Summary: "Fun Christmas idea: Hang mistletoe but instead of kissing, you have to fight whoever else is under it."
Reese and Avery get a little creative when it comes to their courtship.
Notes: Dedicated to my friend, Piyo, who gave me this idea last year HAHA Please feel free to leave comments, especially constructive criticism! It's my first time writing for these characters, so I hope I did them justice :DHappy Holigays to my fellow Hustle Cat fans :3c
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…
Probably because Reese and his friends are at A Cat’s Paw, which was, you know, a renown cat cafe and probably the exact opposite of a mouse-friendly house.
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all employees are called to decorate the cafe because, contrary to Avery’s expectations, some witches celebrate Christmas. Others celebrate Hanukkah while others have Kwanza—and well, you get the picture. Graves is assigned to cat-watching duty while everyone else decorates because they refuse to have yet another year of festive goth decorations.
Reese and Avery are in charge of the interior design. More accurately, Reese is putting up some candles while Avery is looking up memes on their phone in a self-proclaimed break.
“Hey, Reese, check this out.”
Avery’s phone is unceremoniously shoved in his face. Used to his datemate’s compulsive sharing of memes, Reese takes a moment to read what’s on the screen.
He snorts. “What, so are you saying you want me to deck your halls?”
Dude, what the fuck, Reese’s internal narration chides him. What the fuck does that even mean.
Thankfully, Avery is just as, if not more so, a disaster as Reese is. “Well, maybe I’m going to deck your halls! Ever think about that?”
Dear god, they are such gay disasters. The rational side of Reese’s brain bids him adieu as he decides to indulge in Avery’s shenanigans.
“You wanna fight?” Reese asks, unable to keep the grin off his face.
“Why not? You know I can kick your butt any day.” Avery’s answering smile turns lopsided as unmistakable challenge slips into their tone.
Ever since their respective magical duels with Asmodeus and Nacht, Reese and Avery had taken to training and sparring together, just in case they would be challenged again. Also, it’s pretty fun to test out their abilities this way.
As to who keeps winning… it’s always a fair fight. Truth be told, the pair of them are neck-and-neck when it comes to sparring. Reese may have extensive knowledge of magic, but Avery’s resourcefulness and quick-thinking keeps him on his feet.
“As much as I’d love to prove you wrong as always, Grey, there’s no mistlet—” Avery’s wagging eyebrows make him stop. Stare. Look up at the ceiling where they’re pointing and, oh god, there it is: a cheekily gleaming mistletoe made entirely of aluminum. Reese is willing to bet that this creation is from the soda cans he saw Avery drinking earlier.
This means that they’ve probably been planning this the whole day.
The thought sends a rush of embarrassed heat—as well as intense fondness—through Reese. “Really, Avery? Really?”
Avery smirks at them, despite the red dusting their own cheeks. “Well, I wasn’t going to let my cute boyfriend go unkissed on Christmas Eve now, could I?”
Reese is pretty sure his face is doing a great impression of Rudolph the Reindeer’s infamous red nose. “I uh. Thought you wanted to fight?”
“That too!” Avery’s enthusiasm is adorable—and contagious.
Reese laughs and shakes his head as he prepares to use his magic. “Alright, you asked for it, Grey!”
Before Avery can respond, Reese slips through a portal—and emerges right behind Avery. He reaches towards them, but something catches his foot. Reese quickly glances down to see crumpled wads of newspaper wrapped around his ankle. He swears, preparing his body to hit the ground—
A pair of arms wrap around his waist, halting his fall. Reese opens his eyes to stare into Avery’s eyes, glittering with mischief.
“Take that!” With a cheeky grin, Avery kisses him. The contact is quick, but the feel of Avery’s soft lips never fails to send him reeling.
“Um.” Reese’s comeback is the epitome of eloquence.
Avery, the asshole they are, has more plans for him, however. Without warning, they release their hold on Reese and let him face-plant gracelessly into the soft cat toys below.
Reese lifts his head to glare up at Avery, who is clutching their stomach in laughter. “You should’ve seen your face, dude!”
He huffs but sees a silver lining in the form of a string of fairy lights near Avery’s foot. Smirking, Reese creates a small portal near Avery’s foot and ties the lights around their shoe. He tugs on the string—and rolls over to his side when Avery comes crashing down next to him.
Avery’s pout is adorable. “Hey, that wasn’t fair.”
“All’s fair in love and war, dude,” Reese manages after snickering. “Besides, you started it. I was just returning the favor.”
“Returning the favor, huh?” Avery suddenly has a devilish glint in their pretty, pink eyes. “I’ll show you returning the favor!”
“Grey, what are y—ahAHAHA AVERY NO—” Reese’s words are lost in the flurry of Avery’s tickling. Reese starts fighting back. He finds his power very useful in reaching parts of Avery he usually couldn’t. Avery’s giggles are adorably distracting, however, and it doesn’t help that they’re getting tangled up in the fairy lights in all their toustling around. Still, Reese never backs down from a challenge.
“Ahem.”
Graves stands, looking at the pair of them on the floor: awkwardly wrapped up in a string of fairy lights, limbs all akimbo, surrounded by scattered cat toys—the very picture of hard-working employees. Not.
“Hi, Graves.” Avery has the decency to sound bashful.
Reese’s face burns hotter than the fairy lights. “Graves, wait, I can explain—”
“No need, dear Reese. I know a witch’s duel when I see one.” The smirk on Graves’ face says otherwise, but Reese is too embarrassed to care at this point.
“Right, um. So can you help us out of here?” Avery gives their boss their best puppy dog (kitty cat?) eyes.
“Oh, no, It would be sacrilegious to interfere, my dear! Have a Merry Christmas, you two!” With an airy wave, Graves saunters out of the cafe, leaving two dumbstruck teenagers in his wake.
“...Well, now what?”
“I guess we could wait for Landry or Hayes to get us out of here—”
“OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS LOOK SO CUTE! THIS IS SO GOING ON THE BLOG!”
“—Or we could just die of pure, unadulterated embarrassment.”
“That works for me.” Reese sighs at the telltale flashes of Finley’s camera, which signal the end of his reputation as the world knew it. “Merry Christmas, Avery.”
“Merry Christmas, Reese. Sorry I got us into this.” They should genuinely sheepish this time.
Reese shrugs as much as he can, anyway. “Eh, you wouldn't be you if you didn't get into trouble at least once a day… B-but you better make it up to me when we get out of this!”
“I’m going to kiss you lots of times, if that’s what you’re asking.” Reese can practically hear Avery’s cute little v-shaped smile.
“Th-that would suffice.”
Although this isn’t how he had pictured celebrating Christmas Eve, Reese has a very merry Christmas, indeed.
the "canon" au/no mc interference pairings being tabitha/stella & kaneeka/reese really is just kinda meh to me when tabitha/kaneeka & reese/avery is right there....
