[ OPEN ] ; Network: Chainsawd; Video; Story Time;

[fiachdubh]

[ The video opens to Ronan, sitting in a high-backed chair. He makes a motion towards the camera, and the shot changes to an aerial view of what looks very much like a library, books to the rafters, vines and tree branches gently curling around shelf upon shelf. The light is dusty, but natural. Chainsawd swoops back down, settling once more in front of Ronan, filming him.

It's obvious he's not alone - there's a shoulder against his, and he's leaning against whoever is sitting next to him in what seems like obvious habit of sharing space. On his lap, Ronan has a large volume open, the pages yellowed and crinkly with age. He doesn't smile as he looks at the camera, but he looks sort of relaxed.

Without much introduction, Ronan looks down, and starts reading, his voice nuanced; he has the tone and rhythm of someone used to telling stories. ]

Now when Sarpedon saw his comrades, men who wore ungirdled tunics, being overcome by Patroclus, son of Menoetius, he rebuked the Lycians, saying, "Shame on you, where are you flying to? Show your mettle;
I will myself meet this man in fight and learn who it is that is so masterful; he has done us much hurt, and has stretched many a brave man upon the ground."

He sprang from his chariot as he spoke, and Patroclus, when he saw this, leaped on to the ground also. The two then rushed at one another with loud cries like eagle-beaked crook-taloned vultures that scream and tear at one another in some high mountain fastness.

The son of scheming Saturn looked down upon them in pity and said to Juno who was his wife and sister, "Alas, that it should be the lot of Sarpedon whom I love so dearly to perish by the hand of Patroclus. I am in two minds whether to catch him up out of the fight and set him down safe and sound in the fertile land of Lycia, or to let him now fall by the hand of the son of Menoetius."

[ He took his time, reading. It was a book he loved, after all - and he always wanted to give it the recognition it deserved. On screen, Adam's face was visible, now, as he leaned closer to read, too, his chin almost hooked on Ronan's shoulder. Sometimes, you could see him glance fondly at Ronan. ]

And Juno answered, "Most dread son of Saturn, what is this that you are saying? Would you snatch a mortal man, whose doom has long been fated, out of the jaws of death? Do as you will, but we shall not all of us be of your mind. I say further, and lay my saying to your heart, that if you send Sarpedon safely to his own home, some other of the gods will be also wanting to escort his son out of battle, for there are many sons of gods fighting round the city of Troy, and you will make every one jealous. If, however, you are fond of him and pity him, let him indeed fall by the hand of Patroclus, but as soon as the life is gone out of him, send Death and sweet Sleep to bear him off the field and take him to the broad lands of Lycia, where his brothers and his kinsmen will bury him with mound and pillar, in due honor to the dead."

The sire of gods and men assented, but he shed a rain of blood upon the earth in honor of his son whom Patroclus was about to kill on the rich plain of Troy far from his home.

[ Ronan finally looked up, an eyebrow raised at the camera. ]

Now, children, I know my dulcet tones have probably lulled you to sleep with this epic tale of heroism, but who can tell me - what's this book I'm reading from?

Comments

[mordacita]

[ Rafa waves his hand. There's enough in that admission to make his point. ]

Granted. He put his interests above his kingdom, and his family. Sometimes even love must come second to those.

[ He smiles at Ronan. ]

I have not had this kind of conversation in some time. Certainly not since coming here. Who are you?

[fiachdubh]

[ Who are you?

What a good fucking question. Ronan leans back a little, nudging Adam's shoulder with his own. Adam's absorbed in his own book, though, not paying him any attention. ]

I'm Ronan Lynch.

[ At least, that's part of who he is. A name is something you can attach a lot to. ]

Who are you?

[mordacita]

[ Oh.

Oh, well now. That name comes with a reputation behind it. Rafa sits up a little straighter, his eyes sharpening as he takes Ronan in.

This is the boy. The one Kavinsky had so much trouble with, the one who had rejected him. Rafa's head tilts. ]

Rafaello d'Este. It is good, I must say, to finally meet you. I have heard much about you. Who is this boy with you?

[ He nods towards the image of Adam, the one who had replaced Kavinsky. Very interesting. Does Kavinsky know they are here? ]

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan can't help the way he leans back when Rafaello mentions having heard about him. What the fuck. ]

How? How have you heard about me? What have you heard?

[ He ignores the question about Adam. He's not going to answer if Adam doesn't want him to, or if this guy is dangerous. How the hell does he know who Ronan is? ]

[mordacita]

[ That got his attention. Rafa's tone doesn't change, but his interest has. He's regarding Ronan keenly now, examining this boy that had obsessed Kavinsky so very much. ]

Kavinsky spoke of you. The story was memorable, as I am sure you can imagine.

Are you aware that he is here?

[ Because if you weren't, you are now. Rafa suspects the two of them would be best avoiding each other, but it's difficult to do that in ignorance. ]

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan's jaw clenches, and his fingers dig into his knee, out of the camera's view. ]

I've very recently discovered that he is.

