Unexpected Baggage

"Unexpected Baggage" is a BOTGD 2 Act 1 thread written on June 13, 2019.
==Summary==
Milae, cohabiting with the Warden from another timeline, goes to see Dario before sending the demon back to where she belongs, and her sudden emergence frightens Dario terribly. Milae takes control and explains the full extent of his powers and where the second Warden came from, revealing that he lived with Vox and Dario through nine different timelines for a total of a few decades, and fell in love with Dario over the course of those loops.
==Full Text==
Yun Milae: I really shouldn’t do this. I really should stop off first, I should…I shouldn’t let her around so easily…
You trust me so little? I want a taste of the world that was stolen from me, and I will have it.
Shush. Little wonder why I don’t trust you at all. He stared at the demon seal on the inside of his wrist as he approached the farm, staff in hand like a walking stick. He was getting distracted by her constant wild scrutiny, and also by the fluttering in his chest when he thought about seeing Dario again. He twitched and finally released a bit of his control, shaking his head as his pupils grew razor thin. He felt the Warden crane his neck around, taking in the sky, the dragons flying overhead, inspecting the locals with a hungrily curious mind. No feeding, he chided. 
She growled and roiled over in his mind, and outwardly he felt his lip curl. He clutched back some of his physical control to keep himself from stumbling. Everything is…quite colorful. And clear. It seems too far long ago that the world appeared this way…it is all gone now. She took in more of the scenery. Where is Treepelt?
“Not far, but that encounter would not go well for either of you. She has peace with you here. You would likely break that for her.”
Another growl. Fine. As you say, it will be, O vessel mine.
Dario: “Use the damn cane, boy. Pride is not becoming of you.”
Dario winced as he stepped forward, the apparatus in his left hand mimicking the movement of his right leg. The final blow to his spine the day before had not quite healed as expected, and the balance the deer once knew was out the window for now. The rancher tasked to assist him showed a resounding lack of empathy for the half-breed.
“Sure, sure… because this is just too easy for me…”
He missed the rush of adrenaline he previously had; the only thing that allowed him to bypass the pain shooting in his back. Of course Sylar had to get him in the same point his spine had been severed before.
I am actually going to die of embarrassment. Who would have thought.
Milae: Ohhh, this one here, I recognize this one.
Who are you–no!! Absolutely not!
In a panic, Milae stuffed the Warden away as best as he could upon catching sight of Dario. He stopped in his tracks, took a shaky breath, and hurriedly looked down at himself, brushing the long grass and burrs of his cloak, and swiping the dust out of his mop of fur.
You are revolting. What is this? This is soft. This is weakness.
Will you–stop–talking to me!? he begged her silently. She only answered with something between a noise of disgust and a chuckle.
He gulped and started striding into the farm, his heart in his throat. It lifted his spirits to see the deer already working on recovering.
Dario: Fuck… you… fuck… you… fuck… you…
Each syllable hit on the same beat where Dario was smashing his cane against the ground just outside the dwelling he was inhabiting. The time spent around the more rural folk in this area was corrupting his language, as well as his patience. The cane was unfortunately stronger than he had anticipated, and held up to his physical scrutiny.
“Time to make the best of it, I guess.”
He hobbled to the best of his abilities through a small patch of elongated grass, hoping that any misstep would be softened by the extra padding beneath him. Stop looking at your feet, you ignoramus.
He looked up, locking eyes with an instantly familiar face.
Milae: For some reason, Milae was instantly terrified that Dario would suddenly dislike him, or worse, somehow forgot about him. He was so used to returning to the half-breed over and over again with a clean slate, he’d forgotten how to react when his gaze was full of familiarity instead of polite confusion. The silhouette of the morning sun shining around his antlers and playing on the angles in his face wasn’t helping.
“D-Dario!” Milae called out and raised a hoof and instantly felt stupid. “I’m…I’m back…”
Dario: You lied. That felt like forever.
