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

[epigrammatical]

Far from it, dear Alcuin; your charm is eternal, whatever shape you wear. [He seats himself, and perhaps it's noticeable that while he has always been graceful, he seems far more relaxed and at ease in a younger body.] As for myself—mischief? [Mock-hurt:] You wound me. As if my ambitions were so small!

[virginprice]

[Alcuin doesn't miss it. His own movements are willowy and smooth- modeled on his memories of his foster-sister's, in fact, who had been trained in grace from a young age.]

Then you must tell me what they are, so I can admire your ideas or chide you for trouble-making. [He's just teasing about the latter. Probably.]

[epigrammatical]

You may be assured that I do not intend to spend it all in debauchery; that shows a distinct lack of imagination, after all. [Never let it be said that Henry is unaware of what other people think of him.] But I am terribly pleased at being able to exert myself properly again. I should rather like to go riding again, for instance, if such a thing is possible here—and perhaps there is some small boat in the Water sector not unlike a punt that one may rent for the afternoon. It is all a matter of selecting from the most interesting of simple pleasures and the most diverting of complex.