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

[sagramore]

"Thank you," taking it. "Tress and I are working some minor miracles with rice and beans but I think a fresh vegetable might save Laertes from a nervous prostration."

[summerdude]

"I've been growing other stuff, too. Lettuce. Kale. Kumquats, until they stopped producing. Tomatoes. You could make a whole-ass salad."

[sagramore]

"Nuszka. I would love to make a whole-ass salad."

[summerdude]

"I don't actually know if it's good for the plants to grow like this, but I figure fresh food is more important right now." He picks a second bean off the vine and pops it into his mouth. "So? I know you met her."

[sagramore]

"Thine Alex?" innocently.

[summerdude]

"Obviously my Alex," Magnus says, with what might be his biggest smile to date.

[sagramore]

"I don't know, it might have been someone else with green hair."

[summerdude]

"If that's an imposter Alex who isn't the real one then I'm in for a world of trouble when the real Alex shows up," Magnus says, peaceably, coaxing some more beans out of the plant.

[sagramore]

"I liked her. She was guarded, but I expected that. She didn't know me."

[summerdude]

"Yeah," sighs Magnus. "That's Alex. He's got much better survival instincts than I do."

[sagramore]

"He does, yes." Sagramore tosses the green bean from hand to hand. "Oh! I'm sorry, but I'll forget if I don't tell you-- Aor¹-- no, no, sorry, I can't say her name. Ah, Christ. You asked Lan Wangji and me about her when we were making the tamales."

¹Pi?

[summerdude]

Magnus raises his eyebrows curiously at Sagramore. Sure, he'll play. "Bodyswap lady?"

[sagramore]

"Right. Laertes spoke with her, and Claudius told us she can tell when someone says her name."

[summerdude]

"I knew that," Magnus says, automatically, and then stops, frowning. "I did know that. I... guess I forgot that. Huh."

[sagramore]

Sagramore blinks at him. "You did? Was that... what you were trying to remember back then?"

[summerdude]

Magnus rubs the back of his neck. "I, um. I think so? Cuz we were talking about what we talked about, right? And now that you've said it, it's like -- I knew it and just had to be reminded?"

[sagramore]

"Oh. Well-- good, I suppose that's good. At least you know. And you know to be careful around her."

[summerdude]

"It's weird that I forgot," Magnus says, scratching his head. "I try to make a ton of mental notes."

[sagramore]

Sagramore shrugs. "I forget everything. Listen -- did you know about Ophelia?"

[summerdude]

"Ophelia like the main character of Hamlet? I dropped out of school before we got to that one but she was my mom's favorite."

[sagramore]

He levels a Look at Magnus. "Did you know she dies?"

[summerdude]

"Uh." Magnus dips a nod. "I put it together. Eventually. Don't worry, I won't say anything."

[sagramore]

"You're too late. She told him."

[summerdude]

Magnus blinks. "Well," he says, letting the bean plant go. "Shit."

[sagramore]

"So I don't particularly care what her intentions are or were otherwise. She meant to hurt him."