I Lose All Sense Of Reason [open post]

[summerdude]

Magnus is walking down the front steps of the Mansion, freshly-loaded bag of food in tow, ruminating on a few of his most recent and devastatingly embarrassing conversations, when he hears footsteps behind him.

Well. He did tell Galahad he'd ask everyone. Might as well start now. "Can you explain the birds and the bees -- I mean, sex -- to me?" he demands, even before he sees who it is.

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[summerdude]

Magnus laughs. "That's why Jack's my sword," he says. "Because Frey gave him up for Gerd, and Jack was like, 'no, I don't want no scrub, a scrub is a guy who can't get no love from me.' And then he was lost in the Charles River for, like, a thousand years until I pulled him out." This is also why Surt will use Jack to kill Frey during Ragnarok, if Magnus doesn't manage to stop it by keeping Jack well away from the Nine Worlds. "This is also now why Jack's motto is 'blades before babes,' I think."

[sagramore]

"That has poetic resonance to it, doesn't it? Were you the one to draw him because you're Frey's son, or was that entirely coincidental?"

[summerdude]

"Oh, yeah, it had to be a child of Frey who was also descended from some specific people in the past," Magnus says. Technically the people in question were Swedish kings, but that seems unimportant to mention^*.


*Okay, I THINK so. I remember vividly reading this but I can't freaking find the passage anymore. So he's not announcing it.

[sagramore]

"It's generous of Jack not to extend his grudges to Frey's children. It would be a more pleasant world if more sons weren't burdened by the sins of their fathers." Is he thinking of Lamorak? He's thinking of Lamorak.

[summerdude]

"Dads," Magnus agrees, rolling his eyes. "Who needs 'em! Beyond the sperm donation, that is." See, he knows some things about sex!

[sagramore]

That gets a laugh. "I wonder how many in our company had miserable fathers. It seems to be a theme."

[summerdude]

"I could tell you so many stories," Magnus says, a genuine offer made with a crooked grin. "It's pretty universal across all the worlds, I think. Really makes Frey being this lifelong absentee deadbeat with ridiculous standards look like a gift."

He's been getting, like, really explicit about the failings of his godly father lately, but it's all part of the plan! Magnus is, as ever, (Sure, I Guess That's A) Plan Guy. Either there will be some loophole in this world, and Magnus will be overheard and yote back to Valhalla or, like, Volkswagen^* for his comeuppance for being overtly rude about (1) a god (2) his dad, and then he can escape to Alex again and just miss everyone here forever and deal with the eventuality of Ragnarok, or absolutely nothing will continue happening and he'll figure out from Hanguang-jun how to send an interdimensional letter and let Alex know that this place is truly outside of the reach of the gods so maybe he and anyone else interested should try and figure out a way back here.


*We're back to this again? Folkvanger.

[sagramore]

"Aye, I think there are a fair few who'd prefer an absent father to the one who was present."

[summerdude]

Magnus, thinking of Loki, nods emphatically. "And that's why I'm known for defeating and/or destroying my friends' dads, back home," he says, and takes an enormous and emphatic bite of kibbeh. It's good. He gives Sagramore a hearty thumbs up.

[sagramore]

Sagramore laughs, and gives him a thumbs up in return. "That's a gesture of approval, I take it."

[summerdude]

Magnus's mouth is still full, so -- thinking of Lan Wangji's admonishment to not talk with his mouth full -- he just nods again.

[sagramore]

"Good, I'm glad. Do you want to address poetry or your carnal education first? Or do you want to try and finish your lunch, I suppose."

[summerdude]

"I can multitask," Magnus says, taking another kibbeh out of the bag. "Educate me first, cuz I'm gonna be chewing?"

[sagramore]

"I thought that might be a reasonable approach." He stretches out his long legs towards the fire. "I assume you've jerked yourself off before, you're old enough."

[summerdude]

Yeah, Magnus knows plenty about that. He shoves a bite of kibbeh in his mouth and nods. Then he thinks of something, swallows, and clarifies, "I know I don't look like it, but I am turning twenty-five next week."

[sagramore]

"Fair enough. My point is just that you already, in that case, know what makes you feel good. That's practical knowledge. Anyone else who touches you knows less than you do right now."

[summerdude]

Huh. Magnus hasn't thought about it like that before. "Huh," he says. "I never thought about it like that."

[sagramore]

"And that means your Alex, if she's never gone to bed with anyone either, also only knows what she likes best. So you're each other's best sources of information on the subject." He steals one of the kibbeh.

[summerdude]

"I don't know if she has or not," Magnus says, largely unconcerned, holding the bag out so Sagramore can take more if he wants. "I figure it's not my business unless she tells me it's my business." But it is soothing to remember that he's probably not the only one in this boat.

[sagramore]

Sagramore laughs. "No, I tend to agree with you. More partners can be more information, that's all. But it's equally true that you don't need a great number of partners -- the more you learn or know about yourself, the more you can speak to your preferences."

[summerdude]

It takes Magnus a moment -- and a few more bites of kibbeh -- to chew on this idea. "And I guess you learn by trial and error?" Or maybe by listening to Luo Binghe say something that sounds so fundamentally wrong for you that the opposite necessarily has gotta be true?

[sagramore]

"Aye, exactly. But if you're only with one person for a while, and you take them to bed often, you'll get remarkably good at knowing exactly what the one person wants. That's extraordinarily gratifying when it happens."

[summerdude]

"Is it normal to," Magnus starts, and then goes bright red. "Never mind."

[sagramore]

"Ask," gentler.

[summerdude]

"Well," says Magnus, studying the half piece of kibbeh he has in his hands. "I was talking to Luo Binghe, and he said the point was to make your partner, um, what was it." He reviews his mental notes. "Believe that it's a privilege to be allowed to touch you and that you're in control of everything. But, um, that seems. Wrong?" He glances up at Sagramore a little urgently, and then looks back at his kibbeh. "I don't think I'd want to. Um. That?"