HEART OF GOLD | CORIOLANUS SNOW

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 86

A vibration came from her skirt, and Lilith jerked her head away, facing forward again as she fumbled for her cordless. Coriolanus went back to his drink, sucking up a huge enough gulp to puff up his cheeks. He'd hoped to give himself a brain freeze, not just to teach himself a lesson for caving to his impulses, but to stop it from thinking about her eyes.

Her eyes like molten gold. Her eyes with that look of longing that had the power to unravel him. Her eyes that had drifted to his lips. Her eyes that didn't see him as a monster.

Alas, the blended ice had warmed into a watery concoction. He might as well have been ingesting grape punch. The hand of his Epoch ticked to six o'clock as Lilith texted beside him, her thumbs moving at an incredible speed, presumably responding to the message that had saved them from themselves.

Sliding off the stage, Coriolanus dusted off his pants and announced, "We should go. I assume you have a date?"

Shooting him a look that reminded him not to act like her father, Lilith snapped her device shut and hopped nimbly off the platform before he could decide whether or not to offer his hand. Nonchalantly, she brushed the back of her skirt and collected her cup from its pool of condensation on the concrete, holding the dripping thing away from her as she walked.

"If a date is going to play laser-tag with a group of my friends, then yes, sir, I have a date."

"You're going to play laser-tag?" he asked, amused.

"Is there a problem, sir?" she asked, cool as a cucumber.

"Not a problem, per se."

He smirked, but her expression transfigured. Evidently, she was remembering something, though what, she didn't say. Lilith tossed her cup into the first trash can they passed, the weight of the vessel still half-filled with murky pink contents creating a dull thud. Coriolanus, on the other hand, discarded his with just enough liquid to ring the indented base, careful as always never to make the telltale noise of drawing up air with his straw.

They retraced their route past snogging students, and the Citadel was in sight when Coriolanus could not resist breaking the silence.

"I can't imagine you playing laser-tag."

Lilith narrowed her eyes at him.

"I can't imagine you playing laser-tag," she retorted, and he laughed.

"I've never played laser-tag," he confessed. "I've only shot a real rifle."

"Do you do that for fun?" said Lilith jokingly.

"No, not for fun."

"What do you do for fun?"

"What, you're not going to tell me what my hobbies are?"

From the way she had trouble meeting his gaze, he was certain she knew precisely that he golfed and fenced for pleasure. As certain as he was that he had killed the conversation. At least blood bloomed beneath her skin, and he had returned colour to where they should be.

Suddenly, Lilith said, "You buy people slushies and tease them."

"Oh, not people." Coriolanus chuckled. "That's just you."

"Are you teasing me right now?" She'd managed a casual tone, but her eyes betrayed a keen curiosity. He cocked a grin.

"That's the point, isn't it? To keep you guessing?"

She studied him for a long moment, her face contemplative and still blushing, until a horn blared and they both turned in the direction of the sound. Instantly, Coriolanus spotted the car—the metallic ash blue sedan of her not-new-boyfriend.