(no subject)

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede crosses the threshold of the bar looking tired, coiling a long length of white satin ribbon around his hand. It goes with the trousers that brush the floor as he walks, heading straight for a seat--booth, table, couch, he really doesn't care--and falling into it.

The only things that keep him from just sleeping there are the dozens of tiny rings pierced through the skin of his arms from shoulder to wrist through which the ribbon had been strung. As soon as he finds the energy to remove them, or the will to care, he'll get started. Until then he'll be drinking.

Comments

[themerlin]

"You look like you could use a drink."

The voice is kind and quiet, gentle in case of frazzled nerves, and Merlin steps to the table, eyes concerned. He wears an outfit that appears as a khaki shirt and cargo pants, with boots, and his staff is close at hand, if leaning against the table on its own.

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede smiles. Or rather, the corners of his mouth tick upward; there's little joy behind the emotion save for the kind that rides along an adrenaline high. "I could," he says, tying the ribbon into a loop and sliding it off his fingers.

"If you have one handy." It's only after speaking that he opens his eyes, lazily tracking up Merlin until Ganymede's looking at his face. "Or a cigarette, either one."

[themerlin]

Merlin flicks a hand and reaches. Out of thin air, and elsewhere, is drawn a tall fluted glass with a golden colored liquid in it, and a second glass, this one with clear liquid. he sets them both before Ganymede. "Whiskey and water." He gestured at each in turn.

"A cigarette depends on what kind you want. There are entirely too many different varieties."

He patronized the bar, normally, but he also believes in expedition. He'll buy more things from Bar later. He spends a metric tonne of money here, anyway. He glanced at the rings.

"That is an odd but intriguing thing."

[the_cupbearer]

"It's adorable how you think I need water," he chuckles. "Oh, mostly anything that contains tobacco."

[themerlin]

"I did not think you needed it, I simply provided it in case you wanted it."

More concentration and a small box of cigarettes arrives, a smooth and quality brand. Then he looks at those rings.

"Are those of some meaning?"

[the_cupbearer]

"They were laced into a design," he says. "But nothing beyond that. Just a play piercing I've yet to take out," Ganymede murmurs, picking up the whiskey glass.

[themerlin]

"Do you wish them out?" Merin nodded, lifting his own glass from... somewhere, and saluting the other being.

[iprotectyou]

Doesn't that hurt? Baze boggles for a few moments until he realizes that, oh, right, this is Ganymede, and pain is rather the point. Baze does not think about sex in connection with the piercings; that's the furthest thought from his mind, replaced by how to approach.

He chooses to go with his standard greeting, and walks up to Ganymede's chair, a staff slung over the Guardian's shoulders.

"Hoi, Ganymede! May the Force of others be with you!" Baze says, beaming. "Are those merely ornamental?"

[the_cupbearer]

To be fair sex really wasn't connected with the piercings directly. It was designed, when complete, to be erotic and alluring, but nothing more. He smiles wanly at Baze, letting his head fall back to look up.

"Hello, Baze," he drawls, stretching lazily. "They are, yes. I just haven't taken them out yet. It takes some time to do alone, and unfortunately I have no current partner here willing to yank them out for me." He may be joking. It's likely the more logical thought that goes into the idea.

[iprotectyou]

Well, Baze doesn't think about sex unless he's reading a romance novel, so even if the piercings were connected with lovemaking, Baze's thoughts still wouldn't go down that road.

As for right now, he blinks at Ganymede. "Er. Yank them out? Won't that leave scars?" he says, trying not to wince, because ow.

[the_cupbearer]

"I don't scar well," he says. "I only have two to speak of. But I was teasing, I'd have them taken out properly."

Ganymede shifts, and the red, mildly irritated dots of skin where each ring enters and exits the skin are till vivid against the tanned skin. "The rings are only designed to be temporary. I may keep them in for a while to have another lacing done, anyway."

[iprotectyou]

"Oh, good," Baze says, and his relief is palpable. "I wouldn't want your arm to get infected in any case."

He cocks his head to the side, examining the rings in closer detail. "What's the purpose of threading a ribbon through them? Just to look pretty?"

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede obliges Baze's examination further by moving his arm so the rings are easier to see. They--fourteen in total down each arm--are all impeccably aligned down the outsides of his arms, carefully away from the elbow joints.

"Has anyone ever told you you're a very sweet man to worry like you do?" Ganymede asks. "They're supposed to look pretty, yes. And to restrict your arm motion. It's a decorative binding."

[runningred]

Jay can't help but admire the effect. "Interesting look." He comments, gesturing towards the bar. "Would you want a drink?"

[the_cupbearer]

"Thank you," he says automatically.

"I'd love one if you're offering," Ganymede says, opening his eyes to find where the voice is coming from.

[runningred]

Jay nods and orders whatever the bar thinks Ganymede would like. "So? Are you at the end of a session or just taking a break for another round?" He offers Ganymede the glass.

[the_cupbearer]

The bar knows Ganymede can drink basically anything, and so he gets a shotglass filled with Atlantean--not something he indulges in often if at all, considering it's one of the few things that will induce drunkenness in him.

Sometimes he needs that.

"My thanks," he murmurs. "Taking a break, I think."

[runningred]

"Looks like a pretty intense session." He inches to touch the rings but doesn't. Too rude without permission.

[the_cupbearer]

"You can touch them," he says. "I don't mind."

[onceaviking]

There's a vampire standing on the corner, looking at him.
At the rings.

Floppy hair, too short, soft track pants. Still memory less.

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede has long been able to feel the weight of eyes on him, and he turns his head slowly to stare back at the vampire.

"Hello, Eric," he says softly.

[onceaviking]

"Does it hurt?"
It's almost a whisper.

Does it bleed?

[the_cupbearer]

"Yes, it hurt to put them in," Ganymede says softly. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

[onceaviking]

Eric steps a little closer, his eyes fixed on the rings.

"Did you put them there yourself?"

[the_cupbearer]

"No, I had help," he says serenely. "Someone with a needle put them in, and then closed them all. There was a ribbon tied through them all earlier, but it's since been taken out."

He laughs, soft and breathy. "I don't mind if you look, Eric. Or if you touch."