'Alright, Kai. She's just a woman,' Kai took a slow breath, closing his eyes and trying to calm himself. He could almost feel Morgan's amused smile even through the dark behind his eyelids. 'Just a woman... who also happens to be the daughter of a Sovereign!' His mind raced as he snapped his eyes open again, a flush creeping up his neck.
Leaning back in his seat, Kai let out a slow breath, raising his hand and dragging it down his face. "I will try, Lady Morgan," he said with an exhausted voice.
Morgan hummed in approval, her wicked smile staying for another split second. "Good," she said, picking up her fork again. "Because watching you squirm is starting to get a little boring."
Her teasing, though flustering and embarrassing, was oddly helping Kai relax -at least a little. Still, nothing could fully ease the tension of dining with someone who could -without hesitation- cut him down where he sat if he did something wrong.
'She is Nephis' adopted sister, so it's alright,' he reassured himself before trying to open a small talk again, hoping it could help him lift the tension.
"How is Nephis?" he asked, reaching for his fork as well. His eyes briefly flickered upwards, taking a quick glance at Morgan when she wasn't looking.
Morgan shrugged nonchalantly, using her knife to push the remaining food onto her fork. "Father's always sending her into battle. Right now, she and her Fire Keepers are scouting the area near Godgrave."
Kai already knew that, of course, he and Cassie had been keeping in touch through her powers after all. But this wasn't about exchanging information. It was about keeping his mind occupied, forcing himself to focus on the conversation instead of letting his thoughts run wild and trip over themselves, sabotaging him in process. Just like always.
"Aren't you eager to join the battle too?" he asked calmly and his grip on his own fork was finally steady again. At this point, most of his nervousness had faded. Whether it was from talking or from being so exhausted -both mentally and physically-, he didn't know.
A bit of it returned though when he saw Morgan's brow twitch, the air around her shifting and turning sharp. She muttered through gritted teeth, her jaw clenched tightly, "I am. But unfortunately, I have to be here, wasting my time with a pretty man instead of fighting alongside my precious sister."
'Don't talk about anything battle related,' Kai made a mental note, gulping as he tried to calm her down.
"I don't think there's much fighting going on anyway," he said, chuckling nervously, "I heard from Cassie that they're mostly just cleaning up Corrupted Nightmare Creatures."
'And hold on, was she talking about me when she said pretty man?' he thought all of a sudden, eyes widening. For a brief moment, the menacing aura around Morgan completely slipped from his mind.
But Morgan sighed sharply, snapping Kai's attention back to her mesmerizing and menacing face. He noticed that the strands she had tucked behind her ear so carefully earlier had fallen loose again, her black, straight hair cascading down like a veil now, making face somehow paler.
"Whatever," she muttered, her earlier sharpness fading just as quickly as it had come. "When the war starts, I'll be participating in plenty of fights."
'Her mood swings are crazy,' Kai mused, but then the weight of her words hit him.
"So, the war will happen for sure?" he asked, gently placing the fork diagonally onto the now empty plate.
As he wiped his mouth with a napkin, Morgan mirrored his gesture. "Yes, but that has nothing to do with you, dragon. The war won't affect your precious Waking World." She said after tapping the napkin lightly onto her lips, making sure not to smear the vermillion lipstick on them.
Lies.
Kai pretended not to know and smiled, "At least something good. The Waking World is already in shambles, it would be a devastating blow if you guys pushed your war into the outside world."
Not thinking much, he spoke up again after a moment of silence, "Don't you think it's a shame to abandon our precious home and watch it slowly get consumed by chaos…?" Kai's voice was laced with sorrow, one that Morgan surely noticed. "Plus, there are still millions of people there, all of them hoping that someone will save them. Some of them also waiting for you and your father."
Morgan didn't answer right away. Instead, she picked up her glass of wine and downed it in one go, just like Kai had done earlier. But unlike his accidental slip, she did it on purpose.
In fact, she took the half-filled bottle of the same wine the waiter had brought earlier and refilled her glass without hesitation.
"Thirsty too?" Kai asked with a curious and worried smile.
She downed another full glass of wine before answering, "Horribly so." With a forceful slam of the glass onto the table, she stood up, nodding her head in the direction of the door.
Kai immediately stood up, no questions asked, eager to leave himself. But he couldn't deny that a small part of him was enjoying the time spent with the princess. Despite how embarrassing and stressful it was...
When he noticed her leaving without any intention to pay or wait for the check, he was slightly stunned. "Aren't we going to pay?"
The princess stopped and looked back at him, her expression mirroring his shock, as if Kai said something utterly strange, "Do you seriously think they would ask the princess of Valor and Bastion for money while in Bastion? If they dare to, I'll cut this whole building down,".
'She isn't even lying…' Kai thought, his eyes showing his worry and shock. Before he could form a response or even speak, Morgan had already turned and walked toward the front door. The tense workers -their faces pale after hearing her last words- visibly relaxed once they saw her stepping out.
Kai nearly face-palmed but still followed after her, stopping next to the bar with the register. He leaned slightly forward, giving a quiet, apologetic nod. "Thanks for the meal, and sorry for the trouble," he murmured, pulling out a couple of golden coins with an anvil on them.
The waitress's face behind the register lightened up as she accepted the payment and wished him a goodbye with a sweet smile.
Kai nodded and returned the smile before quickly exiting the café. As soon as he stepped outside, he found Morgan standing just before the entrance with her arms crossed under her chest, the blazer still hanging from her toned shoulders.
"Thank you for inviting me for a meal, princess," Kai said with a nod, standing next to her. The narrow entrance of the café left them standing close, so close that he could feel her imposing presence. As he looked down at Morgan, it strangely felt as if she was the one towering over him.
Morgan waved his gratitude away with a flick of her hand. "You're free to go now, dragon," she said, her tone dry and annoyed.
'Did I do something?' Kai blinked, trying to understand what might've upset her. The only explanation that made sense was that he'd said something to irritate her. That was the only logical reason he could come up with. 'Was it the mention of Nephis?'
Looking away for a moment -not daring to look into her piercing vermillion eyes- Kai cleared his throat before speaking. "Is there any place around here that serves desserts?" he asked, offering the princess a friendly smile. "After a meal like that, something sweet would be nice."
"I said you're free to go," she repeated herself sharply, the two vermillion orbs nearly piercing into his very soul. The intensity of her gaze made Kai take a small step back, his back pressing against the wooden pole that supported the low roof of the entrance
'I definitely did something,' he thought nervously, but having no guts to ask again he backed down without a fight and bowed his head, "It was a pleasure spending time with you, princess. I hope the Elders will give us an answer soon."
Morgan didn't answer. She just stood there, her arms crossed and her eyes still burning into him.
With a nervous gulp Kai stepped away. Without another word he launched himself upward like a bolt from a crossbow, piercing through air and gathering everyones attention in the square.
Once high enough he focused, and in an instant, his body changed. Flesh, muscle, scales and two wings exploded from him as he turned into a gigantic dragon high in the air. The dark, shining scales flashed as his wings spread wide, cutting sharply through the air and space.
'I should ask Nephis what I did wrong next time I see her,' he thought, flapping his massive wings against the sharp and cold wind before launching himself forward. 'Wait, no! Nephis is the last person I should be asking about such stuff…'
'Maybe Effie?' he thought, not even noticing the tough resistance coming from the wind, too caught up in his own mind. 'No. Not Effie!' But that thought disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
'She thinks I'm a pretty man though…' His thoughts started to spiral into that hole again, until something hit him suddenly. He was so caught up in himself that he didn't even notice the important detail.
'To where am I even flying?! I should be heading to the Waking World for a report!'