.:Oh shit it's November:.

[ganymed]

Who ⬤ Ganymede and Co.
What ⬤ You know what.
When ⬤ Nebulous times.
Where ⬤ Fine Wine, ΩQuiet Winter’s Wanderlust, Gany's McMansion, Net Slum, Protected Forbidden Pilgrim
Content Warnings ⬤ mentions of kidnapping, captivity, transphobia, dissociation, existential depression, and probably incoming other cws, lmao

Comments

Fine Wine: Prelude to Chapitre Sombre

[ganymed]

[ Ganymede has been tossing along in his head for awhile now, ever since he had read the letter.

What this means for the future, what Michel had thought all along for the longest time.

He remembers, looking over the network. Getting angry the other thought he had died (why did it matter? but apparently they're all connected more solidly on another side, another world.)

The memory locked in the letter which does not unfurl piece by piece, but feels so real that Michel Bollinger's words would never be a lie. The dour nature of it all despite the hopeful note for him.

(Why can't Michel hold such hope for himself?)

It frustrates him. Aggravates him.

He seeks Fai out, murmuring an ask about joining him for that spot of wine after all. ]

...I read it. It looks like I'll need to share that drink with you. Even though I assumed I wouldn't have to.

[fluorite]

[ Fai is having a glass of wine himself, but he has an empty glass right next to him. So, he goes ahead and pours some of the rosé next to him out for Ganymede. ]

My own letter was difficult to finish, so I had a feeling you would...

[ganymed]

[ Ganymede accepts the glass, hoping to dull the pain somewhat. But also his frustrations, his anger, his sorrow.

Fai concluded correctly. There's even a moment of silence on Ganymede's part, before, after taking a sip, he asks: ]

He's always been thinking of everyone, hasn't he?

[fluorite]

He has.

[ With a small smile, Fai takes a letter out of his pocket and unfolds it, face up, on the table. Ganymede is free to read it if he likes, Fai doesn't mind. ]

He was observant too, whether or not he'd ever admit it.

[ He taps on the paragraph listing all of the traits that made up "Yuui". ]

He wrote an entire paragraph.

[ganymed]

[ Ganymede means to say he doesn't have to, but his eyes, they go to read the paper placed before them.

He's always been a curious person; he doesn't hold back in his questions, so maybe it isn't surprising this is true here. ]

...He always looked down on himself first. But, it's true.

Michel's always the kind of person who could recount much about people, his surroundings, and so many other things.

[ He says softly, and he reads the name, 'Yuui' quietly. ]

Yuui is your real name, then?

Post Battle: Le Crépuscule

[ganymed]

[ Following the battle, Ganymede did not quite have much of an opportunity to get a certain amount of words in before he slipped unconscious; after a trek or return home (in Michel's handsome nerdy arms) to the private area of the McMansion, and adequate rest, dusk leaves before dawn has fallen straight afterwards.

So too does the morning come, as it always does.

Ganymede is the first to stir awake. He double checks that Michel is still with him, asleep beside him...

Pinches himself, once, twice, thrice. Then, he falls back asleep.

When he wakes up again, he ninjas gracefully out of bed, and goes to freshen himself up. Then, he hurries down with some food, to see if he can catch Michel with breakfast in bed; even if he intends on holding a certain kind of discussion with him of great magnitude. He peeks back into their private bedroom. ]

Michel, are you awake?

[userunfriendly]

[ Fragment has completely destroyed Michel's sense of time. Ordinarily, these morning hours would be when he's only just settling down to sleep. But between forgetting that entirely for some weeks, the lingering exhaustion from the fight, the emotional and physical strain, whatever other toll Gorre had taken on his body... he sleeps deeply, not even stirring when Ganymede slips out of bed.

It takes Ganymede's voice to finally rouse him at all. Of course... his first reaction is to squirm a little, reaching for the comforter and slowly pulling it up over his head. So apparently the answer is "not really, not yet."

Give him a second. Or another little nudge. His sleepy brain will catch up eventually. ]

[ganymed]

[ See, this is why Ganymede waited a little, and went back to sleep himself, but even with that all said...he can't stay in bed too long. It's a sense of restlessness that returns even after needing adequate rest.

Unfortunately, he laughs a little when he sees the reaction Michel gives. ]

Someone's a sleepyhead.

