#mistletoe!

So what if in a s1 AU where Izzy joined Ed and Stede at the fancy party and there was no duel, it’s almost Christmas and Ed and Izzy are a bit baffled about how excited Stede is about it.

Ed and Izzy aren’t used to big celebrations and presents and decorations and when Stede and the crew start hanging Christmas ornaments (some of them handmade, some of them found in a recent raid) and tinsel everywhere, it takes Ed like five minutes to jump in and start helping with the preparations, excited like a child on… well, like a child on Christmas morning.

And then Stede is organizing an exchange of presents and Izzy is looking around horrified because they have also hung mistletoe EVERYWHERE, but Stede simply says ‘it’s a tradition’ when Izzy tries to complain that it will distract the crew even more from their tasks.

And soon there are people smooching in every corner at random moments and Izzy is having a hard time doing his job around the ship because he tries so hard to avoid stopping under any sprig of mistletoe and there are SO MANY.

(Also he might be a bit paranoid but Izzy thinks the crew is watching him more closely now. Even Stede, who is quite bad at pretending he is not staring at him, by the way.)

Izzy manages to avoid the mistletoe for a few days, but then when Ed calls him to check on some clouds by the railing, he makes a mistake.

(But he is distracted by how beautiful Ed is looking that morning as he points at the horizon in a red silk shirt, who could blame him?)

When he walks to stand beside Ed, Izzy sees him turning to look at him with a mischievous smile and then it’s when Izzy realizes there is a very small sprig of mistletoe right above them.

“It’s a tradition, Iz,” Ed says, his smile softening.

And then he is leaning down to kiss him and Izzy has stopped breathing for some reason and then… the ship is hit by a strong wave and it sways roughly, almost making them lose their footing and making the mistletoe fall into the water.

Izzy runs away, trying not to look as if he is running away, and the pain in his chest feels more like disappointment than fear.

Ed looks heartbroken and Stede and the crew try to cheer him up.

“Don’t worry, darling, there will be a next time,” Stede says, rubbing his shoulders. “You got a lot closer to get a kiss from Izzy than me anyway.”

“Sorry I didn’t knot the mistletoe better, Ed,” Frenchie apologizes.

“Do we have more around?” The Swede asks. “We could hang more mistletoe so the captains would have more chances.”

“We could move the ones we have to different places,” Wee John suggests. “He won’t be expecting that!”

“Why don’t you idiots simply tell him that you want to kiss him?” Jim says, annoyed.

Shinonome makes an expression that could freeze hell over, if they hadn’t already trudged through it to get here. “What…is this?”

“The Latin terminology is viscum album," Gouto observes, almost shouting over the din of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra over the mounted speakers in the living room. "It’s classified as part of the Santalaceae family—”

“It’s mistletoe!” Amiguchi nearly spills the crystal pitcher full of red drink (not wine, not cranberry juice—unidentified drink) in his excitement. “And you’re the first to fall under its ancient trap. You know the rules, now—”

“No,” Shinonome says.

When the Doctor and Rose kissed under the mistletoe, a future full of kisses opened up to them.

Nine x Rose

This is for @doctorroseprompts 31 Days of Ficmas, using the word, “mistletoe.” This is day 11 on my personal 31 Days of Ficmas.

This is also for a prompt from @chiaroscuroverse, who sent me a holiday prompt last year asking for “Nine casually maneuvering Jack away from the mistletoe, though not necessarily meaning to steal a kiss from Rose for himself, but now it's happening... ;);)” I had to adjust it just the tiniest bit to get it to work in my headcanon, but mostly, this is exactly what you asked for.

AO3 | FF

The Doctor rolled his eyes as Jack let yet another local pull him under the mistletoe. By his count, the captain had been kissed fifteen times in the last twenty minutes, which had to be some kind of record—even for Festivia’s Mistletopia. Jack winked at him over the broad shoulder of the blond man he was currently engaged with, and the Doctor chuckled.

His gaze wandered to the dance floor, where Rose was spinning around the room with a young woman. He was too far away to see the sparkle in her brown eyes, but he could easily imagine it.

Rose threw her head back and laughed in response to something the woman said, and the Doctor felt his hearts clench. Seeing Rose happy was all he’d wanted since the day he’d met her.

For months, he’d tried to keep his feelings for her under wraps, hiding behind words like, “Considering that you’re human.” He’d told himself Rose wouldn’t want a damaged soldier like him, that she deserved better.

But recently, things had started to shift between them. He remembered the conversation and the dance in the basement of the hospital, and the willing way Rose had curved into his arms.

Partly because we’re jerks to him for most of the year, so we may as well let him have this one thing during the season that requires us to feel love for our fellow man.

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