The Title Will Go Here - 8. Chapter 8

Ohmahgahd, this chapter is long again... 

- VIII -

Emptiness. Hollow, indifferent emptiness. Stratos knew this feeling well – it would hit him hard after every single performance. It would always feel as if he gave to that stage everything he had, and now there was absolutely nothing left, leaving him empty, indifferent, and tired. He hated that feeling, but it was inevitable – he knew that. Thankfully, the feeling would never last too long – two days at the most, and then he’d start filling up with emotions again.

He was dreadfully ready to dive into that same hateful echoing dullness of nothing, when to his enormous surprise, he realized that it never came. He had given out everything he thought he had during this performance; he’d given out more than he ever had; he was ready to pay the price for that, ready to feel dead inside, ready to fake smiles and excitement. It never happened. It started to creep up, almost immediately after he took his hands off the warm keys of the satisfied instrument, but then he turned towards the audience, his eyes instantly found their golden aim, and all of a sudden, the emptiness shattered into pieces, filling him with almost delirious satisfaction.

He spent at least an hour backstage, exchanging handshakes and hugs, accepting an entire sea of flowers, signing photographs and wrinkled pages of the program, and swallowing every single compliment. Usually, he didn’t care much about flattering comments and praises, always feeling strangely-cynical about them, thinking it was the audience’s obligation to do so, something that was expected. This time, however, he knew that not a single word reflected any requirement; this time, he knew that the compliments were sincere.

His eyes kept darting towards the farther wall where Gemini was standing rigidly-still, waiting for the crowd to finally recede, and trying to make himself look like just another part of the shadow that came from a large potted tree next to him. His efforts weren’t very successful, however. Gemini would never be unnoticeable, Stratos thought when he caught quite a few curious, judgmental looks cast towards the reason of his incredible inspiration tonight.

He felt a stabbing wave of dark irritation roll over him, and brought hugs, flowers, and autographs to a hurried end, not really caring about murmurs and disappointment. He knew it wouldn’t last – the reception would fix everything.

It took another fifteen minutes for the wide corridor to return to its anticipated emptiness, and Stratos threw a bouquet of flowers that he was still holding on the table, making it disappear in the sea of roses and lilies.

“God, I needed this...” he muttered when he crossed the distance between him and the potted tree in several quick steps. “I needed this...” he said again and sank his fingers in the soft golden hair, impatiently locking his lips on the tantalizing mouth.

He did need this, he realized when he found himself trapped in the immediate tight circle of trembling arms; he craved this for the entire time he was dealing with endless praises and autographed pictures.

“Too weird...” the same thought tried to sneak back into his mind, but it never got a chance to do that, immediately swept aside by much more powerful ‘I need this...!’

He was getting completely lost in the growing, blooming kiss, when suddenly, someone said in a thoughtful tone:

“You know, this is not an oak tree... It’s not that big... It doesn’t really conceal you...”

Stratos swallowed a startled exhale, noting the suddenly-wide golden eyes, and turned his head, letting his hands to slide onto Gemini’s shoulders. Then he blinked several times, feeling his mouth slowly stretch in a disbelieving smile.

“Katherine...?” He said finally, and let go of the tense shoulders. “Holy hell, is that really you?”

“In the flesh,” she said very seriously and took a small bow.

“Holy hell...” he said again and stepped towards her.

She finally laughed, and the sound came out unexpectedly bright and free. Gemini blinked, and then slightly frowned when Stratos suddenly grabbed her in a hurried hug, spinning around a couple of times, as if he was trying to perform some strange, quick dance move. She laughed again, and Gemini frowned deeper when he saw her arms lock tightly around Stratos’ neck. He studied her through his eyelashes, never smoothing out the same tight frown and not even noticing it.

She was a petite, slender woman with curly reddish hair that fell all over her back and shoulders in untamed waves. Somehow, Gemini knew that all those curls didn’t come from hair curlers – they were natural.

She had unexpectedly bright black eyes that looked striking against her slightly tanned skin and red hair. Her mouth was precisely shaped, perfectly pink, and slightly too wide, which added some strange charm to her appearance. She let out another free, bright laughter, and Gemini felt a sharp, unpleasant stab deep in his chest.

“You are back!” Stratos said after he spun her around one last time and relaxed the circle of his arms, letting her feet touch the floor again. “When did you come back?”

“Wednesday afternoon,” she nodded without taking her hands off his shoulders.

“And you never called me?” he frowned with genuine accusation, and she gave him a wide smile.

