Chapter 3: The Greenhouse

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A/N: I hope this isn't too short compared to the others - I kinda like to write how I feel. Also not sure if this wasn't already in the tags, but this is kind of an AU. I stopped watching the anime months ago ahaha

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Katarina was sitting outside in the Claes' garden for once, and not her own vegetable garden. She felt too lazy to work today. Her tummy was still puffed out from a breakfast full of jam and crusty bread and she had a happy little smile on her face as she leaned on both hands to rest on the glass table that sat in the center of all of the floral fauna. Aaah, such a nice view. I'll never tire of this world's simple beauty! The sun reflecting through the glass of the greenhouse dome however made the air rather humid and after twenty minutes of silent resting her nose was beginning to run but it didn't dampen her pleasant mood. She licked her lips, chasing the last tastes of sticky strawberry preserves away when she heard the door open behind her. Her heart lept in her belly from the anticipation that it might be-

"Katarina?" The voice was chilly like ice the moment it reached her, compared to the humidity of the greenhouse garden. She gasped in surprise, and turned her head so that her hair bracelet reflected in the sun-the same color blue as her eyes.

He was dressed too warmly for this temperature, she thought immediately. "Hey, Nicol." She smiled broadly, and gestured to the seat across from her. "I haven't seen you in a few days! How are you? How's Sophia?"

Nicol nodded solemnly in acceptance, and took the seat across from her, hands folded neatly into his lap as always. Only by actually getting to know a person like him could one tell that the small droop in his shoulders actually meant that he was relaxed, as his face typically betrayed nothing. Katarina's grin spread wider.

"She's well, we both are. Thank you for always minding after us as always," He said softly, eyes floating down to the object she had been abstractedly playing with in her hands the entire time. "She should hope that you would be able to visit the family estate to see her, but I did let her know that currently your schedule has been filled with-"

"Courting dates, yes." Katarina sighed, the only small crack in her otherwise happy mood. The words began to tumble out of her mouth before she could stop herself. "Geordo's done his best to make things fun for my sake but-"

"But?" Nicol echoed back, prompting her to continue and not stifle her thoughts.

She paused anyway though, not daring to speak ahead of her thoughts and shuffled in her seat. His dark eyes only fluttered up to meet hers briefly in the silence, and he offered his own sort of silent smile in encouragement. Still, bad mouthing or complaining about all the effort Geordo has put into things lately did not sit well with her. She was grateful, truly. Being with Geordo was incomparable to anything else-it was another sort of comfort, but nothing like sitting in the morning sun with Nicol, or wasting an afternoon away in the library with-

"Katarina? Are you alright? Your face has gone red." He spoke lightly, but Katarina could hear the small teasing behind it. She looked up to meet Nicol's handsome eyes seriously.

"Nicol-have you ever kissed anyone before?"

The question threw the otherwise calm and pulchritudinous features on his face into something of a bulging-eyed twist of shock and humor. Katarina wished she owned a camera; Sophia would've loved to have seen it. After a tense silence he coughed lightly and schooled his face into serenity again to answer her question seriously.

"No," he admitted, his cheeks tinged a light pink. "But-why do you ask? Did Geor-"

Katarina lifted her unoccupied hand in a waving frenzy. "No way! No! I just...I just…" her voice taped off, small. How else could she describe the things she'd been feeling lately? These were things she only read about with Sophia...feelings of angst, longing, lust…they weren't supposed to belong to her 'brother'. "...I just wanted to know how one should feel about it. Kissing, I mean."

Nicole drew back into his seat, head tilted in thought. The way his bangs casually fell over his eyes made Katarina's heart leap on instinct. Was she still blushing? She held her breath in anticipation of his reply. Finally, he shifted in his seat, shoulders drawing back as he sat upright even taller.

"I imagine it should feel...good? I mean, you would only want to share a kiss with someone that makes you feel happy, I think." His voice cracked towards the end with trepidation, but the firmness in his gaze told Katarina that he was speaking honestly. She gave him a relieved smile. This is what she loved so very much about Nicol-she never had to beg to be taken seriously by him. He'd always striven to understand her even when she lacked the eloquence of her peers to explain herself he remained a patient, gentle gentleman. Not unlike the dark count in that aspect, either.

