I'm About As Organized As Ran, I Guess? [closed post]

[summerdude]

"And then we realized Frigg was knitting with clouds. Actual factual clouds," Magnus says, passing another box that, as it turns out, holds nothing useful down to Galahad. He climbs up another rung on the little stepladder and starts in on the next shelf. "How many boxes of Legos do we have so far?" He knows it's certainly not enough for a bachelorette party yet, but surely there's something they can go on. He'd kind of tonight that this far after Dark, there would be... more? "Do you think we should find another room to look in? Maybe the game room isn't the best choice."

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[summerdude]

Dad? Magnus prays again, and a warm breeze stirs through his hair. He whirls, staring. Dad? Is that you? I'm okay, Dad, but I'm not coming home.

There's no answer. Just another breeze, and a single butterfly landing delicately on a long grass stem.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad reaches out a careful hand, and the jewelwing floats into the air and then alights on his finger next. All around them that's happening, winged insects rising and settling. He watches Magnus.

[summerdude]

Magnus lets himself fall backward, insects swarming around him as he hits the grass, and then rolls over, burying his nose between grass and wildflowers, right next to the sun-warmed dirt, which is borderline muddy this close to the water. Dad?

It feels even more potent here than it had in his little clearing before the clearing became his camp, in those first few weeks when he was trying, every day and in every way that he could, to phone home. Here it feels like if he just finds the right combination of words, Frey himself will wander over the hill beyond the pond in his flannel shirt and faded jeans and awkward, crooked smile to give Magnus a hug and ask where he's been.

When Magnus rolls back over, face pointed toward the sun, there's a flat rock in his hand. He rises up, half-sitting, and skips it over the pond. It skims the surface five times before sinking; he holds his breath the entire time. Frey doesn't rise where the stone sinks, but then again, he never did in the Blue Hills, either. Then Magnus laughs at himself and looks up at Galahad, sun gilding his nose and messy hair. "I didn't realize how much I missed summer," he says.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Did your dad say anything?" Galahad has been sitting perfectly still the whole time, and he is now covered in dragonflies: forktails, amberwings, skimmers, dancers, dashers, pennants, whitetails, like a glimmering net of jewels draped over his hair and shoulders.

[summerdude]

Of course Galahad knows Magnus has been praying. He grins, squirming until he can rest his head on Galahad's leg. Some of the dragonflies take flight at the rustling, but most of them settle back down soon enough. "Nah," he says; for once, he's genuinely unconcerned. "Maybe he heard me, though. You look good like this. All your... accessories."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Am I beautiful?"

[summerdude]

At the time of this quest, it's only been one month since Magnus asked for four months to decide if Galahad was hot, but he has been reflecting dutifully on the matter. But beauty is different, probably, and it's an easier decision with all the summer around them. "Oh, totally."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad smiles and pets Magnus' hair, taking care to move very slowly and not to disturb the dragonflies.

[summerdude]

"I like it here," Magnus says. "Sorry we keep getting distracted."

[onthewillowsthere]

"It's okay. I like it. I like exploring with you."

[summerdude]

Magnus grins, reaching up to tweak Galahad's nose. Approximately thirty dragonflies take umbrage at this and then settle again; the rest are undisturbed. "Me too."

[onthewillowsthere]

"What do you think we'll find next?"

[summerdude]

Magnus squints, thinking. "A McDonalds PlayPlace. That's, um, an inside playground at a fast-food restaurant."

[onthewillowsthere]

"What's fast food?"

[summerdude]

"It's, like, food? But fast. Like a lot of it is premade or mostly premade so you can get a full meal in a few minutes. Fadlan's Falafel was fast food. A lot of it is chains, which means there's a bunch of identical fast food restaurants in a bunch of different places. Fadlan's Falafel was only a chain in Boston."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Like Shen Yuan's noodles."

[summerdude]

"Like..." Magnus blinks. "Yes, exactly."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad falls quiet, a considering quiet, stroking Magnus' hair. At last he says, "Claudius would like him to come to our wedding. Shen Yuan."

[summerdude]

This is news to Magnus, who assumed that of course Galahad's other best friend would net an invite and doesn't have a firm understanding of when and how to include or avoid plus-ones. Obviously Shen Yuan goes to stuff without Luo Binghe. He came to their birthday party! "Why wouldn't he?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"He's my friend. Not Claudius's. And Claudius is afraid of Luo Binghe. I wasn't going to ask him." He frowns a little; he's not actually sure how to encompass all the dynamics of it, how he loves Shen Yuan but that isn't in and of itself enough to expect Claudius to like or tolerate him, how he understands Shen Yuan loves Luo Binghe in the same way that Galahad loves Claudius, in a fierce and all-encompassing way that means Galahad doesn't expect Shen Yuan to forsake him or hear anything against him, and it's one thing to accept that in a friend but another thing to accept it in someone who would be at their wedding, who could stand before Claudius and try to defend his pain. Galahad loves Shen Yuan, but if he thought it hurt Claudius for them to be friends he wouldn't speak to Shen Yuan again; he wouldn't ask, because Claudius would pretend it was all right, he wants Galahad to have all the friends he possibly can now that he can have friends (Claudius pretends things don't hurt him, but Galahad has studied him, and he knows). All of that means that he expected Shen Yuan wouldn't be at the wedding, and he accepted it.

[summerdude]

"I guess that explains the vibes when we told him about your bachelorette party," says Magnus, thoughtfully.

[onthewillowsthere]

"The vibe?" He isn't as good with Shen Yuan's vibe as Magnus'.

[summerdude]

"I think it took him a minute to rally. Like maybe he didn't expect an invite."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Oh. But that's different. It's for me."

[summerdude]

"To any of it," Magnus clarifies. "He looked surprised you were getting married."