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]

He smiles a little (he's equally relieved to have understood, and it seeps a warmth into him, as summer-bright as Magnus' qi). "Lan Wangji is wearing off on me."

[summerdude]

Magnus tugs Galahad's shirt, trying to get him to lie down next to him. "Gross, stop it."

[onthewillowsthere]

At that, he lets himself drop to the floor of the boat beside Magnus. It's not as hopelessly stiff as it would have been before he started training with Lan Wangji; their focus on qigong is, so, so slowly, adding some grace to his graceless body. He stretches out along Magnus' side.

[summerdude]

"That was sarcasm, by the way," Magnus says, belatedly. "I think it's funny that you're picking up all these Hanguang-jun-isms." He twists his head to look at Galahad, and a little to get the sun out of his eyes. "I'm not jealous anymore. By the way."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Do you know why not?"

[summerdude]

"I talked to Hanguang-jun about it. He explained some stuff."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad settles himself more comfortably and listens. He's done a lot of talking and a lot of trying to understand and he's ready to be quiet now and just hear what Magnus has to say.

[summerdude]

Magnus doesn't have a lot more to say on the matter, though. He curls up at Galahad's side, the way he did during those two weeks Galahad was helping him sleep inside again. "Let me know if you get hungry, by the way," he says. "My backpack has become a bottomless snack hole for Sunny." He also has an emergency diaper and set of wipes, but he's pretty sure that won't be relevant during this adventure.

[onthewillowsthere]

"What snacks does Sunny like?"

[summerdude]

"There's a lot of cereal. Modern cereals." They did a taste test of them a few months ago, so Galahad will be familiar. "And granola bars and other vaguely healthy crunchy stuff like that. But I have some applesauce and stuff, too. And water."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Does she ever choose applesauce?" curiously.

[summerdude]

"Only if we pretend it's chewy juice," Magnus says, fond.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad's lip twitches in an expression of disgust at the phrase chewy juice.

[summerdude]

They're lying in such a way that Magnus can't really see his expression, but he grins nonetheless. "I bet you hate that, huh."

[onthewillowsthere]

It sounds like one of Claudius' horrible gelatin recipes. Galahad smiles, but he's tired of talking, so he doesn't say it aloud. He thinks Magnus will understand what he's thinking anyway.

[summerdude]

Magnus does! "You and Sunny have a lot of similar texture opinions, actually," he tells Galahad. "She's been on an anti-gelatin quest for, like, days now. You could join forces."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Join forces for what?"

[summerdude]

Magnus has no idea! "A protest," he says, after a moment of mental scrambling. "You could march around in front of the mansion with picket signs. No More Soft and Slimy. I would be there for moral support even though I love regular jello." This is, of course, different from Claudius's jello. Regular jello is the lime stuff his mom used to make him when he was sick.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I don't mind when other people eat it." There's no need for a protest generally.

[summerdude]

"In this scenario you're not protesting other people eating it, you're protesting the concept of it."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I don't mind the concept of it."

[summerdude]

"Okay, so Sunny's protesting alone. With me there for moral support. You can watch."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad's mouth twitches. "Okay."

[summerdude]

All this talk about food has reminded Magnus of something he's been meaning to bring up. He weighs out the likelihood Alex would murder him to death for saying a single word, decides it's fine if it's about him and not her and is said only to Galahad, and says, "You were right, by the way."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad tilts his head, at least as much as he can while lying on the deck of a boat beside Magnus.