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

[summerdude]

"Huh." Magnus starts to chew on this, but -- "Wait, if Wendy is Peter, what's the romance?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"James Hook. The pirate."

[summerdude]

"Whoa. Hang on a minute, I have to wrap my head around this one."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I lent it to Laertes. You could read it next."

[summerdude]

"Sure, I'll give it a shot!" Magnus tries to remember how they got onto this topic -- oh, right. "So! You know who Tinkerbell is, then."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes."

[summerdude]

"I don't actually know if she's different in the book," Magnus admits. "But Mom really identified with her, I guess."

[onthewillowsthere]

Tinkerbell is ... not exactly a flattering comparison, in Galahad's estimation, but he doesn't know Magnus' mom, or the Peter Pan movie, so he nods to encourage Magnus to continue.

[summerdude]

"I think mostly it was because she looked like her," Magnus adds, thoughtfully. "Petite, blonde, leaf-green eyes, similar bangs... but I think Tink's hair was longer."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Oh." That makes a little more sense.

[summerdude]

"There was this prophecy," Magnus says, a little more quietly. "The only good prophecy I ever got. That I'd be able to talk to her again, at least once." He sighs. "I do want that one to come true."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Do you think it can come true here?"

[summerdude]

"I hope so." Secretly, this is the one thing left that has Magnus worrying he might get whisked back to Midgard or Valhalla.

[onthewillowsthere]

"If we can have visions here," he starts to say, and then doesn't finish. If they can have visions, then perhaps the force that separates this place from the rest of the world is thinner than they've thought, or thinner at times. After all, Alex came and left and came back.

[summerdude]

Magnus, reading between the lines, asks, "You think?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Maybe."

[summerdude]

Magnus studies Galahad for a moment, and then nudges him. "Hey. Sorry I'm, like, Self-Involved Guy today."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad blinks. "It's all right."

[summerdude]

Sure, Magnus can take this at face value. But still, that doesn't mean he has to keep being Self-Involved Guy. "What's up with you?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Winter is hard." He looks down at his hands. "Sometimes I can't get up."

[summerdude]

Magnus takes one of Galahad's hands and threads their fingers together. "You mean, like, the winter blues?" he asks.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I always wake for morning prayer at Matins. At dawn. Between five and six," rubbing his watch band with his free hand. "But I can't get out of bed until later. I feel-- as if there are stones laid over my body. In the winter it's worse."

[summerdude]

"Ah, so like, depression plus the winter blues," Magnus nods. Instinctively - without even really thinking about it - he calls up some summer sunlight in the room.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Is that a name for despair?" He can feel the warmth as Magnus calls it, and he imagines himself like a snowdrop, rising from the ice towards it.

[summerdude]

"Probably? It's what we call that kind of thing when I come from."