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"Mistletoe is a parasite," Wolf said. He lay on his back, Virginia in his arms. They were taking the time to relax. Winter was for hunkering down and sleeping in a pile.
"Yeah," Virginia agreed. "But it's a romantic parasite." She rubbed her face against Wolf's neck in an almost unconscious gesture, scenting him like she couldn't get enough.
"Who came up with that?" Wolf asked. He ran his hand up and down her back, following the curve of her spine as far as he could. Sometimes, when Virginia got like this, Wolf thought about asking if she knew that she smelled like wolf as much as she did the spices she cooked with.
Virginia gave a thoughtful hum. "You know, I don't really know." She pressed her nose against Wolf's pulse. "How do you have the history of the Nine Kingdoms memorized?"
Wolf didn't really understand what she meant. "Because I live here?"
Virginia propped herself up to look at his face. "Yeah, but you seem to know everything about the whole world. I barely even know anything about the holidays I celebrated, let alone the country I lived in."
Wolf ran his fingers through Virginia's short hair to buy himself some time to think. "Maybe your world is bigger?" he suggested. "In this world, there's the Nine Kingdoms and nothing else."
Virginia's heart skipped a beat. "Oh," she said faintly and rested her head on Wolf's shoulder again. After a few moments of silence, Virginia said, "I think you would like the mistletoe tradition."
"And why is that, my sweet?" Wolf asked. Wolves have gone between the worlds before to escape this world but they almost never came back to the Nine Kingdoms. No one heard from them after they left. He did not know that there was so much world on the other side of the mirror that most of its history couldn't be memorized by one person.
Virginia kissed Wolf's throat. Her lips were soft and warm. "Because when you get caught under the mistletoe, you have to kiss the person you're caught beneath it with."
"Oh," Wolf said, very interested in this tradition. He understood the appeal now. "You can kiss me whenever your lips desire mine against them. We don't need to bring parasites into the house." Before Virginia could continue to make her case for the mistletoe, Wolf added, "But I think this sounds like a fabulous tradition and would like to spend more of my time kissing you."
Virginia laughed. She kissed a line up Wolf's throat to his chin and finally pressed her mouth to his. She tasted wonderful, she felt wonderful in Wolf's arms. Her kisses were worth collecting parasitic plants to hang from the doorway.
Wolf kissed Virginia slowly, taking his time, moving his mouth against hers. Kissing made him hot from his head to his toes. Between kisses, Wolf promised, "I'll go look for your plant when the sun is higher."
Virginia made a pleased noise. "Thanks, Wolf."