oh my stars

for tlc ship weeks: in which cinder finds her new favourite part of the palace and kai is glad his efforts were worth it.

Cinder often finds the palace strange. 

She normally doesn’t like losing her way because the fancy formal decorations can be almost uncomfortable but when she gets lost on her way to the library, she stumbles across something surprisingly nice: a corridor filled with photographs. More specifically, photographs of her and Kai.

They look different in the first few, younger and stiffer, but as she moves along the corridor, their smiles become more genuine and the awkwardness between them vanishes. They’re mostly candid shots she doesn’t quite remember: the two of them sharing a sideways look, asleep whilst leaning on each other, walking with their hands connected, countless little moments filled with peace.

“Cinder?” 

She turns to find Kai grinning sheepishly at her. He hesitantly rubs the back of his neck before walking over to stand with her in front of the latest photos, some of which are actually in various rooms of the palace. 

“Where did you get all of these?” she asks, taking his hand so he doesn’t nervously run it through his hair and mess it up. 

Kai shrugs. “It’s tradition to have a corridor showing the journey of the royal family... of us."

That doesn’t really answer her question but she doesn’t mind. “You should have shown me this place sooner, it’s really nice.”

“Do you honestly think so?” Kai asks hopefully, which suggests he’d put a lot of effort into this and it means a lot to him. 

for tlc ship weeks: in which kai doesn’t know how to make the perfect brownies but still knows how to take care of cinder.

Baking has never been Kai’s strong suit. 

He can bake, sure, but no matter how carefully he sticks to the recipes, they never turn out the way he hopes. Nothing ever turns out inedible per se, but nothing ever reaches the point of tasting so nice that it’s comforting, which unfortunately happens to be his goal.

The oven beeps to say his third batch of brownies are done but he just groans when he pulls them out and realises they’re almost as bad as the other two, still suspiciously lumpy and slightly burned at the edges.

“Kai?” Cinder mumbles from the doorway. 

He instantly spins on his heel and walks over to steady her, frowning in concern. “What are you doing here? You’re meant to be resting.”

“Resting is boring,” Cinder replies, then glances over his shoulder and laughs. “You do know I'll feel better soon even without baked goods, right?”

Kai very maturely sticks his tongue out at her. “It’s not my fault the oven is cursed.”

At that, Cinder laughs again until she ends up coughing, at which point Kai guides them to the kitchen stools and hands her some water. “And that’s why you should be in bed,” he says softly. 

“No, this is definitely better.” Cinder smirks, but then yawns widely and pretty much proves herself wrong.

“Back to sleep, I think,” Kai tells her firmly.

for tlc ship weeks: in which cinder is prepared to spend winter break alone but kai won’t let her miss out on having fun.

Cinder only ever works in the library during the holidays because most people have either gone back home or don’t want to be studying, or both. So that’s where she is when someone places their hands over her eyes from behind her. Instinctively, she elbows them. 

“Ow!” Kai grumbles, but then flops down beside her anyway. 

Cinder sighs, half-heartedly glaring at him. “I told you to stop doing that! Why aren’t you boarding the train or whatever?”

Kai tilts his head to the left. “I did say I wasn’t going to let you celebrate Christmas alone, didn’t I?”

He did, but Cinder hadn’t taken him seriously; she knows his family is pretty high-ranking and she’d figured he was just being polite rather than genuinely offering to sacrifice his fancy and probably very political plans for her.

“Besides, the elves make the best hot chocolate in the entire world and you simply must try it,” Kai says, grinning. 

“Won’t your family miss you?” Cinder asks. 

Kai shrugs, his grin not faltering for a second. “Perhaps, but not as much as I’d miss you.”

Cinder blushes, looking away from the intensity of Kai’s gaze before she totally embarrasses herself. “Stars, you’re such a sap,” she mutters, shaking her head. 

for tlc ship weeks: in which kai sings adore you by harry styles and cinder can’t help but enjoy the experience.

It takes about ten seconds for Cinder to start questioning her life decisions.

She has no idea why she’d agreed to karaoke but she’s going to blame Kai and Iko teaming up against her. And she’s so focused on blaming them that she misses the start of the song, only paying attention when Iko elbows her. 

“I get so lost inside your eyes, would you believe it?” Kai sings, winking.  

