Entry #004 | Video

[quaerit]

[ Here is Gansey, looking a little strange. He’s wearing a navy-blue sweater emblazoned with a raven – an Aglionby school sweater, over what appears to be ordinary clothes. His shoulders and hair are damp, like he’s been rained on, and he looks strangely pale. Despite that, he’s displaying a welcoming smile, and his hazel eyes are bright and vital with some emotion he’s holding back. ]

Apparently, I vanished yesterday.

I say apparently because it feels more like several weeks ago, but according to this – [ he holds up one of De Chima’s daily newspapers – a tabloid, headlined with speculation about the upcoming import elections ] – it’s only been a day.

A lot can happen in a day. Sometimes things that give you perspective.

Can I ask – the school year is almost over. Some of you will be graduating. I will. Which is odd, because I was here for eight months, and then I went home and it was Fall again, and Senior year was just beginning. I’m not completely sure what age I am now. I turned eighteen a couple of months ago.

[ Which, he actually never mentioned. It had seemed like there were more important things to be getting along with, and the thought of getting older in the wrong world had annoyed Gansey anyway. He’d kept quiet. Now, if he could do that over again, he thinks he’d celebrate it more – even though he’s only mentioning it now because it’s relevant to this. ]

Then I go home, and I’m seventeen again, so now I don’t even know what counts. Graduation will, though, I know that much.

So: to everyone else who’s graduating. Or even if you’re not, even if it’s just that you see change coming for you. What are your plans? Will you work, will you travel? What would you like to do, ideally? I think I’m ready for it to be summer again.

Private to: Billy Kaplan, Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch, Noah Czerny, Matthew Lynch

[ This part goes to everyone’s private inboxes. Gansey’s smile is less presidential here, but his eyes are even sharper. He seems energized, like he’s on the edge of something. His voice is trying not to sound like it. ]

Hey, everyone. I very much hope I didn’t worry you. I think I was mid-conversation with you, Billy. I’ll have to blame my rudeness on the Porter.

Listen, I’m on my way home. Could someone bring the car and pick me up? I’m getting pizza from that Italian place near the porter in De Chima. I’m absolutely famished.

I’d…like to know if anyone else vanished, too. Ronan, Adam?

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[burnseternal]

I am indeed. I followed my people's teachings, and because of it, was given my ring -- my new purpose in life, and my duty. He has continued to guide me, after everything.

[inmyothertights]

Do you want me to break you down?

[He lifts up his hand so that Gansey can see it, ticking off points.]

You're Richard Campbell Gansey, III, he of the absurd name, long may he reign over the ungrateful court he holds at the Meadows. You're a student of history, a student of magic, the rare student of magic who loves it despite being unable to access it's plethora of wonder and it's garbage can of horrors.

You're full of wonder about things that are Welsh Kings that will move to things that aren't. You're the kind of friend someone calls for coffee and the kind of friend someone calls to get them out of a Montana jail at untold hours of the night. You're probably the kind of friend who would move a dead body.

You're honest. You're wonderful. You're easy to like. You don't sleep, which really, you should sleep. You're a fussy eater. You speak like an old man on TV who is trying to convince us that gold is a solid investment. You're going to be incredible one day, even if what you choose to do is train lice for the louse circus, but I think you'll probably go into archaeology. You found me when I needed someone to find me.

[You're a boy I fell in love with despite all my best intentions, Billy might as well say.]

You don't need a Welsh King to show you the way. You're a king all on your own.

[aberth]

Seriously?

[ He looks thoughtful for a long moment before his mouth twitches slightly upwards. ] Makes sense. Mayhem would have definitely been Noah's bag.

[ From what Adam knows of him anyway. ]

Did he get to see it?

[quaerit]

[ Gansey's well-maintained smile falters a little at that. ]

No. He hasn't been around that much. Things have been changing quite rapidly.

[ Gansey has taken Henry's Aglionby sweater off by now, and folded it on top of his bed. In fact, he's changed all his clothes, and showered. It feels better to get the remnants of that night away from him. ]

It's only been around a week since Malory left. I can tell you, it doesn't feel like it.

[quaerit]

I didn't realise you were religious, Saint Walker. I suppose it makes a kind of sense. You've always seemed peaceful.

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[huntergames]

[ She smiles, taking a liking to Gansey. He seems so down-to-earth and wise... she thinks he would get along well with Armin were he here. Jean, too, in spite of his abrasive personality. ]

Yes, you're right.

Is there anything you go to do here you've never done before at home?

[burnseternal]

And I am peaceful, for the most part. My religion -- my beliefs have helped me through times of strife to guarantee it. And you are not religious, brother?

