Getting back to the academy dorms, a wave of realization washed over Marcus. "Shit…" Marcus said in a defeated tone.
Kira looked over to Marcus with a curious expression. "Hmm, what's wrong Marcus?"
"Kinsley doesn't have a TV in her dorm…" Marcus said with a sigh. "I'll have to buy one."
"Oh, I have a TV in my dorm, well it's a monitor but, it all works the same," Kira said with a smile. "You can hook your console up in my room."
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief, he was so focused on playing his new game he completely forgot he needed a television. "Thank god, but why do you have a monitor in your room?" Marcus asked curiously.
"I'm studying to become a software engineer, remember?" Kira asked with a smile. "Having a computer is pretty important for that."
Marcus' eyes widened as he thought back to when he first met Kira. Sure enough, she did mention that along with fashion, she was indeed studying to become a software engineer. "Holy hell I forgot about that," Marcus said with a chuckle. "But now that I think about it, that definitely explains a lot."
Kira raised an eyebrow.
"Like what?" Kira asked, taking the lead as she led Marcus toward her dorm.
"Well, how smart you are." Marcus replied, "You're not just an attractive woman, but you're smart, that's why you were so quick to put clues together, that's how you found so much information on me, and that's why you had technical knowledge on gaming." Marcus then shook his head in disbelief, a smile crossing his lips. "Dangerous, you are dangerous."
Kira found herself blushing as she looked up at Marcus. "I don't know whether to be flattered or upset," Kira said as she looked away from Marcus.
Marcus found himself chuckling as he tapped the box under his arm. "God, it's almost funny how little I truly know either of you."
Marcus realized that he had truly jumped into the deep end with both Kira and Kinsley.
He didn't know their hobbies, goals, plans, or even their backgrounds.
Yet they already knew so much about him, especially Kira.
It was then Marcus vowed to take this lesson to heart and apply it almost immediately. He needed to know more about those who he surrounded himself with.
It wasn't long before Kira stopped before her dorm room, she quickly unlocked and opened the door. Stepping inside Marcus was greeted with a cozy and dimly lit room.
The room was around the same size as Kinsley's maybe slightly bigger. On the back wall was a window with purple curtains. On either side of the window were shelves filled with books and mannequin heads/torsos.
On the right wall was a twin-sized bed that was fully made and decorated with stuffed animals and pillows and beside her bed was the bathroom.
On the left wall was a whiteboard and a full-sized mannequin in the corner. Surrounding the base of the mannequin were boxes filled with sewing material and unfinished clothing. To the left of the mannequin was a walk-in closet.
And lastly, to the left of the front door, was Kira's PC set up. The setup was sleek and modern, it held what looked to be a powerful computer, its casing lined with soft RGB lights that slowly changed colors. There were multiple monitors sitting on the desk, three large ones that were lined side to side and curved inward, with a fourth smaller one that sat above the center monitor.
Marcus' eyes widened as his mouth dropped. "C-Christ." He stammered as he slowly approached the setup. Marcus hadn't seen anything as beautiful as this, his own setup couldn't even hold a candle to it.
Kira giggled at Marcus' reaction. If she had known Marcus would have drooled this hard over her setup, she would have just dragged him to her room from the beginning. *"Oh, how foolish of a woman I am."* she said in French, shaking her head as she took off her hat.
"Is that a wireless mouse with a charging mouse pad!" Marcus said in amazement. "Oh, is this monitor 4K?! Ultra HD with a 160 Hz Quantum OLED display, Kira don't lie to me, this isn't just for work, is it?"
Kira giggles as she lets her hair down. "I play a few simulation games, like Life 5."
Marcus frowned as he turned around to look at Kira. "All of this, for a simulation game that could run on a laptop?" He asked in disappointment.
Kira averted her gaze, "Well, I mod the game a little…"
"What kind of mods do you install?" Marcus asked.
"Well, realism overhauls, Better NPC dialogue, A few scripts, bigger cities, larger world, and a few others… like romance mods." She said softly.
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Huh?" He asked as he stepped closer, "What was that last part?"
Kira blushed hard. "You should plug in your console Marcus, I'm sure you're ready to play shooting games right?"
Marcus smirked deviously as he placed down his boxed console. "What happened to all of that… opening up?" Marcus said with a chuckle as he approached Kira. "Come on, let's open up Kira, what mods did you install?"
Kira blushed harder as she watched Marcus approach her. "Romance mods, I downloaded romance mods, Marcus!" Kira admitted.
"Oh, romance?" Marcus said with a smirk, "Do you uhm, do you make your little characters kiss or something?" He teased her.
Kira took a step back as Marcus grew closer, eventually backing against the bed and plopping down upon it.
Marcus stood over Kira with his arms crossed. He chuckled as his curiosity piqued, now that the shoe was on the other foot, Marcus found himself having fun.
Kira looked up to Marcus with a wry smile. "Something like that." She admitted, looking up to Marcus with her arms extended back.
Marcus smiled as he leaned back. "I see why you were so pushy now, it's fun to watch people squirm around uncomfortably." Not to mention, he found himself wanting to know more about Kira.
