The second sleeping pod was not a symptom of attachment. It was an absolute, undeniable necessity for survival. He was a good host Afterall, what if a guest of his had to sleep.
Sunny stood in the doorway of the basement, staring at the gleaming, state-of-the-art capsule he had just spent a small fortune to have installed. He crossed his arms, running the logic through his head again.
'It's common sense' Sunny told himself.
'The Academy dorm pods are standard-issue garbage. They only provide a basic nutrient drip. The Chained Isles are a dangerous zone, and my luck is notoriously cursed. If we get trapped on some floating rock for two weeks hiding from a Great Monster, her physical body back in that cheap Academy pod will wither and die.'
He nodded slowly. 'This premium pod has advanced bio gel and high-end life support. Having her dive from my secure basement means I don't have to worry about my subordinate starving to death in the real world while we're stuck in the Dream Realm. It's an investment in my own continued breathing.'
It was a flawless argument. Cold, calculating, and entirely pragmatic.
His gloomy shadow, currently leaning against the wall next to him, slowly turned its head to look at him. It didn't nod. It didn't gesture. It just stared at him with such an overwhelming aura of disappointed judgment that Sunny felt a vein throb in his temple.
"Shut up," Sunny muttered. "I'm managing risk."
He walked upstairs. The house was blissfully quiet. It was exactly the kind of peaceful sanctuary he had always wanted. It was also currently occupied by a girl who had essentially turned his living room into her personal bedroom.
Cielle had come over earlier because the Academy dorm showers notoriously ran out of hot water by eight in the evening. Sunny, playing the gracious host (and secretly hating the idea of her shivering in that miserable building), had told her she could use his.
He walked into the kitchen to start making dinner. As a paranoid Awakened, Sunny had an ingrained habit of keeping passive checks running at all times. One of his shadows was currently sliding along the baseboards of the hallway, just keeping an eye on the house.
The shadow slipped under the crack of the bathroom door just as the shower turned off.
Sunny was in the middle of chopping a carrot when Cielle, entirely out of habit, simply dropped her wet tunic to the floor.
The shadow's sensory feed hit Sunny's brain like a physical blow.
He didn't just see a flash of pale, damp skin. He saw her back. Where her massive white wings met her spine, the skin was marred by a network of jagged, silver scars. They were precise, methodical, and brutal. Sunny's breath hitched. He had no idea where she came from or what had happened to her before she was infected, but looking at those old wounds made a sudden, dark spike of anger flare in his chest.
Then she turned slightly, and the shadow saw way too much of everything else.
Sunny violently yanked the shadow back.
He flinched so hard he dropped the knife, his knee slamming into the kitchen cabinet with a loud thud. Sunny stood completely frozen, his face burning with a sudden heat wave, his heart hammering against his ribs.
'Void take me,' Sunny thought, staring blindly at the cutting board. 'I did not see that. I did not see anything.'
The happy shadow materialized next to him, gave him a very enthusiastic thumbs-up, and did a little spin.
"I am going to leave you in the Dream Realm," Sunny hissed at the floor, rubbing his flaming face.
A few minutes later, he heard the bathroom door open. Footsteps padded down the hall. Sunny busied himself with the carrots, aggressively refusing to turn around.
"Sunny," Cielle called out from the doorway.
He kept his eyes glued to the vegetables. "Yes."
"Your towel doesn't work right."
He finally risked a glance over his shoulder. She was standing there wrapped in his fluffiest white towel, but she was holding it up awkwardly with both hands. The massive, folded wings on her back made it completely impossible to wrap the fabric securely around her shoulders or tuck it in. She didn't look embarrassed; she just looked mildly annoyed by the situation.
'Ah yeah, im such a lucky bastard' Sunny coughed
"I didn't bring normal clothes," she stated. "And my armor is wet damaged. It chafes."
Sunny swallowed hard, desperately ignoring the water droplets clinging to her collarbone. "Right. Okay. Wait there."
He practically fled up the stairs. He rummaged through his wardrobe, grabbed his largest, softest black shirt, and brought it back down. He thrust it toward her, looking fixedly at the ceiling.
"Here. Wear this."
Cielle took it, dropped the towel with zero hesitation, prompting Sunny to spin around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash, and pulled the shirt over her head.
"Much better," she announced.
Sunny turned back cautiously. The shirt was enormous on her. The hem reached her mid-thigh, and the collar slipped entirely off one shoulder, but it had plenty of room in the back for her wings, which immediately settled comfortably.
It was an oversized shirt for him, so it was largely too large for her small frame, well smaller. Except the wings of course.
Cielle wandered into the kitchen and stepped right up next to him to see what he was doing. She stood entirely too close. Her chin was practically hovering over his shoulder, and one of her soft fingers brushed against his arm.
