14Sora scoffed in disbelief with crossed arms as he looked at the sight in front of him. He had put down his fork fifteen minutes ago, yet he surprisingly wasn't out the door yet. No, there was something preventing him from booking it and calling it a day, much to his complaining wearisome body. It was a cold, cold day—his bed had been unattended for far too long.
"Wait, this stuff is good," Kairi said across from him with an unlady-like mouthful. Sora flinched in disgust when he saw something fly out of her mouth when she spoke. The redhead was completely unaware of his disapproving glare as she scarfed down her free food. Under normal circumstances, she would have eaten in a more elegant manner, but considering how her company's mouth would've jumped on the opportunity to call her out on the unnecessary formalities, she just dug right in.
"Can't you just…" Sora's eye twitched when he saw the way her cheeks were practically inflated, "Eat slower?"
"You just told me five minutes ago to eat faster," she countered. This time, a larger chunk of food threatened to spill out of her mouth. Sora couldn't have witnessed anything more disgusting with the way she sucked it back in her mouth and gave herself a hum of victory.
"What are you, a frog?"
"I think frogs are pretty cute, if you ask me. I'll take it."
"Please, don't. I don't intend to compliment," Sora sighed as he rested his free hand on his face and waited for Kairi to finish. A hint of a smile played at his lips though, something she spotted but did not comment on. She didn't need to worry about any of the empty words he spat out of his mouth. Even with his complaints about her eating, he didn't say a thing when she ordered more things, so the fault was on himself for being stuck here.
From the back corner, one of the workers emerged from the counter after cleaning up and went up to their table. Sora let his body be shaken as the friendly hand patted him on the shoulder as a greeting.
"Sora, boy, you're not one to stay after the hours, ey?"
Kairi gave a glance at the middle-aged man, who had a nearly burnt-out cigarette balanced between his lips and a rag in his other hand, before returning back to her plate. She ate slower and more neater under the presence of another.
"Sorry about that. Maybe you should've given me the tab earlier, Cid. Who knows, you might've seen me head out the door an hour ago," Sora grunted in annoyance.
"And why would you want that, you rascal? I would love to stay a couple more hours if I were ya—the pretty company is always worth the darnest trouble. Girlfriend?"
Kairi awkwardly took a swig out of her water as she waited for Sora to correct the guy; a male and female just couldn't eat a simple dinner together nowadays.
"Does it look like I'm having a romantic evening with the wine glasses and swan-folded napkins? I don't think a burger joint is the best place to have a date, even with pretty company," Sora scoffed. Cid let out a hearty laugh, obviously familiar with Sora's bitey remarks.
"Anything's a date when you see Hikari out here with actual company. A girl no less. The name's Cid," he wiped a hand on his pants before offering it to Kairi, "I'm the owner of this dingy joint. Nice to see someone enjoy the fam's secret sauce."
"O-oh." She looked around for a free napkin, which Sora offered to her. Kairi hurriedly wiped her hands clean from the oil on her fingers and firmly grasped the outstretched hand, "Kairi. Please, this place isn't dingy. Great homey feel to it with great food."
"Glad to hear you enjoy it. Since Sora here's a regular lone wolf around here, take all the time you need. I got extra cleaning up to do today anyway—seems like school's back in the calendar, ey? Bunch o' younglings out and about again."
"Business is back to boom for you," Sora rolled his eyes. "Tab would be appreciated." Cid clicked his tongue at the him with a wink before he reached over to the counter, slid the bill on their table, and went back to cleaning up the place for the night. Finally being mindful that they were the last customers at the joint, Kairi quickly finished up her food. She glanced at the bill, a bit taken aback at how expensive a meal combo was.
Sora awkwardly fumbled with his wallet with his uninjured hand and plastered a few bucks on the receipt. "He calls the place dingy, but Cid's Joint is an infamous name around here in Twilight Town," he explained, seeing how Kairi caught the price. "It's just that it's farther from campus and gets less buzz, so Aerith's place gets all the hype."
"And you like to go here often, hm, Rich Boy?" Kairi hummed in question. "Sounds like you often go alone."
"Less noisy," was all he offered. When he stood up, Kairi followed as they headed out the door. He held it open for her as she stepped foot back into the cold autumn night. She unintentionally let out a shiver, which he spotted. "Destiny Islands blood can't stand the Twilight cold?"
"What, you going to hand me your jacket or something? Of course, I'm cold—people underestimate how warm it is back in the islands all the time," she snapped, hot air instantly pooling out between her lips and into the cold. When she realized how she was suddenly being bitchy again, she quickly muttered an embarrassed "sorry."
