02-19-2018, 05:40 AM
Delicious~
Ebony’s ‘home’cooked meal might not have been objectively good. Everything was a bit charred around the edges, and though the insides may not have been either over or undercooked, the entire meal still felt a bit... dry. Fortunately, there was the orange juice to wash it down. But still, just the fact that the young mage had been so eager to cook for him easily made up for the perfectly par taste of it. And though he had been a bit hesitant to be fed at first, he did have to admit he was kind of enjoying it, no matter how... strange it felt. That fact was apparent through the light blush burning on his cheeks throughout the meal.
“Thanks for the meal, Ebony~,” Summer said with a content sigh once he’d downed the last of the meal his friend fed him. He smiled brightly at her, a grin that anyone would easily be able to tell was absolutely genuine. Fabric ruffled as he shuffled a bit in his seat, pushing just slightly closer to the young mage as he said it.
“Y-You’re welcome...” Ebony stuttered cutely, accepting his thanks with a shy voice. She blushed obviously, averting her eyes in her embarrassment and also fidgeting in her spot, leaning just slightly closer to the storm spirit. Already, Summer could feel the life and energy flooding back into him. But only half of it was from the meal. The other was from how damn cute Ebony was. Life was good~
Fortunately, that energy was also enough that he’d easily be able to heal the two biggest wounds he still had; the burned stump of his left hand, and his immobile and lightning-scorched right arm. Everything else, the blurring of his vision, the faint ringing in his ears and the muffled noises, along with all the scars dotting him could wait. All he needed right now was his arms. He began to concentrate, the air stirring as he began to draw life from it....
“U-Um...” The young mage’s soft voice broke his focus almost before it even began. “Are you going to be able to....” She turned back up to him, her deep green eyes looking between his face and his ruined arms. He had told her that all he needed was a meal in him and he’d be able to fix it right up. The spirit smiled gently, quickly finishing off the spell that had been interrupted. Still staring into Ebony’s eyes, he lifted up his left arm, still missing its hand. Unconsciously, the young mage leaned forward, slightly tilting her head down, an instinctive reaction in the face of what she thought was going to be him patting her head.
Mist burst forth as his hand exploded back into existence and landed atop her head, ruffling her soft, ebony hair. Just as suddenly, mist sloughed off his other arm, the burns dissolving into weather and the nerve endings swiftly repairing themselves. In an instant, he wrapped that hand around the girl’s small waist. A quiet, too cute “eep” sound escaped her as he pulled her close to him, hugging her tight. With his left hand, he held her head to his chest, and buried his face in her messy hair.
“Sorry for worrying you...” The spirit mumbled into her hair, holding her as close as he could. He could already feel her body quickly heating up, and though he couldn’t see it beyond the veil of black hair, he figured that she was probably blushing. He knew he was. He couldn’t stop the rosy tint slowly rising into his cheeks, no matter how level he kept his breathing.
“N-No, I sh-should be the one apologizing...” Ebony’s voice was just as muffled as his own, her warm breath brushing against his chest as she spoke. Small arms wrapped around him as well, the young mage returning his hug. “I-If I h-ha-”
“None of that.” Summer cut her off with a stern word, rubbing his right hand comfortingly over her back. He didn’t offer anything more than that, he just wanted to make it abundantly clear that she didn’t need to apologize. They’d covered that already.
“O-Okay....” She seemed to deflate in his grip for a moment, but still she held onto him, even hugging him a bit tighter than before.
“Good.” He said, falling silent for a few seconds, never letting his grip loosen. There was still one thing he wanted to do before he let go of her. He slowly braced himself, before burying himself into her hair just a bit more and planting a quick kiss on the top of her head. Blushing, Summer relaxed his grip on Ebony, allowing her to regretfully pull back and sit back upright in her seat.
“It looks like the king of the castle doesn’t have any work for us, then.” Summer tried his best to avoid meeting the young mage’s gaze after that, deliberately turning to Morene and changing the subject. Though he tried his best not to see how she reacted to that, he could feel the bed shift as she fidgeted. “I take it we’ll have time for some training, then? Unless you’ve got something planned.”
“Nothing.” Morene answered him with a level voice from her spot off to the side. The soldier had made herself debatably comfortable in a chair pushed up next to the wall, just sort of watching over the two like a silent protector. She shifted slightly in her seat, before continuing. “I can not speak for later, but we do have time now, if that it what you wish.”
