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Kai didn’t think his day could get any worse than this. After waking up drenched in sweat, feeling nauseous during his seven o’clock ambassador meeting, and not having access to a decent cup of tea, there was no way. Then he was proved wrong. It was dinnertime, and there were green peas in his rice.
If Queen Camilla was sitting across from him, he would’ve eaten each little orb with a smile on his face. If Torin was sitting across from him, he would’ve grimaced in disgust and his advisor would’ve sighed disappointingly. Instead, there was someone whose opinion mattered to him very deeply.
His girlfriend downed the green pea rice like it was her favorite dessert (tiramisu, by the way) and wiped her lips with a napkin. He sat there, watching her eat until her plate was empty and his was full. Well, not exactly. He finished the chicken and yuca fries so all that remained was the green pea rice.
Jeez. They’ve been dating for almost two years and she still didn’t know about his aversion to green peas. It was his best kept secret. The whole world knows what he looked like at his mother’s funeral but didn’t know that he hated green peas.
Though he could fake it well, especially in front of important people, lying to the girl he loved most over something so inconsequential was just plain wrong. She deserved to know his deepest darkest secret.
Before he could reveal this shameful preference, she caught on with, like she always did. “What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”
Her head cocked slightly to the side, her hair sliding off of her shoulders in a fluid motion. She wore her hair down tonight even though the place she recommended to eat at was not formal. He noticed the slight crease of her brow. He knew what she was thinking. I chose the restaurant and he doesn’t like it. Maybe I’m losing my touch. Or we changed after all.
This was a conversation they’ve had before. Her prime worry was that they were someday going to become too different for each other. He smiled and assured her that they were going to change, but instead of apart they would change together.
The small shift in her face was the healthy doubt she grew up with and will always have. It keeps her prepared and on her toes, she said once. Kai was more optimistic than her so he couldn’t relate totally but he understood.
“No, the chicken was great! I love traditional South American foods…” He sighed. Here goes. “It’s just the peas.”
His voice morphed into a grumble. He could feel his mood darken when he mentioned his arch nemesis. Sighing, he bent his head down and stared at the evil green thing.
Cinder put down her fork. “Seriously? Peas?” He looked up in time to see her crack a smile. “I knew there had to be some food you hated!”
He scrunched up his face. “What does that mean?”
She laughed. “You’re always so eager to try everything. You’re a picky eater’s nightmare! I just knew that there had to be something you wouldn’t dare ingest.” She took a second to cover her face with her hands. Her titanium hand glistened. “But peas? I was expecting bugs, or something.”
“You know, I have eaten bugs before. It’s on the internet somewhere, but I took a tour to the Amazon region in the Republic. They made me eat a locust or something.” Kai nodded. “It wasn’t that bad if you don’t think about it.”
Cinder smiled. “I know. Peony made me watch it several times because of how funny your reaction was.” She looked far off, deep in nostalgia. “You looked so out of it. You disassociated right there. Peony couldn’t get over the fact of how cute you looked with the waterfall moisture messing up your hair.” His antenna went up. This was a very good chance he had to flirt with her. There weren’t many moments today to tease her, even on this mini date, so he had to take what he could get. It was also a good way to change the subject of his poor eating habits. Putting on his best charming smile, the one that made her look away for a second to recollect herself, he plopped his chin on his hand tilted his face to the side. “Did I look cute?”
As expected, her brown eyes left his for a second to glance at whatever was behind him and came back. “Yeah. You always do.”
He leaned in closer. “Yeah, maybe you’re right, but did I look cuter than normal?”
His girl started to get flustered. “Yeah, you did.”
They sat staring at each other for a few heartbeats. Kai with a winning smirk, Cinder with a nervous smile. Stars, even after all this time she still acted like that? It was always like this in the beginning of their meetups. Later on, perhaps tonight, she’ll get bolder and flirt back, enough to make him blush. Then they would make out, giggle about nothing, cuddle, kiss, kiss while laughing, kiss while smiling, kiss while hugging, and eventually fall asleep in each other’s arms, after some more kissing. That was what he was hoping would be the redeeming factor of his crappy day. But, again, it was only the first night so he shouldn’t get his hopes up.
“Can we go back to your hatred for peas?” She blurted. Kai rolled his eyes. “What about peas make you hate them so much?”
Kai frowned. “The texture, mostly. It’s squishy and soft- it tastes like slime!”
“It doesn’t taste like anything. I mean-“ She grabbed the green thing from his foam to-go box and popped it in her mouth. “This doesn’t taste good or bad. It’s just there.”
“Then why is it incorporated in the dish?”
“I don’t know. It looks nice maybe?”
“It makes the rice look messy!” Kai groaned. “Whatever- it’s not a big deal.” He popped one in his mouth, expecting to chow it down with a fake smile like he usually did, but this time he recoiled a bit.
Cinder noticed his shudder. “Why don’t you just pick them out?”
After some difficulty, he swallowed the evil green ball. It left a bad taste in his mouth. “I usually do, I just don’t have an appetite anymore.” He closed his to-go box in defeat. Green peas: one. Kai: zero.
“Hey- we can eat something else.” She reassured. “Come on, you’ve barely eaten anything today.”
He furrowed his brow. “Sure I have! Eating the pea ruined my dinner, but it’s not your fault.”
“Yes, but what about your lunch?”
