(no subject)

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede comes into the bar dressed in deep midnight blue and stark white, hair tied back and twined with golden ribbon, and moving stiffly, as if suddenly he felt his legitimate age with no explanation. At the bar he lays a hand on the wood and receives a small, fine linen pouch and a handful of bleached white bones, parts of their surfaces coated with lustrous gold.

They're astralagi, jackstones used to play a game older than Ganymede himself; with an easy flick of his hand one of the weird sinuous shapes is tossed into the air, coming back down balanced just below his knuckles on the back of his hand. It's an easy game to play, but hard to master; he has time. He may even be at it for a while between sips of strong, tart cherry juice. It's so much so that it nearly makes his eyes water, and as he hunches over he winces, sitting up straight again.

Suffice it to say he's a little sore.

Comments

[ostro_goth]

"We played that, too," Teja says.

He's a few tables away, eating soup.

[the_cupbearer]

"I got very good at it, once upon a time," Ganymede replies, turning on the barstool slowly. "But it's been quite a few years."

[ostro_goth]

"How many?" Teja asks.

[the_cupbearer]

He chuckles. "About eight hundred since I played with any regularity."

[ostro_goth]

"It is not nearly that much for me, in personal time," Teja says, tilting his head as if in challenge.

[the_cupbearer]

"And so you're asking me to play jackstones with you," Ganymede says, a little unbelieving.

[ostro_goth]

"You make it sound like both an impossible imposition, and an indecent proposal," Teja says, placing his Latin words nicely, and with a smile.

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede shakes his head. "No, not at all. I'm just not used to anyone asking me," he says. "I'll play with you, certainly. If you'll forgive me moving a little slowly."

[ostro_goth]

"I am sure you shall be fast enough for me, in any case," Teja says. "I am but mortal."

[thewidewideworld]

"Ganymede?" Sinric calls softly, coming over to join him. "Are you well, my friend?"

[the_cupbearer]

"I am," Ganymede answers on a soft sigh. "I am merely very tired, and--" he hisses as he straightens up. "Sore."

[thewidewideworld]

"But not in an enjoyable way, I take it?" He asks, clearly concerned.

[the_cupbearer]

"Oh, I enjoyed it," he says. "But he bruises have left me a little stiff." They extend, though unseen, from his shoulders in overlapping striped waves down his back to and around his thighs.

[thewidewideworld]

"Can I be of assistance? A massage perhaps."

[the_cupbearer]

"If you so desire, though I won't make you," Ganymede replies.

[thewidewideworld]

"Ganymede, I know you would never make me. I'm offering because I want to. Because I care."

[the_cupbearer]

"I won't stop you," he says, rolling his ankles an hearing the joints in them pop and crackle at the displacement of synovial fluid.

[onceaviking]

The gilded bones catches Eric's eyes and he sidles closer, curious.

His hair is tousled. His feet are bare. And if he weren't caught up in curious watching, he'd be busy looking awkward.

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede looks up slowly; his back hurts, and is striped with bruises and small cuts besides. The smell of blood close to the surface, over that of his drink, probably reaches Eric.

"...Hello, Eric," he says, taking in the look of the man.

[onceaviking]

Eric looks up, almost guiltily.

"Sorry," he says quickly. "I didn't mean to stare. I just -"

And then his nostrils flare because yes - blood.

[the_cupbearer]

"You just," Ganymede questions, brows lifting. And then he realizes he's never heard Eric apologize.

Ever.

"What's different about you, Eric?"

[onceaviking]

Eric sidles closer.
"Do you know me?" he asks in a low tone of voice.

"I've - I've lost my memories and now I am trapped here."

Forlornly.

[the_cupbearer]

"I do," Ganymede answers, sliding back to make room for the vampire. "I'd say I know you quite intimately." Considering they've slept together several times, and have exchanged blood.

"What do you remember?"

[onceaviking]

"Her eyes. The witch that took my memoeries. Her eyes looked into me. I remember that."

He hesitates.

"And the sea. Sand beneath my feet and sunlight. Glittering on the waves?"

Hesitantly.

[the_cupbearer]

"You are from somewhere near the water, yes," he says. "It would make sense that you'd remember it, though I don't know where exactly your memory comes from."

Ganymede has literally no problem helping him fill it in should the need arise, but until then he'll talk to Eric as normal. "I feel you should know we've slept together more than once, you needn't be so shy around me." He wouldn't call them lovers, precisely, but there's no point in withholding information.