[open post -- winged and once-winged insects]

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad has collected every insect guide he could find in the mansion's library, and now he is camped out in a laboratory it seems to have created particularly for him and Susan -- the room has its own microscope, so that he can stop borrowing Claudius', and every single shelf is filled with glass habitats or mesh tents for keeping insects.

With his single-minded determination, he has filled many of them -- the tents house carefully potted foot-high milkweeds with tiny butterfly eggs affixed to their leaves, or potato plants he hopes will soon harbor potato beetles, or butterflies resting on the mesh. In the glass habitats there are millipedes, gleaming tenebrionid beetles, huge and bumbling scarabs, the dogbane leaf beetle Lancelot helped him capture, shiny blister beetles, leafhoppers in every shade of green, a pair of picasso bugs, an mantis he found in the greenhouse pretending to be an orchid flower.

Many of these insects stay only long enough to be identified and documented. Galahad and Susan between them take careful notes, make drawings, take pictures. When possible, they identify to species; more often, they identify genera or family, country of origin if they're lucky. Then they let their subjects go again. Neither of them has the time nor the inclination to feed and care for the immense diversity of insects living on the mansion's grounds. Potato beetles are one thing, but catching other tiny insects for the tiger beetles every morning is unsustainable. Galahad doesn't mind. Once he has a picture and the notes, the insect is saved, even if they don't see it again.

In the morning he trains with Lan Wangji, so it's an afternoon now when he's perched on a stool in front of the microscope, inspecting a chlaenius beetle to see whether it's possible to confirm a species. Unfortunately, these beetles are too fast and squirmy to put on a slide alive, so he's ethered it first. Now he's working diligently on his sketch, his pale head bowed as he studies the tiny body.

[Open especially to anyone who needs to be reassured that Galahad is back after the mod event and he's just fine now]

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

If it is too far in Magnus' future for him to understand, then Lan Wangji likely has no chance, at least not without an absolutely unfathomable amount of further reading. He does, however, tuck away that small piece of information about SecUnit, who is so sparing with personal details. For now, he nods. "Good. Thank you."

[summerdude]

"It also wants us to ask it to help out more," Magnus adds, dutifully.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Help out with what?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji awaits Magnus' answer again, but he does feel an additional spike of tenderness toward SecUnit at the request. He might like to try and speak with it at more length once this situation has come back under control.

[summerdude]

"Um. Situations. Risk assessment and emergency response? I think it didn't like the Wanderers Gather fire."

[onthewillowsthere]

He nods. He remembers that. "I think its purpose is to protect people."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji certainly understands that. He nods again, serious. "I will remember." SecUnit is so elusive that he isn't certain how to implement the request -- but he will remember.

[summerdude]

"I wonder if it's lonely," Magnus says, thoughtfully. "Or if the stuff here is as far back in time for it as it is forward in time for you guys."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad nods. It would make sense for SecUnit to feel weird and lonely. Susan had said she wanted to make plays for it to watch, but he doesn't think she's ever managed. It must not have many of the things it's used to.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji tries to imagine having been flung more than a thousand years into the past rather than into the future. He can hardly picture it. He thinks often of SecUnit telling him that it was never given so much as a name. Even pets have names. "Then I am glad we asked for its help today."

[summerdude]

"Yeah." Magnus levers himself over the back of the couch, slinging himself back into position next to Hanguang-jun. "Okay. Show me what you learned."

[onthewillowsthere]

He meets Lan Wangji's eyes and attempts to convey sorry, guess you gotta keep playing vibes solely through his gaze as he picks up the controller again.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji receives the vibes and appreciates them. He also appreciates that Magnus is next to him again and that he can give his shoulder another fond little nudge. He isn't certain what he can do about Magnus' jealousy, or how better to show how much Magnus means to him. There may be nothing to be done unless Magnus opts to tell him of his own volition. Regardless, for now, he retrieves his own controller. Because they spent most of that time talking rather than playing, he will have to apply all of his focus to playing as well as possible.

Unfortunately, now that they are at the character selection portion of events again, Lan Wangji's controller is suddenly uncooperative. He selects Marth; the joystick jerks to the side. This occurs several times before he is too late to stop it and something -- certainly not him -- presses A while two diminutive round people in cold-weather clothing are selected. Ice Climbers, apparently.

Lan Wangji stares down at the wayward controller. "Peak Lord Shen," he says flatly, unimpressed.

[summerdude]

"He must think you already mastered Marth," Magnus teases, grinning at any Shen Yuan ghosts in the room.

[onthewillowsthere]

"He likes deciding where things go. Categories. Like Pokemon. Maybe he thinks they are better for you."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji sincerely doubts that. Or, if it is the case, he presumes it is some flippant commentary on his demeanor. He knows how Shen Yuan considers him an arrogant hypocrite. But he is with Shen Yuan's friends, so he refrains from saying so.

Regrettably, whatever progress he had made at this game while playing as Marth has vanished almost entirely with these so-called Ice Climbers. It does not go well. He can't quite understand how to control the two characters, either together or separately. The attacks he had mostly memorized are now irrelevant.

[summerdude]

Magnus laughs, delighted. "I'm sorry," he says. "I have zero advice here."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad also has no idea how these characters play. "I will kill you honorably," he tells Lan Wangji, after several moments of watching him flail -- metaphorically, as Lan Wangji himself is perfectly poised as always. "Then it will be finished."

[lightbearinglord]

"Thank you, Jigglypuff," he says gravely. He awaits the Ice Climbers' impending deaths with dignity.

[summerdude]

"You should at least pull a Magnus and mash all the buttons at once over and over again," Magnus says, wisely. He knows all about honorable deaths! "So that you go out with honor."

[onthewillowsthere]

"You may."

[lightbearinglord]

"If you say so." With as much solemnity as possible, Lan Wangji presses every button in quick succession -- admittedly, this is very quick, and the Ice Climbers onscreen undergo an entire series of rapid contortions that include throwing each other, wielding hammers, and throwing miniature glaciers at Jigglypuff.

[summerdude]

"Cool," says Magnus, when the glaciers appear. He's trying to be as funny as these guys.

[onthewillowsthere]

Jigglypuff leaps and floats, gracefully evading the Ice Climbers' attacks. Then, with up and B, she begins to sing, and when she bops an Ice Climber they both fall asleep. At that point she efficiently combos them both to death.

[lightbearinglord]

As false deaths go, it could be a worse one. They were not even awake for the end. "Your mercy is appreciated," Lan Wangji says to Galahad.