Tingyun released his hand only long enough to wander toward the wardrobe tucked into the corner of the room, sliding the polished doors open before quietly rummaging through its contents with all the familiarity of someone who had long since forgotten the distinction between her belongings and his.
The first shirt she pulled free was black.
She stared at it for a moment.
"...Mm."
It was folded back onto the shelf.
The second was dark gray.
Her expression flattened.
The third somehow managed to be even darker than the first two, carrying not a single flourish.
Tingyun slowly twisted her lips in distaste.
"...Benefactor."
She held the garment between two fingers as though it had personally offended her.
"What?"
"You own colors."
"I do."
"I don't believe you."
One article after another emerged from the wardrobe before disappearing back into it, each inspection earning roughly the same reaction. Black. Charcoal. Deep navy. Practical jackets. Plain shirts. Durable trousers. Even the more expensive garments lacked embroidery, jewelry, or anything remotely decorative, looking as though they had been purchased solely because they would neither tear easily nor attract attention.
It was difficult to tell whether he dressed like an assassin or a man attending his own funeral.
Meanwhile, Sunny had become occupied by something else entirely.
His gaze had followed Tingyun almost absentmindedly when she walked toward the wardrobe.
Now, it refused to leave.
Those five tails drifted behind her in slow, graceful arcs, their pale pink fur standing in impossible contrast to the living darkness consuming the rest of her body. Every subtle sway of her hips coaxed them into gentle motion, each tail possessing a rhythm of its own while somehow remaining perfectly synchronized with the others. They looked impossibly soft, the kind of softness that tempted the hand before reason had the opportunity to intervene.
He wondered...
...how they would feel.
The thought arrived so naturally that he barely noticed it.
Thankfully, the modified hanfu she wore had adapted itself to accommodate the additional tails. The ornate Memory flowed elegantly around their base without bunching or stretching, every fold adjusting itself as though it had always been crafted with five tails in mind. Otherwise...
It probably would have ripped. And of course, Sunny just had to imagine it.
He was rapidly approaching the limit of how much his poor heart could tolerate.
"Benefactor."
No response.
"...Sunny?"
Still nothing.
Tingyun slowly turned around.
His eyes remained hopelessly fixed behind her.
She followed his line of sight for exactly one second before an amused smile spread across her face.
"Pervert."
Sunny jerked as though someone had splashed cold water over him.
His eyes immediately shot upward, meeting the burning flames within hers for the briefest instant before darting toward the ceiling with remarkable determination. A vivid flush spread across his face so quickly that even he seemed surprised by it, while his mouth opened once, then closed again without producing so much as a single syllable.
He did not even attempt a defense.
Tingyun's smile only deepened.
Sunny, for his part, found the entire situation deeply confusing.
Solvane alone should have rendered him practically immune to appearances. The woman's Flaw had driven countless people into obsessive desire simply by existing near them, and Sunny had resisted long enough to put an end to her himself. Since then, it all mostly felt rather stale. It was a wonder he hadn't developed some kind of gynephobia, after all that she had done...
Apparently... he had not accounted for Tingyun.
Or perhaps, more accurately, whatever Sorcery she was using on him. How was it, that a simple smile, a small tease, was enough to dismantle every resistance?!
After replacing the final article of clothing, Tingyun shut the wardrobe with a quiet click before crossing the room in several measured steps.
She took both of his hands into her own.
Then sighed.
"You know, Benefactor..."
Disappointment colored her voice with theatrical weight.
"I wasn't expecting much, but I would have thought that you'd have some amount of class hidden away."
Sunny blinked.
"Huh?"
He genuinely looked confused.
"What for? If I look too flashy, I'd only stand out more."
One of Tingyun's brows rose.
"And you don't stand out now?"
"...I think I'm pretty sneaky, actually."
She closed her eyes.
One hand slowly rose to her forehead.
For a long moment, Tingyun simply stood there, palm pressed against her face while contemplating whether this conversation had already become hopeless.
"That isn't what I meant."
"...Then what did you mean?"
She lowered her hand before looking him over from head to toe, fiery pupils lingering upon features he had apparently never examined from another person's perspective.
His dark hair had grown somewhat longer than was fashionable, falling slightly over lightless eyes attached to a face whose lines faded in an comfortable balance between soft and sharp. His skin, chiseled out of pristine stone, hung in a state so pale that he was close to grey. The circles around his eyes, were dark, but not out of tiredness. It was if an artist applied the perfect amount of shading to his face, taking the creative liberty to add darker tones rather than a soft hint of color to remind others that blood flowed under his skin.
She peeked at his shoulder, finding exposed skin as his jacket slipped down his bicep, revealing the musculature that his tight, sleeveless shirt refused to cover.
Sunny blinked, following her line of sight.
"Oh, you noticed that? What a stupid design. What if someone tried to stab my armpit because my jacket was falling off? They could just grab it, too!"
Tingyun suddenly found herself oddly embarrassed as Sunny complained about the design flaws of his armor.
She coughed into her fist before forcing herself to continue.
"I meant your looks."
Sunny stared blankly.
She resisted the urge to sigh again.
"You don't think most Ascended look... like you do, do you?"
