Post by greenie on Dec 9, 2009 23:50:42 GMT 10
Title: Hanging Mischief
Rating: PG
Prompt: Mistletoe
Summary: Mattes causes havoc in the kennel with a bit of Midwinter cheer.
Notes: Thanks to Joa for the awesome title! The one I thought up was an atrocity.
“Karel, fetch me the reports please.” Corporal Finian Karel hurried to his desk and returned with a stack of papers for Clary. He turned to walk back to his place in the ranks when one of the Dogs called out.
“Hey, you can’t go back yet!” People stared, but others joined in.
“You’re not allowed to leave there yet.”
“Not until ye’ve kissed ‘er.”
Clary was completely confused. “Are you all cracknobbed?”
“Mistletoe!”
Clary looked up and swore. “Who’s the sarden bugnob who put that up there?” She looked around the room and saw that there were several other little bunches of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Dogs were hurriedly shifting away from them just in case anybody decided they were too close to being underneath them. She looked at her former partner and narrowed her eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, appearing to be completely unconcerned.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Karel leaned in and kissed her quickly on the cheek, before hurriedly getting out of her reach. Some of the Dogs cheered or whistled, but Clary ignored them and focused on the main troublemaker. “I’m looking at you because this mistletoe might as well spell out ‘Mattes the cracknobbed looby did it’,” she snapped.
He grinned at her. “It’s just a bit of festivity, to get us into the Midwinter spirit.”
She strode over looking like a predator about to make a kill. “Well, next time pick a less disruptive form of festivity!” She poked him in the chest. “Look at all the disorder you’ve caused in my kennel.” She realised that the Dogs seemed to be laughing and joking about something. “What now?” she snapped.
“Mistletoe,” managed one of them, and everybody burst out laughing.
Clary looked up and saw that they were standing under another bunch of mistletoe. “You, you – I don’t even have words to describe your level of idiocy!” She gave him a solid cuff around the head. “Pox rot you,” she snapped.
“I didn’t stand here on purpose,” he reassured her. “Although I couldn’t have done it better if I’d tried.” He grinned.
“Get kissing already,” called one of the Dogs.
“It’s ten years of bad luck if you don’t,” said another.
Mattes gave her one of his sarden irritating grins, and put one hand behind her head and the other around her waist. Just as she was thinking that it was a bit over the top for a simple kiss on the cheek, his mouth met hers. Her eyes opened wide in shock, and noise broke out around the kennel as the Dogs laughed, whistled or shouted comments. After several long moments of shock, it finally occurred to her to do something other than kissing Mattes, and she stomped on his foot. He gave a sharp intake of breath, the pain in his foot momentarily distracting him, and she took advantage of that to twist her leg around his and dump him on the floor. “You can stay after the shift and take all of it down,” she snapped. She turned to start restoring some order and froze, seeing the worried face of her four year old daughter in the doorway. “Tom,” she managed. She forced herself to look up at his face, and then relaxed. It was obvious that he wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but was amused rather than angry or jealous. “Mistletoe,” she explained. He looked up at the ceiling and grinned. “A certain cracknobbed barbarian thought it would be a good idea.”
“Mama, what’s mistletoe? And why are there plants growing on the roof? And why were you kissing Uncle Matty? And why were you kissing him on the mouth? You shouldn’t do that because I like Da being Da and Uncle Matty being Uncle Matty, I don’t want Uncle Matty to be Da and Da to be Uncle Da.”
Tom picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise. Mistletoe is that plant up there, and if two people are standing under it they have to kiss each other or they have bad luck for ten years.”
Little Goodwin’s eyes widened. “That’s almost forever!”
Tom grinned. “Exactly. So that’s why Mama was kissing Uncle Mattes.”
“Oh,” she said. “Poor Mama.”
The Dogs all burst out laughing. “Hey,” he protested. “I’ll have you know I’m very good at kissing.”
“I don’t want to know,” she retorted.
“Neither did I,” muttered Clary.
“How was he?” one of the mot Dogs asked.
“Kiss him yourself if you’re that sarden desperate to know,” she snapped.
“MAMA SAID A NAUGHTY WORD!”
Clary frowned. “Go and say hello to Achoo,” she ordered. “The rest of you, get your sorry bums out on duty.”
