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[ Magnus had just gotten back home after a long day of deliveries and is currently, quite contentedly, sitting on the ground and smushing Jesse's face. Jesse is as patient as he is large, and is allowing for it.

Magnus looks up with a grin and waves him over. ]

Hey, get a load of his face!

[ Smush. ]

[ Fortunato isn't exactly close to either of the dogs yet, but they're pretty good dogs, and Magnus clearly adores them. He takes a moment to figure out how Magnus wants him to respond. ]

It's nice. [ It is! Jesse's a good dog!

But obviously that's not his priority right now. He holds out the box a bit. ]

I- I was going to give this to you on Christmas. But...I thought you may want it now, for your holiday.

[ He doesn't exactly get Candlenights yet, but it seems like the right thing to do. ]

[ Magnus beams. It's nice isn't how he'd describe it but he has a tendency to hear exactly what he wants to hear when it comes to his dogs. That, and he's petting one right now. That always puts him in a better mood. There's something to that, he always thinks. ]

What, you got me something? [ Magnus finally gets up and takes the box. He knows that Fortunato trusts him. If he didn't, he wouldn't be living here, and they sure as hell wouldn't have gone through all that they've gone through together. But he's such a solemn little fellow that he's not sure if Fortunato particularly likes him.

He may not be the most self-aware person in the world, but even Magnus realizes that he's a lot for some people, especially if they happen to be more reserved in nature. And that's fine! But he's still touched that Fortunato thought of him. ]

For Candlenights, yeah. I'll tell you all about it later. Thanks!

[ And then, of course, he immediately tears it open. ]

[ Yeah, Magnus would just go ahead and tear it open, wouldn't he. But Fortunato finds that sheer happiness at the gift comforting.

In the wooden box is the carving knife he bought Magnus. It's an incredibly nice one, and he had to look around to find one he thought was sufficient. The handle has designs of animals on it, though it's unfortunately not customized enough for all those animals to be dogs- it's forest animals, bears and deer and the like.

And it's a big one. Magnus is a big guy. ]

I thought you may find it useful.

[ Magnus takes the knife out with the sort of reverence that's reserved for truly good craftsmanship. He turns it over, running his thumb over the ridges with a sort of familiarity that shows he's looking for something - and whatever it is he was looking for, he's found it. ]

It's beautiful.

[ Magnus is not, as it turns out, the kind of big guy who shies away from delighting at things that are comparatively small and lovely. And it is lovely. ]

And the handiwork on this thing! You got one made by a real craftsman. Look at that edge!

[ And, of course, he scoops Fortunato into a bone-crushing hug, smiling to beat the band. ]

Thank you!

[ Fortunato freezes up briefly when Magnus grabs him for the hug; he's the paranoid type, as of late, and the man is holding a knife.

But he's also ashamed he's thought that way once the hug is occurring. Magnus wouldn't hurt him, would he? It takes him a moment to relax, but once he does, he pats Magnus' shoulder somewhat awkwardly. He also doesn't get hugged often. ]

I- I am happy you like it.

[ And he means that. ]

[ He finally releases Fortunato. Then, realizing that maybe Fortunato isn't the most comfortable with this, pats him on the head - which frankly isn't much better, but that's just how he do. ]

Of course I do! I'm touched you thought of me.

[ He grins. ]

Not much of a hugger?

[ Magnus will change that. ]

[ The head patting is milder but just as unexpected- he's not that short, is he? But he is compared to Magnus. He supposes the man means well, and he doesn't quite relax, but some tension fades after a moment.

Of course, he stammers for a moment at Magnus' question, too. ]

I, uh- no. [ It's kind of pathetic to admit, but: ] It does not happen often.

Oh, well.

[ That is sad. No sadder than anyone else Magnus has ever met. He is ten times more predisposed to hugs than anyone else he meets - either the others don't like hugs, or aren't used to them. ]

Living here's gonna change that! I can't hide what I am! I'm a hugger.

Okay.

[ Not an enthusiastic response, but he supposes he'll get used to Magnus ambushing him with hugs at some point. At the very least, Magnus was someone he'd grown to (mostly) trust first...

Of course, then he remembers the other thing he came here to say. ]

And- I wanted to say thank you. For the gift you made me. [ Ironically another knife, but he supposes it's appropriate. He's starting to wonder how he can keep it on his person. ]

I will- [ Wait. ] I will try not to have to use it. [ He knows he's going to have to, but Magnus won't want him to, will he. ] But it is good to have.

No shame if you do. Shit happens. And if you wanna use it without shit happening, I'd be happy to teach you a thing or two.

