Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Fifty

Cress scrolled through the list of venues that flashed up on her port. She wasn't sure if she was seriously already beginning to plan their wedding or just getting ideas. She didn't want to start talking about and planning her wedding when Cinder's was next week.

"Whatcha looking at on that brand new portscreen?" Carswell asked as he tossed another card onto the table. Not so surprisingly, he and the rest of the Rampion Crew were playing yet another game of Royals. Outside it was dark and snow had started to fall again, but inside the library with the crackling fire and everyone laughing and talking it was warm and cozy.

"Nothing." Cress grinned. She set her port on her lap and curled up in the plush chair, her mind already beginning to wander. She had always pictured her wedding colors to be blue and white—but not just blue and white. The blue would be soft, almost like a blue-grey, and the white was creamy and warm and shimmer the tiniest bit.

Her eyes darted to Carswell again and she wished they were alone so they at least could talk about it. Suddenly all her ideas she had ever had seemed so overwhelming she wasn't sure what was actually a good idea and what wasn't.

And a budget. That was another thing. Even if Carswell told her not to worry about it—which he probably would—she wanted to be conscious of it. She for one didn't have any friends outside this room, so at least her side of the guest list would be kept to a minimum and she was fairly certain he didn't have a ton of friends. At least not that he wanted to invite, but maybe he did.

Iko would overheat if Cress so much as mentioned buying a dress off the rack, but she was not going to spend hundreds of univs on a dress she'd wear one time. Though the idea of a flowing dress with a corseted bodice and full skirt and long train filled the brain the very next second and she had to firmly talk herself down. 

Maybe... maybe she could make a dress. No, she had never sewed anything a day in her life starting with a wedding dress might be a bit much.

With a shrug, Cress leaned her head against the side of the chair. She'd think about it later. Though she wished everyone liked playing more fun games. She had found a few really interactive sounding ones on the net but she was hesitant to suggest that now. It was already getting late and chances were they'd all be wrapping up in a few minutes.

Wolf stood up—he was sitting with Scarlet—and started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Cress whispered as he passed her.

The corner of his mouth twitched in a smile. "I've been sitting still to long; I'm gonna go workout."

Cress nodded. "Can I come?"

Wolf paused. "Workout?"

"Yeah. I'm board."

Wolf shrugged. "Sure."

Cress grinned, quickly getting up and tossing the blanket over the back of the chair and handing Carswell her port.

"Where are you guys going?"

"To workout."

"Wait, wait, wait, I want to come."

"Me too." Iko piped up.

"We're almost finished with this round and then I'll join." Cinder nudged Kai, who shrugged his assent.

Cress grinned, clasping her hands. Yes! Something everyone wanted to do that wasn't boring!

"Yeah, same here." Scarlet tossed her remaining cards on the table, though Cress wasn't sure if that meant the cards were bad or the game was over.

"Looks like we're the cool kids now." Wolf nudged Cress and she laughed.

They both agreed to wait until the hand was over before they all made their way down to the gym.

Cress tied her hair up, mimicking the way Scarlet and Cinder did, but hesitated as she glanced around at the various equipment. She had worked out here before, but it was only for a few minutes and if she were being honest with herself she had really only come to watch Carswell workout.

It seamed like a safe bet to start on the treadmill. That way she could at least see what everyone else was doing and form some kind of plan in her mind.

"Anyone care if I turn on music?" Carswell asked as he approached the mounted netscreen.

"Only if you put on bad music."

Carswell made a face, turning the screen on and picking a channel. Music filled the room.

Cress picked up speed, moving to a brisk walk. She watched Scarlet jump up to the pull-up bar and do some pull-ups while Cinder dropped to the ground and did push-ups. Carswell and Jacin fought over who got to use the bench press first before Carswell challenged him to rock-paper-scissors.

Jacin won, so Carswell moved to the free weights.

When Cress had worked up a sweat, she sprinted in a run for another 5 minutes before cooling down and stretching. She used to stretch all the time on the satellite but she'd fallen behind. It felt good to do it again.

"Cress? When you're finished can you help me?" Carswell asked.

Cress nodded, pushing herself up and crossing the room. "What do you want me to do?"

"Climb on my back." He turned around, holding his hands over his shoulders for her to grip.

Cress frowned but did as she was told, locking her legs around his waist and holding onto his shoulders.

"Can you hold these?" He asked, handing her a pair of heavy weights.

"Yeah. I think." Cress struggled with them for a minute, not sure how to hold onto him without bruising his chest.

"You good?"

"Yeah." Cress tightened her awkward grip around him as he started lunge-walking across the ground. She grimaced for him, feeling the strain in his shoulders and stomach. He made it all the way across the room and halfway back before stopping.

Cress quickly got down, setting the weights back on their rack before grabbing Carswell's hand and trying to pull him up off the ground.

"Leave me alone." He moaned.

"No, you have to keep moving. Stretch at least." Cress tugged harder. She paused, nudging his leg with her foot. "Come on, soldier, up."

"Aces and spades and stars you're mean." Carswell grunted as he hauled himself up. He kissed her forehead.

"The bench press is free."

"Oh goody now I can go kill the top half of my body."

Cress laughed.

"You get busy too, little missy." Carswell waved his hand towards her.

Cress saluted, moving to the rack of free weights and doing a routine she used to do all the time on the satellite. Most of her workouts then had been either cardio or bodyweight, but since she had weights to use she found them to be much more challenging than they would have been.

By the time everyone was finished, it was almost 12. Winter and Scarlet had been the first to call it for the night, followed shortly by Jacin and Kai, then Cinder, and finally Cress and Carswell. Wolf said he wasn't quite finished so he and Iko started another set.

"That was a good idea." Carswell sighed as he and Cress started up towards the upper levels of the palace.

Cress nodded, thoroughly exhausted. Her muscles ached in a way they hadn't in a while and it felt good.

"Hey, what do you say we go out to breakfast tomorrow morning? Just the two of us."

Cress grinned. "Sounds good to me. Maybe we can talk about our wedding?"

"Oh... you thought I was serious when I asked you to marry me?"

Cress lightly punched his shoulder and he laughed, squeezing his arm around her.

He kissed the side of her head, pushing her door open. "Yes."

Cress stretched up on her toes to his him on the lips.