Did I almost forget about the weekly updates? Maybe.

Scarlet Fever: Part Three

Cress and Winter erupt into laughs as they lie on the grass. They finished some snow angels in the grass despite there being no snow but a thin layer of frost that melted at their touch. That didn't stop them, though. It was Winter's idea even before she had a fruity bottled drink and she held it to her mouth while doing the snow angel, rotating arms. Cress did the same with some soda. Once their drinks and their angels finish, they put their bottles down by their heads and look up at the clear and starry sky.

"Do you know a lot about constellations?" Winter asks.

"I can name them and match them to a picture, but it's hard for me to look at a dotted sky and pinpoint," Cress responds. She had a lot of the constellations as glow-in-the-dark stickers on her ceiling. "It's easier if I have someone to guide me or an imaginary marker to connect the dots. But if you're going to start talking about astrology ... I can dabble."

"Makes sense. Let's try and find some."

Cress points upwards and squints an eye. "Maybe Cassiopeia."

Winter points in the same direction. "Looks like a bird."

Cress laughs. "Maybe Ursa Major or even Minor is nearby. I guess it depends on which angle you're looking at it from since they're inverses."

"Oh, that's the spoon one."

Cress points downwards. "Hydra."

Winter copies. "Snake."

Cress jolts on the spot. Her drink spills a little and she rushes to stand. "Wait, spades, a snake on the ground?"

Winter laughs. "No, no, I don't think."

She looks around to make sure since they're on farm grounds and they've heard horror stories from Scarlet about snake bites. Nobody's screaming nearby so they should be fine.

"That snake guess was accurate," Cress tells her. "You can have a future in astronomy."

"Political science, actually," Winter corrects.

Cress pauses. She sits back down, crossing her legs as Winter remains in her snow angel position but turns her head to face Cress. Grass stains are all over their clothes but they don't care. It's dark and almost everyone's drunk or getting there. They left imprints in the grass but their bodies are indistinguishable lumps of flattened grass. They pick off pieces of grass and leaves from their clothes, helping each other out, before clinking their empty glass bottles.

It's the first mention of some post-high school plan Cress has heard all night. Maybe it's because Cress mentioned it earlier, but she's still thankful to the stars that she isn't the only one pondering about the next part of their lives.

"Winter Hayle-Blackburn in politics," Cress comments. "Lunar politics, of all spheres. The first Blackburn in Lunar politics since your infamous Auntie or Step-Auntie Channary Blackburn. My mom was a Channary supporter and now I don't know how to feel about all of that given that she's your family and Cinder's mom. Either way, I'm cheering for you. I still have my Lunar citizenship so I'll vote for you."

Winter exhales a laugh. "I'll need it. You'll be a STEM Queen and I will bow."

"Please."

"You and Cinder, STEM Queens. I feel like a proud mom."

-o-

Cinder and Thorne circle the side of the house. A whisper coming from above frightens them, causing them to jump. A small yelp escapes Thorne's mouth, prompting Cinder and the one who whispered to laugh. Cinder and Thorne look up and see Kai arching his body out the window. He waves at them and they both return the gesture.

"Why are you inside?" Cinder asks.

"Why are you outside?" Kai asks in return. Cinder grins at him.

Thorne cups one hand around his mouth since he has a drink in the other. "Party's out here."

"No. It's in here," Kai insists. "Come here."

Cinder groans. "I don't wanna walk around the whole house and stomp up the stairs. You come here."

Kai mimics her frustration, prompting her to roll her eyes and Thorne to snicker.

"I don't wanna walk around the whole house and stomp down the stairs," he tells her.

Eventually, Cinder and Kai laugh. As if anyone cared about them walking through the house. Their classmates are being way noisier in the nearby cornfield doing stars know what.

Cinder turns towards Thorne. "Give me a boost."

Thorne looks up at Cinder from his drink, his eyes are blank and he stares for a moment before snapping out of an alcohol-induced trance. "Oh, you meant me."

Cinder rolls her eyes as they put their drinks down. Thorne crouches as Cinder grabs the windowsill where Kai's window is. Once she has a grip, she leaps a little and hitches a leg over Thorne's shoulder. Thorne curses under his breath and Cinder mocks him as he lifts her in the air. Kai cranes her body out the window once they're at the same height. They both pause and smile at each other as he holds her upper body.

"I've never felt more like a third wheel till now," Thorne mutters. "I'm not joining your party in there."

"We wouldn't want you to," Kai says before looking at Cinder again. The same stupid grin as before reappears on his face as he sees the moonlight on her face. "Hi."

"Hi," she responds.

"This is a good compromise."

"The best one."

"I got the losing end of this deal."

A part of it was to bother Thorne, but Cinder cups Kai's head to pull him into a kiss. They laugh a little as Thorne struggles to look up, grunting as he shifts Cinder a little, but coos.

Scarlet saunters by and nods respectfully at the moment. Even with context, it would make zero sense to her, but she appreciates the effort. She takes her phone out and holds it up. Thorne looks over and gives a thumbs-up as she snaps the pictures. It's Thorne being the best wingman as Kai and Cinder kiss above him. Scarlet isn't even sure they noticed her walking by, let alone snapping the moment. She sends it in their group chat and can hear all their phones vibrate.

"Your turn for the boost," Cinder tells Kai.

Kai holds Cinder under her arms and hoists her into the house. Thorne gives her a final push and she climbs through the window and into the room.

"Thanks, Thorne!" Cinder yells.

"I got you!" He responds.

Cinder and Kai immediately start kissing once they're both on the ground. They stagger back, falling into each other's arms until they hit a desk behind them. Cinder leaps to sit on it, not breaking from Kai. She hooks her legs around his hips to press his body against hers, their lips never part. Cinder runs a hand underlies shirt that traces down to his waistband as his fingers hook around her belt buckles and tugs.

She laughs a bit. "I want this for the rest of my life."

"I want you for the rest of mine."

They pause and look at each other, sincere looks at the words and confessions just said around mid-make out at the party in the middle of the farm in the night.

Cinder smiles softly. "I want you too. We'll continue that conversation when we're more sober."

Kai kisses her again. "Agree, but at least we're on the same drunken page."

"Agree."

The middle snippet is based on fanart by shanlightyear (aka one of my favourite online fan-artists).