therealkaidertrash21 - Tumblr blog

therealkaidertrash21 · 2 days

Note

Can you do a fic of Kaider during their time on the rampion at first?

Thank you for your request, anon. I've never written a fic set during the timeline of the books, so this was... interesting. Hope you like it :)

Cinder and Kai try to find a way to approach their blossoming relationship during their time on the Rampion.

New and Unfamiliar

Cinder stood in front of Kai’s room, gathering courage to knock. She didn’t have a good excuse for visiting him. She didn’t even have a question to ask him.

She simply wanted to see him.

After months of being apart from him, and with the gloomy day of their separation approaching faster than she wanted, it felt like a waste to spend few relatively peaceful weeks they had together on different parts of the ship.

When she finally knocked on his door, her stomach was tight with anticipation. She wasn’t used to feeling like this—wanting to see someone and be with them so much it caused a visceral reaction.

“Come in,” Kai’s soft voice called from inside the room.

Cinder took a deep breath before entering. She found Kai sitting at a small metal desk pushed to the side of a far wall. His room was as small as any other room on the Rampion, but he seemed to have adjusted to its size despite living his whole life in a huge palace.

It’s been barely a week since they kidnapped him, but Kai had already become a part of their crew. He got along well with everyone else, he ate everything they ate and he never complained about doing physical work. It was still so very obvious he was completely out of his element, but Cinder couldn’t deny it was absolutely endearing to watch him try to maneuver his new surroundings.

Kai turned around to see the newcomer, and smiled immediately as his eyes fell on Cinder. “Hey.”

Tight knot in Cinder’s stomach eased a bit. He looked genuinely happy to see her. “Hey. Am I interrupting you in something?”

Kai shook his head and locked a portscreen he was typing on just seconds ago. “I was writing your revolution speech, but that can wait.”

“Oh,” Cinder said, immensely grateful he’d taken upon himself to write a speech for her. Words were not her strong suit. “Is it going well or am I just going to sound like a female version of you?”

Kai smiled and stood up from the chair. “It definitely lacks your feisty charm and wit, but we can work on adding that together.”

Cinder rolled her eyes and sat down on his bed. The mattress was so firm and sturdy it was almost painful. “Thank you. For doing that.” She twiddled her thumbs. “It’s not really in description of your job.”

“Well, I did test high on verbal intelligence. It would be a shame not to use it,” he said and sat next to her. His clean soapy smell made her relax completely. “I want to help in any way I can. Sadly, there’s not a lot of ways I can help you to begin with.”

She reached out and placed her hand on his. “The time will come when you’ll have to use all the charm you possess to help move our plan forward. Better save your energy for that.”

Kai stroked metal fingers of her hand. He then raised her hand and pressed a soft kiss on the back of her palm. “I’d much rather use my charm on you.”

Cinder was breathless, but managed to ask, “And when has that worked well for you?”

Tingly sparks running through her body were a clear indication that his charm was in fact working very well right now. Kai must have noticed her lie as well, and he only smiled into her hand.

It was hard to put into words what this thing blossoming between them was. Feelings they had for one another were strong on both sides, but Cinder was hesitant, scared, to name it. It felt fragile, like it might break if things don’t turn out well in the end. If they lose.

Not to mention it was quite surreal to be kissing the Emperor of Eastern Commonwealth.

Sometimes, when she was around him, it felt like she was walking on eggshells. Their relationship started as something so innocent, almost like an escapism for them both, but quickly took a turn for the worse. And now… Now they were together, far away from Luna and Earth, planning to take down the enemy with their new friends.

Deep down, she knew if they wanted to succeed they needed to trust each other completely. She just wasn’t sure where he stood in that regard.

She got up from the bed and turned her back to him, not daring to look at his face as she asked, “Did you really mean it when you said you weren’t mad at me for lying to you about being a cyborg and lunar?” She rattled the air filter and found it a bit loose. Digging a wrench from her pocket, she started to tighten the screws. “And kidnapping you?”

