~Videl~

"Close your eyes!" Videl commanded excitedly.

"Really?" Kane smirked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Pleeeaase?" She begged, hands clasped in front of her with a puppy dog pout - complete with a lip tremble and batting eyelashes.

Kane's eyes darkened and narrowed at her, but he sighed as he covered his eyes with his hands like she wanted. He teased her by cracking open his fingers slightly, and she gasped.

"No peeking!"

"Okay, okay." Kane relented, closing the gap between his fingers.

Videl brought the bowls from the counter to the table, and set the silverware as well. She spooned up a bite of stew for him to try.

"Open your mouth," Videl told him, hovering the spoon in front of him.

"Mm, I like the sound of that . . . " Kane said smoothly.

"Hush!"  Videl squeaked with a deep blush. "Do as you're told, mister."

"Bossy V - " Kane chuckled, licking his lips sensually. "Now, that's a side of you I haven't gotten to play with."

Videl made a whining noise that might have been his name, but even she couldn't tell. The image he had painted in her mind was distracting. Kane chuckled again at the sound, and finally opened his mouth so she could feed him. He took the bite, and Videl felt a zing  through her core from the unintentionally seductive way his lips slid off the spoon as she pulled it back.

"It tastes great, but what is it?" Kane started to uncover his eyes after he swallowed.

"Wait! Don't look," Videl chirped. "You have to guess! It's part of the game."

"What game?" Kane asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"I don't know," Videl admitted. "But guess!"

"Uhh . . . " Kane seemed to think about it for a second. "Is it food?"

Videl laughed. "Oh, come on, you're no fun! Guess for real."

"Tasty poison?" He joked, clearly making his own game of it.

"It will be, next time, if you don't give me a real guess."

"Alright," Kane snickered. "Is it a beef stew?"

"Yes! You win! You can open your eyes now," Videl grinned as he dropped his hands finally.

"What do I win?" Kane asked, giving her a lustful once-over.

Videl's heart skipped a beat and she stammered, "Y-You get to eat more stew." Videl handed him the spoon she had fed him with, blushing again.

Kane smirked at her bashfulness and took the spoon that she offered to him.

"I'll take it, because it's delicious, but I have some other ideas . . . "

Videl giggled nervously, and took a seat across from her little dining table.

"You have to play more games if you want more prizes," Videl said, taking a bite from her bowl.

"Well, I play to win," Kane winked, taking another bite of his. "Get ready for a shakedown, princess."

His silver eyes gleamed with mischief, like he was already planning on the sort of prizes he wanted, and they were far from innocent.

"You're a naughty dragon-slayer, aren't you?" Videl teased, narrowing her eyes at him accusingly.

"You don't know the half of it," Kane teased back. "You can punish me for it if you like?"

Videl flinched in the middle of taking a bite and swallowed hard, almost choking in surprise. She coughed and took a sip of water, avoiding his gaze.

"My Stars,"  she said under her breath, and Kane laughed at her reaction.

. . .

Once they finished their stew, it was getting late, and Videl was dreading the idea of Kane going home, and being left alone in her quarters. He must have noticed the apprehension in her expression as they were clearing the table.

"Are you okay?" Kane asked gently. "You look worried."

Videl winced, not wanting to sound needy by begging him to stay. She didn't respond right away, turning to carry her bowl and spoon to the sink, as she struggled to think of a lie that sounded believable.

"Is it because you don't think I'll let you do the dishes?" Kane pondered playfully. "Because I'll let you wash them, if you really want to. I know I still owe you some."

Videl smiled, but her eyebrows still furrowed with worry.

"Thanks," she said. "But it's not that . . . "

Kane's demeanor shifted from playful to concerned.

"Then what is it, baby?"

Her heart thumped at the pet name, and she turned away from the sink to face him but kept her gaze fixed on the tile.

"I . . . " Videl spoke in a timid voice. "I don't want you to go."

She hoped that he didn't think she was too clingy. He had already spent the whole day with her, after all. His response surprised her.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you?" Kane's tone was casual. "I'm staying the night."

It wasn't a question - he was stating it like it was a fact.

"Really?" Videl finally looked up at him, feeling hopeful.

