A Light in the Dark

Well, that was embarrassing, I wanted to burrow my head beneath the covers and not look at either of the two women. I'm not sure why I cried, but I must have needed it.

Reluctantly, I let go of her, and faced Sarah, who still hadn't decided on what emotion she felt. It reminded me of our relationship, she was always trying to calculate what she should be feeling, instead of what she actually felt. Her eyes had trouble focusing on one point as well, darting over my body. It was nothing she hadn't seen before, but it had been a while since the last time. I could swear she licked her lips, as if tempted, but it might have been just a wish on my part.

"Well, I should be going now." She said, shuffling her feet.

What? That crashed my little trip down memory lane.

"But why?"

"I need to go to work, there's this big..." I tuned the rest of it out. That bit hadn't changed either. Always work, always something. I'm making it sound like I was flawless in our relationship, which was certainly not the case, in fact she broke up with me. I didn't blame her. Or rather, I didn't blame her now, for doing it then. Back then I felt devastated.

"But it's Sunday, can't it wait? I... I just want you here a little longer."

She stared at me puzzled for a moment.

"It's Monday," again, What? "You slept all of yesterday, and instead of doing actual work I stayed here watching over you."

"You stayed for me all that time?" She nodded slowly, as if only reluctantly admitting the fact. "And you didn't bring me to a hospital?"

She sighed deeply before answering.

"I wanted to but... You were breathing fine, Mrs. Wen seemed to know what she was doing. And I know how you feel about hospitals."

She wasn't wrong, I disliked the sterile, scrubbed surroundings. One of my nightmares was to wake up in hospital room, like they do in the movies, tubes sticking out of my arms and only a loud beeping to keep me company. Granted, I wouldn't mind a doctor saving my life, and knew they did it for many others, I was just weird like that.

"Will you be back?" I said, with hope in my voice.

She nodded, which I took as definite commitment, and I decided she needed a little something to boost her spirits before going back to the corporate world. She went stiff at first, startled by my embrace, but melted into it soon enough. We still fit together! I pinched her ass for luck and she scowled good-naturedly at me. Then my ass stung as she left her trademark spank right on my cheek as she left out the door. Perhaps not all was lost, and with my new positive look on life maybe I could attempt to sneak back into Sarah's good graces.

I debated whether to use my patented Sleaze & Tease™ or the good old Wine and Dine. Sarah liked a good cabernet I remembered, also home cooked meals, maybe mrs. Wen would let me borrow her kitchen.

"That is a fine girlfriend you have there." A voice said behind me.

Whilst ruminating on the important things in life I had completely forgotten I was not alone. Sarah must have forgotten it too, for just a moment, or she wouldn't have spanked my ass. It also hit me mrs. Wen hadn't actually spoken until now. Her speech was accented, but only slightly. I'd called her chinese, but I wasn't really sure about that, distinguishing different Asian cultures from each other was not my forté.

"She's not my girlfriend." I said sadly.

The old woman raised an eyebrow.

"Old one?" I nodded, "Ah, and you would like her again, perhaps?" Another nod.

"We have a saying in my country. Destiny is like two roads, they only cross when they are made to."

I knew what it symbolized. Me and Sarah were roads, and unless I made and effort we would not cross paths again.

"Really?"

She burst out laughing, backhanding my ribs while she calmed down.

"Phah, read that in a fortune cookie. What it really should say is this: Destiny is like a forest, if you look too closely you won't notice it for all the trees."

"I liked the cookie better." Her version was confusing to say the least.

"Most people do." She said, mysteriously, then left me to my own devices.

I'd been sitting naked on the floor for a while, basking in the sunlight, when mrs. Wen poked her head through the door.

"What about your work, girl?"

"Hmm," I swayed slightly in my lotus position before answering, "I'm sort of an independent contractor, my job waits on me."

I could practically hear her eyebrows raising curiously behind me, so I decided to preempt her question.

"I'm an artist. I work on commision and I don't have any currently." I had neglected that part for a bit too long, sadly.

"Good, then you can help downstairs. Stay I bring clothes."

Without further ado she left again.

