Hiyas everyone!! HotaruZala here with another fic that's going to be in three parts. The idea just came to me to do this one day and I want to dedicate it to my bestest friend thingperson as a very belated valentines day gifty. Never fear everyone, The Zala Files is still up and running..I'm currently finishing up writing it and will post asap.lol There will be a lot of Athrun hotness in this story, so everyone buckle your seatbelts and stay tuned for "The Hotness Factor."

Disclaimer: I do not own GS, GSD, or any of the asucaga happiness that is in this story..sighs too bad for that ne? Lol

-The Hotness Factor – Part One: The Quiz -

-Country of Orb, May 14th CE 74. Location: Athha Estate. Time: 4pm -

Cagalli Yula Athha sat slumped over her mahogany desk after a long and grueling meeting. Holding her hand against her aching forehead, she heaved a heavy sigh: "Why do these councilmen always have to lay into me about every goddamn thing I do? I swear...I can't even breathe without them questioning why." She slowly eased herself out of her comfortable desk chair and paced back and forth across the room in thinking mode as she was accustomed to do; before the dreaded second meeting the next day. She noticed one Lacus's magazines on the coffee table, picked it up, and began to absentmindedly flip through it as she seated herself back at her desk. Her amber eyes remained transfixed on the page Lacus had dogeared to read later on. It just so happened to be one of those girly quizzes Cagalli despised. However, this quiz was a little different. The quiz in question read as follows:

"How Hot Is Your Man & How Good Is He At Seducing You?"

Cagalli snickered and she shook her head as she imagined her brother trying to seduce a woman. Kira was always so shy and often times, a quite introverted individual, but meeting the pink haired songstress Lacus Clyne seemed to draw out the person that he had been keeping locked inside. Cagalli smiled at that thought and proceeded to read the quiz to herself.

Question One: What kind of lover is your man? a. sweet and gentle, b. playful, c. rough, d. quiet

Cagalli felt her face burn bright red, not just from imagining what Lacus's answer might be, but from what her own selfish answer might be in regards to one Athrun Zala would be. Not sure what the quiz meant by quiet, Cagalli marked that since Athrun was also shy...but more introverted than shy really. He wasn't really the type to scream out her name in public let alone in private.

Question Two: Is he more spontaneous than you? Yes or No? & Explain why.

Cagalli chuckled and shook her head as she thought and then wrote: "No way in hell he's more spontaneous than me! I'm always the first to say or do something." With that mental note, she marked No in the magazine.

Question Three: What kind of dresser is he? a. sharp, b. conservative, c. casual& cool, d. sloppy, e. slightly sharp but with room for improvement

Cagalli had to admit...the older the blue-haired Coordinator got, the better he began to dress. She thought about what he wore at the meeting today...which was the standard Orb uniform for officers. She had found her eyes, on a number of occasions; wandering over to him during said meeting. If there was one thought she always kept to herself, it was this: Nobody could ever look more deliciously gorgeous than Athrun Zala in uniform...or even in anything he chose to put on in the morning. It seemed Athrun's budding unique style, unbeknownst to him; was appearing to win over a lot of female attention and with that attention came the fan girls. Cagalli blushed slightly, then shook her head to get rid of the naughty thoughts, and marked down: e. slightly sharp.

Question Four: How romantic is he? Ex: Does he know your favorite food, flower, song, and can he dance to said song?

Cagalli shook her head and thought: "Well...no way he knows my favorite song. I'm not even sure he knows how to dance since he's never accompanied me to one of those stupid formals. I may have mentioned my favorite flower, but lord knows if he was even paying attention at that time. She marked no for all of these except the food one, which she marked yes because he'd bought her lunch and dinner a few times and knew her favorite foods to be donel kebabs with chili sauce and chocolate cake for dessert. The overall answer to that question left poor Athrun looking more like a food delivery boy than a romantic figure. Cagalli shrugged and sighed to herself: "Oh well...it's not like he's gonna read this."

Question Five: Is it easy to seduce you?

Cagalli snickered defiantly and marked NO along with an explanation: "No way. If he is gonna try and seduce me he's got a lot of work ahead of him."

Question Six: How good of a kisser is he? a. hot, b. sweet, c. good, d. sweet and hot but with room for improvement

Cagalli picked d. and then explained her reason for doing so as follows: "Since it has been over a year since we last kissed. I have no idea what kind of kisser he is anymore."

