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 glad for that much, at least. Too many people come here after losing their lives, you know."

[greentara]

Constance looks at him in mild surprise; this did not seem to be the case with most of the people she has met so far. "Oh?"

[vineleaves]

Dionysus nods. “There’s several people here from… the end of their part of their stories, so to say.”

[greentara]

Constance frowns, considering. "Are we so certain it isn't some form of universal afterlife?"

[vineleaves]

"I doubt that, unless someone at the party I was attending before I woke up here secretly knew how to kill a god."

[greentara]

"I suppose so. Just a thought." The idea of an end to her life while walking through the portal in the basement of the building in Savannah is a distant one, as if viewed through a telescope; neither welcome nor unwelcome. She would only hate to have upset Aloysius and been unable to fulfill her promise to Mary.

[vineleaves]

"And, don't worry, there's plenty of people here from distinctly not the end of their stories as well."

[greentara]

"Many seem to have been interrupted mid-task," Constance agrees. She fixes Dionysus with her gaze, returning to their previous topic of discussion. "So you don't believe that I am mad, merely foolhardy."

[vineleaves]

He sighs. "Look, I've lost... a lot of people over the years. I think it's natural, to want a way to bring them back. And if you're presented with what seems like a way to make that happen, it can be incredibly difficult to listen to reason." He thinks of finding Ariadne in Hades, when he went to save the world. Of how suddenly nothing else seemed to matter, other than the idea of staying with her. How it was only through her insistence and level-headedness that he was able to drag himself away from her at all.

"I don't think that what you're describing seems very safe at all, and I worry that, if you do manage to escape from here and have a chance to do it, the only thing that will happen is that you'll both be dead in the end." He reaches up to cup the side of her face. "If that happened, and I found out about it, well -- I'd be pretty inconsolable, you know. As would a lot of people, I'm sure."

[greentara]

Constance pulls back slightly from the hand on her face but she does give him a small smile to help ease any hurt he might feel. That is not her, he must learn. "Doctor Leng is only a man," she tells him, "and, as you presumably know, men are fallible. I also know something that he doesn't so I have the upper hand. However, if it makes you feel better... I promise to not do anything rash without coming to you first."

[vineleaves]

"That does make me feel better," he says with a slight smile. It doesn't make him feel a lot better, but at least she probably won't be in any sort of hurry to put herself in danger.

[greentara]

"I appreciate the worry but I also believe the larger worry at the moment is of him coming here," she tells him. From what she can tell, she is trapped here for the interim.

[vineleaves]

"Ah, yes, that... that is a more immediate concern," he says, looking off to the side. "We've been, ah, mostly lucky here, when it comes to ... people with ill intent arriving." He looks a little upset as he says this. "But we haven't been -- completely free of it, I suppose. There's no use in assuming the mansion spirits are purposefully protecting us from harm. We could try and warn as many people as we can about him so that if he does arrive people will at least know to be wary?" Though that also has him a little... unsure. He doesn't want to start a witch hunt, and what if this sets a bad precedent? This is, for many people, a second chance. Even some people who are undoubtedly villains in their respective stories.

Claudius is a villain. Dionysus is pretty sure Aleksander is a villain where he comes from. Crowley's a demon, that's like a bible villain, right? They're all harmless. Just because Aornis couldn't handle being here doesn't mean they should stop giving everyone a chance to change.

But at the same time... he knows there's got to be some way to protect the people here. If Sweeney Todd showed up tomorrow, Dionysus would be the first person to warn everyone not to let him near their throats. This is someone who has already done real harm to someone here, and might be likely to keep doing harm to others.

[greentara]

Constance can read what he is thinking. "I'm acquainted with a family where nearly every single generation has a bad seed, someone who is maliciously evil with no regard for life. Someone who is sadistic and cruel." It might seem as though she's changing the subject, but she is not.

[vineleaves]

He can tell this is going somewhere, so he waits attentively for her to continue.

[greentara]

"Out of multiple generations, Enoch Leng is the most abhorrent. I will have my revenge one way or another. I don't want him to harm anyone else."

[vineleaves]

"I hope that -- whatever happens, you're alright in the end."

[greentara]

"Thank you. You've been very helpful." He hasn't said anything that Constance doesn't know already; that what she wants to do is a dangerous deed, driven by anger and fueled by revenge, that many have attempted something similar in the past and have only found sorrow in the journey. He has listened and sympathized, however, and that is as much as she can ask for.

[vineleaves]

"I only wish I could do more to help, dear."

[greentara]

She shakes her head. "I am not accustomed to asking for or accepting help -- but you've been an attentive listener. You have done more than enough."