Book 1: Chapter 25: Pancakes and Past Recounting

Book 1: Chapter 25: Pancakes and Past Recounting

"First," Lone said as he took out a spare set of pyjamas for Sophie, "Some clothes?"

Bobbing her head up and down, Sophie grabbed the blue button-up sleeved pyjama shirt and silk trousers combo.

Carefully getting off of Lone and unwrapping herself from his fluffy tails, she began putting the clothes on.

Meanwhile, Lone searched in his Dimensional Storage and grabbed a tank-top to wear since he was still shirtless. Once he had done that, he waited for Sophie to finish getting dressed.

As soon as she was done, she shyly held his hand and looked up at his face. "Sleep?"

Lone shook his head. "Not yet. I'm way too awake now. Plus, I think we both need a bath at some point. We reek of sweat. Late-night snack and a talk first?"

Sophie nodded shyly. "Mmm..."

Lone chuckled. "I don't hate the smell of your sweat. It's just a bit gross thinking about it outside of a more... intimate moment.

He then shook his head. That was awkward. I shouldnt have said that. Uh, to the kitchen?

She seemed just as keen to move away from the topic judging by her expression and the fact that she began leading him by the hand to the kitchen.

Once there, she helped him set up the candles which he appreciated. When that was done, he watched her sit on a stool and wait in silence as he began to use his magic to create different ingredients.

Lone had decided on pancakes for their late-night snack. While he was mixing together the batter, he chose to start their important discussion.

"My parents were pretty rich retrospectively. They owned a fairly successful business selling computers," he said.

"Computers? Are those the things you always talk about? With the 'screens' and 'pictures'?" Sophie asked, clearly trying to be engaging.

Lone smiled. "Yup. Those are the ones. My dad ran the company, and my mum was his secretary they were married before she became his secretary, by the way.

He laughed at the confusion that sentence formed on his companions face. Anyway, it wasn't the most successful business nor the most relevant around, but it made more than enough money to support us and then some."

He created some chocolate syrup and added it to one of the two bowls of pancake batter that he'd been mixing. Sophie adored chocolate, so he was hoping that this little treat would help cheer her up.

"When I was about seven or eight - I can't really remember which - my dad made a few shitty deals and the company started collapsing. It was still turning a profit, but it wasn't as much as before, so in his eyes, it was a failure. A slowly capsizing ship, so to speak," Lone said.

He pulled out a frying pan from his Dimensional Storage and sat it atop the counter. Lone then created some propane with his Creation Magic, an expensive thing to make since he had no clue what it was made of, doubly so since he was making a small canister of it.

After that, he let the gas flow up through the stove and then created a match to light the hob. He then retrieved some butter from his storage and spread it across the pan before pouring just enough of Sophie's pancake batter into it for a single pancake.

He got irritated more easily, smiled less, started losing his hair from the stress. Nothing good, more or less. I dont know if this shift in him made the company sink faster or not but before long he had to file for bankruptcy, Lone explained stoically.

This was the distant past for him, even if the scars of what happened were still firmly visible in his mind.

"As soon as that happened, my dad changed even more. He never touched Hazel, thank God. Ah, excuse that... Bit of a habit. I'm not actually thanking God. Its just an expression," Lone said as he scratched his cheek with a bit of shame.

Sophie nodded. "It's fine. I know what you mean."

"Thanks." Lone smiled. "Anyway, he started beating me pretty much every day. If I failed a test, beating, if I came home past my curfew, beating, if I left the toilet seat up, beating, if I looked at him wrong, beating. You get the picture."

Using the slight physical boost his Dexterity afforded him, he perfectly flipped the pancake and started cooking the other side.

Sophie had a pained look on her face imagining it. "That sounds awful. I was never tortured like that... Well, kinda, but not so directly..."

Lone chuckled a bit. "I can't imagine what I went through compares to your story, but still, thank you. It's nice hearing you say that."

Sophie blushed, but otherwise remained silent, so Lone continued. "This went on until I was 15. No one ever helped or stood up for me. Not Hazel, not my mum, not the school authorities. No one seemed to notice."

