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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[sagramore]

"Oh, yes, I met him too. He didn't like my handwriting. --You have innumerable talents, by the way."

[summerdude]

"Just stuff I inherited," Magnus says, immediately humble. "Oh, but I can do this one thing that's probably only 30% my einherji skills. Wanna see?"

[sagramore]

"Of course."

[summerdude]

"This," Magnus says, jumping up and gesturing to the trampoline at the edge of his clearing, "is a trampoline. They're very springy." He climbs up onto it and jumps a few times. He's learned exactly one skill with it since he dragged it out here the other day. He's at about 85% success with it?

After a few more jumps, he tucks his legs up, and attempts a mid-air somersault. Oooh, that's definitely a solid 8/10.

[sagramore]

"You're an acrobat," says Sagramore, who is both delighted by the trampoline and also about 30% concerned that if he did the same thing he'd break every bone in his body.

[summerdude]

It has not occurred to Magnus, who has broken every single bone in his body at some point or another -- except maybe the little ones inside his ears -- that anyone might worry about such things, so he says, "I don't know if you could call it exercise but it's fun, and since me and training are on a break right now... anyway. Wanna try it out?"

[sagramore]

"If I land stupidly and break my knee will you heal me?"

[summerdude]

"Obviously," Magnus laughs. He slows his bouncing so that it's easier for Sagramore to get up.

[sagramore]

So, game for just about anything, Sagramore pulls himself up on the trampoline and stands, bouncing experimentally.

[summerdude]

"What do you think?" Magnus asks, eagerly.

[sagramore]

"That's rather remarkable." He bounces again, this time with more force, which of course launches him higher into the air. His innate grace makes this look pretty smooth, and after a moment of thoughtful bouncing he kicks off hard enough to try and turn a somersault while he's up.

[summerdude]

"You're a natural," Magnus says, approvingly, bouncing to his knees and then back to his feet and and then onto his butt, where he crosses his legs and sits still, watching Sagramore. "What's your favorite poem?"

[sagramore]

He bounces himself to a standstill. "Of all, or in the Edda?"

[summerdude]

"Of all."

[sagramore]

"That's a very difficult question. I could probably tell you my favorite poems by specific poets, but one of the things I like about poetry in general is how everyone writes it in their own style. There are different things to like about different poets. But there's one poem I inscribed in Laertes' wedding ring, about dogs resting together by a hearth, and that's one that means a great deal to me."

[summerdude]

Magnus isn't much of a dog guy, but that sounds really sweet! "Aw, cute," he says. "Okay, then, do you have a favorite poet?"

[sagramore]

He laughs. "No, I have the same trouble with poets. I like different things at different times, and I've only just begun to see the full extent of the poetry that's been written since I began to care about poetry." Thoughtfully, "I should look at Danish poets. I hadn't thought to do that yet."

[summerdude]

Magnus nods -- he gets that. "Are there any you can't stand? Poems or poets."

[sagramore]

"This is an irritating answer, I suppose, but there aren't any I can't stand. I don't like Ernő Szép, but that doesn't mean he's a bad poet. I just don't find his verse particularly meaningful. I find the Edda interesting, but it doesn't strike at my heart the way the poems I read at the talent show do. It's all relative, I'm afraid. To each his own, and so on."

[summerdude]

That's so measured! Probably that's the kind of thing you think when you're an actual adult-shaped adult-type grown-up and not just an almost-twenty-five-year-old sixteen-year-old. "My least favorite is Snorri Sturluson," he says. "He's such a dick."

[sagramore]

"On the other hand, there's something to be said for hating things forthrightly. Why is he a dick?"

[summerdude]

"Well, he's a thane in Valhalla," Magnus says. "They're like... the guys in charge when Odin isn't around. They decide if someone is worthy of becoming an einherji. We don't really get along. He was one of the guys who tried to fire Samirah from being a valkyrie." He pauses. "He did more with the Prose Edda than the Poetic Edda but he wrote poetry too. He leads some of the Poetry Recitation to the Death classes at Valhalla but if you don't do one of his poems he gets really pissy and sometimes he kills you. So." He thinks for a moment. "Also his poems have, like, super edgelord vibes."

[sagramore]

"It's vitally important that you explain to me what edgelord is."

[summerdude]

"An edgelord is someone who, like, tries to shock people with their extremist and -- a lot of times, offensive -- takes. Um, opinions." Magnus scratches his head. "Shen Yuan could probably explain it better."

[sagramore]

"I'll ask him next time we account. I do think Agravain might be an edgelord." Talking to Magnus and Shen Yuan does make him appreciate what Laertes sees in new languages. He's begun bouncing on the trampoline again while they talk, not quite letting his feet leave the surface; it feels good to have some movement in his body.