[ For a while, he struggles with his own pride and stubborn nature. It is one thing to admit to needing comfort, and another for someone to offer it even when he doesn't ask for it (no prizes for guessing which he prefers). ]
I think I will close the shop early today. You may visit if you wish.
[Ultimately, the issue isn't whether he needs it or not; it's whether he will accept it. And so she takes that to mean he's open to the notion, making the brief trek to his shop not even a bell later and waving sheepishly as she opens the door. Though, she's carrying a small paper bag...]
Hey... How are you faring? I thought maybe you could use the company. Or I could, if naught else.
[ He is sitting at the counter, looking even more doleful than usual. In his hand he turns over and over a familiar stone: dark purple, bearing the constellation that is his seat's namesake.
Well, former seat now, he supposes.
When she enters, he pockets the stone and slides off his stool, coming out from behind the counter to meet her at the stairs leading to their lodgings on the upper floor. ]
I plan to get immensely drunk, [ he says bluntly. ] If that will bother you then you are free to change your mind and go.
I'm not going out. I have some wine and other native spirits.
[ Including more of what he had liked from their joint drinking session some months ago. But his aim this time isn't to carouse.
He turns and traipses upstairs, wending his way into the kitchen where he plucks out a bottle and two glasses from their respective spots. He doesn't look behind to see if she follows. ]
[But she does follow, quiet as they go up the steps instead. Feeling awkward and out of place, she finds a spot at the opposite side of the table to hover.]
[ He holds her gaze for a few seconds before dropping them to the table. His jaw clenches. Offer? What can she possibly offer in Felih's place? He has always known they would leave him someday, but he had assumed that 'someday' would be old age. Not this. ]
...Comfort.
[ The response is so quiet as to almost be unheard. He pulls out a chair and falls into it heavily, before opening the bottle to pour himself an overly large measure of wine. ]
[ His voice is tight. He doesn't push her away, but he tips the glass back and takes a long draught of wine. Half the contents are gone when he sets it down.
[She lifts her head and squints at him when he levels that at her, unimpressed.]
Ah, forcing an immortal to learn the value of fleeting mortal instants...
[But taking shots at each other over it will hardly help. Reluctantly, she lets go, coming around the side of him and reaching to pour herself some wine too.]
I can't grant you oblivion. I can try to provide support, but you have to want it, or it'll be useless.
[ It is a mark of how depressed he is that he has no rejoinder to her sarcasm. He points a listless finger towards the closed door that hides Felih's room. A room filled to bursting with unusual plants, books, and other keepsakes. ]
[She blinks, taking stock of the small vines from one plant that are trying to slither their way out the door in their slow way. Opening the door yields... well, a lot.
Yes, he won't want for little treasures from Felih, that's for sure. But one problem remains... she yells down the hall from the doorway.]
What are you going to do with it all? The plants could get to be a bit much without someone to tend to them.
[Hades, she imagines, is probably not a nurturing person when it comes to gardening. But that's to say nothing of the odds and ends within along with the plants, various books and trinkets she's sure had a value to Felih that may never be known.]
Gods, Felih, you lived like this?
[Irony coming from the one who will mess multiple rooms of her home up for the purpose of crafts.]
[ This not very loud response as he downs the rest of his wine and goes to pour himself some more. The sour tang of alcohol is, sadly, familiar company. ]
Though I've no idea how much water his plants need. Perhaps I'll simply let them die...
[ His mouth turns down morosely. Yes, let them die like every other finite creature here. ]
[ Just the thought of throwing out Felih's painstakingly cultivated plants has him recoiling and bolting upright. ]
No! He cultivated them for my sake, to produce less pollen...
[ Maybe it's the wine, or maybe it's the memory of making love to Felih whilst surrounded by those very blooms, because he collapses back into his chair with tears running down his cheeks and sobbing he cannot quite muffle. ]
[ Wiping his face, he continues to get morosely drunk. Looks like the bottle is already almost empty. ]
Such is how it always goes. They die and I replace them with another lover... [ He trails off into humourless, self-deprecating laughter. ] What a heartless fiend I am.
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omnicrafter) wrote2020-11-10 05:45 am
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I see.
