Somewhere, after they'd lost all sense of time, the band picked up the tempo with favourites from the decades. Cagalli, uninterested in swinging across the dance floor and constantly switching partners decided it'd be fun to relieve a waiter of his drink tray and camp out on the furtherest balcony, where only the softest remnants of the upbeat tunes remained in the background.
"I can't believe you just lifted the tray away from the waiter, like it was the natural thing to do," Athrun laughed, setting down an empty flute. "And a champagne tray at that! Did you see the man's face?"
They were seated on the floor with the drinks sprawled out behind them. Athrun's legs dangled off the edge of the balcony while Cagalli's were tucked beside her. She giggled uncontrollably, unable to stop, at the recollection of shock and surprise on the waiter's face. He didn't deny her the tray despite her outlandish effort to relieve him of it. He merely watched as a prince would watch a thief making away with his crown.
"Are you feeling okay?" Athrun checked, feeling Cagalli's frame losing its rigidity as she leaned against him.
"It's been a while since I've been drinking." Her words were strung together with a slight slur. She felt cold, subconsciously clinging to faint heat she felt through Athrun's jacket. Evening gowns weren't meant to brave chilly nights. They were meant to easily slip off the body at the end of the night.
"Night-time is the prettiest." Cagalli announced, watching the twinkling skyline.
Athrun nodded in agreement, a filled glass in his hand already. The bubbly liquor wasn't nearly as potent for him as it seemed for her. "I like this venue because you can still see the city lights, but see the stars too."
"That's amazing!" Cagalli was halfway into his lap by the time she got a good vantage to admire the star-filled sky. "I can't remember the last time I saw stars!" Her face was flush from the champagne, as she dazed away in the cool night breeze. "When was the last time you saw stars?"
"I see them every weekend." Athrun shrugged, supporting her as she folded out onto his lap, "But that just makes me admire them more. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger so that I could touch the stars."
Cagalli giggled, shifting her blurring vision to his face. "That is the cutest dream ever."
"Hey now," Athrun gave her an unappreciative look, "don't mock a man's precious childhood dreams."
"I'm not mocking you. I think it's great." Cagalli said in earnest, "I mean, I wanted to be a dolphin when I was young. It's nice that you had an achievable dream."
Athrun laughed heartily at the confession. "Now that is cute."
Cagalli huffed, crossing her arms defensively. "Hey! What happened to not mocking childhood dreams?"
"There are exceptions to every rule." Athrun confided. Cagalli was without remark because she couldn't decipher whether it was a compliment or an insult.
"I'll let that pass this once in lieu of the champagne," She muttered, pulling herself upright by a rung on the railing.
"Why thank you." He bowed his head slightly, going along with her charade. "Are you feeling cold?" He noticed she held a slight shiver in the absence of his body's heat.
"I'm fine." Cagalli felt the warm silky lining of Athrun's jacket despite her answer. "Why do men even bother asking if they're not going to listen anyway?"
"Probably the same reason women lie about not feeling cold when they do."
"Thank you," Cagalli smiled up at Athrun, "I probably need it."
"You're welcome," Athrun smiled back, "although if you can't feel the cold I should probably cut you off."
Two phones vibrating against her body interrupted Cagalli's protest. She fetched one from the inner pocket of the jacket and handed it to Athrun. "You've got mail."
While Athrun checked his phone, she pulled hers from her clutch to find a message from Seiichi. It read: "Go home if you want to. I'm making progress with Lacus." Cagalli's lips were pursed as she read. Seiichi needed to stop hunting for the attention of older women. Perhaps Lacus Clyne would be the woman to teach him a well-deserved lesson.
"Your ex needs to watch out for..." Cagalli trailed off as she looked at Athrun. His face was red as he punched a reply into his phone. She wondered what the message was about because she couldn't make out whether he was embarrassed or angry.
"Do you want to leave?" He asked Cagalli, sliding his phone shut. "I'm sick of this party."
Cagalli was put on the spot, knowing that she should probably escort Seiichi home. However, Athrun's frustration had her reconsidering because he looked like he could use the company. "I don't really have a choice, do I? You can't well leave without your jacket."
He couldn't help but smile at the unique affirmation. "I'd appreciate it very much if my jacket would leave with me." After all, a suit is sorely incomplete without one.
