Open: And they're gonna bend their branches down to lay their fruit upon the ground

[vineleaves]

Dionysus is in a kitchen, apron tied over a purple dress with vine details, singing to himself as he uses a melon baller to scoop out a watermelon. The large bowl next to him is already full of honeydew melon and cantaloupe, and he's got a few other ingredients nearby ready to add in once he's done with the watermelon. Mint leaves, some honey, some lemon juice, and some lime juice.

It has been quite an eventful time lately, but overall his life is pretty great right now.

Comments

[vineleaves]

"I'm doing great! I have to say I almost didn't recognize you without Polly on your arm," he jokes. This honestly says more about how much time Dionysus spends around Apollo than it does how much time Aleksander may or may not be spending with him.

[temnota]

"I thought I ought to let him rest," Aleksander said with as straight a face as he could manage. "He works so hard, you know."

[vineleaves]

"Oh yes, every day's a new challenge for him."

[temnota]

"Truly, it is a wonder he hasn't collapsed from the strain."

[vineleaves]

"He deserves a medal."

[temnota]

"You know, I haven't tried my hand at metalwork yet," Aleksander said thoughtfully. "Making him a medal would be a good opportunity to try something new."

[vineleaves]

"Oh, he would actually adore that," Dionysus says sincerely. "He loves medals. Anything shiny, really, but especially medals."

[temnota]

"It will be good to have something challenging to work on," Aleksander said, already considering several designs. "Would I be wrong in thinking gold is an appropriate metal?"

[vineleaves]

"Oh, gold's by far the best option," he says offhand. "And if you end up having trouble getting the mansion to produce some for you, let me know, I can make the stuff for you."

[temnota]

"You can make gold?" Aleksander raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I didn't know that was part of your portfolio."

[vineleaves]

He would bring up Midas, but A: something tells him Aleksander wouldn't have heard that story anyway, and B: it's incredibly embarrassing, really missed the ball on that one, wow what a goof up huh? so he instead opts for setting the melon baller down, then making a small circle of vines, which then turn gold, and hands it over to Aleksander.

"Taa-daa."

[temnota]

The circlet of vines was as finely wrought as anything a Durast might have crafted though of course, they would have had to have started with the gold already present. Grisha could only manipulate what was already there, not change the nature of things. Well - not without using merzost and as Aleksander was well aware, that had its own set of problems.

"Very beautiful," he said. "I will treasure it - and probably come back to ask you for some help with the gold. I find the Mansion likes to be difficult if I ask it for something."

[vineleaves]

"Oh yeah, no worries at all dear! Gold's easy!"

[temnota]

Aleksander's stomach rumbled and he was reminded of the reason he had come into the kitchen in the first place. "Will I be in your way if I make something to eat?"

[vineleaves]

"Of course not, but what are you in the mood for? I've got a bunch of fruit salad here if you want some of that."

[temnota]

"I would love some," Aleksander answered. He'd thought to see what he could persuade the ice box to give him but this seemed easier and had a much better chance of success. "Thank you."

[vineleaves]

"Yeah, no problem, let me get some for you!" He scoops out a serving into a little bowl and hands it over.

[temnota]

Aleksander took the bowl gratefully and took a bite. He liked fruit and this was some of the sweetest and juiciest fruit he had ever had. "This is wonderful," he praised. "Did you grow these yourself?"

[vineleaves]

"They're from my garden, yeah. Magnus helped grow them though."

[temnota]

"Ah, yes. He has powers related to summer, I think?" Aleksander remembered talking to Magnus in the greenhouse briefly about that but that had been during Dark and the light had both hurt his eyes and given him a terrible headache.

[vineleaves]

"He's got all sorts of powers, but, yeah, summer's one of 'em. He can help plants grow. Incredibly useful for his career as a melon grower."

[temnota]

"It is a very useful skill," Aleksander agreed. He took another bite and sighed happily. "The sweetness is perfect. Was that him, do you think, or is it all you?"

[vineleaves]

“Well, I added a little bit of honey just now, but I think they wouldn’t have ripened so well without Magnus’ help.”

[temnota]

"We are making a very fine community here. When I first arrived, I remember thinking that it would not hold. People were people and we would splinter into factions sooner or later and start fightin for power. I have never been glad to be so wrong," Aleksander said thoughtfully.

[vineleaves]

"I'm sure it helps that there's still relatively few of us." He does wonder what it will be like here in a hundred years. In a thousand years. Will people keep arriving at the same rate? At some point people will probably start having babies here too (as opposed to acquiring babies, via bringing them from other universes as happened with Sunny). The population won't remain small for long. At what point will people begin feeling it necessary to have someone in charge? At what point will the person in charge become someone doing it for the wrong reasons?

He makes a deliberate effort to stop thinking about it.