Between Worlds

Chapter 8

After Malyn had fallen asleep, Tyla had crept in until he was snuggled against his side. At some point in the night, Malyn's arm had settled around him. Tyla knew it was wrong to sneak into Malyn's personal space when he was sleeping, but Malyn had hugged Adin yesterday, and... and he didn't know. It had been an entirely natural, understandable, and appropriate thing to do, yet it had filled the pit of Tyla's stomach with a noxious jealousy.

And, honestly, it didn't help to discourage those feelings when Malyn stirred awake in the morning, patted Tyla's back in confusion, and didn't immediately move away. Tyla wished he better understood what was and wasn't allowed between male friends in this culture, though he worried he would just use that information to skirt the line even more.

Which was a choice, he reminded himself. Something he could choose not to do. Yet, more and more, it felt like that wasn't the case. Like he was fighting a silent battle with himself just to keep his emotions, and his expression of them, in check.

Finch declared that they were free to leave the room during the day, but they still weren't allowed to leave the house. A vampire didn't pose much threat during the day, but Finch didn't want to take any more chances.

They gathered in the kitchen for lunch and Malyn decided to change the bandage on his arm while they waited for Adin to finish cooking their food.

"Huh," Malyn said as he peeled off the gauze. "Well, so much for scar based memories to last a lifetime. That didn't even last two days."

Tyla leant closer to examine Malyn's arm. There wasn't the slightest trace of injury left. "It's just... gone."

Adin abandoned the pot he'd been stirring. "Your arm has healed already?"

"I guess?" Malyn said. "I mean, yeah. I don't know why, but it did."

"I didn't do it," Tyla said as Adin's eyes fell on him. "I can't do that sort of magic. My own body heals itself quickly, but I don't have the skill to do that for anyone else."

"Could it be something to do with Shadow?" Adin asked as his gaze cut to the door to Finch's bedroom, where Shadow was sleeping. "It did happen right after he came to stay with us."

"We noticed that it was healing weirdly fast yesterday, and trust me, I thought about it," Finch said. "And... maybe? I don't really know much about him, so anything's possible, I guess."

"That kind of magic does seem out of step with everything else we know about him," Adin agreed. "Maybe it's something to do with the bite itself. Someone else was bitten before we showed up to deal with the situation the first time, so I'll see if I can track her down and find out what happened to her bite. I only kept up with her case long enough to understand the immediate effects of the acid, though if her bite had also healed this miraculously, I would be surprised if nobody bothered to contact me about it. This isn't something that ever happened on your world, I assume, Malyn?"

"Oh, fuck no," Malyn said. "If someone got bit by a wild animal on my world, it'd probably just get infected and they'd die."

"Mm," Adin said. "I had an infected cut as a child. Nasty things."

Malyn frowned. "I thought you didn't get sick or anything. If I'd known you could get infections, I'd have cleaned all your cuts properly last night."

"I can't anymore, but I did then. Let's focus on what's going on with you, though. Do you have any ideas?"

"I could do science," Malyn suggested. "Injure myself a little and see what happens."

"No." Tyla reflexively reached out and placed a hand on Malyn's arm, as though holding him back. "You get injured enough as it is."