When she returned she had a bundle of clothes with her. I tried to make sense of the convoluted design, but I couldn't make head or tails of it. She finally tired of my clear inaptitude for intricately designed garments, and moved to help.

It proved to be something like a Kimono, or so my limited knowledge informed me. She wrapped it perfectly around me, somehow making sense of it.

"Mrs. Wen, how can I ever repay you for saving my life?" She hadn't mentioned a thing about it, but it gnawed on my conscience. She just huffed at me.

"Easy, I save your life, when time comes, you save mine. Then we equal." While not exactly faulty logic, I couldn't help but admire her generosity in helping me. She swirled another bit of cloth around me and pulled a bit on the edges, before being satisfied.

"You can start by calling me Wen, no mrs."

"Oh, but I thought Sarah said..." Sarah had definitely said mrs.

"Your friend think my brother is my husband, like that good-for-nothing could ever land beauty like me." She posed like a model and I couldn't help laughing, and was joined by a low cackle of her own.

She then went back to tugging some more on the dress.

"This was my daughter's, she is gone now," another tug on the sleeves, "fits you perfectly."

"What happened to her?" I said, concerned.

Once again she just burst out laughing. No hitting this time though, perhaps because of the gown.

"Hah, she move to Canada with husband. Got new dress for wedding."

I was beginning to understand her humour, and I liked her spunk.

I had never been a waitress before, but I tackled the challenge with enthusiasm. The old, worn shop downstairs was bustling with activity all afternoon and I had very little rest. Maybe I was just the newest attraction. The customers were a mix between regulars and tourists, although each group had defined corners. The regulars, mainly older asian men, grinned toothlessly at me and the orders were fun. Some only spoke chinese at me, but with a little patience we worked it out. They didn't seem to mind, but just found the novelty hilarious as they shouted jokes back and forth between each other. I only had to remove one hand from my ass, the old joker almost paled when Wen yelled at him, but soon everything was back to normal. I assumed she normally did this herself, but every time I saw her coming out from the kitchen she just smiled encouragingly at me.

The tourists were mainly couples looking for a cozy place to relax. There were a few leering glances from boyfriends who subsequently received a glare in return from their girlfriends. Even a few of the girls looked my way as well, and I couldn't help putting a little sway in my step, to the obvious enjoyment of multiple patrons.

It wasn't exactly a waitress outfit I was wearing, it was much too intricate and heavy for that, but I wore it proudly as I sashayed around the shop.

I sat in my room, now staring at the moon instead of the sun. It was peeking out from under a cloud and I could almost feel the soft moonbeams tickle my skin, it was quite relaxing.

Wen had said I should stay another day, to make sure I felt alright. I didn't mind. The only thing waiting in my apartment was sour milk and stale bread, that wouldn't change by waiting another day.

I sighed at the moon, even its relaxing light didn't ease away all of my melancholy mood.

Sarah hadn't shown up. Wen said she had called to say she might come by later, work commiting, and I had waited in anticipation. For nothing. I had tried to quell the sadness by remembering that she wasn't my girlfriend anymore and I wasn't her responsibility. Somehow it didn't help. A part of me had hoped an incident like this would spark something romantic between us, but that was looking less likely by the minute.

Or maybe I was just overreacting, something that had happened before.

Wen had comforted me with another of her proverbs, I assumed by now they were homemade, 'crying girl get no dinner'. Funny old badger, but I did promise to not tunnelvision on Sarah.

I should be happy I was here at all. I promised myself I would do that later, right after I nursed my heart a little more.

It was well past midnight, but I couldn't sleep. Although I think it was more correct to say that I simply wasn't tired. I didn't feel the need to lie down, but I had no doubt I could dream the night away if I wanted. I didn't think too much about it.

Until the twitter of a bird broke my concentration. The moon had disappeared and in the distance I could see the sun starting its path across the sky. I hadn't moved from my spot by the window, and daybreak had seemingly happened from one moment to the next, like I had been in some form of trance.

I felt refreshed, not unlike after a good night's sleep, but not quite the same either. My skin looked paler than I recalled it being, I probably needed to start eating properly again. Yesterday had been a little lackluster on that account, I couldn't stomach much, but I hadn't been very hungry either. I attributed it to recovery sickness of some sort, and assumed my appetite would return.

