Sunny paced around his room — which was now lit — thinking long and hard about what had happened...
Between the woman named Firefly and himself, that is, as well as the few characters caught between his rebellion and her authority.
Once he was incapacitated by Jing Yuan, his master — who seemingly had been lying in wait — descended to heal him. Then, he was handed over to Fu Xuan, who took him back to her estate.
But that was not the end of it. Firefly somehow managed to sneak into Fu Xuan's household, a place that was constantly guarded by the Master Diviner herself, and had the audacity to sleep beside him. Damn lecher.
When Sunny had finally awoken, she had leaped out the window with the expectation that he would follow. And he did... or at least, he tried. Because he was immediately stopped by his own Shadows.
They had just... been standing there, stopping him from chasing after Firefly.
But why? It didn't make any sense. She had wanted him to follow her, for her own twisted reasons.
He looked down at his four silhouettes, recalling when they moved — not of his own accord, or even their own, but of hers. Shutting his eyes for a few moments, Sunny grit his teeth.
When they opened, he was already making the Creepy shadow move in front of him. The figure that rose from his shadow stole the breath from Sunny's lungs before he even realized he had stopped breathing.
It was still Tingyun.
It was unmistakably Tingyun.
Yet, at the same time, she no longer resembled the Foxian woman he had first met — whether living or not.
Her entire body had become an incarnation of perfect darkness.
Not merely dark skin, nor shadows draped over flesh, but the complete absence of light itself. Every inch of her — her delicate face, flowing hair, elegant ears, graceful fingers, and lithe figure — had become an immaculate silhouette carved from living night, so absolute that that he couldn't describe her in human terms. She was less a woman standing before him than a beautiful void that had somehow learned to wear a woman's shape.
Only her eyes remained untouched.
Or rather, only the irises. The living, entrancing fire that represented her eyes somehow seemed to burn ever brighter.
Sunny frowned.
She...
She was more beautiful.
That realization unsettled him far more than it should have.
The change was almost impossible to define with words. None of Tingyun's proportions had changed. Her smile remained as elegant as before — though there seemed to be a hint of conern in it — her posture retained the same practiced grace, and even the gentle sway of her tail...
Nevermind, tails, actually. All five of them. And they were pink!
...The gentle sway of her tails carried the familiar refinement he had come to associate with the Heliofox. Yet the complete union between her beauty and absolute darkness had elevated every feature into something almost hypnotic, wrapping her in a dreadful allure that seemed to bypass reason altogether.
For a fleeting, instinctive instant, a savage impulse stirred somewhere deep within him.
It was irrational. Primitive.
The sort of possessive hunger that belonged to beasts rather than men.
The thought appeared as suddenly as it vanished.
Sunny's expression darkened.
"...What?"
'A mind attack?'
He clenched his jaw until it ached, forcing the alien impulse back into whatever abyss it had crawled out of. That had not been desire as he understood it. It had been something deeper, older, more instinctive — a reaction his body had reached before his mind ever had the opportunity to object.
His gaze swept over her once more, searching for the source of that unsettling change. She was wearing the fabulous Memories he had crafted for her, naturally.
Tingyun lowered her head politely, fiery pupils meeting his own.
"My Lord?"
Sunny remained silent.
He couldn't look away. Why couldn't he look away? He was trying to look away. Was something stopping him from looking away? Wha—
"—right now?"
He was snapped out of his daze, eyes fixed on Tingyun's form, which... though no less immaculate, was suddenly bearable to the mortal gaze. He wet his lips.
"Sorry, what was that?"
His Shadow seemed a little ashamed, if the slight twitch of her smile was any indication.
"I may have... ah, gotten too carried away with my prank. Apologies?"
Sunny began to frown, brushing his unusually sweaty palms against the fabric of the Silent Mist's denim jacket.
"O...kay? And... 'My Lord?' Seriously?"
Tingyun stepped a little closer, her smile dropping into something more familiar.
"Can't a girl try something new? But I'm guessing you aren't a fan of it."
"You can. And I'm not."
"Neither am I, admittedly. I suppose I'll stick to Benefactor."
"Or Sunny."
"Benefactor."
At her cheeky insistence, Sunny scowled and walked forward, forcibly intruding Tingyun's personal bubble, much to her surprise. Then again, it wasn't very personal considering she has literally been deeper inside of him than any other person.
...His soul. He was talking about his soul!
With a narrowed gaze, Sunny looked her up and down. Tingyun pursed her lips, but kept her silence, seemingly understanding his intentions. He scanned her five tails carefully, before looking back up to her face.
Something she did not understand, however, was why he suddenly grabbed her face.
"Are you alright?"
The Heliofox forced a smile between squished cheeks.
"I-I'd sure hope so."
Completely oblivious to the strange emotions welling up inside her, Sunny tilted his head.
"Did she make you do anything? Did she hurt you?"
Embarrassment and pride. Embarrassed because, frankly, Tingyun didn't usually enjoy being excessively worried about. Prideful because her Benefactor was only revealing this side to her.
