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This place is way too cool for Lindon. He feels that way the moment he steps in. He heard it was happening, though, and sometimes he wants to be happening, too. He's dressed down tonight in a pair of khakis and a blue sweater, not quite willing to commit to beatnik chic but willing to flirt with it. The end result is he looks like a suilt trying to slum. He's found a table shoved to the wall with a pair of chairs around it, and he sits there with a drink, watching the young and energetic dance to tonight's band. Rather than forlorn, he looks quite curious as he observes 'the youth these days' in their native habitat.
Maximus sits down abruptly at the table with Lindon. He is wearing a fine suit, and seems unbothered by any judgement for it. His hair is slicked back tightly, and overall, he appears much unchanged, with less make-up though. "I thought I recognized a familiar face. It IS you. Lindon the Librarian." He smiles and seems perfectly amiable, as if it were only last week that he departed. "No entourage? Or…are you shopping?" He smiles crookedly.
Lindon starts, sucking in a breath from surprise. Then his eyes widen, and his features soften as he says, "Maximus. You look stunning." Then he swallows, and a bit of color comes to his cheeks. "No, I was just out to listen to this band. I heard they were good." His shoulders slump a little as he admits. "I was feeling old. I wanted to go somewhere cool, even though I never went anywhere cool when I was young. It's loud. Anyway, how are you?"
"Fairly wonderful these days. It was a journey, but…I am pleased to say that I am living in an apartment that I did /not/ steal." Max flashes a smile. "Feeling old? How old are you? You do not look even so old as I." He sits up straight.
Lindon half-mumbles, "I'm thirty-three." He rakes a hand through his hair, which flops into his eyes. Tossing his head back to sweep it out of the way, he says, "That's great, about the apartment. I was wondering what happened to you. Your old place wasn't… well, it wasn't yours anymore. I'm glad to see you're doing well. I, er, I met your young man."
"Kaleb? Ah, then you know. It seems I was not so lost if you found him. We are never too far apart. He has his apartment with his brother, and I have mind which…we have filled to the brim with projects. I like to listen to him sketch. Its wonderful. And you /are/ older than me. But, you've aged well I should say." Max leans back in his chair. "And what have you been up to? Still hiding from…sorcerors and such?"
Lindon smiles, a little sadly. "I'm happy that you've found someone," he says. Even if those big dark eyes are sad, there's sincerity in them. "As it turns out, I am hiding from a sorcerer. He's threatening a lot of my friends, but a lot of my friends are also sorcerers, so I don't worry too much. None of them are going to let the Archive fall into the wrong hands."
Maximus bows his head faintly. "Good. Good. I am glad no harm will come to you over this. If you need help rounding the other sorceror up…just let me know. You seem a little sad. Have no regrets. We weren't…meant…for each other. I would have ruined you, and…pretty much destroyed everything else that you love. You made the right choice, telling me that you would never leave him. You know I went to see him. Your fellow. I asked him a bunch of questions and then, I promised not to interfere."
"I know," Lindon says quietly, "but it's a little sad. I was so infatuated with you. I've missed you. I've never been great at things coming to an end. But I am glad you're happy. You deserve that. Your young man is smart. He's got a very sharp mind. I know you'd never be satisfied with a dullard." He sighs, then squares his shoulders, putting on a brave face. "Lamont can be very persuasive, and he's quite protective. It's not just us being lovers. We started as a relic belonging to a wizard. Actually being people came later."
Maximus smiles faintly. "I tried to break someone else's bond, then your bond…and finally when I got to Kaleb, it broke, in my favor. And that's what I wanted. He /is/ young, but…I think he never was a child. I half suspect his baby pictures would have a suit on them. And his hair tamed back." His smile grows. "And of course we are both terrible people, so it works for the both of us. Niether of us have to /try/ to be better." A chuckle follows.
Lindon grins, then laughs quietly. "You're not terrible and neither is he," Lindon says. "You're just capricious in your way. It's in your nature. You can also be quite kind. I imagine so can he." He pauses, then adds, "In your way." He takes a swallow of his drink, and his demeanor eases. "It sounds great." Awkwardly, he adds, "I know someone who's quite young and… do you ever feel guilty? Like you're robbing a cradle?"
"Ahhh…well…there are some laws that…you should obey, of course. I honestly did not know his age until a little later. I might habe balked had I known it right away. I think its a matter of how a man /acts/, too. You have a young lover? Do they act young?" Max asks curiously.
Lindon shakes his head slowly. "No, not usually. He's smart, and he has his own business. He's very, ah, energetic in bed. But when we're just together, I never feel like he's vapid or self-absorbed." Because that's how young people act, right? It's just that sometimes it hits me how young he is and I feel old." He laughs a little. Then he says, "Sounds like it's a good thing you didn't know first."
