"Expect pay back," Yuri said with all seriousness, her words getting slurry after two glasses. Yuri never really had strong alcohol retention, she always got drunk after four glasses no matter how mild the alcohol content was. Taking another slight spin of the bottle, the bottle stopped briefly before spinning again. This time Yuri was the one asking, her excitement was evident.
'Time for payback,' she thought to herself. Rubbing her palms together, she asked, "Truth or dare?"
"Truth," Kei calmly replied, like he wasn't bothered by Yuri's expression.
"Do you love Lucinda?" Yuri asks, not caring what she says.
'Do I love her?' He wondered to himself, still thinking about what he felt for Lucinda. If he had to pick a color for how he felt, it'd be a disaster.
Although he always told himself that it was for investigation purposes, whenever he sees her, he always has butterflies in his stomach, he's always short of words, and goes to bed thinking of her, lost in his thoughts about her when he's alone in his room, just remembering the way she looked lost when he'd saved her, the way his coffee in his hands had fallen onto the curb, his body had a mind of its own, when all he wanted to do was shout get out of the way and not jump in and save her, but deep down he was glad he did.
"Well, we're waiting, say something," Yuri blurted out, impatient with Kei's silence. Lucinda pretended she wasn't also eager to hear what he'll say, she didn't want to show interest, she wasn't willing to because who knows, he might have a fiance or a girlfriend eager to see him at the end of the day. As if reading Lucinda's thoughts, Yuri caresses Lucinda's folded fists and calms her down, knowing that Lucinda was the type of person who processed pain silently, that's why she's not readily open to people and this was the first real human she has ever liked.
Kei noticed the swirl of emotions through Lucinda's eyes, "top three glasses for me, I'll drink to that," he smiled cheekily, attempting to cover up until he could sort out his emotions, he truly didn't know what he felt and he didn't want to get his emotions mixed up and everywhere, he had work to do and he couldn't just go around falling for a suspect.
"Tch, weakling, next time take the question like a man," Yuri exclaimed, beating her chest before picking up the bottle of red wine, pouring some wine for herself and Kei.
He chuckled and accepted the wine, downing it in one go. Everyone Expected his words, but since he refused to say anything and keep everyone suspenseful, there's nothing they could do.
This time the bottle was spun again, and it landed on Kei and Yuri again. Kei asked this time, "Truth or dare?" he asked, his voice deep and mellow like warm melted butter poured on toast.
"Dare, I've decided to break the cycle of truths, let me tell you, since you guys are chickens," she said, her cheeks ablaze from the amount of wine she had consumed.
Kei found this funny and tortured her for the question she asked him. He said, "kiss the person on your left on the forehead and say I love you also," he knew this wasn't a serious dare, but it was going to be difficult for Yuri, that he couldn't stop himself from laughing. Yuri's expression changed from happy to sour, with an invincible vein popping from her forehead. Henmi was on her left, so doing that was embarrassing, but she had no choice. After calling everyone a chicken, she could not back out.
Henmi didn't really get why Lucinda and Kei were laughing. 'after all, it's just a forehead kiss and I love you, it's no big deal,' he thought to himself. Henmi wasn't really one to notice when someone liked him, the problem of having a low EQ but a high IQ.
Yuri had set the path for them. She closed her eyes as she got close to Henmi; he turned his head, their lips brushed merely touching. Yuri squealed and quickly picked up the wine bottle and drank straight from it. Kei and Lucinda couldn't stop laughing at her reaction, it was so funny. Henmi was offended, even if he didn't mean it, it just happened. He thought something touched him, so he turned his head in the process. Yuri dropped the wine and glared accusingly at him.
"I think that's enough for one night, don't you think?" Lucinda rhetorically asked, in between bouts of laughter. Taking the wine from Yuri, she drinks the other half of the bottle, wanting to wash down Kei's silence and forget that Yuri had ever asked a question like that.
It was no surprise that Henmi readily agreed; he wasn't one for games unless they involved logical thinking. He didn't really enjoy red wine, since rice wine was also his favorite.
***
This time the surrounding atmosphere was warm and not awkward, with the sight of a drunken Yuri that cracked everyone up, Kei and Lucinda went to the alcove and sat. Lucinda opened the window a bit, though the rain seemed to have calmed down a bit, it was quite a surprise for a season as this..... The stars in the night sky could be seen, Lucinda noticed this and the way it blinked and sparkled like fireflies in the dark of a garden, it had so many stories to tell of the vast ocean called the night sky mixed with so many colors of blue. All having its shade of waves and dancing to the tune of the stars, she breathed in the rainy air; it had a cool feel to it, chilling up her warm lungs.....
Kei stared at Lucinda, the wind tossed her hair; she merged well with the faint light emanating from the stars in the night sky. Lucinda looked like a pure work of art, which left Kei in awe. However, she wasn't really a work of art on the inside.....
"The stars are made of dust, and so are humans, but one twinkles more than the other," she uttered, gazing attentively at each one, cherishing the peace she had right now. She missed this, she missed having her thoughts in order, star gazing and writing poetry. Looking back at Kei, she could see the awe for her in his eyes, speaking volumes like the stars in the night sky. They'd both moved closer to each other when he whispered, "I defy you, stars."
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star- cross'd lovers take their life." Lucinda replied back, their foreheads touching.
"I fear too early, for my mind misgives; Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin." Their lips almost sealed this statement, like a forbidden scroll meant to be hidden from the world except themselves. They were both lost in the moment, everything else was background noise to these two who still denied their feelings for each other..... Rain had picked up again from where it stopped, more violently than the last time, this time flinging open the windows and letting water in...Kei and Lucinda were startled, her forehead colliding with his...
"Sorry," Lucinda chuckled, struggling with the wind to shut the shutters, Kei reached out and helped her close the windows....Kei was so close to Lucinda that she could feel his body heat. It was not uncomfortable, yet it made her skin tingle with anticipation.... Yuri walked in on them, wondering what they were doing.....
"Did you leave my window, oh, so sorry," Yuri quickly said, as she ran away from the scene. Lucinda and Kei were on the verge of kissing, lips softly brushing, when Yuri walked in on them. Her reaction was cute and more expressed due to the wine she'd drank. However, what she'd seen made her react more than she was meant to. As a result, things quickly got awkward between them.
"Oh, we should definitely head to bed," kei said, almost as if it was a suggestion.
"Yeah, we should do that," Lucinda said, her cheeks stained bright red from what had transpired.
***