DARKNING [Completed]

7. Drowning...

zhan has revealed his raven to yibo. the intimacy of the moment has provoked both of the them to reveal their feelings for one another.

sue and yibo hug their tea mugs in their hands and get comfortable for what looks like a long talk about secrets that yibo is impatient to unveil.

"zhan and you. huh?! i knew he'd come looking for you the moment you showed up here." said sue.

"i... yeah, he just showed up here wounded... and why is everyone scared of him?" asked yibo.

"that's how nature makes the zhan handsome, attractive and dangerous. you should listen to your senses, darling." said sue.

"but that's the thing. with every cell of my body, i'm more than sure i can trust zhan." said yibo.

sue brings her pipe to her lips and sucks on it for long moment, releasing puffy clouds of smoke that seem to conceal her true thoughts about the matter.

"i can see millions of question in those eyes. ask me!" said sue.

'indeed, there's so much i need to know. i'll start with the important one...' thinks yibo.

"is the legend about the raven tower true?" asked yibo.

sue shrugs, seemingly indifferent to the story.

"it's  just a story. i  can see why he took you there and told you that myth." said sue.

"what do you mean?" asked yibo.

"it's a story of a man who gambled everything in this life." said sue.

"i saw it as a story of great love. when the man gave up everything because he lost the one he loved..." said yibo.

"i believe that's what zhan wanted for you to hear in that story. but make no mistakes. legend or no - that duke was a man who craved power and he ended up getting it." said sue.

"even if that brought curse on many generations of raven - shifters." said yibo.

a knock on the door startles both of them.

"who would it be at such an hour!" said sue.

for a person, who runs a guesthouse, sue does not seem to like visitors much.

"i'll go and check." said yibo.

to his surprise, gigi is at the door, holding two big bottles of liqueur in her hands.

"surprise!" said gigi.

"hey, gigi! what are you doing here?" asked yibo.

"i closed the bar early! i figured my new bestie might need a drink." said gigi.

"you mean you were impatient to hear about..." said yibo.

yibo hesitate, as he realize he almost said 'date with zhan'.

"your date!" said gigi.

'was it even a date? we didn't really talk about it...' thinks yibo.

"if that's not the loudest troublemaker in this town!" said sue.

yibo realize, despite her reproaching words, sue might like gigi a little bit.

"hope you don't mind visitors, sue! she's a friend." said yibo.

"of course, she is! wherever there is trouble, you'd befriend it!" said sue.

"hey, i'm right here." said gigi.

"i know. and now my home is Switzerland - i welcome royals and rogues alike!" said sue.

"don't be so grumpy, sue! i bet you also want to know everything." said gigi.