Her gaze fell on the two of them and stayed there.
The air froze for a few seconds.
Bai You's face flushed even redder than before.
She sprang up as if scalded and scrambled to get out of Varesa's arms. The more she hurried, the more tangled she got, until her elbow struck Varesa's chin.
"Hss-" Varesa sucked in a sharp breath, but instead of letting go, she held her even tighter. "What's the hurry?"
"I, I..." Bai You's voice trembled. Her gaze darted between Odette and Varesa, and she wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor.
"I didn't see anything." Odette considerately turned her back on them and rubbed her brow.
"I just came to call you down for breakfast. If you're not awake yet, go back to sleep for a while."
She paused, then added, a hint of exasperation in her voice:
"But Varesa, could you let me know next time you move your bedding? I went to your room just now and almost thought someone had stolen you away..."
A rustling came from behind her, followed by Varesa's sleepy, lazy voice:
"So noisy... Odette, can't you leave me alone this early in the morning..."
"You've got some nerve saying that to me." Odette didn't turn around. "Your bed was empty. I thought someone had kidnapped you."
"Kidnapped me?" Varesa yawned. "Who'd dare?"
For a moment, Odette didn't know what to say.
Watching the two of them bicker, Bai You spoke in a voice as thin as a thread:
"S-sorry, Odette. You had to look for me for so long."
Varesa sounded a little more awake as she said:
"I decided to move over here myself. I wasn't comfortable with her sleeping on such a hard folding bed."
"It was too late to tell you then, and I didn't expect you to be looking for me. That's not like you."
Odette lowered her head and said helplessly:
"All right, as long as everyone's fine."
She glanced back.
Varesa was sitting up now, her hair a mess, one hand still resting on Bai You's waist.
Bai You huddled beside her, her head bowed low, the tips of her ears bright red, both hands clutching the edge of the quilt.
Seeing Bai You looking as though she wanted to hide under the quilt, Odette seemed to realize that she might have been a little cold.
Sunlight streamed through the little window and fell on the two of them, casting a warm glow over the messy storage room.
Odette watched them for two seconds, then looked away.
"I'm sorry. I was too impulsive and disturbed you."
Odette didn't look back again.
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her voice returning to its usual calm, composed tone:
"I'll wait for you downstairs. Hurry up, or the porridge will get cold."
With that, she left, her footsteps gradually fading down the hallway.
The storage room was quiet for a few seconds.
Bai You was still huddled under the quilt, the tips of her ears hot enough to fry an egg.
She heard Varesa yawn behind her. The hand resting on her waist didn't withdraw; instead, it lazily rubbed against her, like a big cat that had just woken up and was checking whether what it held was still there.
"...Miss Varesa." Bai You's voice was muffled by the quilt, as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Your hand."
"Hmm?" Varesa still sounded sleepy, her voice thick with it. "What about it?"
"Your hand... is still on my waist."
"Oh," Varesa said, without moving.
Two seconds later, she finally withdrew her hand and slowly pushed herself up on the mattress.
Varesa's hair was a mess like a bird's nest, with several tufts sticking straight up. She ran her fingers through it a couple of times, but it wouldn't lie flat, so she gave up.
As soon as Varesa let go, Bai You quickly rolled to the other side of the bed. With her back to Varesa, she began changing out of her pajamas and into her everyday clothes.
Seeing this, Varesa stared blankly at Bai You, pretending to be lost in thought.
The folding bed was so narrow that it creaked whenever Bai You moved. Too frightened to move much, she spent ages trying to get her arm into a sleeve, only to get herself even more tangled up.
A quiet chuckle came from behind her.
"Silly Bai You, you're so clumsy," Varesa said.
Then a hand reached over and tugged the stuck sleeve into place for her.
Fingertips brushed her wrist inadvertently, and Bai You went rigid as if she'd been shocked.
"Th-thank you." She didn't dare look back, since she wasn't fully dressed yet.
Varesa said nothing. As she withdrew her hand, she gave Bai You's hair a light, absentminded ruffle, as if she were still only half awake.
Bai You's hair was soft, and the ruffling made it even messier. She didn't know it herself and sat there with her hair sticking up everywhere.
... (A few hundred words omitted. Shenhe won't let me post them.)
After a long while, Varesa and Bai You had both changed.
Bai You went out first, opening the door to the room.
The moment the door opened, a cold draft swept in from the hallway, making her shiver.
Varesa followed her, took off her own coat, and draped it over Bai You's shoulders, as naturally as if she'd done it a hundred times before:
"Why don't you put on another layer? Dressed so lightly, are you trying to catch a cold? Come on, thank me."
The coat still held Varesa's body heat, along with a faint fragrance.
Bai You wrapped herself in the coat, which was obviously a little too big for her. Her face began to burn again as she whispered, "I'm not cold..."
"Don't be stubborn." Varesa yawned and headed for the stairs first. "Come on, Odette must be getting impatient."
As soon as Varesa and Bai You reached the kitchen doorway, they smelled the porridge.
Three bowls of porridge that Odette had already served had been sitting there for who knew how long. Odette sat by the window with a newspaper spread out in front of her, though her eyes were clearly not on it.
Hearing their footsteps, she looked up. Her gaze lingered for half a second on Varesa's coat on Bai You, then, without showing any reaction, she moved aside a little to make room for Bai You.
"Sit," she said.
Bai You carefully pulled out a chair, but just as she was about to sit down, Odette reached out and pulled it farther in, away from the aisle.
"Sit a little farther in. It's too far from the pot here, and you won't be able to ladle out any porridge," she explained, her voice somewhat gentle.
"Thank you, Miss Odette." Bai You sat down obediently.
Varesa sat beside Bai You, picked up a dish of pickled radish, and pushed it in front of her.
Only then did Varesa remember Odette was there too, and she took another dish for her.
"Little Bai You, the porridge tastes really good with this pickled radish. Odette often eats it that way."
With that, Varesa winked at Odette. "Right?"
"Mm... it's very good."
Bai You lowered her head and drank her porridge. It was millet porridge, cooked thick, with a few pieces of sweet longan floating on top.
After a couple of mouthfuls, she reached for a soft-boiled egg on the table. She wasn't very good at peeling them; every time she tried, the surface came out pockmarked, with bits of egg white coming away with the shell, leaving a misshapen core.
She had just tapped the egg against the table when a hand reached over from beside her and took it away.
"Let me," Varesa said.
She peeled it skillfully, her fingertips moving swiftly as pieces of shell fell away. In less than half a minute, she held out a smooth, intact soft-boiled egg to Bai You.
The white was so tender that the soft yolk was faintly visible through it, and it still held the warmth of Varesa's fingertips.
"...Thank you," Bai You whispered, taking it.
She took a bite, and the soft yolk flowed out, hot enough to make her gasp. Varesa chuckled beside her. "Slow down. No one's going to steal it from you."