Chapter 610: Bonus [5]
"So you can’t move on your own without someone helping you right now."
"Yes." Moon answered honestly.
"So you will stay here, on Earth.
"Yes."
"For the next few days, without any training or fighting..."
"Yes."
Moon watched her face for a reaction.
Selene had walked into the room ten minutes ago, worried sick, barely able to hold herself together. Alaric had brought her personally the moment Tom had confirmed Moon was awake and stable enough for visitors.
She had cried a little when she had first seen him. She had sat down beside the bed and taken his hand and pressed her forehead against his knuckles for a long moment without saying anything.
Moon had let her. He hadn’t known what to say either.
That had been ten minutes ago.
Now something else was happening. For some odd reason, her face had brightened greatly.
Taking on a specific gleam that Moon didn’t fully recognize but which every instinct in his body was warning him about.
Her lips were curved into a small smile that carried none of the earlier tension. She looked, for the first time since she had walked through the door, pleased.
Moon felt cold sweat break out along the back of his neck.
"Why...Why are you looking at me like that." Moon asked, cautiously.
He felt like a small forest creature that had just noticed the shadow of a titan with sharp teeth passing overhead.
"Hehe."
Her eyes sparkled as she leaned in slightly, resting her chin on the back of the hand she was still holding.
"Well...You said you can’t move without help. You said you can’t fight. You said you can’t leave the bed unassisted. For the next few days."
"Yes."
"Which means..."
"Which means what?"
"Which means you can’t run away from me."
Moon blinked.
"...run away?"
"For the entire week, at minimum. Maybe longer if you’re being difficult about recovery." Her smile widened. "You have to stay on earth and I get to visit as much as I want. And you have no way to tell me you have training. Or a hunt. Or a Second Sanctuary you need to visit. Nothing. You are, for once in your life, completely and totally free."
Her eyes shone.
"To spend time with me."
The pieces clicked together in Moon’s head.
’Oh.’
Moon started laughing. He couldn’t help it.
"You’re taking advantage of my injuries."
"Absolutely."
"That’s terrible."
"Is it?"
"It’s not." Moon smiled, teasing her back. "Alright. What did you have in mind."
Selene’s face lit up.
She started ticking items off on her fingers.
"First. I want to just sit here with you, not doing anything. Just being in the same room. I know that sounds boring, but you’ve never been in the same room as me for more than an hour before you have something else to run off to, and I want to see what it’s like to just exist in the same space for a while."
Moon nodded slowly.
"Okay."
"Second. When you are able to, I would like to go on a walk with you in the estate’s private gardens. Tom has some nice, rare animals we could look at.
Of course, I will push your wheelchair."
"Okay."
Selene went on and on about all the plans she had in mind. Whether it was going to the cinema to watch the latest hit movie, cooking a meal for him that she wanted him to try, or any number of other things that, suspiciously enough, couples tended to do, she seemed excited about all of it.
Moon smiled, "Alright. We can do them all."
His remaining hand tightened slightly around hers.
Selene’s eyes shimmered as she held onto his hand a little tighter and pressed the top of it against her cheek.
They stayed like that for a long, quiet while.
Then a knock interrupted the moment.
Selene jolted like a startled kitten. Her hand snapped away from her cheek in a fast, embarrassed motion. In the process, she dropped Moon’s hand entirely, and his arm fell back onto the medical sheet with more force than his sore body was ready for.
He winced.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Selene’s face flushed immediately. Her hands hovered above his arm as if she wasn’t sure whether to pick it back up or leave it. "I didn’t mean to, I just—"
Moon shook his head slightly, a small smile tugging at his lips despite the sting.
"It’s fine."
The door opened.
Alaric stepped into the room with a clam expression. His eyes swept the scene, as if assessing whether anything inappropriate had been happening in his absence.
Alaric’s expression didn’t change based on what he saw.
Emma followed him in with a massive grin on her face.
She took one look at Selene’s face, then at Moon’s smile, "Alaric... We seem to have interrupted quite the moment."
Alaric didn’t respond.
Emma turned her attention to Selene.
"Selene. Sweetie. Why is your face as red as a tomato?"
Selene’s face went a shade darker.
"It’s not."
"Hmm. Then it must be the lighting in the room." Emma responded with a knowing smile.
"Yes. It is."
Moon, watching the exchange from the bed, did not speak.
Alaric stepped closer to the bedside. His eyes settled on Moon before saying, "Get better quick."
Moon nodded with a small smile.
"Will do."
Alaric held his gaze for another second, then turned and walked toward the door.
Emma followed with one last wink over her shoulder at Selene, who returned it with a glare that carried no real heat.
Alaric reached the doorway before stopping.
His back stayed facing Moon and Selene. "You know the rules."
Selene’s face flushed instantly.
The door closed behind them.
"I-I’m sorry about..."
"It’s fine. Don’t worry about it." Moon shook his head.
◇◇◇◇
The next few days passed by in a bliss that they hadn’t experienced before.
Moon had been cleared for movement in a wheelchair on the morning of the first true recovery day.
Selene had taken the clearance as a personal invitation to make sure he saw every corner of Tom’s estate, which held plenty of entertainment for the both of them.
She was very serious about their schedule, that she had planned it in her journal.
Tom provided Moon and Selene with one of the guest mansions inside his estate.
Selene walked in to the kitchen with a shopping bag full of ingredients she had picked up herself from a nearby district market, and started cooking without asking permission. The estate staff had watched her from a respectful distance, ready to help if she asked.
Moon sat in his wheelchair at the kitchen table, watching her work.
She hummed softly as she cooked for the man she loved.
"Almost done." Selene said, without turning around. "Give me one more minute."
"Take your time." Moon said with a soft smile on his face, watching her cook with his left hand resting on his cheek.
"Don’t fall asleep in the wheelchair."
"I’m not going to fall asleep."
"You fell asleep during the walk this morning."
"I blinked..."
"Uh-huh."
She turned around with a plate in her hands and carried it to the table. A small mound of pasta sat in the center, coated in a rich, glossy sauce that carried the golden color of the sear she had put into the mushrooms.
A single sprig of green sat on top as garnish. She had clearly given the presentation some thought.
Selene sat on the stool beside him. Then, she picked up the fork and spun a portion of pasta around it.
She held it up to his mouth.
"Open."
Moon raised an eyebrow.
"I can feed myself."
"With one hand? With me around? No, thank you. Open."
Moon opened his mouth.
She fed him the bite.
Her eyes stayed on his face while he chewed.
"Well?"
Moon chewed thoughtfully for a few seconds before swallowing the mouthful.
Selene leaned forward slightly, still waiting for his reaction.
"Very good!"
Her face lit up.
"Really?"
"Really."
"How good?"
Moon smiled at her.
"A million out of ten."
Her face lit up with a massive smile that nearly took Moon’s breath away. It was a smile that he had only seen a handful of times before, in private moments like these.
She spun another bite around the fork.
"Have another."
"You haven’t eaten yet."
"I’ll eat later. You eat first."
Knowing that there is no arguing with her, he opened his mouth again.
She fed him a second bite, and a third, and a fourth. Somewhere around the fifth bite, she started narrating small facts about the dish.
Moon listened to every word.
He kept opening his mouth.
She kept smiling.