#d. ganymedex

[wardercloud]

"Okay. It looks nice." It was the least Cloud could do to give out a compliment to someone that was doing his best to try and help them. Then again, they couldn't really remember a time where people hadn't tried to help them. They were a noble elf. If people weren't falling at their mother's feet, she would have been disappointed. Cloud didn't much care about all of that though. Not that they had ever gotten the opportunity to care about it in the first place. Still, now they were nothing more than a broken shield to the dead. They might as well have been so themself. That was pretty damn gloomy though. Ganymede probably didn't want to hear all of that. Maybe. They could never tell. "You don't have to apologize. I'm used to it." Unfortunately. Loss was just something they had learned to cope with. All they could ever think about was who would be next. "You can ask. I don't know if I'm ready to answer though."

"You can just say it looks nice." Cloud was clearly struggling, so Ganymede thought he'd offer some advice on complementing someone without making them feel bad about themselves. It wasn't as if he was any stranger to loss; his father had been his best friend, and when he'd passed, Ulthar hadn't permitted him to attend the funeral, something about it being unimportant to mingle with mortal affairs when Ganymede sat among the Gods now. He'd been right of course, his husband... ex-husband... was right about most things, at least that's what the aspect still believed. People made horrible and terrible mistakes, but they could still return from that. So many of his children were gone because of the God and it should have been easy for Ganymede to resent Ulthar for that, but more than hatred, he hoped that the God would return and set things right. Ganymede knew what he was capable of. He knew it was within his power; he just had to be patient. "I'm so sorry..." Ganymede paused before asking, "Is there a right way of dealing with it?" The aspect would have hugged them, but they didn't know each other that well, and Cloud had just left and made a mess of a bunch of bags of blood, not that Ganymede was afraid, but there was something to be said about respecting boundaries. "Can I ask who?"

[hayliel]

"We'll see if I'll call you Dad or not later." It would probably never happen. Chances were that, if he did, it would only remind him of Ulthar and that was the last thing he wanted. Ganymede didn't seem like a horrible person at all. "Gany. Okay, we'll go with that for now." Then again, this guy kept buttering him up and complimenting him and that was clearly the fallen's weakness. He was obsessed with the idea of people thinking he was doing great with literally anything. Even if it was just his clothing. He did put effort into it though. The Gucci slides with the Mickey Mouse socks just seemed like the right idea at any given time. "Oh, thanks. I actually have a few other pairs of socks like these. You seem like you'd like them. Maybe I'll give you a pair." He looked at the Mickey ears atop Ganymede's head again. Then his face dropped at the mere mention of Uriel. "I will not be doing that. I don't talk to him. You're better off asking Sariel to convince him. They're besties."

"Dad is fine-" Ganymede cleared his throat, it was fine that Hayliel didn't want to though, totally fine, it's not like the aspect was going to be upset about it or anything. "But if you want then you can also call me Ganymede, Gany works too: it's like Dany but with a G." The aspect laughed lightly but his smile fell a little, someday, hopefully soon, his kids were going to love him. "I think you're the most amazing thing in the whole universe, I mean," Ganymede took a step back as he gestured towards Hayliel's complete fit: Gucci slides with the Mickey Mouse socks? Actual chef's kiss. "perfect: no notes. But yes, I know all about your Yavie, you two are so perfect together. Ugh, I love to see it. You just need to convince your brother Uriel to propose to his boyfriend Logon and you can have a double wedding." Oh, that sounded absolutely magical.

[wardercloud]

There were several people that Cloud surrounded themself with and several people they knew they wanted to actually be around in the first place. Just because they surrounded them didn't mean that they wanted those people's presence. All that to say that the elf didn't really mind when Ganymede was around. The other felt like a breath of fresh air sometimes. Very akin to what they often thought of Laer except much more...naive. For some reason, they felt like protecting him even though they were sure that the aspect didn't much need their help. Irregardless, here they were now at Lupercalia spending time with each other. The last thing Cloud had expected to hear in regards to that was that Gany was married with a husband that was a god and that the two of them could only be friends. That was what they had thought they were in the first place, but maybe the sanguine elf had given the wrong impression. They did spend quite a bit of time around each other so maybe that was where the lines might have blurred. It wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't just friends, but...well, Ganymede was married so it didn't much matter. "Yes, we're just friends," they said as they watched the other walk on a log. Arms folded over their chest, they looked up at him. "So how long have you been married then?"