“Perfect, thanks.” Summer said with a smile, bowing lightly at Morene.
“Certainly.” She returned the gesture, vaguely.
“My turn then~” Without wasting a second, Sonny butted in, singing in Summer’s voice. A short sigh escaped the storm spirit, but that was the deal. Sonny was better at fighting and had the resilience his other half didn’t, he was more suited to being an instructor than Summer was. He concentrated, unravelling his body into a cloud of mist while his other half build his in its place.
---
“Ah~ Feels good to be out~” It only took a few seconds for the switch to happen, leaving the sun spirit sitting in his place, looking just as beat up as his other half did. A smile as bright as a summer’s day adorned Sonny’s face, and he quickly set to work stretching his back and arms out. It didn’t actually do all that much for him, since it wasn’t like he was a body trapped in a cramped space until it was his time to come out, but still, it felt nice. It was freeing in a mental sort of sense, made him feel like he was out and about rather than a nebulous consciousness floating somewhere in the back of his other half’s mind.
“First things first...” He began, turning back to Ebony, returning the gaze that his other half had averted. The young mage stared awkwardly back at him, hugging her cloak around her a bit, blushing slightly. Suddenly the smile fell away from his face, replaced by a much more serious look. “That book. When the energy hit you, did it leave a mark where it hit?” Seeing his serious face and hearing his question, Ebony broke out of her slight daze.
“Oh, u-um... N-No...” She mumbled and shifted awkwardly in her seat, obviously lying. If he were to hazard a guess, Sonny would assume she hadn’t bothered checking.
“Really?” The sun spirit’s tone betrayed his suspicion. He leaned in closer, staring seriously at her.
“I-I haven’t checked....” She finally admitted. Sonny’s suspicion had been correct. “B-But I’m fine! Really!” Though she claimed that, he could still see her grimace in pain, as though she realized an ache existed again.
“Ebony,” the sun spirit’s voice was dire. He pulled himself closer to the edge of the bed, dangling his feet over it like his friend did, sitting close enough to almost press against her side. “You didn’t like it when Summer said it, we don’t like it when you say that. Friends help friends, but we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on.” Ebony averted her gaze, suddenly finding the floor incredibly interesting. “By the way,” Sonny’s voice suddenly fell to a whisper, and he leaned closer to the mage. “If Summer pulls that again, you have my full permission to slap him. Or anything you wanna do to punish him, really~”
“Will do~” Suddenly his friend’s mood brightened, and she giggled just a bit, straightening back up a bit in her seat. After a second of amusement, her face fell again, and she returned to the matter at hand. “U-Um... Th-There’s an ache in my chest. Like, around here...” She drew a circle in the air over her heart. Sonny’s eyes fell for a moment, before jumping back up to meet her own.
“Does it hurt more in any place than anywhere else?” He enquired.
“A-About...” She rubbed a spot on her lower ribs, left side, just below her breast.
“I see....” The sun spirit trailed off, falling into thought for a moment. “This might be a bit intrusive, but could you lift your shirt and show me where it hurts the most?”
“N-No!” Ebony stammered almost immediately, face turning a vibrant red. She scooted back from him just a bit. Then, putting her hood up and hiding behind it, added. “Y-You might see m-my b-ch-chest...”
“Ebony, I am completely serious right now.” Sonny’s voice was perfectly level, his face completely stoic. “If it makes you uncomfortable, you can simply check in a mirror, or have Morene take a look. I just need to know if there’s a mark and what it looks like, okay?”
Silence fell over the room for a few seconds, broken only by the occasional sliding of fabric as Ebony fidgeted on the bed, or the small clinks of metal as Morene did the same. The spirit cast a quick glance her way. She seemed like she was looking to speak up, but didn’t yet, waiting for the young mage’s decision. After a while, she pulled herself completely onto the bed, turning her body to face Sonny, kneeling.
“N-No, i-it’s f-f-fine....” Though she said she was okay with this, her tone and cherry-red cheeks said otherwise. Nervously, her hands reached down to the hem of her black shirt, before pulling it up, revealing a soft, almost porcelain-white stomach. She stopped just before she’d have pulled it up over her breasts, showing only the very bottom curve of them. Ebony made a point of looking anywhere but towards Sonny, her face completely red by this point. With the heat radiating off her, the spirit was worried for a moment that she’d set the bed on fire.