Dario didn’t seem to notice his sudden increase in speed – his excitement to see Milae far outweighed his physical limitations in that moment. He wasn’t certain if he was remembering differently, or if the tall grass threw off his perception… but it was truly beginning to occur to him how short the goat was.
“…and I’m so thankful for it.”
He approached the goat and strained as best he could to crouch down, bringing in his partner for an embrace he had looked forward to the entire day. It bore an absolutely excruciating twinge in his back, but it mattered not to the half-breed. This was home for him, and he could have remained like that for hours.
Milae: He laughed a bit at the speed Dario ran up to him with, hugging him at the same time as pushing him back a little. “Stop, stop, you are in terrible shape.” He nuzzled Dario’s neck, beaming.
He is not of Odin.
How observant of you.
Dario: Dario relished the moment of Milae’s face against him, giving the goat a swift kiss on the neck.
“Thanks, pal. I figured you’d remind me.”
He wanted to mean that as a joke so badly, but he couldn’t fight off the intrusive thoughts that implied to him that he was somehow… broken, in a way. The two had barely begun this relationship, and there was already a need for him to be assisted.
“You don’t look banged up too much… I take it things are alright? At least, for now?…”
Milae: “Everything is fine, for now.” He looked up at Dario, wishing to be able to support him better. “You will be, too.” He put a hoof against Dario’s cheek and smiled a little sadly. “If I recall, you do well with healing.”
I want to talk to him.
What the Hel!? No! That’s not in the agreement.
Milae had to swallow a physical growl, blinking quickly as though the sun were in his eyes. He wrestled the smile back on his face and said, “Maybe we should find somewhere to rest? I intend to keep my promise, but I won’t monologue standing up.”
Dario: You aren’t being genuine… something is off.
“Yeah, of course. Let’s go inside, I’m sure you’re as tired as I am.”
He placed an arm behind the goat, lightly squeezing his shoulder. He could sense how tense Milae’s posture was, and it only fueled his resolve that not everything was quite right with him. The curiosity of the deer to learn more him continued to linger as a focal point in his mind, but he had to be patient. He was confident that it would come to pass in time.
“I’ll let you lead the way. You’ve probably got the speed on me at this point.”
Milae: “I would never go faster than you could keep up.” He put an arm around Dario’s waist and led him towards an open dragon’s barn that had recently been cleaned, cool with shade and free of the dust from shed scales and ash. “Has the hatchery treated you well?”
I’m warning you. We can talk to a different rebel.
But this one… The Warden drew out the words in an annoyingly long complaint, claws scraping angrily at his essence. He fought to keep his hooves in check. He felt like he was dealing with a petulant child.
Why!?
Dario: “As well as one could hope… given the circumstances.”
As the two entered the barn, he leaned against the closest wall he could find. He back was indicative of an oncoming spasm, and he couldn’t tolerate the pain much longer. He let out a sigh of relief as he no longer needed to bear the brunt of his own weight.
“It’s been a day. You look… good, by the way.” You sound stupid. This isn’t what normal people say. “I mean, you look a lot better than this morning, when you left. You had me worried.”
Milae: “As well as a goat can look?” Milae joked, twitching his ears. But he was still flustered; the type of compliments offered by humans weren’t usually heard by half-breeds. He took Dario by the forearm and gestured at a pile of straw on the ground. “I had…a bit of a break, from a few things. Please, sit. I’ll tell you all about them.” His eyes were shining, despite the bit of mental struggle he was currently facing.
Dario: “Not just any goat can look as good as you.”
Smooth.
He gladly accepted the aid and slowly moved himself into a seated position on the aforementioned straw. The last bit of strain on his back was nearly alleviated, and he could breathe easier. He cradled his head in his hands, feeling his strength slowly dwindle from the journey to the barn, no matter how short it may have been. His stamina hadn’t quite fully recovered.
“Sorry, just… a bit dizzy.” He filled his lungs with the cool air a few times in a reprieve before continuing. “Tell me all about it.”
Milae: “Oh, hey, easy there…” Milae stepped forward, concerned. “Just make sure y–oh shi–!”
