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

[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."

[futaille]

His voice is somewhat dry. "The world? Riddled with problems? Why certainly there's no precedent for that in all of recorded history."

[summerdude]

"We do what we can, though," Magnus says, pragmatically, taking a deep breath and then lodging the ball into one of the spots that will, eventually, trigger a multiball event. He takes another deep breath and plays on. "For example, when I was homeless, any time I encountered a rich a-hole who was actively being an a-hole, I'd pickpocket 'em for my lunch money."

[futaille]

"Well, there's certainly something to be said for your resourcefulness."

[summerdude]

Magnus shoots a grin over his shoulder. As he hammers on the flappers a little more, it occurs to him: Grantaire knows stuff, and he's good at answering awkward questions in a way that makes them feel less awkward. Maybe he can help Magnus figure something out that he's been trying to understand for a while now. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

[futaille]

"Ask away." If he's inevitably losing his high score, at least maybe he can be somewhat useful.

[summerdude]

"You're with Claudius, right?" Magnus says, focusing again on the ball. He knows this because Galahad has told him. "And Enjolras?" He knows that because he has eyes.

[futaille]

"I..." He's somewhat uncertain where this is going, but he's also not going to lie, so. "To different degrees, yes. Why?"

[summerdude]

"What's the draw of polyamory?" Magnus asks. He slams on a button. "I don't really get it, but it seems like most people here are, like, into it?" Besides Hanguang-jun and Galahad, and Galahad is a special case because Claudius is. He can't ask them. He feels like he can't ask most people who are into it, because they might be weird about answering, but he's pretty sure Grantaire won't take offense and won't lie and won't get awkward that it's Magnus asking.

[futaille]

Oh, this is much better than any number of reasons for that opening that Grantaire could have thought of. "Oh. Well, first of all, this place is very much an outlier in that respect, but I'm pretty sure you know that already. Second, I don't think the answer to that question is going to be the same for any two people, but I'll do my best to answer it for me. I think that not everyone is well-suited to be everything someone else needs at the same time that someone is everything they need. Don't get me wrong, clearly a lot of people are, and that's admirable in its own way, like twin stars in a dance in the heavens, circling one another. But there are, I'm sure, an infinite number of celestial configurations. The trick, no matter what, is to be honest about your expectations."

[summerdude]

Magnus blinks. "Stars?"

[futaille]

He shrugs. "Figuratively speaking, of course."

[summerdude]

Magnus pauses for a minute, to play furiously -- the ball keeps trying to make him lose! It's dumb! He hasn't even gotten to a decent score yet! -- and then says, "So your reason is, uh. Jigsaw puzzle vibes?"

[futaille]

He considers that for a moment. "Yes, I think that's a reasonably good way to describe it."

[summerdude]

Magnus chews on this, depositing another ball in another slot and getting ready to launch the third. "Huh," he says. He still doesn't personally really super get it, but he can follow the explanation.

[futaille]

"And like I said, you'd probably get a somewhat different answer from anyone you asked. People are unfathomable like that sometimes. Most times."

[summerdude]

Maybe Magnus can hack this. "Like what?" he asks. "For example."

[futaille]

"I can only speculate, in fairness, but I'm happy to as long as you understand that my speculation may not be accurate to any person in particular."

[summerdude]

"Oh yeah, of course."

[futaille]

"Let me think... One option, I suppose, is scheduling."

[summerdude]

"Scheduling???"

[futaille]

"Obviously that's less of a concern here, but it's possible."