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]

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.

[summerdude]

"Mouth stuff is the best."

[onthewillowsthere]

This is a solemn and significant moment. Galahad knows how long they've been waiting, how much Magnus has worried about being ready and getting everything right. He rolls over onto his side and pulls Magnus into his arms. His expression doesn't change, but he is absolutely beaming happiness for Magnus from his pores.

[summerdude]

Magnus flops full-body into the hug. He is also very happy for himself.

[onthewillowsthere]

Eventually he rolls back from the hug, only so he can sign Do many times?

[summerdude]

"You mean the mouth stuff?"

[onthewillowsthere]

Yes.

[summerdude]

"Yeah."

[onthewillowsthere]

His expression is almost a grin.

[summerdude]

"It's like..." there's no way Magnus is going to give even Galahad specific details in a million years. That's Alex's provenance. "Wow! Gods. You know?"

[onthewillowsthere]

Yes. I know. Can't imagine it before do it.

[summerdude]

"I thought I could." Magnus certainly did a lot of imagining, especially before Alex arrived. He still has all the books and magazines that he used to help him imagine tucked away somewhere at camp. But his imagination, as it turns out, paled in comparison to the real thing. "But oh my gods."

[onthewillowsthere]

I know, happily. He and Claudius have sex almost every day now -- there are so many things for Galahad to learn under the patient and thorough tutelage of his husband, things from the list they made together, things Galahad has stumbled across in books and wanted to try, spontaneous moments when Galahad is overcome by Claudius' handsomeness and beauty and can do nothing but lead his bride to holy worship at his feet. Magnus is not, Galahad thinks, imagining anything like the debauchery they make of sanctified things together, but what he does with Alex is surely equally transcendent.