What's In An Unknowable Birthday? I Guess We'll Find Out!

[summerdude]

Magnus is a man on a mission. Actually, he's a man on several missions, but now that he's successfully pulled off the bachelorette part of Galahad's wedding, this one stands out as of particular import. As such, he has a pad of construction paper chock-full of notes tucked in his backpack and he's swinging briefly into every room he passes, on the lookout for Grantaire.

Comments

[summerdude]

"Huh," says Magnus, thoughtfully. "Okay, Spiders. Good to know."

[futaille]

"That will work. Or wouldn't it be Boyfriends? It's Étienne, though, to be technically accurate."

[summerdude]

"Étienne?" Magnus says, and then his eyes grow wider. "Uncle D's mystery Étienne????"

[futaille]

"Oh, am I a mystery now?"

[summerdude]

"I just thought Étienne was some guy he knew back home," Magnus admits. "What does it mean?"

[futaille]

"Crown or wreath. Same root as the name Stephen?"

[summerdude]

"Your name," says Magnus, with mounting delight, "is Steve?????"

[futaille]

He laughs. "I suppose?"

[summerdude]

"Whoa...." It's safe to say Magnus's mind is blown. "You definitely don't have Steve vibes."

[futaille]

"How would you define Steve vibes?"

[summerdude]

"Like..." Magnus considers the question seriously. "Steve-y?"

[futaille]

"I am trying to envision what Steve-y would entail. Since it wouldn't be like me, I hypothesize... somber? No tolerance for foolishness?"

[summerdude]

"No, that's not it at all. The Steves of the world are like the Eriks of Valhalla, I think." This would make perfect sense to Alex!

[futaille]

"Oh, like the Eriks, of course."

[summerdude]

"They're everywhere, and you can usually tell when you're looking at one even though they're almost nothing alike," Magnus nods.

[futaille]

"They just have an Erikesque manner?"

[summerdude]

"It's a vibe. And Steves have a Stevesque one."

[futaille]

"But I don't have a Stevesque vibe?"

[summerdude]

"Maybe you do but I gotta think about it," Magnus decides. "This took me by surprise. It's not a loud Steve vibe. If you have one."

[futaille]

"Perhaps it's a slightly different shade of a Steve vibe that you're not accustomed to as you haven't met particularly many Étiennes before."

[summerdude]

Magnus brightens. "Maybe!" he says, and leans forward. Back to the main task at hand! "So, like, there are these website photo editor thingies from my childhood where you could put in two pictures and see what their baby might look at. Do you think you could guesstimate what Sunny's parents might have looked like based on Violet, Klaus, and Sunny herself? ...she doesn't really remember them anymore, and I don't really remember if it was mentioned in, like. The books."

[futaille]

He frowns. "I could try, but there's no real way to tell what feature may have come from which parent, so it could end up a jumble that looks not at all close to them."

[summerdude]

"Yeah, but like..." Magnus makes a face. "We have no way of knowing for sure one way or the other, so... probably it's fine?"

[futaille]

"Maybe so. Still, though, I'd start with just the portraits of Violet and Klaus, and if Sunny wants one of her parents after that, we can go from there."

[summerdude]

"She wants one."