"Okay, you'll have a deal but only if you let me have the last drink."
"You drive a hard bargain…"
She upended the last flute into her mouth, leaving him no other option but retrospective agreement.
"This was totally worth the calories."
He helped her up and steadied her with an arm around her shoulders. She sank into him, drawn to the warmth his body held despite his flimsy shirt.
Cagalli found it difficult to walk in stilettoes with a bottle of champagne in her. "Wait, wait," she stumbled, taking a seat on the stairs as they walked by, "I'm going to break my ankle if I keep trying to walk in these. Although, the bigger crime would be damaging such a beautiful shoe."
"I didn't know you had such femininely nonsensical priorities." Athrun gently swept her into his arms, carrying her before she could get her shoes off.
"Oh, you're carrying me," She stated the obvious, "I'm really heavy. You probably shouldn't."
"If you can trust me with national security, I think you can expect me to be able to carry a hundred pounds." There was a slight undertone of offense in his response, but she had too much champagne in her head to catch it.
She randomly changed the subject, twirling her fingers as she idly fidgeted. "You dance well. Where did you learn how to dance? It's not really something men do."
"I had to take dance lessons with Lacus when we were younger. I was a surprisingly quick study." He was amused by how tipsy that last glass had made her.
"Oh she must be a wonderful dancer!" Cagalli clasped her hands together, lost in a self-written fairytale.
"Actually, she sucked. She still really sucks."
"Impossible! She's the portrait of a lady."
"That's partial compensation for her gross inability to dance. She'll never dance with anyone except me or Kira."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Weird," Cagalli concluded. "She's like a princess and I've never really heard of one who can't dance. Is she a princess?"
"No, just the Minister of Education," He confirmed, to which Cagalli added, "And your ex-fiancée!"
"You're quite stuck on that, aren't you?" It puzzled him why she constantly talked about their former engagement, wondering if he wasn't seeing something she was.
"Well, Mister, it's not everyday you meet someone who passed on a girl like her." It was the typical disbelief of anybody he mentioned the story to, which is why it did not come up in conversation very often. Had it not been for their parents, the two would have never been engaged in the first place. "You know your way around here really well, don't you?" Cagalli interrupted his thoughts. He was carrying her across an expansive, perfectly manicured lawn.
"I told you I like this venue," Athrun reminded her, instinctively navigating his way through the gardens. "Every time anyone needs a venue for a big event like this one, I recommend this place."
"How'd you find it? It's quite off the beaten path."
"I grew up close to here. This place used to be something of an exclusive country club, mostly a group of very rich, close friends who needed an excuse to get together. When the club dissolved, an event management firm picked it up. My father was a part of that original country club."
"You used to come play here with your dad. How sweet."
"Yeah, it used to be. I got lost in here a lot. Which is why I know my way around really well. I don't think there is any corner of this estate I haven't explored. Incidentally, this is where Lacus used to massacre my feet during dance lessons."
Cagalli laughed at the thought. "She must be something else."
"Oh, she's something all right."
"Its wonderful how close you remain."
"It is wonderful sometimes. Lacus is a busybody. She is extremely intelligent and cunning; refined skills she uses to manipulate people into strange scenarios. She's a sweetheart, but so dangerous at the same time. I always find myself on my toes when I'm around her, especially when she's bored."
Cagalli's expression surprised him, as though she knew what Lacus was like. "Probably not the best person to leave Seiichi with." She hadn't noticed when they entered a parking lot, but in the sea of cars, she surmised what Athrun would be driving. "Black Sports Car!" She declared as though a question had been asked.
"You are not wrong," he laughed, startled by her random exclamation. He gently placed her in the passenger seat of his car and buckled her in.
It took her a while to realize what she was sitting in, but the moment it sank in she shot up. The doors opened vertically and stretched out like the wings of an eagle. "Holy shit, you're rich. Well, of course you're rich, you were betrothed to somebody who ended up being a federal Minister. Holy shit, this car is beautiful." She whipped around to face him, her hand clamped on his arm with excitement. "Athrun, you have impeccable taste!"
"I like to think so." Athrun laughed, amused by how quickly Cagalli seemed to have sobered up and her capacity for childish enthusiasm and unfiltered rambling. "Now, which way to your house?"
