Dnanyu & Primrose {1x1}

[Dnanyu]

Relieved that his loose tongue didn't seem to have raised any kind of suspicion, Milo relaxed a little, but he figured he should really slow down with the drink. Putting down his cup and pushing it away from him a little, he explained "I suppose that's understandable. If I'm honest, I don't know much about the gods besides Zephyrus, either. His influence is stronger in the mountaineous regions, but Selo Vetra where I'm from is particularly devoted to him. The other gods are considered kind of irrelevant, so I don't really know anything besides their names and what domains they preside over."


"Stay?" asked Milo in response to Chiron, pausing to think. He had planned to pawn off his jewellery to pay for an inn for a while whilst he tried to find some kind of work somewhere, but he didn't really have a plan beyond that, and the both of them had been so kind to him. Maybe it would be okay to stay with them, at least for a little while.


"That's very kind of you. I'd love to stay, if it's no trouble," he responded, offering a polite smile, though shortly following it with a yawn.


"I think it's time I got some sleep, though."

 

[Primrose]

(( sorry for how late this is ;u; ))


Chiron Sr. nodded slowly as Milo spoke, though he had a small smirk the entire time. Milo couldn't really tell if he was already quite drunk, or if the man was just tired, judging from his expressions and demeanour. "Same here. Zephyrus is the, uh, windy God, right?" He questioned, before taking one final swig of the alcohol he had in his cup.


"Yes, God of Wind, Zephyrus." Chiron responded before turning to Milo, agreeing; "I think it is time for all of us to get some shut eye. It's been an awfully long day, no?"


With that said, Chiron rose from his seat, finishing off an apple he had in his hand before tossing it into a nearby trash can made from oak. Chiron Sr. also stood up, and gathered the empty glasses before storing them on a nearby counter, which had a small pile of unclean cutlery and glasses gathering up.


"Do you need a hand with getting up those stairs still, Milo?" Chiron asked.

 

[Dnanyu]

"I can do it myself!" Milo declared defiantly as he stood up from his seat, suddenly feeling the full effect the alcohol had on his balance and swaying ever so slightly as he walked towards the stairs. Rather determined not to have to go through the embarrassment of being cradled in Chiron's arms yet again, he managed to drag himself slowly and painfully up five steps before having to stop and reluctantly admit that he might need help, sitting on the step with a rather grumpy looking face as he waited for Chiron to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way, blushing and looking away from the centaur the entire way as he was carried into Chiron's sister's bedroom.


He wasn't sure what kind of bed someone with such an unusually shaped body would use, but it seemed to be rather normal looking, except for being rather wide.


After being put down, Milo began to feel quite drowsy at the sight of a soft, comfortable bed, but refrained from allowing himself to actually lie down, as the leg of his loose, light grey trousers was still stained with blood from his injury.


"...Thanks," he said, still a little embarrassed. "I should probably take these off before I go to bed, though. I don't want to get blood everywhere."

 

[Primrose]

Chiron watched with a knowing look that Milo wasn't going to be able to climb up all of those stairs, and to his judgement he was correct. Giving a small chuckle, he walked over and carefully picked him up. "You shouldn't be so embarrassed about asking for help, Milo. Though, honestly, that grumpy face of yours is kinda cute." He admitted with a chuckle, before entering the room that once belonged to his younger sister.


Inside, it was decorated with violet to purple trinkets and accessories, as well as a few stray paintings hung on the wall here and there. The bed was in the very centre of the room, and it was oddly large, however it looked incredibly comfortable due to it's height. (Plus, there was some incredibly fluffy cushions that was at both ends of the bed. They looked great for cuddling.)


There was one painting that stuck out in particular, and it was of the smallest Centaur from the painting downstairs. She could be seen more clearly now, and she seemed to be holding a bouquet of Bluebells in her arms. Underneath the painting, was a small piece of gold with some strange letters written onto it.


"I don't mean to state the obvious but... We don't have any spare clothes you could borrow. Unless you don't mind wearing those bloody trousers when they dried up, and then later on we can find something new for you to wear." Chiron spoke with a small blush, "But, if you want, you could probably borrow one of my wraps until we find something."


Chiron put Milo down before heading out of the room, before soon returning with a pile of towels in his hand. "Here. Keep these around your leg, then the blood won't get anywhere."

