Oneshots and Drabbles

14: To the Pool (Lunar Chronicles)

"Iko, do we have to go?" Cinder whined. It was unusual for her to whine but she really didn't want her wiring to short circuit.

"Yes we have to."

The war was over, had been for six months now, and everything was going just fine and dandy...minus the fact that Iko was forcing her to go to the pool in the palace. And not her somewhat new palace on Luna, they were on earth which meant they were in the New Beijing palace. The place where Kai lived, and as much as he accepted her for being a cyborg, she didn't want him to see her in a swimsuit.

Someone knocked on the door. "Cinder, can I come in?" Cress called.

"Sure."

The door opened and Cress walked in. She was wearing a blue bikini with a sheer white cover-up dress and black sandals. No doubt Thorne had told her what to wear.

"You don't have to wear that you know," Cinder pointed out.

"Huh?" The petite blonde seemed confused. It quickly melted away to insecurity, as was evident in her voice and the way she played with the ends of her now barely-past-shoulder-length hair that was in a French braid over her shoulder. "Oh, I picked this out myself, is it bad?"

"No, sorry I'm just surprised to see you in a swimsuit, I guess." Cinder quickly covered her tracks, not wanting Cress to feel embarrassed.

Cress smiled, "Are you coming."

"She doesn't want to." Iko spoke before she could even think to.

"Why not?"

She answered as reasonably as possible, "I don't want my wiring to short circuit."

Iko rolled her golden eyes, "stop coming up with excuses and let's go!"

Scarlet was relaxing in a lounging chair by the pool, reading a book on her portscreen. She usually wasn't one for luxury, preferring to enjoy the simpler things in life. But she had to admit that after all she had been through in the last year, this felt pretty nice. She glanced away from the port to watch Wolf for a moment as he did laps in the water. Unconsciously, she bit her bottom lip while staring at his muscular body.

Winter looked up from her portscreen, "It would be wise to stop staring." She advised from beside her.

Scarlet snapped out of her trance, the faint tint of a blush forming on her cheeks. However, there was a particular blonde in the pool as well, so she couldn't help but tease back. "Same goes for you."

Winter only chuckled, "I wasn't. You, on the other hand, we're practically drooling."

"You're as bad as Thorne."

"No one is as bad as Thorne."

"What about being as bad as me?" Thorne asked, striding through the door in gray swim trunks and a t-shirt. He pulled the shirt off as soon as he sat in the chair next to Scarlet. "I'm truly hurt," He jokingly put a hand to his heart, feigning sadness.

Kai sighed, he needed a break. Nothing too long, just a few hours away from his paperwork, that's all. He immediately got up from his desk and walked through the corridors to his suite, having a second destination in mind. He changed into red patterned swim trunks and grabbed a towel, then was off again, this time in the direction of the pool.

He was surprised when he got there, not expecting to see Scarlet, Winter, and Thorne chatting in on the chairs. A quick look to the pool and he noticed Wolf and Jacin were there too. "Huh." He said to himself, yet Thorne heard him over the noise of the lapping water and looked his way.