IX. To get back one's youth, one has merely to repeat one's follies.

[epigrammatical]

[When the camera switches on there's only a view of Lord Henry Wotton's desk chair and his little library. Then a burst of laughter offscreen—familiar laughter to anyone who knows him, but brighter, lighter somehow. And then there's a blur of motion and a young man of twenty flings himself into the chair. He's got a handsome, boyish face, bright brown eyes, and a small, neatly trimmed moustache, and he's grinning hugely.

It's Lord Henry. Who has somehow had twenty-some-odd years shaved off and who looks exactly as he did when, as a young man, he took a First in Greats at Oxford without ever seeming to pick up a book. And he's loving it.]

Who is it that I must thank for this extraordinary turn of events? Has an elixir of youth been introduced to the wells of Keeliai? [He runs a hand through his hair, in which there is no more grey, and laughs again.] I used to say that the repetition of one's youthful follies is the surest way to get back one's youth, but I never expected that to be true.

[Serious? Not at all. He's just giddy.]

Ah, to have the gold of one's days paid back with interest! I must be careful not to waste it.

---

[OPEN ACTION: Over the course of the event, Henry may be found anywhere in Keeliai (particularly in the pleasure-houses, restaurants, and drinking establishments of the Fire sector). Wherever you find him, he will be in an excellent mood. Feel free to start a thread or ping me to request a start.]

Comments

[leviathaned]

I've counted at least three, myself included, a couple of people in someone else' body, and two, including you, who are reliving their golden years.

That can't account for people who don't feel like sharing on the network.

[Sei huffs, and leans her chin in one hand.]

It's a hell of a thing.

[epigrammatical]

And an entirely novel one—which would be an ample pleasure in and of itself. [He's a bit too selfishly pleased at his own good fortune, perhaps.]

[leviathaned]

Up until there's a catch. [Just. Putting that out there.]

[epigrammatical]

I am sure that this will be fleeting, as all of life's pains and pleasures are. [He'd like to hope not, though.] But that is all the more reason to wring what enjoyment one can in the meantime.

[leviathaned]

I don't find pain is terribly fleeting. What a wonder it must be to shrug off hurt.

[He shrugs, though, and shakes his head.] But it's not a bad idea.

[epigrammatical]

I find that it is all a matter of how one apprehends it. Nevertheless—that is a weighty subject for a pleasant day.

[leviathaned]

I suppose so.