Joseph
**Mikhail Durkhan-Maith
Ostrava, Astoria**

Mikhail listened to her elaborate, and gave a small nod. His back found the stone wall behind him, and he slid down the length of it to take a seat, his knees bent and up to provide a place for him to balance the cup of tea he was nursing. "It wasn't my intention to make you question your life as you know it, Lady." He murmured, his gaze dipping to the dark liquid in his cup. He had taken a sip to find he couldn't taste it, so he was no longer interested in it nor it's contents. 

"Most of the world is full of terrible and cruel monsters. Astoria is really a haven for forgetting about the cruelty of the world outside of it." He told her, tipping the cup a bit to watch the liquid catch the moonlight. "There's still things to fear here, but they're trying their best not to be fearsome."
Karen
**Milena Capell**
**Ostrava Astoria**

Milena watched him sit down on the ground across from her, then looked into her own cup, swirling the contents around. "Well, you know a very wise man once said that it is not death that a person should fear, but not beginning to live. I don't know if I can get over fearing death, but perhaps it's time for me to broaden my horizons a bit. My whole life I've been away from Ostrava maybe six or seven times. I want to see the world. The good, and the bad." 

She paused for a second then laughed to herself. "Although I might just start with the rest of Astoria. I don't quite fancy the thought of terrible and cruel monsters to be honest"
Joseph
**Mikhail Durkhan-Maith
Ostrava, Astoria**

He listened to her speak, and after a moment he set his cup aside, draping his forearm over the tops of his knees. "Death isn't that bad, after it's all said and done." He told her, then paused. "Do you believe in an afterlife? Do you adhere to any gods?" He questioned.
Karen
**Milena Capell** 
**Ostrava, Astoria**

The question caught her by surprise. She wasn't expecting to have to answer such a question. "Oh... Umm." The paused to think for a few seconds. "As for the afterlife. I hope so. It would be quite dreary for death to be the end of it. As for gods... I don't know. We had to get here somehow, I suppose, and it would be comforting to know there's a higher power up there watching over me."
Joseph
**Mikhail Durkhan-Maith
Ostrava, Astoria**

The Prince pressed his lips together, watching as she seemed to search for an answer. He'd experienced an afterlife, but hadn't encountered any kind of proof there had been a pantheon involved in it's creation. But he wasn't going to tell her that, according to Romanov, he hadn't had the same experience. For all he knew, it wasn't a guarantee for anyone. 

"It would be comforting." He agreed. "You're easy to talk to, Milena."
Karen
**Milena Capell**
**Ostrava, Astoria**

She smiled at him. "Thank you. I try to be. You certainly make for interesting conversation, Mikhail. You're a lot more well travelled than I." She set her tea down, then got up and walked over to a shrub of pink hibiscus. She held one tenderly, looking for any bug bites or damage. It seemed alright. "I would love to see the flowers of Zahadra one day. I bet as much love as I put into my garden here, that it does not hold a candle to the Capitol."
Joseph
**Mikhail Durkhan-Maith
Ostrava, Astoria**

She stood, and moved to the flowers before her. Inspecting them, it gave him a change to look over her, and he found a weird lump in his throat at the way her voice softened. It was strange, and he didn't really know where it had come from, but he swallowed it down quickly. "You could visit, it's not that far. If you wanted tomorrow after the market you could return home with me to see the city. I doubt your parents would protest a personal invitation to court from the Prince."
Karen
**Milena Capell**
**Ostrava, Astoria**

Her eyes lit up at his offer to visit, and she twirled around to him, the hem of her dress swirling around her. "Do you mean it?!" She asked very excitedly before regaining her composure. "Umm... I mean... Yes. That sounds very nice, thank you. I'm sure my parents would not object." The prospects at seeing Astoria's Capitol's flowers excited her very much. She had heard talk about their splendor, and had always wanted to see it for herself.