Sunny was thrilled to see his sister petrified in confusion! After bad-mouthing him so much and not believing him, the brat needed to be humbled, so he was surprised yet delighted when Eunbin, Kai, and Moonveil showed up. He watched Rain try her damndest to focus on the table, so like the good, totally not petty or greedy brother, Sunny capitalized on his little sister's reaction from the moment they got here to now, silently watching with satisfaction.
That is, until he looked to his right and locked eyes with Eunbin. Sunny turned to focus fully and saw her alluring lips, for whatever reason, twisted into a playful, warm smile. Not that he minded Eunbin smiling at him, as he always felt his mood lift whenever she did. Her beautifully scarred face seemed to illuminate with joy, her smile turning from playful to genuine.
When she gave him a genuine smile, even the cute dimples on her face were visible.
He wanted to say that Eunbin had used her mind to attack him, but that would have been a lie.
And Sunny never lied.
'Ah, Damnation.'
She was too damn gorgeous.
He was doomed.
The longer he stared, the more he didn't want to look away, and it took him a long moment to realize why she lit up like that. She had caught him admiring her beauty. Sunny quickly tore his gaze away, but it was far too late.
Using this small amount of time, Sunny took a moment to think and wonder if she considered Sunny a friend. If anything, Sunny figured Eunbin thought of him as an
acquaintance, a person she was on friendly terms with at the very least.
And someone Eunbin did business with at most. But it was still too early to tell. Besides, she didn't keep it a secret that she disliked the Lord of Shadows persona, while on the other end, she got along well with Sunny, so that didn't make things any clearer.
And while Sunny didn't consider her a friend yet, he could confidently say they were past being strangers, as he said earlier, business companions at most. But that was something to think about another time.
Sunny still had yet to ask if they wanted anything to eat, so he moved to grab his notepad, but halted when he felt a light tap on his arm.
Looking over, Sunny met eyes with Eunbin, who was staring at him. She then let out a melodious laugh at what he assumed was his expression.
"Master Sunless. I told you there is no need to be so nervous around me, I meant it when I said that I don't bite!" She smiled at him and pointed at her pristine white teeth.
"Well, unless you ask nicely." Eunbin's smile became mischievous.
Sunny maintained his composure and smiled at the enchantress, "I'm afraid I'm not a snack to eat, Lady Eunbin."
"That's a shame. I know plenty of women in Raven Heart who would say otherwise. They would want to gobble you up like a snack, and who knows, I may or may not agree with them." She said the last part under her breath, but Sunny heard, as did Moonveil and Kai.
Sunny remained seated. Meanwhile, somewhere, far away, the terrifying Lord of Shadows, who had returned to his temple in God Grave, gracelessly tripped while walking up the dais, his head slamming on the steps.
Moonveil nearly choked on her wine, Kai's eyes widened, and Rain slumped into her chair, obviously trying her best to suppress a groan.
"Bin! Quit flirting with Master Sunless in front of us, do that on your own time, or you'll scare his second assistant off. " Moonveil exclaimed in annoyance while rubbing her temples.
Eunbin fluttered her eyelashes innocently. "Flirting? I'm just conversing with a young entrepreneur who is also our purveyor. Is that a crime, Veil? Is it so bad to have a chat with someone?" She playfully pouted.
"I don't know you, woman." Moonveil rolled her eyes.
She turned her attention to Rain. "Rain, if this bothers you, let me know, and I will make Eunbin leave."
"No, I've heard worse from others, so this is pretty tame." Rain sat up straight in her seat and smiled shyly.
"That, I can agree with. Lord Shadow reminds me of someone I knew. I can't remember what they look like, but I know that no matter what that person said, it was always the truth." A faint smile touched Kai's lips as he looked at Rain.
He trailed off for a moment and gave a confused blank look.
"I'm sorry I lost my train of thought. What were we talking about?" Kai looked at Sunny.
"Nothing significant enough if you can't remember, and if you can't remember, it must not be that important, right?"
He smiled at Kai.
On the inside, though, Sunny felt he had suffered soul damage because Kai couldn't remember him, but he managed to force a smile that almost cracked.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Kai nodded with a conflicted look.
"Now, would you all like to get anything to eat?" They all nodded, "Very well, Rain, if you wouldn't mind helping me." Sunny smiled politely.
Sunny heard the entrance open, and a sullen voice resounded from the front door.
"Add one more,"
The voice revealed itself to be Silent Stalker.
She walked in and sat down beside Kai. Her unassuming face held a gloomy expression, as usual, and her gaze tried to pierce through him.
"Master Sunless." Silent Stalker nodded at Sunny.
"Lady Silent Stalker." Sunny bowed politely.
Silent Stalker stared at him some more as if trying to find something hidden from sight.
"That was quite the first impression you made with us when you spoke with our mother." Not waiting for an answer, she continued to speak.
"The same goes for Lord Shadow, as Revel told you, a saint is not someone you should provoke. Unexpectedly, you two got along better than everyone assumed. I'm surprised he didn't kill you right there for that insult, perhaps because you share similar aspects?" She mused, her eyebrows furrowed together in thought.
Thankfully, she spoke more to herself than Sunny, so he didn't have to answer her question.