“I knew that you had a concert tonight,” she said, and Gemini gritted his teeth at her sincerity. “Didn’t want to distract you, and...” She paused. “I wanted to make an entrance,” she sighed after a few seconds. “I always loved surprising you...!”

“I know,” he laughed and gave her another hug. This one was brief, however, and didn’t involve any spinning. “How long has it been...?” he frowned without looking away from her face. “Two years...?”

“Yup,” she nodded, and finally, took her hands off his shoulders, running her fingers through her unruly curls, pulling them into an impatient ponytail. “Boy, do I have wild stories for you...” she said in a low voice, and Stratos grinned.

“I bet,” he nodded. “Can’t wait to hear them! God, I missed you...!”

Gemini looked away when the musician buried his face in those unruly curls, his arms locking tightly around her small frame once again.

“I missed you too...” Katherine said in a muffled voice, her face pressed against his neck.

“Come to the reception,” Stratos finally pulled away, his expression beaming and happy.

“Of course, I will!” she snorted, and then glanced at the sea of flowers. “What about...?”

She didn’t finish the question, slightly raising her eyebrow, and Stratos shrugged.

“It’ll be taken care of,” he said lightly. “It’s always taken care of...”

“All right,” she looked at him, and suddenly, her smile shrank a little, and her expression became more serious. “Oh, Stratos...” she sighed. “I did miss you...” She leaned forward. “So much... I should’ve never left... I was such an idiot...!”

She leaned even closer to his face, clearly aiming for his lips, an unborn kiss dancing on her mouth, and Gemini’s teeth locked together even harder. Stratos let out another smile, and leaned towards her as well. She almost closed her eyes, slightly parting her lips, when all of a sudden, he turned his head just a little bit, and placed a big, friendly kiss on her right cheek.

Gemini blinked at that and his jaw slightly relaxed. Katherine’s mouth twitched with surprised confusion, and she took a small step back, never pressing the matter any further.

“Where is that after-party?” she asked in the same bright voice, and Gemini suddenly realized that she hasn’t glanced at him even once. It was as if he wasn’t even there.

“You have your car?” Stratos asked her, and she shook her head.

“Took a cab here,” she said, and Stratos frowned at that.

“Come with us then,” he said, and Gemini couldn’t tell what it was exactly that he felt when Stratos’ fingers entwined with his, and Katherine’s arm sneaked around the musician’s waist. The feeling was mixed, to say the least.

They walked out of the building, all three of them linked together, and Gemini shuddered involuntarily when a sudden gust of wind decided to strike him head-on, ruffling his hair and throwing sharp snow in his face. Stratos never looked at him, immersed into a laughing conversation with Katherine (“Remember when this happened...?” “Yeah...! Do you remember when we...” “Oh, God, that was great! I still can’t believe that we...”), but as soon as that shudder ran through Gemini’s body, he pulled the blond kelari closer in a quick, almost automatic gesture, pressing him tightly against himself and protecting him from another gust of wind. Immediately after he did that, Katherine said something about some winery and an old bridge, and Stratos laughed so hard that he had to stop for a second or two to avoid slipping in the snow. Gemini’s teeth locked tightly once again. The mixed feeling kept growing.

They got to Stratos’ car that was parked a bit farther than usual tonight, and the musician impatiently pushed the button on his keychain, making the doors of the car to click simultaneously with a loud, unsatisfied sound. Without saying or asking anything, Katherine opened the door of the car and slipped into the front passenger’s seat, slightly shivering from cold.

“Brrr...” she said and shook her head, getting rid of some snowflakes. “Turn on the heater, Stratos...! I feel like I am about to turn into an icicle!”

“You could never handle anything lower than fifty degrees,” Stratos snorted, completely undisturbed by the fact that Gemini’s shoulders became rigid the minute he realized that he had no choice but to get into the back seat.

“I don’t like cold,” Katherine said seriously without shutting the door. “You never seemed to mind that...” She cocked her head slightly to the right, a small, sly smile playing with the corners of her mouth. “Actually, I remember one night when you turned down the heat in your house ‘by accident’...” she made quick air quotes with her fingers. “...just so you could warm me up...”

Stratos let out another loud laughter and reached for the open door.

“I know,” he said lightly. “I am more straightforward now. Don’t beat around the bush as much as I used to... Watch your foot,” he said warningly when she set the tip of her boot on the edge of the car.

