21-Nov-2004
Title: Misteltan
Author: Mookie
Rating: PG
Pairing: Heero/Duo
Warnings: shonen ai, reference to mythological and theological beliefs, and just plain weird
Word Count: 899
Notes: Response to Porcelain's Christmas drabble request for a Heero/Duo fic featuring "Mookie-tainted mistletoe."
Heero was scraping at the bark of the apple tree in the backyard when Duo came home.
Duo walked outside, folded his arms across his chest, and watched. His breath came out in faint puffs of white as his eyes fixed on Heero's hands and the excruciating care with which he removed the green scaly growth attached to the trunk. He tossed it into the tall brown paper bag, where it joined a collection of branches Heero had pruned earlier.
"What's all this?" he asked at last.
"Twig dung," Heero replied. He pulled a roll of wide tape out of his pocket and began wrapping it around the trunk where he'd removed the parasitic plant. He wound it around several times, careful to bind it firmly but not too tightly, and then tore off the end. He smoothed it against the trunk with his hand, pocketed the tape, and turned to face Duo.
"Twig dung," Duo repeated. He looked at Heero dubiously. "You're kidding me."
Heero shook his head, his bangs bouncing against his forehead, and his eyes twinkled a bit. "Not really. It's almost a literal translation."
"Crap on trees," Duo commented. "It has a romantic holiday feel to it." He walked over to the tree and ran his hand up the side of the trunk. "And on an apple tree, no less. Tree of forbidden knowledge, if you believe in that sort of thing."
"Fruit of good and evil," Heero said softly. "Consciousness of all the wrongs committed by mankind."
Duo's eyes traveled up the trunk of the tree, to the branches overhead, freshly pruned by Heero. He reached up and grasped one of the low hanging branches, placed his foot on the trunk, and climbed up the tree. A rustle of leaves, and then he dropped to the ground, holding out a small bronze fruit.
"Care to risk your soul?"
Duo's tone was light hearted, but his eyes were dark and intense. Heero wrapped his hand around Duo's and brought the golden russet to his mouth, taking a bite and sucking in the small bit of juice threatening to dribble out of his mouth.
Heero's fingers slid to Duo's wrist as the other man brought the apple to his mouth, taking a bite right next to where Heero had sunk his teeth.
Gesturing toward the tree with his free hand, Heero said, "Frigga never did obtain its promise, because she failed to recognize that, although it has no roots of its own in soil, and although it lives off the other plants, it is a separate entity."
"Like a soldier in an army," Duo said, taking another bite. He offered the apple to Heero once again.
"An infiltrator," Heero replied. His mouth closed around the exposed flesh of the fruit and he sucked deeply before scraping his teeth along the golden skin. He bit into the firm fruit and savored the sticky sweet taste.
"Underestimated," Duo said, "until it was too late."
Some of the juice from the apple dribbled onto Duo's index finger and thumb, and he licked at it before taking his next bite.
"Some of the Christians once said it was cursed for growing on the tree that was used to fashion the cross their savior was crucified on. Denied forever and to all eternity the right to live and grow on earth."
"It's gotten quite a bad rep," Duo said. His eyes flicked over to the tall brown bag. "No empathy?"
"A plant is not a person." Heero's voice was firm and full of resolve. "It has neither conscience nor free will. Nor," he said, gently tugging Duo's hand toward him to take yet another bite of the apple, "the ability to discern right from wrong."
Duo turned the apple in his hand and bit into the uneaten portion.
"What about us, Heero?" he wondered. "Right, wrong, isn't that all a matter of opinion? Did the ends justify the means?"
It was not a new discussion between them, nor was it always Duo who did the questioning. Heero moved a step closer and pulled the apple to his mouth.
"Would you rather be forever ignorant? Gaining that knowledge was a sin, Duo. Life is full of temptation, but also of opportunities for redemption." His lips covered Duo's thumb and part of the apple, and his tongue swiped at the sticky sweetness running between Duo's thumb and forefinger. He lifted his head and started to move back when Duo reached behind him and pulled his face close, capturing Heero's lips with his own.
He sucked at Heero's lower lip and the apple juice there, then slid his tongue into Heero's mouth. The apple was crushed between them as Heero's free arm slid around Duo's waist.
When the need for oxygen became more urgent than the passion flickering between them, they parted. Heero's hand was now holding the apple and Duo's fingers were wrapped around both.
"Traditionally the kiss takes place under the mistletoe, not near its dying corpse."
"Traditionally soldiers die in war," Heero said, brushing his lips against Duo's. "I think I like making up the rules as we go along."
Duo kissed him again.
At the stroke of midnight, they walked back into the house, hand in sticky hand. The rest of the apple had joined the mistletoe in the brown bag.
In the branches overhead, a cooing sound was heard.
The End
(:./mookie/misteltan)
