Music Notes

Winter Kisses

A/N: Just some Dashton fluff. I know it's still October, but I was in a wintry mood :) AU in which the Octonauts are human and currently in college. Hope you enjoy!!

Prompt (I'm so sorry, I forget where I found this!): Imagine person A of your OTP trying to secretly kiss person B's cheek while they're asleep but B shifts and A accidentally kisses their mouth and pulls back flustered and looks down at a wide eyed B who pulls them back for a real kiss

"So this is your apartment?"

"No, it's my neighbor's, I just happen to have the keys," Shellington deadpanned, closing the door behind him, a gust of frigid winter air just managing to slip in. Dashi rolled her eyes in amusement.

The door opened into a sparsely decorated living room. The walls remained the standard beige, but Shellington had left his mark in the stacks of papers, books and magazines piled up on every surface. Even the plain armchair-loveseat set that Dashi recognized from their moving-in trip to IKEA were surrounded by mounds of work. She sometimes wondered how his roommates Kwazii and Peso felt about that... but, she guessed, Kwazii would understand the messiness and Peso the studiousness of the habit.

"You need to brighten it up more, make it cheerier," she decided, stamping the snow off her boots and shrugging off her coat. A sly grin appeared on her face. "Perhaps a bit more... pink, would you say?"

"That's where you come in, Dashi! Who needs more pink when they have you?"

At this, she let out a laugh and took Shellington's hand, practically dragging him into the kitchen.

Winter break had begun just a few days ago, and of course, as soon as free time became more than a luxury, Shellington and Dashi had plans together. Actually, even when free time was a luxury during the school semester, they still had plans together. They'd been friends for years—having met in grade school, it now so happened that they were attending neighboring colleges. In the past few months, though, they'd become somewhat more than friends...

That didn't mean they behaved any more formally. In the kitchen, Shellington stuck his head into the refrigerator. "Can I interest you in anything to drink? Water, juice, milk..." Then a thought occurred to him, and he pulled his head back out. "Hot chocolate..?"

"Mm, I'll take some hot chocolate, please!"

After a quick rummage in the cupboard, Shellington placed two mugs (one bought from Deep Sea World, Scotland's National Aquarium and one free with a donation to the World Wildlife Fund) on the countertop, a neat packet of hot chocolate next to each. The kettle was boiled in mere moments, and before they knew it, they were sitting on the loveseat, sipping carefully so as not to burn their tongues.

Shellington looked up from his own mug. "How's the hot chocolate?"

"Best instant cocoa I ever tasted!" She smiled at him through a sip. "But you know what would make this even better?"

"What?"

"We need a Christmas movie, of course!" Dashi reached into her backpack and pulled out her laptop. At Shellington's laugh, she shot him a fake-annoyed look. "Seeing as you don't have a TV..."

"Why get one when you're so prepared?" He set his mug on the table. "What are we watching, then?"

Dashi, who had already booted up the computer and begun searching for a movie, bit her lip. "We could go sappy or sweet... or both, actually, they're not mutually exclusive... but what do you think?"

"How about something... warm, and... fuzzy?" Shellington's tone rose uncertainly. He could tell you about Christmas tree worms, but Christmas movies were not his area of expertise.