World of Io

14. Gossipmongers

“Milo?” Vigilante whispered as she woke up, half dreaming and still feeling his hands on her chest. In her dream, he had touched her, caressed her, he had taken away her pain. She looked around and saw him lying next to her. She had never seen him sleep before. He didn’t seem to need sleep, but here he was, obviously sleeping in the middle of the day. Why had she been sleeping? Then she remembered.

She looked down on her bandaged chest. She couldn’t feel anything, which was odd... She looked up again and saw the other two. So, they were reunited again. It felt strangely reassuring. She had never traveled in a group like this before, always alone on her missions. This was something else, and she liked it. Sure, it was getting on her nerves, but it was also comforting to be surrounded by friends. Perhaps they weren't really friends, but what did she know, she had never had one before.

“Why is he sleeping?” she asked. They turned their heads towards her and she was surprised to see them both smile. Vito never smiled towards her...

“Ah, you’re already awake. Marvelous!” Qumo said, and he seemed so happy that she couldn’t help but return the smile although she had no idea of why he was smiling like he did. Surely she couldn’t have been that hurt if she didn’t feel anything now?

“Amazing!” she heard Vito exclaim, and she became even more confused. Last time he looked at her he’d been shooting daggers with those white eyes of his.

“What are you smiling about?” she blurted out, but the others just smiled even broader.

“You were hurt quite badly, Vigilante. We feared this would require a long recovery, but it seems like our Io in disguise worked his wonders on you,” Qumo told her. She looked at him and just shook her head, not knowing how to react.

“What?”

“He healed you Vigilante, but I’m afraid we can’t tell him that, he had no idea of what he was doing, and you know how he feels about this so I don’t believe he is ready to hear it just yet.”

Qumo’s voice echoed inside her head. She touched her chest, lifted the bandages and saw a long row of stitches covering her chest, stitches that seemed to have been sown onto her unscathed skin.

“How is this possible?” she asked.

Qumo chuckled at her words, but he didn’t answer; he just kept stirring in the pot in front of him.

“Is that why he’s sleeping?” she asked. This time the N'aian looked up at her again and nodded, confirming her theory.

She scooted over so she could reach him, touch him. She felt for his pulse and touched his forehead. She didn’t know why she did it because he seemed fine, just very much asleep. It felt awkward to be touching him, especially in front of the others so she let go even though that was the last thing she wanted. She found herself taking hold of his hand, the hand the others couldn’t see. She squeezed it, just as he had squeezed hers the other day.

“Thank you!” she whispered.

-----

Milo woke up to a cloudless sky. He glimpsed stars in between the trees and the scene left him confused. He hadn’t slept in a long time, and it had been a decade since he had slept so many hours in a row. What had happened?

He looked around the small clearing and saw Vigilante sitting up with her back against a tree. The other two were sleeping, Vito spasming slightly as usual. She met his eyes and he couldn’t believe that she was sitting there. It shouldn’t have been possible with the wound she received mere hours ago.

He rose and approached her.

“You should sleep, Vigilante. That wound you got needs time to heal, your body needs time to heal,” he reproached her. It was a strange reaction, but he didn't know what to think, or how to react.