She blinked and pulled her foot underneath the seat, and Stratos smiled again and closed the door of the car. Gemini let out a sigh and reached for the door handle, getting ready to get into the back seat, when Stratos suddenly snaked one of his arms behind his back, and a second later, his fingers found their quick way into the golden ruffle of long hair.

Gemini let out a surprised moan when their mouths clashed together, and parted his lips when he felt the insistent tongue demanding an entrance. The tongue immediately took advantage of that, dancing inside his mouth, running over his teeth, and caressing everything it could reach. He started raising his hands, aiming for the back of Stratos’ neck, when the kiss was over as suddenly as it began.

He blinked several times, trying to regain his composure when Stratos pulled away with a small smile and swung open the door of the car.

“Get in,” he said in a low voice. “Before you freeze...”

Gemini blinked again and silently slid into the back seat, his head spinning, his mind boggling from the same mixed feeling, strange anger, and some weird unknown pain that kept stabbing him with short, mad kicks. He bit his lip and leaned onto the back of the seat, looking outside and trying to ignore Katherine’s melodic voice and her bright laughter.

****                

The last big gathering Gemini had ever attended was his eighth birthday party, and to be honest, he didn’t remember it that well. He remembered that he loved it, there were lots of people there, and his mother was beaming the entire day, her eyes turning all starry whenever she looked at him. There was something else about that birthday party; he vaguely remembered something not very pleasant, something that worried him, but he had no idea what it was.

That birthday party was the last big formal gathering he had ever attended. There were quite a few semi-big gatherings after that, but they were neither formal nor pleasant, and he tried his best not to think about those. Besides, he would usually be the only ‘guest of honor’ in those gatherings, and that title was something he hated so much that it made him dizzy every time he thought about it.

This reception was all about Stratos, he knew that, and it made him feel a little safer. He knew that he would draw inevitable attention, and that there was no way for him to avoid that, but he figured that if he tried staying out of the spotlight as much as he could, everything would turn out just fine. After all, everybody’s attention would be focused on Stratos – he was the star. He kept telling himself silently that everything would be just fine, that he had no reason to worry, that Stratos would be there the entire time, but he couldn’t help but feel that same old crippling, nauseating fear stirring in the pit of his stomach. He hated that fear, but he couldn’t shut it out no matter how hard he tried.

They arrived to the party a little bit after ten in the evening, and he couldn’t believe the ovations that exploded all over the Plaza the minute Stratos walked inside. He was a bit relieved when he saw how big this place was – Leon rented the center floor of the city Plaza, which was perfect for this particular reception. The place was huge, and Gemini figured that it wouldn’t be a problem for him to blend in with the shadows somewhere in the corner while waiting for Stratos to decide to go home finally.

To his wary surprise, blending in with the shadows didn’t work out as well as he hoped. First of all, the entire place was ridiculously well lit, bright lights and electric candles everywhere, no place for darkness whatsoever. Second of all, he realized that no matter how hard he tried to be invisible, almost everyone’s attention concentrated on him after Stratos would receive his exploding with applause bit. The fact that there was a hell of a lot of wild rumors floating around didn’t help a single bit. It seemed that pretty much everyone here was going to give him a cold, evaluating, sometimes plain hostile look that made him want to be literally invisible.

“Why don’t I possess any abilities?” he thought tightly yet again (he would wonder that quite often, fantasizing about different scenarios that he would be able to bring to life if he did possess at least something). “Wonder if it’s a kelari thing... Just like my fast healing...”

He let out a sigh and grabbed another cup of coffee off the counter, half-registering Katherine’s bright laughter that came from somewhere on his right. Katherine turned out to be quite well known, and her sudden arrival tonight stirred a lot of attention. Not as much as Stratos’ performance, of course, but it seemed that almost everyone felt it was their duty to grab her hand, give her a hug, or at least a quick ‘Oh my God! Katherine...!’

He was sitting by the bar counter, emptying his sixth cup of coffee, his eyes glued to the dark marble of the counter, wondering how long Stratos would want to stay here, when suddenly, there was low and sultry:

“You are it, aren’t you?”

He blinked and slowly lowered his coffee cup, shifting his gaze to his right. The man who spoke to him seemed to be in his early forties, his form strangely lean and chubby at the same time, his hair short and a bit messed up. Gemini slightly frowned when he saw the man’s eyes – they were dark-brown, a little slanted, and hazy as hell. It was obvious that the man had one too many drinks by now.

Gemini knew a bit too well that arguing (or even talking, for that matter) with drunks rarely led to anything good. His eyes darted around, searching for Stratos, and he felt even more uneasy when he couldn’t spot him.

