Travelling Chronicles: Chapter 2

**Users Involved:** Justtochi, UltimateDadMight
**Date Started:** September, X943.
**Setting:** Outside of Clover Town (Fiore)
**Characters Involved**:
* Nathaniel Ethan Alandris, Carwyn Abriam, Elysia Alandris

## Friendly Bonding Time

"Say, Carwyn... How about we play twenty questions?"

Nath asked his new travelling partner as they exited Clover Town, now heavily packed with supplies and still as jobless as before. There had been no quests for him to take, and although he felt terrible for leeching off of her, Nath had no choice but to rely some bit on her, considering his own funds had taken a hit and considerably shrunk. If he was lucky, he'd find a mission to do in the next town they'd find their way in, but it could very well be a few or a good dozen kilometers away. So, to spend their time, why not try and learn about each other with a simple game?

And, since he was accustomed to answering such question-based games, it'd leave him some room to think about what laid ahead. He was quite the multi-tasker, to say the truth! Always having a lot to think about did that to a person, he supposed. And he sure had a lot on his mind right now. Sure, having a travelling partner with loads of money had eased his short term worries, but he didn't know which amount she was in possession of, and he wouldn't want her to run herself dry for his sake in one go. He had to keep some insight on the situation and not give himself into mindless joy just yet. After all, he'd be crazy to let his guard down while being homeless.

Winter was still coming, and no amount of money could keep it off. He had to quickly find a decent home to settle in, and one acquired through his own means. Letting someone just give it to him just... felt so *wrong*. He'd never get over having such a huge debt.

Carwyn looked at Nath and tilted her head. If her face didn't show how confused she was, her words would. She didn't really understand. "Questions about what?" She questioned, blinking at him. In all her life, she hadn't really played such a game so she was curious.

The question threw Nath off. When teaching it to him, Elias had told him that the game was known everywhere, and so he had assumed at that time. So, cut short in his line of thinking, he tried to convey her the rules of the game, but it came out flustered and unsure. "Uh, about ourselves... It's- Here, let me explain it to you. Alright." He coughed. "Basically, I'm going to ask you a question about yourself that you'll have to answer truthfully. But you have the right to pass if answering it makes you uncomfortable. But the principle of the game is to get to better know the person, alright? S-So it's kind of up to the one who asks the question to try and judge if the question is too sensitive to ask or not. But at the same time it must go a bit into details? Well, that depends on who plays it..."

He marked a pause to breathe and clear his mind. "Then, after answering me, you'll ask me a question yourself, that I'll have to answer, and so on and so forth. O-Or there's another way to play it that makes one person ask all twenty of their questions in one go, but I prefer the one question at a time version personally. It makes it seem less long... So, you up to it?"

Carwyn listened to him before nodding with a small smile. "yeah! Sounds fun!" She wasn't entirely sure what to make of the game, but it seemed now was a good time to start being open.

"Alright, I guess I'm starting then. I'm gonna start with an easy one, just so you see how it works." He took a deep breath to regain his composure, and set half of his mind to work on something else, letting the other half take part in the game and retain what he'd learn out of it. Partaking in missions had left him with decent gleaning skills, and maybe it was sort of impure to use said skills to pry into Carwyn's life, but wasn't that part of getting to know someone? Or was he doing it all wrong? Nobody ever really stuck around to let him try that technique, so perhaps he had it all backwards...

"Alright, okay. So, what's your favorite color? Oh, and I forgot to tell you that it's better if you don't ask me my own questions back. It kinds of... makes the game explore more of us? If you want, I can answer my own questions as I'm asking them, so you don't have to ask them back to me."

"My favorite color?" She tilted her head, letting out a quiet sigh as she thought about it. "I'm not too sure. I used to wear a lot of purple so I guess my favorite color is purple." She wasn't too sure, since favorite colors were never on her mind.

"Do you have a favorite animal? Maybe one that has a special meaning to you?"

