His fingers would not stop shaking. They hovered over the canteens, palms down, and for a moment nothing happened at all, just Coco's trembling hands and the ground telling us something was very close. I did not look toward the noise. Looking would not help.
The tremor was not distant anymore, it had the specific weight of something that had arrived, a vibration that climbed through my boots and settled in my spine.
"Coco." I said, just his name, steady.
His hands twitched, then moved with effort.
The water in all three canteens went dark at once.
"I did it." He breathed, his voice barely holding together. "It's done."
I grabbed him before he finished the sentence.
Coll was already moving. I activated Quickstep with Coco on my shoulders and the world snapped forward, I accelerated with more force than I expected, Coco gripping my head again, hard, but silent this time, apparently he had exhausted his ability to scream on the first run.