[ Training or carving - Fortunato's pick, really. Magnus isn't fussy. He's never been fussy like that. When he looks at Fortunato, it's with no great expectation, just a friendly desire to know more; Fortunato's proficiency with weaponry never seemed odd to him. ]

Though you seem to already know a thing or two. Who taught you?

[ Fortunato's quiet for perhaps a moment too long. Any answer to that, even a half-true one, opens up questions that he can't answer too well. His mind races a bit. What will Magnus believe? ]

...Distant family. [ That isn't a good answer, which Magnus may be able to pick up on from his tone. It's the best he's got, though. ] Just in case.

Couldn't be that distant if they were close enough to train you, [ Magnus says frankly, regarding him with some curiosity. He doesn't know a lot about Fortunato. He doesn't know a lot about most people. It rarely bothers him; he doesn't feel that he needs to know somebody's past in order to understand their present. But sometimes it would be nice to know. ]

I'm not upset by it or anything. It's a good skill to have.

[ Maybe that's what's stuck in his craw and making the kid avoidant. He knows plenty of people here think that it's somehow not right for kids to learn how to protect themselves. As someone who set out on the road when he wasn't much older than Fortunato, if at all, Magnus is of the opinion that that's total horseshit. ]

[ Fortunato opens his mouth to stammer for a second, trying to come up with a counter to Magnus' mention of his "family", before the man adds how he feels. That's a relief, in a weird way. He was surprised no one really questioned him on what he knew, almost as if that was closer to normal among imPorts, but there was some worry among the adults he ran into during the Swear-In, Magnus included.

At least Magnus doesn't underestimate him. He doesn't like to fight...but he'd rather help the people who have helped him than not. ]

It is. Especially here. [ He bites his bottom lip for a moment, trying to figure out how to put this without saying too much. ] It- it was good to have before, too. If I needed it.

[ Implicitly: his life before was dangerous, too. Dangerous in such a different way than this, though. ]

You know you can talk to me about it, right kid? I'm not gonna judge. Hell, I'm in no place to judge.

[ The things he's done, and the things he's gone through are so different from what anyone else's idea of normal is. He knows that Fortunato is formal, tight-lipped in ways completely foreign to Magnus, not even bothering to put on the same swagger as anyone else with too much to hide, but he doesn't know what made him that way. ]

I don't really know anything about you. Not that I need to. Keep on moving forward; that's the Magnus way! But it'd be nice.

[ If Fortunato was the type to show discomfort in more than a slight change in facial expression, he would- for now, he just twines his fingers together and looks away for a moment. Magnus doesn't seem like he'd press- but Fortunato does feel badly at the idea of Magnus wanting to know more and not being able to learn it, if only because he knows he owes Magnus plenty, now. ]

It is...nothing important. [ Deflecting might be the best thing to do, right now. But he's also accustomed to lying. He can't really make a convincing story about this- he's not good at making stories- but he may be able to get Magnus on another topic. ]

Then- what- what do you need to know?

There's nothing I need to know, kid. That was my whole point. I'm, uh... I'm not in the business of making people tell me shit they don't want other people to know, y'know? Your business is your business.

[ He wants people to come to him naturally. Hell, that's how he, Taako and Merle have always worked, and all for the better. He doesn't want to talk about his shit, they don't want to talk about theirs. He's hoping they'll open up to him one day, but that doesn't need to happen anytime soon.

He's not lying when he says he just wants to look forward. It's now that matters. Not then. ]

Just figured there must be something even you'd wanna talk about. Doesn't matter what.

[ Fortunato doesn't want to talk, really. It's how he functions. It was so much easier to not speak- to not worry about the weight of his words- if he wasn't doing it. Or at least wasn't doing it out loud.

He twists his fingers together. It's hard to explain this without explaining everything, or to make Magnus feel like he's done something wrong. ]

...There is not anything I want to say. [ Might as well be blunt, although saying it out loud makes him kind of embarrassed. ] It- it is not you.

Edited 2019-01-25 03:22 (UTC)

[ Well, shit. That's a lot more worrying than anything else Fortunato could have said. Was his life really that bad? Magnus has had his suspicions, of course - everyone here's had kind of crappy lives, one way or another - but to have absolutely nothing to share...

Oofa doofa. ]

Um.

[ Fortunato can say it's not him all he likes, but not wanting to share one thing - yeah, it's kind of him too, isn't it. ]

Allllllllrighty then. That's, uh. That, then.

[ Fortunato reads that as a bit of disappointment, which he doesn’t like to think he inspired in Magnus. His brow furrows and he looks away for a second, finding a way to smooth it over. He supposes Magnus might want this to be over... ]

...Thank you, again. It is a very nice gift. [ He means that. ]

I- I hope it did not take very much time.

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