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As soon as Regina set eyes on that utterly disgusting green plant in front of her, she knew who was behind it. Such a devious scheme could only be the work of that brutish bunny girl. Just thinking about her smug face made Regina's blood boil, although “boiling” would probably never be an accurate descriptor for a woman whose body temperature never went above the freezing point.
“You imbecile, don't you know that the MacCready family has access to curses so dangerous that they're beyond your sick and twisted imagination? Next time you pull a prank like this, you'll die of laughter!”, she yelled, vaguely gesturing to the parts of the MacCready estate she thought Rivet might have hidden herself to enjoy this “show” of her own creation.
Although this was an absolutely intimidating “curse”, it still startled the woman in front of her, who had been staring at her with wide eyes and was waiting for her to do something, looking very much like a lost child: “Miss Regina, who are you talking to? What prank?”
Regina sighed in relief. It seemed like the “all-knowing” Lake of Knowledge was not aware of what this mockingly small plant signified. There was still a chance to save her honor.
“It's nothing, it just seems like Rivet has put up some rather unusual christmas decoration this year-”
“Why aren't you guys making out yet?”
The chipper voice resounded through the ancient halls, in turn dirtying the portraits of her ancestors with its outrageous vulgarity.
“Rivet! You bastard!” Regina completely lost her cool. Rivet's habit of insinuating that her relationship with Edel was anything but platonic was already getting on her nerves, but this time, the prankster had clearly gone too far.
“Get lost. Now.”, Regina stressed.
“You were just calling for me, Regina, ya can't really complain about me showing up now, can ya?”, Rivet countered, gracefully hopping down a staircase.
“I was not calling for you. Besides, that doesn't give you the right to make such… inappropriate comments!”
“But it's true. Since you two are standing under a Mistletoe, you have to kiss.”
The casual tone with which she was speaking only served to anger Regina more. As she was about to explain to her that neither of Edel nor her had noticed the green plant propped up on the ceiling and that it was obviously a scheme to humiliate her, Edel, who had been silently observing the two woman fighting until now, chimed in first:
“We were unaware that such a tradition relating to Mistletoes exists. Rivet, would you mind elaborating?”
At thought of Rivet of all people explaining something to Edel, chills ran down Regina's spine and she quickly tried to prevent a disaster by reciting something she read in one of the many books scattered all around the MacCready estate:
“Mistletoes are plants that have been associated with vitality and fertility throughout human history and have always been present in christmas celebrations. In the 18th century, a custom emerged in England in which men were allowed to kiss any woman standing under a mistletoe plant. That's what you were referring to, right, Rivet?”
“Yes, but do you have to be such a killjoy explaining it?” Rivet’s voice conveyed genuine disappointment at not being able to explain the inner workings of her genius plan to the two, but Regina didn't even bother to respond to her anymore.
“I see… Truly fascinating.”, Edel replied. It seems she wasn't interested in actually following that tradition, much to Regina’s relief. Ceasing the opportunity to leave this incredibly awkward situation, she hurriedly excused herself to go to her study, citing leftover work from before the winter holidays as an excuse.
Waking up the next day, Regina felt nothing but relief from the fact that this embarrassing escapade was finally over. The holiday season was already coming to an end, and it would take even Rivet a while to come up with an idea as devious as the “Mistletoe trap” again. She would be safe from any deceitful pranks for a while. Breathing a sigh of relief, she dressed herself and prepared to start a peaceful, relaxed winter day.
The sight that followed when Regina opened her door filled her with the kind of dread she was all too familiar with.
As far as her eyes could see, there was mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. The hallway to her left had been decorated with five plants, the one to her right with six and even the staircase leading to the second floor of the MaCready Estate was covered in mistletoe. She was completely surrounded. Standing in the middle of it all with an innocent smile on her face was Edel.
“We were waiting for you, Miss Regina. Did you sleep well?”
Regina was frozen in place. She had no idea how to respond to the one standing in front of her, but she also couldn't escape this situation without passing by one of the many mistletoe's forming an invisible barricade around her room.
“It seems you are well aware of what our plan is. Apologies for being so devious, but we couldn't help ourselves after hearing about such a… tradition. You don't mind, do you?”
“It’s not like I have a choice…”, Regina mumbled.
“Don't worry, we'll start slow.”, Edel reassured her.
It was just a little peck on the cheek, nothing special, but Regina felt warmth flow through her whole body. As the usual coldness of her body slowly dissipated, she found herself melting, her legs becoming weaker and weaker as she completely sunk into Edel’s embrace. The vice president immediately pulled her upright so the two of them were finally face to face. Regina gazed into the caramel eyes in front of her, almost tasting the candy’s flavor as she kissed Edel for the first of many times, that sweet illusion being replaced with the even sweeter reality of a cinnamon flavor as time went by, reminding her of days long gone by.
Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be the disaster that she had envisioned. Just maybe though.