“That’s another rude word!” said Little. She skipped across the room singing “Bum bum bum,” as the Dogs piled out into the street. She could’ve gone on like that for hours, but she was soon distracted by greeting Achoo – and being greeted by her in return. Beka and Mattes waited nearby for Achoo, and Little Goodwin eyed her Uncle Matty suspiciously. “You’d better not kiss my mama again,” she told him seriously.
Beka giggled. “He was just being silly.”
Little nodded her head. “He’s always silly.”
“I was just making sure I didn’t end up with ten years of bad luck,” protested Mattes.
Little Goodwin looked up and realised she was under the mistletoe too. “It’s sarden everywhere,” she complained.
“Hey, naughty words,” warned Mattes.
Little stuck her tongue out at him. “Mama said it,” she pointed out. She had more important matters to think about though. She wasn’t entirely sure if dogs could get mistletoed, but if she had bad luck for ten whole years she’d be old by the time it stopped. There wasn’t much point in risking it. “Achoo, kissy!” she ordered, and kissed her on the nose. Achoo wagged her tail and licked her from her chin to her hairline. Little giggled. “That tickled!” she said, and wiped her face on her sleeve.
“We’d better go,” said Beka. “Achoo needs to come with us.”
Little gave her her best pout, but Uncle Matty agreed with Beka. “We do have to go,” he told her. “We’ll see you later, Little.”
She nodded, disappointed, and looked back to where her parents were talking at her mother’s desk. They looked like they were busy being boring, so she looked towards Corporal Karel’s desk. He was just sitting there all by himself, writing things. It looked like he could do with some company. “Sarden, bum, bum, sarden,” she whispered, just because she could, and skipped across the room to him.
…………………………
Within minutes, Little Goodwin was fast asleep on Corporal Karel’s lap. “I’m just working here, minding my own business,” he commented, loud enough that the couple at the Sergeant’s desk would be able to hear him. “I’m not paying attention at all to the mistletoe above the desk or anything that might be going on over there.”
Clary and Tom both stopped mid-conversation and looked up at the mistletoe above them. “He put it sarden everywhere,” muttered Clary.
Tom grinned. “I’m happy he thought to put some above your desk, love,” he murmured. “Although I’m not quite sure what I think of you kissing the message runners,” he added, teasing her.
“You’ve got to kiss me now.”
“I know,” he replied, his blue eyes sparkling.
And this time when lips met hers, Clary did nothing to discourage them at all.
Rating: PG
Prompt: Mistletoe
Summary: Mattes causes havoc in the kennel with a bit of Midwinter cheer.
Notes: Thanks to Joa for the awesome title! The one I thought up was an atrocity.
“Karel, fetch me the reports please.” Corporal Finian Karel hurried to his desk and returned with a stack of papers for Clary. He turned to walk back to his place in the ranks when one of the Dogs called out.
“Hey, you can’t go back yet!” People stared, but others joined in.
“You’re not allowed to leave there yet.”
“Not until ye’ve kissed ‘er.”
Clary was completely confused. “Are you all cracknobbed?”
“Mistletoe!”
Clary looked up and swore. “Who’s the sarden bugnob who put that up there?” She looked around the room and saw that there were several other little bunches of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Dogs were hurriedly shifting away from them just in case anybody decided they were too close to being underneath them. She looked at her former partner and narrowed her eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, appearing to be completely unconcerned.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Karel leaned in and kissed her quickly on the cheek, before hurriedly getting out of her reach. Some of the Dogs cheered or whistled, but Clary ignored them and focused on the main troublemaker. “I’m looking at you because this mistletoe might as well spell out ‘Mattes the cracknobbed looby did it’,” she snapped.
He grinned at her. “It’s just a bit of festivity, to get us into the Midwinter spirit.”
She strode over looking like a predator about to make a kill. “Well, next time pick a less disruptive form of festivity!” She poked him in the chest. “Look at all the disorder you’ve caused in my kennel.” She realised that the Dogs seemed to be laughing and joking about something. “What now?” she snapped.
“Mistletoe,” managed one of them, and everybody burst out laughing.
Clary looked up and saw that they were standing under another bunch of mistletoe. “You, you – I don’t even have words to describe your level of idiocy!” She gave him a solid cuff around the head. “Pox rot you,” she snapped.
“I didn’t stand here on purpose,” he reassured her. “Although I couldn’t have done it better if I’d tried.” He grinned.
“Get kissing already,” called one of the Dogs.
“It’s ten years of bad luck if you don’t,” said another.
