video; un: R

[winecasks]

[ Grantaire is where he usually is, huddled off with his wine in the corner of a tavern somewhere in Wyver. He doesn’t seem to be too far into this endeavor, considering he’s plenty eloquent when he decides to make a speech to the network.

It’s less than rousing. It's mostly complaints. ]

All this talk of politics has made me weary, friends. To be frank, I hardly understand it at all. I have listened. I drink, it’s true, but I listen. My ears are far better than my eyes or my memory, and no one ever tunes their conversation to exclude the fellow enjoying his drink in the corner.

[ This much seems to be true, given how he’s been rambling at length and no one has bothered to silence him. There’s chatter in the background as people enjoy their own conversations, separate from him as he drinks from the bottle. ]

I have heard things. Things about how the first to wake were welcomed gladly by Olympia, and others still were welcomed by Wyver later on. My ears are fine and well, I assure you, but my mind is perhaps foggy. It cannot comprehend what happened to create this change. Politics. Surely that is the only answer. It always is.

[ He rolls his eyes, taking another drink. ]

Well, I’ll not partake in any of it. I have no love for one city over another, no love for a king over an empress. I do not disdain monarchy, though I do not disdain those who do. I simply disdain politics. Tell me why I should choose one side or another, or why I should change my mind on the matter.

Comments

[winecasks]

Because it’s true, of course.

[ The wine speaks volumes as to how miserable he really is. Grantaire may be fairly young, but he’s drinking from a bottle rather than a glass. He looks disheveled and as though he hasn’t slept properly in days, and it’s all topped off by his incredibly negative viewpoint. ]

We live to die. We suffer for years until at last, gratefully, our lives come to an end. Happiness is unattainable, surely. I’ve only managed to capture it once, fleetingly, and never again. It doesn’t exist in shop windows, you can’t buy it with your last sou. You can only buy it with death. I have more proof of that than any man, I think. I ask you, monsieur, what good is there in the world?

[almaredemptoris]

There is good in the world because God made it so. It is true that death will ease the suffering of the just, when they are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven, but while hardship may be man's lot in life, this is not all he is allotted. Nor have I found happiness for purchase, but I have possessed it. It was a long time before my life was blessed so. Your error may be in seeking happiness in what is ephemeral [(that bottle of wine, for example, although such a barb he prudently omits)] rather than what endures longer. The people in your life, for example, or what you choose to do with the time you're given.

[winecasks]

[ Grantaire claims to believe in nothing, but he won’t diminish what this man does believe in. It’s not something he’s ever chosen to do, despite how he clings to his skepticism. In a way, he admires those who believe so vehemently. It’s what he lacks, after all. ]

Death is not ephemeral, monsieur. Or, it shouldn’t have been. It was the moment of my death that brought me a happiness I’ve never felt.

[ It brought him the acceptance that he craved for so long. He clings to that moment, even if the acceptance that was offered to him hasn’t exactly remained quite as strong as it was when he and Enjolras faced the National Guard. ]

It’s an unfortunate thing—I have far too much time to fill now. I don’t know what to do with it, and too few friends to join me.

[almaredemptoris]

[The stranger's words perplex him. The meaning of each word is plain to him, but strung together in such a fashion he can make no sense of what they are meant to convey. Finally he must conclude:] You mean to say you have already passed from this life? [He recalls a previous conversation, in which he was told that the Natha who were so powerful to have salvaged each of them from perishing worlds had also the power to defy death. Such a feat seems impossible, yet if this man speaks true then his life is proof. It puts him ill at ease, for life and death are determined by God alone. It is not a matter in which mere men ought to interfere.]

[winecasks]

[ He should be less liberal with the details of what happened to him, but this is Grantaire. Grantaire, who speaks of death on a near daily basis. Grantaire, who had recently frightened away a Wyver native who intended to throw him into a bonfire simply by stating that he had died once before. ]

I mean to say I have already passed on from my previous life. I do not know what I'm leading now, monsieur. Perhaps it's a second life, or perhaps it's only a recess from death's embrace.

[almaredemptoris]

I see. [He does not see, not quite, but he will spare this man his tangled contemplations. So too does he spare him his curiosity, for it seems a terribly personal question to ask why the moment of his death brought such joy to one who does not apparently believe in God and thus cannot believe in heaven. (As evinced by Grantaire's questioning of who created the world and for what purpose.)] If you have been granted a second chance, then it wouldn't do to squander it. This land is replete with opportunities to occupy oneself, if he only cares to look.

[winecasks]

[ On most days, Grantaire can hardly find the motivation to simply get out of bed. From the way he speaks, the way he drinks to excess, it’s clear that he’s unhappy. It’s incredibly easy for him to squander any opportunities he’s given, regardless of whether he wants them or not. ]

I don’t recall requesting a second chance.

[ He smiles, a sad but gentle smile. ]

Perhaps I did. It's possible that I've simply forgotten.

[almaredemptoris]

Then perhaps you were granted one because it was needed. What is it that you are looking for?

[winecasks]

Looking for? A good wine.

[ Grantaire... ]

I'm still in search of of the best bread and coffee in the city as well. I would scour Olympia, but the last time I tried, I nearly found myself victim to a bonfire. Politics. It seems our conversation has come full-circle.

[almaredemptoris]

So it has. Perhaps I should ask instead what it is that you hope to find in all of this. Certainly there must be more than wine, bread, and coffee.

[winecasks]

[ He appears to think for a moment, perhaps searching for a less flippant response. No one really expects a second chance at life, and Grantaire hadn’t wanted one. His only comfort is that Enjolras is here with him, though whatever acceptance he earned at the barricade has seemingly been erased. ]

I like to hear the opinions of others, though I have none of my own.

[ He likes to mock them sometimes, but in a friendly sort of way. ]

In that regard, I hope to find nothing else, truly, though I have a small hope that my friends will wake and join me someday.

[almaredemptoris]

That is a good hope to hold. Although, political and religious opinions are not all the opinions to be had. Would you not say so?

[winecasks]

I would say, and yet I have none to share.

[ He contradicts himself so often, of course he can't be fully without opinions. The fact that he agrees with this man's sentiment at all, for example, is an opinion in and of itself. ]