Milae tripped over a leftover rake and lost a hold of his staff as his vision roiled with scarlet and black; he thought he had started to faint. He tripped to his knees, his hands landing on either side of Dario’s thighs, and stayed that way for a moment, breathing hard. He shook his head briefly, and then slowly lifted his chin, blinking when he saw Dario’s face just barely in front of his. His pupils had contracted enormously. He gave a bit of a crooked grin.
“Oh. Hello there.”
Dario: What the fu-?!
The deer’s already labored breathing stalled; he instinctively pushed himself back into the wall behind him, regardless of the pain it inflicted. He couldn’t place the familiarity of this situation, but it was anything but foreign. The fear Dario felt practically manifested itself in his chest, unable to decipher what the absolute Hel was happening to his partner.
“Milae, what- who, what is going on?”
Milae: Milae blinked, looking genuinely surprised and a little hurt, and crouched back on his haunches, though rather oddly, with a smooth serpentine motion. He tilted his head to the side and regarded the half-breed.
“He does not seem quite as pleased to see me any longer,” he said with a bit of melancholy, though he retained a bit of a gleam in his eye. “Though I must come to the impeccable conclusion that I was not his to see…”
You’re going to ruin everything!! Milae bashed against the Warden’s control with his own mind. She loosened a bit, reluctantly, but still looked curiously at Dario. He could feel her starving for attention; it had been centuries since she’d had anyone even remotely sentient or non-hostile to talk to.
“Won’t you speak with the Warden?”
Dario: …Warden?!
“Please, tell me what is going on- I don’t even know what is happening right now.”
He stood slowly, holding the wall behind him as best he could to maintain balance. The deer knew the fright on his face was entirely legible to any onlookers, but it was irrelevant to him. He didn’t know what had taken hold of Milae, or who, for that matter.
“What do you want from me?”
Milae: Let…go!!
Milae bashed through and seized control of his extremities; with a gasp, he stumbled backwards and sat on the straw, holding a hoof to his forehead while panting. His eyes, now normal in appearance, looked around wildly and landed on Dario, looking like he was about to bolt, and he immediately felt intensely guilty.
“Oh my gods…I…” He covered his face, trying to shrink into the ground in embarrassment. “Dario, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have taken her with me, I just…was in a hurry…I wanted to see you again…dammit…” He slowly shuffled to his feet and held out his hooves. “It’s me again, I swear. It’s all right.”
Dario: The deer was frozen. He couldn’t move, no matter how much he wanted to believe the words he was hearing. His eyes couldn’t break away from the goat, who seemed to be at least in some semblance of control at this point… but it didn’t help. He fought back tears that inexplicably began welling in his eyes.
I can’t lose him…
He slumped slowly back down onto the straw beneath him. It had already been a stressful few days in his life, and this shifted his mindset south quickly.
“M-milae…”
Milae: The goat cautiously crept forward and knelt beside Dario, hesitantly reaching for one of his hands and resting his hoof on it, afraid to escalate the situation. In his head, he was absolutely raving at the demon sharing his mental space.
What did I tell you!? People aren’t used to you, they’re used to her! I needed you for Rhenco, and that is it, do you understand me!? He didn’t get a very wordy response, more of an amalgamation of disappointment and grumbling.
“Dario, I’m so sorry, I swear I can explain. Are you all right? Do you need anything?” He was desperate to make it up to the deer, but terrified of making things worse.
“I’m- I, uh, I’m-”
He felt like an idiot, stuttering. This wasn’t like him; he knew this was Milae. Though he didn’t know why yet, there was a reason for what had just transpired. He had faced stranger things before; he just needed to breathe.
“Please don’t do that to me… I don’t ever want to think…”
He closed his eyes tightly and let his head fall. He felt so emotionally weak, and embarrassed to have allowed himself to be so frightened in that moment.
Milae: “Gods damn it all, I’m so sorry, Dario…”
He scooted closer, gently pressing his forehead to his partner’s, their noses brushing together. He moved his hand from resting on Dario’s to gently moving up and down his forearm. He almost wished he could drop through another one of Hel’s portals, but he would rather die than leave Dario right now, when he was so vulnerable.
