The sound of a broken plate echoed through the kitchen.
"Ah! I'm sorry! Me again..." Beth apologized, looking sheepishly at Sunny, who stood beside her as they washed the day's dirty dishes.
He shook his head and looked at her, stifling a giggle as he watched her cringe like a child expecting a scolding.
"It's okay, it's just a plate. Don't look at me like that; I won't get mad."
He picked up the broken shards from the dishwasher for her and threw them in the trash on top of the pile of other broken pieces. She stared at the painful mound of shattered ceramics, forcing herself to suppress a grimace. He turned to look again at his companion. She wore her hair pulled back in its usual bun, leaving the front loose to form her bangs. Sunny took the liberty of letting his eyes wander down her body, appreciating her outfit: a formal white blouse covered by a black apron that fitted her figure, and trousers and shoes of the same color. It was a waitress uniform.
The outfit, while not custom-made, was the right size and, incidentally, helped to enhance her beauty. Aiko provided the uniform. She was responsible for getting it, much to Beth's good fortune, since, initially, to cut costs, Sunny had wanted to make the clothes himself. But after the little woman's horror at the idea of him designing any kind of garment, he relinquished the duty.
Aiko traveled to the Watchworld and got the uniform she herself wore, but adjusted to Beth's dimensions. He regretted the extra expense, though it was necessary, but all remorse ceased when he saw her wearing it.
Noticing the long, lingering gaze the person next to her was giving her, Beth smiled, speaking in a playful tone.
"Something wrong?"
Standing beside her, Sunny took a moment to look away, staring into her eyes. The glow of the evening light in its final stage only enhanced her charm. He reached up and caressed her cheek.
"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you look wearing that?"
She let out a chuckle and tilted her head slightly, somewhere between confused and amused. "You say it quite often. In fact, I think I'd better ask if you ever don't tell me."
He chuckled and looked at her one last time before speaking. "You've done more than enough for today. You rest, I'll finish cleaning up."
Beth smiled, relieved of her duties. "Yes! I'll go change then." She was about to turn and leave, but paused for a moment watching Sunny.
He pretended not to notice her gaze and continued washing the dishes. She suddenly came up to him and put her arms around him tightly as she planted a kiss that he immediately reciprocated; he was no longer a stranger to such displays of affection.
When they parted, they looked into each other's eyes, and Sunny was struck by a doubt that sometimes haunted his head. Even though he had the answer, sometimes he needed to hear it to help him come to terms with reality.
"Remind me and clear up this doubt: what are you doing working here? You're supposed to have a more important job than just being here, right?"
She blinked and looked at him, slightly confused. It was one of the many questions he asked from time to time. She coughed before answering:
"I'm covering Aiko's shift, and about my job... well, yes, in fact, I'm slowing down my whole team by being here," she said quietly with a smile.
Sunny gave her a complicated look, opening his mouth to speak, but Beth cut in again.
"But don't worry about it, it's my business! I'm here because I want to be, no one is forcing me!... Or not completely, but like I told you, don't worry about it!"
After saying that, she walked away and quickly left the room before Sunny could reply.
His hands went back to the soapy dishes, continuing the washing up. He reviewed in his mind the events of the last few months. After the curious morning where the bed had had to withstand three eager bodies, things were somewhat peculiar, to say the least.
After that day, Beth's presence became a constant in his daily life, as she began to work alongside him. For Sunny, this was complicated; he was tense and disoriented by the change. These kinds of events were not an everyday occurrence, even for someone like him, who until a few years ago had been thrown into increasingly catastrophic situations by fate.
He had heard that in some clans of relevance, it was not so strange for their members to have two spouses, although this kind of situation was usually more a political strategy than something agreed upon out of sentiment. But it was still an abnormality, even in such contexts, so he was quite taken aback the first few days by the sudden new dynamic. The naturalness with which both girls adapted only made him feel dizzy. It seemed to him that he was in some kind of race and was falling behind.
After a couple of months of Beth's incorporation into his routine, he finally felt that he was able to adjust to the peculiar lifestyle. He was relieved when both Aiko and Beth got along surprisingly well. Of course, there was some friction between them along the way, but that had nothing to do with their relationship.
The source of these frictions was due to Beth's involvement as an assistant in the brilliant emporium. Fortunately, these brief conflicts were nothing more than nonsense, more worthy of childish tantrums that would be forgotten within minutes than anything serious to worry about, such as arguments over whether cinnamon goes with sugar or whose side of the bed belongs to whom.
Beth, because of her busy schedule, works part-time, filling in for Aiko every few days, usually on weekends. This working arrangement was made without him being consulted. Likewise, she received monetary remuneration from him.
Contrary to what she first believed, the little woman did not waste these days on idleness. Despite now having a couple of extra days to relax, she still took care of the finances and was the errand girl.
