Who Tells Your Story?

Milo Young-Seville Line Cook at Moon Market / Pride U 21 || Cursed

[plutothe-pup]

Gae Kyung-min Milo Young-Seville

I just wanna be happier // please feel the warmth in my hands // they're cold, that's why I need more of you // oh, this ground feels so heavier // I am singing by myself

Nicknames: Pluto, Milo, Min, Kyungminnie.  Magic status: Cursed Birthday: June 30th, 2004 Nationality: American Ethnicity: South Korean Accent: Northeast (Philly) Height: 6′2  Build: Tall, lean frame with defined muscles (especially in arms)  Skin tone: Olive  Complexion: Fair  Eye color: Dark Brown Notable Features: Pronounced canine teeth (cute wittle fangs), light freckles with distinct darker one on cheek and tip of nose. line scars across both palms, missing pinky finger on right hand, scarring from impalement on right shoulder.  Hair color/length/style: Dark Brown/Black. Mid-length, messy/shaggy look. Typically brushed back. Tattoos/piercings/daily jewelry: 5 Tattoos: He has a tattoo as a dog inside of his ear that one of the pounds gave him. It’s a simple number ‘1797′ and the word ‘PLUTO’. It stays with him when he transforms back to human, but now directly behind his ear. A distorted and warped family seal of the ‘Gae Clan of Gunpo’ on his chest directly above his heart. The family seal is a circle containing two dogs which are distorted and appear scared, with the borders of the seal dripping at the bottom in red ink like blood - revealed through his curse. He willingly got a tattoo in Philly that is catty-corner to his curse tattoo on his right rib-area. It’s of a sketch Luca did of a succulent plant inside of a bubble. He has a tattoo of the Philly skyline on his left ankle. He has a tattoo for Pip (TBD) Right ear piercing - usually either a black cross stud or plain stud.  Matching friendship bracelets with his friends. 

Occupation: Line-Cook at Moon Market! Pride U Student.  Unemployed / Stocker & Cashier at Moon Market (Involuntary leave). Secondary Student (Dropped Out), PA for Marie (Ghosted). Security for Movie-Filming (Fired) What would you find if you Googled them?: Nothing much! Social media.  What natives would know about them: What started as being introduced as Pip’s ‘Exchange Student’ fell way to partial truth - that Milo Young is an American from Philly cursed to become a dog. He’s lived with the Seville’s and was adopted officially by Amy before moving to NYC with Pip. But.....now he’s back!  Other: He was raised as a member of the Huntsclan - and was set to become a prestigious follower of his family’s footsteps. He’s cursed, but the details of that are complicated. He’s spent over five years as a dog - turned when his mother passed away at the smol age of 13, and had been passed and bumped around from area to area, family to family, pound to pound since. Got into a brutal fist fight with Tony Rydinger. Was outed at Olive Bright filming where he turned into a dog and bit a staff member. Fully revealed his curse on Instagram months later. Was majorly injured in the PanDEMONium incident in August 2023, suffering shoulder damage and losing a pinky finger. ‘Broke’ his curse with the help of Mim in 2024. Moved to NYC in July 2025. (See what happened during that time HERE) Twitter/Insta/Facebook: kyungminnow / doggoneit / N/A Master Charactersheet: Link Here

Dog Form:

[gem-mohanty]

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables🔥[Open]

[gem-mohanty]

Gem shrugged noncommittally.

Technically, they hadn't sent them out yet. They were still finalizing details. Like where the bloody wedding was gonna be. So, it wouldn't be hard to slip one in the pile for Milo.

"Dunno yet. In town somewhere most likely. That's why the invitations haven't been sent yet." He was glad he already knew the boy's address, so he didn't have to ask. "The date is July 15, so--keep your calendar clear, I guess." He didn't look at Milo as he said it, squinting into his empty whiskey glass instead.

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Oh.

Gem hadn't even sorted the invitations yet. ....wow, so there was actually a chance he was going to invite him? Color Milo shocked, honestly. Even if his brow raised slightly at the idea of Gem not exactly knowing where they were getting married about a month out. Then again, it wasn't like Gem seemed the type to have one of those huge elaborate weddings someone had to plan a year or more in advance.

"July 15th." Milo repeated with a slight nod of his head. "Somewhere in town. I'll pencil it in." Milo teased slightly, his gaze shifting a bit over to Gem with the slightest smile on his lips. Though it did wane after a moment - his thoughts drifting immediately to Luca.

A horrible thing, to be reminded that he'd never be able to reconcile the best part of himself, wasn't it?

"...You're not uh-... just having it at the Inn? With-... all that history between you guys?"

@gem-mohanty

[plutothe-pup]

Time to Pretend || Plim

[madmagicmim]

"What?"

Mim plopped straight down onto the ground without any pretense of grace or coordination, bafflement taking over anything else she might have been feeling. What was Milo saying? That wasn't right. Not at all.

Not that she was sure what she'd expected him to say, but it was almost anything besides that.