Sora noticed how she was trying and chuckled. "I was just kidding. I share the same cultural blood. You'll get used to it."
"You're from Destiny Islands too? Explains the permanent tan. But you said you were a native here?"
"I think I have the right to claim native once I've lived here for ten years," he said. "I moved." His voice sounded a bit more distant, but he quickly changed the topic before Kairi could catch it. "Which do you prefer?"
"Prefer what, place? Dude, I've only been here for a week—of course, I'd prefer home right now."
She swore she wasn't saying anything funny, but Sora kept on chuckling at everything she was saying.
"You'll convert soon."
Kairi heard clothes shuffling as she walked and was not expecting him to actually take her seriously and throw his winter coat over her. Asking for him to nicely put it around her shoulders instead of throwing it over her head was too much to ask.
"Who are you and what have you done to the asshole I was talking to just a few hours ago?" she questioned dubiously. Their interactions were way too pleasant to be real, considering how they were ready to bite each other's heads off back at Twilight Plaza. Nevertheless, she slipped her arms through his jacket and comfortably made it her own for the next hour. "Didn't know you had the politeness to offer a maiden your jacket."
"I'm telling you; I'd be nicer if you weren't so plastic all the time." It was Sora's turn to shiver slightly as a light wind breezed by against his turtleneck. His jacket had a better use with Kairi though; the girl couldn't stop her bones from rattling even with the additional warmth.
Kairi sniffed at his jacket. It was nice to know she was putting on hygienic clothes, not that she doubted his hygiene. He smells fucking nice. "Excuse me, plastic?"
"You know those dolls that sit there on the shelves smiling at you? Yeah, they're you."
"Nicer? Your mouth sounds the damn same. Here, take your flipping jacket back."
"Funny—I don't see you taking it off."
Kairi thought about something that had been on her mind all night for a moment as they walked back to his parked car. She wasn't planning to act on it, but with so much compiling evidence coming by the second, it was hard to keep her impulsive thoughts to herself. Once she gathered the boldness, she took a small step ahead and stopped right in front of him. He played along and folded his arms across his chest, waiting for what her own mouth had to say to him. She poked a finger at his chest accusingly.
"You're definitely flirting with me. Are you interested?"
Obviously, Sora was not expecting her to say something so blunt again. He stared at her silently as she stared back. Her blue eyes reflected the light of the lamp post, so it made it awfully harder to look away. The same could be said for Sora, whose cobalt eyes locked onto hers rather fiercely, whether he intended to or not. Kairi wanted to regret the words she blurted with the way a brief yet very uncomfortable silence met their paths, but her womanly instincts could not stop ringing all night long as she spent time with the mysterious young man—it needed to be quelled.
"Well," Sora took a hand to push her accusing finger away. She let it drop back to her side. Just one word was enough to signal the change of atmosphere. "Let's not play thought police one-sidedly here."
"1984. A classic."
"I could argue otherwise."
"You were such a rude ass this entire week. What's up now?" she returned to the subject at hand when he tried to divert away from it. Something was definitely up in the air now, and it almost choked Kairi as her heart involuntarily started to beat faster. The burger was definitely giving her some sort of kick of courage. What did Cid put in there? She was going to investigate what was in the secret sauce one day.
"Didn't know enjoying someone's company when they're actually being real could be such a crime," he said, as if stating the obvious. "Not to toot your horn or anything, but you're actually decent when you aren't a doll up in those shelves."
"I've met enough people to know when it's just more than simple company."
Sora chuckled a bit. Kairi really didn't get it: she wasn't intending to be funny.
"And I have a handful of friends actually. Word gets to me," Sora stepped closer, catching Kairi off guard. She did not like the way he twirled her hair with a finger; it was as if he was toying with her. However, she wanted to be resilient as she gave him a challenging brow. "They tell me a little bit of these so-called interactions you might be quite familiar with."
"Get to the point?"
"I could arrest you too, if we're going to play this game." He then slipped a hand underneath her hair to cup her cheek. She winced at his hand—it was cold. "I think the reluctant party wouldn't be questioning anything if they weren't interested. Isn't it girl code to just walk away when a creep's on your tail?"
"Oh, so you know you're a creep." Kairi really tried to save herself because what he said was the horrifying yet absolute truth, but Sora knew he scored it with the way he smirked and dropped his hand.
"I'm not looking for a relationship."
"Funny. I'm not either."
"Broken heart?"
"I am not going to answer that," she said hotly. Sora smirk grew bigger.
"No need. You already did. Alright, enough."