@wardercloud location: Fey Forest, Lupercalia notes: this isn't a date

Ganymede wasn't smart, he wasn't creative, and he wasn't very realistic. He was the naive, favourite, and spoiled son of King Tros who denied every suitor that came knocking for the Prince's hand because nobody was good enough for Ganymede. Ganymede's brother had founded Troy, and still, the younger of the two could do no wrong. Ulthar was a God, a God of Gods: King God, mighty Zeus on his Olympian throne. Ganymede's father hadn't had a choice, but back then the Prince had just been happy to feel chosen by someone so important. To finally fall into romantic love that had felt as real and as genuine as Ganymede had thought it should. He'd never seen his father again, or his brother, and he hadn't been able to visit the city that came to be the focal point of so many compelling stories: Paris, Helen, Patroclus, Achilles, Hector, Cassandra, Odysseus, and so many more. He'd asked to attend the funerals, a request that was denied, his place was at Ulthar's side. People were always kinder and more complacent towards Ulthar when Ganymede was around.

Cloud was pretty uppity, Ganymede wasn't used to it but he liked it. They asked him places, that Christmas party, now this wolf thing - it was pretty violent though, which Ganymede liked less. The lycans were rude too, belching, fighting, and cussing all the time; Ganymede didn't know how people could stand it.

"I just want to be very clear about something." Ganymede said as he walked the length of a log and put one foot in front of the other, "We're friends, right? Just friends?" Technically the aspect was still married and with any luck He would come back and make everything right. "I have a husband, Ulthar, and He's a God so I don't want to give you the wrong idea."

[wardercloud]

This was some sort of joke, they were sure of it. Cloud had been sure that Aegnor and them would get separated at some point so their next step would be to look out for those around Rome and then find the lorendrow. That first step and second step should've been switched though because they hadn't really expected some guy to just be curled up in a ball on the floor of some pharmacy. They weren't sure if the man was crying or not, but it probably wasn't a good idea for him to just be laying there in the middle of a war. Cloud could sense the power radiating off of the guy, but that didn't really mean much when one was in the fetal position. Maybe it was to throw people off, they really couldn't tell. Either way, this guy had to get up and get out of here.

"Are you okay to stand or...?" It was blatantly obvious that the man hadn't heard them, but he also had a smile on his face so Cloud wasn't sure what was going on at all. They were just about to pick the man up themself and drag him off to somewhere else that was probably safer when he finally spoke. Thank goodness. That was sure to have been more trouble than it was worth. A sigh left Cloud's mouth as they looked down at the guy. "I asked if you were okay to stand. You were just laying there. Are you sure that was your happy place? Because your happy place is sure to get you killed."

@wardercloud location: Rome's Ruins notes: do u per chance have a spare shirt I can borrow :pleadingemoji:

That had been awful. Just awful! Ganymede wheezed a little cough after all his skin had come back on, how many times had he died? A lot. So many. TOO MANY! None of his kids had even bothered to come looking for him, they'd all just left him there to burn and burn and burn forever. His crown was destroyed, the bow and arrows that Diana had given him was destroyed. His clothes were completely ruined and Ganymede's whole chest was out. Arms folded to conceal his modesty, he'd prayed for days for Ulthar to come and save him but the God hadn't come. Maybe Ganymede really was just pathetic, waiting for a man to save him who'd- who'd done- no, he couldn't even think about it.

Everyone was fighting but all Ganymede wanted to do was curl up into a ball, shut his eyes, and try to go to a happy place. So that's exactly what he did: his happy place was always the same, he was hosting a dinner for all his kids and his grandbabies, he had a table big enough for all of them and he even knew all of their names. Their likes, their dislikes, some of them were picky eaters and Ulthar was always telling him not to coddle them, but he did, and he made all their favourites so everyone was happy and nice to him. Ulthar would see what a great homemaker he was and would hold his hand over the table after dinner was done, he wouldn't say much but Ganymede would know that he was happy too. And nice.

Laid there in the ruins of what might have been a pharmacy at once point, Ganymede had succeeded in completely dissociating in a ball on the floor. Deluding himself to a point where he just laid there in a ball with a smile on his face. Someone's voice pulled him out of it and when Ganymede opened his eyes he saw someone kind of just standing there in armor dripping in - was that blood? It was very cool looking. "Um, I'm sorry, I didn't hear you; I was in my happy place."