 

[Dnanyu]

"Thanks," said Milo, taking the towels from Chiron and wrapping them around the bloodstain. "It's... it's not that I don't like asking for help, it's just that people don't usually let me do things for myself." he said as he checked to make sure he had covered everything. Satisfied that he had covered it enough to prevent the bed from being stained, he slid himself carefully under the covers, taking one of the fluffy cushions and placing it under his head.


"Before you go," he called out to Chiron in the doorway. "Thankyou. For everything you've done for me - even though I stowed away in your cart, and you don't even know me."

 

[Primrose]

With a nod, Chiron agreed; "I can understand that. Though there are some things you absolutely cannot do yourself. It can be frustrating when people won't let you lift a finger, I know."


After making sure Milo was comfortable and that no blood were to spill anywhere else other than the towels, he gave a content sigh and began to approach the doorway once more, only to stop and listen to Milo. He turned his head back, looking somewhat gladdened. "Hey, there's no need to thank me. I'm just glad I could assist you in some way. Uh, even though we had some confusion back at first." He shrugged with a small giggle, beaming sweetly.


"Anyway. Goodnight, Milo." He spoke softly before entering back out into the hallway. There were no doors in this house, so Milo could see the Centaur go into a room that was nearby what appeared to be a bathroom.

 

[Dnanyu]

With Chiron out of the room, the exhausted Milo drifted off very quickly into a deep sleep.


---


Milo awoke with a grogginess he wasn't used to, taking much longer to wake up fully than usual. As he sat up in the bed, he was soon reminded of his injured leg by the dull pain that shot up his leg as he moved it to the edge, but the wound didn't hurt as much as yesterday. Standing up, he stretched and tried to shake himself awake, not feeling as wide awake as he usually did in the monastery.


The towels covering his leg were only lightly stained with dried blood, which flaked off a little as Milo removed them, folding them and placing them on the dresser. The blood on his torn trouser leg had also dried, so it would at least not smear on anything anymore or feel sticky on his leg. Still, he would need to find something else to wear soon.


Not having much reason to stay in the room, he decided to attempt to head downstairs. Whilst it was still rather difficult, he managed to pull himself down relatively comfortably by sitting at the top and sliding down one step at a time until he reached the bottom. Once downstairs, he was surprised to see that nobody else was there. Perhaps they weren't awake yet? He didn't know how early it was, after all.


Feeling like he could do with some fresh morning air, he decided to go outside for a few minutes, but soon changed his mind when he saw just how many locks barricaded the front door. Instead, he took a deep breath and sat back on one of the piles of hay, pulling a little of it out and idly manipulating it just above his hand with his pneumatic magic.

 

[Primrose]

Even though Milo had made his way downstairs to find that no one else had awoken just yet, he could still hear the soft snoring of another man. He wasn't quite sure if it was Chiron or his father's snoring, judging from how deep it sounded it must of been the latter. Otherwise, it was quiet inside the building, along with the faint ambience of the outside world which occasionally accompanied by the tweeting of birds. The hay in which he made himself comfortable on felt strangely relaxing, though there was the stray straw that poked at his skin somewhat irrationally.


After a few minutes of otherwise silence, there was a knock on the door, and soon a few letters were pushed underneath, which was then followed by footsteps which sounded to be walking away from the door. One of the ones that stuck out the most appeared to be a poster, similar to the ones seen on the walls of the city, with a frowning woman whom appeared to be the city's royal figure. The noise from the door seemed to stir one of the centaurs upstairs, as a set of hooves hit the woodwork and was shuffling around upstairs, but it didn't seem they were starting to make their way downstairs just yet.

 

[Dnanyu]

Hearing the letters slid under the door, Milo got up to investigate. Whilst he dare not open any of the letters, the poster of the queen did catch his eye as he carried the mail to the table. Though he simply deposited the rest of the letters onto the table, he took the poster with him back to the bale of hay he had been sitting on, examining it on the way. Her stern frown reminded him of Selo Vetra's own leader, the venerable Archpriest Laukkanen, and his almost perpetual frown. Milo wondered if all leaders looked so unhappy.


Underneath the poster was written:

Our Queen Needs You!




