Varek finally arrived back at his sect while Riku was walking home after a fun night out. The tension between her and Tim had lessened greatly. Having dual bodies had led to a strange power play between them and she had no idea where it would lead, but it was a kind of dangerous fun she enjoyed.
The gates of the Flaming Saber Sect loomed before Varek as he approached, their red-painted metal gleaming in the late afternoon sun. Several outer disciples on guard duty did double-takes as he walked past—the old Varek would have nodded curtly and moved on, but Riku's influence had him flashing a confident smile that made the female disciples blush and whisper among themselves.
"Senior Brother Varek!" A familiar voice called out. Chen Wei, one of his sect brothers, jogged over with a grin. "We saw your social media posts. What's gotten into you lately?
Riku laughed through Varek's voice. "I think i am being influenced by a woman." Riku continued her chuckle at her inside joke.
." Chen Wei waggled his eyebrows. "Ah you sly dog!"
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Riku continued to smile to herself as she walked through the quiet streets toward her family's mansion. The evening had been more fun than she'd expected. Seeing Tim relax and joke around with their little "sect" had shown her a different side of him—less flustered teacher, more of a genuine person.
The feeding scene at the noodle shop had been purely to mess with him, but when he'd actually gone along with it, laughing despite his embarrassment, she'd felt something flutter in her chest that had nothing to do with Varek's hormones.
Her phone buzzed with a message from Lia: "How was sect bonding with the mortals?"
Riku grinned as varek typed back : "Better than expected. Your other half is actually pretty cool when he's not being a nervous wreck."
Chen Wei saw Varek smiling like a girl with a crush as he typed away on his communicator. "Brother Varek, you're practically glowing," Chen Wei said with a laugh. "This woman must be something special to have you making faces like that."
"She's... complicated," Varek replied, which was the understatement of the century. How could he explain that he was a teenage girl controlling a male cultivator's body while flirting with his English teacher who was simultaneously a female ice queen in their sect's rival organization?
"Complicated women are the best kind," Chen Wei said sagely, despite being only twenty-two himself. "The easy ones get boring fast. So when do we get to meet this mysterious lady who's turned our stoic Varek into a lovesick puppy?"
Riku felt her cheeks burn in both bodies. "It's not like that," she protested through Varek's voice, though the denial sounded weak even to her.
"Right, and I'm secretly the sect master," Chen Wei grinned. "Come on, let's get you settled back in. The other brothers are going to want to hear about your mission—and this new romantic development."
As they walked deeper into the sect grounds, Varek's communicator chimed with Lia's response: "Nervous wreck? I'll show you nervous wreck when I demolish Varek in a sparring match."
Riku felt the thrill of the competitive banter between their cultivation world selves. It was becoming as addictive as their Earth dynamic. She quickly typed back: "Looking forward to it, ice queen. Try not to melt when you see me up close."
Chen Wei peered over his shoulder curiously. "Definitely lovesick," he declared. "You're texting like a teenager."
Varek quickly typed: "Hey does Tim want Riku's number if we can't type in the cultivation realm?"
Lia stared at the message for a long moment, her heart doing something complicated in her chest. The directness of it caught her off guard no teasing, no games, just a simple question that somehow felt loaded with possibility.
Tim, walking home from the noodle shop, felt Lia's emotional reaction and paused under a streetlight. Getting Riku's number would make things more real. It would mean their connection wasn't just limited to their cultivation world personas and stolen moments during training.
But it would also mean crossing a line he'd been carefully avoiding. She was his student, after all, even if their dual existence made everything infinitely more complicated.
Lia's fingers hovered over her communicator. The practical part of Tim's mind said it was a bad idea. The part that had enjoyed Riku feeding him noodles and calling him "master" with that mischievous grin said something else entirely.
"Maybe," she finally typed back. "For sect coordination purposes only."
Even as she sent it, she knew they both understood it would be for much more than that.
Varek walked with Chen Wei through the sect. He had some memories of it from Varek's body—fragments of training sessions, meals in the great hall, late nights studying cultivation manuals with his sect brothers. But experiencing it firsthand was different.
The Flaming Saber Sect was built into a series of interconnected plateaus on a mountainside, with buildings of red stone and sharp angular roofs that seemed to channel the flow of fire-attributed qi to some greater formation. Disciples moved between levels using a combination of stairs carved into the rock face and large chain bridges.
"Your quarters are still the same," Chen Wei said as they approached a modest building reserved for Foundation Establishment disciples. "Though I think some of the junior sisters have been leaving gifts outside your door since those social media posts went viral."
Sure enough, there was a small pile of wrapped items and flowers outside Varek's door. Riku felt a mixture of amusement and guilt—these girls were crushing on a persona she'd created, not the real Varek.
"Popular guy," Chen Wei whistled. "So, about this woman who's got you so distracted..."
"She's from the Flowing Water Sect," Varek said carefully, which was technically true.
Chen Wei's eyebrows shot up. "A rival sect? Brother, you really don't do anything the easy way, do you? The elders won't be thrilled if they find out you're courting someone from the southern mountains."
