Taste of Peppermint -- Gravitation (Hiro/Maiko, light Shuichi/Eiri, implied Hiro/Ayaka)
Title: Taste of Peppermint
Fandom: Gravitation
Pairing: Hiro x Maiko, Shuichi, light Hiro x Ayaka
Rating: PG-13
Christmas Prompt: Candy cane
Word Count: 506
Disclaimer: Gravitation and its characters do not belong to me.
They had one box and a half of Christmas tree ornaments left when Maiko flopped down on the couch with an unopened box of candy canes on her lap.
“What are you doing?” Shuichi asked, looking up from where he was untangling strings of multicolored lights.
“Taking a break,” she replied, very matter-of-factly. “You two are strong, capable young men; you can finish the tree without me, right?”
“Lazy bum,” Hiro teased as he reached up to hook a delicate-looking silver bauble near the top of the tree.
“Oh, you’ve been checking my bum out?” Maiko teased with a wink.
“Funny,” Hiro deadpanned back, picking another ornament out of the box.
Maiko waggled her eyebrows at him cheekily, the tiniest bit of tongue peeking between her lips. Then her gaze dropped and she set to work piercing the plastic wrapping of the candy cane box with her blunt fingernails. Hiro put up a couple more ornaments-a wooden one with the paint fading that had probably been in the family for a while, and a newer one, shiny and expensive, that Hiro suspected had been nicked from Eiri’s apartment-before he looked over at her again.
She was holding a candy cane between two of her slender fingers. Her eyes were closed, lashes fluttering slightly as she licked at the curving tip. Hiro paused, then, his hand digging aimlessly, purposelessly, in the box. His eyes were treacherous and they wouldn’t leave her, focused without shame on the white and red candy stick as it slid in and out of her mouth, disappearing, reappearing slick.
“Hey!”
Hiro jumped, startled, at the smack delivered to the back of his head. He came face-to-face with his best friend, who seemed to be unsure if he was annoyed, amused, or disgusted. Hiro opened his mouth to make up some excuse, but Shuichi shook his head at him.
“No,” he said, reprimanding. “Just, no.” He handed the guitarist one end of the string of lights and graciously changed the subject. “Help me put this on the tree.”
Hiro obliged, grateful, though his face burned and he thought he heard a feminine chuckle from the couch.
When the two band mates decided to leave, it was late and snowing. While Shuichi said his goodbyes to his parents, comforting his mother who was grieving over her “only son and own flesh and blood” was choosing to spend Christmas alone with his reticent lover, Hiro waited patiently outside and brushed flakes of snow off the seat of his motorcycle. He turned at the sound of the front door opening, closing, and straightened-almost stiffened-when he saw Maiko hurrying to him, bare feet only partly protected by fuzzy purple slippers. When she reached him, her hands grasped his shoulders as she leaned up, tip-toed, and kissed him. Despite the cold winter air, heat erupted and the taste of peppermint made something in his chest swell and something in his loins tighten.
The very next day, Hiro sent several boxes of candy canes to Kyoto.