Of course, he looked only with a doctor’s eye. He spotted it immediately, a black, splotchy dot lining up about with the bottom of her heart, right under her left breast. It wasn’t an evil marking or anything; there was no symmetry or noticeable pattern to it. Rather, it seemed more like a patch of frostbitten skin with small, tendril-like veins reaching off of it for no more than a centimeter or two. No doubt that was where the energy bolt had hit. He eyed it closely, consulting all of his senses to know what was going on.
As a magical being, he could read magical signatures to a degree. That was definitely magic in nature. He couldn’t tell what kind specifically, he’d need to set up some tests and spells for that later. But unless she’d had that mark before, and he really doubted she did, then it definitely was from the book. After a moment of gathering everything he could from just staring at it, he simply reached out with his hand, extending his pointer finger, and brushing against it. Ebony immediately squeaked as she felt his finger brush against her, and she wrenched her shirt back down, knocking Sonny’s hand back as she did.
“Wh-wh-what was that for!” Her voice was loud, but shy and stuttery, and she crossed her arms protectively over the mark, pouting at him with a bright red face.
“Seeing what it felt like.” The spirit answered simply. “I need to know everything I can.” Unfortunately, it hadn’t actually felt like anything. He’d expected it to be rough, or burnt, or maybe even frostbitten, if the appearance had been anything to go by. But no, it just felt like an ordinary patch of skin. He’d have to set up some observational spells later, provided Ebony would allow such a thing, that was....
The young mage’s pout simply deepened, as though she didn’t fully accept his answer. “Sorry about that, kiddo.” Sonny said, lifting one hand up to ruffle her hair beneath her hood. “Shoulda warned you first.”
“A-Apology accepted,” his black-clad friend said, a little bit of grumpiness still in her voice, and a bit of a pout still on her face.
“Aaaanyway....” The sun spirit drawled, slowly rising up to his feet, his legs still a bit shaky, but he didn’t show it. That was probably a side-effect of being bedridden all day. “Why don’t we go do that training I promised?” He turned and offered his hand to Ebony, who accepted it, and he helped her rise to her feet. Honestly, it was probably the best thing they could do in that moment. They had to start sometime, and Sonny needed time and effort to set up the spells that would allow him to take a look at whatever curse was afflicting Ebony. Training for now, and later he could actually sit down and set up what he needed.
Ebony’s ‘home’cooked meal might not have been objectively good. Everything was a bit charred around the edges, and though the insides may not have been either over or undercooked, the entire meal still felt a bit... dry. Fortunately, there was the orange juice to wash it down. But still, just the fact that the young mage had been so eager to cook for him easily made up for the perfectly par taste of it. And though he had been a bit hesitant to be fed at first, he did have to admit he was kind of enjoying it, no matter how... strange it felt. That fact was apparent through the light blush burning on his cheeks throughout the meal.
“Thanks for the meal, Ebony~,” Summer said with a content sigh once he’d downed the last of the meal his friend fed him. He smiled brightly at her, a grin that anyone would easily be able to tell was absolutely genuine. Fabric ruffled as he shuffled a bit in his seat, pushing just slightly closer to the young mage as he said it.
“Y-You’re welcome...” Ebony stuttered cutely, accepting his thanks with a shy voice. She blushed obviously, averting her eyes in her embarrassment and also fidgeting in her spot, leaning just slightly closer to the storm spirit. Already, Summer could feel the life and energy flooding back into him. But only half of it was from the meal. The other was from how damn cute Ebony was. Life was good~
Fortunately, that energy was also enough that he’d easily be able to heal the two biggest wounds he still had; the burned stump of his left hand, and his immobile and lightning-scorched right arm. Everything else, the blurring of his vision, the faint ringing in his ears and the muffled noises, along with all the scars dotting him could wait. All he needed right now was his arms. He began to concentrate, the air stirring as he began to draw life from it....
“U-Um...” The young mage’s soft voice broke his focus almost before it even began. “Are you going to be able to....” She turned back up to him, her deep green eyes looking between his face and his ruined arms. He had told her that all he needed was a meal in him and he’d be able to fix it right up. The spirit smiled gently, quickly finishing off the spell that had been interrupted. Still staring into Ebony’s eyes, he lifted up his left arm, still missing its hand. Unconsciously, the young mage leaned forward, slightly tilting her head down, an instinctive reaction in the face of what she thought was going to be him patting her head.
