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❝ Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are? ❞ Starling uttered smoothly with a charming smile, leaning on the hand she placed on the wall.
No matter how irkful and toxic that mind was about gender, no one could really deny how attractive Starling was as a potential lover. She was an extremely charismatic person, always knowing what strings to pull when it came to winning over a boy's heart. And as much as Cosmic vexed admitting this, Starling did manage to steal his heart away, somehow.
He sighed at her actions, glancing away instantly with a heavy heart ‒ not much of a big fan. He held up the tall tower books he was carrying in his arms, lifting them back up properly so that said stack of books fully covered his sight of Starling in front of him. All he could feel was how his heart felt so constricted ; tightened up in a very unpleasant manner. Every time this happened, he couldn't stop this insufferable tension in his chest.
Stupid Starling.
Stupid feelings of his.
Stupid heart of his.
If you assumed Starling was flirting with Cosmic, you're ten million lightyears earlier.
Rolling his eyes, Cosmic's legs carried did quick work and he passed the pair in the hallways. Yet again, Starling had a very flustered, blushing boy pinned against the wall. She didn't even look at his way, not like she needed to, but as per usual, she still had this invisible hold on him. It didn't help the fact that this scene was what his eyes first laid on, upon turning around the corner. Frankly, this all felt too coincidental, like it was planned, just so that Starling could play with his feelings. To add insult to injury, he honestly wouldn't even be surprised if it really was all according to some scheme because that was just how Starling was.
Why didn't he fall for someone else ?
Preferably someone kind and loving like Soras. Logically, she was honestly the best candidate. Not only did she seem quite interested in him, despite not telling him directly, she proudly respected and viewed him like an equal ‒ which he desired in an actual partner. Not to mention, whilst everyone blindly threw accusations at his way, she was also the only person in this ship that trusted him enough to know the destruction of their planet clearly wasn't his fault. Speaking on that note, he had done some self-studies after his chores and had been the only one to actually put the clues together on why such a tragedy happened in the first place.
A shoulder bumped roughly against his, disrupting him out of his deep thoughts, and the immense weight on his arms caused him to lose control rather easily. Hearing a scoff to his side, he looked up to see Starling sneering down at him in a supposedly degrading look, also noticing immediately as the other boy scurried off. Sending back the girl a pointed and challenging glare, he held back a growl when all he could see where the litter of scattered books on the floor. The two had a short staring competition, with nothing but strong silence between them, but eventually, Cosmic didn't want to waste any more time, averting his gaze with an eye roll before kneeling down to pick up his fallen books.
❝ Watch where you're going, ❞ Starling spat out darkly from above.
❝ Oh but I did, ❞ Cosmic retorted swiftly, not even sparing a glance in her direction as he piled up the books on the floor. To prove his point, he pointed to the wall where Starling had the boy propped against without looking, whilst he gathered up said books, ❝ You see, I was not even close to the wall as an idiot was flirting her ass off. Oh, and might I add, she was the one who decided that bumping into someone, that was minding their own damn business, was a good idea. ❞
❝ An idiot? Who are you calling an idiot?! ❞ Starling fummed.
Maybe they fought so much that it lead to this point ‒ where Cosmic could already tell by her tone alone, that her hands were curled into fists.
❝ Pardon me, nearly forgot. Must have expressed myself too eloquently that your small brain couldn't figure out the idiot I was referring to, was yourself, ❞ Cosmic continued to sass effortlessly, shrugging his shoulders.
Despite being almost done with his work, in utter rage, Starling swung her foot and successfully knocked over the pile of books Cosmic had put so much effort in neatly stacking.
Cosmic grunted at that attack, glaring up to see the smug look that settled on Starling's face. In spite so, it didn't take long for him to ignore the girl again and proceeded to pile the books once more on his other side, hoping Starling was smart enough to drop whatever this useless feud they were having and leave him alone for once. He wasn't going to entertain her any longer because fire plus fire would just lead up to an unwanted blast of explosive emotions. Still, there wasn't much of a shocker that her presence remained unbearably strong as she lingered around him to spit out more mindless insults ‒ basically with the sole aim to bug him, before once again, kicking over his pile when he was done. Plus, she had even stepped on his hand multiple times as a "joke", cackling each time.
Now, Cosmic was very much an intellectual person.
With great honour, he would choose brains over brawns any day.
But, if you tick him off, you pretty much dug your own grave and he was going to be the one to kick you down that hole.
Within a blink of an eye, Cosmic threw a solid, harsh punch against Starling's chest accurately and sharply as well as an equally powerful kick to the spot between her legs, watching her fall to her knees and then to her side as she withered in indescribable pain. Of course, it was theoretically cheap shots, but what works effectively was the goal here. He wasn't some delicate prince, not with his years of experience. After all, he was the Queen's "Nightingale", the best spy known under the royal family when it came to their hidden dirty work, and he didn't even second to the very respectable man who gave birth to him. A knight descendant was frankly nothing to him ‒ if he gave it his all. Laying on the floor, Starling cupped both of her appendages, groaning underneath her breath. Even though she could be very well at his mercy, he honestly didn't have the heart to do so because of his stupid feelings.
❝ Cosmic? ❞
He then turned his head back to see a gawking Soras, whose eyes immediately landed on Starling.