Question Seven: What are his best features? Check all that apply.

Cagalli felt her face heat up and turn slightly red as she checked off: hair, eyes, laugh, personality...and then she turned even redder when she instinctively checked off...ass. She brushed more naughty thoughts out of her head as she murmured under her breath: "Thank god Kira isn't seeing this." She was also about to check off the abs choice as well, but then realized she'd never seen Athrun shirtless other than that one time when she was patching up a wound he'd gotten, so she had no idea how his abs looked now, though she did know he had a nice body..she knew it deep down in the back of her mind that he did. So, content with the answers she had chosen, she moved on to the next question.

Question Eight: Where would you want him to make out with you the most?

Cagalli turned beet red again as she shook even more suggestive thoughts out of her head. She thought: "Isn't that sort of like the spontaneous question?...Oh well...hmmm..." She scratched her head as she was in thinking mode and then checked off the "office" choice. She sighed heavily: "Yeah right, like that would ever happen...that sounds more like something that would happen in a movie."

Question Nine: Where do you fantasize him making love to you? And, without being too explicit; how?

This question caused the golden haired goddess of victory to nearly fall out of her chair and her face to flush yet again. She had, deep within the confines of her subconscious mind; had fantasized exactly what she desired from Athrun in this sense. She took a deep breath to calm herself and began to write: "I'd like to go back to where we first met because those are where some of our most fondest memories are. I think he'd be gentle and teasing at first cause I see him as the type that can be playful when he wants to be and then, once he has me completely turned on by that; then he'd be aggressive. I like to think he would start out taking it slow and then let the excitement in me build slowly until I'm driven completely insane with pleasure." Her face flushed a brilliant red as she ran her fingers through her short, golden hair: "Oh my god...O can't believe I just wrote that and now I can't erase it cause I used a pen. Oh well...like I said...nobody's going to see this anyway."

Question Ten: Rate his hotness on a scale of 1 to 10.

Cagalli pondered this question for a minute: "Hmmm...if I had to give him a number...probably 6...no...7. Okay, one question left." Final Question: Would you change anything about him?

Cagalli thought for a moment and then, smiling; put her answer down. It was then she was called back into the meeting room to settle a sudden dispute that had erupted between two council members on their way out. She hurriedly left the room, leaving the magazine laying wide open on her desk among her other papers. It was at that moment when an unexpected visitor showed up looking for the golden haired goddess of victory.

Athrun sighed heavily in disappointment as his search for the fiery princess had been all for naught. He scanned the room one last time hoping, maybe he'd get a chance to speak to her alone for a moment. He glanced at the open magazine on her desk and his emerald orbs widened as big as saucers as he read the title of the quiz on the page: "How Hot Is Your Man & How Good Is He At Seducing You?" He felt his face flush as he thought: "I thought she hated these things?"... "Do I dare look at the answers?"... "Would it be betraying her trust if I did?" His curious eyes wandered down to the page once again: "It wouldn't hurt if I just looked at a few."

He glanced at her answer for the first question: What kind of lover is your man? d. quiet. Athrun's eyes widened: "What does she mean by quiet?"... "We've never done..." His face turned beet red as he moved on to the next question: Is he more spontaneous than you? A: No way in hell is he more spontaneous than me! I'm always the first to say or do something." Athrun's emerald eyes widened and the briefly flashed angrily: "What?!"... "Wasn't I the one who made the first move?!"... "Didn't I kiss her first?!" He took a deep breath to return himself back to his calm state yet again. What kind of dresser is he? e. slightly sharp, but with room for improvement. Athrun nodded in agreement with that answer: "Okay...That I'll give her. My clothes have always been nice, but they can stand an improvement." How romantic is he? His sharp eyes scanned the page as he carefully read the answer, which caused him to chuckle and shake his head: "Don't pay attention huh princess?...Well...as a matter of fact I do know your favorite flower, song, and wouldn't you be surprised to know about my dancing. I can see you do know that I know your favorite foods...that doesn't surprise me considering all the times I've treated you to dinner." Is it easy to seduce you? Athrun scanned this answer carefully and a small devilish smirk spread across his face: "A lot of work ahead of me huh?"... "We'll see about that."

