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It was in Kitana’s nature to be curious about everything she came across. She had to be if she was going to be Queen someday. It saved her countless of times back in her days of being an assassin, how she figured out that Mileena wasn’t her real twin sister, and the truth behind what her “father” Shao Kahn had done.
Which is why her curiosity was at work once again when she thought about Sub-Zero, or Kuai Liang, as he introduced himself to her when they met. There had been something between them. And that something was gnawing at her brain, clawing, scratching at the edges of her mind to get out.
Her hand rubbed her bandaged arm that had been struck by Reptile a few days ago. Kitana had defended herself well enough until the Saurian threw an acid ball at her. She shielded most of it, but specks had fallen on her arm, burning through her flesh in the process. Sub-Zero had saved her before Reptile could inflict more damage on her and sent him running. When he returned, he said nothing but indicated to her to give him her injured arm.
This was the first time he ever touched her. And it was a lot colder than she expected. She knew he was a cyromancer, the best in fact, if Raiden had anything to say about it, but his touch had been ice cold it made her wonder how his anatomy worked. So it was no surprise that she flinched when his fingertips grazed against the wound.
“My apologies.” he murmured. His eyes flickered up to her once before looking back at her arm.
“It’s all right,” she answered back. “It just caught me off-guard.”
He didn’t say anything for quite some time that she thought he didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her before he spoke up again.
“This will sting, but it’ll heal quicker this way.”
He waited for her approval. This time she said nothing and only gave a firm nod in response. The only way she could describe this particular sensation was it feeling like the coldest water imaginable being injected into her burning flesh. She bit back any sign of being distressed and kept her eyes on the man before her.
She had never been this close to him before. He always kept a good amount of distance between them. It was far enough that he wasn’t in her peripheral vision, but not so far away that if anyone tried to do something, he’d be there in an instant. This had worked out for them both.
But here they were in very close quarters, her knee brushing up against one of his own. He was very still, save for the one free hand that was moving fluidly over her wound. Even now doing this for her, he remained quiet, hadn’t tried to make small conversation with her.
The princess didn’t mind. It left her to watch him work, how his face looked stoic, yet careful. Though there had been a brief discomfort from feeling of ice in running through her veins, the grip he had on her arm was gentle. Reminiscent of holding a bird with a broken wing.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, breaking Kitana out of her gaze.
“No.” she replied. In the time she spent staring at him, she hadn’t noticed her arm wasn’t in pain anymore. All she felt was a deep warmth in the pit of her stomach the moment he was looking at her.
She immediately looked away, breaking the eye contact they shared, and hoped he couldn’t see the flush in her cheeks.
“A little cold…” she whispered, hoping that he’d take that as her explanation for her cheeks reddening.
His eyes darted back to her arm, his fingertips ghosting against her soft skin. Kitana watched as he continued to work, feeling her head spin in a million directions. Was this due to what the Lin Kuei warrior was doing to her arm or because of how close in proximity they were to each other?
This time he found himself looking upon the princess, watching for any sign of pain in her face but saw nothing to indicate that she looked bothered by anything he did. His eyes wandered to her lips, how they were slightly parted. He caught her licking her lips, seeing them slick with shine and wondered how they’d feel against his.
He immediately looked back at her wound, mentally cursing himself for even having that thought. He had no time for such self-indulgent things. He was here to help and protect the princess from any danger, nothing else. He knew he’d have to meditate outside the palace when he had the chance.
Once he finished his treatment, he had released his grip on her arm. She took notice of how much colder she felt without his touch, the warmth in her stomach having faded away the minute he got up from her bed.
“Is there anything else you require of me, Princess?”
Her mind thought up of excuses, selfishly thinking of a way to keep him with her a little while longer. She mentally slapped herself out of it. This was no way for a future Queen to act. Her mother would’ve given her a lecture if she could.
She shook her head.
“Sleep well, Princess.” He gave a small bow before turning to walk out of her bedroom.
“Kuai?” Her voice was low enough that she thought he hadn’t heard her, but he had stopped, his hand on the door handle. He turned back around.
“Thank you,” she spoke up, raising her bandaged arm. “...for this.”
“Of course, Princess.”
She tossed and turned in her bed, realizing she couldn’t sleep now that Sub-Zero had returned from Earthrealm, having left the day after Reptile attacked her. He had informed her that he had to relay the news to Raiden, plus check up on his clan and instruct them on whatever he had planned for them before he had to come back to Edenia.
