Hi everyone, I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. Honestly, I just wait for inspiration to strike and then I write. I kind of know roughly how I want this to end, but the in-between is where I struggle (very typical of me as a person is that I have big ideas but suck at the details haha!).
So I guess I'll put the word out to all of you lovely readers - send me an emotion you'd like me to write about and I'll try to weave it into this story!
Anywho, here's one for funsies - already apologising for it being OOC and for tweaking some details that may not be in-line with canon.
Chapter Two: Amusement
He hated parties.
Here, he was subject to the racket of loud voices, competing to be heard above the booming speakers reciting a playlist of whatever music it was that people listened to these days. Within the confines of the penthouse suite, where Tyson had decided a party was in order to celebrate the end of the latest tournament, the volume of the sounds compounded over one another.
It drove Kai crazy, barely being able to hear himself think.
In true party fashion - as Tyson demanded during set-up - the lights were dimmed low, and little mechanical disco balls sat in corners, projecting bright lights around the room in a blinding, dizzying array of colour. The shadows made it easy for Kai to slip past the apple-cheeked crowd with their questionable mix of liqueurs in hand, reaching a set of steel industrial steps, curving behind a wall lined with a triptych of abstract art.
Taking the stairs up, Kai pushed open the heavy, black glass door, revealing a private balcony overlooking the sprawling city, with its sparkling lights and the hum of life. It was much, much, much quieter out here, although the noise from downstairs carried a bit of its way up.
Leaning against the railing, Kai was able to finally hear himself think again - although his thoughts had been quite one-track minded lately…
Smack
Kai was startled out of his musings as a small wooden block hit his foot.
"Whoa! What a view!" Hilary gasps as she opens the door wide. Letting it go as she steps forward, the door closes and clicks itself into place.
"Hey Kai," she grins, leaning forward against the railing and admiring the view below with wide, awestruck eyes, "How long have you been out here?"
"Not long."
She nods in understanding, allowing the stillness to settle over them, interrupted only by the hum of the city. It was definitely a lot more quiet up here than it was downstairs, where someone had turned the volume up as their favourite song came on. She could breathe a little easier up here.
Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kai was more relaxed out here too. Downstairs he had been broody and on edge, with his shoulders stiff and his body tense. Even when surrounded by people he's known for years, she could see his hard stare had glazed over, disinterested in the noise around him, and his lips were pulled into a taut line demonstrating his discomfort.
Minutes pass in a comfortable silence, as both get lost in their thoughts and watch the hustle and bustle, as citylife continues to move at its hurried pace underneath them.
Hilary stretches her arms up above her head, her cropped shirt lifting slightly to reveal her midriff. She quickly drops her arms down as the cool breeze brushes past her exposed skin, "We should probably head back in, huh? It's a lot warmer down there."
She pushes herself away from the balcony and turns back to face the door, feeling refreshed again, as if being alone with Kai for the past 20 minutes (or was it longer?) was enough to recharge her social battery back to full.
Reaching for the handle, Hilary pulls the door towards her and - nothing? She pulls at it again, and it doesn't move. Was it stuck? She tries a third time, and, remembering how heavy the door was when she first pushed it open, adds a little oomph to her pull. Drat - still nothing.
Suddenly, Kai comes up beside her, holding a little wooden block in-front of her face.
"What's that?"
"I'm assuming it's what was propping the door open."
Hilary's eyes go wide as the realisation sinks in. They were locked out!
"Does anyone know you came out here?" Hilary asks, hopeful Kai had had the forethought she didn't have to at least mention his movements to someone else.
"No."
"Do you have your phone with you?"
"No."
"I guess that's it for us then," Hilary whines, her face contorting into an overdramatic look of anguish as she collapses forward against the door, knuckles banging weakly against the glass, and slides down into a puddle of despair. With everyone downstairs half drunk (probably full drunk by this point), she had conceded to the fact that she and Kai would be left out here in the cold for the rest of the night, and maybe through the morning, until someone realised they were missing.
She looks up through her eyelids at Kai, who leans against the wall beside the door, with his upper body tilted away from her.
His shoulders shake periodically, and his free hand, curled over to cover his mouth, twitches in unison while his gaze is fixed on the concrete floor in-front of him.
Although this was one reading she rarely had the chance to commit to memory, it was scarce enough that the few times she did witness it motivated her to make sure it was given its own chapter in her book of his subtle nuances.
"What's so funny?"
Kai straightens, moving his hand away from trying to cover his amusement at her reaction, and leaving a wide smirk in its place. Standing up to meet his height (but failing), Hilary crosses her arms and huffs, her cheeks puffed out in frustration.
"We could freeze to death out here, Hiwatari! You might prefer to meet your end by the cold than surrounded by a crowd of people, but I sure don't!"
This only serves to incite him further as Kai snickers at her openly, and she watches his eyes dance with enjoyment at seeing her surrender to her fate.
Hilary goes to open her mouth again, ready to give him a barrage full of her irritation -
Beep
"Huh?" Hilary turns to her right, where Kai's previously free hand is holding a white security card against a black card reader that she hadn't noticed before. She hears the click as the door unlatches from its lock, opening slightly.
Taken aback and cemented in place, Kai decides instead to move around Hilary, pulling the door open. "Ladies first," he says, a victorious smirk still plastered across his smug face.
Hilary wordlessly turns, heading through the doors as the noise from the party hits her again. She feels Kai close on her heel as she descends back down the steps to where their friends are still yelling over one another, although someone's turned the music down a degree since she was last down here.
"Where've you two been?" Ray asks, as she takes the last step off the stairs. His arm hangs relaxed across Mariah's waist, who is currently engaged in a heated argument with Daichi.
"Balcony." Hilary says in a deadpan tone, still reeling at the fact that Kai had let her panic and then had the audacity to laugh at her.
"Oh yeah, make sure not to move that block from the door. We realised earlier that it locks and you need a swipe to get back in. You've still got one of the keycards though, don't you, Kai?"
"I do."
Hilary shoots Kai a pointed glare as she catches him again, trying to stifle a laugh.
So...how was it? If it wasn't clear, Hilary accidentally kicked the block as she opened the door (that's why it went flying across the balcony and hit Kai's foot).
I was really keen on getting this up as I know it's been so long, so apologies for any mistakes, errors, OOC-ness, etc. I will come back and review it tomorrow!
Anywho, please review and share your thoughts if you'd like, and happy to take any inspirations for what Kai feels people want to read about!
Thank you all, and until next time!
Kitsune-chan *_*