Chapter Text
Arthur grumbles under his breath, half carrying half dragging the large metal basin across the floor. It’s empty, it comes easily, but the oozing bite wounds up and down his forearms make even the barest heavy lifting burn.
He regrets not wearing his thick winter coat. Sure, the chill of fall never seems to reach him deep enough to need it, and the material is nothing particularly dense, but it might have done something to protect him from the child’s teeth.
The basin thuds hollowly onto the kitchen floor, the sound echoing strangely through the mostly brick building of the lighthouse, and Arthur looks between the empty basin and the sink.
“Think you can do me a favor?” He asks dryly, glancing over his shoulder towards the doorway. The boy is still huddled there, wrapped in the soaked remains of Arthur’s clawed up shirt. At first, Arthur had thought the child was going to leap down the ladder and flee back into the ocean, but whether it was some trust of the method to Arthur’s madness or his unfamiliarity with the ladder, the child had simply hugged himself to the wall and peered into the alcove that served as the entryway while Arthur lugged the basin up from the storage room.
The sound of Arthur’s voice grabs his attention, and he glares furiously out from a mop of dark curly hair. It seems to be getting shorter the longer it dries, Arthur notes, what was past the child’s shoulders in the water is now coiling at his jaw. Good, Arthur doubts he would be allowed even an attempt at cutting it.
“I’ve got a pitcher and a kettle, this thing will fill up faster if we’re both dumping water in it.” Arthur kicks the basin for emphasis and regrets it when the sound makes the kid flatten himself to the wall again. “Or you could stare while I do all the heavy lifting. Makes no difference to me.”
Arthur does a poor job of pretending not to sulk as he fetches the pitcher from a cabinet. A nagging feeling tells him there’s going to be a lot more of this until he can figure out how the Atlantean ended up so close to shore and how to get him back wherever he’s supposed to be.