HELLO GOOD CHILDREN IT'S KNIFETIME

[burlyboy]

WHO: Magnus Burnsides and a house full of kids. I'm sorry, kids.
WHERE: SAKKAHOUSE.
WHEN: Early May.
WHAT: Magnus visits Kidou and discovers SAKKAHOUSE while he's there. Knives are present. He's very sorry.
WARNINGS: Possible casual swearing, nothing other than that!



About two months into his life here in this brand new world, Magnus finally discovered what the television in his living room does. Most of it loses his attention at one point or another, and he mostly watches it in spurts, an idle curiosity rather than something to be glued to.

And then he discovered HGTV and watched it for, oh, about six hours straight. The idea of there being an entire channel just about building shit had been both a marvel and an absolute delight, and he had simply ignored anyone else who wanted to use the television while it gripped him. He had never thought of half of the things they did, and some of those houses? He'd never seen anything so grand in his life! With his head dancing with very handsome hosts and carpenters, Magnus had set out that day with one thing in mind, and one thing only: he is going to do home improvement. He is going to home improve the shit out of his house. It's a magnificent journey to embark upon, and one that eventually made him use the Porter to get to the right store.

After the utter delight that was Home Depot (it's like he died and went to heaven), he realizes that he's actually in Kidou's neck of the woods. He had said he would visit, so, happily enough, he set course to a new adventure.

Those who live in Kidou's house have the treat of seeing one huge, muscular, and heavily scarred man wheeling a grocery cart (which he was supposed to return and absolutely did not) filled with an assortment of goods (there's definitely some big planks of wood and a dirt-cheap saw present) come knocking at their door. It's a good, confident knock, and accompanied by a cheerful, booming voice calling, "Hail and well met! Kidou, are you home?"

Comments

[tacticianing]

When Magnus had asked, Kidou didn't see a reason to avoid answering. It would be rude, and Magnus had instantly pointed himself out as someone that Kidou absolutely did not want to be rude to. But time had passed, and he'd figured it wouldn't come up. It wasn't like Kidou ever though to visit the houses of people randomly, after all. Who did that?

As luck has it, he's currently in the living room, homework spread out on the dining room table and a glass of water just far enough away that it can't be knocked over. He lifts his pencil, sets it down carefully across his paper, and trots over to check the door. He pauses for a second as a very familiar, very loud voice fills the room before its owner has a chance to appear.

... really? Really? He just showed up, just like that all of a sudden?

Not to be rude, he continues to the door, opening it. His face goes from Magnus to what Magnus is carrying, then snaps back to Magnus's face, eyebrows quirked in clear question.

"Burnsides?"

[burlyboy]

"That's my name!"

Not one that many people call him - Magnus, Maggie, Mags, all good names - but it's his name nevertheless. If he notices that Kidou's at all discomfited by his appearance, it doesn't show; he just looks down at Kidou with his characteristically broad grin and leans over his cart, fishing through one of the bags and tossing aside the screws and hammers out of the bag and into the cart as he looks for it.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything! If I am, I'll just give you this and go away," he says, pleasantly enough. "But I was in the neighbourhood, so I figured I wouldn't wait to give you... aw, dip, is it in the other bag?"

He rummages through the next bag and then produces a long, thick cloth container, rolled up into a tube. "Here! This is for you!"

[tacticianing]

That sure is a lot of supplies that he's ended up with, Kidou notes. What is he up to over there? Does he still live in the same house...? Did anything happen there during the invasion? There's a lot he realizes that he'd never followed up on, though he's sure there had to be some reason for all of these supplies.

"Rest assured. You're interrupting nothing," Kidou assures him, partly out of politeness than out of strict truth. His head tilts down towards the cloth, but he doesn't reach to accept the gift at first, either. It wouldn't be polite, especially since they don't really know each other that well.... "Although... are you sure? You didn't have to get me anything."