“You are it...” the man announced once more and leaned on the counter with one elbow, his eyes as hazy as before, his smile growing bigger.

“Uh...” Gemini said and slowly shifted backwards. “Excuse me...?”

The man laughed, and Gemini blinked at the unexpected sincerity of that laughter.

“You are it,” the man said again, adding a firm nod this time. “Stratos has finally come to his senses, huh?”

Gemini started to get off his tall stool when the man demonstrated impressive and somewhat startling speed and coordination for a drunk, shooting one of his hands forward and grabbing Gemini’s upper arm.

“Mm-mm,” he said quickly, and his smile made him look goofy. “Not yet... I know there is a line, and I don’t really care...” He half-closed his eyes, swallowing his sudden hiccup. “Just tell me what number I have...”

Gemini frowned at that.

“Number...?” he muttered dumbfoundedly, and the man blinked several times, and all of a sudden, his smile grew even wider.

“There is no line?” he said a bit louder and his grip tightened on Gemini’s arm. “Bloody hell...” He swallowed another hiccup and a slight burp, making Gemini wince. “I am one lucky son of a bitch...!”

“I’m sorry...” Gemini muttered and tried pulling away. “I think you have mistaken me for someone else...”

“Ha...!” the man said seriously and moved closer. “You are that kelari everyone is talking about... Stratos has finally come to his senses and brought you here... To share, right...?”

Gemini jerked backwards, understanding a little bit too late, and the man’s grip tightened significantly.

“Mm-mm,” he said again, his goofiness trading places with something much darker. “If I am the first in line, it’s going to stay this way... Now...” He glanced around. “This place seems bright, but trust me...” He smiled and hiccupped at the same time. “There are several very intimate corners around here... Come on...” He straightened up, harshly pulling Gemini’s arm. “I can’t wait to see what you can do... Blow me first, all right?”

Gemini jerked backwards harder than before, his old panic-mode coming back to life with alarming ease.

“No...” he muttered and tried pulling his arm away. “No... You got it wrong... Just let go of me...!”

“Wrong my ass...” the man snorted and squeezed his fingers tighter. “Come on...” He stepped closer. “For the next half an hour, you are my bitch...! Let’s go...”

He tried to start walking, and Gemini jerked backwards even harder, making him sway on his feet and hit his hip on the hard marble counter. The man hissed at that.

“Goddammit...” He shot a quick, dark look at Gemini, not a shadow of a smile on his face anymore. “That’s it...” he nodded, his eyes hazier than before. “I will have to pay for damaging you...” He let out another hiccup. “That’s fine...”

Gemini gritted his teeth and pressed his free hand into the man’s chest, pushing him away as hard as he could.

“Let go of me...!” he said louder. “Just let go...!”

...Stratos was getting tired of the entire ordeal sooner than he thought he would. The intense performance a few hours earlier was finally catching up to him. He flashed another polite smile and nodded habitually without really listening to whoever was talking to him. He kept nodding and saying occasional ‘Yes’ or ‘Thank you’ every few seconds, and he knew that it worked just fine. He heard Katherine’s melodic laughter ringing from somewhere on his left and briefly thought that he should say ‘Good night’ to her before leaving. He quickly glanced at his watch, making sure that whoever was talking to him didn’t notice that. He was successful, and after he saw that it was almost midnight, he let out an inaudible sigh and decided that after this particular conversation he’d better go find Gemini and head home.

He kept nodding in the same smiling, polite manner, his mind wondering, when suddenly, he thought that he heard Gemini’s voice. He blinked without losing his polite smile and listened harder, slightly tilting his head to the right.

“Let go of me...!” he heard, and smiling politely suddenly became the least of his concerns.

“Excuse me,” he said quickly, ignoring a confused, almost disbelieving look and some slight stutter that he received as the result.

He turned around without paying any attention to the person he was faking smiles for just a minute ago, and looked around with a tight frown.

“...go of me...!” he heard again, and this time, he knew which way to go.

He headed towards the bar counter, unable to see what was going on behind the tall dark marble and ignoring several about-to-be-born conversations that shot his way the minute he started walking. He finally got to the counter, suddenly realizing how big it really was, and went around it to the farther corner of the dark marble.

When he finally saw what was happening, his first impulse was to grab the back of the wrinkled white collar in front of him and run the face of the owner of that collar into the wall hard enough to knock out his every single tooth. He restrained himself from doing that and stepped closer, slamming his hand on the shoulder of whoever it was that held Gemini’s upper arm so tightly that Stratos immediately knew there would be bruises on the pale skin.

