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

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." He is unoffended, of course. "How long have you practiced this?"

[futaille]

"Oh, a few years now. If you don't count mimicking the sailors in Marseille when I was little."

[lightbearinglord]

How could Lan Wangji be anything but charmed by that hint of an anecdote? "You grew up near the sea?"

[futaille]

"Oh, yes. Down in the south. Warmer winters than Paris."

[lightbearinglord]

Pleased to have earned a small amount of information about Grantaire, Lan Wangji turns from the punching bag in order to look at him properly. "Gusu is a short journey from the sea."

[futaille]

"Warm sea or cold sea? To hear Laertes and Sagramore talk, cold water is a joy to swim in, and I think they're a little bit insane that way."

[lightbearinglord]

"Cold." One corner of his mouth quirks, so fleetingly as to be nearly invisible. "There is a cold spring at the Cloud Recesses. We use it for meditation."

[futaille]

"There must be some unifying theory about cold water people and warm water people and how it shapes one's personality."

[lightbearinglord]

"You are free to invent one." Indeed, he appears almost overtly expectant of such a theory emerging from Grantaire monetarily.

[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.