Join the war effort today and keep Steamwork safe from hostile forces!




Alchemists, Mages, Blacksmiths & Engineers - Our queen seeks your bright, innovative minds to develop the military technology of the future!


Interested in steady, stable work with good pay? Want to support our great nation? Please apply at the Central Imperial Factory located on Kessler Street, Verdigris District.

Milo didn't think that the queen's grumpy face was particularly inspiring.


He remembered Chiron saying something about royalty being hungry for bloodshed when they were overlooking the city from the mountain, but this poster didn't seem all that warmongering. He made a note to ask Chiron about it when he came downstairs.


In the meantime, he put the poster down on the table and opened the cupboard he had seen Chiron's father get the cups from the night before, taking a cup from it and helping himself to some water from the tap. He hoped they wouldn't mind.

 

[Primrose]

Chiron soon made his way downstairs, giving a soft yawn and a stretch as he reached the bottom. He saw Milo at the sink, and was surprised to see he managed to get himself downstairs, let alone be awake incredibly early. "Hey, morning. You're up super early, you know that right? It's about 6..." Chiron gently spoke before noticing the letters on the table. He trotted over to pick them up and investigate them.


"Ugh... they are still needing more recruits? I swear this city is losing more people than gaining them..." He mumbled to himself as he tossed the poster back on the table, before skimming through the rest. He kept one letter for himself, and the others back on the table and on top of the poster. "Anyway. How did you sleep?" He asked, sitting himself down on some hay.

 

[Dnanyu]

"The monks at the monastery get up at 5:30 sharp for breakfast every day. I suppose I'm so used to waking up at that time that I do so instinctually," Milo replied, finding a seat near to Chiron.


"Like a rock. The bed was so soft I had a little trouble getting out of it. Though, maybe that was just because I went to bed so late," Milo responded. "I could do with some food, though."


He paused, then added "...Actually, I wanted to ask you - who is the queen at war with?"

 

[Primrose]

"Oh. Yeah. That would make sense, actually." He responded with a soft chuckle, "Days working at my old blacksmith's workshop used to be like that. Wow... it's been a few years since I last saw my teacher. I wonder how he's doing." He mumbled to himself, before shrugging.


With the mentioning of food, Chiron stood up from his seat, a look of pondering on his face. "I think we have some more food stored in the cupboards... Though, mind you, we only eat vegetables in this house. Centaurs don't really eat meat. Is that okay?"


He was paused in his tracks when the other mentioned about the war, and he turned back, looking more serious than he did when he was sitting down. "...The War... yes... that. In short, the Queen, a power-hungry piece of scum, in war with another, power-hungry piece of scum." He sighed softly, before shaking his head. "There is a leader of a knight training grounds to the north. A hellhound named General Alaois owns it. He is considered to be some sort of monster, but a monster who has learned the ways of being able to talk and socialise with people like you and I. With the recent outbreak of monsters across Eliora, people began pointing fingers at others out of fear, yet no one really knows who or what caused the sudden rise of beasts."


Chiron opened a cupboard and grabbed two cups, and placed them on the counter, before going over to another cupboard to search it's contents, as well as continuing; "Our Queen, Queen Victoria Diarmaid Cassiopeia, came into power quite recently after the death of our King and Queen. With no children next in throne, the only candidate that was left was a cousin of theirs, the current Queen. As the city's technology got more advanced, the Queen yearned for more places to keep under her name. Hence, after developing "Guns", she took over the country of Atsuk, the famous mining land to the north of here. She pointed fingers at General Alaois for being the cause of the rising of monsters, and so claimed war with him to "try and stop him.", when really all she wants is more land and something to test out her guns."


Soon, Chiron pulled out a bottle which had some orange liquid inside of it, before turning back to Milo. "That's all I know about this war. All there really is to it is that too many people die for a cause that isn't worth fighting. Nor, does anyone actually know if Alaois is the cause of more beasts. He's done many bad things, but surely he cannot possess the power to populate the entire planet with fiends." With that said, he began to pour himself out some of the orange liquid.

 

[Dnanyu]

"Your teacher? Didn't your father teach you?" Milo asked, surprised. "I thought he was a blacksmith, too."


