Kaider One-Shots

Morning Haze

Cinder was having trouble keeping her eyes open. The more she read about the new regulations on Public Hover Transportation, the more her eyelids felt inclined to close and never open up again. But she read on and barely managed to understand the basic changes the company made. Each blink became tortuous enough that she threw her port across the bed and chose to read the article in her mind, eyes closed.

It wasn't much better. She realized that it wasn't her eyes protesting the absence of sleep, but it was her brain refusing to think.

'This is important' Torin had said when he sent an article to her and Kai earlier, 'PHT hasn't changed their rules since it was made back when Kai's grandfather ruled. They have made many changes unofficially since then but now they needed to make an official document on how they would behave toward those who don't follow their protocol. Recent technology, I believe, is their stated cause. Along with security purposes."

'So it contains their response to people who don't use the Bio-Lock?" Kai asked though he knew the answer.

"Yes, but it's mostly focused on Lunars. They are worried about one of the unlocked Lunars manipulating and hijacking a public hover."

Of course, it's about Lunars, Cinder remembered thinking. Ever since Garan's invention came out into the world, every major company changed something about itself. As Queen, she had to read each article since it regarded her subjects (and each one always gave her a headache).

She thought she'd seen the last of those papers when her reign ended but they keep popping up again. Most of them had already changed their rules when the Bio-Lock was first introduced, except for a few like PHT, but they were minor companies and she didn't need to read them.

The articles she read before were all the same and easier to understand. But this article had her reading and re-reading each sentence so it made sense. It might be the lack of sleep and how this day would never end, but she just couldn't read this paper.

"Are you awake, love?" Cinder's eyes flew open immediately.

Kai had been inspecting her face for who knows how long. His fingers lingered on her elbow and she wondered if she was tracing her arms. He had a habit of tracing her figure while she slept and sometimes she'd wake up to it (she usually enjoyed it).

He smiled, a question on his lips, and brought her port up to her face, "Might I ask why your port is on the ground?"

His hair was wet from his recent shower, smelling like soap. It was something about this state that she liked very much and--stars, how she loved it. He was so close to her face that she could barely focus.

Cinder smiled back, "I didn't mean to throw it that far."

He leaned in closer very slowly. Everything is always slow with him. It both excited and irritated her. "Then why was it thrown?"

"I got tired of reading on a screen so I read in my mind." Her voice got lower the closer he came, "But the writers of that paper are so repetitive and boring."

Kai lowered the port on her lap and gradually dragged his fingers across her stomach to rest on her waist. His other hand moved up from her elbow, up her arm, shoulder, collarbone, cheek, then dropped parallel to his other hand. All the while he kept coming closer and closer until he was teasing her with his lips.

Cinder's heart did circus acts in her chest. Her tiredness miraculously vanished and her eyes could only focus on his perfect, beautiful lips. Lips that have tasted hers more times than her cyborg brain could count. Lips that could sway crowds and speak sweet nothings in her ears. Lips that she has met with her own almost every day. Lips that she would rather drink sewage water than live without.