⋅⋅⊱༻༺⊰⋅⋅

Scaling down the dark, steep and narrow stairs proves much more difficult than climbing them, but Cyrus cannot spare to be careful right now, he must hurry and leave the cave, or at the very least the secret passage, before the homeowner finds him.

He manages to speed down the steps without accident, slides the hidden door shut behind him, and drags the potato sack back in front of it.

That's when the storage room's door slowly creaks open behind him, the light that seeps in is unforgivably exposing.

Alright, this time he's definetly been seen.

He turns around slowly, his brain quick to conjure up an excuse as he schools his face into his usual indifference.

The figure standing on the door is short. Shorter than Konran.. with two horns… and- wha- is that a snail??

A giant snail whose height reaches up to Cyrus’ hip, with protruding arm-like buds, and two dots for eyes that defy snail customs by being on its head rather than on its horns, no, eyestalks.

They both stand still, unsure what to do as they were seen by the other.

…

The creature slowly closes the door before Cyrus even decides on what to think of it, dipping him back in darkness.

Stunned, he doesn’t move for a moment, briefly forgetting his previous rush. What WAS that?? Can snails even GET that big??? As he slips through the trap door and down the rock-carved stairs, he wonders if he had been drugged somehow. It's the only explanation. No, he couldn't have been, he hadn’t touched the tea he was offered. Does this cartographer grow giant snails? Run experiments on them? For what? Why pick a snail of all creatures, they are slow and not very smart, or does he keep them as pets? WAIT- He glossed over it earlier because of the absurdity of the whole appearance, but that snail, it was wearing an APRON. Could it have been a servant? Could that have been…. There's no way, right? That couldn't have been the elusive ‘Miss Betty’ that guy was speaking of, could it?

He tunnels down into the cave with his questions, The combination of the dreamlike encounter and the adrenaline still buzzing in his veins from almost getting caught has left him feeling strange.

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Cyrus roll for weather ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results:

“ 1 ”

< "I said roll, not summon the wrath of nature." -Algae >

It is pitch black when he steps onto the cave, its walls echoe with the raging storm outside. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes since he went inside, and yet the weather changed so drastically. The wind picked up and is sending the rain in waves, that much he can tell from the sounds alone, he can’t see a thing with the heavy clouds suffocating the moonlight.

A huff to his right makes him flinch. It’s the horse. It must have come to shelter from the storm, it almost gave him a heart attack.

"Haa... You scared me there."

Cyrus reaches out blindly until his hand lands on its fur, it flinches reflexively but relaxes as he starts petting it, going from its jawline down its neck in familiar and fond gestures. It helps him relax too, somewhat.

“It would seem we are stuck here together for now.”

The wind only grows stronger, and as if confirming what he just said, Cyrus starts hearing thuds alongside the intensifying rain shower. It’s a hailstorm.

“Gosh the weather has gotten aggressive…”

The horse walks deeper to avoid the stray hail bits and the splashes, Cyrus wisely follows. Thunder booms and crackles, the rain hisses and the hail drums, both guided by the rhythm of the howling wind. It calls for him. No really, among the fierce sounds, he could swear he heard his name- There! Its called him again! From within the storm, a small light, feeble and flickering, floats steadily toward him.

“Mister Redwood!” The cartographer is huffing as he scurries to take cover in the cave. He changed from his crutches to a wooden prosthetic. One hand is busy holding a lantern while the other is holding an umbrella, it didn’t help much against the downpour though and he is fully drenched.

“Whew! Hail, of all things! And I thought I've seen fickle weather!” The map maker catches his breath while folding the useless umbrella, there are holes poked into it from the hail.

“Indeed. I've been caught by surprise as well, it’s a mercy I've found this cave when I did.” He lies. Cyrus isn’t sure of himself anymore, perhaps the exhaustion and hunger are finally taking their toll, because the other man is looking straight at him, like he can see him, like Cyrus isn’t standing in the dark, deeper in the cave where the lantern's light hasn’t reached yet.

“Yes, good thing you did…” Mito glances back at the inside of the cave. “What were you doing? When I saw the horse missing I thought you left!”

“Something startled the poor thing and it took off running with my bag. I had no choice but to follow.” Cyrus scans him once again, taking note of the blue coat the man had picked earlier, two coats short of grabbing Cyrus instead. "You're drenched. Are you alright?"

Mito doesn't answer him immediately, he seems to be assessing what Cyrus said and he isn’t so subtle about it, looking a bit out of it. "..Yeah, I'm fine fine.." He glances at the inside of the cave for a millisecond, then at the horse- it started shifting and huffing aggressively again.

"..........." Cyrus looks at the horse, then looks back at Mito and... Smiles. "Strange. It was fine just a few moments ago."

The map maker splutters. "Oh yeah? Hm, perhaps it’s scared of the thunder." He tries to keep a casual tone, but the panic in his eyes is evident. Cyrus's ‘Got you’ smile gets on his nerves in the end and he goes on the offensive. "By the waaay, you're completely dry?"

