“Pass me the mistletoe now! And go hide so they don’t see you!” Mirio loudly whispered, his head sticking through the ceiling. “You have the camera ready?”
Eri excitedly nodded, giggling. She handed Mirio the mistletoe before quietly ducking behind Nighteye’s desk.
As they heard footsteps approaching, Mirio permeated back through the ceiling so only a couple of fingers (holding the mistletoe) were peeking through.
Here was their plan: Sasaki and the Doctor has just recently begun their relationship, and Mirio has heard quite a few stories about the few not-so-good Christmases the Doctor has had. In an attempt to both make Sir smile and Doc have a fun Christmas, he wanted them to share a special moment. But Mirio also knew they avoided being super “couple-y” in public.
So, gathering Eri as his accomplice, the plan was set in motion.
“—think it’s unfair that you have to work on Christmas, of all days!”
Sir sighed. “I know, but villains never rest. So some of us get selected to work on the holidays.”
“You can’t even take a teeny weeny break?”
“I mean… I could...” Doc smiled. “…If I wanted to lose my license.”
His smile fell. “How rude. Seems like too much work if you ask me.”
“Says the one who saves the universe.” Sasaki chuckled as he let the Doctor in the door, but bumped into him as he tried to enter the office. “Is something the matter, dear?”
“Mirai. Look up.”
At those words, Sasaki looked up at the door frame to see mistletoe dangling over them.
“Ah.”
“Ah indeed.” Doc looked back at Sasaki and saw his face flush red. “Well…”
“Well.”
“What a silly thing! Do you think it was Togata?” Doc laughed cheerfully, but stopped when he saw Sasaki staring up at the mistletoe still. “Mirai?”
Upon hearing his name, he shifted his gaze from the mistletoe to the Doctor. “I… uhm…”
“Mirai, love, it’s okay. We don’t have to follow the tradition.”
“No, I…” Sasaki reached out and took the Doctor’s hand. “I want to.”
“Oh!” It was the Doctor’s turn to blush. “Oh. Blimey! Right! Okay.”
Despite already having their first kiss, Sasaki was not used to being in a relationship again after the Breakup. He was nervous, like a schoolboy asking out his crush. He slowly raised his other hand to hold the Doctor’s face and bring it closer to his. And just as their lips touched, Sasaki could’ve sworn he heard the shudder of a camera go off, but he didn’t really care. The Doctor’s lips were soft, which contrasted from the scratch of his stubble. Sir swore up and down he could never get used to this.
They pulled away after a moment, and the Doctor was quite pleased with the soft smile that crept onto Sasaki’s lips.
“Is that just for me, Mirai? Oh blimey… what a special gift indeed.”
“What gift?”
“Your smile. You’re beautiful.”
Before Sasaki had a moment to react, he heard the same shudder of a camera.
“H…Hello? Is someone here?”
“I thought you said people went home for the evening?”
“I did. So who’s here?”
The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the room. “It seems like the camera is behind your desk.”
As the two carefully peered over the desk, they heard a thud and turned back to the door.
“Mirio?”
“Merry Christmas!”
“Are you okay? Why were you in the ceiling? And what is crushed in your hand?”
“One: I’m great! Two: I was holding mistletoe. Three: Mistletoe.” He responded, the goofiest of smiles on his face. “Like I said! Merry Christmas!”
“Your gift to me was…letting me kiss my partner?”
“P…partner. Ooh… I’m his partner. I’m a lucky man…” The Doctor said to himself. His voice was slightly sing-songy, which resulted in a loud giggle erupting from behind the desk.
“You can come out now!” Mirio called out to the figure behind the desk. Sasaki and the Doctor were shocked, but pleasantly surprised to see Eri appear with a camera.
“Oh, hello sweet girl…” The Doctor crouched down. “What were you doing with that camera?”
“Making your gift! Here you go!” She smiled, handing the Doctor two Polaroids.
One of Sasaki’s and the Doctor’s kiss, and one of the smile from Sasaki after. On them was drawn a heart in a red pen.
The Doctor didn’t know what to say. “Mirai, look…”
“What is it?”
“Us.”
Mirio walked over to them. “Sir… I know you’ve celebrated Christmas by yourself recently. And Doc, I know sometimes Christmas for you can be… hectic, to say the least. So we wanted to give you a memory of a Christmas that doesn’t…y’know…suck. It’s important to have loved ones with you for the holidays.”
“Mirio…”
“And we just wanted both of you to—“
Mirio’s words were cut off by a tight hug from Sasaki.
“Thank you.”