"Hm, let's see..." Nath pondered deeply on the question, trying to figure something out. "Ah, I'd say I like horses? They're fast, pretty and very docile. They can even carry equipment, more than a man on his own. Well, they need their share of special attention, and some races are extremely fragile, with breaking bones being capable to maim them, but they're very practical anyways. Now, let's see..."

He cleared his throat, and the image of apple doughnuts assaulted his mind powerfully, making his stomach growl. He blushed, embarrassed to let his hunger show through and regretting to not having taken any breakfast. Oh well. It's not like he wasn't used to it. He could walk miles on an empty stomach, why would that suddenly change after one night? "Do you happen to have a favorite dish?"

"Not really." She shook her head. "I don't really eat a lot when I'm travelling. I eat small meals unless I haven't eaten in a while. But I don't have a favorite meal. So, let's see...what place do you love most in the world?"

"I see... I hope that we can find your favorite dish together then! Personally, I'd die for some apple doughnuts..." Nath chuckled. "Alright, I'd say it's the orphanage I was raised in. Even if I went through a rough patch there at some point- pre-teen days are so messed up, i swear- I don't think I've ever felt better than there, with all my surrogate siblings and mother. It was such a great place, and I'm glad I was brought there by my biological parents instead of living in the slums."

"Alright, my turn to ask. Hm, I'd say... Since you seemed to live a pretty luxurious life before leaving, what's the most expensive thing you've or someone has ever bought for you?"

"Probably my crown! It's made of pure gold. But close in second is probably my horse, Octavius." She hummed thoughtfully, biting her lip as she remembered riding through the meadows. "What's the single best day on the calendar for you?" She had a guess as to what it would be. Elysia's birthday.

"Hm, that's a tough choice. I'm tempted to say that it's June 21, since it marks the beginning of the summer, which is the easiest season to live when you're always on the road, but it's at a draw with Elysia's birthday on February 27, since it's both a winter day, that I learned to hate, and the day she was brought into the world, albeit... ahem... painfully." Nath then loooked down to meet his daughter's tiny face in her baby carrier, still somewhat grumpy from waking up at dawn, but it quickly broke into a toothy smile, and Nath immediately melted at the barest sight of it, carrying her above his head proudly as he babbled excitedly about her cuteness.

When he was finally calmed down and had let Elysia out of his arms so she could walk by his side, he answered. "Well then I guess it's Elysia's birthday. Nevermind the snow." He looked once again in her direction, amusing himself with how she ran after the summer's last butterflies while laughing whole-heartedly. "Hey, Carwyn, is there someone you'd be willing to die for, or to risk everything to protect, even if you had to face the whole world?" He asked her with a fond smile on his lips.

She looked down, a frown on her face. "There used to be, but he wasn't who he said he was." She muttered, sighing heavily. She shook her head after a moment. "I suppose that would just be myself. I don't really have anyone worth dying to protect."

"What is the most interesting place you've been?"

Nath smiled sadly at her words. He was tempted to ask her about this person, but the subject matter seemed too painful for her to feel comfortable answering, or so he judged it to be. He was dying to ask though, but contained himself, and decided he'd help her enjoy life as well. With so much money and so many things to discover, they had all they needed on their hands. Well, first, he needed to settle down, and maybe they could be neighbours then, so they'd stay friends and show new things to each other. That was it, it'd be his secondary objective once he'd have settled down.

"I haven't really been anywhere interesting, since I've mostly been walking from small town to small town. There was this one city with a gigantic clock that I found very pretty, or some landscapes from the top of mountains that were astounding to see, but it was never something you'd really consider of interest. I don't have an answer for that, sorry."

"Okay, here comes mine. Since you were talking about dates earlier, what's your birthday? The exact date, since it'd like to know. Maybe you're older than me, who knows?"

"It's April 9, X920." She responded quietly, glad he didn't press further. "Where would you spend all your time if you could?"