Not even in repayment, or rather especially not. The banjo was a gift because Magnus wanted it rather than out of any desire to have a reciprocal gift. Plus... well...having Magnus happy with him could only work to his favor. But for what other reason could Magnus even want to get him something? And what could it even be?

[burlyboy]

"If I didn't want to get you something, I wouldn't have gotten you anything," Magnus says, slowly, patiently, in the tones of a man who doesn't tend to do absolutely anything that he doesn't want to do. He follows his own whims, whatever they may be, and it takes something pretty big to get him to budge from that.

"Open it up." He peels down a corner of the cloth, as if showing Kidou how, but lets him do the rest. Once he opens it up, he'll find a set of tidy whittling tools, smaller than the ones that Magnus had been showing him how to use back when they had lived together. He lifts one hand in front of him, wiggling his hands demonstratively. "You couldn't keep using my tools. They're made for this monsters. That should be more your speed - and safer, too."

[tacticianing]

At Magnus's urging, Kidou unwraps the cloth, taking care to not disturb the contents too much. It wouldn't do to cause any damage to this... whatever it is, after all. It means there's a little pause before he reveals the tools, giving Magnus time to watch his reaction if he wishes to.

Which, after seeing what these are, is a bright smile. He looks right back up to Magnus, caught between needing to be grateful and needing to test these out. He could do things for real with these, he's sure of it!

"Thank you. Although I haven't stopped practicing, I have nothing that can compare to this."

He thinks back to the project he'd started with Magnus; a carving in the rough shape of a standing penguin, head tucked against its chest. He still has it. He'd worked to try to finish it on his own with a pocketknife, but the kinds of knives that a 14 year old could get are tiny and not particularly useful. It was enough to tell Kidou that he needed this, if he wanted to perfect this hobby.

It's also clear that he's going to need to think of something to get Magnus in thanks. What is his taste in food....? He liked tea, at least... but that's something to think about once he's left.

[substrategist]

Although Sakuma makes a point to respect his housemates' privacy, Magnus' booming voice had commanded attention from the moment he'd started cheerfully bellowing outside their front door. Sakuma, startled by the sudden and unexpected noise around a house whose inhabitants go to great lengths not to draw attention to themselves, couldn't keep from listening. So intense was his curiosity that he even abandoned a personal project he'd been working on in his bedroom and slipped out into the hallway and toward the stairs to maybe get a better idea of what was going on.

The snippets of conversation he was picking up on from the top of the stairs weren't very revealing. Someone named Burnsides (what kind of name is that even? why, it's the kind of name that has something to do with monsters, apparently!) was giving something to Kidou. Some sort of tools.

What in the world did Kidou need tools for?

Far too curious now for his own good, Sakuma abandons hanging back and ventures down the stairs and toward the front door to get a better look at who's here and what they're giving his best friend. He's a bit (more than) taken aback when he spies Magnus and his shopping cart, however. He clearly wasn't expecting someone so...erm. Untamed. To be associating with and even presenting gifts to Kidou of all people.

Then again, considering Fueguchi and Riku, Sakuma thinks that maybe that is precisely the sort of person he should have expected...

"Kidou?" He approaches from behind, cautious and calm, good eye trained intently on their 'guest' for lack of a better word. "Who's this?"

[tacticianing]

Kidou's head turns to the side at his name. Sakuma is in where his peripheral vision would be if the goggles didn't remove it, but Kidou can still tell where he is now that he's paying attention from both his soft footsteps to his voice. He takes a half step back and to the side, so as not to block the way between the two.

"Magnus Burnsides." He hesitates for a short moment, debating on whether or not he should switch the name order for Sakuma's sake, but decides against it. He'll go with how Magnus introduced himself. It's the way of things here, anyway. "He was a roommate of mine in Maurtia Falls."