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I think I will close the shop early today. You may visit if you wish.
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Hey... How are you faring? I thought maybe you could use the company. Or I could, if naught else.
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Well, former seat now, he supposes.
When she enters, he pockets the stone and slides off his stool, coming out from behind the counter to meet her at the stairs leading to their lodgings on the upper floor. ]
I plan to get immensely drunk, [ he says bluntly. ] If that will bother you then you are free to change your mind and go.
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No, but...
["Don't overdo it"? She wonders if it's even worth saying.]
I'll come too. I want to make sure trouble doesn't come find you, even if you don't go looking for it first.
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I'm not going out. I have some wine and other native spirits.
[ Including more of what he had liked from their joint drinking session some months ago. But his aim this time isn't to carouse.
He turns and traipses upstairs, wending his way into the kitchen where he plucks out a bottle and two glasses from their respective spots. He doesn't look behind to see if she follows. ]
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Just how smashed do you plan to get, anyway?
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[ He comes back to the table and places the bottle down with a little more force than necessary. The glasses he sets down with a little more care. ]
So again, if you wish to leave then you had best do so now.
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[She frowns, watching his hands move before meeting his eyes.]
Is there nothing I can offer you in place of that?
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...Comfort.
[ The response is so quiet as to almost be unheard. He pulls out a chair and falls into it heavily, before opening the bottle to pour himself an overly large measure of wine. ]
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Is copious amounts of alcohol going to help with that?
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[ His voice is tight. He doesn't push her away, but he tips the glass back and takes a long draught of wine. Half the contents are gone when he sets it down.
In the bitterest of tones, he adds: ]
Seeing as none of you wish me to die.
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Ah, forcing an immortal to learn the value of fleeting mortal instants...
[But taking shots at each other over it will hardly help. Reluctantly, she lets go, coming around the side of him and reaching to pour herself some wine too.]
I can't grant you oblivion. I can try to provide support, but you have to want it, or it'll be useless.
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I know how brief your moments are. That does not mean I like it.
[ After all, aren't their brief lives but one factor driving him to try and restore the past? ]
...Do as you please, [ he eventually mutters sullenly. ] Only..keep me company..
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[She nods sagely as she says it. It's sarcasm, but also not; he'll never accept it, most likely, but there may be ways to take his mind off of it.]
Did he leave anything behind, if you know?
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Only that.
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Yes, he won't want for little treasures from Felih, that's for sure. But one problem remains... she yells down the hall from the doorway.]
What are you going to do with it all? The plants could get to be a bit much without someone to tend to them.
[Hades, she imagines, is probably not a nurturing person when it comes to gardening. But that's to say nothing of the odds and ends within along with the plants, various books and trinkets she's sure had a value to Felih that may never be known.]
Gods, Felih, you lived like this?
[Irony coming from the one who will mess multiple rooms of her home up for the purpose of crafts.]
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[ This not very loud response as he downs the rest of his wine and goes to pour himself some more. The sour tang of alcohol is, sadly, familiar company. ]
Though I've no idea how much water his plants need. Perhaps I'll simply let them die...
[ His mouth turns down morosely. Yes, let them die like every other finite creature here. ]
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[With a frown, she reaches into Felih's room for the watering can she spies placed on a side table, and brings it to the kitchen to fill it up.]
If you don't want to take care of them, I will. Do I need to spend some time staying here again just to make sure?
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[ He only pauses to eye his glass before taking a long gulp. ]
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[Right? She trails off dubiously.]
Why? Would you prefer to throw them out or shove them onto someone else?
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No! He cultivated them for my sake, to produce less pollen...
[ Maybe it's the wine, or maybe it's the memory of making love to Felih whilst surrounded by those very blooms, because he collapses back into his chair with tears running down his cheeks and sobbing he cannot quite muffle. ]
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[She lets the question hang in the air as she moves away from the door.]
It doesn't have to be a big issue. I can help, too.
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[ Wiping his face, he continues to get morosely drunk. Looks like the bottle is already almost empty. ]
Such is how it always goes. They die and I replace them with another lover... [ He trails off into humourless, self-deprecating laughter. ] What a heartless fiend I am.
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