post palace takeout! [week 5]

[beathollow]

( at some point a bedraggled lot in yukatas manage to make their way to the dorm, shower and patch themselves up. and then mafuyu makes a very earnest request that they all go out for dinner, and, well, apparently many struggle to refuse her.

this is how they find themselves in something akin to a denny's or an ihop at like, midnight.




as one does. )

Comments

[vogelfrei]

[ There's too many shades of recognizing the self in the other at this Dennihop tonight. McGillis might be mistaken about the way Celeste's look seemed knowing but... knowing what he knows now about his past, he might also not be. Maybe at some later point, not in front of so many people, he'll ask. ]

A day off? I can barely recall the last time I had such luxury.

[ Isn't every day in Sunset City a day off???? No. ]

[cirquedesang]

[And with how many similarities have already been alluded to in the Dennihop tonight, he'll even answer - especially considering McGillis's discretion to not ask outright in front of the rest.

Besides, asking in itself would all but confirm his own suspicions about the other man. Maybe Braphine knew what she was doing, pulling some of them together.]

Come now, you must indulge once a decade or so.

[...Is that teasing or is that some more shades of truth, here? Hmm.]

[vogelfrei]

A bit more often, actually. If only because my wife insists.

[ He is aware that mentioning 'his wife' is basically like pouring ice water on this entire conversation, but it is the honest truth. He takes time off to go see Almiria so she doesn't get sad - it's literally the only reason he has ever taken a vacation.

But honestly, McGillis does also think the ice water bucket is pretty funnily timed.

(Thinking about Almiria is a dull ache, nevertheless. Poor Almiria. Poor little widow. He wanted to make her happy for real.) ]

[cirquedesang]

Small miracles there is someone who can insist.

[Perhaps surprisingly, he's not nearly as rebuffed by the mention as one might expect, and the comment is teasing rather than cold.

Yes, a wife complicates matters... but the suspected nature of arrival simplifies things all the same.

And in truth, it's refreshing to hear 'my wife' spoken of with fondness and respect, and it is that which makes him relent until(/unless) McGillis wishes to reinitiate.]

[vogelfrei]

[ The complete lack of surprise is... almost disappointing, but appreciated at the same time. Their conversations have quickly become extremely comfortable. ]

I was fortunate to have met her. I do hope she won't be getting too lonely in the future.

[ And that is ENOUGH painful thoughts, because imagining Almiria's reaction to this death is genuinely going to tear him apart. Time to shift focus.]

No such person in your life?

[cirquedesang]

[While he'd surely be sorry to disappoint... there's still an uncanny commonality between them that means conversation does come easily and, at least on his part, any departures from common ground can be met with grace and good humor.

And while it is obvious that McGillis is quickly trying to shift focus, Celeste does have one last fleeting comment in regards to this wife in question.]

If she so deftly thawed you, she will have no trouble finding whatever sort of companions she wishes for.

[Barring any extenuating circumstances that are not worth dwelling on or calling to mind, of course.]

Me? [A pause. He certainly has no one so succinctly encompassed with a word like 'spouse', but... He thinks to his Troupe. To his Coterie. His Sire and Childe. And he laughs, quietly, for a moment.] Any such person in my life truly only adds to my responsibilities, rather than forcing me to sit and abstain from them. Though I'm sure you understand I don't really mind.

[The man has three full-time forms of gainful employment please someone make him take a vacation.]