Contrary to everything Tingyun had expected, the words struck Sunny like a blade.
His expression closed off almost instantly.
"I... don't."
The quiet reply carried no anger, yet the emotions erupting inside him were impossible to mistake. Embarrassment. Irritation. Discomfort. Something older, buried so deeply beneath countless other wounds that Tingyun almost failed to recognize it before it disappeared again.
Her ears twitched.
"No, I just meant that you look—"
"Pretty?"
Sunny interrupted flatly. His eyes drifted toward the floor.
"Cute?"
He turned away before she could answer.
"I'm not a girl."
Silence settled between them.
Tingyun didn't speak immediately. Instead, she listened.
Not to his heartbeat, nor the cadence of his breathing, but to the turbulent sea of emotions only she could perceive. Confusion mixed with resignation. A flash of old humiliation. Shame that did not belong to this room, or to her words.
Curious...
She resisted the urge to frown.
That reaction hadn't been born from wounded masculine pride. If anything, Sunny had always been strangely indifferent toward comments that blurred the line between handsome and beautiful. He had even described himself with feminine compliments on occasion, usually in the same deadpan manner he used for everything else.
He had never cared.
Not until now.
Which meant this wasn't about the compliment itself.
It was about something attached to it.
Their history stretched back only a handful of months. Whatever memory had surfaced behind those colorless eyes had been forged long before she ever entered his Soul Sea. Perhaps before he even had a Soul Sea.
Tingyun filed the observation away. Not because she intended to pry, but because she intended never to step on that wound again.
A sly smile returned to her lips as though nothing had happened.
She stepped closer and lightly poked his cheek.
"I was going to say handsome."
She tilted her head.
"But it seems you already had your own ideas."
It was a lie. She really was going to call him something in line with what he seemed to be bothered with.
He blinked. The tension around his shoulders eased by a fraction.
"Oh..."
His ears reddened.
"...If you say so."
A beat passed.
"Sorry."
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before looking at her again.
"Then... what was all that about the clothes?"
Another lie came effortlessly.
"I was simply curious."
Tingyun smiled with practiced ease, giving absolutely no indication that moments earlier she had been mentally pairing different outfits together for him.
Truthfully, she had wanted to drag him through every tailor on the Luofu if necessary. Anything besides an endless collection of black shirts that looked as though they had been purchased in bulk from the same unimaginative merchant.
But perhaps the idea of playing dress-up would have triggered... whatever that was.
So instead, she made the tactful move to change topics. Tingyun sent him a knowing grin.
"Don't think I haven't noticed you eying my tails."
Sunny tilted his head.
"Where did those come from, anyways?"
It wasn't everyday a Foxian grew four extra tails. Or a Heliofox, for that matter. She hummed.
"Well, you can just check those runes of yours to figure it out, can't you?"
He silently nodded, but gave no indication of doing so. Instead, he simply kept staring at her tails — an act that was actually making her feel some discomfort. Before she died, she didn't like the idea of anyone touching her sole tail, lest it get ruffled or dirty. Now, she had five tails to take care of, which was a simultaneously something she adored and would soon learn to detest.
And yet, contrary to all of her usual characteristics, a voice in the back of her mind suggested the contrary:
"Want to touch them?"
...She wanted to take those words back. She couldn't stand the thought of knowing that another person would feel her tails. It was different now, at least when it came to cleaning, but taking care of just a single tail had been an exhaustive effort in the past. Tingyun had been neglecting it after becoming a Shadow, and now, suddenly, she had four extra hindrances to her time. Then again, she was much faster now, and could likely groom them without much issue—
When Sunny suddenly sprang up, a hopeful beam on his face, all her thoughts flushed away.
Except for one. The thought that hadn't left her mind since the moment of her rebirth.
The one that screamed for her to forget her personal comforts if it was for his pleasure. The one that told her to lie and manipulate if it was for his benefit.
The one that was not her own.
By the time she realized where she was, one of Tingyun's tails were resting in Sunny's lap as they sat on his bed. Her breath was cut short when she felt his cold fingers tentatively brush against the edges of her pink fur. He noticed.
"Ah, was that weird? You don't have to force yourself..."
'What am I doing? What if he tangles the fur? It'll look hideous. Were they always so sensitive? Stop, Tingyun, stop—'
"Hm~ Just be gentle, alright?"
...She couldn't do anything. She couldn't say no. She couldn't say that her tails were off-limits.
All because she had already calculated what he'd want to do beforehand. And now, the shackles ensnaring her mind were tightening, making her feel...
Pleased. She was pleased.
But she was also panicking. In a pleased manner.
But she was also pleased. In a panicking manner.
Her tail was going to look less orderly. But that was alright. It was all for her Benefactor's joy. Perhaps it was similar to how parent were with their children.
Eventually, Sunny seemed to gather the confidence to proceed.
The first brush of his fingertips against her fur sent a tremor racing through Tingyun's body before she could steel herself against it. The sensation was impossibly delicate, barely more than the weight of cool skin gliding over — unfortunately — ungroomed strands, yet her entire nervous system responded as though he had laid a hand upon her very soul.