"Who is he? Already with his own business, he cannot be /that/ young. But, it does mean he has some sense." Maximus ponders the scenario thoughtfully.
"His name's Elmo," Lindon says. "He has a little electrician's shop on the Lower East Side. It's not a huge business, but he's got his little place and he's a good electrician. Self-taught, I think." He grins sheepishly. "But he is. Nineteen, I think. Maybe he only works at the shop and it belongs to his family, I don't know."
"Well…gentle…I should say. He may wish to grow wings an dfly someday and you wouldn't wish to have harmed his ability to do that. People change. Especially when they are young.Normally I would worry about my Kaleb, too, but the truth is that a relationship is a lot of trouble, and he doesn't have time for starting over." Max chuckles.
Lindon nods as he says, "I do think he'll outgrow me, and it's depressing to think about because I'm nuts about him, but it's worth it." He laughs and says, "That's a good way to look at it. Besides, if you two are so uniquely suited, who else could there be for him to gravitate to?"
"I honestly have no idea. Perhaps that angelic thing, Jay. But…in truth…they are best friends, and I never worry about it. But he does clearly like the man." Maximus does not seem worried. "You know I used to think that if someone ever left me, I would…destroy the world and try to make them come back to me. Threaten. But now I think, if Kaleb left me, I would just…hope he was happy. And send lots of flowers as an apology."
"Elmo's dating Jay," Lindon says. "The one with the wings?" Lindon purses his lips, not looking entirely certain about that. He starts to reach across the table to pat Maximus' hand, but he stops himself. It's not quite safe to do even that innocent of a frivolous gesture. "He's already turned you into a better person," he says. I always thought I'd just be sad, and I was. But I've also got some perspective. I'm far from alone. But that doesn't mean you mattered any less for it."
Maximus blinks. "What? I thought…Elmo was with you? Oh, its quite a jumble, isn't it? You certainly have your work cut out for you then. The boy with the wings is lovely." He teases with a wink.
Lindon ducks his head. "Yeah, I know," he says with a small, weak smile. "I don't know what Elmo sees in me." The smile fades as he takes another swallow of his drink. "I don't know what any of them see in me. I just live like it's all so temporary, because it is." He gestures to his head vaguely. "I don't know how long I've got before this thing kills me, so I gotta get it all in while I can, you know?"
"When you tire of that…you need only let me know. I never put my full strength into destroying it." Maximus makes a wiggling motion with his finger towards Lindon's head.
Lindon says wryly, "See, I like that I can talk t you. If I talk about the brain bomb, everyone gets so distressed. You just offer to pop it like a grape." He pauses, then peers at Maximus. "Wait, are you offering to fix it or put me out of my misery. Either way, it's really nice of you."
"I could destroy it and leave you free. I can destroy memories. Or, possibly, with some work, I could…build a machine that the memories could be trasferred into. Even if it comes back eventually…starts putting new things into your head, how long for it to build again to this point? Years. If you are dying…I could help." Maximus offers as if they were talking about a dinner order.
Lindon tilts his head curiously. "A machine that could store memories would be revolutionary. The thing in my head, see, whenever I have one of my visions, it sort of roots itself deeper, and it kicks out things like memories. Folks on the mystic side are knocking their brains together to work on maybe putting part of it in an alternate dimension or something so it's not putting so much pressure on my brain. Something to safeguard those memories, though." There's a look of distinct longing about the man. "I haven't lost anything too vital that I didn't get back from relearning it, but still. It's mine, you know? I don't want to lose it."
Maximus reaches across the table to grab Lindon's hand and leans forwards. "I get what you are saying, Lindon, and I know that you…want to preserve the knowledge that you have. But…when you die, so does all the knowledge. You are a mortal being. It does not matter if you live 5 years, or 40 more years, the knowledge is still going to die with you. You aren't saving anything…by sacrificing yourself. So…destroy it."
"Destroy the knowledge?" Lindon looks mortified. "But it's knowledge. I write it down to preserve what I can beyond me, and especially right now when there's this… this Hargrove character causing trouble, everything I can glean is a boon." He delicately clasps Maximus' hand in both of his. "When it gets to a point where keeping it will mean losing too much of myself, maybe then. When it starts taking stuff I can't relearn."
Maximus nods faintly. "I knew you would say so." He pats Lindon's hand and then withdraws it. "So…have you something to write with? I will let you know where to find me."
Lindon nods quickly and says, "Of course." He takes from his coat pocket a pen and an index card. Why he's carring a pen and at least one index card is anyone's guess, but there he sits, poised and ready to write. "I'd like to do this again sometime," he says. "Even if we would've been a disaster as lovers, I think we work pretty well as friends."
Maximus jots down two addresses, and one phone number. "Yes, I never stopped being your friend."