He let out a shudder—they had been standing out in the cold for far too long. Not interested to continue this game any longer, he brushed past her and went ahead towards his car. "What dorm do you live at?"
"Ruby Hall," she said grudgingly as she followed his steps. She hated it. She hated how he turned the whole situation around at her. And won. She was the one who asked the questions first, but for some reason, she became the one answering.
"My friend lived there. Nice single rooms. They're big."
"They are."
She was not into any of the small talk he initiated. The car ride back was mostly silent as she warily watched the way he maneuvered the car with one hand. She could tell that he was messing with her apprehension with the way he purposely made his grip on the steering wheel all shaky and unstable as he drove.
"Cat's got your tongue?" Sora said once they arrived in front of her dorms. He shifted the gear in park as Kairi unbuckled her seatbelt.
"What?"
"Guess the fire dies down at ten p.m., doesn't it? That'll change soon too. College does that to you."
Kairi was getting increasingly annoyed with the way he was just teasing her at this point. It wasn't even friendly teasing either; it was the type of teasing that screamed arrogance and victory.
"Something's in that secret sauce," was all she said between her teeth.
"After today, I think there is something in there too. I'll ask Cid what's in it for you."
"Good freaking night, you asshole," Kairi finally steamed, having been holding it in for the entire duration of the trip. "If I ever get hungry, don't invite me ever again. Got it?"
"Loud and clear," he laughed.
Kairi placed her hand on the handle, excited for the freedom outside of his car and away from his presence. Sora stopped her with a hand on her arm though when she was about to open the door and step out.
She turned to snap at him, only to be met with a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'll answer your invites though if you have any for me. You know my number," he said. The smirk never left his face. At this point, Kairi wanted to rip it off with her bare hands. "Don't keep me waiting, but I doubt I will have to." Kairi moved her mouth to question his audacity, but no words came out. She just stared at him in shock, processing what he just pulled on her, before she shrugged his grip off and kicked open the door.
"Thanks for the dinner," was all she managed to say as a response. She slammed the door closed, not caring if it hurt his car, and stalked off back into her dorms. She felt hot, despite how cold she felt earlier, knowing how he was watching her for a bit before his car zoomed off into the distance. Her impulsiveness made her march out of his car with his coat on still, and she knew he didn't say anything about it on purpose.
"He's playing me like a fucking chess game!" she yelled in her room. She threw her purse carelessly onto the ground and flopped onto his bed. She thought about why she even asked him that question in the first place, and she realized how she wouldn't have done anything different if she knew better. The way he smiled at her, the way he didn't outwardly deny any of Cid's allegations, the way he playfully bantered with her yet held cordial conversations with her, the way he laughed at everything she said, and the way he paid for her meal and gave him her jacket—all of it screamed interest.
The one thing she hated the most was his stupid clever mouth.
"Thought police? Ugh!"
She threw her blankets over her and huddled over to the wall, fuming with anger at how she completely fell trap to him today. But she couldn't blame herself; there was no way she could've prepared for the sudden character switch he had. He really wasn't lying when he said he would treat her differently if she was a bit nicer.
"Stupid." Huddled in her blankets, she could smell his jacket a bit more. It smelled of eucalyptus spearmint.
The comforts of her blankets were too much. Kairi accidentally fell asleep, painfully aware of the burning sensation on her cheek where he kissed her—even within her sleep.
In his apartment, Sora laid in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Opposite to Kairi, nothing much ran through his mind as the night's events quickly got overshadowed. He sighed before rolling over to his side. Checking his phone, he attempted to busy himself before he realized how fruitless it was and dropped it. His eyes traveled over to his dresser, where a bunch of wayfinders hung on the hooks. He glared at them before stopping—there was no use wasting anymore energy on it.
"I really should throw them away."
Sora stood up to unravel the strings connecting all the wayfinders together and unhook it from his dresser. He carelessly threw it into the trash by his desk and went back to his bed.
A minute later, he came back, took the wayfinders out the trash can, and hung them on his dresser once more.
Another update, yay! So obviously, the pace is picking up lol. Not sure how to feel about it, but let's roll! Hope everyone is safe out there during such a time :c Since I'm also just stuck in quarantine, I've been trying to chug out content to fill in my time while at the same time balancing my now-online classes lmaoooo Hopefully I can get to work on my other fic as well (writer's block has really halted its process since sept 2019) Hopefully during this time period I can think of more stuff to write! This is just a short chapter, but more to come soon! Hope y'all enjoyed. (Shall proofread and correct this chapter later cause writing this at 3 am is bound to have some grammatical/typo consequences lololol)
