Prince Eric & Milo Thatch

Prince Eric jogged out of the sea with water streaming off his body, his dark hair matted to his arms, his legs, his chest, accentuating his musculature. Barefoot, he climbed the cliff that led to his seaside palace, grabbed the towel waiting where Max had abandoned it, and scrubbed the salt from his hair. The afternoon sun hung high over the horizon, warming the large rocks outside the palace; his favorite place to sit.

He turned his head as a carriage rolled into the courtyard, not too far away.

Right on time, he thought to himself.

Eric slung the towel around his neck and headed toward the front gates just as the visitor climbed out. The man was smaller than Eric expected. Wire-rimmed spectacles, windswept brown hair, ink stains on his fingers. He nearly tripped over his own satchel trying to gather an avalanche of notebooks. When he looked up and saw Eric in nothing but his speedo, his words caught in his throat and he paused just long enough for Eric to notice. His eyes lingered for a moment too long on Eric’s still-damp chest and the black hair that covered it. “Prince Eric?” he stammered.

Eric smiled. “You must be Milo Thatch.”

“I apologize for arriving unannounced,” Milo recovered quickly, adjusting his glasses.

“Unannounced? You wrote three letters.”

“I feared they hadn’t arrived.”

“They did.”

“Oh,” Milo blinked. “Well, I’m looking for Atlantis.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Yes, well, I found one lost civilization before, but once I heard about Princess Ariel’s home, I knew I had to see it for myself. It’s gotta be unlike anything ever documented! I thought she could help me.”

“Ariel isn’t here.” Word had traveled about Milo’s Atlantis discovery in the South Pacific, and ever since, Milo had been contacting Ariel and Eric to inquire about Ariel’s own home of Atlantis. Eric thought his persistence would have been admirable, had it not concurrently meant destroying one of the greatest secrets known to mankind.

“When will she return?”

“I couldn’t say.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. She’d left before sunrise, racing home beneath the waves after reading Milo’s latest letter. She feared this day would come. Milo — and explorers like him — didn’t hunt for treasure or chase fame. They wanted to understand, which made them even more dangerous. Understanding required observation, which turned into documentation, and documentation invited explorers. And explorers never stopped at looking. But if Ariel warned Triton and they moved quickly, they could prepare to hide before any human found the merpeople. Eric only needed to buy her a few hours. He didn’t have a plan of how to stall Milo, exactly, but he had always been better at improvising anyway. He just needed to find Milo’s weakness.

“Maybe,” Milo said hopefully, “you could show me where she first came ashore.”

“Not likely,” Eric smiled in a charming way that only a prince could.

“It would only take an afternoon.”

“I’m afraid not.”

Milo frowned, disappointed but undeterred. Eric recognized the look, like he had been a man who had spent his entire life hearing no.

“How about dinner first?” Eric offered.

Dinner was served at sunset — burrata salad, rack of lamb with garden herbs, and local goat cheese — and Milo could not stop trying to impress Eric on his knowledge of languages, ancient civilizations, and tidal currents. By dessert, he’d covered whale migration patterns, forgotten alphabets, and made a strong case for why America deserved better libraries. Eric had to admit, he was brilliant. Hopelessly, relentlessly brilliant. But every time Eric redirected the conversation, Milo somehow found Atlantis again.

“Are the rumors true?”

“Depends what you’ve heard.”

Milo sighed. “I’ve crossed an ocean. I don’t intend to leave empty-handed.”

Eric leaned back in his seat and stroked his chin, studying Milo. “I believe you.” But Eric also believed Milo was relentless. And unfortunately for him, relentless men eventually found what they were looking for — unless they found something even more rapturous first. Eric thought for a moment, but then caught Milo smiling at him sheepishly, his eyes drifting down to Eric’s collarbone, his chest, his arms.

And then Eric had an idea.

“Join me for a walk by the ocean?”

The cliffs glowed silver beneath dusk’s rising moon. Gentle waves folded onto the sand. The palace lights shimmered on the cliff above them.

“You really should see this view before you leave,” Eric said, gently hinting that Milo was free to go so he could be spared of Eric’s plan.

“It’s beautiful,” Milo admitted. But he stayed put.

Eric sighed and slipped off his boots first. Then his shirt. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Milo pretended not to watch.

“The water’s warmer than it looks.”

“I didn’t pack for swimming.”

“Oh come on, Milo. I thought you wanted to see the ocean,” Eric winked as he unbuttoned his pants and slid his trousers down his hard, hairy, muscular thighs until they collapsed in a pile around his feet.

Milo froze, stunned.

“Don’t make me throw you in,” Eric warned.

Milo swallowed hard and unbuttoned his shirt, undressing to reveal his thinner frame wearing underwear, too. He followed Eric into the water, pretending it was as warm as Eric claimed it was. After a few long strides, he joined Eric, treading water in the salty sea, reflecting the moonlight.

“This is incredible,” Milo admitted. “I guess princes really do have everything.”

“Eh, we have obligations, too.”

“Yeah, well, I suppose I have obsessions.”

Eric chuckled. “I noticed.”

Milo kicked his arms and moved his legs to stay afloat, already becoming tired. “I know you’re keeping me away. I can usually tell when people lie.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Maybe not,” Milo looked further out to the sea, as if he were trying to sea Atlantis from the surface. “But you’re stalling”

Eric’s silence confirmed it.

“I won’t stop searching,” Milo said quietly.

They bobbed atop the water like buoys as the waves carried them higher and lower on the tide. Eric studied Milo for a long moment and said nothing. He knew it was time.

“When you got here...” Eric said.

“Yes?”

“…you looked at me.”

Color flushed into Milo’s face. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Aw, come on,” Eric smirked playfully. “Yeah, you do.”

Milo looked horrified. “I’m terribly sorry, your majesty.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“I wasn’t…intentionally staring.”

Eric laughed, which eased the tension in Milo’s shoulders. “You’ve been looking at me all night, too.”

“I’m an explorer,” he stammered. “I’ve...occasionally...observed.”

“Oh yeah? What’d you find?”