In the end she had ended up taking her husband's advice. She was grateful for it as she picked over loose stones in a New Beijing back alley. The grey hoodie kept the eyes of the half-unconscious drunkards from staying too long on her face and kept all but the most advantageous or desperate of pick-pockets from bothering her. Her metal hand had scared away the others. It was—forgive the pun—handy for dealing with threats some times, although she was mostly trying to keep it hidden. If she didn't want to be recognized waving around thousands of univs worth of cybernetics wasn't going to help.
So far no one had paid her much attention and Cinder felt her shoulders relax just the slightest bit as she saw her quarry a few blocks down.
The bar had probably never seen better days. It was the most broken down building on an otherwise ravaged street. The sign held the simple descriptor 'bar' and hung crooked off the roof's overhang. One side had obviously rusted through so that it had detached and now swung in the slight breeze. The outside of the building looked like it had been patched up from several different sources. Sheets of metal were placed here and there to cover gaping holes. Cinder didn't really feel like she could pass judgment there, though.
It was late now. Late enough that even the criminals had gone to sleep. The crowd on the street had been thicker earlier, she could tell. But now only a few stragglers remained. She couldn't hear any raucous coming from inside the bar save for one, loud, slightly off key voice singing a song that she didn't recognize but that sounded like it was probably American.
Cinder rolled her eyes and pushed open the door. There he was. Draped across the piano, his eyes closed, his hair was mussed and stuck to his face with what she hoped was sweat. He stopped singing abruptly and demanded that the pianist play louder. Cinder looked over. There was no pianist.
She sighed, deeply and summoned her patience, "Thorne!"
The man behind the bar—the only other person in the room besides a small, silent man drinking a few feet away- looked up at her when she shouted.
"Is he yours?" the bartender crossed his arms over his large stomach and frowned over at her.
"Unfortunately", she conceded.
"Good. Get him out of here. He's been hitting on the ficus for an hour".
Cinder did not know what a ficus was, but when she turned to where the man nodded she saw a small tree in a pot leaning against the wall. Right.
"Thorne", she repeated as she crossed the room to him and pulled him up into a sitting position.
Thorne looked supremely confused for a second before his eyes lit on her and a smile spread over his face. It was his most charming. Cinder might've been dazzled if she didn't suspect that was vomit on his shirt.
"Hi there!" he shouted just a little louder than was necessary.
"Hi".
"Thorneswell Car, nice to make your acquaintance", he stuck out a hand, then his brow furrowed and his lips pursed, "Wait...that's not right".
"You're not right. Get down off of there", Cinder pulled on his arm until he hopped down off the piano. He seemed to oscillate for a moment, like he wasn't steady on his feet.
"How drunk are you?"
"A bit. A lot. Very? Who are you, by the way?"
Cinder huffed. Great. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that the bartender and the other customer were occupied with something else and then leaned in closer to Thorne. Close enough that she got a whiff of his breath and recoiled.
"It's me. Cinder".
Thorne's blue eyes really lit up now. He slung a heavy arm over her shoulder and showed all of his perfect teeth as he smiled, "Ah, your Empressness! Lovely to see you", he spread his other arm out, gesturing to the room, "Welcome to my summer home. I'm so pleased that you could make it".
"Yeah, it's beautiful", she grumbled. She wanted to shrug away from the weight of his arm but the moment she did she realized that he actually needed her to support him at the moment.
"How did you find it?"
"You commed me an hour ago. Do you seriously not remember?"
"Ah yes. No".
"No idea why you wouldn't just call your fiancee", she ignored him, "Cress is the one signing up to deal with this full time".
"Cress? I love Cress!" his voice got so elated and childlike that Cinder had to smile this time as she shook her head.
"Come on, let's get you moving. I have to get back before anyone notices I'm gone".
With considerable struggle and with her bearing most of his weight, she managed to get Thorne moving in a forward direction toward the door.
She had never really thought of Thorne as being big or heavy but she was realizing now that he definitely was both. His legs were working like they were mis-firing android attachments. Every two steps they made well would find the third dragging his foot across the ground and stumbling. She was starting to regret not bringing Kai. Or possibly the army.
