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"Hey Cinder," Kai poked her on the arm, a sly grin on his face. They were in a world leaders meeting, and Queen Camilla and President Vargas were getting into a heated argument as per usual. Everyone else had been sitting there for a few minutes, with only Prime Minister Bromstad attempting to break the fight, but to no avail.
"What?" Cinder whispered, only glancing at Kai before returning her attention back to the arguing leaders.
"Is it hot in here, or is it just you," he asked, voice low and a smirk on his face. He looked especially handsome with his hair mussed up and his eyes sparkling with mischief.
"I don't think it's hot, but I can comm Nainsi if you want," Cinder replied, her face pinching. If anything, she thought the room was cold, and Kai was a baby when it came to cold weather. Actually, Kai was kind of a wimp when it came to any kind of weather that wasn't what he was used to. After spending his whole life in a palace, with almost every day being exactly 70 degrees, he struggled with temperature changed.
Kai's face fell, but before he could respond, Queen Camilla called for the emperor's opinion on the matter, dragging him into another pointless argument.
***
"I really think Queen Camilla needs to retire already," Cinder sighed as she walked out of the conference room, hand in hand with Kai. "Promise we won't be like that? Old and power hungry?"
"Yeah yeah," Kai grinned, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "We won't be old and crazy—and I also promise to never wear my lipstick like that either. They do call it lipstick for a reason, right?"
"Oh stars," Cinder laughed, turning her face towards Kai as a full smile covered her features. "Do you think she meant for all her teeth to be red?"
"I don't think she'll become a fashion icon anytime soon at the very least," Kai chucked, squeezing Cinder's hand.
They kept talking as they walked towards their quarters for lunch, hands clasped and laughter coming in an endless spew from their conversation. Cinder couldn't seem to feel sad now that she was permanently on Earth with Kai, and soon to be married to him, and she knew that he felt quite the same.
Kai stared at Cinder, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her—glowing with the love that he felt for her. Then his face shifted, and just as they were nearing their room, Kai shot Cinder a smirk and said: "Am I in a museum?"
Cinder gawked at him, trying to understand what he was saying. "Wha-"
"Because you are truly a work of art."
"Uh," Cinder's brain was wracking itself for some sort of pop culture reference as it often did now that she and Kai could sit and talk like normal people. Nothing pulled up. "What are you talking about? This is just the hallway."
Kai scrunched his nose, his ears turning pink. "I meant, uh," he looked up at the gilded ceilings, as if wracking his brains for something to say. "Are you a dictionary? Because you add meaning to my life."
"What?" Cinder leaned up against the door to Kai's room, arms crossed over her chest. She stared at his face, taking in the way his eyes were squinting, as if he were internally cringing at himself. "Why are you spouting nonsense at me?"
"I, um," Kai sputtered, closing his eyes. "Can I follow you home-"
"We are home, Kai."
"Because my parents told me to follow my dreams," Kai whispered, leaning in close to Cinder. He placed his arms up, hands against the door. His face stood inches away from Cinder's, and she couldn't help but breathe him in, despite how strangely he was acting.
"What has gotten into you, Kai?" Cinder whispered, her eyes flicking back and forth between his copper eyes and his lips. It took just about all that she had within herself not to close the space between them and place her lips on his. Then she remembered her time upon the Rampion, when it was just her and Thorne, and he had made ridiculous comments like the ones Kai was making now. He had called them pick-up lines—a weird flirting technique that Cinder would never understand.
Cinder laughed, pushing Kai's chest playfully. "Oh my stars," she chuckled. "Have you been talking to Thorne? Are you..." she gasped, her laughter overtaking her. "Are you trying to use pick-up lines on me?"
"He told me that you would like them," Kai stared at the floor, his shoulders raising up towards his ears. He moved back from the wall, and put a hand over his eyes. "Aces, I'm such an idiot. Why would I ever listen to Thorne?"
Heart melting, Cinder walked towards Kai, pulling his hand from his face and lacing her fingers with his own. "You were indeed very stupid to listen to Thorne," she brought her other hand up to cup Kai's face. "But you're also just a little bit cute." She stood on her toes and placed a soft kiss against his lips.
"You think I'm cute?" Kai asked as Cinder pulled away, his lips quirking up at the corners.
"More like absolutely adorable, but I didn't want to boost your ego too high," Cinder smirked, rolling her eyes and pursing her lips. "Got any other pick-up lines?"
"Uh," Kai scratched his head, his eyes rolling up to look at the ceiling. "There's only one thing I want to change about you."
"What?" Cinder asked, dread filling her stomach, despite the fact that it was Kai saying the words—someone who had only ever been kind to her.
"Your last name."
There was silence for a moment, as Cinder analyzed him, trying to gauge what kind of a joke that was. Kai stared back, as if what he had said was perfectly logical. "But you don't have a last name," Cinder said, sucking in her lips to keep from laughing. "Kai, you idiot, you literally don't even have a last name."
"Crap," Kai gasped, dramatically throwing himself against the wall and burying his face in his arms. "How could I even..."
Cinder grabbed onto his arm, unable to contain her laughter. She laid her head against his chest, and felt a wave of love wash over her. She was about to marry the biggest idiot in the galaxy, but all she could manage to feel towards him was an unquenchable love.
"Regretting leaving that rock in the sky for me?" Kai asked, wrapping an arm around Cinder as she laughed uncontrollably into his chest.
"Never," Cinder gasped through her giggling. "Never in a thousand years. No one on that blasted moon could ever make me laugh so hard."
Kai sighed against her, putting his reddened cheek to her hair. "Well, at least I'm good for something."
"You're good at lots of things," Cinder grinned, pecking his cheek. She touched his face, and melted from within to think of her entire life ahead with this idiot. She could hardly wait to get started. "You're just particularly good at saying stupid things—at making me laugh."
"If it makes you laugh, then I'll always say stupid things," Kai wrapped his arm around Cinder, then pushed open the door to his room. "Now, do you want some rice for lunch? Thorne, uh, said that was your favorite."
Cinder whirled on him, then seeing that his eyes were wide and innocent, she let out another laugh.