A lonely Shadow

Over the past few weeks, Sunny had been working himself without rest. There were too many things to do, too many events to make happen, and too many variables for him to simply ignore. And so, he buried himself into work and training without even making time for sleep.

One wouldn't regularly notice, seeing as Masters could spend extended amounts of time without sleeping, however Sunny's fatigue was mental compared to physical. His brain was working itself far more than the average ascended did, he had even managed to trick his body into moving by convincing it nowhere was safe enough to sleep.

However, that all changed when he tried to make his way into Nephis house. He knew too well that Nephis should have finished her meeting with Mordret by now, and since his training with Rain had gone far better than he thought it would, he found himself having free time.

What Sunny didn't expect though, was for all his fatigue to come crashing down onto him as he only caught a brief glimpse of Nephis before sinking into unconsciousness. His sleep was dreamless, his brain not even having the space to conjure up fantasies as he simply drifted through the realm of unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, Nephis was frantically scanning over his body as she gritted her teeth to apply her flames to him once more. Upon doing so, she had finally confirmed that Sunny had not incurred any physical damage, but rather he had been straining himself mentally far more than she had expected.

The bags over his eyes became readily apparent as the dark circles served to contrast his pale features. Grabbing a pot of hot water, Nephis applied heat to it bringing it to a boiling point before dropping a towel in. Such temperatures would typically be harmful to regular people; however, she was far from regular as she quickly pulled her hand out with the towel in hand.

Upon applying it to Sunny's forehead, she went through the liberty of undressing him. Pulling off his water-soaked shirt as she got the rare chance to appreciate the divine sight of Sunny's shirtless form. His tattoo intrigued her further, as she outstretched a hand to run her hand across it, she could almost swear it shivered under the contact.

"You idiot, who told you that you could overwork yourself." Sitting next to the couch where she had placed Sunny, she rested her head on his side as she sighed to herself. "Usually, people get hot and feverish when they're ill. But you got even colder, peculiar but not impossible to heal." She mumbled to herself as she scrolled through her communicator absentmindedly.

Sunny's recent condition meant that she could extend her leave of absence even further than she initially had, however the same couldn't be said for Cassie. Sunny had promised to speak to her, and saying the conversation was a culprit for Sunny's current condition wouldn't be too far-fetched.

Nephis didn't know what to think of Cassie, she had tried to kill Sunny after all. Granted, the situation made restraining him necessary but going so far as fighting Nephis to stop her from healing him was quite absurd. The thought of it caused rage to bubble in her heart, however Sunny's rumbling stomach tore her from her thoughts.

Slowly but surely, Sunny was waking up. He was in no condition to do anything, and Nephis would make sure he didn't push himself, by force if she had to. Yet she was still sure he'd try, after all, if she was in such a situation that's what she'd do.

Shifting her head forward, Sunny slowly sat up as his eyes lazily scanned around the environment before settling onto Nephis. A small, imperceptible smile tugged at his lips, one he himself didn't notice as he stared at her in silence. However, his eyes blazed with passion, barely restrained by the deep distrust that Sunny had formed over the years.

Laughter pulled Sunny from his thoughts as she saw Nephis trying to restrain a giggle as she looked at him. "Your eyes, if you want me to come kiss you then you could have just said so." She commented between laughs before rising to her feet. Sunny moved to comment however, Nephis didn't allow that as she gently pushed his back down to the couch.

Tracing kisses across his body, she finally made her way to his face before capturing his lips in her own. They held the contact for a few minutes before Nephis pulled away, "That's a reward for working so hard. But honestly, if you're working so hard alone what's the point of including me?" Sunny sighed in agreement before pulling Nephis onto his chest.

"Sorry, it's been difficult for me. But it was something only I could do because of how I've lived." His vague wording caused Nephis to raise an eyebrow as she shifted on his chest to meet his eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice quieter than a whisper as Sunny ran a hand through her hair.

"I went back to the outskirts to get something done; it's relating to your mission. But the issue is I can't tell you or else all eyes will be on you, for all the wrong reasons." Nephis only nodded in reply, if Sunny was saying it then she had no choice but to believe it. After all, he wouldn't lie to her. More importantly, he couldn't.

"It's fine if you can't tell me. Just make sure to explain everything once it's all over. Mordret and I agreed to have the attack happen in a week anyway so all should be well."

Running a hand over Sunny's chest, causing him to squirm under her weight as his face flushed red. "You on the other hand, are staying here till you recover. I need to cook you something as well." Sunny nodded tiredly as Nephis got up, there was more she wanted to say, fuelled by the desire that Sunny's shirtless body caused her to have. However, she too knew that it was too early, and Sunny was too tired.

Making her way into the kitchen, Nephis glanced out the window as she prepared ingredients to begin her meal. She was going to out do herself in the kitchen, after all, she had guests. As she laid out the ingredients, her hands meticulously went to work as she began crafting the finest plate of fried rice ever known to mankind.

The aroma that the kitchen gave off was alluring, even wild animals like birds found themselves flocking around her window as they all waited in interest to see the final product. And Sunny at the moment, was no less curious than them as he appeared into the kitchen through shadow step.

Lying in an uninhabited corner of the kitchen, he watched Nephis blitz from one corner of the room to another, a happy smile planted on her face as she continued cooking. Her focus was so immense she didn't even notice Sunny who was silently seated in the corner.

However, suddenly, the room dropped a few degrees in temperature. Sunny had noticed something infuriating. Nephis head quickly snapped in his direction as she turned off the fire before rushing to his side, "What is it? What happened?" she questioned, Sunny's look of rage never disappearing.

"I just saw the bastard who threatened my sister."