Does This Count As Arts and Crafts? [closed]

[summerdude]

In the wake of Dark, Magnus takes a day or two to dig camp out from the snow drifts with Alex, then presents himself, finally, for lessons with Hanguang-jun.

They've been talking about it for a while, him and Hanguang-jun and Galahad — since Magnus first got weird about Galahad becoming Hanguang-jun's student. By now, he pretty much knows he's not going to stop feeling weird about stepping into a lesson with the two of them — even one totally unrelated to sword stuff — so he might as well rip off that proverbial bandaid.

He's a largely punctual guy, a trait recently intensified by Sunny's interest in making plans to hang out in one week and Magnus's role in keeping her calendar, but there is still a lot of snow to fight through to get to the Mansion's doors. He's a little breathless when he sweeps into the agreed-upon room, raking melting snow out of his hair with his fingers.

"What's up, my favorite comedians?"

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji loyally doesn't dispute the claim that the Tao tickles, and he is still silent, eyes on Magnus' face. He isn't certain whether he should feel responsible for this, but regardless, it is immaterial until Magnus' comfort is reasserted.

[summerdude]

"Yeah." Magnus's slump against Galahad is no longer a desperate thing -- it's just a guy leaning against his best friend in all the worlds. "I don't get what happened."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I don't know." He tries to consider the things that have prompted Magnus' panic attacks in the past. "Was it too much responsibility?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji has some of his own theories, but it would be impolite to interrupt. He does, though, reach carefully for one of Magnus' hands with both of his own.

[summerdude]

"Responsibility?" quizzically. There's not exactly a ton of responsibility in, like, ink and stuff. "Nah."

[onthewillowsthere]

It takes an effort not to cast his glance towards Lan Wangji for help; Magnus is sincere, Galahad thinks, but what if it's another case of him not understanding his own feelings? Galahad doesn't want to guess. "What were you thinking when it happened?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji can nearly sense Galahad's uncertainty; with Magnus' hand folded into his, he waits to hear Magnus' response, but if this next response reveals that Magnus is still lost in the pathways of his own mind, he will attempt to guide him.

[summerdude]

"Um," Magnus says, a little quietly. What was he thinking? "'Do einherjar need to grind ink different,' I guess?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Because of your strength?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Your technique was fine," Lan Wangji notes, although it is obvious that this was not the root of Magnus' anxiety.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, because of my strength." Magnus ignores Hanguang-jun's obvious lie about his technique. If his technique was fine, he wouldn't have broken the ink stick.

[onthewillowsthere]

"You are able to press more gently." He doesn't like the way he's trying to solve this, like a scientific problem; Magnus is his best friend, not an insect whose food source he's trying to determine from the shape of its jaws. When Claudius is distressed, it's so much easier to understand what he needs.

[lightbearinglord]

Because this avenue of questioning is proving unproductive, Lan Wangji does, now, go so far as to interrupt again. "Perhaps your history with classrooms was weighing on you."

[summerdude]

"Yeah, but I don't know what gentle is in this context," Magnus is explaining to Galahad, when Hanguang-jun speaks up. He tilts his head, considering. "Huh?"

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad looks over at Lan Wangji, gratitude flickering up from the ashen weight of anxiety in his stomach.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji considers Magnus for a moment, but Magnus is not the only person he loves whose mind and motivations can present a snarl in need of untangling. "You told me that you were often disciplined in school. You have learned from me before without difficulty, but in settings less reminiscent of a classroom."

[summerdude]

Could that be it? Maybe. But it doesn't really make sense, because it isn't like Hanguang-jun is teacherly. "Yeah, but you'd never tape my hand to the desk."

[onthewillowsthere]

"But the feeling does not need to be logical to be true."

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn," Lan Wangji says, a brisk agreement with Galahad's addition. "When you are distressed, it is not about what you think. It is about what you feel." Magnus himself has told him so.

[summerdude]

Magnus gives himself a shake and uncurls a little more. "You're using my words against me," he says.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad has never done anything against Magnus. He presses his lips closed on an inexplicable sense of hurt and says nothing.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji, also slightly perturbed despite himself, keeps his expression unchanging. "I am using your words in an effort to help you."

[summerdude]

Gods. Can Magnus do nothing right today? First he derails a lesson, now he's hurting everyone's feelings. The look on Galahad's face in particular makes that knot of anxiety flare up again, clogging his throat. "I didn't mean it in a bad way."

[onthewillowsthere]

"How did you mean it?"

[summerdude]

"It was supposed to sound like a joke. I meant it like... you're right, or whatever."