"What happened?"

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Milo shouldn't have been surprised by her surprise, but the hands he'd been busy pressing deeply into his eyes could only raise in a slightly uncertain shrug gesture for a moment before he let his arms drop over his eyes completely, crossing over his features and plunging him into a darkness that almost felt calming.

Almost.

"...they-... they came to talk to me." Milo started, his voice quiet as he tried not to picture the way Luca's face had stared back at him. That break in their expression.

The weight of that stone in Milo's pocket felt as heavy as the shame that settled in his gut. "....and I-.. I just-.. I didn't-.. I didn't have a choice, you know? I can't... - They're not safe if they're with me. I can't.. I can't risk them getting hurt."

@madmagicmim

[myfairmarian]

Keep Your Head Up || Marilo

[myfairmarian]

Suddenly Milo was standing in front of him holding out the ball and Robbie took it out of habit. The smile was nice, and it almost made Robbie want to smile back.

Except a moment later, Milo was turning around and all tense and talking in some kind of weird other language.

Robbie clutched the ball tight, eyes going wide as he could understand it again. Demons? There had been demons in this town? Milo almost lost his whole arm? How come nobody was telling him about demons? The scary clown thing was bad enough and that had only been around for one night!

But even so, he felt torn. Milo was cool, and Milo was acting like this was a bad idea. Marian wouldn't like it and would definitely think it was a bad idea. And Hercules...yeah. Probably not good.

But what if the demons came back?

"I said I'll think about it." It was only the first time he'd met this other guy, and they were just playing around the park.

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

KB's hands went up again, innocent. "Hey, completely up to you. If you think about it and if you ever feel you want to-- doesn't have to be now." "Alright, KB." Milo warned again, his tone quite harsh as he glared at his cousin who could only smile, none the less bothered by Milo's insistance against his plans.

Milo was more bothered than anyone, of course, glaring at his cousin for a moment longer before he turned back to Robbie with a slight frown. "....look." He started, reaching out gently to turn the kid's shoulder away from KB, back towards where Milo knew the rest of his family was.

"...If you want to learn or get back into archery or stuff like that - I can show you. We can practice, but - just for fun. Not--.. Not for stuff like he's saying. You don't need to-.. to train. Nothing is going to happen to you or your family here." Milo tried to reassure quietly, even as he tucked his right hand into his pocket, as if to hide the evidence that something like that might've not been fully true.

"....but come to me about it, alright? Not him." Milo urged quietly with another shake of his head.

@myfairmarian

[gem-mohanty]

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables🔥[Open]

[gem-mohanty]

Gem raised an eyebrow. That only raised higher with every word out of Milo's mouth.

The surprise was almost, almost amusing. After all, Gem liked to go against the social grain. He was pleased that Snow had agreed to a shorter engagement--well, not even agreed to it. She'd been the one to suggest it, though he knew it was because she knew it was what he wanted. He'd rather be married than engaged. (Though, he did like that ring on Snow's finger.)

So yes, he knew it was surprising and it was not how "things were done", but Gem had never done things that way. He was pleased--

Before Milo ruined it by saying how exciting it all was.

Though, Gem would never say no to a free drink, even if he probably shouldn't. He'd already had two and his tolerance was shit after prison (though, he was slowly gaining back the pounds) and without his magic. (He'd never realized how much that was burning off the alcohol.)

"What? Your invite get lost in the mail or summat?" Gem said. He wasn't planning on inviting the boy, but now that he was right there--Gem figured that was maybe an oversight. The kid had followed him around like a puppy for years now.

Besides, Snow would be happy if he added another guest to the list after...Jessie. Who Snow was already inviting.

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Milo gestured lightly for the bartender to replace whatever Gem was drinking too, his card sliding over the bartop before his gaze shifted back to Gem with a gentle furrow in his brow. Invite get lost? The implication that Gem would even invite him in the first place was--.... well.

Surprising, wasn't it? Milo wasn't sure if he'd consider them... friends. Gem was cool! Really cool, and Milo didn't mind spending time around the other man. He'd spent quite a lot of time with him, scuffling in abandoned parking lots, and Gem had saved his ass a few times too, but...

Outside of that, it only ever seemed like Gem tried to shake him off - and Milo didn't take too much offense to that. There were separations when it came to people from places like...fight club and people he knew from other areas, so he got it. So even when he'd heard Snow and Gem had gotten engaged, he hadn't actually expected to really hear much more from that.

"One would have to be in the mail to get lost, no?" Milo pointed out with a small huff and a shake of his head, though it didn't dim the slight smile on his lips as he took a sip of his drink. "Where are you getting married?"

@gem-mohanty

[plutothe-pup]

Time to Pretend || Plim

[madmagicmim]

It didn't take a fabulously intelligent witch to realize that Milo was in a Moment of Crisis.

The vibes off of the forced casualness of the text message had been so beyond rancid she could have collected them for some devious spell work if she'd wanted to. Not that she was feeling particularly devious towards him at the moment.

