#sw1516

“That’s ridiculous,” Cinder said weakly, wondering if the ringing in her ears was permanent. “Kinney would never let that happen. Er, if he was there when it was about to happen.”

Iko nodded pensively. “Fair point.”

It took Iko nearly the entire rest of the day to compose a satisfactorily scalding lecture on the importance of keeping tabs on the most important woman in the Commonwealth, and she delivered it to Kinney right before dinner.

“I thought you were the most important woman in the Commonwealth,” Kinney said when she was finished. “Isn’t that what you always remind me when you’re, y’know, distracting me from my sworn duties to the Empress?”

He winked, and Iko punched him as her eyes flushed hot pink.

And then Kinney told Kai, and that night, Kai laughed, kissed Cinder’s temple, and said that he didn’t care what she did or where she went as long as she had used her glamour to conceal herself. Because that’s what she’d done, right?

“Um,” said Cinder, who hadn’t turned off her bioelectricity suppressor since she’d moved back to Earth, “not exactly.”

Kai frowned at her.

“But you had a gun?”

“Uh.”

He sat up in bed, the better to frown at her more emphatically. “Darts loaded in your finger?”

“Well…”

“Or the panic button?”

“What panic button? Do you have a panic button?”

“Yeah, and so do you. I gave it to you, like, three years ago, when you first moved in,” Kai said, sounding hurt. “It’s shaped like a little cyborg foot, with a red button that says ‘PANIC’ on top. Press it and it broadcasts a distress signal with your location to our security team.”

“Oh, that’s what that was?” Cinder said, squinting vaguely into the distance. “The door in my workshop slams, so I use it to hold it open.”

“I had it custom-made!”

Cinder favored him with what she hoped was an endearing smile. “It’s the most adorable custom-made doorstop I’ve ever owned. And it’ll really come in handy if I panic while adjusting the stabilization thrusters on a hover.”

Kai made a guttural noise of deepest frustration. “Tell me you at least made some attempt at disguising yourself.”

“Yes!” Cinder said triumphantly. “Yes, an attempt was definitely made.”

“A hoodie doesn’t count.”

“They counted when you used them to sneak out of the palace.”

“I never snuck anywhere!” Kai said. “My security team always knew exactly where I was. They still do, because I’m a law-abiding citizen who uses an ID chip and doesn’t have to say ‘charge it to the palace’ and then sign a pile of invoices whenever I go shopping. Incidentally, how did you buy those sticky buns without giving away your identity?”

She shifted uncomfortably. “Um…”

Kai’s nostrils flared. “Stars above, Cinder, you blew your cover? You could’ve been kidnapped, or killed, or crushed in a tsunami of lovesick teenage boys, or—”

“It was only Chang Sunto,” she said defensively. “It’s not like I jumped onto a table and screamed ‘IT IS I, THE WHOLLY UNARMED EMPRESS SELENE! COME GET ME, ARISTOCRATIC ASSASSINS!’”

“I didn’t say you did, but—”

“And another thing,” Cinder said, hoisting herself onto her elbows, “have you and Kinney and Iko all forgotten the part where I eluded authorities both Earthen and Lunar, led a revolution, and singlehandedly overthrew a narcissistic despot with nothing but my bare hands and a wrench?”

“Well, that’s just blatantly not true.”

“Also, I’m pretty sure the lovesick-teenager-tsunami is a problem only teen prince heartthrobs ever had to face, namely you, not me. Nothing like that happened any of the other times I—”

Cinder broke off mid-sentence as Kai let out a strangled choking noise that would have better suited a python with indigestion. “Other times? What other times?”

“I…listen, like I said, nothing ever happened—”

“How many times?”

“It’s not really a big deal—”

“How. Many. Times?”

This commenced a brief but intense glaring contest, one which Cinder lost in spite of the fact that her visual interface told her that technically, she could keep her eyes open indefinitely with only minor discomfort. “I don’t know. A lot. Pretty much since the first week I lived here.”