"Wow, you're actually older than me... Weirdly, I think I would have prefered the contrary. I'm too used to being the oldest it seems." Nath shook his head. "Alright, where I would spend it, huh? Hm, I'd say I'd gladly spend all my time in some beerhall, not particularly to drink but more to speak with people, you see? If I had a home, I'd surely spend a lot of time in it to take care of Elysia, but I'm not really one to stay in the same place without anyone around. One time as a housewife was enough. Or I'd just spend it in some open, communal area. Kinda like a guild, you know?"

"Hm, now it's my turn. Alright. So, you mentionned having brothers yesterday, right? How many siblings do you have? Can you talk a bit about them? Basic stuff like their age, name and what they do in life. Not much, honestly. You don't have to tell me how are the relationships between you all, but you can if you want to."

"I have three siblings. Two brothers and an identical twin." She hummed. "There's Orion who's twenty-nine and Viktor who's twenty-seven. My twin's name is Marwyn. She was born five minutes after I was. She's the baby. We all are in the family business so, quite honestly, they're not that great. But Marwyn is somewhat like me in terms of personality."

"What would be the most fun adventure to go on?"

"Hm, something fun, huh? I kinda forgot what fun was for a long time... That's kinda sad, now that I think about it..." Nath chuckled awkwardly, rubbing a hand against his neck. Then, a flash of brilliance seemed to ignite in his brain and he exclaimed out loud: "Oh! I think I know what would be the most fun! An adventure with a lot of people! Doesn't really matter which one exactly, as long as we all go to places and spend good time with each other! That'd be the funniest thing." he laughed.

"Alright, it's my turn again! You must probably know a lot of good books! So, what's your favorite book genre?"

"Romance. Fantasy, too, but mostly romance." She shrugged lightly, wishing she had brought some books with her. "I don't really read as much as I used to. What question would you like an answer to? Like is there anything that's been left unanswered?"

"Hm, I don't really know." he told her earnestly. "There's a lot of things II could be answering to, like if I ever went fishing, what my own birthday is since I didn't answer it when asking it to you- bah, not like knowing when I'll get older will change anything- or if I have a type- yeah, nevermind, let's just stop there, alright? We're not quite at twenty questions yet, but this game is starting to get a little long and may actually delve into embarrassing territory... What do you say? Maybe we should just talk casually for the rest of the trip, the questions will come naturally..." he blabbered embarrassingly, blushing as he did so.

Carwyn was accustomed to only speaking when she was ready to so she just looked at him oddly. "then I hope you will be prepared to talk. I don't speak much unless I'm ready to." She shrugged, sighing. "I usually like to just watch the scenery around me."

"Haha, don't worry!" Nath laughed, of a booming laugh that shook his slender built tremendously. With how he beamed, he could have rivaled the brightness of the sun at its peak. "I'm often told I speak too much! Well, that's when I can actually speak... Actually, that may explain it. Hm. I never saw it that way- Hey, Elysia, don't run! You'll hurt yourself!" he suddenly cried to the child's attention, that had ran forward as she kept on chasing a butterfly.

Despite her father's efforts at warning, she kept on running playfully, laughing joyfully as she did so. The road was muddy from the previous night's torrential rains and eventually, what was supposed to happen happened. Elysia slipped on the mud and lost her balance, clumsily fell forward and immediately started bawling her heart out upon scrapping her knees and hands. Nath left Carwyn where she was to run to Elysia's aid, immediately taking out a beloved hankerchief – judging by its yellowish color – to clean her while soothing her gently.

"Here, want me to kiss it better?" he told her, before literally covering her in kisses til she started laughing, forgetting to sob for a second. "See? All better. That's why you shouldn't run like that, Elysia. Do you want Daddy to carry you while you get better?"

Tearfully, she nodded and hurled herself in his arms, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. His expression turned soft as he gently stroked her back, before turning back toward Carwyn, chuckling awkwardly. "Sorry about that. So, we were saying?"

Carwyn had her head tilted at him, a small blush on her face. She couldn't help but stare at him in silence for an extra while. She cleared her throat.

"I have no idea."

