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[ The video clicks on to Dorian, leaning in a chair against the wall, with a guitar in his lap. He's idly strumming at it—though the window, it's obvious that the sun's going down when he films this (someone's mostly nocturnal these days). He basically looks every bit the douchebag college guy who plays his guitar on the quad, except for the fact that he's immortal. ]

Lawyers! This is your time to shine. Or, lawyers and other people who are willing to grapple with an intellectual property dilemma. So in that case, lawyers and the utterly pretentious. [ excluding him, of course ] To the best of my knowledge, certain bands from my world don't exist in this one. For instance, I haven't found any trace of Adam and the Ants. [ mostly because that band is HELLA 80S and this game's aesthetic is the 1950s. As if to prove his point, Dorian starts quietly playing a few chords from a song that some people might recognize as "Prince Charming" by Adam and the Ants. ] However, that's not to say that Mr. Adam Ant himself doesn't exist in this world. For all I know, he's a plumber somewhere or something droll like that.

So if I were to start up a band-which I am, looking for a drummer by the way-and we released an Adam and the Ants song for our first single, despite Mr. Ant perhaps existing here but that song not existing here, is that legally sound? I know it's probably not ethically sound but really, who gives a damn about ethics these days.

[ there's a pause before Dorian continues, as if he's realized an obvious point of contention. ] And yes, before some of you point it out, I can play the guitar and I can sing. I was in a band back in the day: Dorian Gray and the Hedonists. [ is he that vain YOU BET HE IS THAT VAIN. And that nostalgic now, apparently. Somebody got bit with the music bug HARD. ] To prove it... [ he pauses for a moment, frowning, thinking a little bit ] ...anyway, here's "Wonderwall."

[ and Dorian just straight up launches into playing and singing "Wonderwall." He's actually a good guitar player and has a pretty damn good voice (and I will link to some audio clips later) so enjoy Dorian unintentionally being That Guy. ]

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God, you and Toby would get along marvelously, [ Dorian remarked, with a roll of his eyes. ] 'O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods, how often has my spirit turned to thee!'

[ he's quoting Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey. And that eye roll turns to a little smirk. ] The constructed famous places don't count. It's the places that weren't intended to be famous and suddenly became famous that are the best. The Parisian catacombs, Roman ruins, places like that. The problem with America is that even their places that had fame thrust upon them are new.

That’s something else that Malory would say. [ And thus it makes Gansey smile, even if the smile tends towards irony. ]

They’re new by comparison, but they still have history. They still have hundreds of years of people walking through their halls, and the best of them will have hundreds more of the same. If you’re standing in a place like that, time doesn’t mean much anymore.

[ A little pause. ] Or at least it seems that way. I’ll give you the Roman ruins. You find them all over the place, that same style, connecting different countries in time. Have you seen Pompeii? That’s both new and old, given how long it was buried.

I'm liking him more and more already. [ Dorian's mimicking Gansey's smile as he continues. ]

I was born in 1862. The history of some American places loses it's impact when you've lived as long as they have—and places with true history are far and few between.

But yes, I have seen Pompeii. Multiple times, as a matter of fact, it's interesting enough to deserve repeat visits. I wish you could have seen it before now, sometime around the turn of the century. Just from a historical standpoint it's interesting to see what's closed off, what's shown, as time passes on.

Oh, so do I. I wish I'd been there when they found it. That would have been an incredible thing.

Though, a sad thing, too.

[ Because of the casts. The shadows of death that had been found, statues that showed people as death took them. He knows he would have hated that part.

But to see where they lived. God, but that would have been worth it. ]

That's my favorite part of exploring. To find something that's both old and new, and to bring it back again.

Who's Toby, by the way?

Toby's... [ and once again, there's the problem of how to define Toby. Not partner, not boyfriend, not significant other, certainly not hearts desire, no matter how true that last one is. ] he's someone very dear to me.

I did a little bit of that exploring myself, by the way. I did some globe-trotting, retracing the steps of long-dead explorers from the Amazon to Singapore. It's surprisingly cathartic!

Hmm. I see.

[ Gansey doesn’t inquire further. There’s something about Dorian’s reluctance to talk about it that really pleases him. In a man who’s so keen to talk about everything that ever gone on with him, this little bit of privacy makes Toby seem special. Gansey does not want to disrupt that.

It’s another thing that makes him think better of Dorian. That, and how genuinely interesting all of this is to him. ]

That’s some journey. Were you looking for something, or were you travelling for the sake of it? Honestly, I’ve rarely gone anywhere just to see the sights. Those were always a happy coincidence, never the intent.

