A Month Of Kaider

Four: Drink Less, Talk More

Cinder exhales as Kai switches Nainsi on, the two of them sharing a hopeful glance as he tries to access her storage files.

They get to the very last defence mechanism before Nainsi abruptly stops and sends tiny sparks showering upwards, around the whole room.

Kai reacts faster than Cinder, turning her around and putting his arms around her shoulders before ducking away himself, both of them bending over to protect their faces.

The two of them stay like that for a minute or so, long enough for Cinder to wonder if Kai can hear her quickened heartbeat.

He pulls away and quickly switches Nainsi off, sighing. Then he goes quiet, a thoughtful look on his face, meaning that he's feeling kind of down - something that Cinder's managed to pick up on.

"Argh!" Cinder kicks the wall as Nainsi powers down. "We were so close."

"It's okay, I'm certain that we'll figure it out sooner or later."

"Your optimism is so annoying." Cinder rolls her eyes as she rubs her foot, regretting her earlier outburst already.

"Nah, you love it really," Kai jokes, then frowns. "Is your foot okay?"

"It's not going to fall off so I'll be fine."

"Well, if you're absolutely certain. Don't worry; if it does fall off, you can sue me."

Cinder smiles then, quickly fixing her messy ponytail and leaning agaisnt the wall. "Now what?"

Kai smiles. "Now we take a lengthy break and find ourselves some refreshing beverages."

"Translate?"

"We go to a café." Kai winks.

Cinder laughs. "I really hate your weird way of talking."

"No, you don't," Kai replies without missing a beat.

She doesn't disagree, both of them grabbing their jackets and heading out.

Kai leads her down alleyways she didn't even know existed until they get to a small, cosy café. He smiles and pulls her inside when she hesitates, his hand surprisingly cool compared to her clammy ones.

She orders first, asking for a regular cappuccino, before chuckling quietly as Kai orders a toffee hot chocolate for himself.

"You don't like caffeine or what?"

"Coffee is bitter and I prefer toffee." Kai sticks his tongue out as the two of them slide into an empty table so they don't get in the way while they wait.

"Remind me how you manage to get up in the morning without caffeine?" Cinder jokes, but her curiosity is clearly visible.

Kai just smiles, "You've never heard of an alarm clock?"

Cinder rolls her eyes, "I don't have one."

Kai stares at her, "How do you – do you just dream of caffeine?"

"I don't think I dream at all..." Cinder says softly.

Kai's expression softens. "Not at all?"

"No."

She stops herself from saying more as the waitress brings them their drinks but Kai doesn't let it go, gently kicking her leg under the table. "Cinder?"

"I used to dream of being queen," Cinder blurts. "How lame, right?"

"No, I used to pretend I was an emperor and Torin was my second in command." Kai grins and Cinder shakes her head at the thought of young Kai ordering the garden plants to abide by the laws and arresting stray cats for trespassing.

"Torin? Isn't he your neighbour?" Cinder asks before taking a small sip of her cappuccino.

"Indeed he is, but I'm over at his house almost all of the time." Kai informs her.

Cinder smiles at him sadly and sighs, "At least you had a second in command..."

"You don't have anyone you'd choose for that position?" Kai asks, the two of them knowing their conversation is getting a lot more serious.

"Uh, maybe Winter? Or Iko?"

"Who's Iko?" Kai inquires.

Cinder pauses before replying, "A friend. She was my best friend before we had to move."

She has to focus on not frowning at her memory of Iko. She doesn't even know if the other girl is still alive.

"Oh, I apologise."

Cinder gives him a small smile, "So formal."

"None of your siblings are suitable?"

Cinder scoffs, "Yeah and have to fix all their problems? No thanks."

Kai jumps at her harsh tone but shrugs. "We'll just have to find Iko then."

"Do you have siblings?" Cinder asks, realising that she's never asked him that before, and wanting to change the topic.

"No. I sometimes wish I did but I don't think they'd enjoy very much."

Cinder frowns at the statement but he doesn't expand on it so she leaves it be for now and says, "I wish I didn't have any. At least I'd have a proper bedroom then."

Kai seems to be having an internal battle with himself and eventually he decides to ask: "You don't have one now?"

"No, but I have a mattress in the attic."

Kai ponders for a minute. "How about a sleepover?" He offers.

Cinder blinks, shocked.

Kai smiles sheepishly. "It'd have to be at Torin's... He has two spare rooms if you're not comfortable sharing one and I think there are two showers as well but maybe not so we'd have to-"

Cinder laughs, "Okay."

Kai exhales with relief but coughs, "How does this evening sound? It's the weekend, and the weekend was not made for attics."

Cinder inwardly smiles at his painfully awkward rambling and takes a sip of her now-colder-than-ideal coffee, listening to the tone and cadence of his voice rather than the words he's actually saying.

"Sorry, what?" Cinder asks as Kai sends her a questioning look.

He laughs and shakes his head at her. "You didn't register a word of that, did you?"

"Uh... Of course I did."

Kai winks. "Don't worry, I've been told that my voice often has that effect on people."

"Yeah yeah..." Cinder mumbles but she has to hide her smile anyway.

"Are you guys gonna order?" A waitress asks out of the blue.

Kai raises an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry but, last time I checked, beverages are considered as items that one can order."

The waitress blushes, clearing her throat. "Right. Sorry. Okay, well, enjoy your drinks then."

Cinder smiles, sharing a slightly hysterical look with Kai but stifling her laugh to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Something inside her clicks; she knows what Winter will say when Cinder tells her about this moment: she'll say what Cinder herself is thinking.

Cinder's starting to like Kai much more than she's ever liked anyone else.

There we go, it's part four, hope you enjoyed! See you tomorrow and thanks to anyone who read or voted :)