futurology | text, @TARANTO, day after the saloon fire

text, @TARANTO, day after the saloon fire

hey guys guess what: blankets!!! me and TF to the fucking rescue, we rustled up like 40 of these bad boys
super cozy, some nice patterns. one of them has a robot wolf on it
it was also all entirely legal

they're ALMOST free, all you gotta do is tell me a story then come get one (i'm by those spiky ass fat plants that bleed if you knock them over)

also since i have 40 and there's more than 40 of us, i guess also pick someone to get cozy with

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[There once was a time when he might have chided her for so immodest a tongue, yet he has long since grown accustomed to and made room for her idiosyncrasies. Thus, despite the dark cloud that lingers over his heart, he cannot help but laugh.]

Indeed! How fortunate Sigma is to have by his side so passionate a woman.

[No mention of her keeping warm his bed or other assorted misogynistic turns of phrase!]

Rest assured that I too shall keep warm through this bitter cold-- [Wait for it...] If indeed you follow that which I intend.

Exactly one thousand

[ Okay, that's a laugh. ]

Yeah, thanks, I think I follow what you intend. [ She's going to steal that and use it one day. If indeed you follow that which I intend. This guy's a goldmine. Anyway: ] Lucky guy. She's hot, sweet, and super useful, huh?

great i have EXACTLY the blanket for you
stop by whenever

[As when a cloud passes before the sun and thus casts its shadow across the fields below, so too darken Achilles' features. How unusual it is for one as forthright as he to avoid eye contact, yet at present he casts his gaze away from Ramir, looking instead upon the pile of blankets behind her.]

If it Olivia upon whom you heap such praise, then I must tell you of how my heart is heavy with regrets, for she wishes no longer to stay by my side as my wife.

[ Whoa, there's not a reaction she'd expected. Ramir blinks, looking him over suddenly more attentively. ]

Wait, what? Hang on — what happened?

[He draws the blanket more tightly around his shoulders ere he speaks.]

Fortune, with its many twists and turns, shall always take a man by surprise. Since I awakened yesterday morn, I have been bestowed with benison such that I never thought possible, and so too have I been dealt dark sorrow that weakens my joy as shadows weaken the warmth of sunlight. My dearest companion, the glorious son of Menoetius, walks now among this crew with life restored to his limbs and breath upon his lips, just as he appears in all my fond memories. Yet for this, I have lost Olivia, she whom I love as my wife. No matter that my heart swells with love for both - for her, no reassurance was enough, and so she fled.

[He has discernment enough, at least, to realize that Ramir will not likely appreciate his argument that the love a man has for his brother in arms and that which he has for a woman are separate matters, hardly in competition within his heart.]

[ Oh, ouch. She winces, but: ]

Hang on, let me see if I got this right. So you and your guy, uh, son of Menoetius, he's the guy you used to date? [ While he was alive, she gets that part, but opts not to say it. It seems a little cruel. ] And now he's here?

[His brow wrinkles in bemusement, as if Ramir has just said something strange.]

Men do not court one another - who ever heard of a man taking for his bride one of his own sex and bringing him to live in his father's house? How is he to have strong sons and beautiful daughters borne for him but for by a woman?

Great-hearted Patroclus I love as I do my own life, however, and indeed you have heard true: although Fate once stole him from my side, he the best of the Myrmidons who are under my command, he has now returned to me as never he did that day I bade him defend the ships.

[Translation: Yes.]

[ Okay, hang on, she's got to put her sympathy on hold for a second while she works through the finer points here. Why else would Olivia be upset unless they were dating, right?

She'll have to phrase this delicately. ]

Wait, so — okay, Patroclus, right — you and Patroclus, were you guys fucking? I mean, are you fucking, I guess, since he's here.

[ Just kidding, what does delicately mean. ]

It may be best to speak outright, but still there is no need for speech so crude - although it is true that we have shared in love-sweet kisses and the devout union of thighs countless times over.

[You can thank Aeschylus for that turn of phrase. To better help her understand, he adds to this:]

There is no title yet invented by men that encompasses all that he is to me, neither friend, nor kin, nor brother in arms, nor lover - nor words to properly express my love, but for to say that he is my second self.

[ Love-sweet kisses, end her. She doesn't even want more explanation on devout union of thighs, thanks so much for that one Achilles. ]

Okay, got it. [ And she's pretty sure she does. They were totally dating. Back to the sympathy again, and her expression shifts toward sorry. ] Jesus, there's a dilemma for you. I guess Olivia's not into sharing, huh?