Kai shook his head. “That’s it. We’re getting you a leash. A kid leash, on one of those little backpacks shaped like monkeys, and you will wear it every day to remind you of your shame.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“‘The Wandering Toddler Empress,’ they’ll call you. You won’t be remembered as dignified, but you’ll outlive us all.”

“I can take care of myself, Kai.”

“I know you can, but would it kill you to take Kinney with you the next time you have a yen for sticky buns? That is his job, you know.”

“I like alone-time,” Cinder said, glaring at him. “I miss alone-time. Ever since the coronation, I’ve craved alone-time.”

Kai’s face fell. “It’s not fair that you had to assume another crown so soon after giving one up. I understand that,” he said, his voice now absent of any teasing.

“I didn’t mean this coronation,” Cinder said, her tone softening. “I meant the first one. This one was a breeze, comparatively.”

Kai nodded, but he still looked troubled. “And I know I’m an adjustment. I mean, being an ex-royal Lunar ambassador living with your fiancé is sort of different from being, you know, the Empress, and having to spend basically all your time with me,” he said, picking at a crane embroidered on a pillowcase.

“It’s not you,” Cinder protested. An orange light flashed in the corner of her vision, and she sighed. “Well, it’s not all you. And it’s not your fault. It’s just…on Luna, there was no way I could ever be alone or walk around unnoticed, not since I stopped using my glamour for good, and I sort of thought I’d get a break from that here, but I’m still on every feed in my retinal display, and there’s always someone around, always, even if it’s just you or Konn or Kinney or Iko. And I love you, I do, and I love being here, but sometimes I miss being an anonymous mechanic who could go anywhere.”

She clamped her mouth shut and hoped that Kai wasn’t as startled by how much she’d blurted out as she was.

“I get that,” Kai said. “I mean, not that I got to be anonymous very often. But I’d forgotten how exhausting it is to not even have the option.”

“But I do have the option,” Cinder said stubbornly. “Like I did. Today.”

Kai let out a gusty sigh. “Just as many people on this planet would love to see you dead as they did on the last one.”

“Luna’s not a planet.”

“Irrelevant. Don’t change the subject.” Kai narrowed his eyes at Cinder. “I think you’re being more reckless here because New Beijing was your home for so long. You don’t feel like you need to be careful the way you did on Luna.”

“I’m not being reckless,” Cinder said. “I just, you know, need a little breathing room sometimes. It was a few sticky buns. I don’t get why it’s such a big deal.”

“You’re not just a regular citizen who can fade into the crowd. You haven’t been in years. And if you got kidnapped or assaulted or assassinated….” Kai tilted his head, his brow furrowed as he studied her face. “The Commonwealth needs you. I need you. And I wish you’d make a bigger effort to not give anyone else a chance to stab you in the organic part of your heart.”

Cinder melted. She couldn’t resist his puppy-eyes, and she knew he knew it. She also knew when she was beaten. “I really can take care of myself.”

“I know, but—”

“But if it makes you feel better, I will get a blasted ID chip first thing tomorrow morning.”

Kai brightened. “Really?”

“Yes,” Cinder said, with a sigh of resignation. “It has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve been manually overriding each of the roughly ten million security scanners between here and the kitchens every time I’ve wanted a midnight snack for the last three years, and it’s getting really old.”

“Of course,” Kai said, deadpan. “I’m sure that didn’t factor into your decision in the least.”

Cinder smiled. “And I’ll take the panic button with me the next time I want some alone-time.”

Kai blinked at her, then cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

“But just so you know,” he said a little breathlessly when they broke apart, resting his forehead against hers, “if you do get kidnapped and you’re forced to marry a Lunar aristocrat who keeps mailing me your limbs, I reserve the right to shoot you on your wedding day and kidnap you back. Then we’d finally be even.”

Cinder’s lips twitched. “I knew Iko had gotten to you.”

Kai sank back down onto his pillows. “If she didn’t love being your chief of staff so much, I honestly think she’d make a killing writing net-dramas.”

“Don’t tell her that,” Cinder said. “She’ll quit and never look back.”

