The Other Side of the Moon

Cold

"I'm cold," Cinder whispered into Kai's ear. He blinked at her rather stupidly for a moment, though perhaps it was more out of exhaustion than anything else.

"Again?"

"It's cold on Earth," Cinder mumbled.

It was the middle of August. Cinder had come down for the Peace Ball, and in the few days since she'd arrived she'd complained about temperature too many times to count. Of course, it was comparably chilly to the day as the sun set and the stars began to shine through the polluted sky, but Kai found himself quite warm as Cinder snuggled up against him.

He pulled himself out of her arms and walked over to the foot of his bed where his gray hoodie rested. He handed it to Cinder, and she immediately zipped it up around her, shrugging her shoulders comfortably and heaving a great sigh.

Kai settled back down beside her on the couch, resting his chin on her head as she leaned back into him. She no longer held that scent of motor oil that he had known when they first met, but she still smelled like Cinder somehow. A little bit of sweat and shampoo.

"I'm pretty sure Luna is colder than Earth," Kai said, playing with the loose strands of her hair. "I mean, seeing how it's a great rock in the sky and it's proximity to the sun is... lesser?"

"We have excellent heaters," Cinder teased, tilting her face back to kiss Kai.

He laughed for a moment, knowing for a fact that the Lunar Palace was as cold as ice— perhaps they'd had to keep it that way so as not to melt Levana's heart.

Of course Cinder tended to run cold. It had something to do with her wiring and that it prevented overheating at all costs. But still, it was strange that she had requested his hoodie so many times in just a few days. It was the middle of the summer— everyone was warm.

So if everyone was warm, why was Cinder so cold? Unless, of course, she wasn't.

All of a sudden, it clicked in Kai's mind. She wasn't cold— she just wanted his sweatshirt. She was a girl, and he was her boyfriend, and she wanted to wear his hoodie. His heart warmed at the thought. He had so little knowledge of this kind of thing with both his parents gone and his only friend being, well, Torin, and he wasn't exactly a well of dating tips.

Kai broke the kiss, smiling wide. Cinder laughed at him, and asked as to why he was extra cheery. He said nothing of his thought process. But when she left only a few days later, he made sure that his gray hoodie was packed with her things.