It's occurred to him, saying that, that he's never actually told Sakuma much about his life before Sakuma got here. Aside from the notebook and his confidantes, he hasn't really told him anything. Including where he'd lived before Genda. Or why he needed and was so happy to receive a nice set of knives and other sharp things. There's explanations for all of these, but they weren't exactly ones Kidou had given before they make things awkward. Even without looking he could tell Sakuma was less than pleased at this interruption, and rightfully so.

In his defense, Kidou never expected that Magnus was going to visit.

[burlyboy]

Oh, Magnus thinks to himself. It's another kid! It's not entirely a surprise - Kidou moved out for a reason, and he didn't exactly expect him to be close friends with any adults - but it's still a bit of a surprise nonetheless, a bit of context to a kid who has proven himself to be independent and difficult to read. Good. Everyone needs a friend or two, and it's even better to have one as a roommate.

"Hail and well met!" He says again, eager to be polite, if not any less loud or intimidating looking than before. His smile is a lopsided one, one tooth chipped and definitely a couple missing in the back, but it's earnest and good-natured. "Don't worry, I'm not here for long; I just wanted to drop this off while I was in the neighborhood. What's your name?"

[substrategist]

The mention of Maurtia Falls earns Kidou a look most might consider inscrutable, but there's no doubt in Sakuma's mind that his friend will feel the weight of his gaze and his unasked questions. Maurtia Falls? Really?

He shouldn't only be hearing about this now, but then, Sakuma hasn't any room to judge, nor could he ever judge Kidou too harshly. If his friend has kept anything from him, it's either because it didn't seem necessary to inform him or he'd thought to protect him. There can be no other reason.

Which...doesn't make looking at the gift Magnus gave Kidou any less distressing. The number of knives included, and the various shapes of their blades, raise many more questions — none of which he's given a chance to voice when he's suddenly asked his name. He stands a little straighter then, a virtual blank canvas to contrast all of Magnus' open expression, and even the way that he replies is practiced and proper.

"Sakuma Jirou." He makes brief eye contact with Magnus before subtly bowing his head. "It's nice to meet you."

[burlyboy]

"It's nice to meet you too! Like Kidou over there already covered, I'm Magnus."

He can't help but notice the look Sakuma levels over at the knives. It seems odd to him at first - he grew up among others who were trained in the trades, comfortable around dangerous farming equipment and all sorts of sharp objects before their richer friends had even graduated school - but then he remembers the caution with which Kidou had initially handled the knives. He leans against the doorway, crossing his arms, one foot crossed over the other.

"If you're wondering what those bad boys are for, it's for carving. I started teaching him when we lived together, and I figured we might as well continue 'em. If you want anything carved for your room, just say the word."

And he winks. Because of course he does.

[substrategist]

All things considered, carving is a much better answer than Sakuma could have hoped for. It's not a practice that's dangerous as long as the person doing the carving is careful with his tools, right?

Yet...he didn't have any idea Kidou was interested in things like that.

So he's not really sure how to feel about that piece of information flying under the radar for so long. He's Kidou's second, he should know him. These sorts of details shouldn't come as a surprise. But now, twice in one conversation, he's learned something about Kidou that he didn't know before, that Kidou neglected to share. Three things if you counted living with Magnus...who seems nice enough, but definitely has an intimidating appearance and odd way about him.

An odd way that's nevertheless met with polite rejection. Despite a fleeting smile, Sakuma shakes his head and says, "Thank you, but that really isn't necessary."

CRO just lmk when you wanna jump in <3

[burlyboy]

"Well, no. Most things aren't necessary, but they're sure as shi - uh." He is, in fact, vaguely aware that he shouldn't swear in front of kids, and shit's a swear. Not a bad one, but still a swear. "They're sure as hell fun. Maybe if you watch Kidou here try his hand at it, you'll wind up wanting one too."

Magnus can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want one, but then again, he's always been overly fond of charming little knick knacks and souvenirs and bits and bobs others just roll their eyes at. It's fun, and Magnus is a certified fun-lover.

"But I'm sure you guys have got plenty of other hobbies."