How good of a kisser is he? Athrun's face tinted a slight red and before he read her answer, he took a deep breath to compose himself because this, according to him; was one answer that could either make or break a man. He found his eyes widening again in shock as he read her answer: "Since it has been over a year since we last kissed...I have no idea what kind of kisser he is anymore." One would expect Athrun to be angry at this point, but, with a mischievous glint in his emerald eyes, and a small smirk on his face; he made a mental note of that and moved on the the next question. What are his best features? Check all that apply. He noticed a point where she had been contemplating something because of the markings on that question and turned a noticeable shade of red when he'd seen she checked off ...ass. Athrun chuckled to himself: "Ahhh...so that's why she was staring at me so much today. Come to think of it...didn't she ask me to pick up her pencil that had fallen to the floor? She could've easily grabbed that before it dropped so why did she...?" His mouth then turned up in a wry smile: "Ohh...so that's the game she's playing. Well...if she wants to play that way...by all means...I'll certainly play along." His eyes caught the rest of what she wrote in response to that question, in which she stated outright that she'd never seen him shirtless apart from the time she'd patched up a gun shot wound she inflicted upon him at their first meeting. Athrun snickered and then smirked: "I guess that doesn't count...now...let's see what else she has written here after this that's in really tiny print: "I have a feeling he has a nice body. I don't know why...I just have a feeling." Athrun smiled mischievously at the various things he had already begun to mull over in his cunning mind: "Okay..on to the next question." Where would you want him to make out with you the most? He noticed that Cagalli had checked off "office." "Office huh?"... "Good to know..." Another devilish smirk crossed his face as he finished his sentence: "...Very good to know."

Nothing on earth could've prepared the blue-haired Coordinator for the next question he was about to read. Where do you fantasize him making love to you? And without being too explicit; how?

Athrun's face immediately turned candy apple red as he found himself to be quite drawn to the answer the golden-haired goddess of victory had given. This was the other answer that could either make or break a man, and he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to this since they had never been together in that sense...as of yet. His curious emerald orbs scanned the page: "I'd like to go back to the place where we first met because that is where are most fondest memories are. I think he'd be gentle and teasing at first cause I see him as the type that can be playful when he wants to be and then once he has me completely turned on by that, then he'd be aggressive. I like to think he would start out taking it slow and then let the excitement in me build slowly until I'm completely driven insane with pleasure." Athrun tugged at his Orb uniform's collar as if he was letting out a considerable amount of steam. Glancing briefly at himself in one of her mirrors, he noticed that he was completely flushed from head to toe. He was totally taken aback and struck dumb with awe by this descriptive and beautiful answer. His inner self pondered: "I never knew she had these kinds of feelings." He shook his head to cast out all the naughty thoughts that were dancing around in it, and then continued to read. Rate his hotness on a scale of 1 to 10. He glanced at her answer and knocked over his chair as he leapt up and exclaimed: "Seven?!" He couldn't believe it. After writing that beautiful answer in the previous question, he only ranked a lousy 7 in her eyes. Calming down, he picked up the chair, sat back down, and heaved a heavy, saddened sigh as he murmured: "Is that all I'm worth to you...Cagalli?" Instead of reading the last question and answer, he decided it best to close the magazine and leave the room, but not before saying to himself in a determined tone of voice, a small, mischievous smile forming upon his lips: "So...this number 7 can't seduce you huh?"... "Well..." ... "By the end of the week...your answer will change."

-The very next day...May 15th. Time: 9am. Location: Athha Estate, Cagalli's room-