[wardercloud]

"Oh, I didn't say I didn't like it. From what I've learned of you since we met, it seems very...you." Cloud wasn't really sure how to properly compliment someone or extend niceties. Really, that was how they had gotten along so well with Mneme. She had been so stoic that it felt like they were anything but. Now that she was gone, it felt like they were always the most serious person in the room. The sanguine elf really did try not to be that way though. It was just difficult to move away from who they always had been. Luckily, Ganymede's natural disposition somehow helped with that. The aspect was very much a mixed bag of things. On one hand, he was sad. On the other, he was just the nicest person they knew. It felt like a good thing to keep Ganymede around. "Modest. Right. I don't think I know what that word means. The sun court is very..." They weren't even really sure how to describe it. "I guess we're just kind of told to be very comfortable with our bodies. Not that that makes you uncomfortable with yours." Cloud was both the former and the latter. While they didn't mind wearing as little clothes as possible, they absolutely did not feel comfortable doing anything with anyone. Hence why they never participated in those yearly orgies. They could kiss someone, but they weren't entirely sure that they'd enjoy it much. "No, no. I've just lost a few people close to me so I just...haven't been dealing with it properly."

Ganymede thought that maybe if he cried less he wouldn't be so annoying to people. His husband in particular; Ganymede wondered what it would take to make Ulthar come home and regurgitate their children so they could all be a family again. Maybe being less of a burden and irritant would gain him an invitation back home; Ganymede was still confident that he and Ulthar could work this out. He'd need to make amends with the kids, of course, but the God was the only person who'd ever loved him besides his own father, so there was almost nothing that Ganymede wasn't willing to forgive as long as Ulthar would say it again. I love you. "You don't like it?" Ganymede looked sideways at the elve, the one who'd left a gory mess of blood around them. Cloud's laughter made Ganmede blush as he tucked his phone away, suddenly embarrassed; he thought it looked nice. It probably said something about the aspect that even amid all this playful devastation, Ganymede was relatively unphased. The blood was bothersome, but his friends at the cleaners would be willing to get anything out if he asked nicely. "I'm just... Modest." It was nice having a friend to go to this function with, even if they didn't like what Ganymede was wearing; he didn't hear from people... ever. Which was fine, the aspect knew that his children were busy, his grandchildren too and if they didn't want to come see him then he wasn't going to force his presence on them. It was totally fine. "Were you crying because of all this...?" Ganymede gestured vaguely, "I've met a lot of elves and you're the first who drinks blood." There was a pause before he raised his hands. "Not that there's anything wrong with it."

[wardercloud]

"You don't have to apologize. I've been crying for the past few months. I shouldn't have said that." Then again, just because they shouldn't have said it didn't make it not a true statement. Really, Cloud should have just not said anything at all about it because it was a hypocritical statement. It was too late to go back on that now though so they just put that to the side so that it wouldn't be spoken about it again. Sometimes people needed to cry. Who were they to tell someone not to? "They gave you a phone? Right, okay." Cloud just shrugged because it seemed like something that would happen to Ganymede. Poor guy had people being nice to him all the time, but was completely oblivious. Cloud had noticed it only slightly, but they weren't usually the type to be rude to people on purpose anyway. Being nice to the aspect just seemed more natural than usual. Nevertheless, they didn't pay too much mind to it because they had to look at the outfit that Ganymede had decided to show them. Cloud looked from the phone to the aspect then back at the phone. The laugh that left their mouth was actually something akin to what they always heard from Laer. It took a moment for them to actually stop, but they simply patted Gany on the shoulder after. "That's a full suit and bunny ears. Risqué isn't the word I would use for this outfit. It's actually pretty conservative. I wear less clothes on a daily basis and I wouldn't even consider that risqué."

"Oh, sorry, I um-" The last thing that the aspect wanted to do was get on the other's nerves but it seemed like he did that a lot, people were just too polite to say otherwise. Generally speaking that's why he cried in the safety and privacy of his home, but last time Ganymede's home had been destroyed so there wasn't anywhere to go but that pharmacy floor. "I won't do that again." It wasn't like the aspect had any friends yet, the last thing he wanted to do was chase away the one friend he'd made because he was annoying. "Here, I'll show you my outfit on this phone my friend at the Apple store gave me." Ganymede had just walked in one day when he was especially sad, after asking about a hundred questions all the people working chipped in and got him the newest one. Some of the customers too, they were just so nice and charitable. Ganymede felt himself blushing as he pulled up the picture he'd taken earlier, "Don't laugh, I know it's too much. I am going to have to go home first to get changed."

[wardercloud]

Normally, Cloud would have backed away from the very awkward situation that they had somehow gotten themself involved in here. They guessed they didn't really initiate this though. When Ganymede pulled out wet wipes, the elf hadn't been sure where this was going, but then the aspect was dabbing at their mouth that was covered in blood. They wanted to back away. It felt only a little uncomfortable, but not enough for them to just slap Gany's hand away. "Yeah, I asked you, didn't I? You're not bad company when you're not crying." Not that Cloud could really say much. How long had it been since they had come out of their little hermit hole again? They couldn't even really keep track anymore. "No, we don't need to stop there. We can just go. My manifest will help me. Or Laer. Carrying blood bags around just seems a little strange." The elf didn't say anything as Ganymede seemed to get closer because they didn't really think much of it. Laer was often standing way too close so they were used to it. "Risqué? Somehow I doubt that's the case. What is it?"