"That would be a waste of your time. Just drop me off at the nearest stop on the night bus route." To this Athrun arched an eyebrow. Noticing the resistant expression, she articulated her logic. "You live around here. It's pointless for you to drive all the way back into the city just to drop me off. The bus will be heading in that direction anyway. Live green, right?"
"The key word there was 'live' not 'green'. And I used to live around here when I was growing up. I'm not really a rich hermit anymore."
"So, you're just rich I guess?" Cagalli teased Athrun by quoting him to sound haughtier than he was.
"I am not leaving you in the middle of nowhere at an isolated bus stop. Especially not wearing those shoes. Definitely not with more than a bottle of champagne in you. And no, I don't really care what self defense you've picked up at your local feminist yoga studio." Athrun was firm, partially as payback for the way she manhandled him during her Creative Writing class. Cagalli sunk back into her seat recognizing that he was a very loyal brand of protective and she would not win this round.
Her dramatic sigh was intentional, to inform him that she was letting him win this one. "I live on the South central fringes of Uptown."
"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" Athrun's sarcasm teased her. He immediately put the car into gear and took off, jerking Cagalli back in her seat, so that he could have final say.
They drove in silence, enjoying the night breeze. Cagalli leaned her arm against the windowsill and used it to support her chin. She quietly watched the sparkling skyline as it whizzed by. The radio filled the silence with soft music. They were both off in their own worlds. Cagalli dissected why she felt more comfortable in Athrun's company than watching him from a distance; or why she had to consciously stop herself from thinking about him when he crept into her thoughts. The wind picked up the pieces of loose hair framing her face and whipped them back while the rest of her tightly pinned up hair yearned for a similar freedom. Athrun wondered how much of this spark between them was what Lacus was describing to him one evening as they dined as chemistry; the feeling of being naturally compatible, and always wanting to be with that someone because everything felt a little emptier otherwise.
"It's a lovely night for a drive," Cagalli mused, enjoying the turbulence rushing past her. "I envy you for being able to drive around like this whenever you want."
"We can take the scenic route back, if you'd like." From the looks of it, Cagalli was not expecting the invitation. They were fast approaching the turn off to the city and he needed an answer soon.
Her pause was almost too long, leaving Athrun in an uncomfortable position. If he drove on and she wanted to go home, it'd be at least a 40-minute detour for her. If he turned for the city he'd give her the impression that the invitation wasn't genuine. Her response was non-committal, leaving him to make the choice. "I don't want to impose…"
"Well, we've just passed the turn into the city, so at this point the real imposition would be not taking the scenic route." He decided driving the night away with her would be more fun than otherwise.
She smiled turning back to the cityscape. Within minutes it disappeared behind the mountains. She returned her attention to Athrun. "Thank you for indulging me. Public transport doesn't really have the same feel to it, not even the window seat."
"You don't drive?" The thought was unfathomable. He'd started driving years before driver's licenses were issued.
"Don't have a license," she shrugged, "And I'd rather have designer bags than insurance." Cagalli never imagined herself to grow into a woman who'd come to value femininity in the ways she did. She left university more of a butterfly than she'd expected, a development owed greatly to her failed fairytales.
"I can't believe you just said that." Athrun took offence on behalf of all consumer automobiles. "Did you actually compare this feeling to a purse!?"
"Everyday luxuries keep me sane; everybody has a thing, yours seems to be vehicles, mine is high end leather goods." She offered in explanation.
"You should take your hair down," He suggested. "It'll change your mind about driving, I'm sure it will."
"I guess your opinion on the matter is uniquely reliable." His dark bob looked liberated in the wind. "I wish I could take it down, but its pinned up pretty tight with millions of little bobby-pins. There is a lot behind-the-scenes of these simple, natural looks."
Athrun laughed lightly at Cagalli's exaggerated gestures. "Well, we can stop and I can help you disarm your hair if you'd like. It takes away from the scenic route if you can't fully enjoy it."
"Since you're driving and trying to convince me that I should buy a car, I probably have little say in whether we stop, don't I?" He seemed to agree because he pulled into the upcoming rest area.
Before she could undo her seatbelt, Athrun had opened her door for her, as though gentlemanly conduct was trained into him since birth. The night air had quickly sobered her and she exited the car with a grace that she'd long buried. He followed her to the lone picnic bench. The valley disappeared a few feet away from where they were standing, swallowed whole by the darkness. The dim lights of a few houses on the neighbouring mountain were flickering. Athrun took a seat on the table with his feet on the bench, motioning Cagalli to take a seat in front of him.