[ And she can't blame her, really. There are a couple things you never want sprung on you, and polygamy is pretty high on the list. ]

Thanks for the compliment, but my heels aren't my only weakness.

( he makes a slightly baffled face, because SOMEHOW, PETER PARKER HAS NEGLECTED TO NOTICE STAR OF GREEK LORE ACHILLES is a part of their team. )

[ Well now it's time for her baffled face, because guess who definitely never read the Iliad, and there are a few pop culture things that didn't make the journey across space and time. ]

What? No, that's an insult because he's an asshole. [ A beat, then, thoughtfully:] And a compliment because he's super hot. That's a two-fer for you. [ Anyway: the blankets. She pulls the first one out of the pile, a deep purple with delicately stitched patterns along the edges, and tosses it over. ] Catch!

Thanks, and — ( he catches the blanket, even if it was aimed at his face. eerily good at catching stuff, Peter Parker. it's fine. it probably doesn't mean anything. maybe he played in little league! )

I'm getting the feeling we're talking about two different things. When you say Achilles I think the guy from the Iliad that has bad heels and a propensity for oversharing.

( he barely skimmed it, honestly, greek lit is not his wheelhouse, but he knows enough. )

[ wow language ]

I wasn't sure I'd be given an an entire season, okay!

[ Nice catch, little leaguer. She quirks a brow, but alright, he's allowed to be good at catching. ]

Okay, well, yeah definitely on the oversharing. Jesus, you should hear him monologue. [ She shakes her head, regretfully or appreciatively is anyone's guess. ] He's the ripped guy with the hobo beard and the nice hair. Have you met or not?

[ since he... seems to know him... shittily?? ]

sounds like a whole lotta not my problem doesn't it

[ grumble grumble ] Whatever, I'll just take the two blankets then.

[His anguish is plain upon his countenance as he makes his answer.]

She could not see that she need not share, for there is room enough in my heart for her as well as Menoetius' son, and my love for him diminishes not my love for her. How can one replace the other, when he is like the roots that hold steady a tree and she the branches that bear its sweet fruit?

[His words now whip raw from his tongue, the wound still so fresh and tender. Yet from this heightened pitch he sinks, his thoughts coming more slowly as he tries to shape them from the incoherent fog.]

But I too could not see - I saw not that what is natural among the Achaeans must be strange to other races of men. I meant not to hurt her, yet in my joy to receive worthy Patroclus and in the bliss she and I together shared, I was blinded.

[ Her face falls sympathetically. Not that she agrees with his take on it, but she can see where he's coming from — and that the regret is genuine. That's worth something.

That's mainly why she moves forward, reaching up to sling arms around his neck and pull him down into a hug. Even if this is something she's gotta yell at him for, at least he deserves this much. ]

You got it. [Though she's going to be pissed if the blanket actually is made of ratsnests and cactus needles. js.]

[He is surprised to be caught in her embrace, yet at once he welcomes this comfort, receiving her with his hands mindful upon her waist and his cheek pressed to her hair. While the blanket begins to slip from his shoulders, the warmth of her arms offers recompense.]

Ramir...

[He lets silence drape them for a moment ere he softly sighs.]

For all that I am joyed to welcome my dear companion back to the country of the living, I long for my lovely-haired Olivia even so.

Edited 2016-12-22 02:10 (UTC)

[ She pulls back to leave her arms still draped, but be able to shoot a sympathetic look up at him. ]

Yeah, that sucks. Really, I feel you. [ She offers his chest a pat. ] But you can't have them both, you know? And you picked him, sounds like.

[Nor does he yet withdraw his arms from her.]

Thus I find myself a stranger once more. In my dear native land a man would hardly be amiss to keep wife and lover both. Certainly I would understand her jealousy if I were to lie with another woman, but what comparison can be drawn between wife and brother in arms?

[So natural it seems to him, so integrated into his way of life, that he can scarce find the words to explain the nuances to one who stands on the outside. The effort is apparent in the lines that mark his brow and in downward curve of his lips.]

Yet if this is not Olivia's way...then no winning words shall ever turn her heart.

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text, @TARANTO, day after the saloon fire

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pretend i didn't miss a word up there

i will do no such thing, face your sins

slaps on a scarlet letter and climbs the scaffold

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