"That's alright; I don't eat meat either," Milo explained. "Most fauns don't. It's not really good for them. There are hunters in Selo Vetra of course, but that's because the harpies are almost completely carnivorous. Regardless, some fauns hunt and some harpies work the fields, for the good of others in the village. Do you have any rice?"


Milo listened intently to Chiron as he described the queen and the nature of her war, his curiosity piquing at the mention of 'guns', waiting until he had finished speaking before responding "That's awful... Throwing away others' lives just out of greed..." in a somewhat despondent tone. "What does a 'Guns' do?" he added, sounding more curious.


The extra cup on the counter seemed to imply that the drink Chiron had just poured himself was intended for Milo as well, so he tentatively poured himself some before asking Chiron what it was.

 

[Primrose]

Chiron shook his head, "No no, my father is a sailor, strangely enough. In fact, this house is near a large river. He often takes a trip down it to get to the main sea." He explained with a smile, before continuing, "My tutor was a Satyr."


Looking into a nearby cupboard, he pulled out a medium sized sack with a foreign language written on the front, but Chiron gave a small nod to his question. "Yup! Lots of it. You can have as much of it as you want. As for 'guns', they are nasty long weapons which shoot a powerful piece of metal which pierces the skin of their target. I'm not sure what the metal is called, but it's been known to dig itself into people's bodies, and sometimes if it's powerful enough, it comes out the other side. It's not nice..." He cleared his chest softly, seemingly cringing at the thought. "It's even worse seeing a victim with a bunch of holes in them too."

 

[Dnanyu]

((I meant to reply to this last night, but I fell asleep. Sorry!))


"That sounds pretty gruesome. Sounds like a dangerous weapon, especially if it let her conquer a country," Milo replied. He could tell that Chiron disliked the weapon, but Milo was more curious about it than anything else, though he tried not to show it in his voice. He figured he shouldn't talk too much about it, so attempted to change the subject.


"I've always wanted to see the sea," he said. "It looked so pretty from the mountain, and so peaceful."


His hunger beginning to distract him, Milo examined the sack Chiron had placed on the table, presumably full of raw rice, though he couldn't read the writing. "Umm... I don't know how to cook," Milo admitted.

 

[Primrose]

(( it's okay uvu ))


Chiron nodded softly, "You're right, the sea is very peaceful most of the time. It always makes me want to visit the underwater palace of Irvine as well. I heard it's beautiful down there." he commented before taking the bag of rice into his grasp once more.


"Ah, don't worry. I can make it for you. I don't think I'm a great cook, but after living on my own for a while I think I've gotten pretty decent at it." He spoke as he began to prepare the things needed to create three dishes of food. First of all, he put some rice into a bowl which had smaller roles at the bottom, before going over to the sink and rinsing the contents with fresh water. "Uh... You can watch if you want?" He asked, looking back at Milo.

 

[Dnanyu]

Milo's eyes lit up as he let out a soft gasp. "There's a palace under the sea?! That's amazing! I had no idea anyone lived under the ocean. I hope one day I can visit it myself!"


As he spoke, he followed Chiron over to the sink to watch him prepare the food, paying close attention as he lit the stove and began to bring the rice to boil in a pan. "Back home I was waited on. I suppose now I'm here I should learn to cook for myself." Milo commented as Chiron began to chop vegetables. "I always wanted to know how to cook all those fancy dishes, anyway." he added.


As Chiron began to cook the vegetables, adding various condiments and spices as he did, the room began to fill with the smell of food - one that was a little alien to Milo, but smelled pretty appetizing nonetheless.


"How do you know when it's done?" Milo asked, by now pretty eager to eat.

 

[Primrose]

(( ahhhh I'm so sorry for the late reply. College has taken away most of my muse for the week ;u; ))


With a gentle chuckle, Chiron nodded. "From what I've heard it is quite beautiful under the sea. It's possible for land-living creatures like you and I to migrate down there, too! All thanks to magic. I would love to travel around there in a heartbeat!" He commented, before continuing on with his cooking.


As the aromas of freshly cooked food filled the house, Chiron looked back and spoke, "Well, I always try to time my cooking. Rice doesn't take too long to cook but... Normally if the water in the rice is all gone, it means it's ready. Which.", he stirred the rice some more, checking it, before speaking again, "Seems like it should be ready very soon."