Kira giggled as she leaned forward, crossing her arms. "That's not the complete reason why I did that, but I am sorry for doing it." She said with a sincere expression. "It was wrong of me."
Marcus sighed. "I told you it's fine, I liked what you did, but…" Marcus fell silent as he crossed his and pulled his lips back. "I don't know, I thought…"
Marcus lowered his head as he threw a hand In the air. "I don't know what the hell I thought." He then turned his attention back to his game system, squatting down as he began opening it.
Kira sighed as she rose up from her bed. "It's okay, you can be honest, you think I'm a bitch, don't you?"
"No!" Marcus said hurriedly, looking up from his console. He didn't think Kira was bitch, he thought that she was trouble.
She was nosy, persistent, and a bit forceful.
But after spending some time and learning about her. Marcus realized she wasn't as nearly as bad as he thought. "I'm sorry Kira," Marcus said as he looked down at the box before him. "I was afraid and stubborn."
Kira approached Marcus from behind and knelt beside him. "Afraid of what?"
"I don't know, I don't know what's wrong with me," Marcus answered. "I just, I've been tossed around so much that at the first sight of normalcy, I jumped at it." He said softly, "And you, you…" Marcus fell silent as he tightened his fist.
Kira hesitantly placed a hand on Marcus' back. "Is, is this ok?" She asked softly as she gently began rubbing his back.
Marcus silently nodded. He was at a loss for words, he realized now that he had no clue what the hell he was doing. And instead of taking a step back to assess the situation, he continued to double and even triple down.
"I'm pathetic," Marcus said with a sigh. He wanted to feel sorry for himself, but he couldn't, because this was the bed he made for himself.
And he was going to lie in it.
"I'm done talking about this," Marcus said coldly, continuing to open up his console.
Kira gave Marcus a sympathetic look as she continued rubbing consoling, her fingers spreading as she traced the patterns in his back. "You're not pathetic Marcus, you're only doing what you think is best, right?"
Marcus remained silent, focusing on unboxing his console, Kira watched him, clearly searching for something to say. "You're hurting and confused, yet you still try your best to do what you think is right."
Marcus didn't do what he thought was right, he did what did because he was afraid. Mistake after mistake was made because he was scared.
It frustrated him just to think about it.
"Kira I'm done, alright, I just want to play some games and enjoy today."
Kira sighed as she nodded. "Ok then, let's do that." She said softly, reaching over to help Marcus remove his console. Marcus watched as Kira's hands joined his inside the box.
As her hands brushed against him, he wanted to push her away.
But he couldn't, for some reason his body now craved her touch. Was he becoming soft, or was this something else entirely?
He didn't know, and he didn't care to think about it.
It wasn't long before the duo set up the console, Kira offered Marcus her rolling chair as she sat on the bed to watch him play. Marcus quickly set up an account and lost himself in Kings and Zombies.
After about an hour, Kira got a few messages from Cora.
— — —
CORA
Kira: I'm leaving the store with him now, he seems pretty excited about the console.
Cora: should I set up our project now?
Kira: no, I don't think I'll be ready today.
Cora: time is of the essence!!!
Cora: Do you have an idea of when?
Cora: Kira when?!?!
Kira: Tomorrow, we'll set up the project tomorrow, but just know if it fails, I doubt we'll get a second chance.
Cora: Finally, I'll get the stuff ready for tomorrow.
— — —
Kira softly giggled as she turned her phone off. *"I hope you like your surprise tomorrow Marcus, though, I wish I had just one more day."* Kira said softly in French, kicking her feet as she watched Marcus mindlessly smash the buttons on his controller.
After several hours of gaming, Kira approached Marcus from behind, gently placing her hands on his shoulders. "Marcus." She said softly. "School's out, Kinsley and Luna will be looking for us."
Marcus groaned as he slumped in his seat, he had enjoyed turning off his brain and losing himself in video games. "Can't I just stay in here?" Marcus mumbled.
Kira giggled as she tapped Marcus' shoulders, gently massaging them. "If it were up to me, I'd let you stay as long as you like, but I doubt Kinsley would approve of you staying in my room."
Marcus had almost forgotten about her. "Right." He said with a sigh, placing down his controller on Kira's desk.
That's another thing Marcus now regretted, tripling down with Kinsley instead of exploring his options.
"Are you coming to Kinsley's practice?" Marcus asked curiously, rising from his seat.
Kira shook her head. "No, but if you can, could you send Luna my way?" She asked with a pleading smile.
Marcus half-smiled. "Sure, I'll let her know." He then turned towards Kira's door and stepped outside into the corridor. "Keep my game system safe, because I'm coming to play it tomorrow." Marcus joked.
Kira smiled. "You can play it whenever you want."
Marcus felt his heart skip a beat as he looked at Kira. He had always found her attractive, and he always loved how well she touched him.
But this was different, He felt something spark within him, a flame perhaps?
Marcus shook his head as he closed the door, deciding not to dwell on it. "See you later."
Kira stared at the now-closed door, a faint smile playing on her lips. "I love you." She whispered softly.