[ He places the two plates on a nearby piece of furniture, drawers closed below it, of course.

Then, Ganymede goes to poke at the lump of Michel under the comforter in bed a couple times. ]

Wakey, wakey, I made something for a certain special sleepy knight.

[userunfriendly]

Mngh...

[ How does Ganymede always have so much energy? Even after... what just happened yesterday? The poking produces a little more wiggling, and then a drawn-out sigh as Michel slowly emerges from his blanket cocoon.

Just a little. He only tugs the covers down to his nose at first, his red eyes blinking drowsily and a little unfocused at Ganymede. ]

You should be sleeping, too...

[ At least with the blankets like this he can't be caught blushing for being called something that ridiculous. Probably. ]

[ganymed]

[ It's why he ended up like he did in Michel's arms. The type to run himself with high energy until he doesn't have no more, but this definitely isn't him falsifying it. He is definitely wide awake now.

A distinct contrast to Michel's sleepy bitch disease condition. Even if admittedly Ganymede could do with more shuteye. ]

Why should I be?

[ He comes on over to the bed, and tugs a little at the blanket. Why is he hiding underneath them still... ]

Eisig Ski Lodge: Χειμωνιάτικη χαρά

[ganymed]

[ Well. A lot has happened these past few days, but Ganymede doesn't quite think it is any excuse to delay in having fun spending time with each other.

He's a weenie when it comes to the cold, so for once Ganymede decides to dress up in something that isn't flimsy or revealing. It's something like this, with this too. Yes, with the tights. Imagine that he has cute light blue gloves too so that his delicate hands do not freeze.

The ski lodge area is filled to the brim with snow. He stops before they actually get to lodge, though, kneeling down to begin to pick up packs of snow. ]

...Michel?

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel is a little more resilient to cold, despite his build. But it's also the case that none of his outfits are all that suited for it. He's probably compromised with this, which at least means the snow can't easily soak into his shoes.

He still pauses in bemusement to watch Ganymede where he kneels. ]

Yes...?

[ His sidelong look at Ganymede is gently suspicious. But he won't let that keep him from appreciating the picturesque sight of Ganymede in his bright blue outfit, sunny and warm against the snow. He enjoys the revealing outfits, but this is... a very charming change of pace.

He wonders just a little if Ganymede ever got one of those maid outfits. ]

1/2

[ganymed]

[ Why look at him like that.

Maybe he is posing for a secret camera photo shoot he arranged for them somehow in-game. Totally not anything sus at all!! But, at least they're both somewhat...adequately dressed for the cold? There's that. ]

I was just thinking...about you.

2/2

[ganymed]

[ Then he turns around and tosses some snowballs at Michel, laughing.

Wow, someone sure is mature. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel, who had absolutely correctly parsed this as "I was thinking about pelting you with snowballs," is not exactly surprised by the attack. A snowball thwumps gently into his shoulder and crumbles into powdered snow again as he stares down at it. ]

...Are you certain that's what you want to do?

[ Because on that ominous note, he'll kneel to begin making a counter-snowball. Larger. More menacing. How much snow is Ganymede prepared to get on his pretty little outfit? ]

[ganymed]

[ Wow, that was super ineffective? ...Does that deter him? ]

Yes. I bet I can overwhelm you with a lot of snowballs first!

[ Throws some more snowballs at Michel despite his threat of a Bat King sized snowball (tm), and then he runs away, trying to seek shelter behind the nearest tree. ]

Post-Battle: Twilight of...

[ganymed]

[ Except returning 'home' is still quite a ways off. In both a metaphorical and literal sense.

It's all still concerning, to say the least. This isn't the kind of reaction he expected.

Ganymede pulling along Michel in some manner is definitely happening. He will guide him back to the injury, footsteps steady, one of Michel's hands in his, being the one to lead him all the way. Quiet still because immediate discussion doesn't seem prudent, though he is unwilling to stop nonetheless.

Whatever it takes.

Once they're there, he will help him onto a bed if necessary. ]

...It's been a long fight, hasn't it?

[userunfriendly]

[ It isn't unusual for Michel to be quiet, particularly after one of these battles. But the silence now is empty — not Michel's characteristic awkwardness, but simply an absence. The space where Michel should be, now filled by nothing at all.

