Chap 112: You’re So Thirsty

Tee’s question about where they would stay for the night hung in the air.

"How about the training room?" Kie suggested. "The trampolines could make a fine bed."

Tee’s serious face didn’t flicker. "That’s not funny," she said.

Kie shoved his hands into his sweatpants pockets. He wasn’t joking.

"Ooh!" Miko squealed. "How about the garden? We can do night camping!" Her smile stretched wide, her eyes sparkling. "It’s perfect for team bonding since the Commander separated us during training." Her lips curled down. "I miss you guys so much."

"The garden?" Kie raised a brow. "I’m guessing you expect us to sleep in the trees?" He laughed as he turned away.

Miko frowned.

Tee gave Kie a hard nudge on the side. She heard his teeth grind.

"If only we had tents," Zod muttered.

The Lieutenant noticed the teens’ distress and decided to help. The Commander wouldn’t be pleased to return and find them still wandering.

"I believe I can help," she said, drawing their attention. She walked over and placed a hand on Zod’s and Miko’s shoulders. "I can give you some spare tents so you can have your get-together in the garden. Keep the telecoms for the night—the light may come in handy."

Kie pulled his hands from his pockets, folding them in disbelief. After showering and following his teammates into the garden, he knew he had heard correctly.

The moonlight illuminated the dark blue and green trees. The colorful flowers were muted under a soft blue shadow. Kie and the others stood out in their long white pants and buttoned-down shirts, spare clothes from the shower rooms since they weren’t allowed back in their quarters.

The green glow made them alert, and they turned to the vortex the Lieutenant had stepped through. The box in her hand wasn’t alarming—it was the green glowing symbols on her hands and the several large floating bags that caught their attention.

Zod’s jaw dropped. He stuttered at her face. "Ve-ve-Vergant… you’re a Vergant! I knew it!"

A smile spread across her lips, softening the eerie gleam of her round glass lenses in the moonlight. "That is correct. Here are your tents," she said.

The large green bags floated down and landed on the grass.

The Lieutenant handed Zod the box she was holding. “And I brought you some snacks in case you’re hungry.” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “They’re Linn’s favorite, but I think he’s getting sick of them—that’s why we have so many left.”

The teens let her last words fly over their heads. Whoever that Linn was, they didn’t care.

After the Lieutenant left, only four of them unpacked the large bags to set up their tents. Kie spent his time trying to channel blue energy through his body. When he finally gave up and turned around, he saw four tents standing between the tree silhouettes.

Remembering where he had last seen Tee, he figured out which tent was hers. He placed his bag beside it but only unpacked his blanket. Throwing it over his head like a cloak, he crept toward her tent. The zipper wasn’t closed from the inside—his sweet Tee had left it open for him. He pushed it aside and slipped in like a thief in the night.

The cold air brushing against Tee’s nose made her crack her eyes open. Moonlight filtering through the tent walls faintly illuminated the figure sneaking inside. She could make out his shape just as he turned his back.

Kie zipped the tent door shut and rubbed his arms to warm up. But when he turned around, he didn’t see his sweet Tee fast asleep. Instead, a blinding light flashed in his face, burning his eyes after hours in the dim outdoors. He squinted and turned away.

Tee sat up, shifting the light from her telecom away from him. “Finally,” she said with a wide grin. “I was beginning to think you were a night creature—staying outside in the cold and dark.”

Once the light moved, Kie opened his eyes wide. He pulled the blanket off his head, freeing his messy black hair. “I knew it’d be warm in here.” He looked up at the low curved roof and stretched his legs until his feet touched the tent wall.

Tee leaned back on her elbow and eyed him. “You should’ve made your own tent,” she said. “There’s no room for both of us.”

“Are you kidding me? I still think this whole thing’s a joke.” He turned to her. “Remind me again what her reason was for doing this?”

“Our rooms got destroyed, and the Commander’s punishing us by making us sleep outside in the cold,” she said, her voice rising. “I already used my vision to check—our quarters look brand new. Even the chandelier’s back on the ceiling! Did I miss the hologram of the Commander telling us to return? He’s trying to spite us—and the Lieutenant’s in on it too.”

Kie blinked his half-opened eyes. “I was referring to the whole camping thing. Why did Miko suggest this lame team bonding activity? There’re plenty of places on Primus where we could have slept with solid roofs over our heads.”

He made a deep sigh before rolling his blanket into a fluffy ball and putting it where he would lay his head. He leaned back and made himself comfortable.

“You don’t mind me crashing here for the night, do you?”

Tee casually shifted her eyes away from him to her legs hidden under her blanket. “Fine, you can stay.”

She shuffled closer under her blanket until there was no space between them. “You finally got me alone,” she said as she placed one hand on his chest. 

She saw Kie’s long lashes flicker due to the dim light peeping through the tent walls.

Tee moved her face closer and whispered, “Now is a good time to ruin me.”

“You are so thirsty,” he told her.

