"What the bloody hell was that?" coughed Gerard through a couple dry heaves. "What you do is not like regular travel. I'm old and my body already has a hard time with jumping about as it is." Damien gripped his wrist of his injured arm. A small drop of red plopped onto the stony road they were on. One side was lined with stone houses with angular points tufted with rich tiles. The homes further down were made of brick and Gerard leaned himself onto one of the stony walls.

"Give me your arm," he huffed, working steady breaths into his lungs. Gerard snatched the arm like a parent of a Child who had done something bad. He eased up the sleeve of Damien's collared shirt and poked at the small pieces of metal that headed across his forearm. His skin harbored fissures in between each in-bedded piece which strung together like a web. A couple displayed the faded edges of a lettering that denoted the curve of a 5 or 7.

"Well, I see no blood," sighed Gerard, inspecting the limb by twisting and turning it. "I'd say a precarious surgeon had forgotten how to properly stitch and dress deep wounds."

"I'm not understanding your jest," hissed Damien. "For Christ's sake, that hurts." He pulled his arm to his side away, curling it into his stomach.

"Damien, have you even looked at the damage done?" argued Gerard. "It's a wonder that your arm is still attached to your body."

"It's a wonder I'm still able to travel without needing a fully intact watch," gawked Damien. "Guess that makes me the tick to the tock."

"You've always thought you've been more important than you really are," stated Gerard. "Yet, you've failed to remember the people you are important to. Don't go all Humpty Dumpty on me. Even my abilities wouldn't be enough to paste you back together."

They both sat near a stoned fencing of a subtle, quaint home. The moon was high in the sky allowing it's milky light to stand in the absence of the sun's mellow glow. A huge church imposed before them across from an openly paved courtyard. Its' many high towers carved the moon with each passing moment and shaped the light through architectural crevasses. A horrid painting stenciled the ground surrounding the church like a warped mirror revealing a sibling that hid during the day, only revealing it's true nature in the comfort of the encompassing night.

"So much for my coat," said Damien reaching into the inner pockets of it. He produced a small silver flask with a coat of arms emblazoned upon it's sleeve. "Maybe I should file a complaint with the ministry for worker's compensation. We go through a lot of terrible ordeals that put our health at risk. Iechyd da!"

Damien raised his flask to the moon, swigging a hearty gulp of the contained contents and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He swung the flask to Gerard, holding it in front of him patiently. A smile stained his face and an easiness relaxed his eyes for a moment.

"Oh, fine," sighed Gerard. "It's not as if we have anywhere to be soon."

Both grinned, relaxing from the heat of the liquid they consumed. Lanterns were a glow with flame accenting various wanderers' outlines moving up an down the main streets outlining the church.

"Now that is damn good scotch," grinned Gerard. "Where did you find this?"

"I'm allowed to have my secrets," winked Damien. "I've been trained not to reveal information of a sensitive nature, you know that."

"Secrets," hummed Gerard. "How many of them does it take to build an Empire?"

A soft cry called to the quiet city that lulled their laden eyelids to droop. Damien rubbed his brow looking to the source of where the birds voice came from. A stout owl perched upon an angled rooftop tower with it's head turning left and right.

"Too many," said Damien. "Far too many."

He watched as Gerard gave way to sleep rocking onto and curled his arm around the older man. His weight rocked into the support of Damien's sturdy frame. Soft breaths churned amongst the low cadence of snores beginning to be produced. They were not harsh as some were, but more gentle like that of a beloved grandfather falling soundly into an easy dream.

"Whatever would I do without you?" whispered Damien.