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

[onthewillowsthere]

"I was--" He hesitates. He's not actually sure how to describe the cluster of worried thoughts that had been gathering in his chest, like clouds rolling in: that Magnus would never really be happy without Alex, that he would always been wondering if he had changed too much, that he would regret being Peace Guy, that he would want to leave. Eventually Galahad settles for, "I'm glad she came."

[summerdude]

"Me too," Magnus says, emphatically, squeezing Galahad's hand. "You were what?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Afraid for you," after a long silence to consider his words.

[summerdude]

Magnus, touched, instinctively stops walking and pulls Galahad into a big hug. "Why?" he asks. "I mean, me too, but also why?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Because you wanted Alex, but you gave her up so the world wouldn't end. I didn't want that. For you to be without her always."

[summerdude]

"Yeah, that would have sucked," Magnus says, immediately. "I mean, I could've done it, I think, but I would have hated it."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I know. That's why I was worried."

[summerdude]

"I love you, dude."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I love you too."

[summerdude]

"I know I say this, like, all the time, but I'm, like. Really glad I know you."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I'm glad you're my best friend."

[summerdude]

"Me too. I've never had a friend like you before." Magnus pauses. "By the way, I talked to SecUnit."

[onthewillowsthere]

"About what?"

[summerdude]

"A signal. It's willing to keep us in the loop. We just have to tell it what the signal is so it knows we need it to get each other."

[onthewillowsthere]

"What signal do you want to use?"

[summerdude]

"It could be anything," Magnus says, and hesitates, thinking back over his conversation with SecUnit. "I think SecUnit thought it might be a good idea to make the signal something other people wouldn't necessarily recognize as a signal."

[onthewillowsthere]

"A cipher."

[summerdude]

"A cipher?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"A code. Something that has to be solved to be understood."

[summerdude]

Magnus considers this. "What kind of code?"

[onthewillowsthere]

A meme?

[summerdude]

Yes, immediately.

[onthewillowsthere]

One no one else knows. From your world.

[summerdude]

Alex is going to recognize all of them if it's from my world, Magnus admits. He knows even more memes than I do.

[onthewillowsthere]

Maybe that's good? If something happens, she also knows?