There was a gentle rumble that came from Chiron's stomach, which caused him to blush softly. Soon after, he began to finish off cooking and started to prepare some dishes for three.


"Maybe I should go wake my dad up." He wondered out loud, before shrugging. He knew that by just the very scent of food should be enough to wake him.

 

[Dnanyu]

((That's okay! I only had internet on my phone when I was away so I wouldn't have really been able to respond until now anyway.))


"Hmm, I see!" Milo chirped enthusiastically in response as he tried to make a mental note of what Chiron had said, sounding noticeably more cheerful in his tone of voice than he did the day before.


As Chiron served the meals and laid them on the table, Milo sat down beside him to eat. Used to the strict etiquette of the monastery, he found it too rude to begin eating before Chiron Sr. arrived, but thankfully didn't have to wait long before he heard the elder centaur's hooves as he roused from his slumber and made his way downstairs.


"Good morning, sir!" Milo politely greeted him as he approached the table.


Only once all of them were seated did Milo begin to eat his food, shoveling it into his mouth a little hastily. "This is good! I haven't eaten most of these vegetables before." he commented as he ate, only pausing long enough to speak with an empty mouth before continuing to eat rapidly.


The two centaurs had eaten just over half of their food by the time Milo was finished, who now sat looking content, yet slightly restless.


"I'll need to get some new clothes later on, I think," he said, remembering his torn, stained trouser leg.

 

[Primrose]

Chiron definitely noticed the change of tone in Milo's voice. He was pleased to see he was in a much better mood than what he was like yesterday. Seeing others in a pleasant mood made him do the same, as he was smirking slightly in content. After dishing up food and putting it onto the table, he also collected some utensils from a nearby drawer before placing them beside each plate. Milo couldn't tell if the piece of cutlery he was given was meant to be a fork or a spork.


"Ahhhhhhhhh...!" Chiron Sr. gave a soft yawn and a stretch as he approached the table. He still appeared to be tired, with faint black bags underneath his eyes, but never the less gave a smile to the two men at the table. "Good Mornin', Chiron and... ehhh... Milo, was it?" He questioned with a slight slur, before chuckling, "I believe it was, eh?"


Chiron Sr. snickered a bit in delight at the sight of food. "You even made food, Chiron? Ain't you just a delight." He spoke before scooping up some of the rice, shoving it into his mouth.


Chiron had a slight blush of pride when Milo complimented his food, and he laughed softly. "Thank you! I never really thought my food was that good, but I appreciate it!" He replied, before digging into his own food. The Centaurs didn't really have an etiquette when it came to food, but they weren't the messy kind of eaters, thankfully.


Chiron Sr. perked up at the mention of clothes, and with a mouth full of food he spoke; "We can always to go the nearest clothes store, you know. Though the clothes they sell here are kinda... eh. The ones in the west are nicer, and they tend to make clothes for more than one species that aren't totally humanoid. Maybe we could take a boat trip there?" He asked before finally swallowing the food he had in his mouth.

 

[Dnanyu]

"Yes, that's right," Milo confirmed to the rather tired-looking Chiron Senior when greeted, offering a friendly smile.


"How long would it take to get there?" Milo asked, trying not to cringe at the way Chiron's father spoke with his mouth full.


Though Milo wasn't truly offended by the way Chiron's father was eating, it did make him a little uncomfortable.


"A boat trip sounds exciting, but I'd rather replace my clothing sooner rather than later. If it would take a while to get there, I'd rather buy something to wear in the meantime, even if it doesn't look so nice. My legs aren't that different from humanoid, so I'm sure I can find something that'll fit. It's just shoes I'd need to go somewhere specialist for," he explained.

 

[Primrose]

Chiron Sr. took a small while to chew the food currently in his mouth, and eventually he swallowed. Looking around the table, he noticed the lack of beverages for him, and so got up to fetch himself a glass of water. While doing so, he gave a soft hum as he thought about his answer, before finally responding; "I reckon maybe an hour." He replied before giving a chuckle, filling his cup with some water from a large jug, "You know this is the city of technology, right? This place is filled with shops. Though if we were to go to the one with decent clothing, it would take us about an hour. City is quite big, and it has to be. There's lots of people in it."


