[meme] christmas means k-i-s-s-i-n-g

[scovilles]

mistletoe meme!

hello friends! you've stumbled upon the dc universe's newest crop of hanging mistletoe - with your new favorite person! whether it's magical compulsion, that you're trapped until you kiss, or just tradition and social pressure, you've been caught under the mistletoe and that means you have to kiss.

get ready to pucker up, buttercup!

Comments

[unwhelmed]

[He's quiet for a beat, and then he grins. Okay, this was a little awkward a minute ago, but now it has the potential to be hilarious.]

Something like that. What, you mean you're not in the habit of getting looked at?

[greenerarrow]

[With friends like these who needs trolls?]

What am I? A statue in the park? Who gets in the habit of being looked at?

[unwhelmed]

Oh, you know. Celebrities, models, people who pose for mug shots. Loads of people.

What can I say? You stick out to me for some reason.

[That reason is that she's going to make the best face sometime in the ambiguous future.]

[greenerarrow]

[It will be such a face. Have a camera handy when that day comes!]

I'm only a part-time celebrity model, so I guess I don't have a tolerance for it yet.

Do you have a name or should I just keep calling you my stalker? [Not that she has actually ever called him "my stalker".]

[unwhelmed]

I've got lots of names. Doesn't everyone?

[She doesn't. She just goes around being the same person all the time and does this seriously mean nobody's ever recognized her out of gear before?

The laughter bubbles up again, and he pulls out his phone.]

Okay -- one more selfie. For yearbook stuff. I mean you probably don't go hanging out under mistletoe trying not to get noticed.

[greenerarrow]

Maybe people who pose for mug shots. [Raising an eyebrow at him as if she is above these things when she just described her whole family. Or at least she would if they all got caught.

But her confident amusement dips when he mentions the mistletoe and she looks up. Oops.] I didn't know that was there. Are you even on the yearbook staff?

[unwhelmed]

Something like that. I'm sure you can figure it out if you try hard enough.

[Or maybe he'll just come out and tell her one day, but that seems like substantially less fun. He leans in and snaps a photo, kissing her cheek whether or not she wants it to happen. If she's surprised, that'll just make the photo better, to be honest.]

[greenerarrow]

[Oh, it's going to be a great photo if he and the camera survive. Her eyes are nice and wide. Lips parted in surprise—not invitation.] Hey! [Where are her arrows when she needs them? And how is he so fast?

She grabs for his camera, not sure what she's going to do with it if she gets it and honestly not even that worried about the photo or the kiss, but there is a principle at stake. Probably.]

[unwhelmed]

[Oh, he's fast enough to take the picture, but he's not quite expecting what it's like to actually commit to the gag kissing. He was expecting something stiff and gross like that old lady at the circus who made him call her Aunt Harriet. At worst, it would be that kind of disconnected mechanical sensation that happens when Poison Ivy gets lucky and nails him with some of her chemicals.

But Artemis is kind of soft. And she smells different when she's dressed up. And sure she's snatching his phone out of his hands, but he's mostly letting her do it because what actually just happened??]

[greenerarrow]

[Artemis didn't actually have a plan for what to do once she had his phone since this is all very reactionary to a guy who does unexpected things. And yet, it doesn't really bother her when he does? He sort of feels familiar in a way she hasn't placed. But she does have his phone. That seems like a pretty good way to figure out who she's talking to right?]

Okay, stalker, let's see who you are. [She takes a step back to put some distance between them as her thumb swipes over it for an application that might give his name.]

[unwhelmed]

[The phone itself is positively bland. Like "default system settings" level. There's very little identifying information at all. The contacts are abstractions: "Alfred," "B," "Downstairs Office," and a handful of classmate names Artemis may or may not recognize. There aren't even any visible games installed, though tapping the Waynetech logo on the app screen brings up a password prompt.

At least she's giving him some recovery time by attempting to violate his privacy.]

Well if you wanted my number, you could've just asked for it.

[greenerarrow]

[The lack of content surprises her and after another couple of taps she just hands it back, refusing to look disappointed.] Ha. Ha. [Not actually laughing. Just saying, "ha ha."] Did you just get the phone? [For as much as she's trying to seem disinterested she's also still clearly curious.]

[unwhelmed]

[He accepts the phone without argument, grinning insufferably now. How can she not put it together? She's got all the evidence.]

Not really. Why do you ask?

[greenerarrow]

[Give her a minute. She was trained by assassins, not detectives. She knows something is up here though and she's looking at him again.]

There's something up with you. Dance with me. [It's an order, not a question. She's going to figure him out.]

[unwhelmed]

[Yeahbut it's so obvious. He'll never understand how half the team misses the things they miss.]

Dance with you? At a high school dance? I thought it was a rule that we're supposed to sit on opposite sides of the room and never actually participate in the verb the event is named after.

[greenerarrow]

[No, wearing glasses or tiny masks is definitely a fool-proof strategy. How could anyone tell they are looking at someone they spend a ton of time with when small portions of their faces are different?]

Well, we're doing it my way. [She'll drag him if need be. Possibly if not needed too.]

oh my god you're incredible

[unwhelmed]

[He'll let himself be pulled along, though not without some awkward stiffness at first.]

Your way sounds dangerous. Are you sure this isn't something you'll feel embarrassed about later?

sdkfjds, no, you!

[greenerarrow]

I'm good at danger and I think you're just embarrassed now. First time dancing? [Eyebrow raised.]

[unwhelmed]

[First time dancing with a girl? Like this? And without the involvement of thugs or weapons or some stuffy British guy mumbling things about responsibility? Yeah, actually.

But that's secondary to the focus he'd rather place on dropping obvious hints and laughing about it later.]

Wow, it's like you can hear what's going on inside my head or something.

[lol.]

[greenerarrow]

You're thinking of the wrong teammate. [Yeah, she just said that. She's also looking very smug.]

[unwhelmed]

[His grin goes wider at that.]

I was starting to worry I'd have to pass you a business card or something.

[greenerarrow]

Let me guess, it would just be a blank card but under ultraviolet light you see the letter R?

[unwhelmed]

[He snickers]

Anything worth doing is worth doing in invisible ink.

[greenerarrow]

[Just shaking her head as she continues to dance with him.] So, how hard would it have been to just introduce yourself? And what am I supposed to call you?

[unwhelmed]

Wouldn't have been hard at all. But it would have been a whole lot less fun.

[Conversation is good. It's keeping him from focusing on the whole "dancing with a girl" issue.]

And if you want that part, it stays at school. We're breaking enough of the rules as it is.

[He's mostly sure he wasn't supposed to approach Artemis as a civilian. But Bruce had never directly told him not to do it, so it's all fair game, he reasons.]