A Grain of Dust

Baia clearly sensed a subtle change in Selina's attitude towards her. However, ever since she became friends with Holly, Selina's indifferent and aloof demeanor had softened considerably. What made her feel accomplished was that the Great Detective, that arrogant and enigmatic black cat, finally deigned to grace her room with its presence. Meanwhile, the other plush occupants of the house chose to bid farewell.

With Baia's tacit approval, the Great Detective's territorial behavior proved quite successful, making it the sole cat in the room. It was the king of Baia's room.

"No, the Great Detective won't let me touch him," Baia said.

Holly judged, "Then he's just occupying the space."

Baia shrugged. "I don't mind."

"You're the kind of overly indulgent parent, you know?"

"Are you aware that you're also one of my feeding targets?"

When Holly left, she left happily. Unlike ordinary children who followed a routine of school and outings with friends, Holly sometimes stayed bored at home or went out late at night, returning only when it was very late. She didn't care if Baia was already asleep, knocking (or picking, depending on how deeply Baia was sleeping) on her door asking for late-night snacks.

Baia endured and even enjoyed this kind of life, not only because Selina became her main sponsor, but also because of the feeling that Holly relied on her.

But something was off today.

Normally, when Holly went out so late, she would wake Baia up for food. Baia had even planned to cook some dumplings, but in the end, those ingredients remained quietly in the refrigerator, and Baia slept until dawn.

Upstairs was very quiet.

Baia didn't change into pajamas but slipped on slippers and went upstairs to knock on the neighbor's door.

After a while, a muffled voice came from behind the door, "Who is it?"

"It's me. Who else could it be?" Baia said.

There was a moment of silence. She heard Holly say, "Go away, I don't want to see you today, nor do I want to eat."

"You don't want cotton candy orange steamed cake either?" Baia said slowly.

"No, I don't want anything. Just go away."

Baia didn't respond. She patiently stood outside the door. The Great Detective didn't know when it had sneaked over and sat at her feet, but Baia deftly avoided it when she wanted to pet it.

After a long time, the door opened a crack, and Holly's voice came softly from behind the door, "Why are you so annoying?"

Baia grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. Since Holly didn't stop her, Baia opened the door and saw Holly standing on the doorstep, with a large bruise on her face.

"Why don't you laugh?" Holly said with a heavy voice.

Baia's gaze lingered on her face for a while, then looked into the room. There were takeaway boxes casually placed on the table behind her.

"Unbelievable," Baia said wide-eyed. "After being here for half a month, you're injured and only want to eat takeout. I'm starting to doubt my cooking skills."

Apparently, Baia's reaction made Holly feel less embarrassed. She quickly smiled and then grimaced because of the pain from the injury, pretending to have a blank expression.

"I hate Gotham. I hate the clients. I hate men. I hate this ghostly weather."

"I hate it when others see me like this," Holly said angrily, not knowing whom she was angry at. She picked up a piece of freshly baked steamed cake from Baia and sat on the small sofa in Baia's room, continuing, "I hate the way others look at me. So you're not allowed to look at me like that either."

Baia didn't raise her head. "Does my gaze make you uncomfortable?"

Holly slammed the cake plate heavily on the table. "You've been reading all along, you haven't even looked at me, have you?!"

Holly asked again, "Why don't you ask me why?"

"If you want to say it, no one can stop you," Baia said, putting down her book and resting her chin on her hand to look at her. "If you don't want to, my questions will only make you angry."

"You're right, I won't tell you," Holly said softly, lowering her eyes. "In Gotham, not everyone can live decently."

"Isn't Selina helping you?"

"Selina doesn't support idlers either. But she'll help me get revenge," Holly said, waving her fist. "She'll help me beat those bastards hard!"

"Oh, by the way," Baia stood up, "I know a little about promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Do you believe me?"

Reluctantly, Holly said, "Just a little."

Baia boiled some hot water and applied the warm towel to the girl's injured cheek. When the towel touched the wound, Holly couldn't help but inhale sharply.

"If you want to cry, just cry. Why hold it in?" Baia said.

Holly said seriously, "In Gotham, tears are not believed."

"Okay, then close your eyes. Take a nap, and you'll feel better when you wake up," Baia said.

The girl complained softly about how useless the towel was for a long time before finally closing her eyes slowly and falling asleep in Baia's gentle humming. What she didn't see was a beautiful golden mist gently brushing over her wound.

"Oh my," Holly exclaimed after waking up, washing off the herbal paste on her face, and holding Baia's mirror to look at herself from different angles. She seemed to want to glare a hole through her reflection. "I was wrong. Baia, you're a goddess. How did you do that?"

"It's a trade secret," Baia said, rubbing her temples. She had used a little bit of healing brush attached to her Golden Oriole several times and finally got satisfactory results. There was no sign of injury on Holly's beautiful face anymore. "I'm going to take a nap."

Her determination to immediately point out her healing skills grew stronger.

"You didn't sleep last night?" Holly hugged her and gave her a kiss.

"Yeah, please do me a favor," Baia said tiredly. "Take out the cat food from the fridge and put it in the microwave for a bit, then feed it to your little ancestors at home."

"No," Holly said, taking off her coat in three quick movements, stuffing Baia into the bed, and then climbing in herself. "I'm going to sleep with you. They won't starve if they miss one meal."

Holly happily hugged Baia, who then placed her cold claws on Holly's warm neck, causing Holly to scream in surprise. But then she took advantage of her physical advantage and tickled Baia, pinning her down on the bed.

The two girls played around for a while, but Baia couldn't hold on anymore and curled up into a small ball, falling asleep in a daze.

When the clock pointed to two in the afternoon, the hallway was filled with the displeased howls of the cats. It wasn't until the Great Detective, carrying a sparrow in its mouth, appeared on the windowsill and waved its claws menacingly to disperse the hungry cats that the world finally quieted down.

"So, there are limitations to the use of skills."

When Baia controlled her dreams with the system, she didn't have to stand alone in the dark void. Baia had the system simulate a beautiful forest scenery, sitting on a large rock feeding deer with carrots, bathed in the warm spring breeze carrying the scent of flowers, which was completely different from the damp and cold atmosphere of Gotham.

Chewing on the carrot, the system said, "Yes, the number of times skills can be used depends on the host's mental strength. Additionally, some skills have built-in cooldown times."

It had to be said that the system in the form of a deer was much cuter, and it wouldn't babble when fed virtual carrots.

Baia asked, "Is it like when you binded with me? What happens if I overspend on using skills?"

The system replied, "Unpredictable consequences will occur."

Baia sighed, "What I hate the most is when you're the same whether you say something or not."