The stars are silent tonight
Silvanus is talking to his husband Bane before his first class tomorrow.
Silvanus said, "I trust that you already have the lesson all planned out?"
Bane mumbled, "The stars are silent tonight, Silv. They have not spoken to me since I agreed to take the job."
Silvanus muttered, "At all?"
Bane shrugged. "It's alright, ignore them. They get jealous when us Centaurs turn our backs on them. It is not a bad omen or anything like that."
Silvanus asked, "Has this happened to you before?"
Bane replied, "Not to me, no. To my brother."
Silvanus frowned. "I never knew that you had a brother, dear."
Bane's face turned grim and he told him, "I don't like to talk about him, that is why. There were dark times between my species and yours, he was killed by your kind."
Silvanus mumbled, "What was his name?"
Bane answered, "Dolphen. His name was Dolphen."
Silvanus hugged him. "It's alright, I understand why you never told me about this before. You were just afraid that I would turn out like the person who killed your brother. I hope that you have come to realise I would never do that to you or the others in your herd?"
Bane nodded. "Our herd."
Silvanus smiled slightly. "Exactly, our herd."