On some days, Aiko spent several hours sitting in a corner of the dining room, wearing a black trench coat along with a hat and a fake mustache. She used to bring a notebook and pencil with her, jotting down notes as she watched the customers pass by in the shop. She refused to talk to him about what she was doing, only sharing her notes with Beth.
Carefully, Sunny put the last of the now few white porcelain plates back in place after drying them. He finished tidying up at least the kitchen side of the establishment, taking the opportunity to stretch before heading toward the dining room. All that remained was to sweep and wipe down the tables and call it a day.
"Please, just this once."
"I told you I can't! I won't."
Before he walked out the door, he heard two little voices familiar to him. 'Ah, there's that time, I guess. They took longer than usual this time.' He paused in the doorframe and leaned against the wall, tilting his head to watch the discussion unfold.
Aiko dropped to her knees, clung to Beth, and made puppy dog eyes. "Please, please do it for me. I don't feel like going there again tomorrow!"
Beth's brow furrowed, and she visibly clenched her jaw. "I told you no! Can you even get something that simple into your head? I said no, and it's not even my responsibility, you damned midget!"
The attack on her person was not something Aiko saw coming, so she opened her eyes in surprise. But immediately, her brow furrowed, and she stood up quickly.
"What did you say, you... you!" Aiko paused to think, brought her hand to her chin, and her eyes rolled down Beth's body, analyzing her from head to toe. When she finally landed on a verbal attack that she thought would pay off, she pointed her finger at her as her eyes flashed with mischief. "...You ugly!"
In response, Beth cocked her head in confusion, put her hands on her hips, and raised an eyebrow, looking at her contemptuously. "Really? Is that all you could come up with with that little head of yours? Even little Ling could come up with something better than that! You're more like a moth, you know? You're floating around, making noise and getting in the way. In fact, comparing you to moths would be unfair to them; at least they have grace. You're like a fly!"
The little girl looked like she'd been pierced with something sharp by the way she staggered, stunned by the way they were ranting at her. She scowled even more, and her face began to turn red with anger, but she kept calm enough to say with a coolness unbecoming of her harmless appearance:
"...Apparently, you and I have some things to discuss in private right now." She turned, heading quickly towards the bodega-Smithing Room without waiting for confirmation or a last glance at the other girl.
Beth nodded audibly with a barely contained grunt and followed her at a brisk pace. The door slammed shut as they both passed.
Sunny merely blinked. During the brief but intense encounter, he didn't move a muscle. He was too amused to stop them. These arguments were commonplace; these were the run-ins the two of them usually had, which was why he never intervened, since they never ended in anything serious. But he had never before witnessed such an argument escalate into insults and be taken to another place like today, so he was surprised.
'Whatever, no matter how much the situation escalates, Aiko would never use her Awakened strength over a tantrum.' With that in mind, he calmed down.
But he didn't move; he remained still, leaning against the wall, not looking at anything in particular.
'Yes... I think... I hope...'
He scratched his head and grimaced.
'I'm going to check.'
Somewhere between interested and worried about how things might unfold, he quietly approached the cellar door and turned the handle carefully so as not to make too much noise. He could perfectly well send his shadow to check for him or use his Shadow Sense to observe what was going on inside, but he simply found it more exciting to do it this way.
He pushed the door open slowly with equal caution, trying not to be discovered, while praying that the door hinge wouldn't make some sort of noise from lack of oil or care. He kept an eye on the crack that formed between the door and the frame, letting him see what was going on.
"I've had it with you, you... Mh!... Stupid fl—" Beth was silenced when Aiko planted an intense kiss on her lips.
The petite girl had the other cornered against the wall. With one arm, she wrapped her around her, and with her free hand, she caressed her uniform-covered thighs. Beth, on the other hand, responded, wrapping her arms around Aiko's waist and slowly moving her hands to her lower half with the intention of reaching under her clothes.
From there, only sounds of kissing and deep gasps could be heard.
Sunny closed the door behind him carefully and let out a relieved sigh. 'Ah, that was just it... I think I'm going to leave them alone for now. It would be good for them to strengthen their friendship without me being in the way.'
He shook his head and focused his gaze down the corridor. Resuming his earlier work, he made his way towards the dining room. He wiped the tables, clearing away any leftover food or stains with a damp cloth. Then he lifted the chairs one by one, turning them around and placing them on the tables so that he could sweep more comfortably. He picked up the wooden broom to gather the accumulated grime. His mind still had things to think about, so he simply let it flow.
'Well, things are going well here at least. The situation is a bit strange, but I think I'll get used to it at some point. No relevant news from Godgrave. The Winter Solstice is approaching, but besides that, nothing too interesting has happened or will happen, and in Ravenheart...'
Sunny paused, sighed heavily, frowned, and turned his head to look at his shadow.
"Should we kill the Happy Shadow?" he said in a voice cold and full of pent-up hatred.
