“This place.” Benito raised his head and glanced around. “I came here on every school trip since it opened, so I’ve been here a hundred times.”
Relief so acute Mickey could taste it spread through him. He laughed. “That’s it? I thought you were going to tell me you’d killed my cat.”
“You have a cat?”
“Metaphorical cat.”
“You don’t have a cat? You can have my sister’s. Fucking thing is a vandalistic shit bag.”
“Vandalistic?” Mickey laughed again. “Okay, man. So, you don’t like cats?”
“I don’t like that cat,” Benito corrected. “He fucks with me on purpose.”
“Cute motherfucker, though.”
“You know him?”
“If it’s the same massive beast your mum had last year, then yeah, I think so. He sat on my laptop bag and wouldn’t get off.”
“That’s the prick.” Benito swivelled his own side-stare at Mickey. “I keep forgetting you’ve been around all this time and it’s me that hasn’t.”
Mickey’s humour settled into a soft smile. He didn’t know what to say to that. Before Benito, despite a work ethic that left him little time for himself, he’d never had any trouble separating his job from his personal life. Now it felt so entwined he couldn’t fathom what was the past, the present, or yet to come.What are we doing?
God, he had no idea.
Benito led the way around the park. Mickey followed, amused by his word-perfect descriptions of every exhibit.
“You really have been here a thousand times.”
“Yup. I wouldn’t lie about that.”
What would you lie about?
Stop it.
They were by the actual enigma machine. Mickey gazed at it and pushed the noisy demon off his shoulder. “You know, I don’t even like history that much. I just wanted to be somewhere I didn’t want to jump on you the whole time. Just to see what it’s like.”
Benito crouched on the floor, reading a low displayed plaque as if it was the first time he’d ever seen it, not the thousandth. “And?”
“I still want to jump you, but I like the fact you’re a closet nerd.”
“I’m not in the closet,” Benito retorted. “Everyone I’ve ever cared about knows this about me.”
“That’s not many people.”
Benito sighed. “I guess not. You’re on the list, though. In case you were wondering.”
Mickey couldn’t deny it. He grinned a little and offered Benito his hand to help him up.
Benito took it, and for the six seconds their hands were clasped, all felt right with the world.
Mickey missed the sensation when Benito let go. “We should eat soon,” he said. “You want to go for a walk first?”
“Okay.”
They left the exhibition buildings behind and began a slow walk around the park. Despite the sun, it really was cold, but Mickey’s northern blood didn’t mind. He turned his face into the wind and took deep, bracing breaths while Benito hid behind his coat. “We can go somewhere warmer if you want.”
“Nah.” Benito drifted closer, so their elbows bumped. “This is nice.”