She heard Kai’s short laughter from behind her. The bed creaked when he got up. “If anything, I’m grateful you kidnapped me.” He was now only a few feet away and the warmth of his body warmed her like early spring sun. “And I’m not mad at you. We both did things and said things we didn’t mean. You should be mad at me for throwing you in jail.”

She bit her lip and turned around to look at him. He was right behind her- tall, but not imposing; safe, but not suffocating. Just there, with a slight smile on his lips. Beautiful.

“No need to be sorry for that. Who knows if I would’ve ever met Thorne if you hadn’t deemed us both criminals.”

The smile on Kai’s lips fell a bit. Not noticeably to the naked eye, but definitely noticeable to Cinder’s retina scanner.

Kai averted his gaze on his shoes. “Right, your trusty escape accomplice.”

It took Cinder’s brain four seconds to calculate the tone of his voice and the look on his face, and it came to a simple conclusion- jealousy.

She fought the urge to laugh in his face. The idea of it was ridiculous. “Kai, don’t tell me you were jealous of Thorne?”

He shot her a defensive look, crossing his arms over his chest. The gesture was weirdly impressive on him, and Cinder felt a strong instinct to curl closer to his chest and stay there. “I was not jealous of him.”

The orange light she saw in the corner of her eye confirmed what she already knew. “You’re lying. I would know.” She touched her temple. “I have a built in lie detector.”

He had found out a lot of shocking things about her in the last few weeks, but this seemed to shake him to the core. He stared at her with an open mouth, barely blinking and at a loss for words.

Cinder put her two fingers under his chin and lifted his jaw. “Close your mouth or you’ll catch a fly.”

Kai shook his head and blinked a few times. “You have a lie detector? Seriously? How does that even work?”

Cinder shrugged. “I think it’s based on physiological signs of lying. Things like voice change and facial expressions.”

Kai was still staring at her, but this time she recognized what almost looked like wonder on his face. “That’s unbelievable. There are so many things I don’t know about you. It’s like every new information you tell me is a miracle in itself.”

“Then expect a lot of miracles, because there’s a whole of 36.28 percent of me made of them.”

She was trying to be sarcastic and dismissive, but Kai had taken her words seriously. He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His face was so close to hers and his breath fanned her lips when he whispered, “I look forward to discovering every single one of them.”

Then he pressed his lips gently on hers and her body reacted in its usual way. She pushed away all the warnings in her system, and circled her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. It was still unfamiliar ground- to kiss and be kissed- but with every new touch they shared she felt the bond between them tighten, forging a path to something that could grow and develop into a wonderful future she never imagined she could have.

Kai’s lips were soft as they moved under hers, and she felt them tilt up in a smile. She untangled her fingers that had found a way to his hair and leaned back to look at him. The glint in his eyes was unmistakable.

Cinder cleared her throat. “Did you kiss me only to distract me from the fact that you were jealous of Thorne?”

Kai exhaled, holding her close in the security of his arms. “I wasn’t jealous per se,” he said in a not very convincing voice. “I just wished you ran away with someone less attractive.”

“Does that mean you consider me handsome? I have to admit I’m deeply honored, Your Majesticness, though not surprised.”

Thorne strolled into the room, gripping his cane and taking long strides to reach Cinder and Kai who were still embraced in a loose hug. Cress leaned on the doorway, giving Cinder an apologetic look.

Kai leaned closer to Cinder and whispered in her ear, “But then I met him, and realized I worried for nothing.”

Cinder lowered her head to stifle a laugh and stepped away from Kai for the sake of their audience. The distance between them already felt too big.

“What are you two lovebirds doing here all alone?” Thorne touched around when he got close to them and searched for their arms. When he found them, he threw his arms around Kai and Cinder’s shoulders, pressing them in a tight squeeze. “I thought we had a revolution to plan, and you are wasting time canoodling.”

Cinder swiftly ducked down and released herself from Thorne’s hold. “We were just talking.”

Thorne scoffed. “Right, you seem to be in a deep conversation.” He still had his arm thrown over Kai’s shoulder, and Kai looked like he didn’t know how to politely extract himself from Thorne’s grip. “Were you telling His Majesty how you had him at gunpoint in front of his guards?”

“You… What?” Kai’s eyes were even wider than when he found out about her lie detector.