Every individual hair seemed capable of carrying feeling, thousands upon thousands of tiny sensations converging into something so overwhelming that distinguishing one from another became impossible. It was warm. Comforting. Familiar in a way that made no sense whatsoever. If she had been forced to describe it, she would have compared it to returning home after wandering alone for years, only to discover that someone had quietly been waiting with the lights on all along.
And she hated it.
Not the feeling itself — she hated how desperately her own body welcomed it. Every instinct she had possessed throughout her life rebelled against allowing another person anywhere near her tail.
Foxians treasured them almost instinctively, keeping them immaculate, guarding them from careless hands and idle curiosity alike. They were private, personal things, deserving of care rather than attention. Tingyun herself took it to the utmost extreme. Had anyone else reached for her like this, she would have recoiled before they came within arm's reach.
Yet now she found herself sitting perfectly still, allowing his careful fingers to comb through soft pink fur while a profound sense of quiet contentment spread through her chest, colliding violently with years of ingrained aversion until the two emotions became impossible to separate. She wanted to pull away. She wanted him not to stop.
Neither desire belonged entirely to her anymore, and that frightened her far more than either feeling ever could.
Sunny's head snapped upward.
"Wha— Hey!"
His voice cracked with genuine alarm.
"You're supposed to say something if I hurt you!"
Tingyun blinked.
"Hm?"
For a brief, bewildering second, she couldn't understand what he meant. She wasn't hurt. Quite the opposite, if anything...
Then, she felt it.
A cool trail slipped down the curve of her cheek.
Slowly, she raised a hand, fingertips brushing against the moisture before pulling them away. A single tear clung to the pad of her finger, shimmering faintly against skin made from living darkness.
"...Oh."
She stared at it for a moment before her lips curved into a light, almost embarrassed smile.
"It must have felt so good that I couldn't keep my emotions from spilling out."
A soft giggle escaped her.
The laugh sounded perfectly natural, warm and teasing as ever, as though nothing unusual had happened.
Sunny did not laugh with her. Instead, the warmth vanished from his expression.
He carefully slipped out from beneath the weight of her tail, withdrawing his hands so gently that he scarcely disturbed the fur. Tingyun instinctively followed the retreating sensation. For one shameful instant, disappointment welled up inside her.
Then—
Relief.
The tail curled back toward her body almost of its own accord, nestling protectively beside the other four as though returning to familiar company. A quiet breath escaped her lips before she even realized she had exhaled.
Sunny noticed. His expression twisted.
"You should have just said so."
His voice had become strangely quiet.
"I don't..."
He swallowed.
"...I don't want to do anything you don't want to do."
The words settled heavily between them.
Tingyun looked at him, warmth blooming inside her chest despite herself. His concern was sincere. There wasn't a trace of selfishness hidden behind it, nor expectation, nor entitlement. He truly believed he had crossed a boundary and regretted it more than she did.
It should have made her happy.
It did make her happy.
Yet another thought rose to meet it, one so deeply rooted within the Shadow that it barely felt like a thought anymore.
Shadows did not have boundaries.
Shadows did not possess preferences.
Shadows existed to serve.
Her smile remained upon her lips, practiced and effortless as she rose to her feet.
"Oh, Benefactor..."
Reaching down, Tingyun gently wrapped her fingers around his wrist.
Before he could react, she guided his hand back toward herself, carefully pressing his palm against the soft bundle of five waiting tails.
"It doesn't bother me."
Her smile widened.
"Really."
She tilted her head.
"Besides..."
The words left her mouth as naturally as breathing.
"...you shouldn't worry so much about my opinion."
A pause.
"I am for you to do as you wish."
The room froze. Sunny's hand recoiled so violently that Tingyun instinctively released him. The emotions erupting from him struck her consciousness like a tidal wave.
Disgust.
Fear.
Rage.
Despair.
They arrived all at once, colliding with such unimaginable force that Tingyun physically staggered backward, her ears flattening against her head as the empathic link threatened to drown her beneath feelings that were never meant to be experienced all at once.
Sunny stumbled away from her, his breathing becoming ragged.
"No..."
He turned blindly toward the corner of the room.
The trashcan.
He barely reached it before dropping to one knee. A violent retch tore through him. Nothing came.
His stomach had long since digested everything, leaving only dry, painful heaves that shook his entire body. The sound alone made Tingyun's heart seize.
How could she have been so careless?
She rushed to his side without another thought, dropping onto her knees beside him as another cough wracked his frame. The trashcan slipped from his trembling fingers onto the floor with a dull clatter.
Without asking permission, Tingyun placed a careful hand against his back, slowly rubbing gentle circles between his shoulder blades.
She could feel him shaking. Not from sickness.
From terror.
Sunny remained hunched over for several long seconds, forehead nearly touching the floor as he struggled simply to breathe. Every inhale came shallow, every exhale uneven, as though something invisible had wrapped itself around his ribs.
Then, so quietly she almost failed to hear it, he whispered—
"You're..."
His voice broke.
"...you're not my slave."
Another breath.
"I'm not like her."
His fingers dug into the floor until the knuckles turned beyond white.
"I'm not..."