futaille | Open Post: Who invented this calendar anyway?

How unfortunate.

Yes, Grantaire was fully aware that the year being longer at the mansion would logically cause seasons to drift when someone kept track of the old calendar, or at least what had been pinned down as the old calendar for convenience sake, which was almost necessary when people's arrivals weren't necessarily tied to the day they left. He hadn't given it too much thought last year, when his birthday, such that it was, arrived in spring like he was used to.

Dark, though, was unfortunate. Not inappropriate for the next notable anniversary coming up, but for this one, not at all. Of course, it wasn't as if he would have been planning much in the way of an event, Dark or no, but it would have been nice to treat himself to something or other, regardless.

Instead, he has installed himself in the game room, where he is carefully balancing dominoes on their ends to make a domino rally on the billiards table. It's a nice large flat surface, so it should work nicely. Have to keep entertained somehow.

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From:

futaille

He laughs. "I'll also point out that this was where we started." Still, though! Back to the game room!

From:

vineleaves

"We didn't start the scavenger hunt in there, we started the scavenger hunt in the kitchen."

From:

futaille

"I meant the entire adventure." This is a very easy one, though, as he knows his way to the game room by heart. "Also, I was finding that glitter on me for months."

From:

vineleaves

"You say that like it's a bad thing," says Dionysus, who approves of glitter in most situations.

When they get back to the game room it'll be pretty immediately obvious what he's looking for, and it's not another card this time. Standing against the wall, on top of a little rolling dolly, is a brand new pinball machine. There's a pile of vines and leaves on the floor, wrapped around the dolly and half-falling off by now.

From:

futaille

He stands in the doorway and stares. ".... How?"

From:

vineleaves

Dionysus grins. "I moved it in here with vines while we were walking to the kitchen. That's why I put that blindfold on you. Would've been easier had it not been, y'know, Dark and all, but I managed."

From:

futaille

He spins and gives Dionysus an enormous kiss.

From:

vineleaves

Dionysus naturally kisses him back, just as enthusiastically. "I thought you might be bored of playing the same exact one all the time, so I convinced the mansion to make this for you a few weeks ago," he says when they part. "And since it's yours, if someone cheats you can just reset the high score whenever you want." Does Dionysus know how to reset the score on a pinball machine? Absolutely not. He's reasonably certain that's a thing you can do somehow though.

From:

futaille

"You can reset them?"

From:

vineleaves

"...Probably?"

From:

futaille

A laugh and another kiss. "I love you."

From:

vineleaves

"I love you too," and he kisses him again.

From:

futaille

He smiles around the kiss. "So. Do you want to watch me play?"

From:

vineleaves

"Yes, obviously. Oh, wait, we should take it off of the dolly so it doesn't roll away. Help me lift it?"

From:

futaille

"Of course." He goes to get in place.

From:

vineleaves

Dionysus does as well. "Okay, on three. One, two, three," and as they lift it, he uses a last little bit of strength to have the vines shove the dolly away so they can set it back down on the ground. He hates this month.

From:

futaille

"All right. Are you ready?"

From:

vineleaves

"To watch you? Literally always."

From:

futaille

His smile grows more than a bit mischievous as he promptly discards both waistcoat and shirt, tossing them on top of his forgotten dominoes on the pool table before taking his place at the pinball machine.

From:

vineleaves

"Ooh, I've suddenly become a thousand percent more interested in pinball."

He is... watching...

From:

futaille

"Only a thousand? I'll have to do better." He spends some time doing some utterly gratuitous stretches before starting the game up.

From:

vineleaves

“Oh sorry, I must have temporarily forgotten how to speak French. I meant a billion percent.”

From:

futaille

He laughs and launches his first ball. "That makes perfect sense. I temporarily forget how to speak French somewhat frequently."

From:

vineleaves

“And here I was starting to think it was just Dark affecting my language skills,” he says, not taking his eyes off of the muscles in Grantaire’s back as he operates the game.

From:

futaille

He grins as he plays, being relatively sedate in his play as he gets used to the quirks of the board. "I can also say you're frequently the cause of me temporarily forgetting how to speak French."