“What’s going on?” he asked in a low, tight voice, and the owner of the shoulder jumped up, let out a startled hiccup, and turned around.

“Ah...” he said, and Stratos winced at the strong scent of whiskey on his breath. “Stratos...! About time...” He nodded without letting go of Gemini’s arm. “I just need half an hour with your pet... Tell him to behave...!”

“Robert...” Stratos tightened his grip on the shoulder underneath his palm, causing another startled hiccup. “Let go of him... Now!” he added a little louder when the man wouldn’t release his grasp on Gemini’s arm.

The man blinked, frowned, and slowly lowered his hand, finally letting go of the slender arm he kept holding.

“You are drunk,” Stratos lowered his voice again without looking away from the hazy slanted eyes, and ignoring quite a few curious looks that shot his way. “Therefore, I am not going to push this any further tonight; just go home... However...” He paused for a second. “Tomorrow, when you are back to normal, I will expect an apology,” he nodded in the same tightly-calm manner.

The man frowned with genuine confusion.

“An apology...?” he repeated slowly. “I can do that right now...” He shook Stratos’ hand off his shoulder and straightened up, fixing his tuxedo. “Sorry for not asking you first before getting rough with your pet... Are we good?” He raised his eyebrows, clearly oblivious to the fact that Stratos was getting closer and closer to the very dangerous, explosive edge. “Can I have my half an hour now?”

“He is not my pet,” Stratos said calmer than before, and this time, the hazy eyes finally blinked with slight alarm. “And if you ever hurt him or even touch him again, start praying, because God is going to be the only one who would be able to help you...”

“Stratos...”

“Good night, Robert,” Stratos said very evenly, and slightly pushed the man aside, stepping closer to Gemini and putting his arm around his shoulders in a protective, possessive manner.

He started walking, leading the blond kelari away from the bar counter and completely ignoring the man he left behind, experiencing a very strong desire to break something; preferably, something big. He took a deep breath instead and stopped walking when they got far enough from the counter. He turned towards Gemini and put both hands onto his rigid shoulders.

“You okay?” he asked softly and received a silent, tense glance in return. He let out a sigh. “It won’t happen again,” he said, and Gemini looked at him once more, still saying nothing. “I won’t let it to happen again,” he nodded.

“It was an honest mistake,” Gemini muttered a minute later, and Stratos frowned at that. “He simply figured there was just one reason for you to bring your toy out in public...” He shrugged, his mouth twisting into a tight, bitter line. “I mean...” He looked away for a second. “They all know what I am, and what else would they expect from a...”

Stratos pressed his finger against the tight lips without letting him to finish that sentence.

“You are not a toy...” he murmured without looking away from the golden eyes. “And you never will be...” He slowly ran fingers of his other hand through the shining hair, noting bitter darkness that was hiding in the golden lakes. “I won’t let anything like this to happen again... I promise,” he finished in a whisper and moved his finger away from the tight mouth, replacing it with his lips.

Gemini let out a small, quick inhale, his shoulders tense once again, perfectly aware of the fact that this sudden display of affection was immediately noticed, and that it would be known by everyone who managed to miss it right now. Stratos seemed not to care about that in the slightest, however, running his fingers through the silky hair again and locking his other arm around the waist in front of him.

Gemini’s hands slowly traveled upwards, grasping Stratos’ shoulders with weak desperation, and he suddenly realized that his lips weren’t pressed tightly anymore, Stratos’ slow explorations of his mouth making his head spin. He let out a small, unconscious moan, and the kiss suddenly grew hungrier, making his heart to thump in some weird skipping rhythm.

“I am sure they got the message, Stratos,” someone said in a low voice, and Gemini’s fingers dug deeper into Stratos’ shoulders, his eyes flying wide open.

“What message?” Stratos placed a final slow kiss on the suddenly tense mouth, and pulled away without letting go of the waist he was still holding onto.

Katherine sighed and gave him a small smile.

“The message,” she said in the same low voice. “You, marking your territory,” she explained a few seconds later when Stratos kept looking at her with a silent question in his eyes.

“Marking my territory?” Stratos let out short laughter. “I am not marking my territory...! Why would you even...”

“Oh, please,” she interrupted him with a snort. “You might’ve as well just waved around a placard that said, ‘He is mine; stay away or else!’ in huge bold letters...! Believe me, they got the message!”

He narrowed his eyes at that.

“I don’t know why you’d think that,” he said without a smile this time. “But I wasn’t marking my...”