Part of it was just to get out of London. I had been there for too long and had started to build up the reputation one wishes to shake.

[ at least in his case, the reputation of 'why the heck ain't he aging.' ]

So partly to get out of London, partly traveling for the sake of traveling.

I'd like that, I think. Wandering for the sake of wandering.

Though, honestly, I'd like to go home even more. Do you think that's always going to be London for you? In spite of everything else you've seen.

[ Gansey wouldn't blame him. Everyone needs that place in their lives, and it's a different place for everyone. Even Gansey's closest friends see it differently than him. ]

Definitely, [ said without hesitation. ] For some reason or another, I keep coming back to it. If I had to pick a home, might as well be London.

And you're not tempted to go to this world's version of it?

[ If this world had a Henrietta, Gansey would be there. He's already looked. The town doesn't exist, and still he's tempted to go and see what's in its place. ]

I've actually been! It's...strange. Parts of it are the same, but enough of it is different enough that it's unsettling.

Missing buildings, different streets - that sort of thing?

Precisely. My neighborhood still exists, but my house and my neighbors don't. My club's gone and there are office buildings that shouldn't be there. Even the history's different. I went to the location of somewhere back home, spent some time prowling around the library and some archives when I returned to America, the history had changed.

Of course it has. The whole place is predicated on choices that were made differently. If they weren't, it wouldn't be so alternate.

But still, a shade of home is better than nothing. At least it is for me. You don't agree?

It all depends on what you define as 'shade of home.' Mine are people, not places. And, since I know you're going to ask, one's a dear friend who knew the Oscar Wilde of his world, and the other is my significant other from home.

[ Dorian can't help but grin a little as he's talking, like it's his own little inside joke, because ha ha. 'Shades' of home. The friend who knew Oscar Wilde is the Shade. ]

Living as long as you have, I can understand that.

[ Even the London of Dorian's world wouldn't really be his London. Not anymore. It's all been rebuilt, multiple times. ]

Anyway, I feel much the same about my friends.

You're lucky. I had to be here by myself for three quarters of a year before Toby showed up. All of you bird children showed up at around the same time!

[ Gansey lets out a brief, startled laugh. ]

Bird children.

Christ. Do you know they call us raven boys at home, or are you basing that on Henrietta?

Basing that off Henrietta. And really, it was either going to be "bird children" or "Ronan and the Dominos". I think you lucked out!

[ he can't help but laugh a bit as well, giving Gansey a smile. ]

Really though, raven boys...that's a better nickname.

Ronan and the Dominos. Christ, that sounds like a band I'd listen to.

[ He rolls his eyes, though. It also sounds like a band that Ronan Lynch would go nowhere near. ]

It's because of our school, Aglionby. All boys. Its symbol is a raven, so the local people call us that. Interesting that you got it so close.

[ to which Dorian grabs his guitar (sitting offscreen!) and plays the riff from "Layla" ]

Stab in the dark, but is Aglionby a prep school? [ it sure sounds like one. ] The only reason I got it so close is that we all met due to Ronan's bird monster. Ergo, I associate you lot with birds. If he made a porcupine or something stupid like that, you'd have a worse name entirely.

Edited 2015-12-04 14:18 (UTC)

It is. What gave it away?

[ And as casually as that, he'll switch this over to private. ]

Dorian, about the bird.

Exactly what did Ronan tell you about it?

Not that much. I honestly learned more about the creature from watching it than from Ronan. [ and, because he knows Gansey will want an answer, he continues. ]

Aside from the fact that he created it, it's connected to him somehow. When Ronan stopped paying attention to the bird, the bird stopped paying attention to him. It speaks Latin and is afraid of tire irons, which is an oddly specific fear—I won't press about that, by the way. [ and, as if payment for not pressing about the bird/Ronan's fear of tire irons, Dorian continues on. ]

What are you willing to tell me about it?

Edited 2015-12-05 03:13 (UTC)

[ That’s not a surprise. Ronan feels very strongly about honesty, but he also feels very strongly about not telling people anything. Gansey sighs, rubbing his neck. ]

It’s better that I don’t, actually. It’s gotten us into some difficulties at home, and the last thing I want to do is attract the same attention here. Besides, it’s not my secret to tell.

I won’t tell you you’re wrong, since you’ve deduced that much. But please, could you avoid mentioning that connection in public? If there are people taking an interest, it would save you the trouble they’d cause.

I'll keep my mouth shut...but only if you tell me what some of those difficulties are. Speaking as someone who attracts attention by breathing, I might be able to help you deal with that somehow.

[ plus, Dorian's a nosy shit. ]

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