The shadow he addressed seemed to jump in fright and waved its hands as if trying to say, "Wait a minute! Let's think things through!"
Then the shadow tried to communicate by making gestures that were unintelligible to Sunny, but he didn't need to understand them; he sensed what it meant.
"Are you crazy? We can't kill it without torturing it first!"
While this exchange was going on, somewhere in the Dream Realm, specifically in Ravenheart, a man who cuddled a beautiful girl in his arms swallowed and shivered.
Sunny sighed and went back to sweeping. The image of five identical people carrying a gagged sixth on their way to a guillotine as he writhed like a worm made him chuckle.
"Ah, damn... I guess he'll be safe for a while longer." He couldn't afford this kind of luxury right now. His shadow fragment growth was advancing like a snail. If he decided to sacrifice an incarnation, it would be a terrible casualty he was unwilling to accept. On the other hand, he knew that these thoughts were ways of relieving the pressure he sometimes had in his chest. The Happy Shadow was not really to blame, for, after all, he was in control of that incarnation. If things turned out this way, it was because he allowed them to.
'And also, am I not being unfaithful? Wait, wait, what if Aiko and Beth were to find out about this?' A shiver ran down his spine, and he broke out in a cold sweat. 'Are my days numbered already? By the dead gods, Sunless, you suck.'
The sound of creaking wood brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at his hands, finding that the broom that only seconds ago was in perfect condition now lay split and splintered.
He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his temples, trying to dispel the wave of stress that suddenly washed over him. He wanted to form a broom from the shadows, but if anyone happened to see him doing such a thing, at worst, he would have to silence them. This fact only frustrated him more.
Sunny dropped the pieces of wood from his hands, falling to the floor with a thud. He stared into nothingness, not wanting to move, just wanting to lie on his bed and ignore everything around him. He almost used Shadow Step as a shortcut to his bed, but a twinge in his heart made him raise his head, brightening his eyes.
'What the hell am I doing here?' I turn toward the door where he'd previously been spying. 'What the hell am I doing here thinking these things when I could be in there? Screw the broom, my future self will sort this out!'
A goofy grin tugged at his lips, and he began to move in the direction of what, momentarily, would be paradise, the escape from his problems.
He was halfway across the room when the familiar sound of the bell announced a new visitor.
Sunny's feet stopped dead in their tracks. Her left eyelid twitched repeatedly. 'Who the hell dares enter a place that's clearly locked? There's the damn Closed sign in front of the door!'
Before he did something he would regret later, he took a moment to take a deep breath.
He calmly turned around, bringing out the best version of the kind and friendly shopkeeper he could muster.
There he found a ravishingly beautiful woman standing in the doorway with a cordial smile. The moonlight made her brown hair look almost sacred. She stared at the shopkeeper with her deep blue eyes.
Sunny's heart leapt, but not because of her beauty in particular. 'Is she a Master? No, perhaps she is a Saint.' The characteristic presence of those who walked the Ascension Path of the Nightmare Spell was present in her, but Sunny managed to recognize that it was being repressed, just as his own was by the Misty Cloak. 'What does it matter if she's a Saint, a Master, or a fucking talking potato? Say something, dammit.'
"Excuse me, Miss-."
"Ah, sorry, I.-"
They both spoke at the same time, interrupting each other. Silence passed until a chuckle came from the woman in the doorway.
"I'm sorry, excuse my manners. I am Mor... Moriga?" The question was said quietly to herself but was still audible to Sunny, who unconsciously tilted his head slightly.
"Moira! I'm Moira, it's a pleasure," she said with a hand on her chest along with that hearty smile that was so perfect it couldn't be natural.
Sunny's eyes traveled to Moira's hand, causing his pupils to retract. The woman was wearing black gloves that looked familiar. Immediately, he recognized that those gloves were not weak Memories, Transcendent at the very least.
"I'm Master Sunless, it's a pleasure to meet you. Tell me, what brings you here?" Sunny's mind immediately went to work. If he made a mistake here, he could be in serious trouble; the person in front of him wasn't an ordinary one—he wasn't a Master, and even if he was a Saint, he wouldn't be this nervous.
'What the hell is Morgan of Valor doing here?' He managed to recognize Morgan mainly by the detail of the gloves. Her face was inevitably familiar, but with her altered appearance, he couldn't immediately place her.
"Oh, I was just passing by and noticed I've never seen this place before. I don't live in this part of Bastion, so I don't pass here very often, so I was curious. Are you still serving?"
Sunny would have arched an eyebrow if he could. 'Really, going into a clearly locked place just out of curiosity?' He dispelled these thoughts from his head. 'Focus.'
"No, actually, I really am locking up. But don't worry, usually I would have to ask you to leave, but today I feel like making an exception for you! So what can I get you?" he said with the best and most dignified demeanor he could muster, while inside, Sunny was panicking.