Love Like Stars

Chapter 10

"The ball is coming up in two weeks, and the wedding is scheduled to be a week after that, Your Imperial Majesty, if that schedule is fine with you, we can continue with the festival preparations," the plan manager tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Cinder sat stiff and uncomfortable under the manager's hawkeye stare, hands curled in her lap and spine straight.

"Wouldn't that be too tiring?" Kai said, before an awkward pause as all gaze turned to Cinder. Her gaze was glued to a spec in the table, and she was oblivious to the pair of spectacle laden eyes boring into her.

"Cinder," Kai whispered, his hand coming to touch her shoulder.

She jumped, her head snapping over to look at him, and frantically look between them. "What?"

Kai slowly slid his hand down her arm, before taking her hand. "Can we extend the wedding out by about..." He paused, checking his port. "a month?" The plan manager sighed, rolling her eyes slightly.

"A month? That would push your wedding date out to September!" She pushed her glasses up her nose again, breathing another heavy sigh through her nose. "I can give you a Saturday Night, and all preparations will have to be completed two weeks in advance," she pulled several pieces of paper from a portfolio, and stacked them into a little pile, before tucking them into another leather file. "I'm afraid I don't have much more time in my schedule, so I'll have to leave, Your Imperial Majesty," she slid the leather file across the desk, before standing up and smoothing down her skirt. "If you have any more inquiries, I suggest you give my secretary android a call, and she will file down another time when I can meet with you again." With a curt nod, she excused herself and left.

It appeared to be, that this wedding would be much more massive then they had planned.

* * *

"Okay, what's wrong with being dressy? A finely dressed man is a fine man," Thorne inquired, sizing up Kinney, from the tallest bit of stray hair all the way down to the loafers that Thorne himself had shoved onto his feet.

"There's nothing wrong with dressy, this is just..." Kinney grimaced at his reflection in the mirror that stared back at him in a rather Thorne like way.

"I think you look fantastic," Thorne rolled his eyes, before confidently stating, "you're just confused."

"No, I-"

"MmmMmm. Hush Child." Thorne settled a heavy hand on Kinney's shoulder. "Now you need to walk with a swagger, see," Thorne demonstrated, strutting across the wide floor, his shoulders swaying, and his feet falling at a loose rhythm. "Confidence is key, soldier," he swiftly turned. "Girl's like confidence."

"Apparently Cress likes idiots." Kinney retorted, and Cress laughed from the corner. It appeared to be she did, didn't she? Although idiots could also be heroes, and it was heroes that she had a thing for.

"Well Iko likes confident men." Thorne snapped, and Kinney shut his mouth. Really quick. "Walk," Thorne pointed to the brown footprints he had made on the pristine tile floor, and Kinney's face paled.

"What have you done to my floor?!" He yelped, before shaking his head and matching the soles of his shoes to the imprints left on the tile. Thorne had to remark, he looked like a baby learning to walk. Why yes he did.

Cress watched from the corner, fiddling with a bit of string. It was really strange to see Kinney like this, the almost cynical character rendered helpless to a girl with silicone skin. It wasn't that Cress didn't respect Iko, but Kinney was so different in something that regarded Iko. In all seriousness and evidence, he was wearing a lavender suit that sparkled for star's sake, if it meant that Iko would forgive him.

But frankly, to Cress, it didn't seem like Iko was mad at all.

Author's Note: Hi, I would just like to let you know, that I am working as hard as I can to hop back onto my weekly schedule, but it may take a few irregular uploads. This fanfiction is going through a transitional phase in plot, so it may take a little bit longer to upload, so that I can be satisfied with the quality of my writing and the times of which they are being put out. However, I would love it if you could provide any kind of feedback, since having my writing evaluated by others is much more efficient than tediously going through it myself. Like always, please notify me if there's a 'hole' in the plot. If you notice anything wrong with the plot that doesn't coincide to the original Lunar Chronicles story, or details that don't add up within my own fanfiction, please leave me a comment, it is highly appreciated.

Don't forget to leave positive comments, and hopefully I will see you next week.