After Setith forbade them from seeing the ruins of Lycaea, Orion decided that the next best place to take Alex was the Tityroi Vineyard, located on the foothills of Mt. Lykaion within the resort. At first, Alex seemed on board with the idea, but he began to feel more and more unsure the closer they got to their destination.
“Orion, I don’t know if this is a good idea…” Alex said nervously as the older man led him up a hill. While part of him was curious about satyrs and how they lived, he was still a bit nervous after what happened with Andrzej on his first day at the resort. Orion just laughed and patted the younger man on his back.
“Stop worrying so much, κουτάβι!” he said. “I know you’ve had a bit of a bad experience with satyrs, but trust me when I say that everything will be fine. While satyrs are ridiculously horny, they respect boundaries. None of them will try and force themselves on you. Trust me. Besides, we’re already here!”
As the two young men reached the top of the hill, a rather large Greek villa came into sight. It was two stories tall with a red tile roof and whitewashed walls. Behind the house were rows and rows of grape trellises that stretched over the vast, open land. Above the front door hung a wooden sign with the words “Tityroi Vineyard” carved into it. However, none of this was what really grabbed Alex’s attention. Standing in between the rows of grape trellises were a large number of satyrs, each one with a rather large basket for them to carry the grapes they picked. Many of them were wearing a hat of some kind to protect themselves from the hot summer sun. While a handful of them wore t-shirts, most of them appeared to be working shirtless, with the females wearing what looked to be sports bras. Orion led Alex towards the villa, opening the front door and holding it open for Alex to walk in.
The entryway was pretty much what Alex would expect from a fancy winery like this one: shelves of wine, various pictures, and a large wooden desk where a receptionist sat to make reservations. Alex peered through a doorway to the rest of the winery and saw various kegs and shelves lining the walls, with a few tables placed nearby for people to have a seat and taste the various wines. It reminded Alex a lot of the wineries that he saw when his family took a trip to Napa Valley when he was much younger. Behind the welcome desk sat a female satyr with long brown hair, olive skin, and emerald green eyes. A small pair of horns poked from underneath her hair on the top of her head, which was what gave her identity as a satyr, or rather, satyress, away. She was busy typing something on a computer, but she quickly turned her attention to Alex and Orion when she noticed that they had entered.
“Oh! Λυπάμαι πολύ!” she said, quickly turning away from the computer and putting on her best customer service smile. “I hope you gentlemen haven’t been waiting very long! Anyways, welcome to Tityroi Vineyards! My name is Eleni. How can I help you two gentlemen today?”
Orion laughed. “Eleni, you can drop the customer service act around me,” he said. The satyr looked rather confused for a second before her eyes widened in realization. “Oh my God! Orion! I didn’t even recognize you! I’m so used to seeing you as a werewolf that I completely forgot what you looked like as a human.”
“It’s fine Eleni,” the white-haired man responded. “I’m just in this form to make my friend here feel a bit more comfortable. Oh, speaking of which…” Orion put his arm around Alex and gently pushed the younger man forward. “This is Alex. He’s a guest at the resort, and he was a bit curious about the vineyard and the satyrs who work here.”
Eleni turned her attention to Alex and gave him a friendly smile. “Χαίρετε Alex! It’s nice to meet you! Orion is an old friend, so any friend of his is a friend of mine!” The satyress extended a hand, which Alex politely shook.
“It’s nice to meet you too Eleni,” Alex responded. “Your vineyard and winery are both beautiful looking. It all reminds me of Napa Valley in my home state of California.”
“Oh, well thank you so much for the compliment!” Eleni said, a bright smile appearing on her face. “Technically the winery and vineyard aren’t mine, they’re my parent’s. And it’s quite ironic that you’re comparing a Greek winery to a winery in Napa Valley, since the wineries and vineyards there attempt to imitate our style of architecture and wine brewing. Of course, you can’t beat the original, and nothing beats wine brewed by satyrs! Speaking of which, would you care to try some?” The young man shook his head. “I’ll pass for now. Thank you for the offer though.”
“Well, if you’d ever like to try some, just let me know, okay?” the satyress said. “Anyways, Orion mentioned that you were curious about satyrs, correct? If you want, I can go and get one of our magical items from the back. The effects only last as long as you wear the item, so you don’t have to worry about any changes being permanent.”
“Changes? Oh, I should have clarified! I’m not curious about satyrs like that. I just have a few questions I wanted to ask.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry, I usually assume when people say they’re ‘curious about satyrs’ that they want to try being a satyr themselves. What kind of questions did you have?”
Alex looked away from Eleni as he scratched the back of his head. “This is a bit of a weird question, and I’m really sorry for asking it after I just met you a few minutes ago, but…uh…satyrs have a high sex drive, right? Like, a really high sex drive?” Much to Alex’s relief, Eleni didn’t seem to think the question was weird or out of place for him to ask. She just laughed for a second before recomposing herself.
