Mei looked at Sophie's arms, which were carrying the stack of boxes.
"Your arms, they're h-healed! I can't believe it! Come in, come in! But where's Asher? Did he make you carry these boxes for him?" Mei mumbled excitedly as she ushered Sophie inside.
'Thank System, she isn't suspicious of anything. Now I just need to think of a reasonable excuse.'
Asher thanked whatever god existed in this world. Having not known of any, he had to settle with the next closest thing.
But as he went inside to put the boxes down, his mind went blank.
Inside the cramped kitchen, Mei had set up a table filling the entire space. Two chairs sat side by side, and a small feast covered the table. A few candles lit the corner of the table, creating a quiet, optimistic atmosphere.
But it was gone by the time he arrived.
One of the candles' wicks had already burnt away; the food was already cold.
He was late.
Mei tried to light the extinguished candle again, but she couldn't. The flame from her lighter only singed her skin as she reached for the bottom of the glass encased candle.
She turned back toward him with a startlingly wide grin. Her eyes showed a glint of crazed worry that only he could see.
"Hey Sophie, is Asher going to be outside tonight again? He's not in danger, right? Why did he ask you to carry the boxes for you? Doesn't he know that Sweepers are dangerous?" She fussed over Asher, forgetting her guilt from the wound that 'Sophie' got.
He gently set the boxes to the side. Taking the lighter from Mei's hand, he reached into the extinguished candle, digging out the wick from the liquid oil, and deftly reignited it.
"Don't worry Mei, he wouldn't leave without telling; he cares a lot about you. I... saw him buying lights for you, and I helped him out." Asher spun his narrative on the go. Even he didn't know where his fabricated story would lead to.
He waited for Mei to speak so he could plan his response.
"B-But then where is he? Is he dead? Don't h-hide it from me, I can handle it!"
He walked up to Mei and carefully wiped the tears that threatened to stream down her face. He felt she was overreacting way too much, but figured if he told her that, it would make her feel more upset.
"I have to go now. Asher, um, distracted a Sweeper and told me to put these boxes here for him. I need to check up on him." It wasn't the perfect excuse; Mei would obviously think that 'Sophie' was a bit selfish for leaving Asher behind, but he was caught off guard. Naturally, his excuse would be piss poor.
But Mei heaved a sigh of relief.
"Haaa... He's still alive... Go then, go then!" Mei looked at Sophie's receding figure, the girl's footsteps seemingly urgent. All part of his act.
Mei's legs wobbled, and she slumped onto the floor. She was much more worried than what she showed to Sophie.
'Asher, please don't die...'
She could only hope that Sophie would come back with one more person by her side, the person she regarded as her adopted son.
Meanwhile, the boy in question was pacing his way back and forth down the hallway, completely desynchronized. He had predicted exactly what Mei was thinking behind the door.
But how could he show both his forms at once? He couldn't split apart his body...
'What a troublesome problem, but this should work.' Asher took a deep breath, swinging open the rusty door with a single breath.
Mei, who was still on the ground, turned her head toward the creaking door. Guessing that Sophie came back again, she hurriedly stood up, not wanting to embarrass herself by being seen on the floor.
"Sophie, where's- Asher! Where's Sophie? Are you hurt?" Mei leaned forward, checking every bit of Asher's body. After seeing that his clothes were virtually spotless, she finally stopped, only gazing into his eyes with unhidden delight.
"Er... Yeah, I saw her leaving when I came in. She had something else to do this night."
Mei nodded her head briskly. She wished to send Sophie off herself, but she would be lying if she said that she didn't want to be alone with Asher.
Now she could finally show off what she prepared.
She opened her arms to show off her efforts. Noodles and soups, sushi and salad... Mei prepared a lot, enough for the two of them if they stuffed themselves a little.
Of course, they were all cold, though not entirely unappetizing.
As her arms spread out, two candles extinguished at once as their wicks couldn't support the flames, only making the situation look more pitiful.
Mei's lips quivered, like she was about to cry.
Seconds later, she really did.
