The Forgotten Zodiac

((Are they talking about the thing now?))

Dagan entered the room behind Vi, seating himself in the chair next to her. What he'd discovered the night before made talking with Morgan generally awkward, something Dagan had never been particularly good at hiding. In an effort to hide the elephant in the room, or, at least, the elephant in his head, he started a conversation that was, at least, comforting to him.
"Brutis seemed to like you, Morgan. Or, at least, the way you tasted. He's been moping around the stables incessantly." It wasn't necessarily Morgan Brutis liked, so much as the close contact with Virellis and excitement of the evening. However, since Brutis' only interaction with Morgan was that pleasing memory, the wyvern would likely be a friend to the man whenever they next met.

"I've been told I'm quite tasty. At least a couple starving wolves thought so at one point." Morgan chuckled.
"You've had a hard life so far..." Vi murmured. "Do you...have a family?" She asked quietly. She was incredibly good at subtly prying at things.
Morgan looked at her with a sort of puzzled look. "Why are you asking me about this now? No, I don't have much of a family. My grandparents died at a younger age. My parents died when I was around Alexander's age."
"Did you have any extended family?"
"...I don't find this conversation very enjoyable," Morgan sighed. "I didn't try to find my extended family. I went...'missing'. I went to the Vatican and admitted my crimes...they punished me and once I proved myself, they trained me to use magic and here we are. I'm...not one to dwell too much on the past. Why are you asking me this stuff, anyway?" He frowned. "You want info, but you aren't getting it from simple chatter. Be straightforward, then. What do you need?" His frown was deep and his expression serious.

Dagan glanced at Virellis and answered Morgan's question directly, as uncomfortable as it made him. "It's about the, um, well, I-" He stopped, took a deep breath and restarted, blurting it out and immediately pushing back against his chair in case Morgan flipped out. "I followed you last night. I saw the girl and the way you acted with her. We," he gestured to the Siren, "figured family was the best explanation for it." Realizing how horrible and nosy that sounded, he hurried to clarify his motives. "I was trying to thank you for the harpy tears; but, by the time I'd caught up with you, you were already into the city. Curiosity just sort of got the better of me, it wasn't my plan."

Morgan stared at Dagan for a long moment. Then he sighed. "I've no obligation to tell you anything about my personal life. But if you must know, she was a homeless orphan and I decided I might as well help her." He tutted.
"I don't see you helping many other orphans, Morgan." Virellis snorted. "Why is she important?"
"Perhaps this discussion would be better carried out when I'm in a better mood?" Morgan hissed. "She's of no importance to you, and if I find out you've been snooping about again, Dagan, I can't guarentee you wind up facedown in a river," He realized that he had leaned in close to Dagan, his face a mere hair away from the shorter man's. Morgan forced himself to sit back, running his shoulder with a sour look on his face. "If you're done prying into my personal business, I suggest you leave." He growled. "Sorry for getting so angry. I need to control my temper a little better, I suppose..."

"...Right." Once Morgan leaned back, Dagan stood and moved toward the door, assuming Virellis would follow. At the door, he turned around  to give Morgan a partial explanation of his behavior. "My intention wasn't to spy on you. I assumed you'd be heading into the city for supplies of some sort, like you had earlier. Then, once I saw her, I figured it'd be better to at least discern the relationship than just go back knowing you're going to a house inhabited by attractive women." He turned immediately, incredibly uncomfortable with the conversation.

"You'd do wise to steer clear of that house," Morgan muttered after him.
Vi, who was hurrying to catch up with Dagan by now, paused at the doorway. "We're only concerned, you know."
"About?"
"Well...she sounds a little young for you."
The look Morgan gave her chased her out of the room, though she was smiling a bit. "At least we know he isn't dating her or anything," She reassured Dagan. "Come on then. We should just go. Maybe he'll be more willing to talk if he's in a better mood. If I know men like that, sitting around doing nothing makes him sour." She payed no mind to the threats Morgan had given, instead focusing on what they did know. Morgan was defensive about a girl living in the city, whom he took care of. He didn't want them to know who she was...which made Vi all the more curious.

