happy pride, etc

[papadopoulos]

“Uh, people were killed.”
“No one was killed at Stonewall.”
“No…body…was killed???”
_________________________________________________________

The café is looking much more colorful than it has in the past. Specifically, there are various flags draped on top of the walls – certainly it is much brighter than anything Enjolras would have cared to come up with. Directly behind the pastry case there is a rainbow flag, and scattered around there are a myriad of other pride flags. (Whatever they could scrounge up from the cupboards, basically.) There is also a small table set off to one side, with various types of beaded necklaces and colored bracelets lying atop it. There is also a small flier with descriptions and explanations of what the different flags represent. Explanations of pride in general will be freely offered, as well.

Dionysus has offered up his cd player, though instead of the same music from the party, it is playing songs from various queer artists. There’s a selection ranging from Bowie to Cole Porter to Billie Holiday, including more modern artists such as Lady Gaga, Mika, Queen, and Green Day. Apollo can be found near the music as usual; but he is currently engrossed in making more of the colored bracelets. He is seated at the table with a box full of friendship bracelet making supplies, wearing an artfully cropped version of this shirt, a hyacinth bloom set behind his ear. Dionysus is at a different table, wearing a knee-length sundress of pink, yellow, and blue stripes and one of the beaded bracelets Apollo is making, this one in yellow, white, purple, and black beads. He found a small facepainting palette with a few pride flag options and is willing to offer up his services if anyone happens to want a tiny flag on their cheek (or, well, wherever.)


Let us know if you want Apollo, Dionysus, or both for your threads!

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

You're Magnus' dad. Please, Dionysus, Magnus has definitely told Galahad about the Apollo situation.

[vineleaves]

Dionysus waves. "Not really a man, not really a woman, hell I'm only a god by a technicality, apparently."

It still counts.

"Ah, the short answer though is that bodies aren't always an indicator of what someone's gender is going to be. Or if they'll have one at all. What're you confused about?" It's a genuine question, he wants to help if he can.

[vineleaves]

Dionysus bursts out laughing, very loud, which is probably more than a little jarring considering they've not been speaking out loud this whole time. Hopefully the music from the cd player will help balance it out though.

I see my sweet nephew told you all about Apollo's first day.

[wickedwit]

"It does," Claudius admits, as though it pains him to admit. His voice has been so flat, that slight grudging tone stands out starkly. "Galahad would like one, I think. We've a table fringed with a heated blanket, but nothing this heavy and ... comforting." It feels childish to say it, that the soft shelter of a blanket and the weight against his back can be comforting. If he were a child (for the third time) he'd want to pull it over his head and make the world disappear.

[vineleaves]

Dionysus just giggles.

[vineleaves]

"Oh, please take one. Take two. I have too many." He's still got, like, six of these things. "They're great for napping underneath." Or if you're ever so stressed out you feel detached from your body and need a heavy weight to be able to connect back to it. Multi-purpose, really.

"How is Galahad handling everything?"

[wickedwit]

"He's afraid he can't protect me. He's been afraid since ..." Claudius sighs. "Another bit of Christian nonsense. Since our first night, he's no longer blessed with God's strength and holy fire, and he can't fight on pure instinct as he once did. He's begun cultivating the sword path with Lan Wangji, but I thought ... I thought he would have more time. The mansion's never put me in danger without giving me some way out of it. It's egotistic to say, but I thought they wouldn't want me to die. Or any of us, really -- the mansion provides all the necessities for a long life, and some of us were brought here from the brink of death. I was, apparently, wrong. I believed we were songbirds in a protected cage, but we're live bait in a trap." Another sigh, this one deeper, filling his lungs in a way he can feel. "But even if he can't protect me, Galahad does take care of me. If he didn't ... I think he would be doing worse. Is that a selfish thing to think? He's a devoted man who deserves better than me, but somehow both of us need each other. I'd have given up moving otherwise."

[lanselos_du_lac]

None of this is terribly clarifying for Lancelot; he falls silent for a long, perhaps too long, moment. He has an array of questions, but all of them seem rude. He trusts Dionysus, and isn't particularly worried that Dionysus (or Apollo, really) would somehow judge him for asking those questions, and yet -- what business is it of his? If anyone asked him similar questions, he would likely answer them, but would feel that very few here are entitled to know about his body, what he thinks of it, what he thinks of himself. And in truth, Dionysus' answer is information enough. (If nothing else, this is another thing he can learn about from his reading.)

So he doesn't ask. Instead he says, eventually, "I-- that short answer serves. I find, anyway, that these are not the things that primarily concern me, if I am discerning whether or not I might hope to pursue someone."

[papadopoulos]

Yeah, it was hilarious. He looks distinctly unamused. But he did give me his old room, which he didn't need to do. He's a good kid.

[vineleaves]

Dionysus had hoped that none of them would die, just as Claudius apparently has. That maybe there was some chance that whatever powers the spirits had to bring people here from death would keep them from dying again. It's a similar feeling to the day he realized his children wouldn't inherit his immortality. That, as it turns out, there is limited time with everyone here. It's a feeling he is much more accustomed to now though than when Oenopion passed away.