"I-I'm sorry- I didn't think you would come so late. I shouldn't have prepared it so early..." She wrung her hands timidly, prepared to apologize more. But the complaints she expected didn't arrive.
Asher took a seat, taking a bowl of noodles for himself. He smiled.
"Thanks Mei, you're so nice! I'm super hungry right now~" Mei watched in amazement as he consumed the cold bowl of noodles in an instant.
Asher didn't show a single sign of discomfort, only making a slight moan of contentment.
"It doesn't matter whether it's cold or not; your food is delicious anyway."
Mei smirked, wiping away the tears in her eyes, sitting down beside him.
"I thought so~ Living alone for eight years does that to a person. I'm... glad you like it." She began to eat as well.
Most of the food was already appetizing when cold, like the sushi and salad, so the dinner wasn't as bad as she thought.
Even with two candles extinguished, one still barely held on, giving them the light they needed.
...
Mei patted her stomach, groaning as she watched Asher finish the food that she couldn't. She felt a bit proud as he finished her leftover bowl of noodles.
'He's a growing boy, after all...' She massaged his back as he stretched in satisfaction.
"You go take a bath first, 'kay? I'll clean the table." Mei stacked up the bowls from the table, worming past the table to get to the sink.
"Then I'll install the ceiling lights first."
The two of them set out to do their own chores. Mei folded the table into a compact form, stowing it away after she took the plates off of it. Meanwhile, Asher took out the lights from the boxes, reading their instruction manuals carefully.
As he screwed the first light onto the kitchen ceiling, beside the broken light, Mei was already finished with washing the dishes. She looked at him in worry as he tried to balance himself on two separate chairs in order to reach the ceiling.
"Do you want help? I think I would only need one chair if I did it."
Asher shook his head, motioning her to the bathroom.
"You wash first; I think I got the hang of this."
With a combination of nails and tape provided by the box, he finally installed the first light as Mei entered the bathroom.
In the absence of a hammer, he wasn't ashamed to admit that he used [Wingbeat] as a temporary bludgeoning device. Its wings fluttered in agitation as he slammed it into another nail.
He clicked the wall-hooked remote. A soft yellow glow covered the kitchen, finally illuminating the room.
Feeling the sensation of light liberation, he turned off his flashlight, basking in the yellow warmth-
"Asher! Turn off the lights, you'll draw attention!" Mei shouted from inside the bathroom, her voice carrying over the sound of running water.
Turning them off, Asher sighed as he carried another box and his flashlight to her bedroom. Already used to the process, this time he finished installing it right as Mei came out of the showers.
She looked a bit sheepish for shouting at him.
"Um... Just don't turn the lights on in the kitchen, ok? That's where the windows to the outside are, so people might notice. We're supposed to be asleep by now." Mei ruffled his hair lightly as he moved to the bathroom.
After a few dozen minutes, all the lights were installed, and Asher also finished washing himself.
He wore an extra pair of pajamas that Mei said were too small for her. It smelled just like her, a sort of indescribably sweet scent, but not overpowering. Asher couldn't really describe it, other than the smell of Mei.
They lied down together, once again in darkness.
"Hey Ashy, what Grade are you?" Mei thought back to when Sophie told her that he distracted a Sweeper by himself. All residents of the Backstreets were told numerous horrible stories of Sweepers and their prey by their parents, enough to keep them up at night.
"Grade 7. Is that high?"
"Well... I wouldn't really know. I haven't met any Fixers above Grade 8. They say that starting from Grade 7, it costs a lot of money for equipment and mods, all that. Guess your fairy thing is really expensive?"
Asher hummed in agreement, but didn't tell her it was 'Sophie' that was registered as a Fixer, not 'him'. She wouldn't understand even if he did, anyway.
Comparing the two skills he had, he felt that Sophie's form was now stronger and more useful than the [Fairy Queen] E.G.O. It drew less attention, and since Sophie was a Fixer now, he would spend most of his time in her body.
If this continued, he might feel alienated from his own self.
"Goodnight, Mei." He could think about a solution tomorrow.
"Nn. And thanks for helping me with the lights..."
Mei muttered softly as she drifted away.