icy nights

Milo thought back on all the times his best friend had cried on him, told him how much he wanted to be special, how hard it was. Nilesy always tried to reassure him that it didn't mean there had to be hatred between the two of them- except the quiet, stinging jealousy couldn't be ignored.

But Milo wasn't special, and it always rubbed him the wrong way, seeing people who shined like stars feeling so threatened by some luck based bullshit.

"That's reasonable," Milo said, softly. He paid more outward attention to the near sob, though his survival instincts flashed in the back of his mind and ran through his body. Electric. He could still afford to wait a little longer. "I don't think that. I also don't know that much about you, past your image. We don't really know each other."

He reached up and brushed a few of his fingers over her claws. "Nothing. We're different people, with different things to offer, and it's not like you've been doing badly."

He hummed. "That sounds fucking ridiculous, though, I'm getting kind of tired of all this mushy stuff and how pretentious it makes me sound. I'm just some guy that people like to ramble at. Hell if I know why. But I do know that I don't think I'm better than you, and I don't want to hurt you. I don't know what we're doing, it's weird for me too."

"Are you okay? Because you don't seem okay. I really am sorry."

Although it was a bit difficult with his position, Milo managed to dig into his coat and pull out a handkerchief. He offered it to the crying girl.

Milo's eyes narrowed a bit. "Fine. No more apologies, then." They softened again just as quickly, though, as she continued to cry. He sighed.

He adjusted himself into a sort of awkward sitting position once she got off of him, long legs half spread out in the snow. "I don't have an angle, so there's nothing to get," he murmured.

Christ. She was really young, wasn't she? He felt even more uncomfortable about this. Seventeen, he'd heard somewhere. She shouldn't have to compete with some college asshole like him, or be sobbing in the cold after a confrontation between the two of them.

"Shit," Milo said, real distress finally showing on his face. He bit his lip. "Hey, you're gonna get sick doing that out here, come on… come on…" Why had he let her get to him, even a little bit? God, he knew better, he knew better.

It was easy to not look at the whole picture, with Marina. He was sure that in highschool, it was all life or death, and she'd hurt a lot of people. He wasn't part of that group, though, it wasn't his place, and none of this was fair. He fucking knew better.

She was just a kid. A young girl, lashing out, and so very small. He felt even sicker over how he'd been thinking. Hot tears and red. No, no, he wasn't going to hurt her, wasn't going to treat her badly. He defended himself sharply, but he couldn't… he needed to help her, or leave her alone. Nothing else would be okay.

She didn't need his apologies, apparently, and he said he wouldn't give them. He mumbled another one anyway.

"If you don't want to go somewhere warmer, let's at least find a bench or something. You don't have to talk to me, but I want to make sure you're safe."

Heavy concern kept weighing on Milo. The fact that Marina had run out of energy for crying didn't seem like a good sign. He reached out a hand, hovering near her for a moment before recoiling again. He frowned, picked up the swatted away handkerchief, and stood, brushing himself off.

This felt like garbage. He'd say this hadn't fixed anything, but he didn't have any loud impulses directed towards Marina anymore. It wasn't as though he would've done anything with the urges, but he'd been too blinded by sparks and reputation, oddly fascinated in the worst of ways. Just like everyone else, apparently… and that wasn't reassuring.

Milo was never one to claim to be a good person, but at the very least… he didn't hurt kids. He was too familiar with what it was like, living that, and 'surviving' shouldn't be a child's main goal.

"Like I said, you don't need to talk, but I'm not leaving you here in your current state. No chance. So it seems there's only one option left. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Milo crouched down, gently collected the girl in his arms, and picked her up. She was small and slim, very easy to carry. He now regretted not wearing a warmer coat, because he would've wrapped it around her, given her another nice layer of warmth and protection. Too small, too cold. At least his fae body heat was helpful.

"You're not allowed to freeze to death, sorry. It's really unpleasant out here, so if you don't give me a really good reason not to, I'm taking you in the direction of the dorms."