#emperorkai

This is one of my favorite one-shot that I wrote and I hope that you like it!

Cinder had fallen asleep. In. His. Lap. Kai gaped at the sleeping form in his lap. The beautiful, messy hair in his lap. The gorgeous, calm, tired face in his lap. Kai thought he was freaking out a bit, but why wouldn't he. She was asleep. In. His. Lap. What if he woke her up?

Today had been a long day for both of them, but Kai was perfectly fine staying awake while Cinder slept peacefully. He didn't want anything to disturb her while she was at peace. He vowed not to let anything or anyone wake her. Kai began to play with her hair as Thorne, Iko, and Cress walked in.

"Did you see that? I bet that it was fake." Cress said, her eyes filled with wonder.

"Yeah, it was. I just searched it up. Apparently, the magi-" Iko started to say but was interrupted by Kai.

"Shhhh" Kai pressed a finger to his lips. They turned to look at him. Thorne lifted his arms up as if to say 'what.' Kai pointed to Cinders sleeping figure then to his lips. Iko slowly started to nod, but Thorne smirked and said:

"So?" Kai glared at Thorne as Iko and Cress hit him. "What? She's only sleeping." He was hit again.

A humming started up as they heard footsteps heading towards the room. Winter appeared holding Jacin's and Scarlet's hands. Wolf followed close behind.

"Hello, frie-""SHHH," Kai shushed Winter before she could complete her sentence. Jacin scowled at him.

"What is wrong, Kai-friend?" Winter asked innocently. Annoyed, Kai stared her down and then glanced at Cinder. She still looked peaceful in her sleep, and Kai allowed a sigh of release. Then he glared back up at Winter. She seemed to acknowledge this and turned to sit in one of the Rampion's numerous couches.

But Scarlet had other ideas. She walked to Kai and Cinder and crouched. Then she extended her hand out towards Cinder-

SLAP.

Scarlet jerked her hand away, a hint of betrayal sprawled across her face. Kai glared at her and mouthed, 'NO.' Wolf growled and walked towards Scarlet. He scowled at Kai, and Kai scowled right back.

"Someone's a bit protective of his girlfriend..." Thorne sang, and Kai shushed him once again. Do these people ever learn!

"Anyways, what d'ya guys wanna do?”

"SHHH-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Cinder's sleeping, whatever," Thorne drawled. "Anyways, anyone got any ideas?"

"Ooh, maybe we can bake cookies. You know the holidays are coming soon!"

Or maybe you all can shut up, Kai thought. Do they not see this perfect, sleeping, amazing woman on his lap. He gazed downwards and saw her still sleeping. He sighed. Maybe they'll stop talking soon.

"What about a gingerbread house? I used to love baking those as a child. My grand-mère and I baked them from scratch."

"Yeah! Let's do that now-"

"SHUT UP!" The words burst through Kai's mouth before he could stop them, "Please." He felt something move in his lap.

Horrified if he had woken up his love by accident, Kai checked on Cinder, only to find out that she had curled up even more on him. He placed his hand on her hair which was, even more messier than usual because of her head in his lap.

"Jeez, sorry!" Thorne said in a sarcastic tone.

"Poor thing, she worked hard all day today," Cress whispered sympathetically.

"Wow. No 'poor Thorne. He has to pilot the Rampion 24/7'. Thanks for the appreciation, guys." Kai was not the only one to glare at him.

Iko reached out to feel her forehead, only to be slapped down by Kai. A confused looked etched on Iko's face as Kai explained, "You might wake her up." She nodded.

Thorne, now bored, suggested that they all do something without Kai and Cinder, and everyone agreed. Kai believed, from the smell and frustrated yells coming from outside of the room, the cookie baking has not gone well. Kai bundled up against Cinder and played with her hair, thinking about how amazing their lives now were since they were united again.

Kai pressed his lips on Cinder's hair and then leaned his cheek on her. He began to hum, lost in thought, and did not know that he too began drifting off to sleep.

I hope you guys enjoyed! (I will post more one-shots here and be warned: its mostly kaider)

(Someone suggested this but I can’t find the comment so if this was your idea let me know. Also I’m not entirely sure what you meant so if this isn’t it feel free to clarify)

Cinder: Fairly heavy sleeper, but her cyborg systems will wake her up if necessary. Sleeps curled up and pretty much anywhere. And I guess her dreams are explained in the books so. 

Kai: Light sleeper. He falls asleep at meetings a lot but wakes up very easily, usually when Torin jabs him in the ribs. Master of sleeping sitting up. Either dreams about his parents visiting him with advice or nightmares about losing Cinder/the Rampion Crew.

Scarlet: HEAVY sleeper. Tends to sleep spread out, maintaining her  tough demeanor even when she’s asleep. Fidgets and twitches a lot when she sleeps. Happy but nostalgic dreams of her parents or Grandmere, reiterations of memories from when they were all together.

Wolf: Light sleeper, learned from sharing barracks with the more vicious soldiers. Sleeps very still and very straight. Sometimes sleeps with his eyes open, which scared everyone the first few times. Dreams a lot about losing his loved ones again.

Cress: Light sleeper, had to be prepared to fix things on the satellite or if Sybil was coming to check in without warning. Often sleeps in a fetal position because she feels safer that way. Dreams about being lost in the desert without Thorne, which makes her panic, or dreams about being chased by Sybil. She also dreams about her father, though in her dreams they are always separated and never meet.

Thorne: Heaviest sleeper on the team. You could probably do anything to him while he is asleep and he wouldn’t wake up. He is also the heaviest snorer of the nine. Sleeps spread-eagled literally anywhere. Mostly dreams about himself or losing his friends.

Winter: Light sleeper. She will wake up if you breathe too loud and Jacin makes everyone be as quiet as possible when she’s asleep. Likes to wrap herself up in her blankets so that only the top of her head is exposed. Dreams about losing her parents, Levana’s abuse, and being in suspended animation.

Jacin: Super light sleeper. Hardly ever sleeps for more than a few hours at a time. Dreams about Winter.

Iko: Well...she’s an android so...?

I would love for there to be a movie or show based on the books! I definitely have the same fears, especially since so many fans of the series unconsciously (or maybe not?? yikes) whitewash the characters in fanart and their imagined versions. 

My friend and I actually asked Marissa Meyer about people whitewashing TLC characters when we went to one of her events. I don’t remember exactly what she said, but I think it was something along the lines of “I don’t think people mean to whitewash, and if there were to be a movie/show, I do want the cast to be racially/ethnically correct.”

Thanks for the ask and sorry if I went off topic!