The sensation was the same, even if the setting so clearly was not. Their back lay on a familiar, unyielding surface that made no accommodations to their form. Thatā that wasnāt what bothered him. It was the smell, the echo that reverberated the ambiance speaking for itself. Slowly, their eyes opened to the dim view of trees and far off buildings.
Were they back home? The foresting said yes, but the buildings alluded to a lot of renovation over the course of maybe a day.
Slowly, they rose to sit up, and when they noticed the grime of the natural earth that was not the one they had grown so accustomed to, they stood in a flurry.
They stood where they found themselves placed, brushing off the layer of dirt they accumulated while the Minotaur spoke. A defensive glare directed to the creature remained firm on their face throughout. What the hell was this? Or rather, what the hell was that? A freaking bull talking to them?
āā¦Is this for real?ā
That wasnāt rhetorical, but they didnāt wait to receive an answer from any of the nearby students. Everyone seemed just as lostĀ as them, and they could tell already that this was going to lead absolutely nowhere.
They stormed off under some aloof facade in the hopes of it masking the dizziness that this entire scene overwhelmed them with.Ā
Instead, they wandered off to somewhere, anywhere. It was much more calming even if it was not where they needed to be right now. They needed to be talking to people, to gather some sort of information that could be pieced together into coherency about this entire situation.Ā
Which isnāt what you accomplish by standing alone at the edge of the bath. But the steam stuck to their forehead in droplets that melded with the slow presence of sweat surfacing. It was comforting; it was familiar.
They lingered there for a while until they grew impatient in their pose and turned to walk about when they realized that, oh, they werenāt alone at all.Ā
They didnāt hesitate to make that clear when they jumped, but their look of surprise quickly simmered down to disgruntlement.
āOh, shit, uh. Sorry? I thought I was alone since I was kinda standing there like a creepster just looking at the water but uh, yeah. Iām not alone. Obviouslyā¦ā
That sounded so awkward. You knew it sounded so awkward, Tohru.
āBut uh, here to check out the bath? Or something? I think itās onlyĀ theĀ bath too. Dunno if thereās anything else at wherever weāre staying.ā
This was not the bathroom. There were baths, yes, but by the definition of the common man, this was not a bathroom -- there was no toilet, which seemed to have puzzled and halted the creature in their footsteps. Whatā¦ Nowā¦?
Left to lurk in the shadows and attempt to re-strategize where, exactly, the latrines would be found, the towering creature from beforehand was largely silent as the other entered. The air that they gave off was agitated ā not surprising in the slightest, truly. The behavior was only rational, having woken up in such a bizarre place. Temporarily, it seemed as though the obnoxiously large biped would go totally unnoticed by the bathhouseās new occupant. However, Tohru had turned, and made eye contact -- well, contact with where eyes would be, if there were eyes at all.
āYou need not apologize, marked one. The presence of my earthly form proves innocuous to one of your variety, lest the coin of fate is to flip and the stars reach a tilt of despair.ā
The being stepped forward, and offered something of a stunted bow to the other.
āI am called Milan. My first steps upon this earth were taken in the far north, where snow kisses the fingers of the mountains that reach to the heavens above. I am not to fear, as of present.ā
The creature -- Milan, that is -- was standing a few feet from Tohru at present. It was rather hard to say what hen was thinking: hen stood still as a statue, appearing to not even be breathing at times. No expression or emotion passed their sallow face. Hen appeared to be gazing over the surface of the steaming pool in almost contemplation.
Slowly, as though hen was approaching a rabbit or an animal of equal stature, Milan leaned forward and stooped downwards slightly, placing hen at eye level with the glass blower. A soft, deep inhalation was heard, and then hen straightened like a pole. There were a few more moments that passed in silence before the gravelly voice of Milan fell into the air once more.
āThis does appear... To be a place of cleansing, yes. I have yet to prod further into the peculiar circumstance that occupies the indefinite space around us. For naught, I have sought the latrine, but cannot find good fortune awaiting my pursuit. For what do you seek, marked one? A place to gather thoughts in silence -- or a touch of normalcy?ā
