The X Pathogen

Chalter Twenty-Three

Ash took a deep breath the moment they stepped outside. They hadn't really had time to process anything from the past few weeks and it was only then starting to hit them how unbelievable their current situation was. They also hadn't considered how hard this must be for Nadil. He hadn't told them much, but from what they'd been able to piece together Nadil had a rough history with the Black Rygnars.
Saji suddenly tapped their shoulder, pulling Ash out of their dazed trance. They followed Saji's gaze and almost burst out laughing.
Nadil was surrounded by a group of small children, all of them pointing excitedly at his wing, gingerly touching the brownish gray feathers, or nervously staring at him from a distance. He met their gaze with a 'help me' look in his eyes.
Saji approached the unruly group of children. "Let's give him some space, alright?" She said timidly.
Suddenly the children's focus shifted entirely to Saji. Her purple skin and royal blue eyes were apparently even more exciting than a strange bird man.
Ash was trying to decide whether to laugh or help Saji when a voice said, "okay, that's enough. Leave the nice girl alone."
The children's faces lit up. They eagerly shouted, "Gemma!" And ran to get hugs, high-fives, and fist bumps. Gemma laughed, ruffling the kid's hair and scolding them for being rude, though she was smiling the whole time. She waved the rowdy group away, with the vague promise of treats if they hurried home.
Saji let out a sigh of relief, "thank you."
Gemma rolled her eyes, but a massive grin was still spread across her face, "sorry about them. They don't see outsiders very often."
Nadil grumbled something under his breath then tucked his wing back against his body.
"So did my dad bore you to death?" Gemma teased.
Nadil seemed to brighten up a bit at the mention of Dr. Burnick. "He said the wing would be ready tomorrow morning."
"That's great!" Gemma bounced happily, "if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your wing?"
Saji and Ash froze. They'd only recently learned the truth but they knew this was a sensitive subject. Ash's eyes darted between Nadil and Gemma. His face had gone dark, his eyes narrowed. For a moment they wondered if they should try to grab Nadil's gun away from him.
"It's personal." He muttered.
"Oh. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Gemma's face turned a bit red.
Nadil's stormy expression finally cleared a bit. "Forget it. It's fine," he grunted.
    Gemma still seemed a bit uncomfortable but forced herself to smile. "So... any updates on... everything?"
    Ash nodded, "I don't know how much we're actually allowed to say, but we're working on getting permission to intervene as soon as possible."
    "That's awesome!" Gemma's smile suddenly became genuine but she didn't ask any follow up questions. Ash suspected Nadil's reaction to her earlier question had made her a little more cautious. "Oh! I almost forgot, I'm supposed to show you where you'll be staying tonight!" She gestured for them to follow and started walking.
    They wound through the village, past huts and garden, finally stopping in front of a small hut.
    Gemma fished a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. The hinges creaked as the door swung open. "This is Jay's house," Gemma explained as she shoved the key back into her pocket, "Adar said to let you stay here since he's off doing who knows what."
    Gemma started opening closets and pulling out rolled up mattresses, blankets, and pillows. "I can help get you guys set up in the main room. Jay doesn't mind people using his house while he's off-planet, since he's gone a lot."
Ash glanced at Saji and Nadil. Nadil had a skeptical scowl on his face.
Once Gemma had finished setting up three mattresses with blankets and pillows she said, "I wish I could stick around but..." her face turned pink, "I have plans."
Ash relaxed a little and chuckled, "don't worry about it. Have fun on your date."
Gemma flushed bright red then quickly dashed out the door.
Once she was gone, Ash flopped down on one of the mattresses. "Well. This was not what I expected."
Nadil sat down and nodded in agreement, "Yeah. No kidding," he muttered.
"I thought you'd be happy," Saji said softly, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"I am!" Ash said, "I think? I don't know how to feel about all of this because on the one hand, there's an entire village of humans, but on the other hand, the rest of humanity is being held prisoner in labs being used as test subjects for the extinction of my entire species." Ash groaned into their pillow, "this is so weird."
Nadil nodded and flopped over to his side. "Couldn't agree more."
"At least we're all getting along?" Saji said anxiously.
Nadil grabbed his pillow and chucked it at Ash, "enjoy it while it lasts."
"Hey!" Ash caught the pillow a few inches above their face, "What're you attacking me for?"
"I got bored," Nadil grumbled.
"Oh, you are so dead." Ash grabbed their pillow, now clutching one fluffy weapon in each hand, they leapt into the air and slammed the pillows into Nadil's face.
Not to be outdone, Nadil grabbed the pillows from the other two mattresses and prepared to counterattack.
The two of them went back and forth for several minutes, exchanging insults and jabs.
"You call yourself a pillow fighter?!" Nadil scoffed as he dodged a plush projectile.
"No, I call myself a pillow legend!" Ash bonked him on the head with their other pillow.
"What in the universe-?" Kyo appeared in the doorway.
They both dropped their pillows immediately. Saji just stood in shell shocked silence.
Kyo rubbed the bridge of his nose, "do I even want to know?"
"Probably not." Ash muttered.
    "Was it over something extremely childish and unnecessary?" Kyo sighed.
" ...yes." Ash and Nadil mumbled.
"Is it ever going to happen again?"
"No."
"Good." With that, Kyo grabbed a pillow off the ground and sat down on a mattress. "Here's the deal. We got permission from the chairman to assist with rescues and intervene in any situation I deem necessary. Also we're trying to keep this case relatively quiet for now so we won't be getting back up." He lay down and rolled over so his back was facing them, "now get some rest. We're leaving first thing tomorrow for a rescue mission."