“Tell me if you’re okay, I would not…I would not want to overwhelm you right now.”
Dario: Dario could feel his body become less tense with time, while the gentle touch of Milae began to soften his demeanor. The softness in the goat’s voice was so soothing. He just had to focus on breathing and getting his heart to stop racing…
“I’m… I’m okay.”
He reached up to wipe what residual tears were left, and chuckled softly to himself.
“You… or whoever that was… scared the absolute shit out of me… and you owe me way more than an explanation of just this morning.”
Milae: Milae gathered Dario’s hands in his own and kissed his knuckles, exhaling in a soft, embarrassed laugh. “I know, I know.” He took a deep breath. The ocean of his entire situation stretched out before him, and he had no idea where to start. “Well, first of all…just so you are not too worried…that is the Warden, but…not the Warden you are used to. Not the same one that Treepelt and Vox have as their guardian. She comes from a very…different…difficult…time, a harsh world. She was betrayed. She was abandoned. She was alone, until I found her, and struck a deal with her to assist me.”
He worked his jaw a little, trying to decide how best to break it to his frightened partner. “When I say she is from another time, I mean that…I mean that quite literally, Dario. She does not know the events of the Rebellion or Ragnarok as they happened to you and I. Some things are similar. Some things are very different for her. But…it doesn’t quite matter to anyone we know here.” He pressed a hoof to his chest. “Except me. I am the only one that can travel to another…time like that. As far as I am aware, at least.”
Dario: Time travel.
It almost sounded like a joke to the deer, but Dario knew for a fact that Milae was entirely serious. He couldn’t fathom it, and he needed to know more.
“The Warden… so it’s her, but not… and she’s not from this time… and you… can travel to other times?”
He laughed, realizing how asinine the words leaving his lips sounded. If you had told him this when he was younger, he wouldn’t have believed it – but, the deer had died and come back to life. Nothing was out of the realm of possibility.
“I won’t lie to you, I don’t understand… and I won’t pretend to. I’ll need you to help me understand this better, but Milae…” he held his breath for a split second, “…is that where you go, when you leave? Have you done this before?”
Milae: He nodded slowly, his thumb rubbing mindless circles in Dario’s palm.
“Yes, it is. And I have…I have done this for…so long, Dario.” The weight of his words fell heavy in the air. “I have seen…every outcome of Ragnarok you can think of. I have seen the Rebellion rise a hundred times and fall a hundred more. Hel, I’ve seen worlds where…where half-breeds scorn humans, I’ve seen Aidorin flooded with deep oceans, I’ve seen kingdoms and places and creatures we could never dream of.” He gripped Dario’s hand tightly, looking at him fervently. “But this–right here, what’s happening now–this timeline, this chain of events, is the most important to me. This is where I do my most work.” 
He leaned back a little and tugged his modest tunic over his head, baring the markings on his chest and his arms. He brushed a hoof over them. “It can be…a burden, sometimes,” he said quietly, “but also an enormous blessing.” He swallowed, growing more nervous. 
“Dario, do you remember meeting me at the handcart on the way to Longbrook? Do you remember it being…odd?”
Dario: “Longbrook… yeah, the handcart…” It hit him. “The fruit… you said to me, ‘Here’s to the future’, and…”
His eyes were wet again. Damn it.
“Milae, how did you know I said that? Vox and I were the only ones there that day… in the attic…” He felt the tears running but his voice remained questioning and unwavering. “How could you know?…”
Milae: There was a lump in Milae’s throat. He pushed past it to continue explaining.
“For as many lifetimes that are vastly different than our own…there are thousands that are almost exactly the same…High Central, half-breed persecution, the fallout of Ragnarok…I visit these often, to learn what my next move should be in our present time. When you…” He squeezed Dario’s hands, unable to speak through his emotion for a moment. “When I saw you and Vox coming down the road, I did something I always do, when I meet new people.” He lifted one of his arms to his seal, making it glow strongly. “I travel back in time, to a place where I can introduce myself to them in a different way, and…I speak to them. I learn them. I live with them, and befriend them, for a bit…so that I may come back and know what they need, know who they are.” 
