🐟 milo cross + alice lark
It had taken quite a lot of convincing, but after a few weeks of persistent pestering, Milo Cross has agreed to leave Bingley and accompany Alice Lark to Boston for the day.
“You’ve really never been to Boston?” Alice asked as they walked out of the library. Alice had been working on a rather extensive project and needed information from a book the library in downtown Boston possessed but was unable to lend out.
“Nope,” Milo replied, grinning ear to ear at Alice. It was clear he was pleased to be out of the library, where he’d had been forced to maintain relative silence for the few hours she’d been there. Alice had tried to convince him to go out on his own, but he’d insisted on staying with her.
“Not even on school trips or anything?” Alice persisted. Milo shook his head.
“Aunt Alma wasn’t keen on road trips. Besides, there’s no reason to leave Bingley. I’ve got everything I need right there,” Milo explained. Alice paused to think of something Bingley might not have she could impress Milo with that.
“Have you ever been to an aquarium?” Alice asked. Milo frowned, shaking his head. “Then for once, Milo Cross, let me take you on the adventure!”
Within the hour, the pair were standing surrounded by gallons of water and hundreds of fish. Alice was observing Milo, however, as he stared up as a school of sunfish swam above them.
“How does it keep it all in there?” he asked, looking back to Alice. “The water and all?”
“Magic,” Alice replied with a wink. “…Or perhaps engineering. I’m a literature student– I really couldn’t say.”
“It is sort of magical, the whole thing,” Milo admitted, looking up again. He reached out his hand, managing to find Alice’s. She looked over at him and smiled.
“And to think, you’d never have seen any of it if you hadn’t left Bingley,” Alice commented. It seemed as if the moment he heard the name of his beloved town, something clicked in the young man’s head.
“Speaking of, we should probably head back, yeah?” he pulled Alice in the direction of the exit, though she protested.
“But we’ve barely seen any of it!”
“Its getting so late and is such a drive back home.”
“Its barely even dark, Milo!”
“Yes, but its that time of year when the roads might freeze and think how tragic it would be if we ended up dead in a ditch somewhere?”
“Milo, you’ve being ridic-”
“Alice,” he cut her off, his face a bit more serious than she’d ever seen it. “Can’t we just please go home?”
“Yes… yes of course,” Alice said quickly. The seriousness that had clouded Milo’s face disappeared suddenly as he threw his arm around her shoulder, the pair heading out into the brisk New England winter air.
