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]

"Yeah, like figuring out what I should do. As my thing."

[lightbearinglord]

"Like that," Lan Wangji agrees. There may be other lives, but it is as he told Claudius. Magnus is not finished with this one. "And like merely living in peace, as you desire."

[summerdude]

"With Alex." Gods, Magnus is so glad Alex is here.

[lightbearinglord]

"With Alex." Improbably, he holds Magnus a little closer. He wants to promise that Magnus will be safe and that he will protect him from anything that could hurt him again, but how can he? He could never have seen this attack coming, nor does he know how he might have prevented it.

[summerdude]

"Isn't he the best?" This is a safe topic!

[lightbearinglord]

It's a subjective question, but after seeing the speed and urgency with which Alex came to Magnus' side, Lan Wangji has a renewed appreciation for him. He lets out a tightly-held breath and allows himself to curl around Magnus just a little, forehead to the top of his head. "Mn. You are lucky to have one another."

[summerdude]

"Yeah," Magnus says, blissful. "I'm so glad he's here now."

[lightbearinglord]

"I am glad, too." There are too many horrifying possibilities to contemplate. If Alex had arrived, after all of that, only for Magnus to die unattended in a nondescript corridor, Lan Wangji might have taken a very long time to forgive himself for his failure of vigilance. Magnus is solid and sunshine-warm in his arms.

[summerdude]

Magnus doesn't know what Lan Wangji is thinking, obviously, but he's thinking the same thing. He's really, really glad that he didn't end up having to leave Alex two minutes after Alex arrived.

[lightbearinglord]

Though this is already the second hug of this fairly short interaction, Lan Wangji holds onto Magnus for a very long time. He is thinking of A-Yuan in the Burial Mounds, how sickly he was and how he would have died, too, if Lan Wangji had come even a day later. He is thinking of Magnus telling him, for the first time, that he died bravely, with a weapon in his hand. It is quite a while before he manages, for the second time, to relax his hold.

[summerdude]

Too bad for Hanguang-jun, though; Magnus is just getting comfortable! He keeps clinging. He's just letting himself feel the edge of a feeling about the whole affair, since he's safe here.

[lightbearinglord]

If that is the way it is to be, then Lan Wangji has no objections whatsoever. He can maintain an embrace for as long as needed when it is someone he loves as much as he loves Magnus. He keeps his hand at the back of Magnus' head, gently tucking Magnus' face to his chest, and uses the other to rub his back in wide, careful circles.

[summerdude]

"Do you think I should start using Jack again?" Magnus asks, quietly.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is also quiet in answer to that. He would like to say no, but circumstances have conspired to make that a potentially foolish response. He stills the hand at Magnus' back, leaving it flat between his shoulder blades. "Until this is resolved, yes."

[summerdude]

Magnus nods against Lan Wangji's chest, resolute. "I've been carrying him ever since," he says. "But I guess maybe I should stay in practice."

[lightbearinglord]

This isn't quite a sigh, but Lan Wangji does indulge in a frustrated little exhale. "Jack can move on his own. Must you wield him?"

[summerdude]

"Shouldn't I?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Will that keep you safer than Jack defending you with his own power?"

[summerdude]

Magnus presses his lips together. He's glad Hanguang-jun is still holding him; it makes it feel easier to admit, "If he was flying by himself I don't think he would have gotten close enough in time to stop any of it from happening."

[lightbearinglord]

"Do whatever will keep you safest for now. I will continue to investigate." If he can resolve this quickly, then perhaps Magnus can return to pursuing his life of peace.

[summerdude]

"Yes, sir."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji would like to say that he is sorry it has come to this, and he is, but that will do nothing for Magnus. He shuts his eyes and resumes the gentle path of his hand on Magnus' back.

[summerdude]

"Maybe it could be fun?" Magnus says, aiming for cheerful and landing somewhere around 'doubtful.' "You guys have sword forms, right? Could you show me some I don't know? If I'm learning something new, maybe it'll be, like. New." Not now though, now is for Hug-guang-jun.

[lightbearinglord]

"I will teach you," Lan Wangji agrees without hesitation. "We should commence calligraphy lessons, too."

[summerdude]

"Yes please," Magnus says immediately. He closes his eyes, resting his face against Lan Wangji's chest. It's hitting him, now, how on-edge he's been for the past few weeks.