive decorations at home?” She paused here, thinking of his flat. “No, we need to buy some. Oh! And we should host a Christmas party at the office, with both the office workers and our members!”
The blank look on his fade had gradually changed into an overwhelmed one as she talked.
“Christmas, huh.” he thought aloud. “We’re sending out bonuses to the employees, as every year. So there’s no need for a Christmas party.”
“We don’t ‘need’ a party, but it would really benefit us! Not only to get us into the Christmas spirit. It’s a very romantic holiday, so it would be perfect for our members to mingle with each other!” Lynette had a skip in her step as she described to him how perfect a Christmas office party would be for everyone, as they left the office to go home.
“Hmm,” Shelby thought, a little more interested now.
And that’s how they decided to host a Christmas party. Well, Lynette did, and Shelby ended up agreeing that it would be good for business.
Naturally, she planned out the whole party. Music, catering, decoration, the usual. But surprisingly, Shelby actually ended up chiming in and trying to help out from time to time, too. It filled her heart with warmth, as she didn’t expect him to.
The day of the party rolled around. She could barely conceal her grin as she walked up to Shelby with an item hidden behind her back. He was standing in front of the mirror, straightening out his suit, ready to go to the party with her.
“You can take that off,” she said with a small chuckle. “I’ve planned matching outfits for us!”
He turned to her with a raised eyebrow, clearly interested in what she had to say. “Matching outfits?”
“Tadaaah!” She presented him with two “ugly” Christmas sweaters. They were matching ones, one for her, one for him. They read “I don’t do matching sweaters” on his, and “But I do!” on hers. Lynette finally stopped holding back and fully grinned at him now.
“Is this really… suitable for an office party? What about the dress code?”
Oh, he didn’t notice, no wonder he was looking so surprised. She quickly got out her phone, opened up the email invitation she had send to everyone, zooming in on the part that said dress code, and showing her phone to him. It said: ‘dress code: Christmas sweater / Christmas wear’.
“It’s a great conversation starter for people who don’t know what to talk about, not even to mention if two singles end up wearing matching ones by chance. And they’re comfortable too, here, try it on!”
Shelby begrudgingly, but surprisingly without complaining, took the Christmas sweater she threw to him. After switching out of his suit jacket and into the sweater, she took a good look at him.
“You look so cute!”
“Cute?”
He picked at the sweater, trying to make it fit better, while she quickly slipped into her own sweater. With a smile, she walked up close to him, leaning against his side slightly while looking into the mirror. It made her so happy, seeing him together with her like this.
Lynette took out her phone and snapped a few pictures. ‘I will definitely cherish this memory,’ she thought.
“Let’s go,” Shelby finally suggested.
“Actually,” she starts, stopping him. “you can switch back into your suit jacket, Shelby. I really wanted to try the matching sweaters, and we did. I have photos so I’m good!” Lynette smiled brightly at him. She actually figured he’d decide not to wear it himself; it’s very surprising he actually intended to wear it to the party.
“I should stick to the dress code, shouldn’t I? Can’t be such a bad example as the boss.”
“No, it’s fine to wear a suit, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” she stressed, but Shelby took her hand into his and looked at her with this soft look that made her knees go weak.
“You’re really excited about all these Christmas things, aren’t you?” he asked seriously. She nodded. Was it that obvious?
“It’s my first time celebrating Christmas with a partner,” she explained. “I wanted to really go out this year and try all these traditions, especially the ones for couples. But I don’t want to if you don’t like them!” She peeked at the mirror again, feeling a warmth in her heart at seeing him standing there with her. Together. Matching.
Shelby squeezed her hand, making her look up at him. He was smiling at her. He’s so handsome, she can’t help but think, even without his suit, even in this silly sweater.
“Then let’s try them together. I actually haven’t tried most of them, either.”
Still holding her hand, he walked towards the door, getting ready to leave. Pulling her with him.