My heart beat a dull pulse, I was almost unable to feel it beneath my skin, but I could hear it. Hear each beat as it pumped blood through my body, like an ominous background noise. My stomach on the other hand was silent, still not hungry. A little curious, but not something I was worried about. My body was just acting weird in general right now. Just then, the first rays of sun hit me, and I felt my pulse increasing, quite literally. I had an instant desire, and knew just how to accomplish it.

The window opened sideways, luckily, and I stepped up to the windowsill. The roof of the building rose directly above my window, a very short building compared to the surrounding four or five floors. I grabbed the gutter and did a swing no normal human should be able to. The metal meant for rain water dented where I held onto it, but I managed to flip myself around to land on the slated roof. Good thing it was not out towards the street, or I would be giving an eyeful to people.

I felt wonderful. I knew I shouldn't have been able to perform that feat, but I didn't care at the moment. The sunlight was increasing slowly, but steadily, in intensity and I basked in it. I felt like a plant, requiring photosynthesis, or perhaps more accurately a lizard. Like those little reptiles that lay on hot stones to soak up the sun. The comparison felt a little too accurate as I could feel energy flowing more freely in my body now. If my eyes didn't deceive me I was noticeably more tan as well.

I didn't come down until I heard Wen knocking at the door. I tried to flip delicately back into the room, but the gutter gave and I slipped on the sill. Thankfully I fell inwards, but I landed face first on the floor. I might have been solar powered, but I still had the grace of a blind mole rat.That's how Wen found me when she opened the door a second later. My nose had absorbed some of the fall for the rest of my body, an action for which it most definitely was not designed, and it felt awkward. Wen stared in horror at my face when I managed to pick my crumpled body off the floor. My nose was beginning to irritate me and I pulled it straight. It gave off a sickening crunch, but I felt much better afterwards.

For once Wen was silent. Until she wasn't, of course. 'What was I doing', 'I should take better care of myself'. Somehow in less than two days this short chinese woman had become so caring for me, I felt awed at her big heart.

She fell silent once more when I fully embraced her and thanked her for all she had done. For the second time, now with less waterworks.

"Pah, any decent person would do same." We both knew decent persons were far and few between.

She checked over my body like she had done yesterday, and I stood at attention until muster was complete. I just smiled and let her finish. Apparently I was healthy and passed inspection.

"We go to your apartment later, I will drive." She cut off my protest that I could just take a cab with a silent glare.

I needed clothes though, Wen said she had tossed the blood smeared nightclub dress out i had worn. And a locksmith, my key was gone too, and genius that I was I hadn't a copy at hand since I broke the last one. This was going to suck.

It was past midday before I had secured a locksmith to come out to the apartment building. Clothes had been willingly donated from Wen's daughter's closet, which apart from the tight stretch across the chest fit surprisingly well.

The locksmith was a surly man named Amos. He spoke in grunts and looks, but he knew locks and got the door open without too much hassle. A replacement key was dropped in my hand as he left, along with an invoice for half an hour's work. That could wait for later.

501, Lucia Grey. Or it would have said that had the 'y' not been gone for longer than I could remember. I had never bothered to fix it. I even had to note it in pizza deliveries, or the poor drivers looked dumbfounded at me as they asked for "ms Grey, not Gre." Hilarious.

My apartment smelled stale, unsurprisingly, as no one had been in here since saturday. And yet I had a feeling I couldn't place, like when you leave the remote one place, then it shows up another. Obviously it didn't move by itself, but it felt that way. And my room felt that way too, like things had moved, unnoticeably. It was disconcerting, but I chucked it up to a newfound paranoia after being drugged. I still needed to figure out what that solar power shit meant, but I wanted to keep it as low-key as possible. No sense in being on the evening news, or whatever they did to anomalies. Best not to think about that.

Wen, who had followed me in, looked at the dismal state of my rooms, and sighed sadly.

"You need a girlfriend, badly."

Well, I couldn't deny that. The drive for cleanliness had ended with my last relationship. I wanted to just fall flat on the bed and soak in everything that had happened, but Wen had already begun picking up clothes and throwing out trash. She stared at me meaningfully.