"Yeah," Kane shrugged nonchalantly. "I just need to grab some things from my place, and I'll be right back."

"Okay!" Videl smiled, elated by the news, and threw her arms around him in a hug.

Kane is staying the night with me!! Thank the Stars!!

She wasn't going to be alone. After he left to go get his things, Videl did a little happy dance, then thumbed open her holo-menu to tell Sienna.

[KANE IS STAYING THE NIGHT WITH ME!]

With it, Videl sent a smiley face that had hearts for eyes. She bounced on the balls of her feet, as excited as she could be. Sienna's message popped up with a chime.

[He better be!]

With Sienna's message was a little butcher knife, suggesting that she would kill him otherwise. Videl laughed at the message - her best friend could be vicious! She liked that about her.

~Kane~

When Kane got back to his quarters, he found Dare snoring on the couch with his Virtual Pinball game still floating in front of his face, "GAME OVER" flashing on the hologram screen. Kane rolled his eyes and shook Dare's shoulder. He didn't wake up, so Kane just grabbed Dare's limp hand and pushed his opposite thumb against his own wristband to close his holo-menu for him. Then, Kane went to his bedroom to grab a few days' worth of clothes and his toothbrush. He threw his things into his empty gym bag, and slung it over his shoulder. As he left his quarters, it dawned on him that he had never stayed the night at a girl's place before. There was a first time for everything, he supposed. When he had gotten his own place, Darcy always stayed over - she said that it was much nicer than the quarters that she shared with her parents. And even when she had finally moved out of her parents' place, she still thought his place was nicer - not to mention, she couldn't stand her insufferable roommate that she had been assigned to share with, so she hardly ever left Kane's. Too bad for her, their relationship didn't last much longer after that. He never even saw her parents' quarters, or hers. He never invited his one-night-stands to his quarters either - they took him to theirs, but he never stayed after the sex. He dipped out while the bed was still warm. He wasn't going to cuddle or mill around for one extra second. He was out of there like the room had caught fire.

Once he got back to V's door and swiped his wristband, the green light and the beep that signified his authorization made him smile. That's right, door. Try and keep me out now, I dare you. You can't, and you're mad about it, huh? Yeah, you are. When the door slid open with a satisfying whoosh, he walked in to find V doing the dishes.

"Honey, I'm home," Kane called out in a singsong impression of ancient husbands who had lived on the Ground.

V turned halfway, elbow-deep in soap bubbles. He found it endearing that she liked to hand-wash dishes, rather than use the miniature autoclave dishwasher. Like a cute little housewife from the black-and-white shows.

"You're back!" She smiled cheerfully.

He walked up behind her and wound his arms around her waist, swaying slightly.

"Did you miss me already?" Kane teased, his lips murmuring in her ear.

She swayed with him as she scrubbed, shivering like his breath had tickled her ear.

"I really did," V mumbled honestly.

He kissed her cheek and let her go. "Good, because you can't get rid of me now," Kane said as he leaned against the counter beside her. "I'm in it for the long haul."

Him and his stockpile of sayings from the Ground. V never seemed to get tired of them, if she even knew how overused and outdated they were.

"Speaking of which . . . " Kane shook his gym bag. "Would I be imposing if I asked to use your shower?"

"Sure!" V nodded emphatically. "I mean, no - you're not imposing, of course you can use the shower!" She blushed at her flub - probably feeling embarrassed that she had misspoken. Or perhaps she was blushing at the idea of him naked in her quarters - even in the privacy of the bathroom.

"Nice," Kane smirked. "I'll go wash up before bed."

As he walked through her bedroom to get to the shower, he paused. The picture that had been smashed on the floor was face down on the dresser. Sienna must have removed the glass and placed it there. He turned it over, curiosity compelling him to look. It made sense now, why V had taken out her anguish on it. He looked at her father with a feeling of respect. V clearly inherited her entrancing eyes from him. He glared at her mother with contempt, quickly casting his gaze from her to the baby in her arms, and his glare softened immediately. He traced her cherubic face with a smile. She was a precious little beauty. He found himself hoping that if he and V had a daughter, that she would look just like she did as a baby girl. Fuck, I did not just think that!