"O-oh…"

His eyes lidded sensually, giving his face an intense look. "...Are you curious?"

A sudden chill went up her spine as her thoughts suddenly betrayed her. Are you curious?

That voice repeating the same words over and over sent electricity up her spine. She clutched the stem in her left hand to the point of tense breaking. What would happen if she had gone too far and revealed the truth to Nicol? He would probably find her disgusting-or worse, he might tell Geordo and that would make things worse for her family. She broke off eye contact with him to glance towards her right, lips twitching anxiously. "Haah…um, maybe."

Nicol's shoulders went lax again, the tension of the conversation having already reached its peak. His voice sounded almost humorous. "Is that so...well, do let me know if you decide to lucubrate with your options on a proper experiment."

Katarina leaned forward and playfully tapped him on the arm. "Stop teasing me so much!" She giggled and then reached for her polished silver bell, ringing for Anne. She was suddenly in the mood for tea and cookies.

Nicol smiled darkly. "I'm not."

They spent time together until the sun had risen high in the sky and the church bells began to ring in the distance, signifying the beginning of the early afternoon. By that time, she and her guest had gone through two cups of tea each, and a few more cookies between them. It was easy to pass the time with Nicol this way-talking about everything but talking about nothing at the same time. She noticed that his eyes had repeatedly glanced curiously at the object in her hand so she spent some time recounting the trip to Rosemarie's and the galaxy roses, which she kept now on her person almost all of the time. The gradient shades were too intoxicating not to stare at whenever she had a moment. They clashed with all of her clothes so her mother didn't approve of making jewelry or pins of them though, and so she had to settle to keeping one as a bookmark in her current read, and the other in her hand as she went about.

"I'd like to give a few of them for you to take back with you to Sophia, if you don't mind?" Katarina chipped with a happy nod. Nicol's eyes softened as he nodded back in agreement.

"I'm sure she'd very much enjoy that. Even so you'll still-"

"Yes! Yes, of course I'll be visiting soon." Katarina repeated, then bit her lip tentatively. "I miss her-but I'm happy to see you too. Thank you for coming to visit me."

Nicol's gloved hand slid across the sparkling glass top and rested on top of hers gently, sending another pleasant wave of electricity up her spine. He forced her to meet his cool gaze, all full of smooth confidence. "I will continue to visit as long as you'd allow for it, Katarina."

"Always?" Her voice trembled in hesitation.

"Always." He reaffirmed, then gave her hand a squeeze. She paused for a moment, eyes falling to their touching hands and she wished neither of them had gloves in the way. She'd have liked to feel his actual fingertips for once. Were they cool to the touch like the sound of his voice? Or was it warm, heated like Keith's skin when she dared to touch him too?

"You're turning red again." He spread his fingers absently, allowing her lithe digits to entwine with his more securely. When Nicol smiled, he never showed teeth, but the way the skin around his eyes crinkled when they squinted in delight spoke enough reassurance to Katarina that this was okay to do. Her mind began to race. What else would he let her get away with, she thought as she gave the boy's hand another experimental squeeze.

"Nicol...I-"

"Ah-ha, nee-san, there you are. We were starting to wonder whether you'd show up for lunch with us, after all. I didn't know we also had guests to join us." She could recognize the tone in Keith's voice before she even saw him. It was the same tone he used when he'd catch her at the buffet table when she was supposed to be mingling. Tight, caveat, and courteous.

Their hands disengaged immediately, like touching each other was akin to touching a flame. Her face flushed immediately.

"K-Keith...hi," she murmured, eyes falling down to her feet. She missed Nicol's eyebrow rise out of suspicion, but thankfully he chose not to comment. Instead, he stood and offered Keith a short bow and smile.

"Hello, Keith. I'm afraid I'll have to take up on that offer another time-I was already taking my leave."

The blond nodded back in acknowledgement, and approached the edge of the table, to stand rightly behind his sister, a hand on her shoulder, squeezing. "Thank you for keeping my sister company, as always." I can take it from here, his voice seemed to say.

If Nicol recognized this, he didn't show it on his face. Instead, both gloved hands folded back behind him.

