Odi Et Amo | CORIOLANUS SNOW

19 | relinquished hearts

"What about..." Kyra pulled back slightly from the kiss growing more feverish each second, mumbling against Coriolanus's insistent lips, "...You and... Meddy..."

Coriolanus's lips did not falter as he mumbled back between eager kisses, "Who?"

Kyra pulled back in an instant, eyes alight with anger, as she cried out, "Medea Cupid, you-"

"I'm joking, Kyra!" Coriolanus laughed, amused by how quick Kyra's irritation flared up and faded, before taunting, "I should've realised the only humour you're well-versed in is bad cake-related puns."

"I'm serious, you and the floor are about to become very well acquainted!" Kyra threatened, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. 

Coriolanus shook his head in exasperation, placing a taming peck onto Kyra's forehead, before answering her previous question seriously, "I'll end things with her today. They weren't all that serious anyway."

"She'll be out for revenge, you know. For both of us." Kyra pointed out, not wanting to even imagine what it would be like the next time they crossed paths. It was undeniable that their friendship would be well and truly dead, but frankly, Kyra had only really liked the redhead for her ambitionless support and vague similarity to Sejanus. Neither of which mattered now that she had Coriolanus by her side.

"Good thing she doesn't have any dirt on us, then." Coriolanus shrugged nonchalantly, adding, "Besides, I'm good at talking her down. Though, we probably shouldn't rub this in her face too much, if we want to avoid getting burnt."

Kyra nodded, her mind briefly drifting to Antonius. She had roped him in to be her spy on Coriolanus, something which served little purpose now. But Medea and Antonius were also friends, at least close enough that she had run straight to him when she thought Kyra and Coriolanus slept together. Kyra wondered if she could use Antonius to simply make sure Medea didn't try anything, or at the minimum know about it before she went ahead with it, and also whether she should let Snow in on this little web she'd created.

For some reason, Kyra elected to keep it her secret.

While her mind wandered down this rabbit hole, her delicate palms mindlessly rubbed Coriolanus's back. Her fingertips grazed the scars on his shoulder blades, tearing Kyra from her thoughts as she felt Coriolanus tense up from her touch. However, he didn't move her hands away like he had done when they slept together in the common room. Taking this as an invitation, Kyra's fingers gently traced the bumps and ridges of his large scars, memorising their shape.

"Coriolanus?" Kyra began, but he already knew what she was about to ask.

"The larger one is from when the arena got bombed. A beam on fire fell atop me, nearly killed me from how badly it burnt me." Coriolanus explained, his eyes not quite meeting hers as they glazed over in memory, before continuing in a quieter voice, "The other was... from when I went into the arena during the 10th games."

"You what?" Kyra gently pushed him off as she sat up in shock, turning his body so that she could examine the scars on his broad back.

"Dr Gaul sent me in to retrieve... Sejanus. I think he wanted to make some sort of... point about the games. Nearly got us both killed in the process." Coriolanus explained in a strained voice, not particularly wanting to dig up old memories, but knowing Kyra would press sooner or later. And she wasn't one to back down when she did.