[open -- nest]

[new_inglewoodblues]

The nest Ragnelle has been building in the woods needed a few more blankets now that the temperature has dropped a few more degrees, so this morning she was in the mansion raiding cupboards. Now she's outside in the lee of Nightingale's summer house with a basket of comforters, cutting them into pieces with a little knife so they'll be easier to incorporate, like leaves in a squirrels' nest. The time indoors has warmed her up, and her hands move quickly with the knife.

Comments

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Come, carry for me."

[summerdude]

He salutes her, and then bends to help gather all of the little pieces into one massive armload.

[new_inglewoodblues]

She wrinkles her nose -- she doesn't like Men who smell like magic -- and rips the fabric more forcefully, so that he can appreciate her little knife. "O, a harmless thing indeed, lest I be a beetle."

[new_inglewoodblues]

She looks very pleased with this demonstration of strength, and leads the way up the slope to the woods, and to the tree she's chosen. Halfway up, close to the trunk, there is a round nest like a squirrel's made of blankets and dry clean dead leaves and fallen boughs bent into a framework to hold them. It's the perfect size for one adult forest-thing, but the inside could definitely be cozier -- hence all the blanket pieces to be incorporated.

[rememberettersberg]

He raises an eyebrow, mildly taken aback by her expression. "I didn't mean to interrupt; I'll leave you be if that's your preference."

[temnota]

"I haven't seen you before. Have you been here long?"

[summerdude]

Magnus cranes his head up to observe Ragnelle's nest. It's impressive, and extremely cool. "How can I help?" he asks, politely. He wouldn't dream of approaching it uninvited, but he's willing to pitch in however.

[new_inglewoodblues]

"I like not thy kind. Give me berth."

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Climb up with me, and I'll go within, and thou canst hand me pieces through the door."

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Long enough," she says, but as the wind blows from behind him she tenses, like a red deer downwind of a wolf, and narrows her eyes. "And thou wilt come no closer to me. I have teeth."

[summerdude]

Magnus hitches his grip on the blanket scraps, shifting it more to one arm. "Lead the way!"

[rememberettersberg]

Nightingale raises his hands and begins to step backwards. "What kind is that?" he asks as he reaches the summer house door.

[new_inglewoodblues]

She scrambles up the tree -- it would be easy for someone to look at her thick body and assume she'd be slow or incapable, but she moves efficiently, like a wildcat, pulling herself up the limbs closer to the trunk until she reaches her nest.

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Men with magic. It is women's work, that."

[rememberettersberg]

"Ah." His hands drop. "From when and where do you hail?"

[new_inglewoodblues]

She eyes him suspiciously. "Wherefore wouldst thou know, Man?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

Mightily a thorn is such a great turn of phrase it makes Janet smile. "Good for you," she says. "So, this guy solved the riddle?"

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Ay, he did, and gave me dominion of all of him, his lands and goods and his sweet self."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I love it when someone gives me dominion over lands, goods, and their sweet self," Janet says brightly. "I might even be tame for a little while for that, too."

[rememberettersberg]

"Simple interest, nothing more." He steps inside the summer house, deliberately putting the threshold between them. "Many people with magical abilities have ended up here. I'm making something of a study of their origins."

[summerdude]

Magnus, meanwhile, relies heavily on his einherji strength and reflexes to make his way up behind her, springing from limb to limb and catching himself with his free hand, careful not to drop the blankets. When he reaches the nest, too, he wedges himself on a nearby branch, drawing one leg up so he can rest the scraps on it. "Ready when you are," he says, once everything is well-balanced.

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Thou hast the right of it! It pleased me well indeed." She grins at Janet. "Thou lookst well-made to be wild."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I didn't think I was until we went to Fillory. I mean -- I'm not, completely. I like having a bed and food that someone else cooked and access to good wine and strong cocktails. But..." There's a little gleam in her eye when she returns Ragnelle's smile. "Yeah, I did find something wild in me there, too."

[new_inglewoodblues]

She looks at him skeptically and says, "I have no magic. I am not worth thy notice."

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Good. It likes thee well."