"You wouldn't let an old woman do this all by herself would you?" Her accent came and went as she pleased, it was highly suspicious. Another thing for later, as I went about cleaning up the pigsty I called home.

Chapter three

Wen had left after making me promise to eat healthy and visit her later, something I had no problem agreeing to. So now I was alone in my apartment, and the silence was deafening. Of course, the city sounds still echoed outside, but it was so quiet inside.

After opening and closing the fridge multiple times, without finding anything that sparked my interest in eating, I went outside on the balcony.

My apartment had a kitchen, my room, and a connecting room slash hall with a little south side balcony, with just enough room for two people, at the end of it. Right now I utilized that space as a platform for my lizard imitation. I really needed to figure out what had happened in that black hole of my memories. People didn't begin absorbing light rays out of nowhere. Besides the small physical changes I had noted, but not tested, I wasn't sure what else had changed. Or what I could do.

If this was the X-Men I would probably shoot lasers from my eyes, or something silly. What if I could fly? I glanced at the street below, and felt no desire to dash over the railing. Not exactly conclusive testing, but more than enough. Now I just needed a stern mentor, and my little fantasy would be complete. My pussy tingled at the thought of Emma Frost as my personal teacher, by day, and perhaps a little more than that by night.

My body seemed ready to go, and I thought why not, having not had any since... I wasn't entirely sure. I decided to take my time with this little session, it had been too long since I really enjoyed a fantasy, and everything felt overly sensitive for some reason.

In theory, I wasn't entirely hidden on my little balcony, but the likelyhood of someone noticing was fairly low, and was not about to stop me.

The mental image of Sarah clad in the revealing white outfit turned me on immensely. Not something I thought she would be up for, but fantasy Sarah was very willing, and she beckoned me closer.

"Kneel." The harsh voice echoed in my mind, but I felt nothing but adoration, and I sank to my knees in front of her. I knew exactly where this was going, and what she wanted me to do. I glanced up at her through thick lashes, seeking permission, and she smirked as she gave her silent approval.

I started from the bottom, planting soft kisses on her feet as I moved upwards. Caressed her strong calves, feeling the muscles tense as I moved across them. She said nothing, but hummed softly, enjoying the show I was making of loving her body. I tried to take it slow, but couldn't help moving closer to my ultimate goal. I lavished her thighs with licks and hickeys, darting ever closer to her pussy, hidden behind a thin white thong. I could practically smell her arousal, and definitely see the first drops of juices being absorbed. I longed to burrow my face there and lick them all up, while making her scream in ecstasy.

I felt hands on the back of my head, and I looked up to my glaring mistress.

"Enjoying yourself?"

I was, which apparently wasn't the goal of the exercise. She pulled me up against her crotch, no gentleness in her movements as she rubbed her pussy all over my face, only separated by that thin strip of cloth. She didn't let me take control at any point, just smeared the wet cloth over my face, and I gasped for breath when she finally let up.

"Was that what you wanted?" She asked haughtily.

Without waiting for an answer she pushed my head down to the floor. Head down, ass up, I couldn't help but shudder in anticipation. Something she noticed without fail, she knew my body as well as I did, or better. She trailed a hand over my backside, just light teasing caresses.

"I see you've started without me." No doubt referring to the wetness I could feel running down my legs. I was more than ready for her touch.

The sound of her palm striking my cheek reverberated through the room, leaving it eerily quiet afterwards, except for my moan of pleasure. It stung in the most wonderful way, and all the tingles went directly to the heat pooled in my groin. She rubbed a single finger on my needy folds, never entering, just soaking it in my juices. I couldn't see what she did after removing it, but I knew the sound all too well.

"Delicious, as always. Shall we see if you can make some more for me?" I would have answered, but a strike landed on my other cheek, making me moan instead. "Eyes on the floor now, remember."

My gaze was fastened on the ground in front of me, as I shuddered in anticipation of her next move. She slapped me half-heartedly, and just laughed when I groaned in frustration.

"We're going to play a little game," her voice was playful, but tolerated no resistance.