Okay, well, jokes aside, Mim was worried about Milo. He tended to drop in and out of contact with her, ranting about homework and KB one day, saying he was too busy another, and she'd gotten used to that.

After all, she had forced herself into the role of partner in crime with someone who very much did not want to have the partner or the crime.

It meant that as soon as he'd text, she'd asked Erica to swap shifts with her and bailed on her job at the Rock Shoppe to head over to Milo's house. It only took one look at him to confirm that the rancid vibes on the text message were barely scratching the surface for her to realize this was about to be a long afternoon.

The greeting itself was so familiar she barely registered it anymore. "Lips are sealed, no one will hear from me. So. What's wrong?"

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Milo didn't have to hold Mim to secracy. He knew she wouldn't tell anyone what he was going to say. In the same way that Mim could assure herself that anything she ever said to him stayed between them as well.

They had an understanding - but it was a way to stall the words that were eventually going to need to be said anyways. A method of delaying the shame he already felt welling up in his stomach as he shrugged his shoulders against the floor, staring up at the ceiling as he rolled his lip between his teeth.

"I think--..." Milo started, uncertain as his brows furrowed deeply, hands moving to sweep down his face before he pressed the bottom of his palms into his eyes for a few moments. It was hard to... explain. To really gather his words.

Especially when it felt... so stupid. "...Uhm-... I just-... I think I ended it. With Luca.... like... officially. I think uhm... I think we're done."

@madmagicmim

[plutothe-pup]

American Soul || Captain Barkossa

[captainjamesjoneshook]

@plutothe-pup

James gave Milo a frown and a slow, elongated tsshhh out of the corner of his mouth in response.

Ugh. Athletes.

He'd never been one of them. Sure, he was a fan of sports and watched rugby and cricket like it was a religion, ran around like an idiot when he was a wee one, but he'd never had the desire to get out there and have a crack at it himself. His version of exercise had been riding around on bikes or skateboards with his mates and getting scraped up by the concrete instead of a pitch. Why people subjected themselves to working out had been a mystery to him– and then he'd gotten the news that he needed to start so he wouldn't die when going up against the monsters and sea creatures of the world. He had done it but he hadn't necessarily found enjoyment out of it.

Just like he didn't in PT, or in Mr. Smee's training these days.

He shook his head and shrugged a shoulder. As far as he was aware, no, but it wasn't like he'd really gone to bat for himself about it either. James knew it was fucked up to think but– he thought it penance. The pain a payment plan on what his father had done for him. Every time he felt it was a shilling into the jar for what he owed. Only, there was no end to it since a life was priceless.

"Yeah. It is kinda fucked that fairies just have talents to heal people like that–" He snapped his fingers. "–but they're not in an ambulance getting paid, ain't it? I dunno I guess I wouldn't know if I'd trust a magical solution on something like this anyway. Always seems like it needs something to get something, and I already gave my foot away, didn't I?"

[plutothe-pup]

"...Guess not." Though Milo had always kind of wondered.... why. Explotation, perhaps - but... it was kind of neat how all that worked anyways. Mu-yeol was a healing talent, right? It was just... a thing he could do naturally. He wondered if... like, the option to get fairly compensated for it (like, a job) was available if he would take it.

Or if it was so much more complicated than that....

If a healing talent might've been around when James had his injury, or Milo his - would they have been able to save what was already lost or was James right? Had it already been gone too far to do anything but stop the bleeding, so to speak?

"You might have a point there. We might be at the point of having to make a deal with the devil or summoning a demon to help our case out." Milo teased, crossing his arms over his chest with a gentle shrug. "Which-... in this town, not so uncommon but... probably not a good idea. I personally wouldn't trust the demon route since they're the ones that got me in my situation in the first place but... haven't consulted the devil yet. We might have a shot there."

@captainjamesjoneshook

[dragon-not-a-lizard]

Baller Birthday | Zuzu + Mishu

[dragon-not-a-lizard]

It was his birthday.

Crazy! Now he was officially the drinking age in the states, if he ever chose to go there. It didn't seem especially likely. Muyang had already wished him a happy birthday, and miraculously had even given him a small cupcake with a candle and everything.

"Happy birthday little brother," he'd said. And Mushu took this momentary time of affection to try to wheedle an opportunity for himself in there. "Sayyyy Gege? Since it is my special day, cannn we make a deal? You leave me to my own devices for the next... I don't know, few hours?" It had been a tough little negotiation, but he'd won in the end. Neither Muyang nor their guardian Crickey were going to disrupt his day. Miraculous!

Obviously this meant he was running to his favorite place in the world: the gym with the basketball court on campus. And he was sending off texts before he could think anything of it. First to Aaron Z: "yooo play ball with me today. It's my bday. Don't say no to a guy on his bday =[ '

He then sent his other text to Milo, a quick 'dude! bday game of bb in the gym?? be there or be square or something.' He then made his way into the gym, eagerly grabbing a basketball and started warming himself up, running and taking his first shot at one of the hoops.