"Ah. I see. That's too bad." Nath blurted out, not really knowing how to answer her beyond that. From where she had hid her face, Elysia's little voice silently asked: "Twenty questions?" Nath kept on stroking her back, then her hair. "No, we had gotten done doing that. Right, we were about to talk about pretty much anything, right? I may be better at this..."

"Yeah, we can talk about anything and everything as long as we're comfortable with it." She nodded, smiling at him. "I don't really know what I could talk about..."

"Uhh, our love life since you enjoy romance? Wait, no, that's a bad idea... Mine is as empty as one can be, since I've never really been hit on except by the bitch. But let's just forget about that. Yeah." He cleared his throat. "What about we talk about our families more throughoutly. You mentionned siblings, but you ought to have more family members, right?"

She nodded quickly. "The Dimitriov's and the Salvatore's. Stay away from the latter. They're a very scary family. My cousins are weird. The Dimitriov's are the sweetest side of the family and quite literally cannot hurt a fly. My Uncles in that family are so cute! They run the largest chain of sweets shops. That family is the best one."

"I'm glad you have someone like that at least!" Nath smiled. "I don't know much about my biological parents considering they'd only drop by something like once a year or so, but I'm glad that I have adoptive siblings to call my own. We were quite the noisy bunch! There were Suki and Sachi, the twins, Isabella, Emma, Norman and probably the one I got along the best with, Jona." A wistful smile made its way onto his face as he kept on gently stroking Elysia's back.

"Well, his full name's Jonathan, but he would always tell others not to use it. Like I eventually did with this nickname, Nath. It was... short for 'Nathalie'... I think that we got along so well because we were the same, born in the wrong bodies. We would always trade stuff, especially clothes. If you knew how many times we got in trouble because he was wearing my dresses and me his shorts! What a mess it was, haha! Man, makes me wonder what they all became. I sure hope Jona was as lucky as I am... To find himself, I mean. Maybe he's finally a her, who knows..."

Carwyn nodded as she listened to Nath speak. "I had a friend like that. Female to male like you, except he never got the chance to fully transition. He was a great friend though, the only one I really could turn to during that situation..."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" he carefully questionned.

"I had a fiance once. He was like Sabian, except he thought my friend was trying to worm his way into my heart." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "He killed my friend. Brutally, in front of me. My friend didn't die for four hours. He screamed and cried for help, but no one came to help us."

"I'm sorry for your loss." he softly told her, putting his free hand on her shoulder protectively and to provide comfort to her. Nath could only stay silent, and motionned at her to keep going, although his face was clearly speaking of his willingness to let her get away without speaking of the rest of the story. She had trusted him with this, after all, it was only natural that he'd ensure her boundaries were not met if he wanted to built a lasting bond with her, right? He sure knew that Sabian's tyranny had ran across so many of his boundaries, which is why it was an unhealthy relationship, and he'd rather die than become like him.

"I like to say he was worse than Sabian, but I can't really...remember...much. He hit me, a lot. Beat me until I was nearly dead and then he healed me. Only to do it all over again." She sighed quietly, tensing under his touch before slowly relaxing. "I am the meekest of the family. But even I had a breaking point. I don't remember much, just that one moment I was on the floor bleeding and the next, he was dead."

"I see." he nodded solemnly, unable to say much more. He wanted to tighten vigourously the grip on her shoulder with the anger and protectiveness that submerged him, but he decided against it in fear that it'd startle Carwyn. She didn't need him destroying her shoulder out of fury for a dead man. So he only slightly tightened it into a firm but protective grip, that trembled so slightly with anger.

"At least, I'm glad this man is dead and cannot hurt you anymore. The memories may, but you're stronger than them. Now please, always remember that the path toward healing is never a matter of forgiveness, but of closure. You don't have to forgive him for what he did. I didn't go through the exact same thing, but I do know how it feels, and nobody should ever have to feel like that, especially kind people like you, Carwyn."

Elysia, not really understanding what the conversation was about but seeing that Carwyn had gotten all sad, like her Daddy sometimes would, rose from the arms of her father, who struggled to hold her, and planted a kiss of Carwyn's cheek. "Here, I kissed it better! It shouldn't be hurting anymore!"

