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Magnus Chase ([personal profile] summerdude) wrote2024-08-16 12:47 am

I'm No Party-Throwing Expert But I Do Think This Is Gonna Be A Good One!

The first day of summer dawns bright and warm, a steady breeze stirring through the trees. The day itself is a flurry of activity: Magnus and Tress meet up in the kitchen early in the morning to start throwing together refreshments for Galahad's party. They make three kinds of cookies, and also a tray of flat brownies — Magnus has it in his head that half of the cookies and all of the brownies should be turned into ice cream sandwiches and, accordingly, tracks down Susan (who seems to know everything about this place) to get her to produce a deep freezer for Legoland. (She has that look on her face like he smells bad the whole time, but when he mentions it's for the bachelorette, at least she seems slightly less cold and standoffish.)

While the baked goods cool, Magnus ransacks the pantry for chips and candy and stuff for sandwiches. He lets Tress handle ice cream selection; when they find boxes of Bagel Bites in the freezer, he cheers. Legoland definitely has a microwave; they plugged the freezer into the same outlet. (Is a bachelorette the same thing as a slumber party? Maybe!)

It's early evening by the time everything is done and set up, even with Alex and Tress's help. He decides that the substantial food and record player should both be reserved for Legoland, partly because it does have electricity. They lug a big old table up to the top of the tower for the taste tests, and then an easel with giant post-it notes for the 'naming Mansion constellations' portion of the evening, and then a bunch of the smaller easels, sketchpads, and a selection of different art supplies (markers, crayons, watercolors, pencils, acrylic paints) he and Sunny have been tracking down and hoarding, for the bestiality portion of the evening.

After sending Tress and Alex off so they can get ready, he sets up for the taste tests: bowls full of different candies (white rabbit, hopjes, strawberry-flavored fizzing warheads, Reeses's cluster bites, Haribo gummy goldbears, hundred grand bars, red vines, salmiak licorice, candied verdant vines (Tress made them), and nerd ropes), bowls full of chips (Takis in the flavors angry burger, blue heat, and dragon sweet chili; Lays in the flavors Wasabi Octopus, All Dressed, Cappuccino, White Rabbit Rich Toffee (to compare with the actual white rabbit candy), and Pimento Cheese), and several cloth bags covering different red-flavored sodas, with wine tasting note cards so people can try to guess which is Code Red, which is Big Red, which is Cheerwine, and (in a fond nod to Alex), which is Tizer. He completes the array with a stack of paper for general ranking notes for the candy and chips. (There are also a couple child-sized easels and ranking sheets, for Mothwing and Sunny, but Magnus did also bring regular water for her and Sunny, a fish supplied by Drosera for Mothwing, and some carrots and apple slices for Sunny. There is also an easel and notepad for Shen Yuan, even though he's just a ghost and probably can't manipulate it, but he knocked once for yes when Magnus asked his growing body if he was going to make it.)

Finally, after convincing Drosera that she should absolutely wear a cute little bolo tie and party hat for this, he darts into the mansion for a quick shower, a change into one of the outfits Galahad picked for him when they tried on clothes, and to collect the groom himself. He presents Galahad with a white sash embroidered in gold; it reads GROOM TO BE. There's also a little tiara that he found in their bedroom. He assumes it's a cheap gimmicky one, but it's actually filigree red and white gold with real sapphires, diamonds, and pearls — he just picked it because it's delicate and will blend in with Galahad's hair in a way that will let the sapphires really pop.


Stages of the night will be posted in parent comments; everyone is welcome to thread with whoever in response to those! Awkward social interactions between people who aren't necessarily friendly are encouraged.
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-17 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"Humans and you?" Mothwing gets a little closer and gives SecUnit a sniff. Upon closer inspection, it definitely doesn't smell quite right. "What are you, then?"
recognizance: faceless armored figure looking to its right (what now)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-17 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Man, do none of these people communicate with each other about the things Murderbot would rather not keep explaining? "I'm a SecUnit. A construct." Although if she has trouble with the word humans, maybe it should just... show her.

