Disclaimer: I have zero rights to the Lunar Chronicles or its characters. I cry about it sometimes.


She dragged her eyes open as soon as the clock in her vision struck 10:00. Cinder grinned to herself. Sundays were her favorite; she got to sleep in past 06:30. Yawning the sleep away, she threw her legs over the side of her bed and pushed herself to her feet, walking to the small bathroom connected to her room, starting her morning routine before she had to boot Iko for the day.

She'd just finished brushing her teeth when she heard a knock on the door. Not expecting visitors, she made sure her yoga pants were all the way to the floor and threw on a sweatshirt over her black tanktop and slid into a pair of slippers. The knocking became more impatient as she stuffed her left hand into the pocket of her sweatshirt.

"I'm coming!" She called, irritated.

Cinder opened the door and the warm, caramel-brown eyes that met hers caused her to stumble two steps back, "What are you doing here? How did you find out where I live?"

"I'm the prince."

"Don't remind me."

He smirked, "I was hoping you'd be awake." He held up a basket that she hadn't noticed before, "I brought lunch."

Cinder stared at him in disbelief. "Okay, but really. What are you doing here?"

Kai looked around. She was sure he was sweltering. It was hot and humid outside, according to her retina display, and he was wearing the ugliest, baggiest sweatshirt she'd ever seen. His hair fell unkempt across his brow and she buried the part of her that was aching to reach out and sweep it back.

"Well, I didn't feel like waiting until tomorrow to see you again. I thought that, instead, we could get to know each other a little better today."

Cinder softened, took a fistful of his sweatshirt in her hand, yanked him through the doorway. "What if someone would have seen you?"

He shrugged, "I assume they would've been right behind me, don't you think?"

She grunted, "Do you want to borrow one of my sweatshirts? You look uncomfortable."

"I actually brought an extra shirt with me." He pulled it from top of the basket, "Where's the bathroom?"

She lifted an uneasy arm, "End of the hallway, to the right."

He left to change and when he walked out, she was pulling her own sweatshirt over her head. "U-uh, sorry."

Cinder tossed it onto the couch, "Oh, calm down. It just got a little hot." Then, she got a good look at him. The shirt was plain and black and no doubt a lounge shirt. Her heart sputtered a bit when she realized that he could make anything look good.

"Where's Iko?"

She regained control of her thoughts, "I haven't had the chance to boot her up yet. Would you like me to? I'm sure she's got plenty of embarrassing stories about me."

"Nah, I'd rather hear all of those embarrassing stories from you. Besides, I think it's best if she doesn't have to be stuck being the third wheel." He winked and Cinder thought she might melt all over her carpet. Did he consider this a… date?

She laughed away the butterflies in her stomach, "Well, when I'm dead tomorrow because she finds out I didn't wake her for this, it's all on you."

Kai shrugged, his appreciative gaze sweeping over her. "I think I'll take that risk."

Picking up the basket he'd brought, Cinder moved to sit on the couch. He sat at the other end and faced her. "What did you bring?"

"Just some sandwiches and fruit from the kitchens. Nothing fancy."

She failed at concealing her smile, "Well, thanks, I suppose. Do you wanna catch a movie or something?"

Kai listed his head toward the netscreen hanging on the wall opposite them. "Netscreen, on. Feed seven." He glanced back at her, "My favorite movie is playing today, thanks for asking."

"Good to know."

They both ate rather quickly and silently. The movie was pretty lame, in Cinder's opinion, but she pretended to like it, considering Kai continually looked over to assess her reactions. (Or so she thought. He was actually doing it because he simply wanted to.)

When they'd finished almost all of the food he brought, Cinder pushed the basket aside and moved to the center cushion. Closer to Kai, but not touching him. He inched closer as well, and Cinder could see is ears turning pink. He threw his arm casually around the back of the couch.

"So do you always watch movies set in the second era, or are you fonder of futuristic movies?"

He hummed thoughtfully, "I'm not really picky. I love love stories, though."

Stars, what a dork. "Yeah. You seem like the type."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said, dropping his arm from the back of the couch to around her shoulders with perfect fluidity.

Her playful smile disappeared and she froze. "D-don't."

Kai retracted his arm, "Oh, sorry. Too fast?"

"I'm just… not used to human contact, is all." She began to crawl her fingers across the distance between them, hooking her pinky into the palm of his left hand as though she were testing the waters. "Though h-holding hands is-is fine."

He completed the action, intertwining their fingers. "Holding hands is perfect."

Cinder warmed at his touch and his words and released a small, satisfied sigh. She was getting somewhere. That was good. Still, she couldn't get past that he was the prince and she, a mere wedding planner. Hardly a woman. It was the umpteenth time she'd reminded herself that morning alone.

"Cinder, can I ask you a relatively invasive question?"

She slid her eyes and her full attention to him, "Shoot."

He cleared his throat, "Uh, is your hand the only cyborg part of you?"

Cinder folded her lips for a moment, trying to concoct a good answer. She could have just said no and showed him the rest. Or she could choose to tell him everything. Might as well do it now, while he was here. She lifted her head to look at him fully, "I was in a really bad hover accident when I was ten. I lived with my parents somewhere in Europe at the time. I came to the EC when I was 11. When I was 13, I was overwhelmingly curious about my history and my parents. I started doing searches on one particularly lonely night and I found news articles and photos and, stars, I can't believe they put some of them online. My parents were killed on impact." Her voice hitched. She had no memories of them. "I was thrown from the hover and pinned under it." She sucked in a relaxing breath, "I lost my left leg, my left hand, and my eyes were badly damaged from debris."