The party was a complete success! She could already tell the vibes were just right when they stepped into the big room at the location, slowly but surely filling up with people. She even spotted Alan talking to someone, noticing the font on his sweater, “I’m on the naughty list”. It seemed a woman happened to wear a matching sweater, “I’m on the nice list”, and ended up talking to him. Lynette proudly looked at her own and Shelby’s sweaters. It ,ade her happy that everybody could tell that they’re together like this.
She ignored that Alan seems to be flirting with the woman as always; she couldn’t force him to take this serious, she tried already.
For the next few hours, Shelby and Lynette roamed the room together, ‘playing’ cupid by getting more and more people to talk, and making sure everyone was comfortable. It was their usual work, but it still felt special, with the festive vibes around her, and especially with Shelby by her side, helping out too.
After a few hours, Shelby guided her to a more quiet corner, and quickly grabbing drinks to take a break from mingling with everyone.
“To this party, your hard work and your success,” he spoke a small toast, and Lynette could tell he was proud of her. She blushed slightly at the praise, but smiled proudly.
“To your help, too, it probably wouldn’t have worked out this perfect if I had to plan it all by myself in this short amount of time. Really, thank you.”
Their glasses clinked together and they both took a sip and enjoyed the comfortable silence for a moment. She noticed a small, but not really worrisome commotion on the other side of the room, spotting the other members of the Parasite 5 there. Despite seeing a coworker already handling the situation, Lynette was about to walk up to them, but then Shelby stopped her, putting both their glasses on a table. She looked at him in confusion, and he almost seemed a little shy.
“Just a second, uhm. You might want to look up.”
Confused, she did as he said. There was a small plant hanging above them, and for a moment she was dumbfounded, but then she remembered seeing it on TV before. A mistletoe!
She looked back down at Shelby, opening her mouth to ask how it got here, but suddenly he’s so close and the next second his mouth is already on hers. It’s a sweet kiss, so sweet, so calm – smooth lips moving slowly against hers. His hand was on her face, touching it softly, his thumb stroking over her cheek.
She felt like melting against him, but the next second it was already over. Right, we’re still technically at work, she thought, although it’s a quiet corner, thankfully. When she spotted the blush on his own face, she found it hard not to kiss him again, but she straightened herself and took a small step back, still standing close to him, but not too close.
“Did you hang it up?” She asked curiously with a smile, pointing at the mistletoe. He nodded.
“Another tradition I’ve never tried, I thought you’d like it.”
“I love it. I haven’t tried that one either. Maybe we should take it home,” she joked, and Shelby averted his eyes shyly with a cough.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
Then they both got back to work, mingling with the people and finally checking out the situation with the Parasite 5, too. They were hollering when they spotted Shelby wearing the Christmas sweater, and she was sure he was feeling embarrassed, but he actually managed not to show it.
A few hours later, they finally got home. Lynette felt quite exhausted, but on the other hand, she didn’t want Christmas eve to end just yet. Well, she did have some more plans!
“I’m so hungry,” she whined as they both stood in the kitchen, cooking together. There had been food at the party, but somehow they never had the time to actually sit down and eat more than a few snacks here and there. The amazing smell of their cooking right now wasn’t helping her case either. But she still had to wait, as the food was still in the oven, taking quite some time.
“The party was fun, but I wish we had a little more time to eat… and maybe dance together,” she mused while cleaning up the kitchen a little.
Suddenly there’s music, and she turns to Shelby with surprise. He had put a portable speaker on the counter, a playlist with Christmas music visible on his phone. He held out a hand to her like a gentleman.
“Dance with me now.”
She felt ecstatic as she took his hand and let him guide her, slowly dancing across the kitchen. It all felt perfect. She knew he was usually not the type to concentrate on romance so much, she knew because she usually feel similar, both of them concentrating on their work a lot. But today he had mastered the art of doing both. He was still wearing the Christmas sweater, wearing it for her, and she definitely hadn’t forgotten the mistletoe. Actually, she had a little revenge for that surprise back at the party, so she guided him towards the corner of the room where she had secretly propped up the same mistletoe, right when they had come home, before he had followed her into the kitchen.
