And all you seek
Who: George (narrative, open to Sebastian), mentions of Sebastian and Opium. Where: George and Sebastian's apartment When: Tuesday What: George considers Opium's gift, along with some other things.
Oddly enough, it's the poppyseed cupcakes that concern George, far more than the bracelet. The bracelet is nice, and looks expensive, but isn't near as significant as the poppyseeds.
George has been keeping track of what the Drugs were capable of, starting with his experiences with Opium and going from there. A lot of it has come from Opium himself, from conversations in his shop over tea, George edgy and Opium smug. (If someone had suggested three months ago that he'd ever willingly set foot in Opium's shop again, let alone have tea with him, George would have laughed himself sick. God has an unusual sense of humor, though, and George is now on a first-name basis with the humans in Opium's shop. Life is strange.) The list of abilities is more than a little disconcerting, and especially relevant to George. Sebastian may have been under Opium's influence for weeks, but George breathed in more than enough to let Opium into his mind.
Even several months afterward, Opium could still put him under the influence. He'd done it once, at George's request, because George was nothing if not impulsive. It hadn't been the same knee-weakening rush of bliss as before, but Opium hadn't been trying to knock him out the second time around. Instead, it had left him glassy-eyed and relaxed, sitting across from Opium and considering the implications of it all.
The implications of it all are what has George sitting at his kitchen table now, staring at some cupcakes like they hold the answers to the mysteries of the universe. What it all came down to, George had decided, was Opium, Sebastian, and the Drugs themselves.
Opium hadn't kidnapped Sebastian all those months ago. He'd hit at Sebastian's weakest moment, but Sebastian had made his own choices. George doesn't regret what he did to get Sebastian back, though. Firstly because he hadn't known at the time that Sebastian had gone voluntarily, and secondly because it was probably a very good thing for Sebastian to see that someone was willing to go through hell and high water to get him back. But that sticking point is something George has been letting go of slowly, because if he's going to be angry at Opium it might as well be for something the Drug has actually done. And George is willing to admit that Opium has been much nicer about the situation than he could have been.
Opium in general is nicer than he has to be. George isn't sure 'nice' is the right word for him, exactly, but Opium isn't cruel and he takes care of the humans he keeps. George doesn't like it, and isn't sure he'll ever like it, but he does like Henry, Monty, Ophelia, and Charlie. They're alive and functioning and happy. Considering George's most significant encounter with another Drug involved Cocaine killing four children, Opium looked positively angelic in comparison.
And Sebastian loves Opium, in his own way. When the other saint talks about him, his eyes sometimes go dreamy and soft, the way they do when Sebastian is writing music. George isn't afraid that Sebastian is going to leave him for Opium; George is as sure of himself and Sebastian as he is of God. It's a different kind of worry, because he knows that Sebastian is never going to be far from Opium. If George drained every trace of opium from he and Sebastian's systems, Sebastian and Opium would still end up circling each other, like a planet around the sun. So whether George likes it or not, Opium is in their lives now.
(George doesn't have a clue how Opium actually feels about him. The Drug is hard to read, and if Opium does in fact want him to go die in a hole, he's been nice enough not to say it out loud. But there had been two bracelets and more than enough cupcakes for two people.)
Then there are the Drugs. George has mostly managed to avoid any entanglements with them over the centuries, but he has a feeling he'll be making up for lost time soon enough. He's been talking with Michael about what he's found, and something like a clear picture is starting to come together. Given what he knows Opium can do, George doubts it would be any effort at all to go into a rehab center and play with the chemicals still in a user's system. George has no idea why they targetted Christian rehab centers in particular, or even which of the Drugs it was. It could have been Opium, for all he knew. Opium probably hadn't been unaware of it either way.
But if George wanted any more insight into the Drugs, what they were capable of, and anything they might be doing, he knew it was almost certainly going to come from Opium.
He isn't fooling himself. There were ways to investigate the Drugs that didn't involve entangling himself further with Opium, and those ways were a lot less questionable. But they were also less reliable, and the Drugs were targetting Christians. Opium could have killed George, but he hadn't; the other Drugs might not be so nice if they got their hands on a saint. George knows the other saints wouldn't ask him to involve himself any further with Opium. His brothers and Jo would probably line up and smack him across the head if he mentioned it, come to think of it. But with everything laid out, it doesn't seem like a bad choice. Risky, yes. Morally grey, most certainly. Things had a frustrating way of refusing to be black and white when it came to Opium. If it all goes bad, though, George will be the one who suffers instead of someone else, which is reassuring.
He doesn't actually have a clue if Opium will be able to tell if he eats something with poppyseed in it. The old bastard's frighteningly perceptive, but did that extend to everything having to do with poppies? Opium would probably answer honestly if George called him up and asked, but it doesn't really matter. It's as good as inviting Opium in, either way.
George is very, very curious about what will happen if they invite Opium in. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
George sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. He's having some vague thoughts about pomegranate seeds and apples that give people knowledge of good and evil, but he's not sure this is a comparable situation. He's going into it with his eyes open, for one thing. Sebastian, who's been watching him over the arm of the couch for the last ten minutes, doesn't say a word. George reaches out and pops one of the poppyseed cupcakes into his mouth.