Lost on Titan

{Part 9}

~Videl~

As skittish as Videl felt about being around Kane, she couldn't help but yearn for some human interaction. And the Dare guy seemed a lot more friendly than Lars. So after thanking Shannon the Cafeteria attendant for her steaming tray of spaghetti and garlic bread, she decided she would accept their offer to join them for dinner. She felt a little guilty for not asking Sienna to meet her, since she'd asked her to dinner the day before, but tried not to dwell on that too much. Videl could only imagine the revulsion Sienna would feel knowing that she was going to eat with Kane and his friend.

Videl held her chin up though, ignoring that thought. She was not the Videl of the past, and as far as she could tell, Kane wasn't a villain. At least, she had seen no evidence of that so far. While she had made it to the top of the stairs without panicking, the moment that she neared the table where the two men were sitting, she started to tremble. Maybe I shouldn't . . .

Her thought of bailing was foiled by Dare waving her over enthusiastically.

"The Bubble Queen graces us with her presence!" Dare nearly shouted, gesturing at the empty chair for her to fill. 

Videl's cheeks heated up as she sat down with her food tray, trying not to trip over her own two feet.

"You'll have to excuse him," Kane said, a twinkle of mirth shining in his silver eyes. "He's not used to being around royalty."

"I'll have you know," Dare waggled his eyebrows comically as he spoke, "I happen to be a King at Virtual Pinball."

Videl giggled as she unwrapped her fork. "King Pinball?"

Dare's eyes widened at his mistake, and he slapped a palm to his forehead, seeming to realize how silly the title sounded. Kane almost seemed like he was going to smile, but stifled it. Videl wished he hadn't. The smile she'd seen on his face a week ago had taken her breath away, and she wondered how good it would feel for him to smile at her. She imagined that she would swoon like the women in the black-and-white films, fainting onto a conveniently-placed couch, and quickly tried to erase the cheesy image from her mind.

"I've heard tell of such a king," Videl joked, mimicking a centuries-old manner of speech, and twirling the pasta around her fork. "Well-met, sir." She immediately felt embarrassed for being so campy - she'd clearly been watching too many old movies. What if they didn't even get her joke?

"My reputation precedes me," Dare conceded, with an audible regret for his choice of title, while throwing his hands up in the air. Videl felt relieved that neither of them looked at her like she was a weirdo.

"And you?" Videl ventured curiously, locking eyes with Kane.

"Oh," Kane rubbed his hand against the hard line of his jaw. "I don't play games." He winked at her, and the way that he said it made her feel like he wasn't referring to video games. Her pulse quickened and her lips parted slightly, the fork wound with spaghetti lowering a fraction. Was Kane flirting with her?  Maybe she was just misreading the situation entirely, but her heart didn't want to listen. 

"Smooth," Dare responded cheekily, easing the crackle of tension Videl felt in the air before it had a chance to get awkward. Videl's laugh came out too breathy and shrill, doing a miserable job of concealing how Kane's words had filled her with butterflies. She hurried to bring her fork back to her lips and took a bite of her spaghetti, grateful for the distraction.