"No one can think on an empty stomach, Lady Silent Stalker." Sunny subtly tried to push the conversation in another direction.
"No, I suppose no one can, but our conversation is far from over, Master Sunless, I'm not finished with you." Silent Stalker narrowed her eyes on him.
What?
What was this woman's problem with him?
'Gloomy, help me out here!'
His shadow remained silent as shadows do, but he could feel Gloomy let out a mute sigh.
He took Kai and the three Song sisters' orders and headed towards the kitchen, with Rain immediately getting up from her seat and following him. They walked into the kitchen, and the moment the door closed behind them, looking at the ground, Sunny stared at his shadow hatefully, and Gloomy met his stare with a glare of his own.
'You're as useful as a pile of rocks, you know? No, I take that back, even a pile of rocks is more useful than you! More specifically, the extraordinary rock. It would never leave me hanging like that!' He scolded his eldest shadow.
And what was his shadow's response to his insult?
Gloomy flipped him off.
'You rude—' Sunny began, but was interrupted.
"Teacher! Teacher!" Rain looked at him with wide, trembling eyes. She saw his speechless fight with his shadow, but chose to ignore it. The brat had gotten desensitized to his intentionally eccentric behavior.
"What? We have orders to work; we need no distractions." Sunny chided, manifesting an avatar.
"Bah! Forget about those damn orders! I don't even care about being your unpaid intern right now! I'm more concerned about the people who made the orders!" She waved her hands in the air like a madwoman.
"Why? What about them? I told you I knew and worked with them, right?" Sunny raised an eyebrow, enjoying her reaction.
"I-What? No, I didn't!" Rain stammered out.
Sunny wordlessly outstretched his left hand, and sparks of darkness appeared in his palm as he was summoning the extraordinary rock.
"Okay, Okay! I didn't think you were telling the truth." She grumbled.
Sunny stopped summoning his treasured memory.
"I always tell the truth, and speaking of truths. For example, I know Lord Shadow very well because I am Lord Shadow. That is the truth." Sunny casually stated as he whisked the eggs, adding salt and pepper to them, while his avatar begrudgingly got to work on the pancake batter.
Rain's right eye twitched.
"Another truth is that Aiko never went upstairs to get a hair tie for you; she went up there to nap." Sunny put the whisked eggs in a heated pan over the makeshift oven, constantly shaking them.
"She duped me." Rain frowned.
"Don't be sad, Rain, it happens to the best of us. Now quit standing there and finish this omelet." He stepped away from the oven, moving to focus on another order.
"Fine." Rain pouted.
"And quit pouting," Sunny said with his back turned.
"I'm not pouting!" She exclaimed.
After 20 minutes of messing with Rain, they brought the food to their dashing customers.
"Master Sunless, you are still new here, so you wouldn't know this. A ball was supposed to be held later this year, but our mother hasn't decided yet whether it will be held." Eunbin looked at Sunny.
"Oh? Are you all looking forward to it?" Sunny asked, genuinely curious.
"Not a chance, I despise dresses with my very being. It inhibits movement and often looks ridiculous." Silent Stalker scoffed.
"Don't mind her, have you ever been to a ball before
Ascended Sunless?" Moonveil asked, tilting her head.
"I have actually, but I had an argument with a… friend, and the night ended up being pretty terrible after that, so I have never gone to one since then."
"I'm sorry that happened, but I can promise this one will change your viewpoint of them should our mother follow through. Though I don't mean to pry, it sounded like they were more than a "friend" to you from your tone."
Sunny spaced out thinking of his argument with Nephis at the ball, and the chain of events that transpired afterward. The Evacuation of Antarctica, LO49, the Battle of the Black Skull, and the Tomb of Oblivion. Sunny must've made an expression of a sort because he heard Eunbin apologizing.
"—Never mind, forgive me, Master Sunless, I didn't mean to tread into personal territory." Eunbin pointed out with a surprisingly guilty look.
"No, it's alright. We're far past that time, so much so that the individual likely doesn't even remember our quarrel." He smiled at her, waving away her apology.
After that, three hours had passed since the conversation started before the four saints paid for their food and left. By now, it was nightfall once again, and Rain was preparing to leave. Sunny made sure that Happy was attached to her Shadow.
"Be safe, keep up the good work, and I just might start paying you." Sunny smiled at her.
"Really?" Rain lit up like a Christmas tree.
Sunny laughed loudly.
"No."
"You're such a cheap—, ugh, Goodnight!" She stomped out of the Emporium.
He looked through the Happy shadow to ensure his sister returned safely. One hour had passed before she made it to her parents' house, and only then did Sunny start to clean up, as he had already closed for the night until the entrance bell rang.
Sunny was… confused. Anyone who came here knew when he closed, so who would show up around this time?
"I'm sorry, but we are closed for the day. You can come back tomorrow morning, though!" Sunny was wiping down the tables, so he was unaware of who he was talking to.
"Oh, that's a shame. I figured you could spare a few minutes so we can properly learn whatever names we prefer to be addressed as. I'll go first." They lingered for a long time before continuing.
The silence was loud and unsettling even for Sunny.
But what they said next made him stop all movement.
"Which one do you prefer to go by more? Master Sunless or Lord Shadow?"