“Stratos,” she interrupted him again. “If you were a dog, you would be urinating all over him right now,” she nodded, ignoring his quick wince. She looked at something behind his shoulder. “And it looks like your poor manager is about to pop a few vessels in his brain...” she muttered, and Stratos turned his head.

He blinked when he caught Leon’s dark, unmoving glance that made him feel strangely uneasy. He frowned when he recognized pure, restrained fury hiding behind the standing-still darkness. Leon caught his look, finally blinked, and turned around, heading towards someone in the crowd. Stratos watched him walk away for a few seconds, feeling guilty about the fact that he managed to forget about Leon ever since he started playing tonight. “Dammit,” he thought bitterly. “He was in charge of everything... Renting, booking, setting everything up...” He glanced around. The reception was exquisite. “Dammit,” he thought again and let out a sigh. He was going to make it up to Leon, he thought with determination. Not tonight, because he knew that if he tried talking to his friend right now, it wouldn’t lead to anything good – Leon would fume for at least the next day, he knew that. “Sunday,” he thought and slightly nodded to himself. “I will make it up to him on Sunday...”

He knew that it would take a lot more than simply buying lunch to get Leon to stop smoldering with silent rage, but he didn’t care. He felt guilty, and he would do anything to straighten things up between them; he would do anything to get his friend to forgive him (the incident this afternoon hasn’t even entered his mind; it seemed insignificant right now, to say the least). He let out another sigh and looked at Katherine who watched him with a strange curious expression in her bright eyes.

“We are going home,” he said, grabbing Gemini’s hand, and Katherine’s eyebrows slightly shot upwards at the word ‘we.’

“Stratos, this is your party,” she said in a low voice. “All these people are here because of you...” She paused for a second. “For you,” she finished with a slight nod.

“I made an appearance,” he shrugged and glanced around. “Most of them won’t even notice that I am gone,” he hemmed and looked at her again. “You are the only one I wanted to wish a good night to before leaving...”

Katherine smiled at that.

“Are you free tomorrow?” he asked with a small, thoughtful frown, and now, it was her turn to shrug.

“Sure,” she said without looking away from his face. “For you I am always free...”

“Coffee around noon?” he offered and she gave him a smile, her eyes never even pausing on Gemini, as if the blond kelari was completely invisible.

“Sounds great,” she said softly and stepped a bit closer. “Also...” She slowly ran her fingers up his chest, heading towards his neck. “What do you say if we get together tomorrow night as well...? After coffee...? I am dying to catch up, and I have so many things to tell you...!”

“Sure,” he shrugged, lightly kissing the tip of her fingers that made their way to his mouth. “Want me to pick you up or...”

“No need,” she interrupted him. “I will come over. Around seven...?” She raised her eyebrow, and he immediately nodded.

“Sounds good... I will get that ice-cream cake that you would sell your soul for... With extra cherries,” he nodded, and she laughed and traced his upper lip with a tip of her finger, soliciting another light kiss.

“You still remember,” she said softly.

“Would never forget,” he nodded seriously, and she smiled again.

“I will bring the wine,” she slightly straightened up. “You provide the massage oil...” She let out another slow smile. “I’ve learned a few techniques that will make the ninth cloud seem like a cheap joint...!”

“Tempting,” he nodded as seriously. “Massage oil it is!”

“See you tomorrow,” she murmured and leaned closer.

This time, she managed to trap his mouth for a few seconds, and Gemini looked away, the same stabbing, angry pain making him frown tighter than before. Stratos pulled away before she got a chance to pry his mouth open and gave her a quick smile.

“Good night, Katherine,” he said in a low voice, and her black eyes clouded with something that resembled disappointment.

“See you at noon tomorrow,” she returned the smile, the shadow of disappointment completely gone.

Gemini couldn’t help but throw a quick glance at her before they started walking away, his fingers wrapped tightly around Stratos’ hand. This time, Katherine finally looked at him and blinked when she saw his heavy, dark expression. He immediately shifted his gaze away and followed Stratos outside, never letting go of his hand. Katherine watched them disappear in the night, and her expression was very thoughtful.

“Having fun yet?” someone asked in a low, somewhat dark voice, and she turned her head.

“Loads,” she nodded without a smile. “So, Leon...” She snaked her arm around his and bent her elbow. “Tell me, what’s with the kelari...?”

“You will need a drink,” he said in the same dark manner. “And so will I...”

“That good, huh?” she muttered and he didn’t say anything to that, leading her towards the bar counter.