"I told you I'd help you get all that metal out of your hair." Athrun explained when Cagalli looked at him suspiciously.
Cagalli silently took a seat, peering in the darkness. She was so focused that Athrun wondered if she was mentally preparing herself for pain. "You should relax. It'll probably reduce the pain you'll feel." He assured.
"Nothing reduces the pain of removing so much metal from such little hair. Anticipation just makes it easier to bear." Cagalli bitterly added, "If the pain I went through when they were put in is any indication, I will try not to wake those people." She pointed in the direction of the houses where most of the lights were being switched off as people retired to bed.
Athrun wore a bewildered expression. "Why do you women torture yourselves so much?"
"Because we feel the dire need to look pretty for men." Cagalli responded without skipping a beat.
"I will never ask you to put so must metal in your hair that you get most local TV channels wired to your brain." Athrun solemnly vowed, pulling out a few pins and neatly smoothing out her hair. Sparkles flaked onto his hand, much to his amusement.
"I knew you were a keeper every since you didn't charge me with assault when we first met." Athrun continued to work silently, trying his best to make the process painless. Despite his efforts, he felt the blonde wincing every now and then.
"You're hair looks good when it's wavy." He tried to distract her.
"Really? I can't remember the last time it was wavy. I barely brush it."
"You wear unkempt very well then. Although, I guess I know what to get you for the holidays."
"What makes you think you'll even remember me at Christmas?"
"I don't think I'll be able to forget how you stole a waiter's livelihood by relieving him of his drink tray, even with years of therapy."
"You need more interesting company in your life."
"All the more reason for me to stick around."
"I'm flattered that you like me enough to keep me around!"
"I wouldn't go that far. More likely that I'm amused enough by you to tolerate your presence because you fill a certain requirement for entertainment in my life."
Cagalli kissed her teeth. "You're awful for someone who's still chivalrous."
"Can't beat the second nature that Lacus bullied into me."
"But you sure do compensate for it with your rapier wit."
"Hey, it's not my fault the sparkly hairspray seeped into your brain. You had to place a wholesale order for the quantity you used tonight, didn't you?"
He showed her his hands, which were shimmering with tiny silver confetti. Cagalli blushed at the close contact; Athrun had to wrap his arms around her to display his hands. He felt like a security blanket from her childhood and she allowed herself to enjoy the nostalgic feeling momentarily.
"You seem to like shiny things." Athrun forwardly laced his finger together instead of moving away.
"Who doesn't like the shiny!?" Cagalli sounded too enthusiastic about sticky confetti. "I mean, look at your car! You cannot deny that you like the shiny as much as the next person." She tilted her head as far back as possible and stared at Athrun expecting an answer. He gazed back with a smile pulling at his lips.
"You amuse me way too much." A foreign feeling coursed through his veins. He wanted her with a possessiveness he hadn't felt since he was a child.
"Here to serve those who serve us all." She saluted informally. Athrun broke eye contact hoping that she would not catch on to the innuendo he laced into her words.
Before she could tease him, he pulled away from her and nudged her off the bench. "Time to test drive the freedom of letting your hair down. I'm telling you, this experience will change your life."
"I think not," she insisted, following him back to the car, which Athrun had remotely started. She recognized the ballad on the radio as a favourite and hummed along with the guitar. "I love this song." Her steps morphed into a slow dance, swaying to the slow chords, singing to herself.
Athrun watched her as she swayed, lost in a world with just her song and the moonlight. She looked happy with a sincerity that made him lonely on the sidelines. She moved naturally, switching between humming and a cantata on whim. For a moment, she almost sang to him as she leaned against the cool metal of his car, allowing him to be a part of her escape from reality. "...and then she asked me, do you feel all right, And I said yes, I feel wonderful tonight.
He joined in, eventually recognizing the song from one of his mother's old records. "I feel wonderful because I see the love right in your eyes, and the wonder of it is that you just don't realize - how much I love you..."
