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]

"Okra. Greens, like lettuce and kale. Tomatoes. So many kumquats. The strawberries are really hit or miss. A bunch of beans."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I've never had okra. What is it?" Tomatoes were new at one point, but he's cooked with them by now.

[summerdude]

"It's a vegetable. They're kind of fuzzy raw?" Magnus hasn't had okra since he was a kid. "From what I remember, sometimes it can be really good but sometimes it can be kinda slimy. But it's easy to grow."

[onthewillowsthere]

Slimy is not a promising word. He's still willing to try okra, but his expectations are low. "How do you feel?"

[summerdude]

"Good." Magnus pauses -- he's trying really hard right now to be honest with Galahad and Alex when they ask, instead of just being reassuring -- and amends to "Better." Then he smiles up at him. "I like being, like. Helpful."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad tilts his head down and nuzzles against Magnus' neck for a moment. "You always help."

[summerdude]

To his own surprise, Magnus's face heats. "Thanks," he says.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Claudius said Crowley is planning to have a party for him. A bachelor party?" This is an effort to cheer Magnus up, but Galahad is also curious.

[summerdude]

"Oh yeah? Like the bachelorette party thing I mentioned when I called dibs on best man?" Magnus doesn't mind if Galahad doesn't remember; they've had an extremely suboptimal few weeks.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes." He flushes: he had forgotten.

[summerdude]

"That's cool. Do you know what he's doing for his?"

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad shakes his head. "Crowley is surprising him."

[summerdude]

"Do you wanna be surprised, too?" Magnus wonders. "Cuz dude, I have got ideas."

[onthewillowsthere]

"No. I don't like being surprised. What are your ideas?"

[summerdude]

Magnus's primary association with bachelor(ette) parties is a bunch of drunk assholes being loud as they walk past the bench he's trying to sleep on and maybe specifically antagonizing him in the process. When he started reflecting on ideas, his main one was 'not that.'

"I mean, it depends on if Alex can be there," Magnus says. It's Galahad's day, he's not gonna go around trying to rig the guest list. "Because if so, I was gonna ask him to do all the animals in your bestiality so we could draw them all. And if not, I was just gonna ask all the animals I can if they'd be willing to come by for a little while. I was thinking we could do it in the tower, too, so we could, like, pick constellations here if drawing got old? And of course there should be a blind soda tasting, where you rank them before you even know what ones they are." Drinking is a feature of bachelorette parties, right? But neither of them are really into booze, so soda just makes sense.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I would like all those things. And music. I would like music. The record player."

[summerdude]

"Music, check. We can go through all the records and figure out what kind together, if you want? Or you can just tell me."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I like all kinds. Music is like tasting things. Even when I don't like it, I like trying it."

[summerdude]

"Okay, so a music tasting in addition to the soda tasting, check," Magnus says. "Who all do you want to invite?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Lan Wangji. Gideon. Gu Xiang. Shen Yuan. Tress." He pauses. "Can I invite as many people as I like? What are the rules?"

[summerdude]

"You can invite as many people as you want. I think that traditionally you can't invite Claudius? But I also kinda think, like, new world, new rules. We can decide what they are."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Then Enjolras too. And Laertes."

[summerdude]

"Lan Wangji, Gideon, Gu Xiang, Shen Yuan, Tress, Enjolras, and Laertes," Magnus repeats, committing each name to memory. "And you and me. And Alex, to be the entertainment? Anyone else?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Susan," seriously. "And SecUnit."

[summerdude]

"And Susan and SecUnit." Magnus had no idea that Galahad was close enough to Susan to want to invite her to a party like this! "Gotcha. Do you know when the wedding is going to be yet?"