forum "This City smells like Smoke and Death" // OxO // Closed

Started July 27, 2020 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

Quinn nodded a little. "Alright. I'm Quinn Careth, by the way." he replied, leading Antonio through the nearly empty streets. He headed towards his house, not looking at Tony.

Antonio followed after him keeping in mind all of the streets. He had some questions and figured he could ask them later, when Quinn wasn't so hostile towards him. At least, he felt Quinn was bing hostile towards him and it made sense that he would be. Of course, he could be wrong about this.

Quinn eventually arrived at a small townhouse, and pulled a key from his pocket, opening the door and letting Tony in. "You can go sit down. I've got to change." he said, heading up a flight of stairs to his bedroom. In the main level was a living room and a kitchen.

"Okay," Antonio nodded slightly as he looked around. He didn't follow after Quinn instead exploring the first floor for a small while. Nothing too intrusive, just enough to get a feel for the place. He sat down on the couch before Quinn came back down finding the place small (he assumed) but decently cozy.

It was indeed a small-ish home; the right size for one or maybe two people, but not for much more than that. After a few minutes, Quinn came down, dressed in a woolen cardigan and long pants.

Antonio looked over at Quinn and bit back his comment. So he could take off the bird mask, that's a good thing. It would be strange to live with a man who always wore a bird mask. He did make a different comment however assuming it was acceptable, "You have nice home."

Quinn raised his eyebrows for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. I do." he adjusted the sleeves of the cardigan, which was a soft cream color, and sat down on the couch. His hair was loose, hanging to his shoulders in pale blonde strands.

Okay, so that might not have been an acceptable commment to make. Antonio was a guest here, and he should try and be a bit more considerate. But what was acceptable to say. He looked nice? True, but also kind of creepy coming from a total stranger. How was the city? Tony could probably guess the answer to that. So he decided to switch back to thanking Quinn, "Thank you again for helping me out."

He nodded a little. "Of course. What do you know about Ceridwen, Tony?" he asked, looking at Tony and raising his eyebrows a little bit. His grey eyes were calm, but serious. Not in a mood for any joking around or guessing games.

"Not much, only a little bit about the plague and the devestation that came after it," Antonio decided to be somewhat honest about his knowledge. Perhaps Quinn could tell him more about this city. That was why he came here in the first place, to learn more about what had happened. Of course, he had said he had family in the are, so who knows how suspicious his lack of knowledge really was.

Quinn snorted a little. "Devastation is one word for it." he replied, looking around the room. On the mantle of the fireplace was a small painting of a family of five; two parents and three children. The oldest of the three children looked like a younger version of Quinn, perhaps 10 or 11 years old.

"Yeah, it definitely is one word for it," Antonio replied a little quieter spotting the photo of the family. He assumed that it was Quinn's family, and given Quinn was the only one in the house. It didn't look well for the rest and honestly was quite sad.

"The damn king won't send anything, so we're on our own here, pretty much." Quinn said suddenly. "I'll try and help you find your family, but don't get your hopes up too high." He shook his head a little bit.

Antonio's initial instinct was to defend his father and his decisions, but decided that might turn his host against him. So he kept his mouth shut on that and instead replied to the second half of that statement, "They weren't very high to begin, but I'll still hold on that there somewhere here."

"They could be dead. I don't know. We burn…so many bodies, and there are always more." He looked exhausted for a moment. Too exhausted for an 18 year old. He shook his head a little bit. "The city is on it's own and…" His mouth tightened in a thin line.

(Hey, out of curiosity, did you look at the Aesthetic board I linked in his profile?)

(Not yet. I can do that now though.)

Antonio felt awful for this kid. He looked far too stressed and tired than any typical kid his age should look. Were there people younger than him doing the same job? Antonio prayed that much wasn't true. He was still breaking down everything he had seen today and how much worse is was than is father described. Surely the king had a reason for not sending aid, "It's awful that no one is sending help, any idea why?"

(alright! You don't have to, I was just curious)

He snorted. "Fuck if I know. Because the city isn't worth it? Because fuck the sick? I don't know. I just know the king is a bastard who doesn't deserve what he's got." His words were bitter and angry, biting.

Antonio had to bite back his retorts. Quinn seemed bitter and angry so any attempts to argue back probably weren't going to go over well. Especially when Antonio's arguments really held nothing to someone who was living through this hell. However he couldn't help himself as he asked, well more like blurted out, "And what about the prince?"

Quinn frowned. "I don't give a damn about the prince. He hasn't, as far as I know, said or done anything about this, but he hasn't hurt the city anymore than it's already hurting." He shrugged his shoulder. "So I don't really care about him. Maybe he'll be better than his father, maybe he won't."

Antonio wasn't exactly happy that was his answer, but it made the most sense. So he was fine with that being his answer and Tony gave a very subtle nod before leaning back into the couch, "That makes sense. I'm sorry, I have no idea where that came from."

Quinn shrugged. "It's fine. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…said what I did. I'm just…tired. It's…all this is…a lot." He rubbed his face with his hands, shaking his head a little bit. "My apologies for going off like that."

"No you're fine," Antonio quickly responded watching him. He felt awful being the prince with his life when there were people like Quinn out suffering like this. It wasn't a new sensation, but it was one he didn't enjoy, "If I was in your position I would do the same thing."

Quinn shrugged. "Yeah. Still. Just…be warned that the king isn't exactly….popular around here." He thought of the efigies that had been burned in the past, and winced slightly.

"Noted," Antonio repleid giving a slight nod once more. If the king wasn't popular, then he probably shouldn't go strutting around his crwon prince status. Which was fine since that wasn't his plan in the first place, "You, uh, checked my wrist before going off on me. Why?"

"To see if you were marked as Immune." he rolled back his left sleeve and showed Tony his inner wrist. "Those of us who are Immune have a brand." It was just a simple "I" within a circle.

"So there are peole immune to the plague? I hadn't heard that before," Antonio admitted seeing the little mark on his wrist. He looked back up at Quinn and asked a question he hoped wasn't too invasive, "How do you figure out whose immune and who isn't?"

Quinn pushed his sleeve back down. "Yes. All the Ravens are Immune. It's…not that common. And it's…not easy to figure out, either." he replied.

"Ravens, the people with the bird masks?" Antonio remembered seeing not only Quinn with the mask but a few others as well. He hadn't made much note of it at first, since he figured that was just how everyone looked in this city, but now it may not be the case.

"Yes." Quinn replied. "We're the…doctors, I suppose. If anyone's a doctor in this hellhole." he let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head a little bit.

"Yeah," Antonio let out an almost sympathetic laugh. He really was starting to feel bad about everything going on in this town, "I'm guessing most of patients have the plague?"