Both their voices faded. They refused to look or touch or move for the remainder of the song. Cagalli's heartbeat was slow and percussive, ringing through from her temples to her toes. She was certain that it pounded through the body of the car to where Athrun stood a foot away from her. He looked as cool and unaffected as the night. He examined the sky with a careless air, enjoying the final chord of the soft serenade. Cagalli struggled to understand how he could change her physiology without even the faintest notice.
"Ready to be proven wrong?" He waited for the next song before disturbing her. He could still feel the silky blond hair at his fingertips and the smoothness of her skin in his palm. He spoke minimally for his heart felt on the verge of fibrillation.
Cagalli chuckled with a shake of her head. "Okay, you're up," she spoke more to metal than man. The turbulence played with her hair, relieving her of the lingering headache from her tightly pinned hair. She closed her eyes, enjoying the airy freedom of the wind seemingly travelling through her. Time and again, she would pipe up with an anecdote, never related to any prior ones, and he listened to her with vested interest. The storytelling put them at ease with each other once more. Time unravelled without their notice.
"Is it really past four in the morning?" She asked with a yawn, pulling his jacket tightly around her shoulders.
Athrun looked at the clock to confirm, fatigue settling in when he realized how early into the morning they were. "We should get you home." He looked around trying to place where they were and his eyes widened when he realized how far he'd driven. "We're hours out of the city!"
"You know this place?" Cagalli asked, looking at the acres of mountains and trees sprawling around her. The scenery looked as identifiable as the middle of nowhere.
Athrun nodded, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with one hand. He missed the warmth of his suit jacket, the chill of dawn air amplifying his fatigue. "Yeah, I drive here when I want to get away. It must be muscle memory by now. I'm really sorry. I should've been paying attention. I'll turn around as soon as I can. Why don't you sleep? I'll wake you up when we're back at the city."
Cagalli noticed his sallow skin and surmised he was exhausted. "I don't think that's the best idea." Athrun helped her point by yawning once more. "I'm sure there is somewhere we can stop for some sleep."
"This is prime real estate for people who want privacy and acreage. Unless you're fine with crashing at my friend's cottage, or want to curl up against a tree stump, we're out of luck." Athrun explained, waving in the general direction of the getaway cottage.
"I think the more pertinent question is whether your friend minds if I stay over, not vice versa." Cagalli relaxed her head against the seatback. Hints of indigo tugged at the seams of the sky. "I can sleep on a couch, I sleep anywhere, really. I'd rather not to sleep in dewy shrubbery in silk, but that's a matter of preference not necessity."
"Kira shouldn't mind and there are enough beds, unless you prefer couches," The turn off to the cottage was sooner than the closest U-turn. "Don't you need to get home?"
"My weekends are never eventful. I'm probably going to be grateful for the legitimate excuse to procrastinate chores." Cagalli's voice was weary and slow.
Athrun nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He was appreciative of Cagalli's long sentences. Conversation was an adequate substitute for caffeine when driving. She noticed his friend was on speed dial. It only made sense if a four AM call could result in last minute emergency accommodations in the middle of nowhere.
"You're lucky I wasn't in the middle of sex," was the sleepy greeting on the other end.
"Don't kid yourself, you don't last that long."
"What do you want?" Kira was disgruntled and sleepy, eager to return to his dreams.
"You're not at the cottage are you?" Athrun asked, taking a sharp right. He was certain that if they were at the cottage he'd have seen them pass by. He also had no doubts that Lacus would have stopped off at the look out point to make him uncomfortable about playing with Cagalli's hair. Kira grunted affirmatively. "Okay, I'm going to use it this weekend."
"Fine. Maybe we'll come by tomorrow so you don't get lonely." After a few whispers, he added, "Are you with a blonde?"
Athrun promptly hung up. "Good news for your silk dress." Within the minute they were at a large country estate.
"Lacus calls this their modest cottage," he introduced.
"She's clinically insane." Cagalli's response was deadpan and serious, despite the sarcasm.
"It actually makes sense if you get to know her taste in real estate," he defended her, punctuating the drive with an anecdote of his, "I actually though this property would be the thing that would destroy Lacus and Kira. He had bought this large piece of land with a tiny cottage as a getaway for 'The Boys'. They'd liked each other for years already, and although their relationship status wasn't very official, they were together for all we cared. Eventually, Lacus needed a small venue that was remote for some upper tier schmoozing and she thought Kira's cottage would be the perfect getaway. Of course, the original cottage was too small and too rustic for her intentions so she began this massive project to build and decorate this 'modest cottage'. I have no idea how they got through that one because Kira was furious at the proposition. I think the only reason they're still going strong is because Lacus kept the original cottage as a guesthouse to the new cottage."