“I was busy, Cinder.” He sighed. “If you let me off the hook tonight, I swear I will eat three full meals tomorrow.”
She frowned, considering his offer. “You promise?”
“On my dead mother.”
“Oh stars, Kai.” She looked away. “Okay. Deal.”
Kai clapped in celebration. Speaking of his mother… “You know, my mother used to pick the peas for me.”
Cinder whipped her gaze back, making him the focus of her attention. He didn’t talk about his parents much, it always made him somber, but today he remembered her with a smile. “Really?” She asked.
He chuckled, choosing to look at the ugly green things. “Yes. My father said one day I’ll have to eat them eventually. He was right, of course, but my mother prevented that day as long as she could.” Still smiling, he stared at the hands in his lap instead. “It’s been so long, I can hardly remember her eyes without pictures. That still doesn’t change the fact that I miss her like crazy.”
He finally looked up. Cinder’s eyes held so much sincerity that he could tell she was listening very intently. Though his lips didn’t move, one measly tear slipped from his lids on the right side. He quickly wiped it away. “Whoops, I’m sorry, love. I didn’t mean to get emotional.”
At once, Cinder was on her feet and in front of him. She caressed the side of his cheek, replacing wetness with her warmth. “No, Kai, don’t apologize. I love hearing about your parents.”
“I’m not sad, I don’t know why I’m crying.” He chuckled, another tear escaping him. She was quicker than him to catch this one.
“That’s okay. Maybe you’ve been keeping it to yourself for a while and you didn’t know. You can let it out now.” She held his chin, slightly tilting upwards. “I’m here to comfort you.”
He grinned, feeling indescribably lucky, laughing as even more tears fell. “I think I’m just so in love with you that I’m crying.”
“Or you hate green peas that much.”
“Mmh, could be.” Her fingers softly massaged his head, playing with the ends of his hair. His smile slowly faded, the sadness starting to kick in. Sniffling, he leaned in so the side of his face pressed against her stomach. “Or I just miss my mom.”
She stroked his hair, and he took it as encouragement to wrap his arms around her waist. “Mm. Could be.”
Though he did not expect their night to take this direction, he’s glad it did anyway. At some point, his head rested comfortably on her lap as she traced his face. He was curled up on his bed while she held him , sitting upright. Kai would stare at the ceiling, blabbing on about some irrelevant story, or a memory of his mother, and she listened attentively.
He could not stop talking. In fact, the only time he stuttered was when they made eye contact. Her eyes would glitter as she offered him a soft smile and he wondered how could they fake when they held so much emotion.
They laid there for so long that her cyborg hand adjusted to his body heat, or maybe vice versa. He didn’t know when, or how, he drifted off, but the next time he opened his eyes, it was bright outside. He blinked, feeling disoriented and strangely cold. It was then he noticed the lack of warmth was due to the lack of a person. He looked around, scanning the room for Cinder.
All traces of her seemed to be gone; even their to-go box was missing. After almost chewing his lip to death, he got out of bed to search for her.
Instead, he only made it two steps before his bathroom door opened. The rising panic immediately quieted, and his face rested into a relaxed smile.
Cinder looked awfully cute in his sweatshirt and sweatpants pants. The way she scratched her head while yawning was just adorable. And lazy smirk she wore? He nearly ran and squeezed her to death. “Dang it. I was hoping you’d sleep longer so I could sleep longer.”
Kai snorted. “You’re the one who woke me up.”
“I was so careful though.” She frowned. “Whatever, I’m going back to sleep.”
She shuffled past him tucked herself in. He watched her cutely cuddle a pillow. Grinning, he decided he’d rather be the pillow than get ready for meetings, and joined her.
With her metal leg finding its place on his waist, hear head resting itself on his chest, and her hands securely around his neck, Kai was kore than content. He couldn’t even remember what boring meeting he was meant to attend today. Torin can chew him out later. Cuddling Cinder was far more important than world peace… for now. Maybe forever.
“You plommished fur.” She mumbled.
He cracked an eyelid open, nearly laughing her smushed face. “Pardon?”
She sighed, her brow furrowing in frustration. “You promised four meals today.”
Kai chuckled. “I remember agreeing upon three.” He kissed the top of her head.
“Tomato, potato. You’re still eating.”
He didn’t stop; he nuzzled his face against her head. He kissed wherever he could, slowly guiding her face up upwards with his hand. “Sounds good.” Upon reaching her cheek, he gave her a small nip. Her eyes lowly fluttered open in mock annoyance. “You’ll eat them with me though.”
“Yes, yes. Go to sleep.” She ordered, closing her pretty lids again.
“I can’t, you’re too cute. It’s distracting me.”
“Well, that’s too bad.” She snorted, not really processing what he said.
Kai smothered a giggle. “As you wish. Though, you’ll owe me around a dozen kisses.”
“Later.”
He brought her head back to its original position on his chest. By slowly stroking her neck to sleep, he began to doze off. Yes, whatever the emperor needed to do today can wait. Maybe he should give some thanks to the pea. Without it, he wouldn’t have healed feeling he didn’t know he still had, or spend this much time cuddling Cinder. Oh, and laying on her lap, that was nice too.
So nice. So so nice. He was going to marry her. Yes. Soon. Maybe. Mother had a ring. A ruby ring. That would look. So nice. On. Cinder. Marry. Mom. Marry. Ring. Cinder. Marry. So nice... Peas.