milliways_bar | (no subject)

It's a strange sight for Lohengrin, who looked up towards the door when Michael entered. Not strange the way Milliways is strange but in the way that it's so normal. So much like home. So much like his father when he was wound up.

(He wonders if he could write to his father. It would be better not to, he's certain, but this provokes a strong yet thankfully fleeting desire to do so.)

Should Michael look towards Lohengrin, sitting only a couple of stools away, he'll get a sympathetic nod of acknowledgement from the younger man.

Michael does look up at some point, offering Lohengrin a nod and a half-smile in return, and he straightens on his stool.

The Knight half-smiles back, knowing how difficult even that small act can be when times are rough. Especially when he knows times for himself are only going to get rougher.

A small bit of instruction to the Bar later and, whatever drink Michael may order, the first one's on Lohengrin. It's the only thing he could think of that is a kindness without most people seeing it as charity.

A beer of his favourite brand appears before Michael even ordered it, and he blinks, then lays a grateful hand on the Bar. When a napkin follows, he blinks again then glances over at the young man.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

And then, with a half-shrug, "There are always days harder than others."

"And some are very hard indeed." He turns fully to face Lohengrin. "Michael Carpenter."

The hardest days have yet to come to the Knight, which is probably why he's still able to smile relatively easy.

And it's still a little strange to introduce himself, even though he's learned by now that the swan will not come here.

"I am Lohengrin."

"Pleased to meet you, Lohengrin", he says sincerely. "I don't think I've seen you here before."

"And you, Michael," he replies, offering a hand to shake. "And I'm still very new here. In fact, I seem to be very new everywhere I've been staying lately."

He leans over to shake the younger man's hand firmly, bracing himself with his cane.

"You've been travelling a lot, then?"

"I have as of late, though I will have a more permanent place to stay when I return to my world."

There's some hesitation as he says that. He has no reason to doubt the truth of it but the idea of many different worlds is still quite boggling.

"It was during this travelling that I came upon Milliways and all of its oddities."

"That's good", he says warmly. "Everyone should have a place to call home. And let me guess... you opened a door, perhaps to one more inn along the road, and found this inn instead?"

"Almost just like that. I came here on horseback and somehow she brought me to the grounds outside instead of where we were before. I saw this place and the stables and, at the time, thought we could both do with a rest."

Lohengrin looks to his cup, his vice of choice being coffee.

"It's a place to stay but it's not home. When I return, it will be to a neighboring kingdom and my work there."

Michael nods.

"It might be a rest is exactly why you were brought here at the time. Or, of course, it might have been something else entirely, there's no telling. May I ask about your work?"

Likely something else entirely since he only just started the job. But then, his work isn't exactly something done in shifts and the threat he's facing is one that has been around for ages.

"I am a knight."

"Oh?" He raises his eyebrows questioningly. "Under which lord?"

That is met with hesitation. How many of the rules have followed him to Milliways and how many have been left behind? He can say his name freely here but...

"Where I am when I return, my connection to my liege can compromise my work," he explains. "Just being asked my name there will mean being called back home, something that apparently doesn't apply to me in Milliways. But, for the time being, I'm serving King Heinrich's family."

"Most rules from home don't apply in Milliways", Michael agrees. "But I understand not wanting to take the risk. I belonged to a very small order of knights myself."

"Thank you for your understanding," he says, relieved. "And you as well?"

"I served the Lord God", Michael tells him, "until circumstances forced my retirement. My house and those in it still enjoy His protection."

"I see," he says, nodding.

That's an entirely different level of knight to him, one Lohengrin appreciates and admires.

"And how do you spend your days now, Sir Michael?"

"Making things", he says with a smile. "Houses for other people, to earn my living, and smaller projects for my own enjoyment."

It's very fitting. Sir Michael doesn't seem the sort to stay idle.

But Lohengrin isn't all that great at small talk and isn't sure what else to bring up.

He covers this up with an appropriately-timed sip of coffee.

"And my children, of course", Michael adds. "Most of them are still young enough to need their father's time."

Ah, children. The Knight can't relate to being a parent but he remembers what it was like being a little brat.

"Any of them interested in following in their father's footsteps?"