"Clinically insane," Cagalli reiterated.
"It's another cute story in their long relationship. And to be fair, she doesn't come up here unless she's invited or has given fair warning of an upcoming social event."
"Hm, you are very soft on her," She wandered down a path that led to a front garden. "But, this place is gorgeous and peaceful, which I assume the original property was not."
"Don't wander around in the dark. We're on the edge of a cliff." He took her by the arm and pulled her in, pointing to the edge. She reflexively took Athrun's arm and upon realizing her white-knuckled grip, he took her by the shoulders and led her towards the entrance. The fatigue made it a struggle to maintain his composure with their proximity. A key on his key ring opened the front door and a hint of jealousy pulled at Cagalli's chest. She reminded herself that regardless of the feminine touch apparent in the design, this was a man cave. He had keys because this was his friend's cottage. Athrun took his time to take off his shoes and Cagalli hung up his suit jacket in the foyer after neatly arranging her shoes next to the doormat.
She watched his fingers as they loosened his tie, making haste with the top buttons of his shirt soon after. The moonlight accentuated the lean agility of his hands and they had captured all of her focus. To Athrun, she looked like a child, tired from a thrilling day at the amusement park, the sudden realization that her adrenaline had run dry settling into her posture. His hand gently raked through her hair once more.
"Can I kiss you?" He spoke softly to preserve the stillness of the moment. Butterflies moved through her stomach. Her feet grounded her into the soft carpet as her head tried to fly away. It was the perfect moment until Athrun ruined it. "Let's get some sleep," he suggested in response to her silence. His hand slid down her arm and her weight moved forward into the balls of her feet.
Their lips met just before he had the opportunity to turn away. Her eyelashes brushed his cheek as she pushed more firmly into his lips. Her hands held his face close as they kissed and he pulled her by the waist until she was against him. The thin material of cotton shirts and silk dresses did nothing to separate their bodies. Cagalli warmed him and he symbiotically cooled her flushed skin. The duality of their temperatures kept them pressed close.
His hands covered her exposed back, steering her into his lap as he took a seat on the stairs. Her skin felt smoother than her delicate dress. They kissed compactly and innocently until they were breathless.
"You're making it hard to be prude." She took short breaths, rearranging pieces of his hair with a short smile.
He took the compliment in stride, shifting the conversation to keep is lust at bay. "I better not have sparkly shit in my hair." His voice was smooth and sugary like whipped frosting.
Cagalli giggled, continuing to work away at pieces of his hair. "It's only natural to want stars against an azure canvas."
"Well, Miss Yula," he whispered, "Darkness can make predators of the best of us."
"Why Mr. Zala, you can read me like an open book."
He swallowed at the sultriness of her voice.
"We should sleep." She suggested, recognizing the worsening exhaustion in his body.
Thrilled for the excuse, he led her by hand up a flight of stairs where the bedrooms were. "So, even though this is practically a mansion, it was purposely designed with only two bedrooms. I assume you'll want the guest bedroom over Kira and Lacus' bedroom," to which she nodded.
When the lights were turned on, Cagalli could not withhold her sarcasm. "I don't think there are enough pillows." She counted 17 which were not decorative in purpose.
"Go big or go home is the unspoken motto Lacus lives by." He offered in explanation.
"I think the size of this supposed cottage and that bed speak volumes for her unspoken motto." Seven could sleep comfortably on the bed before her and at least 20 if she packed them in like sardines.
"There is sleepwear for you in one of these drawers." Athrun walked over to the large dresser near the window exploring the drawers until he came across the clothes Lacus had set aside for female guests. Cagalli caught a glimpse of the sleepwear that filled the open drawer. It was very well crafted delicate lingerie that was limited in its purpose.
"You are quite the connoisseur of fine lingerie."
"I should have guessed Lacus would have nothing but provocative lace and silk in here, the vindictive, scheming little child that she is sometimes."
"I'm sure I can find something wearable. Don't worry. If all else fails I can fashion a night gown out of one of the pillowcases."
