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

[summerdude]

Magnus has a feeling he's not going to be very good at this, but he's still taking cues on how not to piss teachers off from Galahad -- when to speak and when to listen -- so he just does his best to pour an appropriate amount of water into his dish, and knows immediately that he's definitely poured in way, way too much. It's full enough to spill. "Um," he whispers, looking up.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji doesn't bother saying aloud that Magnus has overfilled his inkstone; this is evident, and Magnus clearly knows it. He shakes back his sleeves and reaches to pick it up, exceedingly careful to keep it level such that it doesn't spill before he can pour its contents back into the mouth of the pitcher. "Try it again," he suggests as he sets the inkstone back down beside Magnus.

[onthewillowsthere]

For his part, Galahad waits. There's no need to be anything but patient; the lesson will proceed when both of them are ready. He likes the feeling of the three of them working together.

[summerdude]

Okay, looks like it's still quiet time! Very, very carefully, Magnus tilts the tiniest splash of water into his dish, and then looks up, as if asking if that's enough.

[lightbearinglord]

"Better," Lan Wangji says, because this is true. "You may need more later. Try grinding the ink." This last, he addresses to both of them.

[onthewillowsthere]

He shoots a little smile at Magnus and picks up his inkstick. Grinding it against the wet stone is easy.

[summerdude]

Magnus suddenly doesn't know the weight of his own hand. He has augmented strength, will that make the weight of his hand heavier in practice? Should he lift up? Or is that overcorrecting? Should he push harder? Galahad is still being very well-behaved, and Hanguang-jun has clearly enjoyed having him as a student for well over a year now, which is fine and good and great and Magnus is very, very happy for them both. Lan Sizhui also seemed nice and chill and respectful, so Magnus definitely has to lean into resisting all of his wise-cracking urges and also be quiet and respectful so that he doesn't, like, somehow fall ass-backwards into Hanguang-jun regretting everything about this.

He's rubbing the ink stick in very, very careful circles on the stone. It seems to be working? He's not using too much pressure to push it down, and the pigment is mixing with the water in a way that looks more or less fine. His grip on the stick itself is very, very firm, but he seems to have figured out the optimal weight of his own hand to make this work out, and--

--the stick snaps in half in his hand.