I Deliberately Misinterpret The Nature Of An Agreement

[summerdude]

Galahad probably didn't expect Magnus to come pounding on his door in the middle of the day when they agreed Magnus would try sleeping on his own, especially since Magnus decided pretty quickly that he wanted to sleep outside again (but on purpose because he prefers it, not because it feels like the only option that doesn't end with the walls closing in on him). But here Magnus is, anyway, in the middle of the day, knocking loud enough that he has to force himself to take a step back so he doesn't break the door down.

"Dude, it's me, I need you," he calls, just so Galahad knows for sure it's him, or whatever. "You're in there, right? Galahad?"

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

"When she died. Were you there?"

[summerdude]

"Oh." Magnus shakes his head. "No. I knew someone was probably going to die, because I was getting coffee with Samirah -- Alex's sister; our valkyrie -- and one of Thor's goats when she got an alert for a possible heroic-death-in-progress. And then I got back to Valhalla about twenty minutes after Alex arrived... just in time to see exactly how much she'd wrecked everything. Busted up the entryway, her entire room... nearly knocked me flat on my ass... she was a cheetah at the time." He is, of course, smiling blissfully. "But valkyries have -- okay, so it's a kind of camera except it produces moving pictures with sound -- kind of like Shen Yuan's video games but of real things in real life -- so we all watched Alex's death during the feast that night." Magnus had actually been in the very first batch of einherjar to have their deaths recorded. He did not make nearly the same good impression that Alex did. In fact, most people thought he was mistakenly chosen and Sam nearly got fired. He's cool with it now, though.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad is quiet. It sounds terrible -- he understands that death is different for the einherjar, and that it's important that Alex died nobly, that it's part of why they're able to be together in the afterlife, but he imagines Alex as a thrashing cat, destroying everything in rage and fear, and everyone watching their own deaths replayed in celebration, and it just feels bad.

[summerdude]

Magnus can see the look on Galahad's face, obviously: the tiny tuck of his mouth, the cast of his gaze. To Magnus's practiced eye, it screams grim.

"Yeah," he says. "You get used to that kind of thing." He pauses. "I'll let Alex tell you the story of what it was like for her," because now she can. "Why she was actually upset, stuff like that. It's..." he trails off. Maybe Galahad can actually guess. Alex let him draw her, after all; he already knows that Alex doesn't want to be trapped as one thing. Maybe it's an easy extrapolation to get that this was the crux of her concern when she was first reaped, or whatever.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Do you think she'll be glad not to fight any more?"

[summerdude]

"That's a good question," Magnus says. He doesn't actually know. But then, Alex can keep fighting, if that's of interest. Just with 100% less dying.

[onthewillowsthere]

He's quiet. "Do you want to marry him?"

[summerdude]

Magnus starts laughing, a little hysterically. "Dude, we just said 'I love you' out loud for real to each other for the first time after, like, seven years of dating," he says. "I'm so not ready to think about that."

[onthewillowsthere]

"All right." He and Claudius have been dating for about four and a half months, but he chooses not to say so.

[summerdude]

Unfortunately, now Magnus is thinking about it. "Also, einherjar don't, like, get married," he says, and then he admits: "...and I guess I never really saw the point?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Why not?" curiously.

[summerdude]

"I mean, me and Alex can't have kids and even if we could and wanted to, it's not like we're really the posterchildren for caring about whether kids are born in or out of wedlock," Magnus says, holding up one finger. He holds up another with each point he makes, most of which are derived from things he used to hear his mom talk about, usually when she'd start getting serious with a boyfriend. "There's no legal benefit. We're dead, so we don't need to worry about health insurance or inheritance or anything like that. We don't technically live in Midgard, so there aren't any taxes or anything, and also we don't have an income, so... basically there are no financial reasons. Also I think legally speaking we're too young. You have to be at least eighteen to get a license and technically we're both sixteen forever. And it's not like either of us is particularly religious, so. ...I guess we could have been forced to, per Viking tradition, if Frey and Loki decided it was important to resolve some blood feud, but Frey probably thinks I don't count as a viable offspring for that kind of thing, and even if he did count me, Loki would be a dick about it. Insist on Sam instead, specifically because she has Amir, something like that." He pauses. "And here it's even less important, since there's basically no laws besides 'don't be a dick' and nobody uses money at all."

[onthewillowsthere]

It makes sense that these are all things that don't matter to Magnus; it's just that none of them are why he wants to marry Claudius. He nods, though, since he does understand.

[summerdude]

"Why did you propose to Claudius?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Because it is something he couldn't have before and it matters to him to have it." He draws up his knees and gazes over at Claudius' vanity, with all his creams and serums. "It matters that it's a recognition. It tells people that he's important to me. That he is mine and I'm his. And because it's a sacrament that isn't supposed to be for us, because of who we are. He wants to have what God says we shouldn't. It's important to me because it's important to him."

[summerdude]

Most of that make a ton of sense to Magnus, and he nods. He guesses Claudius is older, and couldn't live openly for most of his life, so of course he'd want something a little more public and permanent. But -- "What do you mean, a sacrament that isn't supposed to be for you?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"The church teaches that marriage is a sacrament, like the taking of communion. It is a rite that brings us closer to God. The matrimonial covenant has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized. The law of the church is clear: it is a sacrament for a man and a woman, and its purpose is the bearing of children. A marriage that cannot be consummated is not a marriage. Antecedent and perpetual impotence to have intercourse nullifies marriage by its very nature." It's possible he's been reading over this doctrine recently. "When we marry, it will not be with God's blessing."

[summerdude]

"No offense," says Magnus, after chewing on this for a while, "but that's pretty effed up." Obviously he knows about how bad homophobia can be, but this is on another level. Also, where he comes from, there's not a single god who can keep it in their pants. Except maybe for Mimir, who is only a head. Anyway, most of them aren't married, so this is all pretty moot.

He doesn't want that to be the only thing he says, but the only other thing he can think is, "Are you going to have sex with him? Like, for real this time. Um, you know what I mean."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I don't know." His fingers tap against his knees in a rapid flutter. "I want to, but-- I'm afraid."

[summerdude]

"Wanna talk about it?"

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad hesitates. He and Magnus talk about everything. They're best friends. But somehow he's sure the person who would really understand is Gideon. Maybe it's the fast, maybe it's the endless winter, maybe it's that Alex is back and Magnus is so happy, but in the end he shakes his head.

[summerdude]

"Okay," says Magnus. He's honestly a little disappointed, actually, but he swallows it down. "Sure." He pauses, and then respects the no and pushes on. "...Is that what you even meant by consummated?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes. That's what I mean. Without consummation, a marriage can be made invalid."

[summerdude]

That's so messed up. Magnus leans against Galahad, and offers, "I think I'm going to not even bring it up at all unless Alex does first."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Sex?"