Strange. What was there to be so proud of? She wasn't in a position to be cared for by him — especially after his terrible night. It should have been the other way around. She should have been helping him sooth the tidal waves of emotions she felt stirring within him.
She wrapped her fingers around his wrist, gently pulling one of his hands away.
"I'm fine, Benefactor. Though, I don't believe she liked me much..."
Sunny frowned.
"Who cares?! She's not... don't worry about whatever she thinks! Are you sure you're okay?"
Tingyun stifled the urge to laugh. He may have taken her statement a little too seriously. Though, there wasn't any lie to it. Firefly, that... she didn't know how to describe the violent girl. It was as if she only lived life in extremes, quick to irritate and anger. At the same time, Tingyun had sensed a deep well of longing and sorrow. So deep that she was sure it didn't all belong too Sunny, despite the molten knight's obsession.
...She had described it as a well, but it was closer to a wildfire of emotion. There was nothing calm or tranquil about her, just something that threatened to burn all to ash. Even herself.
Tingyun sighed, stepping away from him.
"Relax. I wasn't made to do a thing. In fact..."
She winked — an act that had her closing an eyelid harmlessly over the flames of one eye — then spun provocatively. Her five tails followed rhythmically, hypnotically pulling Sunny in.
"Wouldn't you say I look better than ever?"
His mind seemed to lag behind his mouth.
"Uh-huh..."
Tingyun's smile faltered when she detected the haziness in his eyes. She tried to reign herself in...
Sunny blinked to himself a few times. His sea of emotions churned, switching from confusion, relief, fear, and eventually, hurt.
"Why did you and the others try to stop me? Why were you even out in the first place?"
Loaded questions. The first because he clearly felt betrayed, and the latter because it required a few concerning explanations. No matter what, it would have been almost impossible to navigate these two questions without emotionally aggravating him in some way, pushing him back into his shell.
Tingyun, however, chose a different approach. Rather than forcing herself to step on one of those two landmines — revealing one of her lies — she decided to distract him.
"You haven't really eaten, have you? That woman should work on hosting better."
Having stunned Sunny for a few moments with the unexpected response, Tingyun quickly planned out her next course of action. With movements full of intent and grace, she moved forward until she was directly in front of him. Then, placing a hand on his chest, she nudged him.
"Save it for later. I'll go down and make you something. Is that alright with you?"
Flustered, Sunny blurted out:
"I, uh, yes? But no, you'll get caught!"
She flashed a conspiring grin.
"I'll be sneaky. I've learned from the best, after all."
Then, she carefully lowered her tone.
"Unless... you'd prefer if I stayed?"
Heat visibly rose up his frighteningly pale cheeks as he suddenly lost any and all Will to look her in the eyes. The flavor of embarrassment with hints of joy registered in her mind, the corners of Tingyun's lips rising in a teasing manner. She noticed the telltale sign of his lips quivering, a slight motion that signified either a truth Sunny did not want to speak, or the prelude to something stupid being spat from his mouth.
It ended up being the former.
"...I mean, you can do whatever you want. You don't need to do anything you don't want to."
His expression tensed as he resisted the compulsion of his Flaw.
"B-But... I think the food... can wait?"
Tingyun would have smiled. She really would have. He was positively adorable, and she would have loved to bully him just a little more... but no, he came first. She furrowed her brow into an expression that could only be described as 'kind of angry but not really.'
"You don't sound very sure about that, Benefactor. Is it really that hard to choose between a meal and myself, the lovely Tingyun?"
"No?"
"Ah, so you value your synthpaste so much that you wouldn't even spare me a second glance? I'm hurt."
"That's also a big no..."
He shuffled under her accusing gaze.
"I'm not sure I believe you."
In response, Sunny was the one who sent her a disbelieving look.
"I literally can't lie."
"But of course you'd choose me over just any food! That doesn't mean a thing!"
Tingyun thought he was likely thinking about actually choosing synthpaste over her. Which was a little depressing, the more she thought about it. She tilted her head, sending him a suspicious look.
"Me or pancakes?"
He paled, something that should have been impossible. Before he could answer, Tingyun continued.
"If you choose the pancakes, then I'll make them for you, but I will be displeased. Choose me, and you get my company!"
Sunny gulped as Tingyun leaned in.
"Which is it?"
When the first hints of red coated his cheeks, Tingyun already knew her victory was assured. So, she didn't waste any time grabbing his hand, lacing his fingers with her own as she pulled him to sit down, smile wide and bright — or perhaps dark, considering the lightless nature of her skin.
There was something that Firefly couldn't understand. Pain and agony couldn't do a thing to someone who was used to it. Someone who was powered by it. Someone who lived off of pure spite.
It took gentleness, warmth, and a hint of temptation to breach a shrouded heart.
Firefly really didn't like Tingyun. That much had been clear. Perhaps it had been envy — whether due her present position or the relative comfort of her past, she did not know. Maybe she simply didn't appreciate a woman being near Sunny, even if it was only a Shadow. She certainly seemed like the type to murder a child for even looking at him wrong.
...But that was fine. Because even if Sunny couldn't feel resentment for his slaver, he didn't need it.
Tingyun would do enough hating for the both of them.