Back at the house, Arthas and Jiu Jiu had already returned, yet they lay like two salted fish beached in the corridor, boneless, with no strength to crawl to their rooms.
Alicia sighed, wind-soft, and held Ling as she drifted forward like a willow.
Then…
She stepped over.
Her long legs were two cranes striding a stream; with a single easy pace she crossed their bellies without spending a drop of effort.
Hmm?
Why not haul them back to bed?
Isn’t that obvious—Alicia wasn’t some gentle wifey by the hearth; why would she play nurse in the hallway?
Besides, if they had the heart to go back, they’d roll back like tides on their own; Alicia didn’t need to fuss like a mother hen.
After a small show of “cold-blooded kindness,” it was time for the little one’s “wifey duty,” warm as tea at dusk.
The bath’s heat had bled away like evening light, not fit for a soothing soak, so she poured it out and filled it anew with steam curling like clouds.
Then came the little one’s bath; this time Ling didn’t send Alicia out, but kept her like a lantern, claiming, “Bathing’s too tiring—I need help!”
Alicia didn’t pierce that perfect lie; it matched a small wish in her chest like a hidden ember, so why would she refuse?
She played with that soft, tender back, fingers gliding like rain, leaving the faintest indent as if touching dough.
When her hand brushed Ling’s ticklish spot, the little one shivered twice like a sparrow in spring rain.
They kept repeating that rhythm, a quiet stream circling stones; it didn’t feel like something ordinary sisters would do, yet Alicia smiled, because joy could be this simple and clear.
Interest rose again like a red sun; another figure with ember hair slipped into the tub, and the water didn’t crowd, so the blond little one didn’t chase the big one out.
Then… they emerged.
The two sisters teased and splashed; by the time they stepped from the bath, the big-and-small salted fish on the floor had vanished, probably swimming themselves home like nocturnal eels.
No one cared about the clock—past one, past two—night flowed like ink, and they lay on the bed, pressed to left and right like two petals on silk.
Fresh from the bath, their hair had been dried by hands like wind, yet the blood inside still simmered like coals, and sleep wouldn’t come.
The little one didn’t plan to chat; Alicia had wanted to sleep, but got dragged out to play like a kite tugged by a bright child.
Play lit the spirit like fireflies, but the body was a tired drum, hollow and done.
If Ling kept bothering her now, Alicia wouldn’t scold; still, Ling knew it would be wrong, like tapping a bell past midnight.
—Count Alicia, then…
—One Alicia, two Alicia, three Alicia, a parade of Alicias drifting like clouds…
Eyes closed, numbers soft, and in a breath she fell asleep like a leaf settling on water.
In the dark, two shadows faced each other, silent as stones; the small one slept, breath steady and light like a cat.
The larger shadow opened her eyes without warning, like a blade catching moonlight.
“Ling?”
The voice was as thin as a mosquito’s wings, almost a breeze.
No reply, only dusk-deep quiet.
She smiled, twilight warm, lifted a hand, and set it on the little one’s belly; the space between them folded to zero like paper.
In the room’s gentle warmth, that move didn’t bring sticky heat; the little one slept on, peaceful as a pond.
The big one gathered the small one in, and the two silhouettes floated into dreamland like boats in fog; whether their dreams linked like a little LAN, only they would know.
Next day—no, noon already—sun high as a cymbal.
Maybe Jiu Jiu’s sense of location was pure whim; the summoned house sat where geography shrugged and luck chose.
Morning had come, but the sun’s angle missed the window like an arrow glancing off, so no golden beam dared into the room, and no “sun on the backside” wake-up call arrived.
If they waited for sunshine to slap them awake, it’d be afternoon tea time before a beam found them.
But Alicia never got to sleep that long; the body had been tired, yet after roughly twelve hours, fatigue drained like rain through sand, and sleep let go.
She opened her eyes, and first saw the little one in her arms already awake, nested like a bird in cotton.
This little one had no plan to get up; she melted into Alicia’s hold, eyes half-closed like crescent moons, saying nothing.
“When did you wake?”
“Mm… three minutes ago? Maybe.”
“You woke and didn’t call me?”
“No way. If I call you, we’ll have to get up!”
Crooked logic, but Alicia knew Ling’s lazy bones like the turn of the seasons, so she wasn’t surprised at all.
“Alright. Since I’m awake too, you can’t keep lying here.”
“Don’t wanna! I still wanna sleep!”
“Up you go. What sleep? If you wanna laze, just say it.”
“No no no! If someone’s sleeping, how’s that lazing?!”
Alicia couldn’t argue with this little rascal; Ling had a basket of crooked sayings, so Alicia stepped back like water yielding to stone.
“Then I’ll nap with you a bit. After that, we get up.”
“Ehehe~”
Smack.
A harmless knife-hand tapped Ling’s head like a leaf flick, then Alicia pulled back and set her hand on Ling’s belly again, drawing her closer like a quilt.
“No acting cute! No playing dumb! Heard me?”
“Roger, got it! I’ll obey your command, Third Executive Officer sis, ma’am, comrade!”
She finished, then put on fresh silliness, arms looping Alicia’s waist like vines; her head nestled between two peaks, and she kept lazing in the scent of face wash like morning milk.