@nobody-like-z @plutothe-pup

[nobody-like-z]

To be clear, Aaron would hella say no to a guy on his birthday. Unless that guy was Robaire. He'd just claim he never saw the text till it was too late.

But Mushu wanted to play basketball. And yeah, man, Aaron was usually down too. The dude was lucky that he didn't have anything on his schedule for 4*Town, so getting outta the house sounded kinda ideal.

He showed up about fifteen minutes after Mushu said to meet, but Aaron rarely got places on time anyway. Nothing personal.

"Yo man, happy birthday," said Aaron when he popped in, going to dap him up.

@dragon-not-a-lizard @plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Milo had just gotten home after finishing up a shift at the Market when Mushu texted him - he'd been aware, of course, of the other man's birthday, having already texted him previously that morning to say happy birthday, but he hadn't actually expected Mushu to reach back out to him to invite him to hang out.

They had gotten a lot closer in the last few months, mostly bonding over their misery on the team, but... to be asked to hang out on a person's birthday was kind of special, wasn't it?

And Milo would never turn down a friend who invited him to come hang out on their special day, so - sure. Milo had hopped in the shower, grabbed some belongings and made his way over to the gym to be right about on time as requested. Easily greeting Mushu with a hug (whether he liked it or not) as he wished him a happy birthday again in person this time.

Despite accepting the invitation though, basketball wasn't always his sport of choice - also despite Mushu assuring him he was the right 'height' for it and everything. So Milo was glad for a bit of time to warm up as well, knowing they were 'waiting' on another person anyways.

Except Milo hadn't guessed who that other was going to be until he'd heard them come in, the basketball immediately fumbling out of his hands as his gaze whipped over his shoulder to spot Aaron Z beside Mushu.

Kill me.

Swiping his palms against his shorts, Milo quickly bent to recover the ball, tucking it against his side with his arm as he swallowed back that uncomfortable lump in his throat - unable to muster more of a greeting than a simple nod of his head.

@dragon-not-a-lizard @nobody-like-z

[plutothe-pup]

Time to Pretend || Plim

[plutothe-pup]

@madmagicmim

Milo fucked up.

Yet - at the same time, Milo succeeded in exactly what he wanted--...no, needed to do; distance himself from Luca.

Unfortunately, it had worked. Seamlessly. He had watched the absolute heart and soul drain right out of Luca's eyes and all he could do was stand there in silence until they'd walked away. It had triggered what had naturally been about the seventh breakdown he'd had that week, and now, even a few days later - that guilt was eating him alive.

And the worst part was; who could he go to?

He couldn't talk to the first person he wanted to; Luca. He wouldn't dare bring this topic up to Pip, knowing he'd get called stupid on so many fronts for chasing away the love of his life...and after that, Milo realized of the other very few remaining friends he had; he couldn't even begin to properly get them to understand the why.

All except for one. Mim.

Did he feel like he could go to her about this? No. Not when he'd been so callous at points when he'd first come back but... she was the only one who would understand. Who.. might see reason. One who he wouldn't actually die on the spot for if he had to bring up that.... one part of it all.

So fine. He'd texted her, asking if she was free. If she could come over - and somehow she'd said yes (that was why she was amazing). When she'd arrived to the basement door, Milo had quickly let her in to his room, shutting the door behind her and gesturing loosely to the couch that still resided down there before he flopped himself on the floor.

"....you can't say anything about what I'm about to tell you to anyone." He started, like he started most conversations that were person, even if he knew the secret was always kept.

[gem-mohanty]

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables🔥[Open]

[gem-mohanty]

Gem didn't want to talk.

He wanted to sit here in peace, drink his whiskey (probably too much, but what did it matter?), and glare at the man who had destroyed his best friend's legacy...

And feel guilty that Gem hadn't been here to stop it.

It was a private routine. He didn't even tell Snow about it, really, though he was sure she could infer whenever he came home with whiskey on his breath and slurred he'd been at Pixie's. She wisely didn't say anything. It wasn't like it was every night.

Once a week was plenty to whet Gem's guilt, anger, and grief and make it razor sharp again. He liked the feeling, the way it could feel good to push on a bruise. His anger was a familiar heat in his chest. Sometimes, he missed the feeling.

"Yeah," he said. "Wedding's in a month'n'a'half. So, lots to do."

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

"-- A month and a half?" Milo very quickly repeated, his brows furrowing deeply as he glanced at Gem. Honestly, he didn't know why he was all that surprised. If someone knew they loved someone, why would they need to wait, right? Some people had very short engagements!

Some people had.... very very long ones.

Milo guessed he just hadn't expected that Gem would have been getting married so soon. He thought it felt like he'd just learned about them getting engaged like... the other day.

It had been longer than that, of course but still.