He wore a ponderous expression. Granted, Hazel was barely a toddler, but she knew what was going on. I can forgive her but its my bitch of a mother and everyone else who didnt do anything when they could have stopped it.

Sophie looked a bit disgusted. "Really? Not a single person? Why not? Didn't they know you were in pain? Wasn't your body bruised?"

Anger clouded the girls face. "I would have helped you."

Her cheeks flushed a shade of crimson. "Sorry..."

"And you're back to apologising for no good reason," he said with a roll of the eyes.

Lone saw Sophie pout, so he rubbed her head with his free hand as he shovelled the pancake into his mouth, piece by piece. "Don't worry about it. We'll work things out. Don't force yourself to change though, or her, the other you. Forcing it to happen can only lead to a disaster."

"Mmm," Sophie agreed.

He couldnt help but noticed her eyes kept darting back and forth between his fork and his mouth.

Of course, he noticed that. "Want some? You're such a glutton..."

"Ah, em, no! That's not it!" Sophie replied in a bit of a fluster. "I was just wondering what it felt like to... to ki- to ki-"

Ahhh, to kiss. Change your adult form and we can do a redo if youd like? Lone asked as he felt his heart pound away in his chest.

He had never been this forward before but he felt confident he wouldnt get rejected.

Sophie blushed furiously but slowly nodded her head and began growing, filling out her pyjamas splendidly.

Lones hand was shaking as he reached over and held her chin in it. He then leaned in and softly pressed his lips against hers.

"Well, uh got an answer now?" he asked as he averted his eyes. I have no idea if that was smooth as fuck or awkward as fuck

"Ah, um... Yeah... It was nice... sweet... and a bit wet." Sophie brought a finger to her lips and was beaming from ear to ear. "I thought you wouldnt want to do that kinda stuff

Lone scratched his cheek and smiled a little bit sheepishly. "Im super attracted to you. I said that, already, didnt I? I just wanted to sort out our feelings. So, uh, wanna be my girlfriend?

She wore a confused look in her dead eyes. But Im already a girl and your friend, arent I?

Hahaha, right. Middle ages. Its a more common word for lovers. Likes, the relationship stage before marriage and betrothal, Lone tried his best to explain.

L-lovers Sophies smile bloomed. Id love to!

"I'm glad. That was pretty fuckin stressful," he claimed.

He then finished his pancake and a thought crossed his mind. "We should use different names for you and this other you... Hmm... Maybe Soph for you like now, but Sophie for the other you?"

"Sure." she clearly had little-to-no issues with that.

Sophie then creased her brow and said, "I usually suppress her since she's been so mean to you, but she's sleeping right now. I can't even talk to her."

"You can usually talk to your other self?" Lone asked in shock.

He knew nothing about split-personalities or anything of that like so this was news to him.

"Mmm. She's really supportive and protective of me, but she's really violent. I don't like her much. She was my only friend for a long time, but I don't know... I want her to like you too," Soph admitted.

Lone rubbed his chin. "We can work on that I guess. We have nothing if not time."

"Mmm." Noticing that Lone had finished his pancake completely, Soph asked him, "Bedtime?"

Lone nodded. "Sure. Sounds good. It's been an exhausting night. I guess we can have a bath in the morning."

"Em, Lone," Soph looked to the floor as she got up off of her stool and called out his name.

"What's up?" Lone questioned.

"T-Thanks for not hating me... I-I know I'm weird, and I know I act strangely... but I'm really grateful you treat me normally. It means a lot to me. I wanted to say that I think I really do love you..." Soph's bashfulness was only overshadowed by her embarrassment.

Lone chuckled softly. "Right. You never said it until now... Anyway, like I already stated, we're all a bit fucked in the head, so don't sweat it."

"Still... really... thank you..." Soph mumbled as she took his hand and followed him out of the kitchen.

It had been an eventful night for the both of them. Not everything was positive, but their relationship had gone a step forward, hopefully, in the right direction.