Carwyn's eyes widened at that before she smiled. "Thank you, Elysia! I feel oh so better now! Are you some kind of magician?" She chuckled lightly, wanting to show the child that she was happy. "Thank you so much for helping me!"

"Maybe I got magic like Daddy except it's healing with kisses!" Elysia blabbered excitedly as she kicked a storm, making it quite hard for her father to keep on holding her. Meanwhile, Nath was feeling quite left out, and awfully down because of Carwyn's lack of response to his great speech, but he sucked it up. It would be quite childish of him to feel bad for not receiving compliments, and Elysia's accomplishments came first.

"Honey, what do you say to someone thanking you?" he asked her, his voice both scolding and amused by the commotion. "You're welcome..." she muttered to Carwyn attention, lightly blushing with a slight smile on her face. Her eyes still spoke of great happiness though. "That's right. Good girl." Nath congratulated her, stroking her baby hair fondly.

Carwyn looked at Nath. "And thank you for what you said. It really means a lot." She smiled at him before sighing softly. She gave him a short, yet meaningful side hug as a thank you. "Enough sadness, then! Did you know that a broken clock is right at least twice a day?"

"Hehe, it was nothing at all..." Nath blushed with a smile, casting his glance aside in embarrassment and joy. He was simply glad that she was smiling again, and gave her the hug back. He then beamed even brighter, rivaling the sun as he replied: "No, in fact, I didn't! Where are you going with that?" he teased her playfully.

Elysia chose this moment to blurt: "You should kiss, like in stories." Nath immediately turned crimson and start rambling in a panic, crying out such things as "what's gotten into you, Elysia!" or "that's not it!" all the while seemingly trying to chop invisible vegetables with his tense hand gestures.

Carwyn turned bright red and she chuckled lightly. "That's...we only just met, Elysia." She turned her gaze away, biting her lip. "Some stories take a while to get to the part where they kiss. It's called plot!"

"Oh? Because when the prince meets the princess in the stories Daddy tells me, they always kiss right away, 'cause it's the end of the story, and he takes the princess with him on adventures. I think. Daddy never told me what's after they meet and marry. Do they go on cool adventures to defeat the bad guys?" Elysia asked curiously. "I think you're meshing up the adventure stories and the fairy tales that I tell you about..." Nath sighed.

"Why wouldn't they be able to be one big story, where the prince and princess go to hunt for dragons for the peace of the whole world? I want a story like that, Daddy! Story, story!" she started screaming while fidgetting tremendously. "Stories are for bed time, Elysia. Why don't you play with Lily for a while?" Nath told her, taking out the pink teddy bear to hold it out at his daughter's small hands' reach. Immediately, she snatched it away to hug it dearly against her little chest, and started telling it stories.

"Sorry, what were you saying about clocks? Where were you going with it?" Nath asked her apologetically.

She raised an eyebrow at him but nodded. "Clocks are pretty great, but I just thought I'd share a fun fact." She shrugged lightly. "The moment called for it."

"Oh, I see." he chuckled, covering his mouth with his hand. "Would you happen to know more? I'm actually not very cultured... Most of what I know, I learned while on the road. How to start a fire, where to find drinkable water, where to set camp to be protected against the wilderness, what is edible or isn't, and so on. I could use to learn more unpractical stuff like geography, history, politics, the currency of money... Stuff that grown men like me are supposed to know... Well, at least I know how to read, so that's one less thing to learn. Sadly I can't really pack books or anything, it's all useless weight compared to actually useful stuff to survive in the wild, like a compass."

"If I was wearing a dress, you'd be surprised about the things one can hide beneath it." She chuckled lightly. "Daggers, books! I once hid a sword but I couldnt sit down at all. It was pretty sucky. As for more fun facts, name a topic and I'll share some facts."

