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I think that it's fine but (She worries. Magnus will understand.)

Thanks, I owe you

(Junior is drifting listlessly in the kitchen, carefully touching every mismatched mug Lucretia has lined up neatly by the kettle. There's not a lot to do when the person you're living with has expressly forbid you from eating the contents of her bookshelf.

When the door opens it immediately pulls round in greeting, singing loudly as Magnus calls out.)

Edited (i love phone tags) 2017-09-25 05:00 (UTC)

np! 👍

[That singing lights Magnus up immediately. It's been a long time.]

Hey, buddy!

[He approaches Junior and waves at it. However nostalgic he is to see a voidfish, this isn't his voidfish, so he doesn't want to... make it uncomfortable? Maybe they'll warm up to each other.]

How's it goin', little guy?

(It's clearly going... okay. Lucretia had been due home an hour or so ago, and Junior had deliberated on whether or not to help itself to the book lying open on her desk. In the end, it had carefully torn a very small piece off the corner of the page– just the page number. Nothing that would be missed.

So seeing Magnus is good, because Magnus can feed it properly, right!

It waves a couple tendrils in greeting, still singing as it comes to rest on Magnus' shoulder, curling and nudging against his cheek contendedly.)

Edited 2017-09-25 12:21 (UTC)

[So this voidfish is just as affectionate as its parent. Awesome! Magnus cuddles up to it in return.

He catches sight of the book sitting on Lucretia's desk with a page-corner torn off. Fishy.]

I bet you're hungry, huh? Uh... [He glances around at Lucretia's things, vaguely thinking for a moment there's maybe something he can feed to it, but he doesn't want to do that without permission. Then he feels around in the pockets of his jacket, and pulls out a scrap of paper.] How about a grocery list?

(Grocery lists are good!

Junior flashes bright blue, and takes the list from him without a moment's hesitation, devouring it. It's a pretty good start, but hopefully Magnus has something else he can whip up? It hums expectantly, bobbing impatiently in the air. Usually Lucretia would be home at this time with a record of her day neatly written up for it. What gives.)

[He's pleased that Junior accepts his gift so readily, but he can tell that the voidfish is still holding out for more. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any more.]

Uh... Hm. Hold on, buddy.

[He thinks he might shoot Lucretia a text to ask about voidfish food, but doesn't want to bother her given the circumstances. He can figure this out on his own! ... Maybe!]

You think Lucretia would mind if I snoop around? [Junior can't tell him no, can it?] Nah, didn't think so.

[He keeps to her living area—the places of her house he's already seen. After 100 years together, it's odd to think that there are parts of Lucretia's living space that he isn't familiar with. It's a disconnect he's still not used to—and he's not sure whether he's comfortable with the idea of being comfortable again.

He mumbles, poking around her living room.] Voidfish food, voidfish food... Feel free to give me a hint here, buddy.

(yes meanwhile junior has consumed the entire grocery list and wants

It follows Magnus curiously about the apartment like it's waiting for him to unearth something edible, sagging dramatically in the air as he passes over Lucretia's bookshelf. There isn't a whole lot for Magnus to snoop over in here: there's the usual mess of paperwork and journals spread over the kitchen table, the kitchen (only slightly messy), a corner of the living room dedicated to artistry and complete with easel. It looks like Lucretia is half-way through a charcoal sketch of somebody– it's just a profile, devoid of any other features– and there are paints stacked in little pottles everywhere. There is a record player over by her computer.

Junior gives the bookshelf a last, longing hum, then trails over to butt into the small of Magnus' back to make him turn around. Because behind the both of them is the door to Lucretia's room, which Junior knows the empty journals are kept, and perhaps Magnus can just write it something to eat, the old fashioned way?)

[Of course, her bedroom. He really, really, really does not want to intrude on Lucretia's privacy but listen. He kinda does. So a little shove from Junior is all it really took to tip the scales.]

Alright, but if anyone asks, this was your idea.

[He creaks open the door, slowly, like a child who doesn't want to get caught making too much noise. Being in Lucretia's room is... a little weird. It's familiar, but not. Of course, the first thing he notices is her journals. He opens the first few, running through the pages (without reading anything, of course) until he finds blank pages. Perfect! He can write more lists for Junior.