[ It's still difficult to parse. Kavinsky being here, not being dead, talking about different and yet bullying Ronan the way he's always done to try and get reactions out of him. A year ago, Ronan would already be out of the door to find Kavinsky and make him taste his own blood, but.

He's not the same person he was a year ago. He raises an eyebrow, wanting to know how Kavinsky's been running his mouth. Did he mention kidnapping Ronan's baby brother? Trying to kill Ronan?

He can't help but feel curious about it. ]

What's his story, then?

[mordacita]

[ Rafa considers Ronan, both the way he holds himself and his tone. This has made him tense, far more so than he was before. Kavinsky had not just told Rafa his story; he'd down him part of it, too, shown him a snapshot of Ronan from his point of view. That kind of sharing had been possible in Eudio, on occasion.

He'll be careful, though. He doesn't want to offer too much too fast. ]

That he hurt you. That he kidnapped your brother to hurt you. That he thought you were his, but he was wrong.

[ His eyes slide to Adam. ]

Is that Gansey, then?

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan, carefully, considers his next words. So Kavinsky hadn't lied, at least, trying to fit the story to something that made him seem less like a bad person. Maybe he still didn't give a shit about being awful.

That he thought you were his. Jesus fucking Christ. Ronan can't resist bringing his leather bracelets to his mouth and biting down, hard, for a moment. He's trying to break the habit, but it's not actually that easy. ]

Do you like him?

[ Might as well try to gauge that. If someone around here is fond of Kavinsky, while knowing that he is a kidnapper; self-absorbed and lost to drugs and his own fucking issues and utterly dangerous, well. Ronan probably wants nothing to do with them.

But then Rafa says the name. That name, that makes Ronan sit straighter, his eyes flashing with danger.

Kavinsky had no fucking right. ]

What has he told you about Gansey?

[mordacita]

[ Rafa's shoulders lift. He'd known and liked Kavinsky before he knew about any kidnapping, or any obsession with Ronan, come to that. What he'd been told had not been sugarcoated – or if it was, then it had still tasted sour enough for him to dislike it. ]

I like him. I liked him before I knew of his past, and I know he is much changed.

[ He looks down, considering that. ]

I know he has lost others, and treated them better than he treated you. I know he is not what he was. What he did, I would never do. I have hope he would not do it again.

[ It's possible this hope is misplaced, especially now that Kavinsky is away from Eudio's strict rules. Rafa is aware of that, but as he always does, he will choose to hope rather than dread. ]

He said nothing of Gansey, save that you were together.

[ Kavinsky had not put it quite like that, but Rafa rarely reaches that level of crude. Maybe when he's angry, or aroused. Not otherwise. ]

[fiachdubh]

[ Despite all the thoughts and feelings warring in his head, Ronan schools his features into a mask of indifference. Kavinsky said he'd changed, himself, but it was difficult to believe when he spoke in the exact same way he always did. ]

That's nice. You'll forgive me if I don't buy that he's changed that much. [ Ronan has no proof, but he has a brother here in Xist, and Adam, and Blue.

All he can hope for is that Kavinsky found someone else to obsess over and try to break.

When Rafa says that Kavinsky told him Ronan and Gansey were together, a bitter little chuckle escapes Ronan, and he shakes his head, running a hand over his face as he breathes in. ]

See? This is exactly why I can't believe he's changed in any way. Gansey and I never were anything but friends. Kavinsky's just jealous and unhinged and built stories in his own head and spouted them out as truths. [ Sometimes, Ronan wonders if he would have done anything different if Kavinsky had kidnapped Gansey, and not Matthew. If he would have been even angrier.

Eventually, he shakes his head his head again, and steals a look at Adam before turning back to the camera. ] That's not Gansey. [ But he is just as important to Ronan than Gansey is, if not more at this point, and Ronan is reluctant to say this to a friend of Kavinsky's. ]

[mordacita]

[ Rafa raises one eyebrow. Ronan has every right to feel aggrieved. He knows that. Had Kavinsky harmed someone he loved, he knows he would find it difficult to forgive. Perhaps impossible. But still, Kavinsky has been good to him, and good to others. He won't pretend at anything else. ]

He thought you were together then, and clearly he was wrong. He will no doubt see that now. Being wrong does not mean he has not changed.

[ Given this public display, and everything. ]

I should let you return to your book.

[fiachdubh]

Considering how he's been speaking to me so far, I doubt he has any interest in admitting he was wrong.

[ It's clear and easy to see that Rafa likes Kavinsky. Wants to believe he's a good person or a changed man. Ronan is not that willing, not that benevolent, not that nice.

He remembers a time where he thought they could have been friends, maybe. But Kavinsky had wanted him to choose, and Ronan would always choose Gansey. ]

Yeah. That'd be best.

[ His day had been going so well. ]

[mordacita]

[ Rafa says no more; he switches off the feed. Ronan is an interesting boy; educated, clever, and obviously very protective of those he cares for. Those are qualities Rafa likes, but Kavinsky is one that he cares for. He understands Ronan's reaction; it just doesn't change anything. ]