"I'm sure a dress would suit you lovingly!" Nath smiled, albeit somewhat gloomily when he pronounced the next sentence, mind filled with days where he was forced into the forsaken article of clothing against his will. "It'd certainly fit you better than me..." But he tried to focus on the image of the pants he was currently wearing and on his flat, spotless chest to ease his breathing a bit. That pain was still ingrained in his mind.

"Alright, let's see... Do you have any facts on history? No, wait, cooking! I've never tried traditional cooking, as in the one that requires a kitchen to work, so I'm curious what you can tell me about it."

"Nath, anyone can look good in a dress, you just have to find the right kind of dress and color!" She patted his back comfortingly before she let out a sigh. "Historians note that a kitchen is a place of violence ince people get burned, cut, scarred, and surprisingly frozen."

Nath only shot Carwyn a tired look, grabbing a fistful of his shirt where it flattened his chest the most, mouth twisted by discomfort. The bare thought of a dress filled his mind with disgust and all kinds of feelings of *wrongness*, tearing at his bones and flesh and reminding him of every little curve, every little appendage that was here but shouldn't have been. It was the same monster that had slept curled up inside his chest, stealing what little breath he had, whenever he had to deal with someone reminding him he was a *girl*, that he was *supposed* to wear bras, that whatever he thought he was lacking between his legs *wasn't* in fact lacking but the *right* appendage.

It made him *sick*, so sick and twisted, and he hated that. Because when he started feeling that way, everyone could see through him, see through the bright smiles and reassurances and witness the broken mess that lied beyond and would slip through the cracks when his strenght failed him.

(Sometimes, he could even feel *his* hands all over his body again, and could only wait for the terror that would seize him to leave while choking sobs, afraid that the phantom touches would not stroke anymore, but hit and destroy everything in their range if given the chance.

He wasn't there anymore, but still was in a way, like all of the monsters that lived in his flesh and bones. And Nath *hated* that.)

Slowly, he shook his head, trying to force a smile on his lips, that came out as tired as the rest of his soul felt. Tired and heavy. And hungry. He really should have eaten a breakfast. "I see. I sure didn't know that as well! Hey, that reminds me, do you have any good recipes? If I learn about some good ones, maybe I'll be able to become a chief cook! Or simply a dad cook, and open a restaurant!" he joked, chuckling lightly as he tried to forget the dread in his chest.

"I can't cook. I always mess up the recipe and probably set some things on fire." She chuckled lightly, biting her lip when she noticed the tired smile. "I can, however, buy you your very own restaurant. I can be a waitress! It'll be fun! Oh! There's this restaurant in my home town that's been closed for ages! I can get my dad to make sure it doesn't get torn down and we can turn it into a restaurant for you! My twin can cook though, she can give you lessons and..and it'll be so much fun! Your restaurant will be the most famous in all of the world!" Her eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.

"But someday, not today." She shook her head lightly. "Today, we take missions and travel. I promise you, though, you'll get that restaurant if you really want it. Would you wear a cute apron that says kiss the cook? That would be adorable!" She ruffled his hair with a gentle smile.

"Those kind of things exist?!" Nath exclaimed, before loudly exploding in laughter. "All I remember was the old flowery apron my surrogate mom always wore in the kitchen. I've never seen any other kind of apron, so I've always thought these were the only ones around! I'd definitely want one of those when I'll find a suitable place to live. Though I'd really rather buy it myself! I feel like I'd have to repay you all my life otherwise, you know? But I don't mind seeing this home of yours. And the restaurant. I don't really know if I'll be that good, but some lessons sure do sound nice! Especially if they'll be with you."

Apparently thinking there was something embarrassing to the words he had just said, he blushed a deep shade of crimson, yet forced himself to stare Carwyn in the eye to sputter out: "When I'll find a suitable place to live, I'll make sure you're close by. This way, no monster like this man can ever hurt you again. A-And we'll be able to keep on being friends. How does that sound? Is that a promise?"

Her face lit up red and she gulped, but smiled and nodded. "That's a promise! I can't wait for that, Nath." But one thing weighed heavily in her mind. She couldn't honestly be falling for him, they only recently just met!

Nath beamed at her. He couldn't wait!