Author's Note: I really need to stop writing. This is getting ridiculous. :D I do like Sunny, though. I wish she had been in the story longer. She's adorable!
Disclaimer: I don't own Host.
The human body is overwhelming in its range of emotion.
Sunny is easily pleased by the novelty of life in the caves. Everyday, it seems like there is something new to fascinate her. First it was the coarseness of the cots, the sound of other people breathing near her as she slept. Then it was the taste of the soup that was the main fare of those who lived in the cave. The texture of the purple dust that coated everyone at the end of a day of work. The reflection of the sunshine—or moonlight--in Jeb's special mirrors. The way everyone here worked together for each other, like in soul society. They had always told her humans couldn't do that.
Sometimes, something new to her was scary, like that first day when she saw Jeb hold the gun. There were lots of arguments down her, which often made her feel anxious. Sunny doubted she would ever become desensationalized to the raised voices, the threats and sometimes physical violence. It was terrifying when Kyle was a part of these fights, which was not uncommon. She remembers the first time he came back to the little room they shared, her on the cot and him on a pallet on the floor, with his eye ringed by a dark bruise. She had let out a small yelp, her little mouth a perfect "o". He had taken her slender hand in his and pressed her fingers over his eye, explaining that her cool skin soothed it. She bit the inside of her cheek, and gave him a trembling and painstaking smile.
Sad things happened, too, in the caves. Small sad things, like the time when the little human baby Freedom had tried to run on his waddling little legs, and fell. His cries were loud and healthy, but had filled Sunny with an aching, motherly sympathy; and she wanted to hold him, except for she knew the human mother would have said something angry and scooped Freedom out of the way, and Sunny was firmly non confrontational. Bigger sad things happened, too. One night, she had a nightmare which had frightened her so badly, she crawled onto the floor to cuddle against Kyle, who would keep her safe, she was sure. But when he woke up next to her, he'd yelled—just for a second, just long enough to remember how it affected her. But the rejection was a bone-deep sadness, and she cried.
Once, there was lust. She had watched Melanie and Jared kiss when they thought no one was looking, in the corners of the caves. She had seen lots of Ian and Wanda kissing, partially because Ian was so openly adoring, and partly because Wanda was a soul, and could resist acts of affection in her human body about as well as she could resist breathing. So one night, Sunny had gathered up her frustration-fueled courage in folds around her little body, and stood of her tip-toes and pulled Kyle's head down, and pressed her lips against his. His response sent fire burning through her veins, like some kind of scourge, leaving her raw and perfect. His lips parted against hers and her body yielded against his and they fell backwards.
Her heartbeat accelerated as fingers—she couldn't even tell whose they were—ripped at clothing—she couldn't distinguish that, either—their mouths never separating. It was fast and hot and exhilarating, and not nearly as scary as Sunny had thought it would be, though a whirlwind of other emotions bombarded her. Lust, she discovered, was a little bit of everything happy and intense and exciting. There was another feeling there with it—love, she identified happily. It was just as warm as the lust, in a slower and simmering kind of way, and it made her smile when Kyle fell asleep still holding her, both huddled on the bed that was too small for both of them.
The feeling she felt when he murmured a single name, Jodi, in his sleep, was also hot. But it was unpleasant, like the first time she had touched a hot stove in this human body, leaving her palm welted and red. It was a little like anger and a little like sadness, mixed together with something that was almost like violence, and Sunny shuddered. It was, perhaps, the most unpleasant feeling she'd ever experienced. It oozed in her blood like slime or hatred, and it took a minute of searching to find a name to place with it.
For the first time, Sunny experienced jealousy.