disentombs | Duplicity inbox

that sounds good. where are you staying?

I have an apartment in the Up now.

[he texts Phillip his address]

Cool. I'll be there soon.

[Since it's a new place, Phillip walks rather than teleports, and also that gives him a bit of a chance to hopefully get his feelings under control. He makes it there in pretty short order anyway, knocking on the door with a neutral smile on his face.]

[Gansey answers the door in a lilac pullover sweater while carrying a mug of steaming coffee. He smiles warmly at Phillip and steps aside to let him in, looking at the expression on Phillip's face and wondering what could be going on.]

Welcome.

[nothing is going on!! clearly he just wanted to hang out like friends do. phillip is absolutely not terrible at dealing with his own emotions or anything like that.]

Thanks. [Phillip steps in, looking around the apartment- it's probably at least a little different from the ones Dominants are given, so in that way it's kind of a first...] How've you been?

[It's absolutely cozier, but it has the clean sharp design of any other place in the Up.

There's a few scattered mint plants on the windowsills and countertop. A French press with fresh coffee sits on it.

It's a studio, so Gansey's bed is completely unmade in a corner of the room.

He has a mug of coffee waiting on the counter and places it at the small kitchen table for Phillip.

He raises his eyebrows a bit at the question.]

Surely that's something you could have asked over text, [he States gently. He knows something is off.]

[....Phillip really feels like he should be less easy to read. He's an actor, goddamnit. Of course, it isn't anything in his expression that's his tell, it's his behaviors. Which he is less good at controlling if he doesn't have something specific in mind.]

Maybe I just wanted to hang out. [it's possible.]

I would buy that, [he says while looking thoughtful. He takes a sip of his coffee.]

But based on your response I don't think that's all.

[Phillip shrugs. He's... not sure how willing he is to get into it, but he will eventually give if Gansey keeps pushing.]

You haven't answered my question yet.

Doing well, now that I have a space of my own, [he says with a smile. He pushes the mug for Phillip a bit closer.]

And you?

That's good. It's a nice place.

[Phillip will pick up the mug, cupping his hands around it and taking a sip. ...This is much better brewed coffee that he's used to.] I'm... alright. Had kind of a weird day, but. [He shrugs. 'Weird' is a vast, vast understatement, but he doesn't want to show how much it all upset him.]

Glad you approve.

And in what way?

[they're getting closer to the heart of the matter, he can feel it.]

I got kind of pissed at someone at orientation. I don't really get mad very often so I don't like it.

[also apparently being mad about revival from the dead makes him temporarily shift closer to being Death, which is an unsettling revelation.]

What about?

[He leans back in his seat and looks rather professorial. One of Gansey's many gifts included looking old and young at the same time

[how does he do that, it's weird.]

Some guy was being a giant asshole and wound up... kind of hitting a nerve, I guess. I'll be fine.

[he doesn't need to talk about it. really.]

[Magic, duh.]

Will you? You don't seem like it.

[The way Phillip is behaving makes it abundantly clear that it's really bothering him--enough to seek out companionship afterwards.

He doesn't know Phillip terribly well yet, but he's quite interested in what makes his new (sex) partner tick.]

[Phillip sighs. He doesn't really want to talk about it, but Gansey does not appear to be giving up.]

I mean, I'm going to have to, aren't I?

I suppose but clearly you're still very bothered by whatever happened.

[Phillip sighs. Ok... fine.]

He apparently had been revived from the deady recently and was basically trying to brag about it. Said he'd gotten back what he was 'owed.'

[given that gansey knows what he is? he might be able to guess why phillip might be upset about this.]

Ah.

[He doesn't quite get the intricacy of Phillip's feelings behind the matter, but thinks he can grasp why that pissed Phillip off.]

You felt as though it was a personal attack.

Not... exactly? Sort of? I don't know.

[Phillip sighs.] It's not really a concept I had to deal with before being here. As far as I could tell, back home if you die then that's just it. And being here... it always bothers me some, but some cases are worse than others. And I think with him it was really the feeling of like it was just natural or guaranteed that he should have it back is what pissed me off.

[of course, what made him angry is only the first part of why he's upset now.]

[What he says next isn't quite a secret. It's just something that doesn't usually come up in normal conversation.]

That was always how I had understood death. I've died and been brought back to life. It's not a usual thing.

[He takes another sip of coffee, curious about Phillip's reaction.]

[It gets him a sharp look up from the coffee Phillip's drinking, followed by a sigh. Why is this such a common thing, this is now how it's supposed to work... It's kind of starting to make him tired more than anything.]

How did it happen for you?

[It's kind of amusing that Phillip's reaction is more exasperation than anything else. Gansey gets up to pour himself more coffee before he goes into the story.]

I was ten years old. My parents are politicians and were holding a fundraiser in our backyard. I wandered off out back. Stepped on a hornet's nest. I'm deathly allergic, I found out. I felt my heart stop.

[He's told this story a few times so there's no pausing, no emotional attachment to it.]

I heard a voice while I lay there dying.

"You will live because of Glendower. Someone else on the ley line is dying when they should not, and so you will live when you should not."

And the next thing I know, it's like nothing happened. My heart is beating and I'm alive.

[Ah.

Phillip's quiet for a moment, absently tapping a finger against his lip as he processes both the statement the emotions that go with it. That... yeah. If someone was going to be revived, that sounds like it's roughly how it should work. It's... a running theme, in what he is an isn't ok with, he thinks. Balance. That if someone was to not die when they should have, then something else had to counter that force within the rest of the universe.

At the very least, it's clear that the answer settles him in some way, going back to sip at his coffee after a few moments.] That... sounds more like how it should work, in my world. I think? Or at least it feels more right.

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