Cinder just rolls her eyes in response but obviously, he continues anyway: “You don’t have to say you love me…”

The song’s not wrong, she thinks, because she doesn’t declare her love very often and yet Kai seems to know all the same. She’s never really thought about it too much because Kai expresses his feelings every day and she’s usually too busy trying not to smile like a fool to do anything else. 

“I’d walk through fire for you…” Kai sings, and he’s suddenly right in front of her, their eyes meeting as he grins. “Just let me adore you like it’s the only thing I’ll ever do...”

“Like I could stop you,” Cinder whispers, not wanting to interrupt but also wanting to make sure Kai knows how much she appreciates him. Thankfully, there seems to be an instrumental section and he actually has enough time to place a soft kiss on her forehead before returning to the stage. 

for tlc ship weeks: in which kai can’t make his way around a mall but somehow manages to make a new friend instead.

Kai is lost. 

He shouldn't be, he'd looked over the layout of this mall several times, but he doesn't recognise where he is and as much as he hates to admit it, he's lost. With a quiet sigh, he enters the next shop he sees, hoping he won't seem stupid if he asks for directions. 

"Can you pass me the hammer?" someone asks.

Kai blinks, following the voice to a girl standing on a step-ladder, currently holding a hand out in his general direction. Confused, he does as she'd asked before stepping back and waiting. 

After a few moments, she finishes hammering and jumps down only to turn and gasp. "Oh! Who are you?" 

"Kai," he says, offering her a smile. 

The girl blinks at him, a red tint spreading across her face. "Cinder. Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

"It’s alright. And that looks great!" he says, nodding his head at the art she'd been putting up. 

"My friend’s choice, I’ll tell her you said so.” Cinder smiles softly before clearing her throat, putting the hammer down and glancing over Kai with half a frown. “Um, did you need something?”

Kai chuckles. “Nothing urgent, don’t worry. It’s just- Well, I think I’ve managed to get lost. Do you know where the comic shop is?”

This time, her smile is wide and happy. “Of course, I go like once a week. I can… show you if you’d like?”

for tlc ship weeks: in which cinder and kai find an unexpected and adorable excuse to sneak away from the crowds.

Over the years, Kai had discovered several ways to get out of slightly uncomfortable political events. This time, he doesn’t even have to try; he and Cinder are talking to a very strange couple when something barrels into his legs. Or rather, someone - an upset little girl.

Kai frowns, shifting his attention to her. “Hello there, are you alright?” 

The girl shakes her head and raises her arms, her chin wobbling. Kai offers her a warm smile and lifts her up, settling her on his waist as Cinder politely excuses them from their previous conversation.

Eventually, the girl lifts her head from where she’d buried it under his chin and sniffles. “I can’t find my dad,” she explains, “and he said to find you if I got lost.”

“And you found me! Well done, that was so brave of you,” Kai soothes.

Cinder chuckles and hesitates a moment before wiping the tears away from the girl’s cheek. “Don’t cry. What’s your dad wearing today?”

The girl frowns for a moment before her eyes light up. “His new jacket! It’s dark blue and it has pretty silver wings on it! He said I can try it on later!” 

Kai chuckles at her enthusiasm and nods. “I suppose we’ll have to find him immediately so that you can try it on, then! We’ll check every room, don’t you worry.”

for tlc ship weeks: in which cinder realises that although early mornings can be annoying, she’s more than content anyway.

Cinder wakes to the sight of a smile. 

"Good morning, Empress," Kai murmurs. 

Cinder rolls her eyes but still shuffles closer to him, letting him wrap an arm around her as she relaxes again. She doesn't manage to contain her own smile at the feel of him kissing her forehead. 

"Not ready to wake up yet?" Kai asks, sounding amused. 

"Never ready to wake up yet," Cinder replies, and she's only half-joking. She stays where she is, breathing in Kai's scent - something fancy that she doesn't know the name of but loves anyway - and wishing she could stay where she is forever. 

Kai hums above her and she feels it more than she hears it, smiling again at the fact that, in a way, she's already been gifted a small forever with him: they get to wake up like this more than she'd ever thought she'd be able to. 

"I have a meeting in a few hours, love, I’ll need to get up soon."

Cinder frowns. "Just you?" 

"You asked me to get you out of it, remember? I've already made the arrangements so you need not bother with it," Kai explains. 

And maybe it's just the leftover sleep talking but Cinder is momentarily overwhelmed by how endlessly kind her husband is and how she's incredibly lucky to be the subject of said kindness. "Thank you," she mumbles, wrapping her arms more firmly around him, "I wish you could get out of it too."