"That's crazy it's so soon. That's really exciting though!" Milo smiled, his elbows resting lightly on the bar, though his gaze shifted to the bartender as they finally approached. Milo ordered-- a white russian, one of the few cocktails he could stomach somehow -- though his eyes rolled slightly as he was forced to dig into his wallet for his ID again to prove he was even old enough to be sitting there before his gaze fell back to Gem.

"Are you getting another...? It's on me; as congrats or whatever."

@gem-mohanty

[plutothe-pup]

Bad Influence || Mishu ft. KB & Mùyáng

[dragon-not-a-lizard]

Oh but Mushu was doomed wasn't he?

For a moment there he thought he'd be able to skate by pretty well. But he had managed to keep some things hidden from his family until now. The argument on campus and his beef with that Taehyun guy being in SDG... yeah that had gone around a bit far apparently.

He winced, glancing over at his brother who looked more alert than ever. "What argument on campus?" Muyang asked, and Mushu could feel his eyes on him even if he was purposely avoiding looking at his brother. This was not good.

Mushu took a shaky breath in and let it out again. "Oh gee look at the time," Mushu said, holding his arm up and pointing to his wrist, even though he didn't have a watch to gesture too. It was the principle of it. "I'm sure Milo and his friend have lots to do. We don't want to trouble them on uh... on small college drama right?"

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Despite his attempt to silence his cousin, Milo knew the damage was done right from the moment he saw Mushu's brother's gaze shift back to Mushu with an intensity he unfortunately recognized quite well.

"Right." Milo quickly agreed, retracting his hand from KB as he shook his head. Honestly Milo didn't even have a clue what KB was even talking about, he might've thought his cousin was just making shit up to get his friend in trouble for the amusement of it all, but -

The way Mushu reacted told Milo that KB had genuine information.

Something... Milo should probably ask about later, honestly.

Not now though, of course.

"I'm sure it wasn't really an argument anyways. KB likes to embelish things." He assured with a shake of his head and a grimace. Though KB shot him a dirty look. "I do not." "--Anyways uh - sorry. I'm sure you're also very busy! So... We should probably uhm... let you guys get to it too."

@dragon-not-a-lizard

[lucathedreamer]

Can We Start Again Please || Seahound

[plutothe-pup]

As soon as he said it, Milo wanted to reach out and snatch the words right back out of the air. To deflate with the explanation of how that wasn't true. That no, he hadn't slept with Aaron. That... yes he'd tried - because he thought it would help get Luca out of his mind. That all he'd been trying to do was stop thinking about Luca, but he couldn't even do that because in the end; all he'd thought about was Luca. All he'd wanted was Luca.

He'd kicked Aaron out before they'd gotten anywhere because Milo was worried that Luca would never forgive him, and that Milo didn't even want to sleep with someone, fool around with someone, even kiss someone if it wasn't Luca.

Yet he'd thrown the idea right in Luca's face anyway. Let them believe he was capable of putting all of that aside to sleep with someone else he barely knew. That he thought...so little of them and their relationship together.

Something cool pressed against his palm, and Milo's gaze finally fractured away from that photo to look down, his hand shifting as light bounced off that particularly bright surface.

A shiny teal heart.

His fingers smoothed over the edges, his lip quivering as he quickly bit down on it. Of course Luca had brought this... In their color. Shaped into a heart by the ocean, no less. Luca had given him their heart...

..and Milo might as well have tossed it to the ground and shattered it beneath his heel with the way Luca sounded - insinuating, of course, that Milo and Aaron more than hooked up. That they were...somehow together. Probably because that was worse. The idea, not that Milo had slept with someone else, but that he'd fallen in love with someone else - a much more devastating one.

Or maybe it was because Luca knew him so well. Knew how long it had taken him to feel even remotely comfortable with the idea of going further, even despite his curse. How Luca had been the one waiting on him. It wouldn't make any sense that Milo could give that part of himself away to a stranger on a whim, right? It made more sense for Luca to believe Milo and Aaron must have been seeing each other, hanging out. Talking. Dating, maybe.

And the worst part was Milo didn't say a damn word to correct it.

His breath caught in his throat as his fingers curled over that glass - protecting it from the dropped tear that had fallen across his skin a moment later, but no words slipped through his lips. Even as he denied every single word in his head.

Aaron didn't make him happy. Luca did. Milo wasn't happy. Maybe he never would be.

....but if his tongue failed to take hold in any explanation, if even for a moment Luca believed that this-... that they were done. For good... Well. Then at least Luca would be safe.

Wasn't that the price of love?

@lucathedreamer

[lucathedreamer]

There was a part of Luca that couldn't help waiting for him to say something. To tell Luca to stop. To say there had been a mistake. To say he hadn't meant it the way he'd sounded and there was an explanation and there was some way to make it all okay. They could feel the tension building in their shoulders and down their legs as they fought for each careful step towards the door.

But no words followed after them. No baffled 'what?' like the last time Luca thought Milo had moved on. Just silence as they both agreed to forget that Luca had come here today with a confession they shouldn't have said.

