The instant those words fell, Dick froze on the spot.
Tonight, Nightwing was the very picture of silence.
"Haha, so that's what you meant... If it itches, you have to scratch it, huh..."
Dick laughed stiffly and awkwardly lowered the hand holding the blanket, letting Miaomiao crawl out.
Miaomiao's hair had gotten a little mussed, and she ran her fingers through it a couple of times.
But a sudden realization flashed through Dick's mind the next second, and the blank left by his earlier panic was immediately filled with worry.
"Wait, your suit's torn? You're hurt?!"
Dick instinctively leaned forward, his gaze sweeping urgently past Miaomiao's shoulder toward Little Girl's back.
The imitation Nightwing suit Miaomiao had made wasn't exactly like the original. It had a mermaid silk cape that reached her calves. Outside, the overlapping layers of gauzy silk had concealed her back, so Dick hadn't noticed the extensive damage to her suit.
Now, under the lights of the Nightwing Cave, Dick pulled aside the cape on Miaomiao's shoulder and discovered that the suit beneath was badly damaged. The thin fabric had curled back and split open, its edges blackened and ragged, as though something had torn it apart.
Dick's pupils contracted, and even his breathing faltered. "It's this bad, and you still told me you were fine? You even kept patrolling with me across more than half of Blüdhaven?!"
"But I really am fine." Miaomiao turned around and tilted her head at the anxious, remorseful Dick, bewildered. "My suit's torn. I'm not torn."
"How could you possibly be unhurt when it's torn this badly?"
Dick knew how protective mermaid silk was. For the suit to end up like this, the explosion must have been incredibly powerful. And it had all been to protect him...
"I'm really not hurt."