Cinder glared at Thorne, wishing it was moral to throw a wrench at a blind man. “No, but I guess the cat is out of the bag now.”

“You had me at gunpoint?”

Thorne waved his hand, leaning on Kai’s left side for more support. “She wasn’t actually going to shoot you. Oh, did you tell him about that time he hit his head—“

“I think that’s enough, Thorne.” Cinder’s voice was final. “Do you need something or were you just born to annoy me?”

“Ah, Cinder. Dear cuddly cyborg.” Thorne tried to pet the top of her head, but missed and touched her nose. Cinder swatted his hand away. “Don’t get all violent on me just because you want to be with your boyfriend.”

Cinder was grateful that the word boyfriend couldn’t elicit a blush on her cheeks. “You’re even more annoying when you can’t see.”

“I’ll take this verbal attack as my cue to leave.” He reached the door and offered his arm for Cress to take. “Let’s go. We’re clearly not welcomed here.”

Cress, who blushed deep crimson, took his arm and helped him out of the room. When the doors closed behind them, Cinder turned to Kai only to see the shock written all over his face.

“Do I even want to know what was happening while I was unconscious?”

Cinder nibbled on her lower lip. “Probably not. Let’s just say it’s kind of miraculous we all came out alive.”

Kai exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. He recovered quickly and cleared his throat, suddenly finding the floor much more interesting to look at than her. “Cinder, I wanted to ask you… Um…”

“What?” Cinder approached him and grabbed the sleeve of his military uniform. It was a bit weird seeing him in something that wasn’t his formal emperor clothes. He looked good, though. Very good.

“This… This whole thing between us is so new and unfamiliar to me and I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing half of the time.”

She smirked and started playing with the button on his collar. “Hmm, and I was under the impression you were a heartthrob prince.”

Kai laughed, deep and quiet. “Not even close.”

Cinder looked up and met his copper eyes, filled with weird unease she wasn’t used to seeing on him. “It’s new to me too.”

Kai gulped and took her hands in his. “I know it’s hard to define what this between us is, but I was wondering if you would consider going on an actual date with me after all of this is done?”

He had asked her on a date so many times she lost count. Just to the ball he invited her three times in person, and several times via comms she never answered to. “You’re never going to give up, aren’t you?”

Kai smiled and ran his thumb over her knuckles. “Not until I finally get that date.”

She released one of her hands from his hold to push the hair that fell on his forehead. It stunned her how easy it was to reach out and touch him, even in the most meaningless way. She doubted she would ever get used to it. “I will go on a date with you. If we survive this mess.”

His grip around her waist tightened. “We will. I know we will. You’ll lead a revolution and save the world, and I’ll write you an amazing speech.”

She leaned her head on his chest and let out a weak laugh. “Always an optimist.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I still can’t believe all of this. You being Selene, the person I spent years trying to find. And to think you were right there all this time, just out of reach.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it? Like some twisted game of fate.”

Kai stayed silent for a second and placed his chin on her head. “It almost feels like fate when you think about it. If your mom never died, you and I would probably meet eventually in our adult life.”

Cinder mulled over his words in her head. He was right. There would probably be a moment when they would meet- a crown prince of Eastern Commonwealth and crown princess of Luna. She tried to imagine what that would look like- meeting him for the first time as her equal, not as someone on such a higher social level than her. It almost felt weird, unnatural, like everything about her potential life as a lunar princess.

“Not sure how well that would work out for us. I would probably be just as horrible as the rest of my family.”

He lifted his head to look down at her. “I don’t think you would be. There’s something inherently good in you that would have been there whether you were a princess or a mechanic.”

He said it so casually, like he didn’t just erase one of her worst fears with a single sentence. She didn’t know how to thank him with words, so she leaned on him, placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. Short and sweet, like a sudden gust of fresh wind on a hot summer day.

She pulled back and reached for his hand, dragging him towards the door. “Let’s go find the others. The sooner we save the world, the sooner we can go on our date.”

tags: @just2bubbly @gingerale2017 @shelbylmkaider

#giggling and kicking my feet

103 notes · View notes