Open: it's time now to sing out though the story never ends

[vineleaves]

[This is being posted early, but it is meant to be occurring on the one year anniversary of Dionysus arriving at the mansion.]

There's a room in the mansion Dionysus discovered somewhat recently that is, for lack of anything better to call it, a dance studio. Shiny hardwood floors, one long wall of mirror, the opposite wall featuring a mounted barre. If anyone happens to be walking by it today, the open door might catch their attention, as Dionysus has his cd player set up playing music, which he is dancing to at the moment. He's wearing a pair of gauzy, loose pants that sit low on his hips, complete with a gold belt with dangling chains that serve to help emphasize his movements. His hair is pulled up into a messy bun, finally long enough that he can get all of it up with only a minimum of strands sticking out oddly.

He has been here for a whole year. To be fair, he's only slightly certain he's got the date correct, but even if it hasn't been a full year to the exact minute or whatever, it's close enough. A whole year. A year trapped, held prisoner for some unknown reason, unable to break out, kept away from all of his friends and family. A year in which he has been given the wonderful opportunity to meet people he couldn't possibly imagine living without now, in a place where anything, even stopping death, is possible.

Dionysus is fairly zoned out as he dances, so if anyone decides to duck in and say hello, it might take him a while before he notices.

Comments

[futaille]

"True! Although hopefully mine wouldn't be held together with wax."

[vineleaves]

"And fortunately, my father-in-law isn't around, so you wouldn't need wax wings in the first place."

[futaille]

"Very convenient."

[vineleaves]

Of course, thinking about Daedalus and Minos naturally leads into thinking about Ariadne, which leads him into... other things. "I haven't -- I've not told you what Claudius and I have been working together on, have I?"

Not exactly the romantic anniversary dinner conversation he was anticipating, but he figures he's been putting this off for long enough, any longer would probably be... bad.

[futaille]

"No, you haven't. What's that?"

[vineleaves]

"So -- you remember how when Shen Yuan died they were able to grow a new body to put him in?"

[futaille]

He nods. "Stroke of luck, that."

[vineleaves]

"We've -- we've been working on growing more. So that nobody has to die. Ah-- I mean, if someone doesn't want to be put in one of the new bodies we wouldn't force them, we'll have to figure out what the most efficient and best way to go about keeping track of that is, but -- that's -- that's what we've been up to."

[futaille]

"Oh! That's... That's extraordinary."

[vineleaves]

He is very deliberately not asking Grantaire whether or not he would choose to be put into one of the new bodies. If the answer is 'no', he's not ready for that. "There's a lot of work to be done, of course, but -- it's probably one of the best things I've had the opportunity to help with. Oh, and -- there's more plus sides to the bodies being grown too!"

[futaille]

"What are those?"

[vineleaves]

"They can be used to make a vaccine to protect against Luo Binghe's powers," says Dionysus, who clearly has been incorrectly working under the assumption that Grantaire already knows about all of that this whole time.

[futaille]

"His what now?"

[vineleaves]

"His -- ...Oh." Realization dawns. "Sweetheart, I'm -- I'm sorry, I assumed you knew, this -- happened before I was even here, apparently, I --" He takes a deep breath, to gather himself, and stop rambling. "Claudius told me a while back¹ that apparently Luo Binghe is able to infect people with his blood, and in doing so, he can torture them by causing them to feel intense pain whenever he wants, wherever he is. Claudius knows this, because Luo Binghe did it to him." Dionysus reaches to take Grantaire's hand and squeezes it. "I'm so sorry for not saying anything sooner."


1. How long ago exactly is 'a while back', you might be asking? Shh, ignore that. Not important.

[futaille]

"Oh." He squeezes Dionysus's hand back. "That's... I see."

[vineleaves]

"He's alright now, he's safe. And I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt like that again."

[futaille]

"Good. Sounds like the kind of thing you wouldn't allow anyway."

[vineleaves]

"Of course not! I just -- I want everyone here to be happy, and feel safe. We're small enough in numbers, and everything is provided for us, so there shouldn't be any reason for someone to have to be worried, or live in fear of something. The fact that we've now had two people here who want to hurt others is -- is just so--" He's so angry about it he can't figure out which word he wants to put there.

[futaille]

"It's awful." He pulls Dionysus close and wraps his arms around him. "It's still so much less than there are in the worlds we came from. But it doesn't make it not awful."

[vineleaves]

Dionysus wraps his arms around Grantaire as well, holding him tight. "So I'm -- I'm really glad that we're going to be able to grow more plant bodies. In the meantime, please -- please keep yourself safe, if you come across him. Don't eat anything he gives you."

[futaille]

"Of course. We've barely spoken, really, so I don't know that it will be that much of an issue, but I'll keep it in mind anyway."

[vineleaves]

"I've barely spoken to him myself, and -- honestly, I haven't even seen him since I found all of this out." Not that he necessarily wants to start a fight -- historically speaking, that kind of thing tends not to turn out well for people he cares about, but -- at the same time, there's a whole swarm of things he really wants and needs to say to Luo Binghe, and it almost feels intentional at this point that he hasn't even stumbled across him, given they live in the same building.

[futaille]

"I'm sure you will eventually. For now, though, think of happier things."

[vineleaves]

"Yeah. Sorry, for -- for bringing all of this up while we're supposed to be having a date."

[futaille]

"Don't apologize. It's all right."