✘ calix meus inebrians

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[At the Astral Bar, Sebastian has lined up a number of alcoholic drinks in glasses. He is currently straightening them out so they are in a proper line.]

[It is an absurd act of orderliness in the face of future drunkenness. His teddy bear sits on the bar beside the last glass.]

And I don't even know what you are... Oh, Aloysius, if only Charles were here, I would not get into such trouble as taking advantage of this bar shall lead me to do.

[nudging a glass into place]

Or at least he would share half the drinks with me so I would only get half as inebriated. I think that counts for something. But there are drinks to test and and tastes to discover! Science, poetry, and cartography must go on, even in the absence of dear friends.

[and so Sebastian drinks from his first glass]

Comments

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

I suppose mummy would be cross with me if if I took the fountain here and put it in the hot springs.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

Why would you wish to put a fountain in the hot springs?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

To swim in warm water, of course.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

...You can swim in your fountain? Why would you want to? Aren't pools, lakes, oceans, even ponds, for such a purpose?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[as if this explains it] The fountain is from Italy. We do have some lakes at Brideshead, but they're further away and at times the birds can be quite territorial. So the fountain is the easiest place to swim.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

Is it? To me, it seems that it is improperly used. A fountain is a fountain; something to be looked at and admired for the artistry and craftsmanship put into such a feature. Not to be used as a swimming pool.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear, you're even worse than Charles's Mr Collins. What if it makes me happy to swim in it? Isn't that enough?

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

Happy? Well, far be it from me to get in the way of someone's happiness. You humans will do whatever you like anyhow.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Not all of us. Some of us are quite rigid. I feel awful for them. All they care for are the rules.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

[thoughtfully] Well, there isn't anything completely wrong with rules...though they can get extremely out of hand and ridiculous.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Practically all the time, you mean. I don't know why we have them. I suppose that makes me an anarchist, but I don't think I'd be a very good one. Politics isn't a strong point of mine. I wonder if the Russians are very happy.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

An anarchist? Oh hardly. You're nowhere close to being one. [thinks of the Free Time people and shudders]

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Oh. [he looks a bit put out by this] Well, I've a few years left to me to decide what I am. Socialism is quite out of the question. Maybe I won't have a political view. It would save me a great deal of effort, I think.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, it probably would. Politics can get quite tiresome and the majority of a conversation is wasted complaining and arguing over who is more right than the other.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Sounds like academia.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

[he glances at Sebastian then begins to chuckle] You're correct. I myself wasted several hours arguing over--well, that's not important now. [just shakes his head, amused, and reaches for the nearest glass, nearly draining it all]

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[Sebastian looks at Straxus curiously, drawing his feet up onto the chair to sit in a decidedly less sophisticated way] Over what?

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

[a little embarrassed now] Really, it was something extremely silly...

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[this fails to throw him off] Yes?

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

You must understand, we were young. And youth is nothing but ignorant at the best of times... [and now he's just stalling, so he swallows the rest of his drink, setting the empty glass down] We argued over the merits of belonging to certain chapter houses and whether the Prydons received the most preferential treatment than all the rest. I argued that it only seemed that way because the Prydonians, collectively, have the biggest mouths and never know when to be quiet.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

That's not so bad! [he's smiling widely] Whoever a Prydonian is, he probably deserves it. It seems odd to give different treatment depending on one's chapter house. I don't even bother going to any.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

[bitterly] The Prydonians don't deserve everything they get. That chapter house produces the most renegade Time Lords who merely throw all that special treatment back in the faces of those who gave it to them in the first place.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

They're exiled by the end of it, so they're not that well-treated. Perhaps that's the reason they renege. Not that they're spoiled, I mean, but that they get the best of everything and can't be content with it, while everyone else keeps hoping for the best your Prydonians get, and no one realises how useless it all is. Saints are never happy with earthly pleasures. I am content with wine and good company.

[damn-time-ring.livejournal.com]

[softly] I'm afraid that's one lesson we never quite learn in the Academy... The underlining futility of it all.

Is that really all you need to be content?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[Sebastian ducks his head as he pours Straxus a glass of something violet]

Strawberries too, perhaps. And a lion for a pet.