✘ 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

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

[stares at all the glasses lined up so neatly, stopping at the one Sebastian just addressed]

...what do you think it might be?

[yetiwillspeak.livejournal.com]

[Emilia shall be standing there demurely; with her hands folded and a small smile on her lips] ...Thou art fond of these potions?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

I haven't a clue. It looks a bit like a claret, but it doesn't taste like one in the slightest.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

I am often told that I am too fond of them, but so many people just don't know how to enjoy themselves. And I have to sample every new drink I encounter here.

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

Oh?

[looks at it curiously, then picks up the glass. He looks into it, and then finally takes a tentative sip]

Do you think this might be an alien - ah, I mean extraterrestrial - concoction?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Or it might be from the future. Perhaps it's extraterrestrial and from the future. And from a completely different world! I've no way at all of knowing.

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

[his eyes widen in amazement at all the possibilities and then his mind goes wandering]

Or it might be from the past! Perhaps it's the relic of an ancient alien civilization that visited Earth in prehistoric times. Or it's from a winery somewhere in the hills of Atlantis itself! Or, it could be from parallel worlds of our own! Maybe there is a world with another Sebastian who is quite familiar with this beverage but has never tasted or heard of a claret!

[yetiwillspeak.livejournal.com]

To be fond of such revelries is suppos'd to be a curst path [She says it with a smirk though; and she still strolls forward to examine the glasses in closer detail] ...Though every act of merriment is a sin to some.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Never tasted a claret? I hope the rest of the drinks are worth it. My poor heart would shatter without.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

I highly doubt our Lord Jesus Christ would turn wine into His Most Precious Blood if He didn't approve of at least a little bit of drinking. It would be completely counter-productive. Besides, I don't feel particularly inclined to be good just presently. Eventually, yes, but not yet.

[Sebastian would throw down some wine just then, but he has manners] Would you care for a drink?

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

[LE GASP!] Shatter? Oh no, we must think of a way to protect the heart of this other Sebastian!

[think, think, think] We can't have him walking around with a shattered heart. What can we do to mend the pieces if necessary?

[LIGHTBULB!] You know yourself better than almost anyone, I'm sure! We'll have to enact the "Shattered Heart Protection and Insurance Super Contingency Plan for Possible Alternate Versions of Sebastian Stratagem!"

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[Sebastian doesn't even think of questioning this; he drinks the drink on the far left before speaking in earnest]

And what is this plan?

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you asked!

We'll need to create a cross-dimensional time machine. I met someone called the Doctor who seemed to have access to this kind of technology. We can ask him for assistance. We'll take a bottle of claret and cross the space-time-reality dimensional barriers and introduce this drink into other-Sebastian's time-line. That way he'll always know claret and we can easily prevent other-Sebastian's heart from being shattered into a million pieces.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Would we be able to? You see, when Dorian and I found each other at the Botanic Gardens - though for him, it was Hyde Park - he couldn't see Monsignor Bell. So I don't know if we would be able to see that poor other Sebastian.

[That is the ONLY problem in the plan]

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

[...utter disappointment. He turns away, leaning against an imaginary wall]

That poor, poor other Sebastian. Abandoned somewhere, his heart shattering into so many pieces and no one around to repair him and piece his heart back together.

[turns around now, his hand clenched into a Fist-of-Determination, his eyes and smile wild with determination as well]

Surely with minds as sharp and clever as ours we will find a way. We're from two other worlds and we can see each other, and you were able to see this Dorian person. We'll just have to find a way to drag other Sebastian here!

[yetiwillspeak.livejournal.com]

It be reason of a sort; sensible reason- 'twould take a holy man to deny it [A pause as she covers her smile with a hand for a few moments; for teh appearance of being serious if nothing else] Man strives for goodness all his life; the holy book commends it.

[She pauses for a moment at the offer; her eyes narrowing slightly as she watches him] ...Wouldst thou mind?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

Does he? In my experience, man goes out of his way to avoid that. I do. It's such a bore! And so unhappy. I love drinking and I see no reason you oughtn't join. Drinking is always better when it isn't done alone.

[yetiwillspeak.livejournal.com]

[...It is a good thing that she has the control to hold back giggles] The holy book's words are not my own; yet they must be divulged to all men.

...Thou wouldst not divulge it to any passing traveller?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

I don't see why not. It isn't as if I've any reason to be miserly about it.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[Sebastian hops up onto the bar table, because God forbid he has to do any serious thinking while standing]

It's to do with this place, isn't it?

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

[and he takes a seat on the stool at the bar table, idly spinning around on the stool]

It must be, I've never seen any of these odd occurrences or ali - extraterrestrials - or parallel versions of things before coming here. There's one person called the Doctor, and he says there are multiple versions of him running around just in this place alone.

[he finally puts his foot out, catching it on the table leg in order to stop his spinning. He stops fully, swiveling the stool slightly so he's now facing Sebastian]

I wonder what another me would be like?

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

[swinging his feet] Like you, I would think. What else might he be like?

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

Yes, but if he was just like me he wouldn't exist. It seems that some kind of difference is required in order for an alternate version to exist.

[spins around again as he thinks, catching his hand on the table to stop it this time, as he swings the stool in the opposite direction so he's once again facing Sebastian. He has his serious thinking face on]

Like your other self has no knowledge of claret. That's what makes him different and not entirely you.

[fruitbrandy.livejournal.com]

But if they are you then they must be like you in all of the essential ways. Or else he would just be someone else. I suppose you would have the same soul.

[hostclubdaddy.livejournal.com]

[thinks about that...and then finally smiles, seeming content at that answer]

You're right. Then I'm sure whatever environment or circumstances he endures, he will be all right.

That makes me feel much better. I hope one day other me might come here. It would be fun to find out what I might be like in another world.