As any prepared father should, Ganymede travelled with wet wipes, so when Cloud stood and invited him to the party, the aspect was already moving in to dab at the corner of the vampire-elf's mouth. "You want to go to a party together?" Ganymede felt the need to clarify because, well, "I'd love to, nobody ever invites me anywhere, do you have more? We could pack some up for you in case you get hungry. Should we stop at the blood bank? I bet if I ask nicely I can get you some more." For a brief moment he thought about Ulthar devouring his children, all that blood, there was so much destruction, Ganymede's whole family was- Ganymede smiled, brighter than before. Nobody ever said it, but often the aspect got the impression that people didn't like him very much, it was that or they were all just too busy to ever call him, visit him, or invite him over. Sometimes he thought they were just too busy, but at night when he was crying himself to sleep he just assumed that like Ulthar, everyone was only nice to his face. Ganymede folded the cloth to a clean edge, aware then that maybe he'd gotten too close, that wasn't very considerate of him considering of how much blood Cloud had gotten everywhere. "I think I might have something to wear but... It's kind of risque."

[wardercloud]

Came to check up on them? Cloud's brows furrowed in a slight bit of confusion, but they could only assume that Ganymede was just really nice. The elf wouldn't have classified themself as the complete opposite. However, it was clear that Cloud was not the kind of person that was just striking up conversation with people randomly. Their thought process was always singular. Someone always wanted something and that meant that they were pessimistic about most things. Yet, for some reason, they really couldn't find a reason for why Ganymede had come to check up on them other than exactly what the aspect had said. He was worried about the elf. Their gaze lifted up to Gany's, blood still dripping from their mouth. This newfound fixation on blood was definitely annoying, but it had taken more of a downward spiral since Mneme. They shook the thought of their head and tried to muster up a smile. It probably didn't seem like one, but it was the best they could do. "Right. Thank you?" Cloud lifted themself from the floor to stand up. "I was actually on my way to that party. Since you were worried about me, do you want to come with me? Maybe you can help me to prevent any accidents from happening."

"Well... I came to check up on you of course." It seemed obvious to Ganymede because he'd known that the elves had been suffering each in their own way. They lost their queen, then there were others who'd died among their ranks as well. Ganymede had known many fey, had helped quite a few find love as well, and just like any other survivor he knew what loss felt like. Grief so heavy that when the aspect touched it it felt like... Like walking out over a cliff. One moment the ground was beneath his feet, and then the next there was just the open air and he was falling and falling. The good days were the days when he'd just smash against the rocks below, predictably fall apart and curl into himself; the worse days were when the collision never happened, when instead Ganymede just walked around with this aching, sinking feeling in his gut. It felt like it didn't matter what he did, what he said, or where he went, everything was always going to be wrong. Ganymede crouched down to gather some of the bags, he was a bit squeamish but he was getting better, if nothing else he could tidy. The aspect looked up towards Cloud, and smiled. "I was worried about you."

[hayliel]

Hayliel's brows furrowed in confusion for a moment before the other continued. It was becoming obvious that this man was not going to give him an actual name so he figured he had to ask for it himself. "Is there a name you go by or do you just want to be called dad? I probably won't call you that, but..." The fallen wasn't even sure what they'd called Ulthar back then. Father? Definitely not dad. Ulthar had a little plaything though. How fun. He'd have to tell Yavie about this. Speaking of, he wondered where the love of his life was right now. He looked around for a moment and then saw a crowd of people surrounding someone doing a handstand. There he was. He only looked away because he heard the guy that wanted him to call him dad speaking again. "You think I'm perfect?" Compliments went so damn far for Hayliel. However, he still pulled back at the hand on his cheek, his eyes flicking over to where Yavie was for a moment as he did. He'd seen enough pornos to know where a stepdad moment could go and that was certainly not happening here. "I'm kind of here with my...Yavie. That's all I can call him because, he's a lot more than my boyfriend. We're not married yet. Soon though."