"Whoa! Be careful", despite his warning, Thorne snickered as they stumbled through the door and out into the street, "Empresses aren't supposed to get drunk, ya know".
"You're the one that's drunk, idiot".
"Oh. Right. Hey, where are we going?"
"Home", Cinder grunted, in lieu of announcing that they were headed to the palace to anyone that might overhear. She doubted she could fight off any drunks when she was basically carrying one.
"Oh home. Good. The Rampion".
"No", she lowered her voice, "You're staying at the palace, remember? For the wedding?"
He hiccuped. Then he seemed delighted, if nauseated, "A wedding?! I love a wedding! Whose getting wed?"
"You are".
"Oh God!", they had to stop then, as the sheer weight of Thorne passing out dragged Cinder down to her knees on the wet pavement.
She called his name a few times, worriedly, not caring who was listening anymore. She was just about to resort to something she'd seen in an old second-era drama once and start slapping him across the face when his eyes opened and he looked up at her, bleary.
Cinder managed to get him sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, cursing all the while.
When she released him and stepped back Thorne looked more shocked and pale than she had ever seen him. And she'd seen him get shot once.
"Married. I'm getting married".
"Yes. To Cress. Do you have memory loss or something?" momentarily concerned she frowned down at him and put her hands on her hips.
"No. No I remember now. I'm fine. I'm just in shock and dying", he leaned forward and put his face into his hands, "I can't do this. I can't get married".
Cinder rolled her eyes, "Is that what this is about? This little trip to the scummiest side of town in the middle of the night? You have cold feet?"
"It's not cold feet. This is a terrible mistake. She can't marry me".
"Thorne", Cinder breathed out a sigh and gave up, pulling her hood down as she sat down next to him, "We've been over this. She loves you".
"Why?"
"Stars. I can't answer that".
He gave her a dark look, "Thanks".
"You know what I mean", Cinder sighed again, and rubbed her forehead, "She loves you for your personality, ya know? You're Carswell Thorne. You helped save the planet".
"You saved the planet", he admitted for the first time. Her eyebrows shot up. Whoa. What was happening here?
"So did you. You almost died".
"I'm just the...groupie who you happened to stumble across when you were escaping prison. And then I clung on to you like space junk, like I do to everyone. And you were too nice to shake me off".
A small, disbelieving smile tugged at Cinder's mouth, "When have I ever been nice?"
"Good point. Neither am I. Maybe we should be getting married".
Her lip curled. She did her best to hide it. It was just the proposition of a drunken man. It was just Thorne being Thorne. But still. Ew.
Luckily she didn't have to say anything as he wasn't really paying attention to her. He was lost in his own thoughts, his head leaned against one hand, his elbow on his knee, "I'm gonna mess it up. I mess everything up. Did I ever tell you how I got those stupid Venezuelan Dream Dolls in the first place?"
"No", she said softly, confused by the sudden change of subject.
"I was trying to steal a diamond. Not just any diamond. But the crown jewel of the American Republic consulate in Venezuela. It's a perfectly cut, 100 carat diamond as big as my fist", he held up his closed fist for comparison, "But the job went wrong. I misjudged how many guards were in the building. Whatever. I got away with what ever I could. Turned out to be a crate that was awaiting transportation from the auction. Venezuelan Dream Dolls", he paused, and the sound of the sign swinging over their heads in the breeze was almost peaceful.
"Can you imagine my face when I opened that box?"
Cinder couldn't hold back her laughter, try as she might. She could imagine his face that day. And it was hilarious.
"Thorne", she chuckled, "That's not you messing up. That's just a story about you not being as big of a criminal as you could've been. Can you imagine where you'd be now if you had managed to steal that diamond? You'd still be in prison in a different country. We never would've met and not only would you not be here now but neither would I".
"Maybe that would be for the best. I'm gonna ruin her life".
Cinder had never seen Thorne like this and her laughter died as she was quickly finding that she didn't like it. Scared, yes. Angry, sure. But never morose and depressed. It was surprisingly upsetting. She pulled her hoodie tighter around her shoulders and wondered if she should...hug him? Was that what the situation called for? Was she a bad friend for not already having hugged him? If only she had tutors for this like she had for learning policies and her duties after she married Kai.