Chiron finished up his food as his father came back over to sit himself down. "That's true. In that case, we should go take a walk around the city... Uh... Mind you, it can be crowded here most of the time so... I think if we leave early, we'll miss most of the crowd." Chiron told Milo before taking a sip of his drink.

 

[Dnanyu]

"That sounds like a good idea. I prefer the quiet, anyway. Besides, I haven't yet had a chance to look around the city, yet!" Milo replied, standing up.


"What should I - uhh..." he began, gesturing to his empty plate, unsure about what he was expected to do with it.


((OK here's the point where I couldn't think of anything else for Milo to do that didn't involve basically RPing your characters for you, so in the interest of not writing a post that's only two lines long I decided to skip ahead a bit - let me know if you need me to change something))


The door finally unlocked, Milo promptly stepped out into the open, eager to free himself from the relative claustrophobia of the house. A fine morning mist hung in the air around Steamwork, and whilst it wasn't as thick as it could be in the mountains, it reminded Milo of home. He took a deep breath, refreshed by the smell as Chiron made his way out behind him.


His leg still in pain, he couldn't walk very fast and limped a little as he did so, requiring Chiron to slow down to allow Milo to keep up with him. As they walked through the streets, Milo looked around in awe at the small, densely packed houses and buildings, all connected to each other as if part of the same unit. "How many people live here?" he wondered out loud.


As Milo followed Chiron through the streets, he had assumed that it would be easier to navigate the streets during the day, but the way the buildings connected to each other turned the area into a kind of labyrinth, with the narrow streets and alleys around the area turning and branching off at weird angles that made it difficult to track where you were. Though Chiron seemed to be familiar with it, Milo soon lost track of the route they took out of the residential streets and onto the high street they soon found themselves on.

 

[Primrose]

Chiron took the pleasure of opening the door for Milo, and he held it open as he watched the other enter the outside world before them. A variety of curious aromas filled the air, along with a slight hint of gunpowder. Currently there were no other person in their street, but as Milo and Chiron left Chiron Sr. to do his work at home, people began to emerge from their houses, one by one, and were slowly filling up the streets.


Finally arriving near the city's core, there were a considerable amount more people roaming around, talking, rushing, or having leisurely fun. While it was not as busy as it would be at midday, for Milo it could be considered somewhat busy.


As Chiron assisted him in walking, he gave a soft sigh. "I wasn't expecting this amount of people to be up this early. I must of gotten the day of the week wrong." He commented with a small shrug as they walked past a small group of children whom were playing tag. "Not to worry though. We're almost at the clothes store. You holding up okay?" He asked, glancing down at Milo.


"Steamwork, I'd say, is a place which is overcrowded. Far too many people live here to the point where sometimes you can't even move in the streets!" He told him, while glancing around the current street they were on, before heading onwards to a path on the left. "It also has high security during the day, too. See?" He pointed to a few guards whom had some strange objects in their hands. They were currently standing outside another pathway which seemed to lead to somewhere far bigger and less claustrophobic to where they were now.

 

[Dnanyu]

"Yeah, I'll manage," Milo replied, though he seemed to be in pain. "It doesn't hurt that much anymore."


Milo was surprised at how many people seemed to be emerging from their houses as they made their way towards the shops, but given the number of houses there were he felt he shouldn't be. Still, when the residential streets gave way to shops, the crowds were quite a sight - not only the sheer number of people but also the variety of them. Seeing so many different races walking around amongst one another was quite a sight for someone who spent their life in a mostly homogeneous and isolated village - besides the occasional faun or harpy that caught his eye, most of the people here looked very alien to him. He hoped nobody would notice him staring, but it felt like there were more people staring at him and Chiron than he was staring at. He was rather used to that, though, so didn't think much of it.


As they made their way closer to the clothes shop, Milo noticed the guards Chiron had pointed out. He didn't recognise the object they were holding, but figured it must be some kind of weapon, since they were guards. Curious, he asked Chiron "What are they holding?" once they had passed the guards.


As they walked through the streets, Milo couldn't take his eyes off of all the various shops, restaurants and other public buildings that lined the wide streets they now walked down - in particular a rather large building with a very ornate facade upon which were carved the words "Magician's Library".


"Woah, magic! Chiron, can we go in there?" Milo asked, rather excitedly.