'Absolutely Besotted' Christmas Special #3 (Farah version) (Patreon)

At the Agency Christmas Party. Christmas Eve. Late Evening.

“Well, that’s just lame,” Farah announces with a pout as she falls against the wall beside me. “It’s a Christmas party and not one person thought to hang up any mistletoe?”

I chuckle. “You know we’re together, right? You don’t need a plant or a silly tradition for us to kiss.”

She rolls her head against the wall to grin at me. “Yeah, but it’s way more romantic with it.” She gives a quick scan of the room before she pauses and pats my arm. “I’ll be right back. I think I might just have found someone who can conjure us up some mistletoe.”

“Wait, Farah—" But she’s gone in a flash of motion, darting through the crowd with such fluid agility that people barely even notice she’s passed them. I chuckle and shake my head.

The room is packed with people, most supernatural from the looks of it, as well as Christmas decorations which have turned the common room of the Facility into a Christmas grotto. The air is thick with the heat of the crowd as well as the sickly-sweet scent of the selection of…interesting foods laid out on the buffet table.

I stick with my drink, keeping to one side. It’s difficult to know where to start mingling in a crowd so large and full of faces you don’t recognise.

But it seems company finds me instead.

The woman’s bright hazel eyes meet mine with a smile, and I’m sure they shine blue for a moment, but it could just be a trick of the many multi-coloured lights floating above us.

“Hello,” she greets.

I give a quick flick of a smile. “Hi.”

She holds out her hand, her wrist dripping with a mix of precious metal bracelets. “I’m Agent Chana.”

“Ah, I think I’ve heard Unit Bravo mention you,” I say, taking her hand to shake it.

She laughs lightly. “I hope so. I’ve cleared up more than a few of their messes over the years.” Her red-tinted dark brown hair is pulled into an intricate weave of braids, the style catching my attention as a few jewels glimmer amongst the locks as she turns to look out at the crowd.

“She’s quite besotted with you, isn’t she?” she says, glancing back to me while her hand gestures to Farah across the room. The young vampire is doing her best routine on someone who has their back to us. If it were me she was trying to charm, I’d already have given her everything she wanted.

“I hope so,” I reply with a happy sigh, “because I’m seriously besotted with her.”

“Well, after tonight’s display from you two, a lot of people will be losing their money,” she comments with a small shrug.

I lift a brow in her direction. “Huh?”

She sucks in a sharp breath and glances away for a moment. “Things get…very samey down here. Boredom is rife. So, to pass the time, sometimes we…speculate on things.”

“Speculate? You mean place bets? On what?” I ask, my curiosity well and truly piqued, as I take another sip of my drink.

“Oh, you know…,” she clears her throat, “this and that: how quick a team will finish a mission, who will be the next team promoted.” Her gaze slides to me. “Who might end up together.”

The drink splutters from my mouth. “You bet on us?”

She raises a hand and places it on her chest as she shakes her head. “No, no. Not me. But a lot of people have been very interested in you two.”

“Seriously?” I wince at the comment.

Her shoulders drop. “Yeah. We really do get very bored.”

My focus falls to my glass as I swirl the contents in it, my mind whirling along with the liquid. “How did the bets go?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” she asks.

I nod.

“Well, not many people betted in your favour, I’m afraid,” she admits with a purse of her lips.

I scoff a laugh. “Because I’m human?”

“More that you’re Rebecca’s kid, and no one thought Farah would have the guts to go for you.” This time she can’t hold back a chuckle herself, and it brings a smile to my lips.

“I’m not sure she took that fact into consideration,” I admit.

She smiles as we stare over at Farah, who is still working her magic on the stranger. “No. I very much doubt anything would have stopped her after seeing the way she is with you.”

“The way she is with me?”

“I knew Farah for a time before you came along,” she says, her smile softening slightly. “She was…always very keen to impress. A constant need to not necessarily be liked but to at least be front and centre. To be seen. But with you…she doesn’t seem so scared that no one will see her anymore.” Her gaze shifts from the vampire to me. “Only that you do.”

Emotion grasps at my chest, and it’s difficult to untangle the different fingers of it to work out just which emotion it is. Happiness, sympathy, concern, adoration…they’re all there, clawing for centre stage in my heart.

“You’re lucky to have each other,” Chana says.

“I think I’m luckier to have her,” I mumble as she walks away.

It’s only a few moments before Farah whizzes once more through the swaying crowd back to me.

“Hey, babe! Look!” Farah holds up her hand, where she has a sprig of mistletoe clasped between her fingers.

But I don’t wait for her to raise it up, instead wrapping my arms instantly around her to draw her into a kiss. She returns the gesture instantly, her hand curling around the back of my neck to deepen the kiss.

She never holds back with me. It’s as though I can feel everything she feels for me every time we kiss. In fact, just when we’re close to each other. It’s not overwhelming. It’s never too much. It’s like being swept up in a warm wave that promises everything I’ve ever wanted.

And all I’ve ever wanted…is her.

When we draw back, she smiles brightly and then pops the sprig of leaves up between us. “If I hold it up now, do I get another one of those?”

I draw her closer and rest my forehead against hers. “You can have as many as you like.”

“Babe, you’re making me feel all mushy,” she admits, planting a quick kiss on my lips, which I struggle not to turn into something deeper.

“Is that bad?”

She chuckles, and I can feel the happy sound reverberate through her chest against mine. “No way. I love it.” She tugs the mistletoe up above us. “But this means now it’s really Christmas.”

I laugh, the sound of it captured by her as her lips cover mine.

I sink it the kiss and let the wave wash over me again, completely lost to her.