Decoy Danger

For once Mylo woke up without a frown already on his face and his sleep hadn’t been as fitful as usual. He supposed Shila had been right about him needing to lighten up. Just a little. Sometimes. He’d work on it.

He found himself smiling a little though as he packed up his bag and tried to tame his hair a little bit. He looked up to find Bret watching him with a suspicious expression.

“What?”

“You seem like you’re in a good mood.”

“So?” Mylo asked.

“You’re never in a good mood.”

“I am sometimes,” Mylo protested. “It’s just the first night in a while I’ve slept on a comfortable bed, so I feel more rested.”

“Uh huh. Rested enough to beat the spit out of more tavern creeps?” Bret raised his eyebrows.

“That guy deserved it,” Mylo muttered.

“So where’d you go once you got kicked out?” Bret smirked, seeming to delight in Mylo being reprimanded for fighting. “Cause you weren’t here when I came to bed.”

“I was out for a walk,” Mylo said simply.

“Alone?”

“What are you getting at here, Bret?”

“I just thought maybe you spent some more time with Shila,” Bret shrugged.

“What makes you assume that?”

“Your beet red face,” Bret said smugly, echoing the words Mylo had said to him about Trina.

“My face is not red,” Mylo lied. “It’s just pillow creases.”

“Yeah, okay.” Bret rolled his eyes and hefted his pack. “Did you kiss her, at least?”

“This conversation is extremely over,” Mylo told him, shoving him toward the door. They ran into Shila in the hall, and Bret smirked a little as he walked by. Mylo paused, smiling at her a little shyly.

“Morning,” he said.

“Morning.” She smiled back at him.

“Did you sleep okay?” he asked. “We were out a little late.”

“I slept great.”

“Good. That’s good.”

They stood there for a few moments and he felt his face definitely get red this time as he realized he was just kind of staring at her. He cleared his throat.

“I guess we should be off then.” He reached over to scratch Queenie under her chin as she poked her head out of Shila’s bag. The cat purred happily and he cracked another smile.

“Smiling once in a while is kind of nice, isn’t it?” Shila teased gently.

“It’s maybe not terrible,” Mylo replied and she poked him lightly in the chest.

“Well I think it suits you,” she said, moving to follow Bret down the hall. Mylo hoped he didn’t have a dopey look on his face as he joined everyone downstairs and they left the inn. Bret was whispering something to Trina, who looked like she was trying not to giggle. Mylo rolled his eyes, sure they were discussing him and Shila. Not that there was a him and Shila. He shouldn’t even be looking at Shila, and not just because they should stay focused until they had dealt with the Emory’s. But because of the fact that she was William’s daughter. If he was still alive, then he was sitting in Hellsgate, probably worried every moment of the day about his daughter, and he would be pissed enough that she was mixed up in the rebellion now. He probably wouldn’t like Mylo sneaking glances at her either.

The next several days passed without incident, but Mylo found himself ignoring the little voice in his head that kept telling him to keep his distance from Shila. He graduated from sneaking glances to walking next to her and talking to her more. At the end of the first week, they moved off the road to find a place to make camp. Mylo, as always, scouted out further to check for any potential threat. What he found instead though, actually made him break into a smile.

He returned to the others, who were currently trying to find places to lay out their bedrolls where it was only kind of lumpy instead of really lumpy.

“I found something you all might want to see,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back. He wouldn’t say anymore no matter how they pestered him on the short walk. Trina and Lola both gasped in delight as they crested a small hill and came across a meadow full of blooming wildflowers. Fireflies had begun to flit lazily through it as the sun was going down.

“I thought this might be a slightly nicer place to sleep,” Mylo said, amused by Trina’s beaming. They all fanned out, looking pleased. The ground here was flatter and the soft grass would make it less uncomfortable. And it smelled nice. Shila let Queenie out of her bag and the cat went bounding into the flowers, munching on grass.

“This is beautiful,” Shila said, laughing. The two of them were still tucked slightly into the edge of the trees. Mylo felt nervous suddenly, but he cleared his throat quietly to get her attention. He unclasped his hands and held up a little yellow wildflower he’d picked.

“May I?” he asked, gesturing to her hair. He thought she blushed but in the dim twilight it was hard to be positive. She nodded though, so he reached out and tucked the flower behind her ear. He hadn’t meant to, but he let his hand gently brush down her cheek as he pulled it away.

“I, um, wanted to apologize,” he said. She frowned.

“For what?”

“I know that I was kind of…short with you, when we first met. I probably seem like a jerk a lot but I don’t intend to be mean or anything. People’s safety is just important to me.” He glanced toward the others for a moment before he looked back at Shila. “Uh, and now that includes your safety, since you’re one of us.”

“I don’t think you’re a jerk,” Shila said. She paused and raised an eyebrow. “But I’m one of you now, huh?”

“You're here willing to take the same risks as everyone else, and we all like you,” he shrugged.

“We all?”

He felt his face turn red again. “I mean, you know, you fit in with us and you’re a good cook. I think you might be Trina’s best friend already.” He shifted awkwardly. “Yeah, we all like you. Having you around.”

He almost fell over when Shila bounced up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. She moved out into the meadow, finding a place to set her things down. Queenie came trotting over to Mylo, some flower petals on her head. He picked her up and brushed them off before she curled around his neck again, flicking him in the face with her tail while he went to lay out his own bedroll. He sat on it and watched Trina and Bret trying to catch fireflies. The twins were laughing together and Lola was talking to Shila. It was a nice, peaceful moment and he refrained from getting anxious and nagging everyone. He even decided he’d let everyone sleep in a little tomorrow. They’d reach Goldshore in a week, and he figured his friends could all use a few nice, peaceful moments before they had to get back to being rebels.