He said, didn't he? That he couldn't picture himself any longer. This silhouette is what remains. He lets Ganymede guide him by his good hand, giving no indication that his injuries pain him at all. Orion the pomchi follows faithfully, dogging (hah) their steps and herding them along into the infirmary. ]

I don't... know. I wasn't there. For Kara.

[ganymed]

[ It's easier for Ganymede to tell something is off. There is...also the fact that Kara is dead. No longer with them, as well.

It could be just that. Pain from her dying, though he is more emotionally intelligent to figure that maybe there's something else to it too. Not psychic to know for sure, but amongst his own quiet, having had time to stew in his own thoughts on the loss — even if he was never close to her, it still feels awful. The answer in response cues him that maybe...it's not just that? Or maybe it is. ]

But, you're hurting. What else happened?

[ This way he can ask to see if there was anything else unfortunate about the battle. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ What happened? Is he hurting...?

There is nothing to be hurting over. Michel is here, still, always. The consequences of these battles and his own actions never fall on his shoulders. He lifts them in a shrug; only one moves, he notes distantly. The infirmary will resolve that as well. There is very likely no way to break himself down to his constituent parts enough that they can't be reassembled into a weapon in short order. Even so, he lets Ganymede ease him into the infirmary bed. Resisting here would have no more meaning than it does on the battlefield. ]

We fought... Hien was dead. We killed Skeith. They are gone. Everyone who remaims moves forward.

[ To the next battle, and the next. Is there a point to that? Is this more data for Cubia than simply overriding all of their programming and having them execute each other? Cruelty data shaped Cubia's planning, perhaps. ]

[ganymed]

[ That's definitely not the right kind of response he has been looking for. Then, it occurs to him every fight has a gimmick or two. Not that he knows it as that exact word because he is not a gamer, but he has been observing certain things that can happen adversely to others.

Including, well, getting one's ass kicked, but it's good Michel doesn't resist getting on the bed. He joins him, and even carefully reaches out to slide arms around him, however he can with the little room on the infirmary bed itself. ]

Okay, and when you were fighting Skeith, what happened? Were there any unusual effects? Something that took you by surprise?

[ He's thinking of Uta's battle, in particular, but also — Michel's own, with the doors that opened. Skeith could have had something like that too. Unpleasant reminders. He will go down the list of possible...things to question? He isn't the best at this, but Michel's reaction is far too unusual for him to ignore. ]

Dungeon Run: Protected Forbidden Pilgrim

[ganymed]

[ Dungeon runs, as always, are more or less a bit less for fun these days, even if everyone has done something like do them 'solo' against, perhaps the best of advice.

Whatever the case, Ganymede has started to really hate running dungeons alone. Not to mention, he thinks there's something fun to it, in having someone accompany him. This is why he mentions it right away to Michel.

On their way to the Chaos Gate, his fingers have found Michel's hand, with undeniable ease. ]

This will be our...wait. How many times have we run dungeons again?

[userunfriendly]

...Together? This is our seventh.

[ Not to be deeply strange about it by keeping precise count, or anything. Michel should possibly have made more of a show of considering that before he answered. He looks away to hide his blush and gives Ganymede's hand a little squeeze in return.

He's probably fine to be out of the infirmary for short stretches. And besides... he does not intend for a major battle to be his first testing ground for new armor. So a little leisurely trip like this is important, too. ]

[ganymed]

Seven times...oh, isn't that a lucky number?

[ Ganymede asks, tacking that on and thinking that something good would come from it, naturally. Nyeh.

Anyway, he sees him looking away and wonders if he embarrassed him somehow because why else would he be looking away? Michel's attentive like that and he has got his tiny mannerisms down. Mostly, anyway.

But hey, yay for efficiency and fun times. He decides to put in the keywords, but before they go, he will stand on his tippy toes to give him a cheek kiss on the one facing towards him. ]

[userunfriendly]

Yes, but...

[ Completion and healing, fulfillment and achievement. But Michel does not trust the integrity of his luck. Just saying that makes him shiver a tiny bit. ]

Saying it before we enter seems like asking for a jinx.

[ He'll just lean into the kiss and then give the keywords Ganymede chose a wary look, comparing them against what he knows. It should be... benign enough. ]