He hadn't realized he was holding his breath until she didn't pull away. Perhaps it was pretend, that they could do this. Perhaps it was something more.
"Perhaps it eats the Merpeople," he said, quite seriously, although there was something about his expression that said he might be joking. "That may be why they're reportedly so angry all the time."
He squeezed her hand back and debated letting go. Holding on implied...what did it imply? Had they held hands before this? It was hard to remember, in a way, how often they had walked arm in arm, but there was something more about this, and he wasn't certain he yet understood it.
"I missed you." It came out before he'd really thought about it at all.