Dagan continued moving down the hallway, much more embarrassed about the whole situation than his companion was. "Look, Vi," he started, turning so he could face her better. "I'm glad to know it isn't romantic, but it's nothing we have a right to worry about. I'm leaving it be." He turned away from her again and sped up, hoping to avoid the immediate whining he expected. "I know you won't, but don't drag me into it, okay? He has every right to his secrets, just like we do to ours."

"I wouldn't call our history a secret, Dagan..." Vi tutted. "I'd be more than willing to tell if they'd ask. Such a thrilling tale, ours is. Do you remember how we met?" She giggled, her crutches clicking against the floor as she walked beside Dagan. "I'd be willing to tell about my heroic human friend who caught me bartering food off of strangers. I was much younger then, and to be separated from my family...oh, how miserable was I. It just goes to show, though...whether it's fate or destiny or something else, we all were lost at some point. And then we found something greater than before. Morgan is no exception...he's probably lost right now, too. Whether physically or emotionally. He's not sure how best to care for that girl. Didn't you see the worry in his eyes? You definitely heard how protective he sounded...if you put two and two together, it's easy to see that he's scared for her. He's afraid we'll go after her. So he should probably go back to sleep, because we don't intend to do anything of the sort," She called loudly over her shoulder.
There were marbles following them, a whole line. Sticking to the corners, but definitely following. "Morgan, please...I'm with Dagan. We shouldn't have tried to pry in the first place. We'll stay out of this." She watched as the marbles slowly retreated, back to Morgan's room. One by one, all in a row.

Dagan blushed slightly as Vi described him and slowed his pace as he remembered her broken leg. "Well, the way we obtained Brutis was less than conventional. And I'm still not convinced that Alexis' skittishness isn't partially our fault." He drifted off in thought for a second, oblivious to the marbles following them until Virellis pointed it out. He stayed silent while she handled the situation, which was probably for the best. Morgan didn't really seem interested in Dagan's opinions anyway.
After a bit more walking, mostly in silence, Dagan glanced over at Virellis and shrugged. "You know, we could go a lot faster if I carried you. Especially since you always slow down outside."

"No, I can handle it." Vi shook her head. "We wouldn't want you to hurt your back, after all," She smiled at him, knowing full well that she was light enough to be bowled over by a strong wind if she wasn't holding onto something. Sirens were built to be light enough to effortlessly 'fly' in water, and Virellis was most certainly a Siren. Even if she had never seen the ocean.

"Well...if you really want to, I suppose there isn't much I can do to stop you." Vi tutted, though still smiling.

((Scene change or something?))

Dagan laughed but didn't lift Vi. "Far be it from me to force myself upon a lady." After a brief second of thought, he added a light verbal jibe to his statement. "Not that you qualify as a lady. That would be an insult to every well-bred, morally upright, real lady out there." This, to anyone who knew Dagan well, was clearly sarcasm. He detested the idea that morality was in any way connected to pedigree had always bothered him, though he could hardly protest it publicly.

Vi giggled, whacking Dagan's ankles with the end of one crutch before hurrying ahead, giggling away.

The very next day, Morgan was back on his feet. 'Back in business', so to speak. But he didn't seem well in the slightest; during Alexander's letter writing, he fell asleep. During lunch, he fell asleep. He winced whenever his injured arm was even slightly nudged, and by the time Dagan and Virellis joined him and Alexander for dinner, he was asleep again.

"I'm not too sure he should be up and about." Vi tutted, shaking her head. "I think the wound was more serious than he'd like us to believe...I think I heard him snoring in the bathroom a couple hours ago. Does he just fall asleep everywhere?" She poked his cheek slightly, and he jerked, lifting his head and looking around.

"Oh. Good morning, Vi." He smiled tiredly.

"It's dinnertime. You're eating dinner."

"Why are we eating dinner at ten in the morning?" Morgan blinked. "I thought it was tea-time still."

"Yeah...you really need to be back in bed." Vi giggled.

"Says who? I'm fine." He snorted.