Mist burst forth as his hand exploded back into existence and landed atop her head, ruffling her soft, ebony hair. Just as suddenly, mist sloughed off his other arm, the burns dissolving into weather and the nerve endings swiftly repairing themselves. In an instant, he wrapped that hand around the girl’s small waist. A quiet, too cute “eep” sound escaped her as he pulled her close to him, hugging her tight. With his left hand, he held her head to his chest, and buried his face in her messy hair.
“Sorry for worrying you...” The spirit mumbled into her hair, holding her as close as he could. He could already feel her body quickly heating up, and though he couldn’t see it beyond the veil of black hair, he figured that she was probably blushing. He knew he was. He couldn’t stop the rosy tint slowly rising into his cheeks, no matter how level he kept his breathing.
“N-No, I sh-should be the one apologizing...” Ebony’s voice was just as muffled as his own, her warm breath brushing against his chest as she spoke. Small arms wrapped around him as well, the young mage returning his hug. “I-If I h-ha-”
“None of that.” Summer cut her off with a stern word, rubbing his right hand comfortingly over her back. He didn’t offer anything more than that, he just wanted to make it abundantly clear that she didn’t need to apologize. They’d covered that already.
“O-Okay....” She seemed to deflate in his grip for a moment, but still she held onto him, even hugging him a bit tighter than before.
“Good.” He said, falling silent for a few seconds, never letting his grip loosen. There was still one thing he wanted to do before he let go of her. He slowly braced himself, before burying himself into her hair just a bit more and planting a quick kiss on the top of her head. Blushing, Summer relaxed his grip on Ebony, allowing her to regretfully pull back and sit back upright in her seat.
“It looks like the king of the castle doesn’t have any work for us, then.” Summer tried his best to avoid meeting the young mage’s gaze after that, deliberately turning to Morene and changing the subject. Though he tried his best not to see how she reacted to that, he could feel the bed shift as she fidgeted. “I take it we’ll have time for some training, then? Unless you’ve got something planned.”
“Nothing.” Morene answered him with a level voice from her spot off to the side. The soldier had made herself debatably comfortable in a chair pushed up next to the wall, just sort of watching over the two like a silent protector. She shifted slightly in her seat, before continuing. “I can not speak for later, but we do have time now, if that it what you wish.”
“Perfect, thanks.” Summer said with a smile, bowing lightly at Morene.
“Certainly.” She returned the gesture, vaguely.
“My turn then~” Without wasting a second, Sonny butted in, singing in Summer’s voice. A short sigh escaped the storm spirit, but that was the deal. Sonny was better at fighting and had the resilience his other half didn’t, he was more suited to being an instructor than Summer was. He concentrated, unravelling his body into a cloud of mist while his other half build his in its place.
---
“Ah~ Feels good to be out~” It only took a few seconds for the switch to happen, leaving the sun spirit sitting in his place, looking just as beat up as his other half did. A smile as bright as a summer’s day adorned Sonny’s face, and he quickly set to work stretching his back and arms out. It didn’t actually do all that much for him, since it wasn’t like he was a body trapped in a cramped space until it was his time to come out, but still, it felt nice. It was freeing in a mental sort of sense, made him feel like he was out and about rather than a nebulous consciousness floating somewhere in the back of his other half’s mind.
“First things first...” He began, turning back to Ebony, returning the gaze that his other half had averted. The young mage stared awkwardly back at him, hugging her cloak around her a bit, blushing slightly. Suddenly the smile fell away from his face, replaced by a much more serious look. “That book. When the energy hit you, did it leave a mark where it hit?” Seeing his serious face and hearing his question, Ebony broke out of her slight daze.
“Oh, u-um... N-No...” She mumbled and shifted awkwardly in her seat, obviously lying. If he were to hazard a guess, Sonny would assume she hadn’t bothered checking.
“Really?” The sun spirit’s tone betrayed his suspicion. He leaned in closer, staring seriously at her.
“I-I haven’t checked....” She finally admitted. Sonny’s suspicion had been correct. “B-But I’m fine! Really!” Though she claimed that, he could still see her grimace in pain, as though she realized an ache existed again.
