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Mordred says that Lev is supposed to go off his medications and tell Mordred if he's not feeling well and needs to taper down more slowly.
Obviously, the thing this means is that Lev is supposed to taper down as quickly as possible and hide the tremors and headaches and sweating and light hypersensitivity from Mordred so that he isn't upset by them.
Lev manages to do this for almost two days.
"In this world there are people who hurt others and people who get hurt. And we both are the kind of people who get hurt. So it's safe here."
He smiles, small and uncertain and private and directed down at his own chest. His voice is shaky. "Yeah."
"And out there it's scary and dangerous and-- we can't be in here forever. But right now."
He lays his head on Lev's shoulder and breathes in deep and lets himself close his eyes, just for a little bit. Quiet, half to himself: "Yeah."
That night, Mordred and Lev go to the movies. There's a rerun theater playing a western, which Mordred doesn't care about, and Duck Soup, which Mordred loves.
"...Why. Or, you know someone to play the music? I know there's the Depression but."
"-- right. it's been ten years. you wouldn't know about talkies. The movie has sound in it already."
"You don't need someone to play the music. Wait for the trailer to start."
Blink blink blink blink.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"How do they do this, Mordred?"
(He says this at a normal volume.)
"Oh. Sorry," he says quietly, not entirely sure if this is a Rich Person Thing or a Talkies Thing.
A few minutes later, he says very quietly, "Mordred. Mordred. The cartoon is in color, Mordred."
Lev is DELIGHTED by the good cowboys in white hats heroically battling the evil cowboys in black hats and DELIGHTED by the slapstick and DELIGHTED by the Marx Brothers and EXTREMELY UNHAPPY about the Nazis in the newsreel!!!
"There was so much dialogue!!! And dancing!! And singing!!!"
He looks amazed.
And then he glances at Mordred to check that this is Allowed Happiness.
Mordred seems to want him to be happy about things????
He will try to be Happy and Grateful.
That is not really the sense in which Mordred wants Lev to be happy about things but okay he guesses??
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