His attempt to tear out a page cleanly fails, so the edges of the paper are still stuck inside the journal. Lucretia might think something of that when she finds it, but oh well. He finds a pencil nearby and begins writing the first things that come to mind:]

I had leftover pancakes for breakfast today. Lup says pancakes are dessert but I like them better as breakfast. Then I went to work. We're building some public buildings for the city today. Oh yeah, I'm a contractor. I build things. I ate some leftover shepherd's pie for lunch. I used to eat crappy sandwiches for lunch because I'm not good at cooking but then I started bringing Taako and Lup's food for lunch so now I get to eat good stuff. I saw a good dog on the way home! Her name was Ophelia and she was a big greyhound and she jumped on me and she was even taller than I am when she stood on her back legs! I'm gonna take that road home more often so I see her again. Then I texted Lucretia and she asked me to come see you so now I'm feeding you this story.

[He's very eloquent. He miiiight take a peek in Lucretia's journal as Junior eats his note.]

Edited 2017-10-03 14:22 (UTC)

(Junior hums and bobs, the voidfish version of a giggle, and darts into Lucretia's room as soon as the door is open. Let's be reasonable: it didn't need help getting back into her room (its tank is in here, after all), but part of the plan was getting Magnus to follow it in here.

When he starts to write in Lucretia's journal, Junior sings, clearly pleased with how all of this has panned out, and pauses to watch hungrily. It descends on the note the moment Magnus rips it out of the book and offers it, snatching it rather impolitely out of the air and chewing the words down line by line as if savouring them.

If Magnus flicks backwards through the rest of the book while the voidfish eats, he'll find a couple of scrawled notes here and there that he might find interesting:

He drank the ichor! I didn't
I had a theory that he might come around in the end but I didn't think that it would happen so soon! I wonder if he talked about it to anybody? I can't imagine Magnus keeping something like that to himself if he had somebody he could share it with, even if only for the relief of getting it all out in the open. It's the way he thinks: out loud. I've missed him so much. And now he's back with us at last and he knows and we don't have to keep hiding everything from him and

Underneath a big smiley face, the note concludes:

I'm so happy.

Next, further forwards: ~~I almost had an entire conversation with Taako today without provoking him! this isn't a victory I can't even make a joke about this~~ I have no idea how things with Taako are going. It's impossible to tell. Every time I think we've managed to find a bit of peace I say something or do something or... or don't do something as the case may be and everything falls to pieces in my hands. I wish I knew what to say to him. ~~I wish there was a magic word I could say that would ease everything between us and put it all to rest except that's not how people work and I'm so ridiculous to even entertain such a~~ Fuck it.

Another note that's a little hard not to take notice of: across a double spread going backwards through the journal again is a single sentence in enthusiastic capital letters, bursting out of the middle of the page: SHE LIKES ME!. It's accompanied by several little meandering doodles of flowers; stars; a woman with shoulder-length wavy hair, and a long nose.

Lucretia's journal continues on in much the same way. The more recent entries are more about her daily experiences and her thoughts; the ones towards the start more clinical, about her research and Quarantine itself. If Magnus concludes his little peek by flicking back through the journal to the page before the one he just ripped out, he may also notice a single sentence circled twice at the bottom, scrawled hastily: Ask Lup about Glamoursprings.)

[He can't help it. Magnus glances through some of the entries as Junior munches.

The entry about him makes him smile. She's spot-on with regards to Magnus's processing methods. But why wouldn't she be? They know each other so well.]

I'm happy too, Luce.

[The one about Taako makes him feel a pang guilty. He's been semi-aware of their... thing, but has been kiiiiind of avoiding it. He's not a fan of conflict between friends. But that's not an excuse to divvy up his attention unequally between the two of them, and he knows he's been spending a lot more time with Taako. He'll have to do more for Lucretia.

The pictures of Beverly are too good to pass up. This is his first impression of Lucretia's beau and god, it's adorable. He's so happy for them. Lucretia deserves someone to be happy with.

By the time he gets to the Glamoursprings entry, he realizes how long he's been intruding on Lucretia's privacy and shuts the book. The word doesn't really mean anything to him at this point, anyway. He turns back to Junior.]

You good, buddy? Need anything else?

(Junior seems satisfied with the meal Magnus wrote down for it and hums, soft and clear as Magnus shuts Lucretia's journal.

It comes to loop slowly his head for a couple circles, then comes to rest on his shoulder, tucking itself against his neck where it fits quite nicely. This is usually what it does with Lucretia, but of course Magnus can also be trusted.

It doesn't need anything else. It certainly isn't about to go back into its tank while Magnus is still here and it can cop a free seat, so.)

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i got a jellyfish icon

beautiful

just the one tho so strap in

listen i'll never get tired of looking at junior

good because its Here

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