"What is that?" she asked, eyeing the pot on the stove.
"Stew," Sunny replied, trying not to move so he wouldn't bump into her.
Cielle hummed thoughtfully. Before Sunny could stop her, she picked up a wooden spoon from the counter, dipped it into the simmering pot, blowing on it once, she tasted it.
Sunny watched her face. For a second, nothing happened. Then, her big green eyes went slightly wide. A tiny, involuntary shiver ran through her, and her wings gave a soft, happy little flutter behind her back. Without saying a word, she dipped the spoon back in and took another bite. Then another.
"Hey," Sunny said, gently catching her wrist. "Wait for the plates, you menace. You're going to burn your tongue."
Cielle looked at the spoon, then at him. "It's really good," she said softly, sounding surprised.
"Of course it's good," Sunny grumbled, though he couldn't stop the small, proud smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Go sit down before you eat half the pot standing up."
She wandered into the living room and approached his ridiculously expensive leather couch. She sat down, frowned, and shifted awkwardly. Her wings inside the shirt bunched up against the stiff leather cushions.
"This couch is hostile," she declared.
Sunny sighed. He walked over and grabbed three large throw pillows, simply tossing them onto the couch . "Move." She stood up. Sunny arranged the pillows, creating a small, soft gap in the center. "Try now."
Cielle sat back down, sliding her wings into the gap. She sank into the soft fabric, her eyes fluttering shut for a brief second.
"Acceptable," she mumbled, pulling her knees to her chest inside his oversized shirt.
Twenty minutes later, Sunny brought the plates out. Cielle had migrated to the window seat, staring out the glass with an intense, narrowed glare.
Sunny set the plates down. "What are you doing now?"
"We are having a disagreement," Cielle said, not breaking eye contact with the window.
Sunny followed her gaze. Sitting on the brick wall of the neighbor's garden was a fat, fluffy orange cat. It was staring back at Cielle, flicking its tail lazily.
"You are having a staring contest with a cat?"
"It's plotting," Cielle said seriously. "It keeps looking at my wings. It thinks I'm a giant pigeon. I am letting it know that if it jumps up here, I'm eating it first."
Sunny stared at her. Then he stared at the cat. The cat yawned, lazily licking its paw, and promptly went to sleep right there on the brick wall.
Cielle let out a soft huff of breath. "Insolent beast. I respect its nerve."
"Eat your food, terror of the neighborhood," Sunny said, pushing a plate toward her.
They ate in a comfortable, easy silence. The rain outside began to pick up, tapping softly against the glass. It was a strange phenomenon, really. Sunny was a highly strung creature who monitored every exit, yet having her in his space didn't set his teeth on edge. She just existed, quietly anchoring the room.
When the clock on the wall chimed ten, Cielle finally stood up. She carried her plate to the sink, rinsed it, and looked out the dark window.
"I should start walking back to the Academy," she said, sounding mildly reluctant.
Sunny stopped drying his own plate. He looked outside. The rain was coming down hard now, lashing against the glass in a cold, steady downpour. The idea of her walking forty minutes in the freezing rain, just to go in a cramped dormitory made his chest feel strangely tight.
"Don't," Sunny said.
Cielle paused. "Don't what?"
"Don't walk back." Sunny threw the dish towel onto the counter. "It's freezing. And we are heading into the Chained Isles tomorrow. I bought a second pod for the guest room. It has high-end biogel. If we get stuck out there, I don't want to worry about your body shutting down in some cheap Academy pod. Just stay and sleep here"
Cielle considered this. She tilted her head. "That... makes sense. Walking back and forth in the rain is stupid anyway. But all my stuff is there. I can't just sleep here, Sunny. I have to brush my teeth."
"Then bring a toothbrush."
The words left his mouth before he could stop them. They hung in the air, heavy and loud.
Sunny froze.
Wait.
His shadow detached itself from the floor, walked over to the wall, and began silently, slowly clapping.
Sunny's heart hammered against his ribs. He prepared for her to realize what he had just implied. He braced for the awkwardness.
Cielle just stood there for a moment. She looked at the pouring rain outside. Then she looked up the stairs toward the guest bedroom. Then she looked at Sunny.
"Okay, though that would defeat the whole point of…" she said simply.
Sunny blinked. "Okay?"
"Yes. It saves time. And your couch is better than my bed." She looked completely unfazed. "I'll bring my things tomorrow. Do you have a preference for toothpaste? I don't like the mint ones. They burn."
Sunny stood completely rigid in the kitchen. He felt like he had just successfully disarmed a bomb by accidentally swallowing it.
"No mint," Sunny choked out, his voice slightly strained. "That's fine."
"Noted."