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.

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

"Good," as he reaches into the closet again.

[summerdude]

This time, Magnus pulls corduroy dungarees out for Galahad. They're a rich shade of yellow. The straps have tie closures, and the bibs and one leg are embroidered with blooming flowers in reds and greens and blues. He thinks for a minute about whether to get a shirt -- maybe Galahad might like the shirtless-under-dungarees look? -- but it's still winter out and Galahad gets cold, so he finds a sweater, too. It's pale blue -- like an early-spring sky -- and soft as a cloud, knit with a fine, fuzzy yarn. He's pretty sure the arms are long enough that it will give Galahad sweater paws. Magnus doesn't know if Galahad will love those or hate those, but it'll definitely be one of the two.

[onthewillowsthere]

Magnus gets another pair of leggings -- Galahad has been absolutely enchanted by the discovery of leggings yesterday -- that are grey with a subtle tone on tone paisley pattern, an Alex-hair-green pinafore dress with a knee-length skirt, and a long-sleeved black shirt with stylized suns and stars on it. He's trying to pick things that, while neutral in color for the most part, still capture how interesting Magnus is.

Galahad already knows he loves corduroy, and he slips into the sweater and dungarees, tying up the shoulder straps. He is keeping these. They're perfect. He likes the floral embroidery and the way the sleeves of the sweater fall over his hands.

[summerdude]

"I like this," Magnus says, thoughtfully, after trying on the clothes. "There's a lot going on but I really don't hate it." He does a contemplative spin, watching as the skirt flares, then stops and looks up at the ceiling. "Dear Frey. Dad. It's me, Magnus Chase. Your son. Do you see what I'm wearing? Just a tip for next time you give me a boat, if you ever give me another boat. Not that I'm asking for another boat. I'm just saying, this is much better summer vibes than highlighter yellow. Please take notes. Thank you. Amen. Bye."

Frey, of course, doesn't answer, but then again, Magnus didn't expect him to.

[onthewillowsthere]

"The patterns too?"

[summerdude]

"The patterns too," Magnus says, holding out his arms and looking down at himself. "I really like the shirt." He might keep the shirt.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad just lets the warmth of that approval sit in him as he dips into the closet again. This time he gets Magnus a formal shorts suit in a pale shell pink, although instead of a collared shirt there's a deep grey tee with floral block letters that say MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU. The suit jacket sleeves are pre-rolled to elbow-length.

[summerdude]

Magnus is hesitating in front of the closet, trying to decide what to pull for Galahad. "Casual and comfy, or formal and cool?" he asks. "Or a different vibe entirely?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Formal and cool."

[summerdude]

The closet gets confused, probably because Magnus has difficulty narrowing down, actually. He pulls out a gown with a fitted bodice and a flouncy skirt, frowns, and casts it aside. Next, there's a cropped t-shirt and jorts, which absolutely doesn't work.

Finally, finally, he gets something good. It's not really what he was going for -- honestly, he's not really sure what he's going for; the only 'formal dress' occasion he's been to was Alex-as-Sam's fake wedding to Thrym slash battle against Loki -- but he thinks it's pretty cool and formal. It's a pair of dressy black pants shot through with silver-thread pinstripes, so wide-legged they look kind of like a floor-length skirt. With it is a silvery sheer button-down shirt made out of some slinky fabric that feels so smooth to the touch, and about twenty different necklaces of different lengths. He turns to Galahad with a hopeful expression, hands full.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes," as fervent as his toneless voice can get. He holds out his hands. He already knows he's keeping that shirt.

[summerdude]

Magnus passes it over, grinning, and then take Galahad's selections. He's not convinced of the short suit -- it makes him feel like he looks even younger than usual -- but he absolutely loves the t-shirt. He's totally keeping the t-shirt forever.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad unties the dungarees and pulls off the sweater so he can slide the button-down shirt over his shoulders. The smoothness and the sheerness of the fabric feels decadent. He's less certain of the pants -- the silver pinstriping reminds him of Claudius, but the cut and length are a lot -- but he happily layers the necklaces on.

[summerdude]

"Awesome," Magnus says, watching as the necklaces slide against each other. "Dude, you would make a killing in my time. Supermodel."

[onthewillowsthere]

He laughs. "Supermodel?"

[summerdude]

"Yeah, they're like, people who wear high fashion clothes and look really cool doing it, basically, but for, like, a job," Magnus says. He has a very loose understanding of supermodels.

[onthewillowsthere]

"That sounds better than being a knight."

[summerdude]

"Yeah, I think all you have to do is wear clothes and walk and lean and not smile with your mouth," Magnus says, thoughtfully. "You could kick ass at that."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I smile other ways?" This is, in all honesty, a fraction of a tease -- he's learned to pick the smiles out of Claudius' eyes and the set of his shoulders and he's fairly sure this is what Magnus means.

[summerdude]

"You're smiling right now, aren't you?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Am I?" deadpan.

[summerdude]

Magnus rolls his eyes at him. "Obviously, dude," he says. "Look at you. That's--" he squints. "Smile number 23." (The number is total B.S.; he made it up on the spot.) "The one when you're trolling me, obviously. It's--" he taps the corner of his own eye. "There."

[onthewillowsthere]

He breaks into a proper smile, his thin mouth curving. "You're a scientist. Recording observations."

[summerdude]

"Who needs a formal education?" Magnus laughs, slinging an arm around Galahad's shoulders and pulling him into a half-hug.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad hugs back, lifting Magnus off his feet -- maybe there are some things he likes about his own body, and the strength to do something like this is one.

They spend the next hour or so pulling outfits. It's a luxurious experience; Galahad has gotten plenty of clothes from the mansions closets for himself, but Magnus chooses more extravagantly and knows about more kinds of fabrics and styles, and he's constantly pulling things Galahad wants to touch and wear, things he wants to wear for Claudius. Galahad is aware that clothes are for affecting other people as much as for one's own pleasure (how could he not, living with Claudius, watching him so closely?), but his choices have tended to be focused. Other than at the dance, when Shen Yuan helped him dress, he hasn't tried to pick clothes with Claudius in mind. Now he has a much more vivid idea of what things he would like to wear to be admired in, to see whether he could make Claudius as speechless and overwhelmed as he was by the skinny jeans and t-shirt.

He also loves choosing for Magnus. There's an element of science to this, too: he has to take what he knows about Magnus, what he's observed and what Magnus has told him, and create clothes based on that knowledge. It's like creating a hypothesis from the given facts, and the experiment is whether he's right. He doesn't mind when Magnus doesn't like something he picked; it's more data. He loves the feeling of pride and satisfaction when he chooses well.

Eventually, though, Drosera wakes and comes off the bed to nip at their heels. She's bored and hungry and unwilling to be ignored. After they feed her a quick snack of raw fish, Galahad asks, "Do you still want to cut off your toe today?"