Hilargi liked where he was going with this (even if she was a little jealous of the fact that he loved the fact that Ellia liked him) and hung on his words as they came out of his mouth.

“It might be a good idea for us to endear ourselves to her until we feel comfortable asking her to send out the scouts.” Nikodemus suggested.

Hilargi nodded vigorously, nearly hopping up and down in excitement at this idea. But after a moment, she sighed. “That’s easy for you to say… she really likes you, but I’m terrified of her. She’s always growling at me and making faces at me…” Hilargi shivered. “I swear, one day she’s just going to outright throw me out into the desert and let the scorpion men have me.”

Nikodemus chuckled. He looked both ways and then closed the space between them. He motioned for Hilargi to kneel so he could whisper in her ear, “Between you and me, she’s only rough on you because she wants you to be more confident.”

Hilargi laughed. Not because she believed or disbelieved what he was saying, but because he made such a big show of whispering to her melodramatically when there was clearly no one around to hear. Once she finished laughing, she replied, “If you say so… maybe if I try to toughen up, she’ll respect me more?”

Nikodemus nodded. “Exactly! Ellia respects tough individuals—but not cruel ones, I think.”

Hilargi gave that some thought, absently nodding to herself while stroking her chin. She reached out her hand, “Alright! Let’s shake on it! Once we endear ourselves to her more, let’s ask her to send scouts out to find the scientist!”

Nikodemus shook her hand firmly. “It’s a deal!”

He was about to go on his way when Hilargi stopped him and said, “Wait! I have one more thing to ask you.”

Nikodemus stopped in his tracks. He had been facing her door, but now he looked over his shoulder to look at her. “What is it?” his voice sounded choked with worry.

“Well… I noticed that you pushed me back earlier, but you didn’t use your hands. How did you do that?” Hilargi asked, clearing her throat uncomfortably.

Nikodemus sighed. “I thought you would make your way back around to that… I don’t know; I can’t really explain it very well. I’ve always had those powers.”

Hilargi cocked her head to the side. “Powers?”

Nikodemus nodded. “Yeah… when I was a baby and my mom left a bottle full of milk next to my crib, she told me I grabbed the bottle without touching it and floated it over to my hands.”

The mutant girl blinked rapidly, unsure what to think of this information. She wanted to doubt it, even though she had experienced the truth of it. “Why have you hidden this from everyone?”

The pygmy human smiled sheepishly. “Because I’m the last man alive, and I don’t want anyone to put me to battle because they see the usefulness in my powers—neither do I want any scientists to open up my brain to see what’s different about it.”

Hilargi bit back a laugh. She couldn’t deny that she had a temptation to study his big, beautiful brain since the first moment she saw him. “I see. Well, you have my word that I won’t tell anyone about your powers. I have to say, you truly are one of the most lucky and yet unlucky people I’ve ever met. You have these wonderful powers—perhaps a gift from God…” Hilargi suddenly stopped talking. She swallowed. Clearly, she didn’t want him to know that she was a Christian.

Nikodemus smiled. Now, he wasn’t whispering to be melodramatic. Now, he was doing it because he wanted to be cautious. “You’re a Christian, too?”

Hilargi nodded with a smile. “Yeah. My mom wouldn’t dream of letting me be anything else.”

Nikodemus grinned. “My parents, too…”

The pair just stared at each other for a moment, immediately feeling a bond that they otherwise would have never shared if they didn’t have this thing in common. Hilargi cleared her throat. “Anyway, you have these wonderful powers, but you can’t use them, and you have all this access to women and essentially are free to do nothing, and yet you still aren't free in any way, shape or form.”

Nikodemus laughed. “I know. It’s quite tragic and idiosyncratic.”

They smiled at each other silently, and then Hilargi said, “Well. Anyway, that’s all I wanted to talk about. You can go back to bed now.”

Nikodemus nodded and went on his way.

Hilargi went to bed that night feeling like a million bees were buzzing around in her head due to her excitement—bees that carried around thoughts that were as golden as honey.

He’s Christian like me…

I can convince Ellia to send those scouts out if I can make her like me…

The Last Man has telekinetic powers… if only I could look at that gorgeous brain."

Her thoughts fluttered around relentlessly.