Work Text:
“Pretty sure mistletoe constitutes workplace harassment.”
Katsuki’s gaze fixated on the offending plant that hung from the doorframe directly in front of him. It loomed over the office party in wait for two unsuspecting passersby to step under it and get ensnared in its trap.
“Puh-lease.” Camie rolled her eyes. “You’re just upset that the ‘high-voltage hottie’ in sales does not want to kiss you.”
Katsuki wet his lips in frustration and turned his scowl on his coworker. She was dressed in a slutty Santa outfit that was most definitely against the dress code for the office holiday party. “You’ve been spending way too much time with Denki,” he grunted.
“Doesn’t make it any less true, fam.” She smirked. “I’ve been watching you moon over him for months. You help him with his computer one time and it’s like you’ve seen God.”
“Tch.” Katsuki refused to dignify the comment with a response.
Camie rolled her eyes again. “Here.” She shoved a glass of champagne in his hand. “Drink some bubbly, let your inhibitions run loose, and go flirt. At least if it ends badly, you will barely have to see him since sales is on the fourth floor.”
He hated that she wasn’t wrong, and since they were in different departments, it wasn’t against the rules to be in a relationship, just heavily frowned upon. Katsuki pursed his lips and took a sip off the champagne flute. The bubbly was dry and crisp as it tickled its way down his throat. Katsuki secretly preferred sweet wines and champagne, though he would never admit it. He downed the rest of the glass and shoved it back at Camie. “Here,” he said.
Katsuki marched toward the open door, but a slender, manicured hand came down on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Camie smiled coyly at him and tapped her cheek. Katsuki groaned, then leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek. She beamed brightly at him.
“Is Kacchan dishing out kisses?” asked Denki, far too loudly than was socially acceptable. Several heads turned in their direction to see Katsuki pull away from Camie.
“Fuck you, jackass,” Katsuki barked. He marched away from the pair of them and their giggling fit of laughter into the large conference room that was being used as the main space for the office party. Unfortunately for Katsuki, a certain redheaded sales associate was standing near the buffet table, and his crimson eyes were focused on him.
Did he see that? Katsuki wondered. He approached the long row of tables and reached for one of the dinner rolls. Katsuki cleared his throat as he lifted his gaze to meet Kirishima’s. The sales associate was still watching him, though he glanced away to appear more discrete. “Hey,” Katsuki said casually.
Kirishima glanced down at him as he took a bite of the dinner roll. “Hey,” he said stiffly. His gaze drifted back to the doorway where Camie and Denki still stood, laughing with one another and some people from accounting.
Katsuki followed his gaze and grunted at the fools. “Hitting the champagne hard right from the start,” he said more to himself than Kirishima.
Kirishima arched a brow. “Is that what it was?”
Katsuki snapped his head to the right. “Pardon?”
Pink dusted Kirishima’s cheeks and he stretched his arm over his head, scratching the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to imply… There’s—uh—there’s just a rumor…”
“Rumor?” Katsuki pressed, suddenly extremely interested in whatever Kirishima had to say.
“That you and Utsushimi are dating…?” Katsuki choked on his dinner roll. He slammed his fist against his cheeks as tears stung his eyes. He coughed, face flushed and reached for the tray of water glasses.
“Oh no!” Kirishima gasped. He patted Katsuki’s back and warmth traveled up and down his spine from where Kirishima’s hand made contact with his back. Katsuki swallowed the roll and cleared his throat. He took a drink of water and blinked away the tears that clung to his lashes. “You good?” Kirishima asked tentatively.
Katsuki nodded. “Yeah. You just startled me with that bullshit about dating the bimbo.”
Kirishima furrowed his brows. “You shouldn’t talk about a lady like that.”
“Camie is no lady, and she is also not my girlfriend. I dunno who started that insane rumor but she’s dating the boss’s second son. It’s not a very well-kept secret.” If this was how the night was going to go, then Katsuki needed another drink, preferably something stronger than champagne. He eyed the small bar in the corner of the room that the company was paying for.
“So… You’re single?” Kirishima asked, drawing Katsuki’s attention back to him from the bar. His expression was unreadable but the faint dusting of pink that colored Kirishima’s cheeks led Katsuki to believe there might be more to his questioning than Kirishima let on.
Katsuki nodded slowly. “I am.” There. He noted a twitch of the brow just above the sliver of a scar that marred Kirishima’s otherwise flawless face. Katsuki inhaled slowly and let out a breath. He might as well shoot his shot. “Can I buy you a drink?”
“It’s an open bar.” Kirishima quipped.
The corner of Katsuki’s mouth ticked upwards into a smirk and a soft chuckle escaped him. “Even better.”
Kirishima smiled back. “I’ll take a brandy sour if they have it.”
“I’ll be right back.” Katsuki patted Kirishima on the bicep as he walked away, and warmth lingered on the palm of his hand. He was thankful his back was to the other man because he just knew he was wearing the stupidest fucking grin on his face. He would never in a million years admit to Camie that she was right about anything, but she had been right about this.
They found an open table in the conference room and sat together. Knees touched as they drank, ate, and swapped stories. Most people glossed over when Katsuki told them he worked in IT, but Kirishima seemed genuinely interested. He thanked Katsuki profusely for the help he provided a few months back. He said he would have lost major account information if Katsuki hadn’t managed to restore the data.
People in management made dumb speeches and the subtle brush of knee against knee turned into hands on thighs and thumbs brushing against firm biceps. As the prize raffle began, Katsuki leaned in close, lips brushing against the shell of Kirishima’s ear. “You wanna get out of here?” he asked.
Kirishima swallowed thickly and nodded. “Y-yeah,” he choked out.
And if Katsuki ended up kissing the hot sales associate in the closet later after far too much scotch on the rocks, well, that was between them and Denki who had the misfortune of walking in on them. Annoying bastard should have gone to look for his coat in a different closet.