“Is that what you want?” he asked, suddenly serious again. “To quit all of this, and live out the rest of your days in happy anonymity?”

She studied him, his mouth, his perfect nose, his absurdly long lashes and floppy hair, still damp from the shower. “Would that entail my having to quit being your wife?”

“Probably.”

“Then no. Not for all the sticky buns in the world.”

Kai smiled at her, his dark eyes crinkling to reveal those little lines from all the chuckles he diplomatically suppressed during lunches and banquets and balls and meetings with people who had no idea how absurd they were. No one knew their emperor was dying of laughter on the inside, but Cinder did. She always did. (And they were at the point where they flat-out couldn’t risk making eye contact at any official functions for fear of offending the heads of countless significant families.) Those little eye crinkles were one of the things she loved most about Kai’s face, primarily because she was the only one who ever got close enough to see them, the only one who knew exactly where each line came from.

“You know, I’d find a way to be with you even if you abdicated the throne to be a latrine technician in the regolith mines,” Kai said, breaking Cinder’s eye-crinkle reverie.

“Same,” she said, flopping back down onto her side to face him.

“And if you need to be a regular hoodied citizen of New Beijing every once in a while, I get it. Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid again.”

“I promise,” she said, ignoring the orange light that flashed in the corner of her eye as Kai pulled her into his arms, the room quiet except for the raindrops pattering on the windows.

Back when her days were marked by long hours in her booth, rainy days meant no business in her shop. Rainy days were humid, slow, and a nuisance.

It had been a while since Cinder had experienced rain. The lack of weather on Luna was a stark change, one she never realized she could miss. She was definitely getting used to the constants that made up Artemisia, but every chance to visit Earth, be it for political reasons or otherwise, she welcomed with open arms. Even the rain was a nice change, every so often.  

After the revolution, Cinder had taken as many steps as she could towards unifying Cyborg and Human relations. There was still much work to be done, but everyday new articles and livefeeds would surface chronicling the advancements that had been made. If she was being honest, her work dedicated to the cause was one of the things that made her happiest. It was for the same reason she was now in an embassy suite in Chile, scheduled to make an appearance with Kai at a fundraiser supporting Cyborg Education. However, the sky had turned an ugly shade of gray, short bursts of lightning appearing every so often.

Cinder fiddled with the ribbon on her sundress, an outfit Iko had placed in her suitcase for this exact day. Her hair was “to be let down, one side tucked behind the ear” as per Iko’s instructions, but she was fighting the urge to put it all in a ponytail.

A knock on the door shook her out of her reverie. She got up and opened it, her heart automatically picking up speed once it caught sight of Kai on the other side. He leaned against the doorframe, his tie already loose; a sign that the event had been cancelled due to the rain. Her breath caught at the sight of his messy hair and dress shirt—she didn’t think she’d ever get used to him.

“Well, the event was cancelled. They’re rescheduling it, so Torin said we could have the day off.” He smiled with the giddy excitement of a child who was just told he could eat his dessert before dinner. Cinder had to agree, as a public figure a day off was no small feat. Those days were there was nothing to be done were both precious and rare. He let himself in their room, taking a seat on the bed and inviting Cinder to join him.

She sat down next to him, staring ahead of her. “So, what does one do on a ‘day off’?” She used air quotes to emphasize her question.

“Well…” He grabbed her waist, bringing her closer to him. She let herself fall into his embrace, now so comfortable at the feel of his body against hers. She inclined her head towards him, grabbing his tie and pulling their faces together, the smell of his cologne intoxicating. His hands pulled her closer, trying to minimize any space between them. She let herself get wrapped up in him, the storm pattering against their window, only getting stronger. After a few minutes she pulled away, dizzy at the power Kai had over her.

“Aces, Kai, it’s only noon.” She chided. He laughed, stroking her hair. There went Iko’s hairstyle. “I haven’t been alone with you in months. We should enjoy every second we have.”

“So, you do this with all the girls on all your days off?” She looked up at him with a quizzical gleam in her eyes.

“Nah,” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Only the cute ones.”