"Well that's because I'm your dad, Hayliel." These fallen were all so confused, it reminded him of how Astaroth had reacted to. Two peas in a pod these two, Ganymede could see how obviously alike Luxuria and Ira were. "Well, your step dad but you can call me dad if you'd like." He wanted him to but he wasn't going to be too pushy about it, not yet anyways. "He's not perfect, he made mistakes, but he was heartbroken when you left. Really, devastated. Can you blame him? His perfect son running away from home? It's tragic." Ganymede put his hand to Hayliel's cheek, his obvious favourite, "I'm not here to talk about him though, I was hoping we could spend the day together. Go on some rides, takes some photos, doesn't that sound nice?"

[wardercloud]

END.

"Okay. It looks nice." It was the least Cloud could do to give out a compliment to someone that was doing his best to try and help them. Then again, they couldn't really remember a time where people hadn't tried to help them. They were a noble elf. If people weren't falling at their mother's feet, she would have been disappointed. Cloud didn't much care about all of that though. Not that they had ever gotten the opportunity to care about it in the first place. Still, now they were nothing more than a broken shield to the dead. They might as well have been so themself. That was pretty damn gloomy though. Ganymede probably didn't want to hear all of that. Maybe. They could never tell. "You don't have to apologize. I'm used to it." Unfortunately. Loss was just something they had learned to cope with. All they could ever think about was who would be next. "You can ask. I don't know if I'm ready to answer though."

[wardercloud]

It had been some time since the loss of Mneme, but it still felt fresh. Everyone the elf had seemed to always be lost to them at some point. Maybe Cloud should've been pushing people away to protect all of them from their own horrid fate. Instead, they were latching on. They were holding onto people like Mery and Laer and anyone else that remotely cared about them in the slightest or that they cared about. It wasn't that long of a list though which was why it hurt more when they were gone. Cloud couldn't be the only one left standing at the end of the day. It couldn't be that way for them. That thought alone had sent them spiraling from the moment they had lost Mneme until now. Somehow, they'd ended up in Woven, bags of blood shredded because that was all they felt like they could do right now. The blood was more appetizing than they wanted it to be and there was an addiction they had to it that was starting to become a problem. Still, here they were huddled over a bag when they had thought Woven was closed.

When Cloud turned their head to look up at Ganymede, their head tilted slightly. The aspect's blood was just normal, but it still called to them as much as anything else. These blood bags would start to get boring at some point. They shook their head to get that thought out and then looked away from Gany. "What are you doing here?"

@wardercloud location: Woven notes: Cloud ate their customer

While Ganymede didn't really remember much, he did remember his conversation with Uriel and Adatiel, then of course the stranger who'd picked him up off the floor of that pharmacy. However, Ganymede was a master at suppressing his own trauma so he'd completely blocked out how mean Levi had been when they threw him in that river of lava. When he returned from globe trotting with Apollo and Diana, mostly Diana but Apollo did seem to show up sometimes, things were more or less back to how they'd been before... He never heard from his kids, and he never heard from Ulthar no matter how many voicemails he left. That was okay though, that was completely fine, everything was gonna be just a-okay. "That's-" Ganymede had wandered into Woven and saw several shredded packets of blood, looked like Cloud had gotten hungry... Very hungry. "um, that's a lot of blood."

[hayliel]

Hayliel was enjoying himself at Disneyland. Nobody was there to bother him. It was just him and Yavie. Yavie and him. Well, until it wasn't because why in the world would they ever be lucky enough to not be dragged into some bullshit? He just wanted to sit around and look pretty without having to lift a finger. Yavie understood that. Why didn't anyone else? Stupid seraph blade. Stupid Ulthar. Stupid Uriel and Michael and Azrael and...well, Adatiel and Dumah were alright. But the rest were all stupid. He looked at the very powerful man in front of him, Mickey ears within his hands. "I'm not wearing either. It would mess up my hair." And he had spent a little extra time on it today. "You've got some nerve bringing up my 'father' when I'm in Disneyland. That's just disrespectful." Then he looked down at the Gucci slides on his feet. Damn it, some people really knew how to get on his good side. "Oh yeah, they are. I just got them yesterday for today. Only for today. I can't wear them twice. That's just...who even wears things twice?" He shook his head. "Who are you? How do you know my father?"

@hayliel location: Disneyland notes: just like me fr

Hayliel might have run away from home, but that did not make Ganymede love his son any less. In fact, it was time for Hayliel to come home and rejoin the family. Hayliel had always been his favourite and it wasn't just because of all the homosexual relationships that he'd had over the years. Truly Ganymede was proud. Approaching the other in the midst of the crowded park, Gany wore a pair of Mickey Mouse ears and held up two options, "Do you want to wear Minnie, or Mickey?" Ganymede smiled, "Your dad told me you liked luxury things and he wasn't wrong, you look great, are those the new Gucci slides? You're wearing sunscreen right?"