Slam—!
We shut the door to my room after quickly rushing inside. It was in the dead of midnight. Soho and I had made a rush back to my storage unit after I broke down Chrono's goals to her. The idea of it all put her into a panic.
"Draz is dead! I can't stay here at the Waving Kitty anymore! If Chrono is out to get Heathen, w-where do I go!?"
"Come with me," I'd immediately told her. We ran off into the night back to the storage building where we currently resided.
"We can't stay here. Draz knew almost everything about us. What if Chrono finds this place?"
I tried to ease Soho up. "Where I lived was one of the few things I made sure Draz didn't know. We're safe in here, for now."
"Ian needs to know about this. If the thing about the Null is true, we need to make sure Ian knows!" Soho said.
"I'm surprised you didn't already know about the Null. It must be something really secret if even a proxy like you didn't know."
Soho grabbed at her head as if trying to make sense of things. "My head is pounding. This is all too much for one night…"
"We'll head out in the morning. It'll be easier to blend-in with the public. Rest for now." I pointed at my bed. "It's as stiff as cardboard, but it's better than concrete. I'll take the floor."
Soho went and sat on my bed. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "I just need a pillow."
I walked over and grabbed one of two pillows from my bed. But as I turned around to go to sleep on the floor, Soho grabbed my arm.
"Klyson…"
"What's wrong?" I asked. She hadn't let go of my arm yet.
"Isn't the floor cold…?"
I could feel the freezing surface beneath my socks. "It's no problem for me."
"But you're bruised and injured. Wouldn't it be better if you slept in the bed?"
I shook my head. "But I wouldn't want you to have to sleep on the floor—"
"I wasn't planning to."
Quiet hushed over the room. She was still holding onto my arm. We had a moment of tense eye contact, before Soho broke the silence.
"Stay in bed with me."
My eye widened. Thoughts suddenly ignited like a wildfire that made me feel warm on the inside. "W-What?"
"Did you know that I slept by your side all three nights you were unconscious after the mission with Alex Li? This isn't new."
I gulped. "I-I know, but…"
"Last time you almost died on me, I slept uncomfortably, not knowing if you'd still be breathing the next morning I woke up. This is the second time you've almost died, but this time, I want to sleep with you knowing you're going to stay…"
Soho's face was glowing a blushed red in the dim lighting of my room. She strayed aside her gaze, breaking our increasingly tense eye contact. On my end, I was speechless. I'd never encountered a moment like this before, so I stood there with my mouth hung open, unknowing of what to say. Soho realized this, so rather than waiting for me to reply, she began to undress.
—!!!
As her shirt came off, I immediately turned around to face the opposite way.
"W-What are you doing?" I asked, alarmed.
"Your bed is too warm. I'm gonna sleep in my underwear."
Images flashed through my head that I immediately suppressed. Feeling too bashful, I plopped my pillow onto the floor.
"I'll sleep here, and I'll face the other way." As I lowered myself to the floor, ready to go to sleep, I'd suddenly lost my grip on the ground.
"Kinetic."
I slipped and landed on my pillow. Confused, I looked back to find Soho sitting on my bed, half-naked, with the tip of her foot touching the floor.
"Why'd you do that?" I asked, keeping my vision peeled above her shoulders.
She shrugged. "I won't change it back to normal until the morning."
"But then I can't lay down on the floor. Only the pillow will keep me from slipping, and it's too small for my body."
"Sorry to hear that. If only there was another surface you could sleep on…"
Shock took hold of me once more—the surprise of what I didn't feel right to assume were Soho's intentions.
"Turn off the light," she suddenly said. Still facing her, I tugged on the string and cut the light, leaving only our voices remaining in the dark.
"Does this make it easier, Klyson?"
With no eye contact for the voice that entranced me, I felt less awkward.
"Are you sure, Soho?"
There was a silent nod from her side of the room.
"Didn't you say the bed was too warm? It'll get even warmer if I'm there."
"I lied. It's cold." She paused. "Can you please come warm me up?"
My insides erupted with butterflies. My face felt warmer than ever, and my breath was suddenly shallow. I could hear her breathing the same way across the room.
"I've disabled Kinetic, you know."
I stepped off the pillow slowly, and sure enough, the concrete floor had retained its grip. Like a natural magnetic field, I felt a force emanating from her direction that pulled me towards her. My body began to move on its own. Although I couldn't see what I approached, I could sense how close I was getting to the bed with every step forwards, before suddenly—
"Get over here."
Arms wrapped around my back and pulled me right into the bed. As I fell forwards towards a comfy unknown, my face was greeted with a warm surface, and an even warmer touch upon my lips. I couldn't see the interaction I'd suddenly engaged with, but I could feel the sensation—the overflowing passion.
"Klyson…"
For the first time ever, the storage unit felt warm that night.