She looked up briefly and his eyes followed her line of sight, spotting the mistletoe. A quiet snort escaped him, but he looked at her lovingly, and this time she was the one kissing him, still slowly dancing all the while. It was another soft kiss, but she enjoyed the fact that they were finally alone, finally able to intensify the kiss. She could feel him letting out a satisfied breath against her face, and he hugged her body closer, making it a little harder to dance, but she’d definitely not complain about that. His tongue pushed against hers and she felt her knees go weak, so he picked her up and made her sit on the counter, promptly claiming the spot between her legs. Her arms wrapped around his neck on instinct and he leaned in to continue kissing her, but then he suddenly halted, making her lips tingle with impatience.
“It smells… burnt,” he thinks out loud and within a second, they let go of each other. He quickly rushed over to the oven, turning it off and immediately opening it.
“Does it look edible?” she ask, trying to peek over his shoulder.
“Yeah, it’s fine, just a little dark and possibly crispy. Good thing we didn’t leave the kitchen.”
She hummed in agreement as she took out the dishes, as well as a tray to put them on. With their plates full of delicious smelling food and two glasses of a good wine, they finally made their way over to the bedroom.
“Are you sure you want to eat in bed? There might be crumbs afterwards…,” Shelby asks, looking a little uneasy; they hadn’t done this before, but she had proposed this idea for this comfy Christmas meal, as an exception.
“It’ll be fine, we have the tray, and we can still always change the sheets if something bothers you,” she reassured him. She sat down on the bed and he propped up the tray unfolded on her lap, before slipping in next to her.
“I guess you’re right,” he agreed. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, quickly picking a romantic looking Christmas movie. He seemed a little stiff so she snuggled closer to him, trying to get him to relax.
“Thanks for today,” she smiled at him, but he shook his head.
“I didn’t do anything special.”
“Mh, you did.” she disagreed and softly touched his chest, pointing at his Christmas sweater. “Just seeing you in this made my day.” A chuckle escaped her. “I’m also grateful for your help with the Christmas party, it wouldn’t have been such a great success without you. And the mistletoe… It’s so fun to try these traditions.”
“It was much more fun than I thought it would be,” he agreed. “I still don’t see the need to put up a plant to kiss, but planning the surprise was not bad at all, and kissing you is always a big plus.”
She grinned at him and leaned over, giving him a brief kiss, before they finally turned their attention to their food, starting to eat while watching the movie. She noticed he had started to relax more as they spoke.
Soon they finished, so they put the tray aside, snuggling up closer. She sighed in satisfaction, feeling content, enjoying his body heat against hers, warming her up. The movie was nice too, a comfortable romance with comedy. They hadn’t relaxed like this in ages, and while she enjoyed their daily life, this was such a nice change for once.
She barely even noticed how her eyes closed, how she slowly fell in a deep slumber, before the movie had even ended.
The chirping of birds awoke her in the morning, and while looking around, she noticed the TV was still on, though the movie had long finished. A smile appeared on her face as she realized Shelby must’ve fallen asleep with her – she was happy she wasn’t the only one who had felt very relaxed last night. She slowly, carefully snaked her arm around him, trying to grab the remote without waking him to turn off the TV, but right as she did, his eyes fluttered open.
“Morning.”
She put away the remote and hugged him.
“Morning, Shelby. Did you want to go take a shower?”
“No, it’s technically still Christmas, I think we can afford staying in bed a little longer.”
She beamed at that, it was almost like he read her mind. Or maybe he enjoyed this as much as she did! She snuggled up even closer, leaning her head against his shoulder, slowly falling asleep again.
They ended up cuddling and sleeping in late, almost wasting the entire day. Although it didn’t feel like a waste to either of them.