Merrin awoke with a start, body shaking as his breathing came out erratic. Rain hammered against his window as thunder roared overhead. His room was dark other than the gentle glow of the lamp on his desk – he didn’t remember turning it on. Water dripped onto his cluttered floor, bouncing off the painted wood panels he’d been working on for the last few months. The roof was leaking again. Clenching his hand into his bed sheet, feeling his fingers strain and ache. His whole body ached, the cold draft flowing through his room doing nothing to help. 

“Finally,” Danny said, and Merrin jolted up in his bed, looking around for where he was. Danny had perched himself on the stack of crates in the corner – Merrin was supposed to sort them out weeks ago, but he couldn’t be bothered – and was flicking through Merrin’s journal. “I thought you were dead.”

Merrin groaned and leant against his wall so he was facing Danny, pulling his knees up towards his chest and wrapping his arms around himself. “I wish,” he mumbled, earning a scowl from Danny, “Why are you in my room?”

“Came to see you, Matthias said docks are closed today ‘cause of the storm. No ships coming or going.” Danny said and flicked the pages, stopping on one that interested him.

Work, Merrin forgot he was supposed to be at work. “Okay?” he said, it wasn’t the answer he wanted, but Danny was never straight to the point, always taking as long as possible to get to the answer....