“I am the righteous hand of God!” he said,” and I am the devil you forgot” she yelled

Malcolm was a bit startled by the way she leaned her forehead on his. That hadn’t been his goal whatsoever!

He leaned away after Daya spoke, taking a deep breath then sighing.

“Daya, don’t be scared for me. If I’m going to die, then I’m going to die. But, I will take my killer with me,”he replied.

Malcolm snorted at her comment. He then rose his eyebrow.

“How long’s a ‘bit’? Also, my bedroom is literally on the other side of this room. You can’t miss it. It’s the only little room in this back section of the store,”Malcolm mentioned.

(I know. Malcolm’s just being antisocial, as usual, lol)

Malcolm considered her explanation for a moment, then sighed. At least he wouldn’t have to babysit her all night.

“Alright. Until you fall asleep. Then, I’m going to bed,”he said gently.

Malcolm followed, grabbing a chair along the way. He sat down next to Daya, watching her silently.

Malcolm continued to silently watch Daya. He didn’t move for a long while, the sight of her actually inspiring him to doze off a few times. He didn’t know why, but it was just so tempting to fall asleep where he was.

Eventually, Malcolm quietly got up and went to sleep in his bed. The clock on his nightstand showed that he’d been sitting next to Daya at least an hour, if not two. Malcolm shook his head at that, stunned, then laid down and fell asleep.

Malcolm woke to the sound of a strange yelp. He groggily stood up, dressed, and headed out of his bedroom. He saw Daya and paused, confused until he remembered last night. He then sighed and headed over to her, sitting down next to her.

“Come on, sit up. It’s time for the next dose of medicine,”he said drowsily, helping Daya up to a sitting position.

Malcolm shrugged at her apology. It wasn’t the first time he’d been woken up by something, nor would it be the last. He then gestured to her for the bottle of medicine Dr. Hunderly had given her.

“At least you will heal, and have full function of your body. I’m missing half a face, and the left side of my body is fucked,”Malcolm commented.

Malcolm rose his lone eyebrow, bewildered. He also didn’t know how to react to her giggle.

“How? Having a grotesque hole for half a face isn’t something I’d call beautiful. And, the mask is fucking inconvenient,”he questioned.

Malcolm paused, stunned by her words. No one had ever said anything like that to him. And, he truly didn’t care about taking off his mask to show his true face, so Daya was right. She saw him, truly. She saw the strength behind the scars. No one ever did.

When she reached up to touch his face, he gently grabbed her hand, stopping her. He then held onto her hand, cradling it in a way. There was a bit of shyness in his expression. He hadn’t been shy about anything in many years, since before the explosion.

“I haven’t been… close… to anyone, in years. That desire basically left me after this shit happened,”he admitted quietly, indicating his face.

“Though… I don’t know what to think now,”he added, looking down at her their entwined hands.

Malcolm chuckled in amusement,”You realize my heart is blacker than ink, yes?”

He saw her squeeze his hand, and he wasn’t sure how to react. It was a foreign sensation, even though he had felt it many times before. Though, the memories before the explosion were foreign anyway, like looking into the mind of another person. In a way, it was. Malcolm was not the man he’d been before, in every way possible.

Malcolm stared at Daya, confused. No one had ever seen his description like that. Most folk ran at the first mention of how little he actually gave a fuck. But, Daya wasn’t running, or fighting, or questioning him. She had already accepted him, at least partly. Maybe there was something more to this woman, something that made him love her before.

But, he had to make sure he wasn’t getting ahead of himself.

“Let me ask you something. If I were to, say, rob a bank, or even just shoot a few people, would you stop me? Would you fight me?”he asked.

There was definitely something interesting about Daya. If she was being completely honest, and Malcolm suspected she was, then he had potentially found the one person in a world of useless fools that he could talk to, if not much more.

“Now, what about something extreme? Genocide, maybe. If I killed everyone, and we were the only two people left on this world, would you still stand by my side?”he asked, his voice a bit quieter and a bit more intense.

Malcolm burst into laughter. It was a harsh, wheezing kind of laughter, but genuine. When it died down to only a few chuckles, he gave her a smile, though only half of his face could make it.

“You are definitely a keeper,”he commented with a chuckle.

“And, you won’t have to worry about me trying to repopulate the world. For one, I don’t fucking want to. Two… I actually can’t. I’m sterile,”he said.

Malcolm chuckled at her words, though there was a hint of sadness in his expression. When he saw her blush, his expression brightened a bit, but not by much. It had been a long time since he’d had anything to do with a woman, but he couldn’t deny that Daya looked very… sweet, with a blush.