A Few Nights Later

Dane returned home from work and summoned Qi Qi once again. "Another night where it's just the two of us." Dane entered his room and paused upon seeing Qi Qi scrolling on his laptop. Then, he realised he had forgotten that he had given her permission that night to use the laptop to access the internet only when no one else was around. It was something Dane would do when he had time and would help Qi Qi be more in touch with the world. "What have you been looking at?"

"You!" she replied

Surprised, Dane turned to look at the screen. Indeed, she was on Instagram looking at my old class photograph. "What! How did you find this?"

"I went to your Instagram page, then the account of someone you follow and in her page there was another account and this photo was on page of that account." It took a while for Dane to understand what she did.

When I said she could use my laptop, I wasn't expecting this. This is some stalker behaviour. Dane shivered. "So, what do you know now?"

Qi Qi had figured out all the schools Dane had went to and some of the names that Dane follow on Instagram. Creepy. Dane ultimately shrugged it off. There's no way she would use that information against me. In fact...

"Qi Qi, promise me you will never use whatever you know against me."

"I promise to never use what I know against you." Her sweet, innocent-looking eyes were all he needed.

Then, Dane dug out his old school T-shirt and shorts and passed them to Qi Qi for her to change into. She had been wearing the same clothes for days, anyway, and might appreciate a new look.

"Done!" she exclaimed.

"You could easily pass off as a student. Though, you need to put your hair up."

Qi Qi heard and decided to perform another 'magic trick'. As she stood still, her long black hair magically bundled up by itself, held together by a tiny black hair band, to form a neat ponytail.

Dane rubbed his eyes, thinking it was just exhaustion. "Did you just...?"

"Yes?"

"What about a bun?"

Her hair immediately curled up on its own to form a small bun. This time, Dane knew it was real. "You can do that?"

Qi Qi nodded with a proud smile.

"What else can you do with your hair?"

"I can change it however you like!"

"Ok, how about long dark brown hair?"

Her hair cascaded freely in an instant, spilling over her shoulders like a soft, unbound wave. Then came the shift, from deep black to a rich dark brown, shimmering and warm.