The tears were pouring now. “You were no exception, Dario, but somehow, it was…it was different than anything I’ve ever done. I know everything that happened. I…I know you. And Vox, b-but especially y…I…I went back and…I couldn’t get enough of you.” He was almost babbling now. “I know High Central, the merchant streets you and Vox lived on as children, I remember both your parents, I remember what color flowers little Vox used to pick for his mother on the way home…I remember the fights he picked as well, and the ones you saved him from, and…and then I remember the taunts, I remember the half-breed hunts, I remember the secret spot you two would escape to outside the city walls. I remember your powers. I remember the Mages’ Guild. And then…” He almost couldn’t keep it together any longer. He didn’t want to remember what happened next. He couldn’t bear it.
Dario: The amount of tears falling mattered not at this point. That was an afterthought to everything else running through the deer’s mind. He could see each of these events being described in vivid color, as if he was being made to relive them again. Though his younger years were not easy by any means, some of those days were the ones that he longed for the most… the protection he provided for Vox… the attic… learning to reuse his animation… that fateful day, when they were in the Centre…
He swallowed, trying so desperately not to lose the entirety of his composure. He was already compromised in the eyes of the one being he had grown so closely to, and this was all becoming too heavy for him.
“…then you watched me die.”
Milae: He sucked in a breath, nodding, trying to pull himself together, but Dario’s words conveyed how much he understood, how much was sinking in, and he lost it instead. He leaned his head forwards and pressed the top of it against Dario’s collarbone, and just cried, shoulders heaving, nose running, clutching at his forearms for some kind of support. This wasn’t anything he was able to properly share with anyone, and releasing it unblocked the reservoir of trauma and grief he had built up from so many years of looping, looping, looping, hoping Dario would be more okay the next time around.
Dario: It couldn’t be helped, and Dario somehow knew it. There was no rhyme or reason as to how he should have been able to understand it, but he did.
He pulled Milae up against his body, cradling him tighter than any other living being he had been in contact with before. He held his face firmly against the goat’s, allowing the two to commiserate in emotions that transcended everything the deer could ever know about love. This being had traveled through time, spending a lifetime with him… and he didn’t even know it. 
“I love you, Milae.” He shook with each syllable leaving his mouth, but he didn’t stop. He had known this goat for a lifetime, even if it hadn’t been realized quite yet. There was an unmistakable bond and true love there, and he wasn’t afraid to say it. The past few minutes provided a surprising amount of closure for him.
“You don’t owe me any other explanation until you’re ready. I am so proud of you for telling me.”
He couldn’t keep his lips off of Milae’s face. Each kiss would be followed by a stroke of the goat’s hair, and a soft shushing sound that soothed the two in a moment of true clarity.
Milae: He had never truly felt closer to anyone than Dario in that exact moment in any of the lifetimes he had lived through. He hiccuped into quieter and quieter sobs, burning to be able to speak again; there was still too much more that he didn’t understand.
“I’ve loved you,” Milae sniffed, “I’ve loved you, since I began to understand you, I fell in love…and it wasn’t…until I met you in this time that…you said you loved me back, and…” He laughed, almost too much for how much pain he was currently loosening inside of himself. “I did not…quite know what to do about it at first…” He dug a hand into Dario’s hair at the back of his neck, holding so tightly, afraid he would disappear.
He continued to pull Milae as closely to him as he could, afraid that if he were to let go in any capacity, the half-breed would leave him forever. Irrational fear at best, but still very much real for the deer.
Dario: “Well, you have all the time in the world to decide what to do now. I’m not going anywhere.”
He wiped what tears he could see through his own away from Milae’s eyes, revealing their beautiful hazel glow once more. The conversation had almost unconsciously revealed more of his beauty to Dario than he could have ever anticipated, and it felt like heaven. The dying sunlight barely illuminated the brown fur laid up against him; a mass of sincerity and resolution that survived lifetimes of pain to be with him in this very moment.
