Open Post: La savate et le chausson

[futaille]

Much to his satisfaction, Grantaire has been able to keep up with many of his hobbies unabated during his time at the mansion. Not all of them, though, mostly because they were ones he'd go to specific spots for, and with those spots not being here in addition to an abundance of his other hobbies, they more or less fell by the wayside.

However, a recent chat with Dionysus has reminded him that he has very much neglected his 'hitting things' level. Although he didn't find a crash test dummy, the thought being on his mind ended up in him stumbling upon a small gym tucked away, complete with some equipment including a standing punching bag.

So he's discarded his waistcoat and cravat over a bench and is practicing his savate¹.

¹French kickboxing! During R's time it was basically for streetfighting, and just beginning to get formalized, but there are some cool vintage videos on youtube (Here and here) to give the... vibe.

Comments

[futaille]

"Certainly! I... Huh." He furrows his brow, thinking. "This is actually more difficult than one might think. However, I am not inclined to give up, so I will come up with something. I can obviously immediately discount a correlation between temperature of water and temperature of personality, because that falls apart upon being so much as glanced at. I could easily say 'cold water people somehow actually prefer cold water', but that's far more redundant than I prefer in my truisms. Of course, easy categorization systems tend to fall apart when looked at anyway, so accuracy might actually be a downside, because if inaccuracies slip in, it makes for a much more vibrant conversation topic. Therefore I clearly don't need to think about this with too much diligence, and I will just say that cold water people have in general more tolerance for hardships than warm water people do."

[lightbearinglord]

Naturally, despite its convoluted nature, Lan Wangji attends to this winding attempt at a theory with patience and interest. He does, however, appear just slightly skeptical at its conclusion. "You do not consider yourself resilient?"

[futaille]

He shrugs. "I don't think I'd say I'm the complete opposite, but certainly not on the upper end of the spectrum."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji's expression is mostly noncommittal, but it's the sort of noncommittal look that indicates dubiousness on its wearer. "I find most people are hardier than they might expect."

[futaille]

"Maybe so, but on the whole, I don't even think my resilience has been tested often enough to really know."

[lightbearinglord]

"If so, you have been fortunate."

[futaille]

"Of course I have. I'm here."

[lightbearinglord]

Predictably, Lan Wangji softens. "You still find it magnificent here?"

[futaille]

"More so than anywhere else I've been, and certainly more than wherever else I might have ended up."

[lightbearinglord]

A careful little pause ensues, and then he asks, "Where did you anticipate finding yourself?" He leaves the after you were killed part unspoken.

[futaille]

"Truthfully, I didn't think I'd be anywhere. Just... gone. But if there was actually an afterlife... I very much doubt I was virtuous enough for heaven."

[lightbearinglord]

A fleeting frown touches Lan Wangji's face. He can't speak to the entrance requirements for whatever heaven does or doesn't exist in Grantaire's world, but Grantaire is kind, he is pleasant company, and he harbors a great deal of passion beneath his exterior of carefully-affected frivolousness. "There is no reincarnation cycle by your reckoning, then."

[futaille]

He shrugs. "It seems a selfish thought to me, hoarding the world to be enjoyed by the same people over and over and over again instead of making way for new ones."

[lightbearinglord]

His eyebrows twitch up, just the barest skepticism at this framing of the concept. Claudius received it, and called it heresy, with such delight, that he would hardly have expected Grantaire, of all people, to object more strongly. "What happens to the qi of those who die, then? That energy must go somewhere."

[futaille]

"I'd imagine it just disperses into the world like bodies end up doing. There's no reason it would need to stay together as one specific being."

[lightbearinglord]

"The spirits of the dead often linger," he points out.

[futaille]

"In your world, maybe. No real evidence of it in mine. Not many people believe in ghost stories."

[lightbearinglord]

"In this one, too." Lan Wangji is skeptical about the supposed absence of ghosts in Grantaire's world, but he has nothing with which to dispute that claim.

[futaille]

"It makes sense, I guess. If we can't leave, we can't leave."

[lightbearinglord]

There comes that tiny frown again. He hesitates. Keeping this from Grantaire would serve no particular purpose. They are not overly close, but Lan Wangji likes Grantaire, and Claudius loves him. "Wei Ying died," he says, "and returned thirteen years later. His spirit had suffered, but it was intact."

[futaille]

"Thirt--" He shakes his head. "That's a long time. I'm sorry."

[lightbearinglord]

That isn't why he told Grantaire, but the sympathy is kind of him. Lan Wangji looks away, only for a breath. "Thank you. He lives now."

[futaille]

He nods. "That's good. Not that you had to wait that long, but I'm pretty sure you knew that. Nothing like that happens on my world, though."

[lightbearinglord]

"Nor on mine," he says. Hauntings happen, and spirits become restless, and their energy becomes corrupted, and the dead speak or walk. But they do not return whole and alive, and he never anticipated that Wei Ying might. It was waiting only in retrospect. At the time, it was mourning without any anticipated end.

[futaille]

"You got a miracle, then. I'm fairly sure those are rare on any world out there. Well, more than fairly sure, as miracles are by definition not exactly common. I'd say you both deserved it but I'm hardly an expert on the deserving."