Cagalli awoke to the sound of her alarm clock blaring and slammed her hand down on the snooze button. She hated getting up this early...but another meeting was to be held from 1030 am to 2:00pm regarding the validity of the peace treaties between Orb and ZAFT and also between Orb and The E.A. She groaned at the thought of all the yelling she was probably going to hear today. She sluggishly sat up and once her amber eyes adjusted themselves to the light, they widened in shock. All around her bedroom were scattered bouquets of red roses...her favorite flower. "What the!?..." ... "What's all this?!" She quickly dressed herself in her purple representative outfit and then looked around her room for a card to say who the sender might be, but she found no such card. As she descended the stairs and finally arrived at the breakfast table, her eyes widened yet again as she noticed a single red rose placed carefully across a plate with her favorite food...donel kebabs with chili sauce, and a small bowl of white rice. She ran her fingers across the smooth red petals as she gently placed it aside. Her inner self screamed: "Who's sending these?!"... "Is it Kira?"... "No...he doesn't know my favorite flower or food...maybe...Lacus?"... "No...although she does know my favorite things, she wouldn't go this overboard...maybe...Athrun?" She shook her head: "Nah...that's impossible...I never..." Then, as if reading her mind; the blue-haired Coordinator in question casually walked into the room. Cagalli nearly did a double take at said guy in front of her. Eying him from top to bottom, she turned a slight red. His black shoes were the only thing about him that were the same as always, but the rest of his outfit consisted of khaki cargo pants and a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons undone to reveal the pinkish red Haumea necklace she had given him two years ago. As he walked past her to take his seat at the table, she caught a slight whiff of the cologne he was wearing, which she immediately deduced was Aramis.

Athrun took his seat next to her at the table and noticed her amber eyes lingering on him for a lot longer than usual. He casually ran his fingers through his neck length blue hair and flashed her a small, warm smile: "Good morning."

Cagalli shook away another blush and growled: "Is that all you have to say?!"... "What's going on?!"... "And w-what's with?!..." She pointed at his clothes: "Do you intend on wearing that to the meeting?!"

Athrun chuckled, his emerald eyes sparkling playfully as he nodded: "Uh-huh."... "I already spoke to Kira and Kisaka about it and got their approval."... "I thought I could stand a change."... "Why?..." He paused and looked slowly up to gaze into her eyes innocently: "Don't you like it?"

Cagalli's face tinted a slight red before she heaved a heavy, frustrated sigh. No matter how hard she tried, there was no resisting those gorgeous emerald eyes and... my god did he look yummy. Cagalli knew this and responded in a mumble: "O-Okay...fine...but...next time I wanna be let in on things too."

Athrun chuckled and nodded: "Okay." His inner self snickered devilishly: "Oh don't worry...you'll be let in on my plans soon enough."

Cagalli eyed him curiously: "What's up with all the roses?"... "And my favorite food too?"... "Nobody ever lets me eat donel kebabs for breakfast without arguing with me about it not being ladylike." "Spill it...what do you know about this?"

Athrun smiled as he took a quick sip of his coffee and replied: "You seemed so stressed yesterday I thought this would cheer you up, so I got up early and set it all up. Roses are your favorite flower right?" He then feigned panic: "Damn it!"..."I screwed up didn't I?!"... "I can always take them back!..."

As she munched on her kebabs, Cagalli felt her face grow hot before she blurted out: "No!"... "I-I mean...no...I like roses...you didn't screw up...I...ummm..."

All of the sudden, she noticed Athrun get up from his seat and stand directly behind her. He placed another rose next to her plate and he served her some more rice, reaching over her shoulder as he did so. His mouth was right next to her ear when smiled one of his sexy smiles and whispered in response: "I'm glad."... "I just wanted to please you."... "Are you pleased...Cagalli?"

Cagalli turned beet red and felt herself tremble at the feel of his hot breath next to her ear and their sudden closeness. Not knowing what else to say..or even how to respond to that, she scarfed down the rest of her food, stood up, and excused herself in a flustered tone: "I-I'll see you at the meeting." She then took off out of the room, closed the door, and heaved a heavy sigh as she leaned her back up against it. She shook off another impending blush and felt herself trembling from the scene that had just occurred. Her heart felt as if it would jump right out of her chest it was beating so hard and fast. She ran her fingers through her short, golden hair and thought: "Damn it."... "What's wrong with me?"... "And him..."... "Who was that guy in there?"... "That wasn't Athrun...was it?"..."He's gotta be up to something. I can't put my finger on it, but I know he's up to something."

Meanwhile, Athrun still sat calmly sipping his coffee as a devilish smile crossed his features. He chuckled to himself: This is going to be a fun five days."

Okies everyone..that's the end of the first part. I love a devilish Athrun..how about you? Lol...What else does the smexy Athrun have in store for his goddess of victory? You'll find out in the next installment of The Hotness Factor. Lots's of AsuCaga goodness is coming up so hold on tight and enjoy. Lol