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

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

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.

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Dionysus blinks. He's not sure what he was expecting but it wasn't that. "He has, yes. I'm very fortunate that he trusts me so much." He looks off to the side, his voice growing much more serious than it had been at the start of this conversation. "His last god was ...unkind, if you haven't heard."

Naturally, Lan Wangji has heard, but he won't belabor that point. He doesn't know what Claudius has or has not told any given third party. "You will be kinder to him." It is slightly too heavy with expectation to be a question, although he remains wary enough of offending a god to curtail it from becoming an order.

"I want him to be happy," he says in response. "I want him to know that it's okay to be himself, and feel every emotion he feels. And to be there for him if he needs me."

Lan Wangji nods. A modicum of the tension slips from his shoulders, which of course remain straight and level regardless. He wants Dionysus to understand how important this is -- how Claudius has been hurt, how Claudius went so many years with no one to protect him the way he deserved, how Claudius was small and vulnerable and how he asked an unmoved god to teach him how to be good. How that god was silent and how his brother continued to hurt him anyway. How he came to the mansion and was hurt again, so unjustly that Lan Wangji will never release his anger about what happened. And how Lan Wangji would do anything to defend him now, even if anything meant facing down a god. "Good," he says, instead of any of that, a little tightly. He doesn't need to explain how much Claudius means to him. Dionysus was present at the wedding and must have heard him speaking on it.

"I've known... a lot of people, who've been hurt by that god," Dionysus says, filling the space. "He's a god who likes to take credit for creating wonderful, amazing, beautiful things, and then holds them just out of reach for people. 'No, you can't have this, if you do you're going to be punished forever for it'. And then when people try to get help from him he's -- just silent?" Of course, in Dionysus's universe, this is due to him not even being real in the first place, but there's clearly universes where he is. "Claudius -- he's been so hurt, and he was so incredibly just -- just sad... I want to help him. In whatever way I can, because it's truly not fair what he's been made to suffer through. If that means being his god then that's wonderful, that's the best part of being a god, is getting to help people. But if he decides one day that he just -- y'know, just wants to be a regular friend, then that's great as well. Either way, I want to help him, because I know that I can, and because I know he needs it."

Everything Lan Wangji has heard of this god, every last story, aggravates him beyond reason. What god treats his followers so callously? What god asks such impossible tests of them? Gods can be capricious and unkind, but they don't earn their followers through nothing but acts of malice.

"All right," he says, slightly quieter, still so, so serious. "I needed to be certain. Claudius' trust is precious."

Dionysus smiles. "Of course! He's very fortunate to have a good friend like you. And, ah, if you ever need anything from me as well, don't hesitate to ask. I mean, not, y'know, as a god, or whatever, just as a friend."

Lan Wangji gives him a look of faint surprise, fantastically understated on his features. "Are we friends?" It is a sincere question.

"I mean, I'd like to be?"

That also surprises him, truthfully. "I had never had a friend before I met Claudius," he confesses.

"Whaaaat? Really? Why wouldn't everyone want to be your friend?" Like, yeah, he's a little quiet but a lot of people are quiet...

Frankly, Lan Wangji is growing weary of explaining this lately, but that is not Dionysus' fault specifically, so he makes no indication of that. "I have often been perceived as cold and unapproachable," he says levelly.

"What, because you're quiet? If that's why that's bullshit. I'm sorry, dear."

"And because of my face."

"...What's wrong with your face? You have a beautiful face." Dionysus is a god of Emotions and therefore probably a liiiiittle more in tune with these sorts of things than most people would be¹, but even still, he figures it's not as though Lan Wangji is the only person alive who is more subdued with how he shows things outwardly.

1. Unless it's a situation where it's funnier if he doesn't notice something. He is, of course, from a comedy after all. The rule of funny governs more in his life than not.

Lan Wangji, who is perfectly aware of the beauty of his expressionless face, receives this with some fresh bemusement. He is uncertain whether Dionysus sincerely misunderstands him or whether he is being teased, which is mildly discomfiting.

Apparently, this is pointless to pursue. He thinks of Sagramore, saying, Since when is this thing that's defined me of no consequence to anyone? He spent thirty-six years cold and untouchable. It feels like stepping into the sun after a long winter to meet so many people who seem to take no notice of his demeanor at all, like peering into a brightness he is not sure he likes.

"I am not declining your offer," he says rather than answering the question.

"Oh, wonderful!" Dionysus says at that, sounding for all the world truly delighted.

Everything about Dionysus is utterly opaque to Lan Wangji, but he attempts to take this at face value. "Then my assistance is available to you as well."

“We should definitely hang out some time,” he says, still just as completely excited as he was before.

Lan Wangji, nonplussed by the enthusiasm from the god of wine at the prospect of spending time with someone who almost never drinks alcohol, looks at him. He tries to think of what he does with the few friends he has now. "Do you know weiqi?"

"I do!" he says cheerfully, then pauses and adds, "I'm incredibly terrible at it though."

That doesn't matter. Claudius is far from terrible at this point -- in fact, he is improving admirably -- but he has yet to win a single game against Lan Wangji in all the time they have been playing. "Then we can play. I will teach you more strategy, if you like."

"Oh, that sounds great!" He can't remember, does he like playing weiqi? Hopefully so.

Lan Wangji nods briskly. Naturally, he will not insist on further interrupting Dionysus, who is in the middle of a task. "When you are ready, find me." He is easy to find. He largely does the same thing every day, at the same times.

“Oh yeah, for sure!”

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lightbearinglord - 2024-09-26 12:59 (UTC) - Expand

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