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 returns forthwith with a couple of plates in one hand and a couple of glasses in the other which he holds up. "Optional. In case we change our mind on the bottle. I have a few napkins in my pocket, too."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"Oh, clever," says Susan approvingly. "I expect you've fetched a corkscrew as well?"

From:

futaille

He sets down the glasses with a little laugh and pulls the napkins out of his pocket, folded around a corkscrew. "It's safe to say in general that I want to get into the wine, yes."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"Very good."

From:

futaille

He shrugs with a little smile. "It was simple enough, but thank you."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

Look, Susan is willing to try out different approaches to make in-roads with people she isn't as close with: "Accept the compliment, you silly man," lightly.

From:

futaille

"Ah, yes. Right. Thank you." His smile grows the faintest bit wry. "All present evidence to the contrary, I really am getting much better at accepting compliments."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

Naturally Susan, who is not given to tests whatsoever, immediately tests this. "Ah! Well done."

From:

futaille

He laughs a little. Obviously it's a prompt for a demonstration. "Oh, thank you. It's been a process."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"I imagine it must be."

From:

futaille

"I suppose that after all my old reliable tricks to wriggle out of the way largely stopped working, I had to start adapting."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"How positively dreadful."

From:

futaille

"Such a burden, I know."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"And yet you seem largely unscathed," she says, taking the corkscrew and starting to open the wine.

From:

futaille

"I suppose that's part of adaptation. I certainly wasn't going to just start avoiding people forever."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

The thing is that Susan can't even take offense at the remark, because she's certain he doesn't mean it pointedly. "No, I suppose that would be worse."

From:

futaille

Grantaire wouldn't even be able to begin to say how it would have been meant pointedly, so Susan's intuition is entirely correct. "People are too interesting overall, I think."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"Ah, so in the great scale of things, being complimented is outweighed by exposure to people?" says Susan. A little shimmy, and the cork pops out of the bottle. She offers the wine to Grantaire.

From:

futaille

He takes the bottle and pours some into each of the glasses. "More or less. I just... like being around people. Now, I'm sure you could take that to absurd lengths and I think even I would think it's too much if you managed to wedge, say, several million people in one room to the point where it stops being humans and starts to be humanity, but yes. Being around people is worth the stray compliment."

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"I see you've given up on drinking straight from the bottle immediately," says Susan, but she reaches for a glass.

From:

futaille

"Eh, there's still enough left for after," he says with a grin, putting the bottle down and picking up the other glass.

From:

quote_gentle_unquote

"Still. How distressingly civilized of you," says Susan, with the tone she gets when she's attempting to be funny. "Perhaps a consequence of spending so much time being around people?"