Perhaps it was an elf thing to hold on too long. After all, Milo was growing up. He'd grow past them before long, and they would still be here. Right here.

Eyes blurring, they pulled the door open and walked out into the evening light, trusting in familiarity to carry them home.

Tomorrow, they would do their best to put it away. To tuck their love into a safe corner of their heart, wrapped up and quiet, like the piece of grit that would become a pearl when enough time had passed. They would text Milo good luck on his finals, say something about the Phillies game, and act like this had never happened at all.

He was still their best friend. That didn't change. They just had to get used to everything around them changing, even when they didn't understand.

But for tonight, Luca walked home alone. This time there was no storm. Just a quiet grey miserable fog spreading out in their wake.

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

[lucathedreamer]

Can We Start Again Please || Seahound

[lucathedreamer]

Luca didn't know what they'd hoped for. Or even why they'd said all of that. Milo loved them, they loved him, and somehow that wasn't enough. They could pour themselves out, promise to risk everything, and it didn't change anything.

But Milo was the one person they couldn't lie to. All they could do was say how they felt.

If this were a story, maybe that would have been the moment when Milo would have stepped forward and swept them into his arms and everything would have been all right after all. Even if it was dangerous, they could figure it out together. That's what love was supposed to do, right? Maybe you stronger than you were on your own so you didn't have to face problems alone anymore?

But this wasn't a story. Instead Milo threw words like a baseball to the stomach and they had to suck in a sharp breath.

Aaron Z. Aaron Z who liked to work out, who was an amazing dancer, who liked to cook, who was fit and stubborn and part of a world that was so much bigger. Who was exactly the kind of person Luca had once imagined Milo falling for because he fixed all the problems inherent in Luca and could match Milo in a way they never could.

(Yes, I want to get back together with you. I never wanted to break up with you in the first place! But I love you too much.)

They'd gotten together a week ago.

Apparently, in waiting for the Right Moment, they'd waited too long after all. It had come and gone and they were the one that was left.

I don't understand. I don't understand at all.

Carefully, Luca reached into their pocket and pulled out the object they'd carried with them through the whole conversation. It was a piece of teal sea glass, smoothed by the ocean into the shape of a heart. They pressed it into Milo's hand.

"I'm sorry. You can just...forget I said any of this. Aaron's a really great guy. He even managed to put up with me in the gym, so you know he has to be great." They tried to smile as if they were telling a joke, but they weren't sure if they managed it. "As long as he makes you happy, that's the part that matters. It's - if that's what you want, then I'm happy for you."

The air around them was unnaturally still as they took a step back and turned to head towards the door.

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

As soon as he said it, Milo wanted to reach out and snatch the words right back out of the air. To deflate with the explanation of how that wasn't true. That no, he hadn't slept with Aaron. That... yes he'd tried - because he thought it would help get Luca out of his mind. That all he'd been trying to do was stop thinking about Luca, but he couldn't even do that because in the end; all he'd thought about was Luca. All he'd wanted was Luca.

He'd kicked Aaron out before they'd gotten anywhere because Milo was worried that Luca would never forgive him, and that Milo didn't even want to sleep with someone, fool around with someone, even kiss someone if it wasn't Luca.

Yet he'd thrown the idea right in Luca's face anyway. Let them believe he was capable of putting all of that aside to sleep with someone else he barely knew. That he thought...so little of them and their relationship together.

Something cool pressed against his palm, and Milo's gaze finally fractured away from that photo to look down, his hand shifting as light bounced off that particularly bright surface.

A shiny teal heart.

His fingers smoothed over the edges, his lip quivering as he quickly bit down on it. Of course Luca had brought this... In their color. Shaped into a heart by the ocean, no less. Luca had given him their heart...

..and Milo might as well have tossed it to the ground and shattered it beneath his heel with the way Luca sounded - insinuating, of course, that Milo and Aaron more than hooked up. That they were...somehow together. Probably because that was worse. The idea, not that Milo had slept with someone else, but that he'd fallen in love with someone else - a much more devastating one.

Or maybe it was because Luca knew him so well. Knew how long it had taken him to feel even remotely comfortable with the idea of going further, even despite his curse. How Luca had been the one waiting on him. It wouldn't make any sense that Milo could give that part of himself away to a stranger on a whim, right? It made more sense for Luca to believe Milo and Aaron must have been seeing each other, hanging out. Talking. Dating, maybe.

And the worst part was Milo didn't say a damn word to correct it.

His breath caught in his throat as his fingers curled over that glass - protecting it from the dropped tear that had fallen across his skin a moment later, but no words slipped through his lips. Even as he denied every single word in his head.

Aaron didn't make him happy. Luca did. Milo wasn't happy. Maybe he never would be.

....but if his tongue failed to take hold in any explanation, if even for a moment Luca believed that this-... that they were done. For good... Well. Then at least Luca would be safe.

Wasn't that the price of love?