He gaped at her. In amazement. In shock. "Your leg and your eyes, too?"

She nodded and almost thought he was disgusted. When she tried to pull her hand back, he held tighter.

"So, your leg is cyborg and your eyes are…?"

"Synthetic," she said when she realized he wouldn't, "I have something of a netscreen in the bottom of my left iris."

He leaned forward and stared at her eye. "Really?" She pulled up a net feed and hoped it was bright enough for him to see. He blinked. "It's so small."

"It's much bigger to me. I even have net connectivity. In my brain. It's why I'm so good at my job, why it seems like I know so much. I just conduct searches while clients talk. Weird, isn't it?"

He said nothing in reply to her rambling. She watched his eyes focus and she realized he was looking at her this time, his gaze softening. Her lungs hitched and her eyes instinctively fell to his lips, which were parted.

She could feel herself start to tremble as he inclined his head, and his lips were warmer and softer than she remembered. This time, they were even coaxing. Her heart palpitating, she sent away the warnings in her retina display and reluctantly released his hand and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her human fingers losing themselves in his hair.

It was strange, to be there and know they wouldn't have any interruptions this time.

It lasted ten seconds – not like she was counting, or anything.

He pulled away, though his lips hovered dangerously close to hers, "We can't get to know each other better if we spend the whole day kissing."

"You started it," she muttered, breaking away from him. She dropped her arms and took his hand in hers again, and they went back to watching the net.

She moved to rest her head on his shoulder. If she could manage for one day to forget that he was the prince, it would make everything much easier. He wasn't a prince. He wasn't in line for any sort of vital world-leadership position.

He was just Kai.

That's all she needed him to be.

Hands clasped together and her head resting comfortably against his shoulder, they asked each other questions back and forth for a good hour and a half.

Kai was in the middle of a particularly long story when Cinder dozed off to the smooth sound of his voice and the scent of soap that clung loosely to his shirt.

"Cinder," he whispered, checking to see if she was asleep. She made no indication that she was awake and Kai couldn't help but smile. She looked so peaceful, so content – judging from the small smile on her face.

He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and slowly moved to check his port. He'd had it on silent mode so as not to disturb them, and he unlocked it to discover five very angry, very recent messages from Hikaru.

Grumbling, he read them.

Where are you?

Kai, where'd you go?

Why aren't you answering me?

What's wrong?

You're an asshole! Where are you?

Rolling his eyes, he tapped out a reply.

I took a personal day. I'm fine. Leave me alone.

He didn't bother asking what his brother wanted, he didn't really care at the moment. Cinder half-nuzzled his shoulder, and he stiffened and hoped he hadn't woken her, but she made no other movements to suggest she'd woken up.

Kai smiled and gently rested his head atop hers, watching the net feed and finding it incredibly boring, but he didn't want to risk waking her by changing it. He didn't realize he'd dozed off, too.

Cinder managed to pull her eyes open not an hour later, the clock in her retina display telling her it was only 13:04. She couldn't move, though, she noticed, because his head was resting on top of hers and there were little, tiny snores coming from him and it was the most adorable thing ever.

She giggled quietly to herself and trained her eyes on their intertwined fingers. There was a pestering at the back of her mind, a prickling reminder of their different statuses, but she pushed it back, kept it at bay.

Her doubts would not ruin, well, whatever this was.

Maybe she would ask Kai what he thought of it when he woke up, but she didn't want to wake him now. Stars knew he probably never got to sleep very often.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait too long. He woke with a start and looked around, shaking away the groggy fog in his head.

He looked over and caught Cinder staring at him, grinning. "You're up."

He ran his free hand through his hair, "How long was I out?"

She shrugged.

"What time is it? I didn't waste the whole day, did I?"

"It's just after 13:00," she replied, squeezing his hand. "Do you want something to drink?"

He looked away, "Uh, water would be nice."

Cinder rose to her feet and her hand fell from his as she made her way towards the kitchen. As she reached for two glasses, she turned her head towards him, "Kai, can I ask you a question?"

"I believe you already did," he replied with a pleased smirk. When she scoffed, he chuckled, "Yes, you may."

She held the glasses awkwardly in her hands, staring down at them, her stomach churning. "What… what is this? What we're doing? You being here, what… what does it mean?"

Kai shifted, blushed. "Oh, well, I didn't want to scare you off by calling it a date, but…."

Cinder's hands shook as she filled the glasses with water from the fridge door, "Oh, s-so you do think it's a date."

"It doesn't have to be."

She returned to the couch and handed him the glass, taking her spot next to him again. She regarded the netscreen, "Feed 12." Then, she glanced over at Kai, "I want it to be. I just had to make sure."

He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her over and over again, but he swallowed the idea with a gulp of water and then leaned over to kiss her forehead, "It's definitely a date. Hopefully the first of many."

Cinder thought her heart might catch fire.

Hopefully.


Author's Note: So, I didn't want to post this just yet, since I've only just started working no chapter 10, but it's Valentine's Day and we all need some Kaider fluff in our lives. (This was meant to be a mostly-filler chapter. I swear I did not plan for this.) I promise you will start meeting the other characters soon! At the moment, I am completely swamped with homework! I'm not even behind, it's just I get it all done one day and I go to class the next day and bam, another entire night spent doing homework. On top of the fact that I have a job and absolutely no attention span. Yikes.

Anyway! I hope you liked it! If not, I'm sorry. I still totally appreciate you reading it.