"It's not courting, its just some good intersect rivalry" Varek protested, though even as he said it, he wasn't entirely sure what it was. The dynamic between him and Lia was weird. He had never been a guy before and his body was just kind of leading the way.
"Right," Chen Wei grinned. "Teasing and joking is how men like to flirt. Lets go see our chapter brothers. They'll want to hear about your mission—and I'm sure they'll have plenty of advice about your 'not-courting' situation."
As they headed toward the common area, Varek's communicator buzzed again. This time it was a simple message from Lia: "Tim's number is.... Dont hurt him he is a nice guy" Lia added at the end of the message
Varek stared at the string of numbers on his communicator, a grin spreading across his face that made Chen Wei shake his head in exasperation. Chen Wei muttered. "You're hopeless, brother."
But Riku barely heard him. She was too busy memorizing the digits and feeling a flutter of excitement and nervousness. Having Tim's actual phone number felt like crossing into uncharted territory. The little addition at the end of Lia's message made her laugh. Oh so we're going to pretend each body is a different character. Oh I can play that game. Varek typed back: "He better not hurt her or he has to answer to me."
The message sent, and Riku could practically feel Lia's exasperation through the screen. Playing the protective male role was too entertaining, especially when she knew Tim would see it and get that flustered look he got whenever she caught him off guard.
"Alright, Romeo," Chen Wei said, grabbing Varek's arm. "Put the communicator away. The others are waiting in the common hall.
As they walked toward the common hall, Riku felt her Earth body's phone burning a hole in her pocket. Would Tim text her. Urgh it's not like she wanted a relationship with him but she loved the back and forth banter. Putting the communicator away Varek made his was back to the food hall with Chen Wei
The great hall was buzzing with activity as disciples gathered for the evening meal. Long wooden tables filled with cultivators of various levels, their conversations creating a warm hum that echoed off the high ceiling. The smell of roasted spirit beast meat and steamed rice made Varek's stomach growl. He had been running for days with minimal food.
"Varek!" Several voices called out as they entered. A group of Foundation Establishment disciples waved them over to their usual table near the back.
"Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence," laughed Jin Mu, a stocky cultivator with burn scars on his forearms from saber training. "We were starting to think you'd been eaten by those beasts you were hunting."
"Or seduced by city girls," added Li Feng with a knowing smirk. "Your social media has been quite... enlightening lately."
Varek slid onto the bench, trying to act natural while Riku internally panicked about maintaining his masculine persona among his sect brothers. How did guys normally talk to each other? She'd observed plenty, but actually participating was different.
"Mission went well," Varek said simply, loading his plate with food. "Bastion's beast problem is handled for now." "That's it?" Chen Wei protested. "Brother, you disappeared for a week, came back looking like some romance novel hero, and you're giving us mission reports? What about this woman from the Flowing Water Sect?"
The table went quiet. Even mentioning rival sects was usually enough to start arguments, but talking about courting someone from one was practically scandalous.
"There's... someone," Varek admitted, which sent the table into chaos.
"I knew it!" Jin Mu slammed his fist on the table. "The transformation makes sense now!"
"Is she pretty?" Li Feng asked eagerly.
"Beautiful," Varek replied without thinking, then realized how that sounded coming from someone who was supposed to be a stoic warrior. "I mean... she's acceptable."
The table erupted in laughter at his obvious attempt to downplay it.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Riku was walking through her family's front gates when her phone finally buzzed. Her heart jumped as she saw an unknown number with a simple message:
"Hey, it's Tim. Hope this isn't too weird."
Riku stared at the text for a long moment, suddenly feeling like this was too real . Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she tried to decide how to respond.
Back in the cultivation world, Varek was fielding increasingly invasive questions from his sect brothers.
"So when do we get to meet her?" Jin Mu pressed. "Bring her to the inter-sect tournament next month!"
"It's complicated," Varek said, which seemed to be his go-to response lately.
On Earth, she finally typed back: "Not weird at all. Thanks for dinner tonight, Master Tim 😏"
The emoji felt dangerous—flirty enough to maintain their dynamic but innocent enough to have keep the relationship from getting out of hand.
Tim's response came quickly: "You're never going to let me live down the feeding thing, are you?"
"Never," she replied, grinning as she walked up the steps to her mansion. "A good disciple never forgets her master's weaknesses."
Her phone buzzed again almost immediately: "Speaking of weaknesses, your other half is being very protective. Should I be worried about Varek challenging me to a duel?"
Riku laughed out loud, drawing a curious look from the butler who was watering plants in the garden. "Only if you hurt Riku's feelings," she typed back. "He's very... attached."
The three dots appeared and disappeared several times, suggesting Tim was struggling with how to respond to that.
Finally: "Good to know. Sleep well, Riku."
"You too, Tim."
As she put her phone away and headed inside, Riku felt a warm flutter in her chest and also a twisting of her guts. "urghh what am i doing" she muttered to herself
Back in the cultivation world, Varek was finally escaping his sect brothers' interrogation by claiming exhaustion from his mission. As he settled into his familiar quarters, he couldn't help but smile at how complicated his life had become.
He pulled out his communicator and sent a quick message to Lia: "Sleep well."
The response came back almost immediately: "You too, Varek :)"