YOU Get A Big Banana, and YOU Get A Big Banana, and YOU Get A Big Banana! [closed post]

[summerdude]

"Okay, just another minute," Magnus says.

It's a hot day out, so holding Galahad's hand is a sweaty affair... and Magnus's current use of his alf seidr isn't making matters any more comfortable. The grass is tickling at Magnus's back -- his shirt has ridden up while he lies, spread-eagle, in the middle of the lawn. Galahad is always so smart about his clothes, Magnus bets he's not getting the grass itches at all.

But he can put all that aside. Grass tickles are good tickles, and the heat of the sun is -- to Magnus -- always more refreshing than it is annoying. There's a trickle of sweat at the side of his neck, but even though it's hot out it's not really a temperature extreme, so as usual he feels regular about it.

All his attention is on the plants around them. Feverfew and milkweed, black-eyed susan and queen anne's lace, aster and boneset and flowering spurge and yarrow and tickseed and teasel and wild thyme and forget-me-nots and poppies and and and -- well. He's not sure what else is in the mix. He's been trying to get better at plant identification with Claudius's guidance, but the package he found earlier that morning only said FIELD SEEDS. He's doing his best! Right now, his 'best' is less focused on identification and more focused on growing them to flower, high enough that some of them are providing shade to both him and Galahad, in a very neat outline of the grass they've politely crushed between the two of them.

Eventually, he's done all he can without overtaxing the plants. "There," he tells Galahad. "Summer snow angels, check."

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

Uncomfortable Christian symbolism seems right, given how God used and then failed Susan. The revelation that there is a series of books involved isn't startling, since Galahad knows about Claudius' play. "Reepicheep," he says.

[summerdude]

"Reepicheep?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"The mouse."

[summerdude]

"Oh," says Magnus, shrugging. "That does ring a bell, I guess. I think he became a pirate or something."

[onthewillowsthere]

"After she left?" because Susan would certainly have mentioned that.

[summerdude]

Magnus shrugs. "I... don't remember."

[onthewillowsthere]

That's fine. Galahad doesn't want to know too much -- it doesn't feel right, like prying. Susan is always forthcoming with him; he doesn't need to ask Magnus to tell things she can choose to say herself. "Do you think Drosera is a Talking Animal?" he asks again, to get them back on track.

[summerdude]

"If I remember right," which is doubtful, "she might be, but she's definitely not like the Narnia ones."

[onthewillowsthere]

He accepts this information with only mild disappointment. "How is she different?"

[summerdude]

"I'm pretty sure the talking animals in Narnia had to, like, wear clothes and pray to that lion guy or whatever. Drosera is uncivilized." Magnus says this with almost as much pride as he would when describing any of Sunny's myriad genius behaviors, such as helping put on her own shoes or spilling cheerios all over the kitchen floor or climbing up a ledge with only a little help or painting a masterpiece.

[onthewillowsthere]

That certainly makes the prospect less appealing; Galahad doesn't like to think of Drosera praying to God. And Drosera is certainly not like Szarka, who obeys Laertes' commands, or even Regina. He nods.

[summerdude]

"But she does communicate," Magnus continues, thoughtfully. "She's very good at expressing her opinions and needs."

[onthewillowsthere]

"She speaks a lot."

[summerdude]

"Can you understand it even when I'm not translating?" he asks, curious.

[onthewillowsthere]

"No. But it--" He frowns slightly, gathering his words. "It is like speech. Like language. Purposeful."

[summerdude]

"I wonder if we could get it so you do understand," says Magnus, thoughtfully. "Topics, at least. Maybe not exact phrasing."

[onthewillowsthere]

"How?"

[summerdude]

Magnus shrugs. "Like, you know what some of her postures mean, right? Like when she wants pets versus when she's planning to attack and stuff?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes." She's most like Regina in those moments.

[summerdude]

"So maybe we... expand that. Somehow."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Do you think she could learn to make certain movements when she wants certain things?" He decides that this wouldn't be the same as training her, because obviously she and Magnus would have a conversation about it.

[summerdude]

"I think maybe? She already does this one specific wriggle whenever I remind her to ask Sunny about fishing off the dock before she starts." This is rare -- obviously Dro usually does what she feels like -- but since there's other animals and babies over there, Magnus has been trying to remind her more lately by asking 'how are you going to ask permission?' when she heads off on her own.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad isn't easily distracted by all the little pieces of information Magnus is always letting slip when he talks about other things, and he puts a pin in ask Sunny about fishing, tucking it into one of his mental drawers to be taken out again later. "We can try that."

[summerdude]

"I guess we could also ask Dro if she thinks she's a talking animal?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"A Talking Animal," he corrects. Dro is obviously a talking animal.