“I just… I do need to know something, Milae, if it’s okay.”
Milae: “Anything.” Milae’s eyes were wide and glassy; the feeling of being so physically close to Dario was breathtaking, and emotionally incredibly overwhelming. “I have no more secrets.” He gave him a gentle kiss on the corner of his jaw. “Anything.”
He shuddered at every kiss and movement Milae made. The bond was so natural that he almost wished they would never have to leave where they were in that moment.
“I just need to know, after… you know, everything that happened… was Vox okay?”
Stupid question.
“By that… I mean, I know what happened with the Rebellion… but did he blame himself? For what happened to me?”
Milae: Milae hesitated, his gaze dropping a little. “Ah…that…I do not know if I have an honest answer. The other timelines I visited, of course, he told me what he was thinking…we were best friends after your death, we had to be, it was very difficult…but…I couldn’t say if the Vox we know today would have the same answers as any of the Vox’s I knew. The Vox you know never heard a whisper about me.”
He paused and looked back at Dario, his fur aflame as he realized he’d left out another detail. “I…may have gone through your lives…more than once. In different ways each time. The results of doing so…may skew what I know about things like that.”
Dario: The sudden realization that Milae had not only bore witness to his death once, but on multiple occasions, only brought pity to Dario. He placed the goat’s head in the crook of his neck, rocking ever so slightly back and forth to comfort him.
“I understand… I’m so sorry. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like.”
He felt his back begin to seize up, with the intense emotions beginning to subside just ever so slightly. The pain would continue to grow if they stayed too long, and he just wanted to get back to their cot so that he could properly rest in comfort with partner.
“So, I guess just one more question, then… what are you doing now? What is the endgame with all of this?” He didn’t want to say anything that would give a false impression. “You… you don’t plan on leaving this time for good, do you?”
Milae: “No, no…not when I have you.” He exhaled into Dario’s neck, feeling tired after the stressful events he’d just experienced. “The…this Warden is part of it. I’ve been…watching the rebellion. I’ve been assisting them and protecting them…we had an immediate threat to neutralize.” He gripped Dario’s arm. “My next goal…well, there are many of them. But all I want to do is see the end of Central, and of anything identifying with their poisonous ideals. I have…some difficulties that have come up since, but nothing I can’t handle.”
Dario: “…and you wonder why I worry about you.”
He ran his fingers lightly down the goat’s arm, making mental notes of the scars along the way. 
“Listen, you and I have gone through enough tonight… but now that you’ve told me all of this, I can’t just stay behind and let you fight these battles alone.” He gripped Milae’s arm tight, “You’ve seen some of what I’m capable of doing. I’m rusty, I’ll admit, but I know that I can do more than what most people think I can. I won’t let you leave here without me anymore.”
He turned the goat’s face to meet his, kissing him deeply. It was necessary for the moment, before Milae could refuse his assistance, and the deeper intimacy felt… different, somehow, like it had been forming over the course of a lifetime.
Milae: Milae melted into the kiss, blown away by the depth of Dario’s emotions. The warmth blooming in his chest was conflicting with the cold in his gut.
“Dario, I appreciate it, but…as powerful as I am, I can’t take anyone with me when I switch timelines. We can do our best on the home front, but that’s it.” He ran the tips of his fingers through the fringes of his hair. “I have done this for over a century. I know my limits.”
Dario: “Well, I will take what I can get.”
He pulled Milae in once more for a deep embrace. He just needed a few more moments of physical assurance that this night was in fact real, and that he had finally become truly happy for the first time in nearly a lifetime. The good he had in this instant outweighed the bad of the years that previously took a toll on him, both physically and emotionally.
“I love you, you dumb, strong, handsome goat…” He held his face against Milae’s, feeling the warmth exchange between the two, “…and don’t you ever forget that.”
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Act I
Category:Events
Category:Yun Milae
Category:Dario Hjort
Category:The Pariah