“Yes, we satyrs do have a very high libido,” the satyress responded. “We’re a very sexually active species who always look for someone to ‘roll in the hay,’ if you catch my drift. If you come across a satyr, chances are they’ll flirt with you and try and get in your pants, and if you show signs that you’re enjoying yourself, then they’ll take things a bit further. Of course, if you feel uncomfortable at any time, all you have to do is say so, and we’ll respect your wishes. That being said, I’d recommend locking your doors if you don’t want any…uninvited guests in your room.”
“Oh, Alex already knows about that,” Orion chuckled, which made Alex turn and glare daggers at the white-haired man. Eleni laughed a bit as well, though she quickly recomposed herself once again. “Sorry, sorry,” she apologized. “I know it’s rude of me to laugh.
Did they happen to give you their name?”
“Yeah, he did. He said his name was…Andy? I don’t think it was Andy, but it sounded pretty similar to that.”
“Andrzej?” Orion suddenly asked. Alex snapped his finger and pointed at Orion. “Yeah, that was his name. Wait, Orion, do you know him?”
“Yeah, Andrzej and I go way back,” Orion revealed. “He’s Eleni’s twin brother, which is how I know the two of them so well.” Alex looked back at Eleni, shocked by the sudden revelation. Now that Orion pointed out that she and Andrzej were siblings, the young man was beginning to see a lot of similarities between the two satyrs that he hadn’t noticed before. Same shade of brown hair, same emerald green eyes, same olive skin tone…even her face looked like what Alex would imagine a female version of Andrzej looking like.
“God, how did I not notice how similar you and him look?!” Alex asked, feeling rather stupid for not seeing the similarities sooner.
“Most people don’t notice until one of us tells them that we’re twins, so you don’t have to be so hard on yourself,” a familiar, singsong voice said. Alex turned his head towards the source of the voice, and there he was.
Standing under a brick arch was Andrzej, although lacking the chain from his horn to his nose piercing this time. The satyr’s muscular chest was moist with light sweat, presumably since he had been working outside in the vineyard. He strode over towards Alex, his hooves clicking on the hardwood floor with each step he took. When he was less than a foot away, Andrzej stopped, looking Alex up and down, before a smirk appeared on his face.
“You actually came,” he said in a seductive tone. “I’ll be honest: I thought you wouldn’t want to come and play with me. And you brought a friend of mine with you? My my, you must be ένα άτακτο αγόρι.”
Alex shifted uncomfortably, his face now a deep shade of crimson as the satyr flirted with him. Thankfully, Orion seemed to sense the young man’s discomfort and walked up beside him. “Sorry Andrzej, but Alex isn’t really in the mood for anything sexual right now,” Orion said. “He’s still taking everything in.”
“I mean…it’s definitely not a no, and I am a bit curious…” Alex added sheepishly, which made the satyr grin and shrug his shoulders.
“I’ll take what I can get,” Andrzej said. “Well, if you aren’t here for some fun with yours truly, why are you here?”
“Oh, I don’t know βλάκας,” Eleni said sarcastically. “Maybe they came to the winery to buy some wine?”
“Well you don’t know that,” Andrzej retorted. “Maybe they just stopped by to say hello.”
“Actually, yeah, that’s exactly why I brought Alex here,” Orion said. “Well, that, and I did want to buy a bottle of your home brewed white wine.”
“Sure thing!” Eleni replied cheerfully. “Let me run to the cellar and get one for you.” The satyress got up from her chair and walked out from behind the desk towards a small alcove with a set of stairs leading down. As his sister walked into the cellar, Andrzej turned to Orion with a confused look on his face.
“White wine?” he asked. “You usually get red wine. What’s the occasion?”
“It’s the full moon tonight, and if I’m going to be drinking, I don’t want to risk spilling my drink. Red wine and white fur isn’t a good match, you know.” The satyr shrugged as Eleni came back up from the cellar with a bottle of wine in hand. “Here you are Orion!” she said as she handed the bottle over to the white-haired man on the other side of the desk.
“Thanks Eleni. How much do I owe you for this?”
“Just €20!” Orion nodded and opened his wallet, pulling out a €20 bank note and handed it to the satyress, who pressed some buttons on a nearby cash register and put the money away. “Alright, you two are all set!” Eleni said upon looking up from the cash register. “Hope you two have a wonderful evening tonight!”
“Thanks, you two!” Orion said. Alex noticed Orion was leaving and quickly followed suit. Before he walked out the door, he turned to face the two satyrs and smiled.
“It was great meeting you, Eleni,” he said. “And it was nice to see you again, Andrzej. Hope to see you both again soon!”
“Oh, you’ll definitely be seeing more of me!” Andrzej called out as Alex shut the door behind him before quickly jogging over to where Orion was waiting for him.
“Sorry about not mentioning that I wanted to buy wine for tonight,” Orion said as the two of them began walking down the hill back towards the resort. “Since tonight’s the full moon, and you’re going to be here with me, I want everything to be special.”
“Well that’s very nice of you,” Alex replied. “But I don’t need any special treatment, really. I’m no one important.”
“To you, maybe not.” Orion wrapped his free hand around Alex’s shoulder and pulled the younger man closer to him. “But to me, you’re someone important who deserves special treatment.”