"All right Frauline Maria. But, I rest my case that Lacus is a naughty busybody, and I caution you againt any future meetings with her." He fetched a pair of his conservative pyjamas from another drawer. "I'm sorry about the awkwardness of this all. I don't know what pleasure Lacus gets from such endeavours since she's not even here to see the reactions."
"Perhaps she has cameras installed?" A pause. "Wait, that's worse, especially if you're to put these to use." She held up a chemise in virgin white silk with Chantilly lace along the hems, which would conceal nothing of the person wearing it.
"If you're wearing that I'd be inclined to stay in this room."
"You're welcome to if you want to. The bed's certainly big enough."
Athrun had been teasing her, but her offer was serious and he wasn't sure what to make of it.
"I'll change in the washroom." He disappeared into what she imagined to be a spa-standard ensuite as soon as he'd said those words.
Cagalli dug through the drawer looking for a nightgown in the tangle of sheer silk and intricate lace wondering if she had been too forward with her invitation. Despite her urge to reach for one of the men's pyjama sets Athrun had drawn from, she settled on a floor length nightgown which was the only opaque piece in the extensive collection of lingerie. In the far corner of a room was a modest vanity with a screen adjacent to it. She took cover behind the screen as she changed, finishing before Athrun emerged from the washroom.
He offered her a fresh toothbrush and they went about their night routines individually, taking advantage of the double sink in the luxurious ensuite bathroom. Cagalli helped herself to the products neatly lined in rows by height. She hadn't been privy to such luxury in a long time because it was not a good habit to form on a teacher's salary. She couldn't help but wonder how many other women were afforded his luxury at Athrun's expense. Why else would there be an abundance of feminine products available for female guests to use in a sanctuary for a group of men?
"I'm honestly surprised that Lacus had the foresight to send such an abundance of supplies with the housekeeper this week. I can't see how she could have predicted that there would be a girl staying here."
Cagalli was confused by the conversation Athrun had started. Perhaps he was taking to himself and she missed a part of the backstory when she was in the bathroom. Recognizing the confusion on her face, he elaborated for her.
"I've never seen feminine supplies in the bathroom here before today. I mean, the only reason it has two sinks is to maintain consistency with their ensuite because Lacus is particular about such details even though nobody else notices or cares. Occasionally when we crash here, it does come in handy because there are four of us and four sinks. But most of the time, we stay out in the guest cabin since its more our size and style.
"We were up here last weekend to help with some renovations and that pink display of bottles wasn't there. So its something she must have sent up with the housekeeper early this week, and I have no idea how she could have known. I mean, I didn't know you were coming to the event."
Cagalli took a seat next to him on the bed. Athrun likely shared in Lacus' psychic capabilities because he had put her at ease with his words without being told of her concern over his promiscuity.
"Next time you can ask me yourself to be sure."
"I don't know, you schooled me very strictly the last time we met and I never really had a thing for teacher."
"Hmm, so you ask to kiss women that you are not attracted to on whim I suppose?"
"Well, even the best of us have a hard time passing over the pretty, drunk blondes. And you can be very adorable when you're not being mean."
"I think… you have this secret closet inside your mind where you hide all your kinky fantasies about-"
Athrun placed a gentle kiss on Cagalli's lips, cutting her off before her soft, low voice brought any of those fantasies to the forefront of his brain. She was cued only to continue flirting at her own risk. She pulled away and began shuffling through a few pillows.
"Do you want to build a wall with all the extra pillows? We have enough to build here to build a decent fort."
"I guess if you don't think you have the self control to keep away from me, it wouldn't be a bad idea to build a fort to keep you out."
Cagalli lightly punched his arm, scowling.
"But, if you're a sleepwalker, you probably should sleep next to me. Otherwise you may walk off the cliff in your sleep and that sounds unnecessarily painful."
Cagalli fell face first into a pillow, yawning. "Fine, we can build a fort tomorrow, when you're less boring."
Athrun turned out the lights by a bedside switch. He gently stroked her hair to get her attention.
"Don't asphyxiate yourself in your sleep." He felt her warm body shift as she faced him. His hand continued to slowly work through her soft hair.
"Tonight was a lot of fun."
"That's one word to describe it."
She left a short, affectionate kiss on his cheek.
"Good night, Mr. Zala."
"Sweet dreams, Miss Yula."