Kane's eyes widened and he turned the picture back over the way that Sienna had left it, presumably to keep V's eyes from landing on it before she was ready to look at it again. Then he looked left and right, partially because he felt guilty to some degree for snooping through her things, and partially as if he imagined that his ridiculous thought of V bearing a child for him could somehow be sensed by the walls of her bedroom. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Get your shit together, man. V having your baby? What are you doing, letting that cross your mind? You sick motherfu-

"Kane?" V called out from the doorway with her eyes closed, and she was holding out a folded towel. "I brought you a towel. I don't think there are any fresh ones in there right now."

Kane was glad for the interruption, and he chuckled at her.

"I'm not undressed yet, V. You can open your eyes."

V opened one eye first, like she was thinking he might have been tricking her, and then the other, when she saw that he actually was clothed.

"Oh," V smiled sheepishly. "Here."

Kane took the towel she held out for him and nodded. "Thanks, I knew I forgot to pack something."

"No problem," V shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back. "I'll leave you to it."

She giggled nervously and disappeared. He hopped in the shower and got nice and clean - he even brushed his teeth in there, to knock out two birds with one stone. Once he was toweled off and dry, he grabbed some sweatpants and a T-shirt out of his bag and got dressed. He hoped that V was as tired as he suddenly was but he doubted it, because of the nap she took earlier. He would stay up with her anyway, though, if she couldn't sleep.

To his delight, she was already in bed, playing her bubble-popping game and looking sleepy. To his demise, she wasn't wearing pajamas - she was wearing some silky little slip of a nightgown with a lace trim. He could see the peaks of her nipples through the shiny, soft-looking material, causing him to do a double-take. It was a little too sexy for his comfort, and he couldn't stop staring.

"Do you want to play with me?" V asked innocently, her eyes half-lidded as if she could pass out any second. She was pointing to the game, and he didn't know if he was grateful or disappointed that she was referring to it and not her sexy little body.

Fuck yes, I do.

But he nodded slowly. "Sure.

She patted the pillow beside hers for him to lay down next to her. Kane swallowed hard. Laying with her on the couch while she slept was one thing, but laying next to her in her bed, while she was wearing that damn nightgown was a whole different thing. How the hell was he supposed to not  reach over and feel that silky fabric that clung to her breasts, or suck on her nipples through the slip until they pebbled up? He wasn't a priest, or a monk, or a fucking saint. But he willed himself to lay next to her anyway. He could control himself. He locked his eyes on the hologram screen that floated above them. After a bubble wand was hit by a strong wind, a thousand sparkling rainbow bubbles sprang out, and he concentrated on helping her pop as many of them as possible before they could dissipate or pop on the obstacles by themselves.

Without removing his gaze from the game, he murmured huskily, "That nightgown is sexy, V."

Her fingers stilled, but he didn't let himself glance down at her - he couldn't without accepting that his eyes would trail down against his will.

"Y-You think so?" V mumbled, resuming the task of poking at the bubbles.

"Hell yes,"  Kane said as calmly as he could. "I'm gonna see it in my dreams tonight." He chuckled, but he wasn't joking.

"Oh my!" V breathed, sounding surprised, like she hadn't thought that the nightgown was anything special, and his reaction was unexpected.

He bit his tongue - if he voiced anymore of his thoughts, he would have to act on them, so he had to shut himself up while he was still ahead of the curve. They played the game together for about half an hour before he saw the holo-menu tilt at an odd angle. He looked over finally, to see that she had fallen asleep. Like he had done for Dare when he went to get his stuff earlier, he picked up the thumb from the hand that didn't have the wristband, and pressed it to the metallic surface so that her holo-menu would close. He pulled the blanket up over her chest for him as much as for her. Her for warmth and comfort, and him for the ability to think straight, without staring at her nipples.

He was tired too, but he felt that it would be wrong to sleep in her bed, when she hadn't asked him to. He didn't want to jab her awake with his morning-wood tomorrow. So he took the extra pillow from her bed and sat it on the carpet. Then he went to the living room and stole the throw blanket from the couch, and he laid down on the floor. He fell asleep fantasizing about playing with her in that nightgown - with that bubble game turned off.