I Lived, Grinch! [open post]

[summerdude]

The first thing Magnus does -- with Alex's help -- after fully healing is board up the hole in the side of the greenhouse where the cheetah ran through. The second thing, once he learns the full scope of Dark (it's different at camp; he'd already taken out a ton of camp-appropriate food for when Galahad and Laertes couldn't make it out there, and so he and Alex have been fine on the eating front) is go to the greenhouse again to figure out what plants in there yield edible produce. (Also, he tries to scrub his blood off the table. It... partially works?)

Partly it's that he's still feeling weird after the whole affair. The season doesn't help, but he does feel closer to his own mortality than pretty much any point since he died for real the first time. Being around growing plants helps that. Mostly, though, it's because he doesn't want anyone to get, like, scurvy living on bushels of rice alone.

He doesn't want to overtax any of the plants, but some can be cajoled into fruiting. Right now, he's got his hand on a kumquat tree, and he's trying to convince it that it can speed up the growth process by a few weeks. Drosera is with him, 'helping:' she's found a dead leaf, and she's chasing it down the pathway between some plants. If anyone shows up -- either because they've heard of his near-death experience and want to check in on him, or just to hang out, or even because they're drawn by the way it looks like sunlight is coming from the greenhouse itself -- he'll be glad for the company.

Comments

[summerdude]

"Huh. How have I never noticed this before?" Magnus goes over and runs his hands over it. Yep, it sure is a pinball machine!

[futaille]

"I couldn't say. There's a lot in the room, maybe you just didn't notice it because you weren't expecting one."

[summerdude]

"Maybe also 'cause usually when I'm in here Shen Yuan immediately puts a controller in my hand," Magnus says, thoughtfully. "Mind if I give it a whirl?"

[futaille]

"Of course. Another challenger to my high score!"

[summerdude]

Magnus laughs. "I'm not very good," he says, meaning every word of it. "My buddy Hearthstone is, like, a prodigy though. A real pinball wizard."

[futaille]

"In that case, I'm glad Hearthstone's not here."

[summerdude]

"What, are you a sore loser?" Magnus asks, as he gets settled into place to play, and frowns. "Don't I have to, like, put in quarters somewhere?"

[futaille]

"Honestly, no, not really. But I've only been playing the game for a few months now and even though I think I've gotten fairly good, it's more fun when the playing field's level." He grins. "But no, no coins needed. There's a button on the front that says 'Start'. Just press it."

[summerdude]

"Wild," says Magnus, and presses the button. "And then I just, like, pull the thingy, right? And press the side buttons to make the flappers go?"

[futaille]

"Exactly! Simple enough."

[summerdude]

"Right," says Magnus, and he pulls the thingy and settles in to press the buttons. "Wish me luck."

[futaille]

"Good luck," he says cheerfully, settling in to watch.

[summerdude]

Magnus isn't very good at pinball, compared to Hearthstone, and it's been a while since Hearth has been able to give him a lesson (i.e., play while Magnus watches avidly). He sticks his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in focus, takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, and slams those buttons like crazy. This is why he's not as good as Hearth, who is always calm and laser-focused about it.

[futaille]

Experience at the feet of a pinball wizard, on the other hand, is absolutely a benefit to Magnus's game and Grantaire watches with mild astonishment as Magnus plays, a slight niggling concern for all of his entries in the high score list tickling the back of his head.

[summerdude]

"Oh, sh--" as a ball nearly escapes and he flips it back up just in time. "Pitiful, right?" he says, over his shoulder.

[futaille]

"I... think your standards might be a bit outsized."

[summerdude]

"What do you mean?"

[futaille]

"I mean I truly hope you save at least one spot in the high score list for me because I am fairly confident that the entirety of it is yours for the taking."

[summerdude]

Magnus squints, suspicious. He's pretty sure Grantaire is trying to distract him. "Yeah, okay," he says. "You should see Alex play. He's also a lot better than me."

[futaille]

"I see my reign crumbling. Being overthrown is, I suppose, the way of kings in the end."

[summerdude]

"Yeah, screw the monarchy," Magnus says, wiggling a flipper.

[futaille]

"Not an uncommon sentiment among those I've spent time with. Not normally expressed over pinball in fairness, but that is probably entirely due to the fact that I didn't discover pinball until there was no monarchy to contend with."

[summerdude]

"Monarchies were mostly handled by my time," Magnus says, focusing on the little ball. "The new target is the patriarchy."

[futaille]

"Oh, so the revolutions have proceeded apace, then. I admit I'm not surprised. By all means, feel free to enlighten me further."

[summerdude]

"Women good, sexism bad," Magnus says, slamming on the buttons frantically. "Racism also bad. And cops. Actually there's a lot of problems. It's just that the monarchy isn't one of them in most places. Though I guess you could argue that there's still a ruling class of wealthy a-holes and it still sucks."