Me and My Best Friend Put On A Show That Would Make Freya Totally Jealous [closed post]

[summerdude]

Magnus wakes up, normal again except for how he's in an unfamiliar room. Not Galahad's old room, either. A nondescript one that, as far as he can tell, just has a bunch of clothes and stuff. Also he's wearing silky pajamas he'd never pick out automatically on his own?

It doesn't take long for him to feel like the walls are closing in on him. It's out of respect for Aornis that he stumbles out of her room through the door (barefoot and in the silky pajamas) and goes outside the normal way. Once outside, he flops into the snow, calling summer and feeling the way the snow steams against his skin as it melts.

He's not feeling totally regular again when he sits bolt upright, remembering that Drosera is probably in Galahad's old room with two people that aren't Magnus or Galahad. Existential crisis over, there's a child to retrieve! And hopefully, he'll run into Galahad in the halls.

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[summerdude]

"Like this?" Magnus asks, tucking in the left side.

[onthewillowsthere]

He's not sure whether he could describe exactly why it looks good to him, but it looks good -- unstudied, casual, a little playful, the way Magnus makes him feel. "Like that."

[summerdude]

"Yeah?" says Magnus, doing a little twirl. "You look good too, man."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad smooths down the breast of the coat. On his straight-backed body, it does look perhaps a little more military that it otherwise would.

[summerdude]

Magnus gives Galahad's look another critical once-over, and then goes to the closet again. It gives him a thistle-colored pashmina with a light pink pattern, and then drapes it over Galahad's shoulder. Then he makes a face. "I think I accidentally tried to give you an Alex outfit," he says, apologetic. "But since I am biased, I do think it looks good."

[onthewillowsthere]

But he laughs. "It's a compliment. I like the shawl, I'll keep it," running his fingers over it and lifting the material to rub it against his cheek.

[summerdude]

"Cool," says Magnus, grinning crookedly. He glances over at Drosera, about to try and include her by asking if she has an opinion, but she's curled up in a little patch of sunlight and has started snoozing. Magnus nudges Galahad, nodding at her, and then looks at him, eyes wide. "Do you have your camera?" he asks -- they could take pictures of their best outfits, maybe.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Oh-- I gave it to Claudius while I'm with you. So he takes care of himself."

[summerdude]

"Oh, smart," says Magnus, who doesn't know what Galahad means. "Okay, so we can do the OOTD-gram some other time." He thinks he's using the term right. He hears Alex, Blitz, and Amir talking about that sort of thing sometimes. "Wanna pick stuff out for each other? Or do you wanna try on some of--" he gestures at the pile of clothes Galahad has pulled.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Let's choose for each other." He already knows he likes doing that; he likes considering what he knows of Claudius' preferences and style to put an outfit together, and he's already thinking of what he would choose for Magnus.

[summerdude]

With a grin, Magnus dives into the closet. He emerges with a rich purple wrap dress in a silky thin fabric that he's pretty sure Galahad will like. It's embroidered in yellow with repeating patterns of... some kind of mythological animal he doesn't recognize.

He also finds a chunky necklace and a pair of ankle boots with the slightest heel. They're probably contrasting colors and not in a good way. He doesn't really know that much about coordinating. Whatever, it's a first try.

[onthewillowsthere]

Meanwhile Galahad is busy selecting a pair of brightly floral-patterned leggings that make him think of the summeriness of Magnus, along with a cream wool miniskirt with a very subtle pattern in pale browns and blues, and a matching short-sleeved top with a silver button detail at the collar. For shoes he picks a flat sandal with straps that pick up the browns in the wool.

[summerdude]

Magnus strips down to his boxers again, carefully piling the clothes he'd first tried on next to his backpack. It feels a little wasteful, to have more outfits than he needs, but he intends to give full consideration to everything they try on and maybe pick one or two things to keep.

The sandals are awesome. They're definitely his favorite part of what Galahad chose. The rest is okay, too, but when he looks in the mirror, he makes a face. "Maybe I should brush my hair," he says. "To suit the rest of this."

[onthewillowsthere]

The wrap dress likewise, for all it feels wonderful against his skin, feels too bright, somehow too much. The boots are interesting, and he can see why Claudius likes the ones he wears so much; it's an interesting feeling to be lifted even an inch or two higher than usual, to feel the balance of his body shifted.

"Do you want me to brush your hair?"

[summerdude]

"Yes please." Magnus comes over to Galahad, slinging an arm around his waist, checking them both out in the mirror now that they're side-by-side. Galahad looks great, in Magnus's opinion. Magnus mostly looks awkward, but Magnus has also never worn a miniskirt before, so maybe that's why?

[onthewillowsthere]

Beside Magnus, Galahad feels less out of place, less unwontedly loud; the purple feels better-suited. It's a royal color, a color for kings, for the king of kings. He looks at his reflection and decides it's not too bright. Magnus is good at choosing.

Then he bends over to the top drawer of the dresser and gets out a hairbrush.

[summerdude]

Magnus sits down, cross-legged, in front of Galahad. Oooh, he gets why girls people who wear miniskirts sit the way they do, now! That would reveal so much if it wasn't for his leggings and, like, boxers. He's already thinking about what else to put together for Galahad. Maybe something with pleats? He bets pleats would look great with Galahad's posture.

[onthewillowsthere]

Brushing Magnus' hair is pleasant, and he loses himself in the act of it. It reminds him of Tally braiding Tress' long hair, of when he brushed Magnus' hair at the forest camp, of Claudius washing and cutting his hair after he immolated Hastur. It's an act of care and great tenderness, and he's glad to do it for Magnus.

When he's finished he puts the brush on top of the dresser and checks the drawer again, and, as he hoped, there are a pair of barrettes that look like twin sprays of leaves shaped from green leather. He clips Magnus' hair back, looking in the mirror to make sure they're even.

[summerdude]

The hair -- and the barrettes -- definitely make it. Magnus stands up, adjusting his miniskirt again, and then grins. "Okay," he says. "I dig."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad laughs. "Is that 'like'?"

[summerdude]

"Basically, yeah." Magnus's hands come up and he touches the barrettes lightly. He wrinkles his nose. "I think my hair is even longer than it was before Alex cut it." (He likes his hair long, but he doesn't like what it means about the passage of time.)

[onthewillowsthere]

"It's not," he answers truthfully. But only barely. He reaches into the closet again for another Magnus outfit.

[summerdude]

Magnus refuses to be morose when he's having a nice time with his best friend, so he doesn't joke about how long his hair will get if he never sees Alex again. He joins Galahad at the closet.

This time, he pulls a slate-blue skirt, pleated, that should fall just below Galahad's knees. With it, he gets a soft short-sleeve pullover sweater a few shades grayer, with little pearl button details around the collar. White socks and blue patent-leather mary janes complete the ensemble.

[onthewillowsthere]

What Galahad pulls out for Magnus is a cropped green sweater with a ribbed knit and mushroom and squirrel embroidery, and a pair of jeans that will probably go with anything, plus slip-on ballet flats. He hands them over and begins changing into the outfit Magnus picked for him.

[summerdude]

"Oh, this is comfy," Magnus enthuses, as he pulls on Galahad's selections. He laughs, tracing one of the mushrooms with a fingertip, but waits on checking out the mirror reveal for Galahad to be done changing, too.