@lucathedreamer

[lucathedreamer]

Can We Start Again Please || Seahound

[lucathedreamer]

Luca wanted more than anything to step across that last little bit of distance and take Milo's hand. To squeeze it tightly before wrapping their arms around him and pressing their face into his shoulder. To let the whole world pause as he breathed for the first time in what felt like far too long as he found the words to make Milo believe him.

It had felt so obvious to him for so long, he'd assumed Milo knew. But somewhere in there, it had gotten lost after all.

"Milo, I only need an inhaler because I'm here. Because I have lungs that are built for magical oceans and not the Earth air. I only got serious about it after the Paris trip because it proved I needed one if I was ever going to go with you to Philly or New York or London or any place you might want to go. Now that it exists, I want to share it because maybe other people like me exist. But that's why I was working so hard on it. Because without it, I couldn't go find you even for a little while."

They paused, swallowing hard and trying to take a deep breath. "I love my family and I love my friends, and I'd miss them all so much. But I had friends and family back home too. Different ones. But my parents don't even know I'm alive. I love my tinkering, but I could have figured out something if I went back."

"But if I went back, I'd probably never get to see you again. And I knew from the start I couldn't do that. I - you're my best friend. You're the person who makes a place feel like home even when things are scary or I'm frustrated or other people are leaving. I can't even say when I fell in love because it just feels like it was always there, and walking away from you one minute before I had to was too hard."

Closing their eyes, they looked away, struggling to take in another breath. "I'm not - I don't want you to - you don't have to do anything because I said that. I probably shouldn't have. There is so much about Earth that I find fascinating. I feel like almost every day I do find new things that I love and new things that excite me and that'll probably be true for a long time. It just started with you. It all comes back to you. Because without you, I think the parts of this world that are scary would have won before I could find enough of the good parts to want to stay."

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Milo's jaw twitched slightly - his gaze immediately deflecting to something else in the hall as he blinked away that warmth that had started to pool there. Part of him wished that Luca never would have said a word. It was so much easier to pretend this was going to work when he didn't have to think about Luca had been willing to go find him.

Even though he had left. Even though he had picked someone else over them. Even if Milo had been the one to say goodbye and Luca thought for sure he wasn't coming back.... they'd still dedicated themselves to working on an inhaler to go find him.

They'd nearly killed themself working on it.

It was a horrible fate, wasn't it?

To love someone so much that you'd do your best to separate from them forever if it meant they lived... but knowing apparently they'd find they'd harm themselves just as quickly to claw their way back.

He never should have let Luca love him in the first place.

Maybe if he had just one wish... he'd take back that day at the park. Make sure he'd never gone. Maybe then... Maybe then Luca would have attached themselves to someone else. Would have been like everyone else when he'd gotten into that fight; thought he was scary and dangerous and strayed far, far away. I think the parts of this world that are scary would have won before I could find enough of the good partss to want to stay. They would have been safe.

Since it felt like loving him was a poison.

"..." Milo drug his tongue over his lip, though it did nothing to combat the dry feeling that had crept up his throat. ...was there really only one way to save Luca...?

"....and what if I told you Aaron Z and I fucked." Milo felt himself say - though the words didn't feel even remotely like his own. Nor were they fully true, of course, but Milo didn't look at Luca as he said them regardless. His gaze instead staring straight at a slightly crooked photo hanging against the wall as his hand shifted, stiffly - almost mechanically - to point to the floor, below them. To the basement. "Right down there. Not even a week ago. Would it all still come back to me?"

@lucathedreamer

[lucathedreamer]

Can We Start Again Please || Seahound

[lucathedreamer]

Luca almost flinched away from the words, hearing the ugly way they hung in the air. Milo had never talked about them like a fish - but his family would. It was the truth they'd danced around throughout their whole relationship, so much easier to do when the past seemed to be something distant, something dead and gone that couldn't touch them. Now it was alive, dragging its fingers across Luca's neck and there was nothing they could do.

Milo finally said he loved them. How was it possible it could hurt more than almost anything else?

"I don't know! I don't know why because it - it doesn't make sense. None of it has from the moment you came back. You came back but you didn't text me. Then you told me you were in the Huntsclan but you gave me presents from New York you'd brought special. You gave me the most wonderful birthday present but you gave it to me the day before so I couldn't even ask if you'd spend time with me on my birthday even though it was a weekend day. You promise to look out for me at every event we go to but you won't go with me to any of them."

They could feel their eyes getting hot and their chest tightening as they spoke even as part of their attention was trying to force back the weather.

"I've been spending months trying to figure out how you feel and how to stop being on a break or try to ask you on a date and I kept messing it up and nothing online was helpful and I don't know what I'm doing. And every time I'd try to tell myself that we were okay where we were, you'd do something else and the love would get even bigger."

"What am I supposed to do with those decades when I stayed here for you?"

