Murky Down Under >> Didg & Milo
Didg’s heart sunk even further, and he wanted to follow it down to the bottom of the lake. Milo had been looking for a while then — at least a week, probably. He blew a few bubbles, looking anywhere but at the other boy. “Look, ‘m…’m sorry, hey? I don’t…” He trailed off, shook his head and shoved his hair back. Didg dared peek above the surface again, only to shoot back down again.
"Why th’fuck’re you askin’ if I’m okay?” he shouted. “Some poor fucker died. He was just a kid, Milo, he’s—he was covered in fuckin’—it just stuck t’ everything. Everything. I don’t even have legs, ‘n I still feel fuckin’ disgustin’. And—and he’s dead. He was a kid, Milo. He was so fuckin’—he coulda been good at charms or maybe he was a seer or—or—fuck, man. Fuck.” He tightened his grip around Milo’s waist, holding him tight as though he feared what was going to happen the second he let go.
Milo offered up a soft, lopsided smile, shaking his head when Didg apologized. "You don't need to say sorry, I just... I'm glad I found you," he said, glancing up at the sky for a moment, sighing deeply. "And that you're not..." A shiver ran through him as he stopped himself from continuing, and he chewed at his lip again. "Yeah. I'm just glad."
He flinched when Didg began yelling about the dead kid, widened eyes meeting the merman's as he froze. Milo didn't want to think about someone actually dying - he was reminded all too much of how he'd been attacked as well, how he'd spent weeks coughing up blood and stone while he waited for the antidote. But at the smaller boy's shouted words, everything hit him hard, and a cold sort of fear began to settle in the pit of his stomach, making his blood run cold. And even though he didn't want them to, his eyes began tearing up as the fear dug its claws into him. "I - Didg, I-" he stammered, frozen as the boy tightened his grip on him.













