Milo - Fluff

“Well, hello, darlin’. Fancy meetin’ you here.” 

Milo looped his arm within my own, navigating us haphazardly down the three steps into the bar. The old skate rink had been repurposed into a sprawling tavern with individualized barrels set up throughout the establishment, all containing their own bartender specializing in brews from around the realms. There was a small hobbe that sold only fae spirits. A selkie that sold most of the ghost wine that could be seen floating through the ocean. A large man with slitted snake eyes selling something bubbling and toxic. And so on and so on.  It was one of Milo’s new haunts because it had a few gambling tables that he found intriguing. Most of the time he lost and had to borrow money otherwise he would steal it. After his last bought of misfortune, I told him that I wanted to come with him next time. Mainly because I just couldn’t understand how he lost so much in such a short amount of time. He wasn’t even coming home drunk.

“How much have you lost?” I asked him.

He put his hand to his chest, entirely offended. “I haven’t even played any of the games tonight. I was waiting for you.”

I narrowed my eyes. I was beginning to detect the non truths. Fae lies had a certain taste to them. “Okay, you haven’t played. But you’ve put bets on something. How much have you lost.”

He grinned at me, delighted in the fact that I could suss out his tells. “This is why I invited you here. You won’t let me get away with shite.”

Rolling my eyes, I kept myself close to his side as we navigated our way through the crowd. There were several games conducted that I didn’t recognize, but I knew without a doubt that Gabriel wouldn't have approved of any of them. Milo said the location was protected, though. That it moved around every hour. So the place you walked in was certainly not the place you walked out of.

“So, what’s the rules here,” he began. “Do I get to play, and you watch and see how terrible I am? Do you want to play? Do we separate and bump back into each other in an hour or two and pretend we don’t know each other and have a sexy little rendezvous?”

“While that last one sounds the most appealing, I really do want to make sure you aren’t getting your money outright stolen from you.”

“Ah,” he nodded. “If I’m just an idiot though, it’s okay.”

“Exactly.”

There was an old tree root near the back. It sprouted from the ground and was home to several large, frilly edged mushrooms. Small glass leaves were accumulated on each fungus and there seemed to be some sort of game happening where you moved one of the colored leaves to another, betting on how many would end up on which mushroom.

“You understand I’m not going to be of help in any of this,” I told Milo.

He waved me off. “Don’t need help. Just need an extra pair of eyes.” We walked up to the root and Milo nodded at the dealer, putting several acorns down in front of him. The dealer grinned at Milo, the skin around his eyes glittering as moth wings protruded from his back.

“Back for more, honey?” he cooed, his voice saccharine sweet. “I could just give you a good time. You don’t have to keep losing your credibility to impress me.”

Milo bowed slightly at the fae. “Wouldn’t do that if I were you, mate. My lover is here and they are hella possessive. They’ll the gut you in your sleep kind of possessive, yeah.”

The fae turned to me with glittery eyes, and the only thing I could think of to do was sit down on one of the trunk stools and pull Milo into my lap. I hooked my arm around his waist and pulled him in snug, raising my brow at the fae over Milo’s shoulder.

The fae snorted, but did back off at that, walking to the next player to get their bet.  I pressed my face against Milo’s shoulder, feeling my cheeks heat. “Sorry. I just reacted.”

“I love it,” Milo said, shifting a little so he ground his ass against me. “You can be possessive of me at any time.”

“You can get up now,” I groaned, knowing he was going to turn this into a thing.

“Nah. I’m not moving. Your lap is comfortable.”

“Milo…”

“Shh, here we go.” 

I peeked over his shoulder to see a series of bones and feathers tossed across the log. Small little pixies dived from the tree canopy above, grabbing at their spoils. Their wings fluttered, tossing the glass leaf tokens here and there, while small mice popped up from little holes within the wood and jostled them to the other mushrooms. I glanced at Milo, his expression rapt as he watched the leaves move to and fro. Everyone else at the log had a similar expression. When it was all over, the fae man walked up and down the length, counting the leaves. Then, he waved a hand over all of them, several colors rising in the air.

“Winner. Red three!”

Milo let out a whoop of triumph, bouncing on my knees. 

“Did we win?” I asked.

He twisted around, grabbing my cheeks and planting a sloppy kiss on me. “We won!”

“How?”

“Fuck if I know. I don’t know the first thing about this game.”

Suddenly, I knew why Milo had been losing. The idiot side of things was far more real than I had originally considered. But, he had that lopsided grin on his face and I had a lap full of Milo. It was hard to mock him at a time like this.

“You, darlin’, are my good luck charm. I’m gonna sit on you all night.”

I should have said no. We should have gathered our winnings and left. But instead, I wrapped both my arms around his waist, nipping at his shoulder. “You are mine, Milo Next,” I vowed to him, looking at the fae man.

Milo grinned. “Heck yes I am.”