deux: it must be done

[untamedantinous]

Enjolras has not held a musket since the barricades. However, there's no time like the present. Through trial and error and various annoyed thoughts directed to the closet in his rooms, he has found one that will suffice. It feels ...strange, to have one in his hands again, to know that not so long ago he had held one and killed more than once with it. But he is pushing aside any lingering apprehensions he may have and heading outside to the shooting range some helpful person had set up in the recent past. Perhaps no one will bother him here, he hopes, it is fairly far afield; and the whole purpose he has will make it difficult to have any conversations.

The slight tension in his shoulders may belie his earlier anxiety, but it has not affected his aim as of yet. Should anyone follow the sounds of gunfire, they will find Enjolras as well, loading, firing, and reloading his musket with some determination.

Comments

[summerdude]

"I have found that there's a real shortage of people trying to kill me here," Magnus says. It's impossible for others to tell whether he's happy or disappointed about this; he himself doesn't really know. "Probably it'll be the same for you. Guns aren't really useful where I'm from, but my buddy Thomas Jefferson Junior has a musket with a bone steel bayonet. The bayonet packs a real punch."

[untamedantinous]

"Most do even when they are not made of bone steel." He looks down for a moment, frowning, remembering the last time he had seen Combeferre alive -- kneeling to help a fallen guardsman, pierced with three bayonets. After a moment, he shakes it off, returning to the conversation.

"I know it's not the most useful thing to do here, but I needed something that felt like it was close to useful. There is only so much raiding of the library I can do."

[summerdude]

"Dude, I super feel that," Magnus says. "I feel like most of what I've done since I've gotten here is read and train." Which isn't that different from his life in Valhalla, but it feels more aimless, here, without the constant pressure of preparing for Ragnarok.

[untamedantinous]

"I have only been here a week, but if this is all it is, I think I shall find it very dull in time." He's never been good with aimless; he needs something to plan for, something to order his days with. He doesn't like feeling lost, particularly, and so far, the mansion has done a very good job of making him feel that way.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, I guess everyone has their hobbies?" Magnus says. "But I get it. I like structure."

[untamedantinous]

"I did not have time for too many hobbies, at home. It was studying and planning and meetings and writing, for the most part; and there is little call for pamphlets of that nature here."

[summerdude]

"What kind of pamphlets?" Magnus asks, rifling through his mental notes for a moment to recall the details of their earlier conversation. "For your revolution, you mean?"

[untamedantinous]

"Yes, generally they were about -- various treatises, declarations the monarchy had made, any news we needed to pass along in a hurry for those that might not be able to attend our meetings."

[summerdude]

Magnus nods, considering. "I've been thinking about putting up some advertisements?" he offers. "Trading skill for skill. I think that learning would probably fill the days now that I'm no longer, you know, doing Battle Practice all the time. You could still make informational pamphlets about topics you care about and share them, maybe?"

[untamedantinous]

“I could try, but I do not know if there is a printing press here to do that sort of thing easily.” There’s a brief smile, though, as usual, intense and bright for all its brevity. “I admire your thirst for knowledge. One can never have too much.”

[summerdude]

"I dropped out of high school a few months in," Magnus says. "There was this whole... wolf situation." They were magical, sent by Fenris, and they'd murdered his mother. And then he'd been homeless and too busy trying to survive to attend. "It's weird, but this is the first time since I was fourteen that I've had enough down-time without the threat of mortal peril to really want to dive back into it, you know? Like, I'd go to the library and read and stuff, but that's a different kind of learning, I think."

[untamedantinous]

"It is, yes, entirely different than school. If you would like any instruction from me, I cannot promise a great amount of patience, I will warn you. But I could likely go on for hours about philosophy and the like, or writing, strategy, perhaps.." He's a little lost in thought now, considering what else he might have to offer.

[summerdude]

"I'd love to be better at strategy," Magnus says. "I don't know much about philosophy, though. What's something you like about it?"

[untamedantinous]

"It touches on topics one might not normally consider, I think. Or at least topics that most are afraid to speak on: social justice, the rights of kings as opposed to the people, society's ills, that sort of thing."

[summerdude]

"I have opinions about all those things."

[untamedantinous]

"Oh, do you?" He quirks a small grin at Magnus. "I would be interested to hear them, in that case."

[summerdude]

"Well, kings are bad, obviously," says Magnus, who was named after one. "As are people who uphold unjust laws and policies, like pretty much every single police officer in the world. And in most of the other Nine Worlds, too. People are dicks to the homeless and they shouldn't be. I can keep going?"

[untamedantinous]

“I think you and I will get along quite well, monsieur.” It’s getting a little hard to hide the grin that is fixing to burst through. “My friends and I used to discuss this sort of thing all of the time at home.”

[summerdude]

"Yeah?" Magnus says, eagerly. "Tell me about it?"

[untamedantinous]

“There is much to tell, but in short: we revolted against an unjust king; who refused to fight for his people and help them though they were starving. Among other things.”

[summerdude]

Oh, right; the entire revolution. Magnus makes a mental note not to tell Enjolras about the French Republic's hijab ban just yet. But if Sam ever shows up, he'll caution Enjolras to be careful about the France talk around her. "You mentioned the rebellion," he nods. "Were all your discussions about that?"

[untamedantinous]

“The meetings were, yes, but we all got together outside of meetings most of the time anyhow. Our group was called the friends of the abased.¹. But we also all studied at the university, for the most part.”

¹ The mansion translator does not convey the greatness of the pun. Rest assured, it’s a delightful one.

[summerdude]

"So what did you talk about when you weren't talking about philosophy?"

[untamedantinous]

“At the meetings? Everything, generally. The rights of the people, our plans, strategies, royal charters, where to acquire weapons, how much of a disappointment Lafayette was…” He could go on for hours if Magnus lets him.

“It is one of the many reasons I find it to be too quiet here.”

[summerdude]

"Oh, I actually meant outside of the meetings!" Magnus says. "Because it sounds like you hung out a bunch. But... yeah. This place really is quiet, huh?"