Mattes gave her one of his sarden irritating grins, and put one hand behind her head and the other around her waist. Just as she was thinking that it was a bit over the top for a simple kiss on the cheek, his mouth met hers. Her eyes opened wide in shock, and noise broke out around the kennel as the Dogs laughed, whistled or shouted comments. After several long moments of shock, it finally occurred to her to do something other than kissing Mattes, and she stomped on his foot. He gave a sharp intake of breath, the pain in his foot momentarily distracting him, and she took advantage of that to twist her leg around his and dump him on the floor. “You can stay after the shift and take all of it down,” she snapped. She turned to start restoring some order and froze, seeing the worried face of her four year old daughter in the doorway. “Tom,” she managed. She forced herself to look up at his face, and then relaxed. It was obvious that he wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but was amused rather than angry or jealous. “Mistletoe,” she explained. He looked up at the ceiling and grinned. “A certain cracknobbed barbarian thought it would be a good idea.”
“Mama, what’s mistletoe? And why are there plants growing on the roof? And why were you kissing Uncle Matty? And why were you kissing him on the mouth? You shouldn’t do that because I like Da being Da and Uncle Matty being Uncle Matty, I don’t want Uncle Matty to be Da and Da to be Uncle Da.”
Tom picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise. Mistletoe is that plant up there, and if two people are standing under it they have to kiss each other or they have bad luck for ten years.”
Little Goodwin’s eyes widened. “That’s almost forever!”
Tom grinned. “Exactly. So that’s why Mama was kissing Uncle Mattes.”
“Oh,” she said. “Poor Mama.”
The Dogs all burst out laughing. “Hey,” he protested. “I’ll have you know I’m very good at kissing.”
“I don’t want to know,” she retorted.
“Neither did I,” muttered Clary.
“How was he?” one of the mot Dogs asked.
“Kiss him yourself if you’re that sarden desperate to know,” she snapped.
“MAMA SAID A NAUGHTY WORD!”
Clary frowned. “Go and say hello to Achoo,” she ordered. “The rest of you, get your sorry bums out on duty.”
“That’s another rude word!” said Little. She skipped across the room singing “Bum bum bum,” as the Dogs piled out into the street. She could’ve gone on like that for hours, but she was soon distracted by greeting Achoo – and being greeted by her in return. Beka and Mattes waited nearby for Achoo, and Little Goodwin eyed her Uncle Matty suspiciously. “You’d better not kiss my mama again,” she told him seriously.
Beka giggled. “He was just being silly.”
Little nodded her head. “He’s always silly.”
“I was just making sure I didn’t end up with ten years of bad luck,” protested Mattes.
Little Goodwin looked up and realised she was under the mistletoe too. “It’s sarden everywhere,” she complained.
“Hey, naughty words,” warned Mattes.
Little stuck her tongue out at him. “Mama said it,” she pointed out. She had more important matters to think about though. She wasn’t entirely sure if dogs could get mistletoed, but if she had bad luck for ten whole years she’d be old by the time it stopped. There wasn’t much point in risking it. “Achoo, kissy!” she ordered, and kissed her on the nose. Achoo wagged her tail and licked her from her chin to her hairline. Little giggled. “That tickled!” she said, and wiped her face on her sleeve.
“We’d better go,” said Beka. “Achoo needs to come with us.”
Little gave her her best pout, but Uncle Matty agreed with Beka. “We do have to go,” he told her. “We’ll see you later, Little.”
She nodded, disappointed, and looked back to where her parents were talking at her mother’s desk. They looked like they were busy being boring, so she looked towards Corporal Karel’s desk. He was just sitting there all by himself, writing things. It looked like he could do with some company. “Sarden, bum, bum, sarden,” she whispered, just because she could, and skipped across the room to him.
…………………………
Within minutes, Little Goodwin was fast asleep on Corporal Karel’s lap. “I’m just working here, minding my own business,” he commented, loud enough that the couple at the Sergeant’s desk would be able to hear him. “I’m not paying attention at all to the mistletoe above the desk or anything that might be going on over there.”
Clary and Tom both stopped mid-conversation and looked up at the mistletoe above them. “He put it sarden everywhere,” muttered Clary.
Tom grinned. “I’m happy he thought to put some above your desk, love,” he murmured. “Although I’m not quite sure what I think of you kissing the message runners,” he added, teasing her.
“You’ve got to kiss me now.”
“I know,” he replied, his blue eyes sparkling.
And this time when lips met hers, Clary did nothing to discourage them at all.