Ugh.
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-17 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't know that kind of animal," Mothwing meows, interested. "I'm sorry to have mixed you up. I know I'd be annoyed if someone thought I was a fox or, StarClan forbid, a dog."
recognizance: faceless armored figure looking to its right (what now)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-18 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
With an internal sigh, it prepares once again to figure out an explanation that won't net it a blank stare in return. "It's not an animal, it's... Do you know about machines?"
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-18 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't think so." Mothwing thinks she's heard the word, but isn't sure exactly what it means.
recognizance: faceless person in ambiguous action (Default)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-18 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, isn't this going to be fun. "Humans built me. Out of inorganic and organic parts, to do stuff they can't do themselves." Or don't want to do themselves, but it doesn't want to get into that right now.
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-18 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Mothwing stares at SecUnit blankly for a long time, trying to process this. It's odd to think a person could be built like a den. She supposes at least it saved some twoleg queen from the dangers of pregnancy. Mothwing realizes monsters must also be built this way, to help twolegs get places faster. It does seem a little exploitative, but clan cats are raised for a purpose, too.

"What sort of stuff?"



recognizance: upper body of armed and armored figure (loom)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-18 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
SecUnit looks a little blank itself. How is it supposed to explain corporate security and enforcement to a cat. "Dangerous stuff, mostly."
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-18 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hmm. Well, that doesn't seem very fair."
recognizance: faceless armored figure against orange smoke (anon)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-18 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, we're not getting into that. "Anyway, that's why I don't eat. I don't have a digestive system."
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-18 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh! Well, fair enough. Where does it come from, then? The sun, like plants?"
recognizance: person in spacesuit floating awkwardly in zero G (flail)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-19 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Help.

"Sort of. I have power cells. They recharge." It's aware that this is not much of an explanation, but the idea of trying to put the technical details of its base components into fauna-friendly language is more than it can face at the moment.
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-19 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Fascinating," Mothwing murmurs, meaning it, though she's starting to be able to tell SecUnit doesn't really want to talk about it. "Well, you're not missing much with this particular twoleg food. A lot of it is too spicy or too bland."
recognizance: faceless person in ambiguous action (Default)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-19 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, it doesn't smell great." To be fair, SecUnit, most humans can't detect airborne particles of octopus extract at concentrations that low.
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-19 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"So, you're friends with Galahad?"
recognizance: faceless armored figure against orange smoke (anon)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-19 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"I like him," it hedges. "It's good that he's doing better, he was really depressed for a while."
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-19 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"He did tell me something to that effect," Mothwing says carefully, not wanting to share information Galahad might not want shared. "I'm training him as my medicine cat apprentice, and I think that's helping as well. He likes to learn."
recognizance: faceless armored figure looking to its right (what now)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-21 03:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"Medicine... cat." It's not sure how that's supposed to work, given that Galahad is in fact a human.
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-21 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"Medicine twoleg. Human. Actually, I think he'd prefer being called a cat," Mothwing concludes. "He wants to turn into one for a while at some point."
recognizance: upper body of armed and armored figure (loom)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-21 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
SecUnit blinks, nonplussed. "Is that an option?"
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-21 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"With twoleg magic, I think so. It surprised me too."
recognizance: armored figure holding a weird sphere (plot ball)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-21 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Why is it even surprised anymore. "I guess that makes sense."
Edited 2024-08-21 18:09 (UTC)
mothwingofriverclan: (Default)

[personal profile] mothwingofriverclan 2024-08-22 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Well." Mothwing can tell SecUnit isn't really a chatter. "Enjoy the rest of the party."
recognizance: person in spacesuit floating awkwardly in zero G (flail)

[personal profile] recognizance 2024-08-22 11:26 am (UTC)(link)
"You too," it remembers to say.