open: don't let the wine go to your brains

[untamedantinous]

It shouldn’t be this hard to prepare for a meeting. He’s done it countless times before. However, this time, it somehow is difficult. He’s never really had to set things up at times like this; and he knows as well as anyone else that he is not the best at social niceties. Granted, this meeting is in a much more well-appointed cafe than any he had ever been accustomed to holding space in in Paris. At least they have the benefit of a larger space. Consequently, Enjolras has spent much of the day of the eighth of Menestheus preparing, a little uncertain of how to plan a social gathering that is not immediately centered around planning a revolution. He is trying his best, at least.

Most of the tables and chairs have been pushed a bit more to the center of the room; the couch is arranged off to the opposite side. There are even various pillows scattered about, should anyone choose to sit on the floor. Arranged on a few of the larger tables and the counter there is a modest spread of food: of course, some of Laertes and Galahad’s pastries; but Enjolras has also procured what amounts to a few charcuterie platters: sliced sausages and meats, a selection of (mostly French) cheese, and various sliced loaves of bread and crackers are laid out for perusal, and spreads to go along with them. In an effort to provide multiple options of entertainment, Grantaire has set up a table somewhat near the food, with an assortment of wines and liqueurs. Off to one side, there are a few pots of brewed coffee, cream, sugar, and whatever else anyone might like to add to their beverage of choice. If anyone is drawn to the liquor cabinet, they will find three cups filled with various pieces of paper sitting atop it.

Enjolras himself is lingering on the couch with a glass of wine and some bread. He’s not sure how many people were even informed about this gathering, though he had done his best to advertise. If no one arrives then perhaps he will try again another time; but at least a few in attendance other than himself and Grantaire would certainly be welcome.

Comments

[timebethine]

"Sir!" says Laertes with a slightly incredulous laugh. "Are you flirting with me?"

[vineleaves]

“Not if you don’t want me to be,” he says, a little apologetically. There might even be a bit of a blush on his cheeks, though that could also be the alcohol. Hard to tell.

[timebethine]

"Sir," says Laertes again, and this time there's a laughing look in his eyes. "The attention of a god is a high honor--but a dangerous one, too, if the plays tell me aright."

[vineleaves]

“I like to think I’m a nicer person than how I’ve often been written.”

[timebethine]

"I know not how I was written," says Laertes, with a light air of challenge. "Am I nicer? Or worse?"

[vineleaves]

Oh no. No no no no no noooooo no no nooo nope nuh uh nope no thank you no. He can practically hear alarms going off in his mind, even through the slight buzz of the wine he has consumed.

“Well, ah,” Zeus help him get through this. “Granted we have just met, but I’d say you seem more or less as I would have expected. There are normally very sweet actors cast in your role.”

Maybe the compliment will deflect. He got out of the prophecy business long ago.

[timebethine]

"Ah," says Laertes. It makes sense--the better to make the audience feel for him, upon his inevitable death.

Setting that subject very deliberately aside, he asks, "Have you made friends here?"

[vineleaves]

Thank heavens. Dionysus makes a mental note to find something to offer up to his father for helping get through that.

"I certainly have! Grantaire has been a better friend than I could have ever asked for, but there have been so many others who I've met so far, and most of them have all been quite friendly."

[timebethine]

"Ay, it's a friendly place, with much employment for a ready mind," says Laertes, who has never once found it boring here. "Have a care, though; with much time for thought comes much time for reflection. If there are sorrows in your past, you will have time to meet them."

[vineleaves]

“Well we should all look on the bright side in that case, it’s cheaper than paying for therapy.”

[timebethine]

Laertes has heard the term therapy from Magnus, but magnus says a lot of things that he doesn't particularly understand, and Laertes has more or less learned to roll with it. Dionysus, he thinks, may have new insight on a form of catharsis that is neither dramatic nor induced by a tonic. "What is therapy?" Laertes asks.

[vineleaves]

What is therapy asks Laertes from Hamlet. What is therapy indeed. Dionysus isn't so heartless as to laugh, but there's a small part of him that can appreciate the absurdity of this entire conversation.

"It... well, it can be a lot of things. There's physical therapy, so doing stretches and such when you've suffered an injury, to help it heal. There's also therapy to help with emotional conditions. Ahhhh, in the future from your time, it's a big thing. If you've had something traumatic happen and need to talk to someone to get your feelings out, or maybe advice on how to cope with things, there's -- sort of like going to a doctor? A professional you'd meet with, to sort of just chat."

Can you tell he's also never actually been himself?

[timebethine]

"Must it be a professional? Well I know that there is little to distinguish between a physician and a mountebank but the price."

[vineleaves]

Dionysus shrugs. "There's something to be said for confiding in a friend, that often helps too. I think the benefit of it being a professional is that first off, they're less likely to steer you in a... less than healthy direction, when you need advice. And secondly, if it's someone removed from your personal life you might be more inclined to speak openly."

[timebethine]

That much, at least, Laertes understands all too well. He tries to imagine confiding his deepest fears and insecurities to Ophelia--let alone to his father--and his mind rebels at it. Ophelia has burdens enough, and he knows full well that his father would have a great store of (often contradictory) advice that would bring him no ease. The mere act of needing something from them is horrifying. Repulsive.

"I see why such people are needful," he says, after a long moment. "Self-reflection can lead one down well-trodden paths, but seldom blaze new ones."

[vineleaves]

"It's useful, for certain."

[timebethine]

"Forgive me," Laertes says, with a wry look. "It seems I cannot meet a new friend without turning the conversation toward grim subjects. I swear to you, I am capable of other passions."

[vineleaves]

"Oh, psh, don't worry about it! Comedy and tragedy are equally important if you ask me. But if you want we can switch gears! I know you've read Euripides, what other sorts of plays are you a fan of?"

[timebethine]

"I've read so many," says Laertes with a laugh. "Aristophanes, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Plautus, Terence, Seneca--and some few of mine own time, too, although they tended toward the same themes."

[vineleaves]

"So well read I could almost die! And the classics!" There's some part of him that knows he's maybe overreacting, but he can't help it. He gets so excited whenever meeting what he would consider a kindred spirit in this manner. "Would you be interested in any recommendations of playwrights from past your time? I think you'd like Shaw -- granted I think most people would like Shaw, the man was truly gifted. A bit of an -- please pardon my expression -- a bit of an asshole on a personal level, but meeting him did nothing to make me like his writing any less. What are your thoughts on musicals?"

[timebethine]

"... musicals? I like music well," says Laertes.

[vineleaves]

"It's a play where the dialogue stops and the plot is conveyed through song."

[timebethine]

A memory sparks. "I've heard that The Lion King is a musical," he offers.

[vineleaves]

He's ever so thankful he wasn't taking a sip of his drink at that moment, because he definitely would have choked. "Who told you about The Lion King?!"

[timebethine]

"Several people," says Laertes. "Shen Yuan most prominent among them--and someone told Claudius, who spoke on it with me."