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

Perhaps Luca had a point. Not the one they were clearly trying to make, which was that Milo was so in love with them and investing in them despite all the kick-back to try and prove he wasn't; but that it didn't make sense. Why did Milo do all that if they were just trying to push them away?

....for the exact same reason they'd told them he loved them the first time. He couldn't push them away. Even if he wanted to. Even if he needed to. Every time he tried to pull together some kind of plan to shove Luca away from him; to make them hate him so that they could free themselves of Milo and all of his issues - be it cursed inability to touch, or risk of death - Milo couldn't do it.

He'd run into Luca that night years ago wanting to tell them off. To tell them they were done. To stop.

He'd come back here somehow expecting to cut Luca out of his life despite the fact he'd only ever been planning on returning for them at all... and it was probably a good thing that an explanation stalled on his tongue, because Luca's next words would have stolen them away anyways.

What am I supposed to do with those decades when I stayed here for you?

Milo felt himself stutter a bit, shifting in place as his face contorted in slight confusion. Luca staying in Swynlake-... It had been a discussion a few times. Like when they were in Secondary... when Milo had brought up Luca's graduation... but Luca had always assured him they were staying. That they had people here - not him - but the Lightfoots, Nick, his roommates-- family. That... they liked Swynlake and wanted to stay here, to study, to continue working on their projects and inhaler and--

They couldn't do any of that back home. Things were different. So-... of course they were going to stay here. No matter how homesick... because of all that. Not-... not because of him.

"...what?" The word fell from his lips as heavy as the breath that heaved from his lungs, his head shaking slightly. "For-... You stayed for me?..." Milo repeated, his gaze searching Luca's like he was trying to find the lie in those words. "....Luca--.. You-.. There's so many other things here for you. Your projects! School! Your inhaler, the tinkering you love so much. Your family and your friends?" They couldn't have stayed for him.

What was Milo in comparison?

@lucathedreamer

[lucathedreamer]

Can We Start Again Please || Seahound

[lucathedreamer]

Luca didn't understand. Maybe they didn't want to in some ways. Because in each of those words, it felt like Luca could almost feel the love that underpinned all of it. But it still wasn't something he said, and what he asked for was too hard.

All they really wanted was for Milo to hold them again.

"You know, that very first week you came back to Swynlake, KB and I went and got hot chocolate at Hatter's together." Luca probably should have told Milo this story before. It'd only make it worse to say it now. But wasn't that the point? It had already happened. It already was happening. Whether Milo was there or not.

"He made it seem like he bumped into me on accident, and I didn't know any better at the time, and he made it sound like he was lost and wanted to get to know me better. It's part of why I thought you were dating. He made me believe it."

Deliberately, Luca took another step closer. They weren't in arms reach yet, but it wouldn't take much. "Now, every event that I'm at, KB will ask me about you. Where's my other half. How are things with us. And then he'll try to flirt as if he could ever steal me away. As if there's ever a world where I stop wanting you."

Besides, Milo couldn't stay at a distance. Not when each of those conversations ended with Milo rushing up to stand in between them. KB watching them both with amusement as they walked away.

Just like Luca couldn't stay away either. They were here.

"I trust you Milo. I trust you and I'm safe with you. And...and if something is going to happen, why shouldn't we get to be happy first? Why can't we have a little more time?"

@plutothe-pup

[plutothe-pup]

He couldn't figure out why Luca was telling him that they'd gone and got hot chocolate with KB that very first week Milo had come back - for transparency, he was certain, because unlike Milo, Luca didn't lie. Yet all it made Milo want to do was scold them, to wonder why they would have gone and do something like that when Milo had deliberately gone out of his way to do everything he could to make sure they didn't contact each other more than they already had.

Yet what did it matter? It was already done. The consequences of that meeting had already been put in motion - making Luca think that the pair of them (KB and Milo) were some romantic couple, probably only making KB more interested in whatever was going on between Luca and Milo.

"Those two things can't be true at the same time. You can't--... You can't trust me and be safe with me if you're saying if-.. if something is going to happen, which-- it isn't an if, Luca, it's a when-- that we should just be happy first? You think that's the best option?" Milo all but scoffed, his brows furrowing together so deeply it almost hurt.

"Be together for a little bit just so it can end with you gut and scaled like a fish?" Milo pointed out harshly, pushing his glasses up into his hair so that he could press deeply against his eyes, willing away the headache he knew was brewing. "That's insane and you know it."

They both did. Didn't they?

"Why do you think I didn't text you? Why do you think I didn't tell you I was here, Luca. Yes. I came back for you. Yes, I was always coming back for you, yes I thought about you ever single day when I was away -- but I couldn't... I couldn't stand the thought of trying to-.. To start back where we were when it feels like I'm holding a knife to your throat. Yes, I want to get back together with you. I never wanted to break up with you in the first place! I wasn't going to." You broke up with me, remember?

"But I love you too much. You're a sea-elf, Luca. You have so much time left. Decades. Decades and decades of years where I won't be there, Luca. I can't take that away from you."

@lucathedreamer