"I'm glad you two have each other. Having a partner you love and can rely on helps. Even if he doesn't have --" what was it? Jesus fire? Something. "the abilities he used to have." Good save. Probably. "Most people don't have abilities like that, y'know. But that's what is so great about having loved ones. You're able to get through the rough times together. It's hard, and it can be pretty scary at times, but having people worth getting up out of bed for every day makes -- well, it makes everything easier."

[papadopoulos]

It is not his fault at all, in fact.¹ "Yeah," Apollo nods. "It's a term for people who love people of the same gender. Pride is a celebration of the fact that we're proud of who we are, sometimes a protest if it's necessary. It's not just for people who are gay, though, it's for people who may not fit society's general --um. 'Guidelines' of who a person should love or how they should define their gender and sexuality."

¹ Though he has on occasion failed to take responsibility for a few children himself. He's working on that.

[wickedwit]

Oh. Claudius laughs, and his voice breaks, as he realizes that's what he's afraid to lose. These people who make it worth getting out of bed for every day. "I've never had so many people I love in one place. Isn't that ridiculous? I tried very hard to stay ahead of that sort of thing. Whenever I suspected I'd grown too attached to someone, I'd go to a different country. Even Gertrude and I ... I kept praying for years not to be in love with her, going on diplomatic missions and hoping my heart would cool, before I realized God and politics weren't going to help with that one." He rubs at his face, aware when his eyes start to itch. "But still, I was able to outpace so many impossible love affairs. Someone like Galahad ... I would've known it was impossible. I wasn't going to marry some sweet young knight I flirted with at a guesthouse, so I would've broken things off before anyone got his heart broken. This is the only place something like that is possible. Where Laertes's marriage to Sagramore is possible, or where Aziraphale and Crowley can simply exist. Do you realize how important it is to me?""

[onthewillowsthere]

With the flowers? Even though he knows better, he has a sudden jolt of anxiety that Magnus gave Apollo their room.

[vineleaves]

Dionysus kisses Claudius's temple, then leans over to rest his head on Claudius's shoulder. "There have been far, far too many places and times that have tried to make it impossible for people like us to just exist, just to have happy lives full of love. If you knew how often people've tried to arrest me, or worse... I'm so glad for all of us that we don't have to worry about any of that here. That we're all getting to just be. It's -- I mean, it's different for me, I'm from the future where it's better than it used to be -- in some places, anyway." Plus he's a god, he never needed to be too worried for his personal safety. "But there's so many of you who wouldn't have had this chance otherwise. I'm just -- I'm so happy for all of you. It's not perfect here, but at least we can all cling to that, right?"

[papadopoulos]

"So do I," Apollo says cheerily. "Not a lot of people take them as payment these days, but it's nice to see it here."

[vineleaves]

It was pretty empty from what I can remember. He mostly just remembers singing with the sword though, so maybe there were flowers? That day is a bit of a blur when he tries to think too much about it. All the excitement of having Apollo here finally (and then having to stop Apollo from accidentally burning down the whole mansion), he figures.

[papadopoulos]

"Yeah, same for me," Apollo agrees. "I mean. I'm not quite in the same boat as my brother -- but I'm not exactly picky about what I identify as. Hell, I've been pregnant before. --Before you ask, though, since Dionysus did already, no, Sunny is not mine."

[papadopoulos]

"...Good thing I'm not the god of puns, because I might have to yell at you for that one." Yes, he knows your song(s), Grantaire.

[futaille]

His eyebrows rise suddenly. "Is there a god of puns?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn," Lan Wangji says, and this serves as something of a stand-in, a polite acknowledgement, while he turns this over. A protest if it's necessary. Until he came here, he had never imagined there could be so many people like him in one place. He is not ashamed; he has known the truth of his own desires since he was a child. Still, he is not immune to the surprising comfort of finding himself surrounded by people who find his love comparatively unremarkable.

"These flags," he says, at some length. "They are part of the celebration?"

[vineleaves]

"Apollo can shapeshift," Dionysus says in a tone that admits just how jealous he is of that. "I cannot."

[vineleaves]

"Not... specifically?" Dionysus says, after a few moments to mentally run through all of the possible choices and try to remember if that exact title already belongs to anyone. "You could just start telling people it's you, not like anyone can prove you aren't." He glances at Apollo to see if he's getting as annoyed by that comment as Dionysus intended.

[papadopoulos]

"The god of truth could," Apollo says, throwing a rude gesture Dionysus' way. Because he is a mature god, you see.

[papadopoulos]

Yeah. He said no one was using it anymore. And it's good for --sun guys. There's a pause. There are different flowers in it now. He has added a hyacinth in their place, certainly. Unfortunately bay laurels are rather too large for a bedroom, but he's sure to find some in the gardens sooner or later.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad's shoulders relax fractionally. If they'd meant Damien's old room, they would surely have mentioned the flowers were painted; they must be speaking of Magnus' first room, the one he abandoned after the zombies. He nods and turns back to Dionysus. What is the paint for?