[pillz]

sure it is virgiboy
ppl take a gap year 2 work
or volunteer in botswana
bt i say fuck botswana!
im goin back in when they start th supervillain academy baby ;(

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[doubleblind]

[Cosima brightens at the mention of a pattern of the arrivals, she's been looking for one too. In her mind, there's no way it's random who's brought here and who isn't. She ducks out of frame for a moment, resurfacing with a notebook in hand.]

Tell me about it. It's a crazy complicated pattern, but there has to be one. I can't believe that this is just random.

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[rathercommon]

That's silly. Communication is vital to good sex.

[quaerit]

[ Gansey listens to all of that, first with a smile that hints at amusement, and then self-deprecation - and then, as Billy goes on, genuine surprise bordering on disbelief.

He'd had no idea that Billy - that anyone around him, really - thought so highly of him. What's even more strange is that Billy isn't telling him what he wants him to be, or what he thinks he is. He's saying what he sees, and Gansey feels known, like he had when Henry brought him to a hole in the ground and talked about testing his mettle.

But it's not only about feeling known. He feels known and liked, more than liked, maybe. This is a step beyond casual observance. At the end of it, he's very quiet, and his eyes are a little wide. His fingers are fiddling with something, warping it; a mint leaf, on close inspection. ]

I...don't know what to say. To any of that, I...

Didn't know you felt that way. Or thought, any of those things. I think you're more sure of me than I am. I'd like to be that boy.

[ Gansey's not a fool. This is an idealised image of him. If it's really what Billy sees, then he's either not seeing, or not speaking of, the faults that go along with it. ]

I think you're better to me than I deserve. Thank you, for being my friend.

[quaerit]

Not particularly. Nominally, I suppose. I would say I've always been driven by my faith, but my faith isn't exactly what you'd call religious in nature.

What do you believe in, Saint Walker?

[quaerit]

I'm not sure you need to fail a class on supervillainy honestly
You're doing quite well by yourself

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[quaerit]

[ Gansey smiles at the sight of her notebook. He always enjoys finding a like-minded person. ]

No, it can't be. There's far too much coincidence involved with that theory, and I don't believe in coincidence at all.

Something has made the Porter latch onto us and our friends, and not others. It makes no sense otherwise.

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[quaerit]

Well, how do you know what's in flux and what isn't?

I mean...there were certain things that were foretold to happen, and did, but didn't turn out quite the way we thought they would because we were still able to act and change it.

Can that happen? Or were we always destined to change it in the first place?

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[quaerit]

[ Gansey considers that. It's a very complicated question, and his expression works exceptionally hard to stay clear. It can't quite avoid a fracture. ]

It...didn't end the way I hoped. I found what I was looking for, but it wasn't what I thought.

After that, I think things turned out better than I thought they would, but it wasn't...pleasant, to get there.

I won't be sorry to put it behind me, actually.

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[quaerit]

[ Gansey has to think about that one. He's done a lot of things that most people his age haven't, he knows that. ]

Working is one thing, actually. I have several jobs here, and I'd never done that at home at all. And I've done quite a bit of traveling, but...

I was always looking for something. I never traveled for the sake of it, and I think I'd like to. I think I'd like that a lot, actually.

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[quaerit]

I'm hanging up now! Good talk, Ms Jones.

[inmyothertights]

[He flushes, red, and covers his face with his hands for a moment, a nervous tic.]

No. You deserve a lot. Don't sell yourself short, I'm saying.

[He looks over at Gansey, quickly.]

I'm the lucky one.

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[helpline]

I just know. Time Lord perks, after all.

[quaerit]

[ That flush, combined with everything Billy just said, is a little harder to ignore. Gansey is oblivious to a lot of things, particularly when it comes to how other people think of him.

He can't stay oblivious to this. He chooses caution, though, and decides not to put Billy on the spot about it. Instead he touches his shoulder. ]

I think I'm the lucky one. Who'd have thought that I could come to a place like this and find a friend like you? I'm so glad to have found you, Billy.

I'll be all right. I'll keep moving forward, like always. Maybe to archaeology. [ A smile, then, because that guess had not been far from the mark. ] Eventually.

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[quaerit]

Meaning, what, that you're born with this knowledge? Or you've learned to see the signs?

[inmyothertights]

[Please don't say anything. Billy would die of embarrassment. He's closing his eyes and the sky swirls over them.]

You have a whole life to live, right? You're young and rich. You don't have to make any decisions now.

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[huntergames]

[ His answer seems to startle her for a second, her mouth hanging open. ]

Pardon? Did you say you never worked?

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[helpline]

Meaning due to my weirdo alien powers and weirdo alien biology I can sense time.