“Ebony,” the sun spirit’s voice was dire. He pulled himself closer to the edge of the bed, dangling his feet over it like his friend did, sitting close enough to almost press against her side. “You didn’t like it when Summer said it, we don’t like it when you say that. Friends help friends, but we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on.” Ebony averted her gaze, suddenly finding the floor incredibly interesting. “By the way,” Sonny’s voice suddenly fell to a whisper, and he leaned closer to the mage. “If Summer pulls that again, you have my full permission to slap him. Or anything you wanna do to punish him, really~”
“Will do~” Suddenly his friend’s mood brightened, and she giggled just a bit, straightening back up a bit in her seat. After a second of amusement, her face fell again, and she returned to the matter at hand. “U-Um... Th-There’s an ache in my chest. Like, around here...” She drew a circle in the air over her heart. Sonny’s eyes fell for a moment, before jumping back up to meet her own.
“Does it hurt more in any place than anywhere else?” He enquired.
“A-About...” She rubbed a spot on her lower ribs, left side, just below her breast.
“I see....” The sun spirit trailed off, falling into thought for a moment. “This might be a bit intrusive, but could you lift your shirt and show me where it hurts the most?”
“N-No!” Ebony stammered almost immediately, face turning a vibrant red. She scooted back from him just a bit. Then, putting her hood up and hiding behind it, added. “Y-You might see m-my b-ch-chest...”
“Ebony, I am completely serious right now.” Sonny’s voice was perfectly level, his face completely stoic. “If it makes you uncomfortable, you can simply check in a mirror, or have Morene take a look. I just need to know if there’s a mark and what it looks like, okay?”
Silence fell over the room for a few seconds, broken only by the occasional sliding of fabric as Ebony fidgeted on the bed, or the small clinks of metal as Morene did the same. The spirit cast a quick glance her way. She seemed like she was looking to speak up, but didn’t yet, waiting for the young mage’s decision. After a while, she pulled herself completely onto the bed, turning her body to face Sonny, kneeling.
“N-No, i-it’s f-f-fine....” Though she said she was okay with this, her tone and cherry-red cheeks said otherwise. Nervously, her hands reached down to the hem of her black shirt, before pulling it up, revealing a soft, almost porcelain-white stomach. She stopped just before she’d have pulled it up over her breasts, showing only the very bottom curve of them. Ebony made a point of looking anywhere but towards Sonny, her face completely red by this point. With the heat radiating off her, the spirit was worried for a moment that she’d set the bed on fire.
Of course, he looked only with a doctor’s eye. He spotted it immediately, a black, splotchy dot lining up about with the bottom of her heart, right under her left breast. It wasn’t an evil marking or anything; there was no symmetry or noticeable pattern to it. Rather, it seemed more like a patch of frostbitten skin with small, tendril-like veins reaching off of it for no more than a centimeter or two. No doubt that was where the energy bolt had hit. He eyed it closely, consulting all of his senses to know what was going on.
As a magical being, he could read magical signatures to a degree. That was definitely magic in nature. He couldn’t tell what kind specifically, he’d need to set up some tests and spells for that later. But unless she’d had that mark before, and he really doubted she did, then it definitely was from the book. After a moment of gathering everything he could from just staring at it, he simply reached out with his hand, extending his pointer finger, and brushing against it. Ebony immediately squeaked as she felt his finger brush against her, and she wrenched her shirt back down, knocking Sonny’s hand back as she did.
“Wh-wh-what was that for!” Her voice was loud, but shy and stuttery, and she crossed her arms protectively over the mark, pouting at him with a bright red face.
“Seeing what it felt like.” The spirit answered simply. “I need to know everything I can.” Unfortunately, it hadn’t actually felt like anything. He’d expected it to be rough, or burnt, or maybe even frostbitten, if the appearance had been anything to go by. But no, it just felt like an ordinary patch of skin. He’d have to set up some observational spells later, provided Ebony would allow such a thing, that was....
The young mage’s pout simply deepened, as though she didn’t fully accept his answer. “Sorry about that, kiddo.” Sonny said, lifting one hand up to ruffle her hair beneath her hood. “Shoulda warned you first.”
“A-Apology accepted,” his black-clad friend said, a little bit of grumpiness still in her voice, and a bit of a pout still on her face.
“Aaaanyway....” The sun spirit drawled, slowly rising up to his feet, his legs still a bit shaky, but he didn’t show it. That was probably a side-effect of being bedridden all day. “Why don’t we go do that training I promised?” He turned and offered his hand to Ebony, who accepted it, and he helped her rise to her feet. Honestly, it was probably the best thing they could do in that moment. They had to start sometime, and Sonny needed time and effort to set up the spells that would allow him to take a look at whatever curse was afflicting Ebony. Training for now, and later he could actually sit down and set up what he needed.
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