Cyrus chuckles quietly, the sound but a small scoff before he goes back to his usual noble poker face. “I was lucky to run here before the worst of it.” He doesn’t need to explain himself further, not as long as Mito has no proof.

The cartographer hums, not hiding his suspicion.

Cyrus puts a hand on his hip as he looks around. "Quite a fascinating cave you've got under your house."

Perhaps Mito took that as a taunt, because he makes this irritated face at him. Cyrus’ never been scowled at like this before, not from a commoner at least. It's amusing.

Mito on the other hand doesn't find it very amusing. Did Cyrus leave his bag behind on purpose? Did Vargas send him to investigate his home? Rude bastard… hmm, no. No that is stupid, Vargas could simply order Mito to draw a full plan of his house, and he would have no choice but to oblige. Right, he is not exactly sure Cyrus saw the stairs anyway.

The horse stomps and threatens to escape from nervousness, it only calms a bit after Mito quietly steps away to the opposing cave wall.

"...Horses don't like me." He admits.

“So it wasn’t the thunder that made it nervous?” Cyrus mocks, tilting his head slightly with raised eyebrows. “Oh well, that’s not the biggest problem at the moment. We need to find a way to get back.”

At that, Mito sends him an unimpressed look. As if Cyrus was hiding that he knew about the stairs, what a rude assumption! Cyrus is an honest man, he would never do such things as sneak around his host’s private corridors or walk uninvited into his bedroom.

Mito's attention shifts away from Cyrus and out into the storm. He quiets, weighing the consequences of heading back through the stairs and exposing his secret entrance if Cyrus really didn't know. A shiver runs down his body, he's getting cold... "Are you willing to keep a secret? You don't look the talkative type." He asks at last.

“It depends,” He shrugs, “I’ll decide after I find out the secret.” He then grabs the bag he left on the floor, making it settle on his shoulder. “But if it gets us out of this cave then I will consider it heavily.”

Mito crosses his arms, dissatisfied. "Try harder.” He says, although it is him who's going to get sick if they stay here for longer..

“What, you want me to beg?” His passive face makes it almost impossible to tell whether he’s joking or not, but Cyrus is having the time of his life. This is the most fun he’s had for days, if not months.

"......" It’s been a while since Mito's had to deal with someone so difficult…. Then, he seems to make a decision, and gives his opponent a victorious smirk. "Alright then, guess I'm not telling you. Have fun waiting the storm out." He turns around and heads straight for the stairs, then pauses, turns around, puts the lantern down on the floor, then turns again to leave.

“You’re leaving the guest’s horse here? No wonder it doesn’t like you.” Cyrus glances at him. So he gave up on keeping that a secret huh? “Ah, you have a separate abode here?”

"That is none of your business. Don't follow me or I'll consider it trespassing." Mito says nonchalantly, tone victorious. "You can use the lantern to get back. If the storm ever lets out that is hehehehe."

“Ah I see. Thank you for the lantern.” Cyrus bows his head and picks it up gracefully, then leans against the cave wall next to the horse, crosses his arms, and relaxes.

"???" When met with no resistance, Yohei found himself utterly confused. He expected him to try to follow him at the very least. He pauses to look back for a second, then disappears up the stairs, leaving Cyrus behind. Not even half the flight later, he comes back, tired of his conscience, and stands on the doorway.

"...........................Come on! Come with me. We still need to look through your belongins."

"Ah but I'm afraid of trespassing..." He pets the horse's fluffy mane without looking back at Mito, teasing the poor man one last time.

"I'll allow it so long as I'm with you. Don't go sneaking into my house in the future..." He can always lock the doors but that limits his options for a quick escape, and it’s just too much trouble. "Oh and if anyone asks, tell them we came in from the kitchen door. And we can't have you being dry, step out for a bit."

"That's unnecessary isn't it? You do have an umbrella on you, despite all its 'flaws." Deliberately going in the rain is something Cyrus is NOT going to do, not in a million years.

"What umbrella? This is but a corpse now. No one will believe that I'm all drenched while you're completely dry. Here,” he extends his arm with the tattered umbrella. Mito has half a mind to shake the umbrella at Cyrus and sprinkle him with the droplets, but he decides not to push his luck too much. “at least get some of the water on yourself. And let’s hurry before they go out looking for us.”

"...I'll simply head straight to the bath instead."

"Miss Konran might still be there, and I still have to change the water... go to one of the guestrooms instead, I'm pretty sure Dimitri is sleeping anyway. I'm most worried about Miss Briony, she is rather.. curious.." He starts climbing the stairs.

"I can tell. But frankly, even if she suspects anything I doubt she'd come to any conclusions." He follows behind, balancing the bag over his shoulder while holding the lantern with the other hand. This is too tight... And the horse...

‘Did YOU come to any conclusions?’ Mito thinks. He doesn't say anything, it’s not like this sneaky prick will give him a real answer. He just keeps on scaling the steps with practiced ease.

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Yohei roll to determine if Briony sees you ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results: “ 13 ”

.

.

.

⋅⋅⊱༻To be continued༺⊰⋅⋅