Alexander snickered slightly as he observed Virellis' interaction with Morgan. "He's been doing this all day. Apparently, as long as he's in the room, I'm being guarded. The conscious state of his mind is completely immaterial."
The noble set into his dinner with vigor; he'd skipped both breakfast and lunch to accomplish more work, and it left him ravenous. Fortunately for him, his companions were equally starved; and the meal, despite several attempts at friendliness, passed mostly in silence. Having finished his meal, Alexander pushed his chair back from the table while re-attempting conversation. "I've been trapped inside all day. Anyone care to walk through the market? Maybe it'll wake Morgan up."

Morgan became alert again when his name was said. He blinked at Alexander, then yawned. "Yeah, sure. We can go for a walk." He shrugged, standing up. Vi smiled swung her crutches around to help her stand, accidentally hitting Morgan's shoulder. He sat down again in a hurry, flinching.

"I'm sorry," Vi said at once. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"I'm fine," Morgan said through gritted teeth.

"Why is it so sensitive...?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe my entire shoulder was traumatized by the event? The bones are broken, the muscle was split in two..." Morgan sighed. "I'll be okay."

Dagan, still feeling guilty, was quick to offer help to Morgan. "We have painkillers in the stables, if you want some, Morgan. They're on the way, so I could easily go grab them." As transparent as his attempt at friendliness was, he did mean it. He was normally quite friendly, and it was quite unfortunate that the earlier incident made every attempt seem ingenuine.

"Sure." Morgan nodded, standing again. "Sorry for snapping at you, Vi."

"No offense was taken," She shrugged, starting off towards the exit. "Let's go, then. May as well." She smiled over her shoulder.

"Right." Morgan followed, but not before waiting on Alexander. He couldn't rightly just leave his charge, after all. Not after what happened to lead to his wound. It wouldn't be happening again, that was for sure. "So, where are we going again?"

Alexander, who had been momentarily accosted by one of the many residential nobles, hurried to catch up to the group. "Just to the marketplace. I always enjoy watching people wander around looking lost and increasingly poorer. Don't you?" He headed off with Vi, matching her pace easily without trying to increase it. The Siren, even with her broken leg, made quite a good pace.
By the time Alexander caught up, Dagan had been to the stables and back, painkillers in hand. He had no idea how many Morgan would need, so he'd just grabbed a handful and stuff them into the nearest bag. Now, back with the group, Dagan handed them over with a grin. "Careful with these. They were made for Brutis, so they're pretty strong."

"Heh." Morgan grinned. "I do enough of that while watching Alexander take in the tax count for the month." He chortled, smiling a bit as they walked. He took two of the pills, and pocketed the rest. "Thanks, Dagan. I appreciate it." He took the lead with Alexander, not really wanting to lag behind. He didn't want to seem weakened at all, of course. He wanted to make it seem like nothing was wrong. He didn't want anyone else to worry about him, after all. He definitely hated that.

"Hey, Alexander, didn't you say your fiance and her cousin were missing? Is anyone trying to find them?" Vi asked quietly, frowning a bit.

Alexander tensed slightly at Virellis question. The Albrecht siblings were somewhat of an awkward subject, especially in public, for their family was much more popular with the people of Lanstul. The Finnigans, being more popular with the high nobility elsewhere, had navigated their way to power, but not without scandal. When all of the family but the two youngest was found murdered and the two youngest missing, everyone in the city assumed Finnigan, Sr., was responsible for it. When he later disappeared, the suspiscion switched directly to his son. "Technically, there are several people charged with finding them and rewards all over the place. Functionally, it's been too long and no one important cares. I would focus on it more, but I can't be launching personal crusades and trying to contain problematic, Protestant weapons. You're welcome to try. If it wouldn't cause all sorts of trouble, I'd do most anything to get them back." This sounded quite sweet until, under his breath, he added "Just to stop being accused of murder by every old lady I meet."

"I see...I could probably ask around some, if you wanted. My voice does more than make people do things, I can make them talk," Vi smiled a bit. "Don't worry, Xander. I'm sure they're just fine. Hopefully together."

"Yes, that would be nice," Morgan nodded thoughtfully. "But as we're nearing the market, I suggest we change the subject."

"Right. Sorry," Vi shook her head. "Hey look, that beaded scarf I wanted is on sale!" She exclaimed, working her way quickly over to a shop window to stare at the green strip of fabric with bead tassles.