Realizing she wasn’t winning this battle, she got up from her bed, put on her thin satin robe and left to clear her mind that was clouded by thoughts of the cryomancer.
There were no guards around, no one lingering the dimly lit halls like she had been.
One room she walked past had their door slightly ajar, leaving Kitana wondering if someone else left their room like she had. She peered inside, taking in how dark the room had been with the exception of the small light coming from the candle on the nightstand. A figure laid in the bed, but they had been so still, it took a minute for her to recognize there was somebody else in the room.
She moved in closer, tip-toeing as to not awake whoever it was. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Sub-Zero. He looked vastly different in his sleep than he did when he was awake, Kitana pointed out. For one, he didn’t wear the usual look of furrowed brows with a scowl she was sure was his default face. As he slept, he looked peaceful. Probably the only time he could be from what he held on his shoulders every day.
A lock of his hair hung loosely over his forehead that called out to Kitana to move out of the way. As she reached out to tuck it back, a hand shot up, grabbing her wrist tightly.
He opened his eyes, the once peaceful look he had gone and replaced with a look of anger, ready to strike at whoever snuck into his room.
“Princess?” His eyes blinked rapidly, fighting the sleep that blurred his vision momentarily and immediately let go of her wrist. He looked confused, as one would be if someone turned up in their room in the middle of the night.
“Is something the matter?”
She took a seat on the edge of his bed, her eyes taking in the sight of him. He wasn’t wearing his usual garb of armor or even the headband he seemed to have on every day she saw him. He looked normal for once, with his short hair poking out in hundreds of directions. He also wasn’t wearing a shirt. But why would he when he ran cold? From where she was sitting, she could feel a chillness radiating off of his body.
“No….” she stopped herself. “Well, actually… I… I wanted to…”
He sat up, looking over at her, seeing how she seemed to be conflicted with something.
“Are you all right, Pri--”
Her lips crashed against his, his eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t had time to process how soft her lips had felt before she quickly pulled herself away and rose up from the bed.
“I-I-I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” she squeezed her fists tightly that her knuckles turned white.
“This was a mistake it shouldn’t have happened, I’m an idiot, I’m sorry, please forget this happened!”
She very much wanted to kick herself and wished that she could teleport like Raiden and leave Edenia and change her identity. Forget becoming Queen, Mileena could take her spot and no one would notice, right?
A hand stopped her millions of thoughts of running away and looked at Kuai, who had been towering over her in the time she was rambling.
The warmth she felt in the pit of her stomach returned, along with a heat rising to her cheeks that made her forget about the cool air coming from him when he pulled her close to him. His hand cupped the side of her face, feeling how smooth she felt against his rough and calloused fingers.
Her breathing turned shaky upon feeling his thumb brush against her plush bottom lip. The look in his eyes were filled with a hunger that she knew they both shared at that moment. She gave his thumb a chaste kiss, a small taste that awaited him.
Kitana propped herself up by her tippy toes to meet him halfway as he leaned down at the exact moment to press his lips against hers. Their lips overlapped, Kuai’s lips capturing Kitana’s plump bottom lip. She felt the whiskers of Kuai’s beard tickling her followed by feeling his cool breath against her lip as a shiver went down her spine.
She, however, craved more. Her hand snaked it’s way to the back of Kuai’s head, pulling him further down to deepen the kiss. He’d been taken aback by this, if his brows quirking up in surprise showed any indication. His hand remained cupping her jaw while the other wandered down slowly to feel every inch of her body and have it ingrained into his memory. She gasped at the feel of his cool fingertips on her waist even through the fabric of her robe.
Kuai pulled away, but not before Kitana gave him another quick kiss that made him want to continue to kiss her. He watched as the princess was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling like she’d been training for a fight. Her already pouty lips were swollen and reddish. She had remained close to him, thinking he’d disappeared and this was all some fantasy she thought up.
“You’re so cold.” she said quietly.
“Didn’t seem to mind it a minute ago.” he teased, a small grin forming on his lips.
She gave him a light flick on his arm.
“Forgive me, Princess.”
“I think after what we did we’re past formalities.”
He remained silent for a time as she turned to walk away, wishing the Grandmaster a good night.
“Kitana.”
She felt her heart practically leap out of her chest when she stopped to turn and face him.
“Will you kiss me again?”