01 | text | un:minsu

[foxtrots]

flowers are pretty but i always notice the way that they smell more than anything. i've heard that some people have this thing called allergies that makes them less enjoyable. maybe i wouldn't like them much then either, because your nose gets all stuff and food doesn't have much taste if you can't smell it.

other things that i like the smell of: grilled meat. even if it's not spiced, it still smells good. fresh cut herbs, because it brings back good memories. coffee, even if i don't think i'll ever like the taste of it. snow - someone once told me that snow doesn't really smell like anything but it does. oh, and babies. babies always smell good, except when they need a diaper change.

what's your favorite smell? is it something just from home or have you found it here too? or maybe there's one that you don't like. those scented candles never really smell like what they say on the jar to me.

and skunks really stink, but i think most people would agree on that.

Comments

[muskeg]

depends on the fur and the state of it.

wet fur is annoying, but-- cold fox fur at the crack of dawn smells like five more minutes before you have to start the fire again. husky fur makes me think of trying to hunt a wendigo on the edge of the world.

why?

[foxtrots]

you could make it ten more minutes.

and i'm still mad at you for taunting the wendigo. you could've died!

[muskeg]

[ that is... a strange thing to say. then again, a lot of the things that Minsu says are a little strange.

and then Sage is reminded of why. someone is pouting/sulking/annoyed at his phone. wow.]

i didn't taunt it.

much.

and someone needed to get rid of it before it started getting too close to the reserve.

[ 'better me than anyone else' is somewhere between those words. try not to read too deep into it. ]

[foxtrots]

i'm glad it wasn't much. i don't want to think about what i would be without you.

[you don't have to read into minsu's words at all to get their meaning. and he doesn't mean to be that way, he doesn't try. it's just something he's used to doing.

but he is reminded of the imbalance.]

i know i told you this before, but if you ever have any questions of your own, i'll answer them.

[muskeg]

[ Sage is always a little aware of the imbalance between them, about how much more Minsu knows about him that even he does. about how the other seems to be able to speak truths to him without any fear, even if Sage is still so sure that he is not the person he is used to.

so there is a pause before Sage responds again.]

thanks.

which one is your favourite? the smells.

[foxtrots]

meat!

[okay that was too easy.]

i like the herbs too, though it's more about the memories than how they actually smell.

[muskeg]

you really enjoy food, don't you.

[ that is not a question, Sage has noticed that. ]

are the herbs connected to food as well?

[foxtrots]

i'm always hungry.

[he's reminded that he needs to tell him the truth of what he is at some point. even if it scares him a lot more now than it did the first time sage found out.]

the herbs are connected to you. i used to help you cut and dry them.

[muskeg]

that is something that a lot of people enjoy. is grilled meat your favourite then?

[ because he might as well try to learn a few things about you while he can. ]

...you did? that-- oh.

[ that-- fuck, Sage doesn't really know how to take that actually. on the one hand it is interesting to him that he has help with potion making and such, that there is someone that knows that much about him and actively helps with the process, but also-- there is an intimacy and trust there that Sage never thought he would afford to another. to engage with his magic on that kind of level. ]

[foxtrots]

lightly grilled. meat shouldn't be overcooked. i like eggs a lot too.

sometimes i just kept you company. i had a bad habit of wanting to taste them too, even the ones in the black bottles.

[and this probably isn't the time to bring up the sex magic.]

[muskeg]

[ any talk of sex magic might end with Sage choking on air right now. though he might not just walk away from his phone at least?

honestly, the fact that you help with cutting and drying herbs probably shows that sex magic isn't too far off the radar. ]

that doesn't surprise me for some reason.

how often did i have to stop you from choking on belladonna?

[foxtrots]

after the second time you put a lock spell on the cabinet.

[muskeg]

[ give him a second to pick up his phone from dropping it while laughing.

yeah, he would.]

you were that curious?

[foxtrots]

i guess i just have an oral fixation or something.

i like feeling things against my tongue.

[that plus a little "that could kill you" - "i'll be fine" yo-yo'ing.

it did make minsu a little bit sick the second time, resulting in the lock spell.]

[muskeg]

[ GODDAMNIT. HOW IS--

that is conjuring so many stupid fucking images that Sage really doesn't need right now. fuck.]

that-- i mean--

there are less deadly things to put in your mouth?

[foxtrots]

much nicer ones too.

i should've stuck with just smelling the belladonna and saved my mouth for doing other things in your workroom.

[muskeg]

[ !!!!!!!!! that is Sage's brain right about now.

give him a moment.]

i would let you do other things in my workroom???

[foxtrots]

honestly

you eventually had to make rules about that.

[for himself as much as for minsu. because as much as they wanted each other, most of sage's spellwork was important. he couldn't be distracted.]

except for the sex magic. i think the only rule then was 'don't stop'.

[muskeg]

[ hONEST TO FUCK. WHAT IS--

HOW--

THIS IS--

askjhgfldsfj.

it takes a solid five minutes before Sage responds. ]

i don't know how to respond to that.

i just.

uhm.

too much.

[foxtrots]

Oh.

[minsu gets it. he does. just maybe a little too late and after the damage to sage's brain has already been done.]

maybe we should come up with a system.

like if i'm telling you too much, you can say "red" and i'll know to stop. like a traffic signal.

[muskeg]

[ it isn't the worst thing, really. it is just-- too much information that is in such a contrast to what he knows about himself. about his world as it is.

there is a beat where Sage breathes; in and out.

then:]

.... that's a safe word.

but that-- it's not that it's too much? i mean it is, but it is more that it just

doesn't line up with what i thought i knew about myself.

[ like you know him better than he does and Sage has no idea how to process that. ]

[foxtrots]

[whatever he could've said about a safe word, minsu wisely keeps it to himself.]

does it disappoint you?

[muskeg]

no!

it-- fuck, i don't know. most of the time it seems too good to be true.

[foxtrots]

i know.

i still feel that way sometimes.

[muskeg]

that doesn't make sense.

do you mean here or like... before.