lifeline ⇾ kai parker

09┃rescue missions

"Yup. I don't know why but all my notifications are from twelve-year-old girls. That's kinda annoying. But, other than that, I love it. I think I'm getting the hang of it." He glances over his shoulder briefly before picking up a magnifying glass, analyzing a part closely.

"Fine, I'll follow you." Mila gets her phone out of her pocket, deciding she had nothing better to do. "But only because I want to see you get harassed by preteens."

"They keep mentioning the word 'Daddy' when they reply to my tweets? Is that some new slang or something? I think it's a compliment, but I don't know for sure. Is it?"

She refrained from laughing at his dilemma. Instead, she simply got up, phone in hand, strolling over to lean on the pool table next to him. She's too busy looking at the giddy smile shown his profile picture to notice he's replicating the action, delighted to be in her company once more.

"You're right. They're definitely thirsting hard over you," Mila remarked, still immersed in his account which already had a few hundred followers. She wasn't exactly surprised; Kai was an attractive guy.

"Thirsting? Ohh. It's a sexual thing, isn't it? They think I'm hot." His innocent grin shifts into a complacent smirk, the nearly-complete ascendant in his grasp. "Do you think I'm hot?"

Mila looks up past her phone, raising her eyebrows at the sudden change in his tone. "Do you think I'm hot?"

"Yes. Very," Kai confirms automatically. He carefully sets the ascendant back down, leaning down on the table as well to face her. His chin rests on his palm, and he finds himself completely immersed yet again — in a different way than he was working on an assigned project.

"You're not the first one to think so."

"I figured, but you're avoiding my question."

"I don't think you're... not hot," Mila said, thoughtful with her choice of words.

It was unexpectedly nerve-racking being put on the spot by him, a rose-dusted flush making its way to her cheeks as they began to heat up. Kai only grew more amused by her refusal to be outward about his attractiveness, liking how she made even the littlest things a challenge for him. If it wasn't for the subtle clues he picked up, he wouldn't have known just how much she enjoyed being in his presence, but luckily Kai was very perceptive.

"Are you into that? The whole 'Daddy' thing?" His voice deepens further, successfully becoming more seductive.

"It sounds like you're the one into it."

"So what if I was? I mean, I'm not opposed to it. I could get used to it. It's probably hotter when you're in the moment. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"We? You were born in, like, the early 70s, right? What makes you think I want to be with a forty-something-year-old man?"

"Just because technically I'm old enough to be your dad, doesn't mean I look like it. I am still young and hot, even if you won't admit it. All the more reason to call me Daddy during sex, though."

"You're unbelievable." She heaves out a laugh, noticing how closer he had gotten during their conversation. Their elbows were almost touching.

"Hey, the more you kink shame me, the more I'm picturing you naked. Just saying." Kai shrugs.

She shoves him, biting her lip to hold back another smile. "For someone who's been stuck by himself for nearly twenty years, you sure are a flirt. I feel sorry for the other girls that had to endure this before you were sent to the prison world. And Bonnie, you probably talked her ear off."