❝ Shit! You destroyed her, ❞ Soras laughed hysterically, clapping to herself in unadulterated amusement.
❝ Calm. She's still very much alive, ❞ Cosmic huffed, but a small smile perked on his lips. ❝ But yea, I did. ❞
❝ You go, boy! ❞ Soras grinned, walking over to him as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
Starling seemed to start to recover from Cosmic's sudden retaliation, slowly but surely pushing herself upright to sit on her spot. Her arms were still holding her private places instinctively as if the male was going to attack again once exposed. Even so, he really didn't really bother himself any furthermore with the girl as he resumed to clean up the mess of books on the floor. Without even waiting to be asked, Soras instantly dived in to help Cosmic, already assuming what went down with how the books were literally all over the place. Soras figured Starling had it coming anyway.
❝ I'll carry that, ❞ Soras uttered smoothly as she swooped up the books in Cosmic's arms.
Cosmic giggled softly, more than used to her gentlelady-like antics, ❝ You really don't need to... But I know you, and you're going to anyway, so thank you. ❞
❝ Anything for you, ❞ Soras winked, earning another hushed laugh from Cosmic, but this little sweet moment between the two was immediately disrupted by a fake laugh.
The two glanced back with frowns to see Starling, who was glaring intensely at Soras. ❝ Disgusting. Flirting with someone's fiancé is such a cheap move, ❞ Starling's cold gaze then fell on Cosmic, who narrowed his eyes, ❝ And you. Cheating on me already? You unfaithful slㅡ ❞
Even with a load of books in her arms, Soras flung her foot at Starling, who skilfully jumped back.
Soras' eyes were burning with fury as she growled, ❝ You call him a slut, and I will not hesitate to fuck your face up! Because that's the only good tribute you have with your cheap attitude. ❞
Starling honestly wasn't even afraid of a mere inventor like Soras, knowing moves to fight back, but Cosmic was already in a dangerous stance that she immediately recognised in her many years on training grounds ‒ he was ready to pounce on her if she were to attack Soras. While she wasn't necessarily frightened of the boy, she was going to be more aware of him being able to physically punch and kick her in retaliation. After all, that move just now displayed on her was nothing close to delicate. Plus, she wasn't going to lay a harmful hand on a boy, yet. Thanks to earlier's events, she was considering if those terms could even apply to Cosmic. In spite so, no matter how much she abhorred this, Starling finally came to the conclusion that she had to back off, for now.
Starling grumbled, ❝ Whatever. ❞
❝ Serves you right, ❞ Soras smirked triumphantly, glancing back at Cosmic with a wide smile.
Cosmic honestly thought Soras was being such a knight in shining armour at the moment, even though he was very well capable of saving himself. It was almost adorable how she was trying her hardest to battle face-to-face with a knight-in-training, that he heard to be the top of her class. He knew Starling wouldn't feel threatened at all, but he definitely wasn't going to let her have her way with his best friend. Relieved his fiancé got the message as he straightened himself back up without Soras noticing, he couldn't stop his lips from stretching on their own when Soras turned to look at him with such a proud dorky look on her face.
He flashed a mesmerising and genuine angelic smile, and that didn't just stun Soras to her spot, that actually got Starling frozen up a bit too. Soras was right on the money, without question ‒ Cosmic's beautiful smiles had this magical effect that would warm one's hearts and light up the whole room. He never really smiled around Starling, which was more than understandable in his point of view, yet Starling herself couldn't help but question why now. The soft sight made her stomach do some flips she hadn't experience in a long while. She never felt this sensation when she flirted with boys, so it almost felt intrusive.
With that, Cosmic sighed and hooked his arm around his best friend's that was stuck in looked like to be an unbreakable trace, not even caring about his fiancé that was standing there like an idiot and pulled his best friend down the hallways. He didn't want to stay here any longer, but seeing as Soras wasn't moving, he was going to do the work himself. After all, he was a strong and independent man. Soras snapped back somewhat along the way, looking at Cosmic with a sulking pout, grasping his attention. He titled his head in confusion, and that only deepened the curves underneath her lips.
❝ That's no fair! You can't shock me with your cuteness, ❞ Soras whined, causing Cosmic to giggle softly.
Cosmic shook his head and replied with a slight tug on her arm, ❝ What are you saying? You're the adorable one here. You're such a dorky dork. It's adorkable! ❞
❝ Nuh-uh. You're the cute one. You practically can melt anyone with your smiles alone. And your eyes twinkle whenever you really focus or get so excited, it's heart-fluttering, ❞ Soras winked once more, leaning closely against Cosmic. ❝ If anything, you're adorkable! ❞
Cosmic huffed at that, turning his head away with a slight blush on his cheeks, ❝ Oh shut up. ❞
Because he was raised rather strictly by his parents, he normally wasn't complimented often, especially now when all he had been hearing lately was insults and accusations. Thus, it felt foreign and weird for him, so he often finds himself being unable to handle them when they were actually given ‒ but that didn't stop Soras though from showering him with praises. She found it extremely cute apparently when he would get so flustered. Though, he didn't expect to see Starling storming off when he averted his eyes, which puzzled and concerned him at first, but Soras tugged on his arm that interlocked with hers. He laughed softly when she pouted again.
❝ Let's go, ❞ Cosmic simply mumbled.
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