A shock of pain stabbed her heart and she leaned up. “What?” she gasped. “Didn’t you agree to do it the other night?”

“You mean before you ran off?”

She gasped, “Is that why you didn't take up my offer at the onsen— to get back at me? Forget that, we can pick up where we left off.”

She could tell by his dark figure getting clearer that her eyes were adjusting to the dimness. He kept his face to the ceiling, but each flicker of his lash meant he had the open and was listening.   

“Stop acting like you’re dying soon. You should sleep, we have training bright and early in the morning. The Commander already hates it when we’re sloppy.”

His statement was inaccurate since she had a condition that could kill her at any time. But how dare he bring up training as an excuse?

She glared at him. “You have got to be the worst boyfriend ever! You never tell me about your family, and you won’t have sex with me…!”

Kie leaned on his right side to face her with his dark beady eyes and watched her arguing with herself. At that moment, she reminded him of all those girls at his MG who were only interested in sleeping with him. She had not fallen for him yet and he decided he was not going to give it to her. True love came with time, and they had all the time in the world. Plus, there were things he hadn’t told her yet that would challenge how she felt about him.

“…Even worse, now you’re picking sides with the Commander over me? Who gives a damn about training? I let you into my tent, it’s the least you could do.”

“Are you going to keep talking or get next to me?” He patted the spot beside him.

Tee dropped her shoulders and moved closer, letting Kie wrap his arms around her. Their foreheads and lashes touched, and she kept a little space so he could breathe. She slid her hand under his arm and reached for his back, giving him a tight hug.

Kie leaned in and kissed her, feeling her lips stretch into a smile. Such a poor thing, craving heat she couldn’t fully handle.

They stayed like that for a while, listening to their heartbeats. As always, they weren’t in sync. Tee wondered if hearts ever beat in sync, love or not. Where had she gotten that crazy idea? Her smile shrank when she remembered Jack.

Her eyes felt heavy, but not enough to sleep. She slid the hand she was leaning on into the small space between them and touched Kie’s face. It felt smooth. His scars were almost gone. She remembered the scar on his forehead she hadn’t seen.

She raised her hand to touch his bangs, but Kie bit it softly with his teeth. The quick, gentle bite made her laugh through her nose. He released her hand, and she pulled it back.

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d mind.”

The faint puff of air from his nose tickled her. “I don’t,” he said low, a grin in his voice. “I just wanted to frighten you.”

He pulled his arm from around her and brushed her hair from her face. The unexpected touch didn’t make her shiver anymore.

He combed his fingers through her hair. “Even in the dark, I can see every strand. Your hair almost looks like it’s glowing.” He brushed his fingers against her cheek near her ear.

Tee felt tingles but bit her lips to hide a smile. She had never been in a relationship and didn’t want every sweet thing he did to show such strong emotions.

“Do you know you have curly hair?”

Tee blinked, letting the unromantic question settle in. “What?”

“When you have your hair in a bun, it’s wavy at the back, especially from the roots.”

Tee blinked her heavy eyes. “My hair isn’t naturally straight. It’s quite wavy. I put a relaxer in it to straighten it since my white curly hair made me look like a sheep. I had self-esteem issues when kids called me Shirley Sheep—”

Kie turned his face away, breaking contact. Tee’s ears twitched at his loud laughter, but her serious expression didn’t change.

“That’s not good,” he said. “I really hope that’s not genetic.”

“I’ve never seen my real parents, so I wouldn’t know. Is my hair a concern?”

“No, no, you look great.” He faced her again. “It’s just the kids. Imagine if all ten came with white hair?” He looked away, laughing again.

Tee raised her voice. “Ten?” She swore he mentioned wanting eight kids. She felt every vibration from his chuckles.

“I’m going to get called Kie the Shepherd for sure.”

She regained her calm. “Don’t worry, none of them will have my hair—they’ll be adopted.”

She planned to end their relationship before it reached that far, but she wanted to hear what came next. She smiled.

Kie kept smiling. “Your sense of humor is another reason I like you.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. With barely any space between their lips, he said, “I love you.”

Tee’s heartbeat echoed in her head, her ears numb to each beat. Why was her heart racing when she wasn’t in danger?

No, she wasn’t falling for him. She was keeping her friends close and her enemies closer—it was all for self-gain. She switched the topic so she didn’t have to respond.

“You love someone you’ve only been with for basically one week?” She shifted her head on the blanket to find a softer spot and looked him in the eyes. “Tell me when you first fell for me—your only choice out of three. I bet it’s boring enough to send me to sleep.”

“Are you a virgin?”

Ah-ha! He’d changed the topic. Of course he didn’t love her—he was just messing with her head.

“You’ll figure that out while you’re ruining me. It’s your choice.”

“Nah.”

“Are you a virgin?” she asked.

He didn’t answer. A while later he said, “Let’s not talk about this.”

“You brought it up.”

He sighed. “I know.”

They cuddled and shut their eyes.