"It's not often I get to see you around the Claes home and not with my sister," Keith commented smoothly, eyes still locked on the top of Katarina's head. The girl was growing redder and redder by the moment. She struggled to tilt her head up to look Keith in the face. His face was teasing, a soft smirk adorning his features and his sandy blond hair was damp like he'd just showered. She sobered up then, realizing that the sprinklers had already begun to start up around them, watering the plants on their timely schedule. As though they had been a signal for Nicol to retire, the dark haired boy began to push in the chair he once occupied and gave Katarina a more fluid bow, catching her hand in similar fashion to how they had held hands before.

He pressed a dry kiss to the back of her gloved hand, dark eyes dangerously locking eyes with hers one last time as he mouthed the words 'goodbye' before straightening upright.

"I have Anne waiting on the other side of the entrance to escort you to your carriage-she has something for you to return home with." Keith said firmly, not moving an inch away from his sister's back. The hand he left pressed to her shoulder felt heavier on her frame, somehow. Nicol only nodded again, and strode past them with grace. Neither Claes sibling spoke until the door made its signature click noise into place.

"U-um…?"

"You're beginning to sweat, nee-san." Keith interrupted snidely, relishing in the sputtering Katarina as she rushed to defend herself. The brunette rose up out of her chair indignantly and spun around to her brother, their faces much too close for her initial liking. Keith's blue eyes were cloudy with something Katarina couldn't put a finger on, but it made her protests die in her throat as they held each other's gaze. Her heart and mind began to slow to a stop as she watched her brother's gaze lid with intense concentration, the air between them feeling almost electric in the afternoon sun. When he leaned forward and closed the gap between their mouths she only made a small sound of protest in the back of her throat and clutched at the fabric covering his back to steady herself against the heavier man.

"You don't tremble as much anymore," Keith murmured between kisses. "Should I take that to mean you're starting to like it?"

She sighed into his mouth, not wanting to make him stop his ministrations. "I...don't know." Katarina's flushed face was beginning to sweat and she palmed at it with a gloved hand absently, trying to twist away from him. He caught her open wrist and pressed a kiss to the exposed flesh, smirking at her squirming reaction.

"Ah-there it is."

"Keith!" She whined in frustration, not being able to move herself away from the heavier frame of her brother or the table at her back, pressing into her skin almost painfully. "Don't tease me, please." Her arms slid across his back and eventually to encircle his neck when he kissed her again, deeper this time. Her mouth opened up to the slide of his tongue against her lips almost instinctively. If this is what Nicol meant when he said that kissing should feel good, she could agree here. There was nothing as pleasurable she could describe like being vulnerable under Keith's expert tongue playing with her own. She tightened her grip on his neck and moaned, a little too loudly.

He pulled back, with a frown. "I like teasing you, though."

Katarina blinked, thoughts and words escaping her both. "Huh?"

Keith kissed her again, mouth twisting into another playful smirk. "You were asking me not to tease you, remember? But I like teasing you, nee-san. I like it way too much."

Of course you do, she thought as they locked lips again, now wet with saliva. Katarina moaned again and let Keith swallow up her noises with expertise, her boots shuffling under to give her more purchase against the ground. She felt a crushing noise under her feet-has she stepped on her galaxy rose?

The edge of the table was pressing a little too painfully. She made a sound of discomfort and pushed back on Keith with both hands who chuckled mischievously in her ear. "Sorry. Shall I put you on the table, instead?"

"K-Keith! You-"

"-Why, I absolutely think you should." The voice that cut across them made the sun's heat turn into knives and compelled all of the sprinklers to stop around them. Keith, for the first time that she had ever seen it, wore a look of complete and utter shock. Fear, Katarina's mind corrected as she took stock of her own situation-a hand in her brother's hair, his taste still resting on her tongue.

She never heard the door open, never thought to tell her brother to stop less they'd be caught. Anne had come barreling in a few moments after him, a bit too late to warn them of the unexpected visit. "I think I'd like to see exactly what you'd do to my fiance, Keith."

And her fiance, standing a few feet away with a look of absolute hatred and disgust. Forget her friendship ending. She had now unlocked the black-hearted prince.

I know that's probably a bit shorter than others but the next one is probably going to be dialogue heavy as I try to get to the point here haha, but I hope you all enjoyed and if you've been following along as this is actively then I love you especially and thank you so so much for loving this pairing with me! Please leave a note if you wanna 3