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The very first snow of the year is floating its way downwards from the sky, and Billy stands before the kitchen window watching the flakes dance and swirl in the light breeze and occasionally come to stick to the glass. It’s really a pretty sight, though he just wishes he could focus on how lovely everything will look coated in white rather than his brain loudly telling him how much more difficult getting to work will be if this weather doesn’t let up.
It’s right when he’s pouring coffee into his mug that Billy hears near-silent footsteps coming up behind him. To his credit, Cornelius is extremely good at being quiet, stealthy, almost, when he needs to be, but to his detriment, Billy is extremely good at hearing him. There’s probably something to be had there, but neither of them ever bother to be sentimental over details like that; they already know they suit each other like a knife into flesh, so why dwell on the intricacies of it all?
At the tap tap of Cornelius’s finger on his shoulder blade, Billy turns around, purposefully slow and with his coffee mug in hand. He huffs out a laugh when his eyes land upon the stupid grin Cornelius is wearing. He’s on his tiptoes, swaying slightly, with his arm stretched up above their heads. Billy’s gaze tracks it upwards to find a little branch of mistletoe between Cornelius’s delicate fingers.
It’s funny, actually, or unusual maybe moreso, for Cornelius to succumb to such a Hallmark tradition when they’ve never really been ones much for typical Christmas celebrations. The extent of their festivities is the exchange of one or two small gifts, and a happy Christmas murmured against each other’s lips as the clock hits midnight on the 25th. But, somehow, the absurdity of the situation makes Billy feel a little like he’s somehow inside one of those Hallmark movies. The workaholic girl with no time for fun about to be swept off her feet by the charming man who teaches her the magic of Christmas.
God, it’s so horribly, disgustingly cheesy. Cornelius’s dumb, giddy face is scientifically proven to be irresistible.
Rolling his eyes, Billy leans down to kiss him deeply, bathing in the feeling of his soft lips and warm breath right into his mouth. He feels Cornelius’s arm, the one holding the mistletoe, lower onto his shoulder and settle comfortably around his neck as they both practically melt into each other’s hold. Now, and every single other time they’ve kissed before, Billy’s heart jumps and stutters in his chest, pounding in euphoria like the rapid thumping of racing rabbits’ paws. He’s always joked with himself that if he could pick one way to go, it would be via heart attack with Cornelius’s lips pressed to his own.
Billy pulls back, after several long moments, to meet Cornelius’s eyes which are wide and adoring, dark pupils huge so that the glittering blue of his iris is naught but a narrow rim to the blackness. He could stare forever, just drinking in every last drop of the sight before him, but Billy decides to surprise Cornelius instead. He plants his hands firmly on Cornelius’s waist, ducks down to resume their kiss then promptly lifts Cornelius off the floor, to which he lets out a squeak, taken aback and delighted. Billy smiles against his lips. To startle, to truly shock Cornelius is a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence, and Billy is nothing short of overjoyed to be the cause of such a rarity. He spins them around - a proper movie kiss - for what feels like an eternity but is really no more than two rotations. When he puts Cornelius back down, he’s smiling up at him, a bright and joyful and dizzying smile that crinkles his face in the most charming way. He pushes himself up onto his toes once more to take Billy’s face between his hands and kiss him and kiss him with what Billy can only describe as the softest, most tender form of greed.
Eventually, Billy has to, regrettably, pry himself away so that he can actually breathe. When he does, Cornelius, panting slightly and cheeks glowing the prettiest pink, presses their foreheads together, and speaks, in a low voice.
“Happy Christmas, Billy.”