"I shouldn't marry anyone. I'm not the marrying type, Cinder. I'm a lone wolf".
"We actually know a wolf and he is married".
"Right!", he held up a hand, then frowned, still obviously quite drunk, "Wait...no".
"Look, I went through this same thing before my wedding too, alright? I mean, not the drinking. But the doubt", she lifted a shoulder, realizing oddly at that moment that she would've done almost anything to put a smile back on his face. Ugh. Thorne. He really did have a way of clinging to your heart like a bit off smudge you couldn't scrub off. Like space junk.
"I wondered if I was gonna screw up Kai's life, too. I mean, formerly royal, genetically engineered cyborg stuff aside. I'm not exactly easy to get along with. Besides Peony and Iko, I've never had any family before-", she cut off quickly and she got her wish. A small smile did light onto his face.
"Me? You were gonna say me, weren't you? You never had any family before you met me", that easy confidence slid back in like he was putting on a familiar shirt.
"I was actually gonna say, 'you guys'. But if it makes you happy with yourself, then fine. You were my first friend/family".
His smile then was still restrained but it went from cocky to a little touched, and she decided she liked this smile more than any of his others.
"Ditto", he admitted, "You're my best friend".
"Don't push it".
"And also kind of my mother", he looked off into the distance, thoughtfully.
"Where are you going with this?" she sighed again, her lifetime quota of exasperated sighs would all be marked with Carswell Thorne's name, "Forget it. I'm trying to make a point here and be heartfelt and everything, so listen up", she put a hand on his shoulder so that he would look over and meet her eyes, "You are going to be a good husband. You are Captain Carswell Thorne, damn it. You are the coolest space pirate in the galaxy. You are so loyal you followed a cyborg you barely knew into Luna when the only thing awaiting us was certain death. You kept us all laughing when we thought we were gonna die. You.." she paused, and shook her head so that her ponytail bobbed behind her, "Are a complete idiot. But she seems to like that. What I'm saying, Thorne, is that I can tell that you two love each other a lot and you deserve—you both deserve love".
Thorne's eyes softened, he gave her a gooey look that made her admit that she did sort of want to hug him. On some level. Not that she was actually going to.
"Aw, mom. That's so nice".
"Don't call me that".
"You're right", he announced, suddenly, struggling to his feet. Normally he would've jumped up like a shot. She'd seen him do it before when he got an idea. In fact, since he'd been visiting the palace regularly she'd gotten quite a few good chuckles out of him bumping his head on the lower ceiling-ed rooms in the older parts of the building.
"You're so right. You always are. You're so smart, Cinder. I always say that about you. She's not much to look at but she sure is smart, that's what I say".
Cinder shook her head at him, sarcastically, "Thanks", she snapped, "That means a lot".
"You're welcome. You're gonna be an excellent mother".
Cinder's jaw dropped, "I'm not...I mean, I haven't even-".
"Oh, I know you're not ready yet. But some day", he gave her a thumbs up, skating over an enormous life decision that Cinder was just now realizing she had never before given any thought to like it was the choice to pick out a new compression system for the Rampion. Which he still hadn't done.
"Actually, hey, have you ever thought about adopting me? Ya know, as practice?"
That was it. Cinder sprung to her feet and started marching off down the street, "You can walk on your own now, right?" she yelled over her shoulder.
"Yeah, I feel a lot better. We should get back. Can't believe you dragged me out here like this, Empressliness. You know, I'm almost a married man".
"Yeah, if you survive the night", Cinder grumbled.
"Something tells me I will", he knocked into her shoulder and she almost moved to catch him before she realized that he was doing it purposefully and not stumbling.
"You're not gonna tell anyone I was nice to you, are you?" Cinder asked.
Thorne's genial smile faded a bit. He looked at his shoes as they moved. "Not if you don't tell anyone that I had a moment of doubt", he glanced up at her, hastily adding, "Or the singing!"
Cinder smiled, "Deal".