(Almost) Everything Is Comin' Up Chase [closed post]

[summerdude]

Magnus, triumphant, has finally managed to make some old bamboo sprout. With Drosera fed recently enough that she's not complaining of hunger and resting in her new favorite perch (lounging on his shoulder tucked right against his neck, her beak tangled in hair that is once again getting long), he sneaks it into the Mansion, hides it in a large gift-bag a closet gives him, and hangs it on Claudius and Galahad's doorknob with a quickly-jotted note that reads Claudius, What next? - MAGNUS CHASE.

Then, since he's already inside, he figures, why not wander around until he finds someone to talk to?

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

"I will ask Claudius." There is no reason to give Magnus another task on Lan Wangji's behalf. "What else?"

[summerdude]

"You wanted to be able to say 'I'm here,'" Magnus says, and shows Lan Wangji the sign for I and the sign for here -- both the two-handed version and the single-handed version.

[lightbearinglord]

Immediately very focused, Lan Wangji repeats all of these signs, once and then again. This one is important to him. If he could say only one phrase to Wei Ying ever again, this might well be that phrase.

[summerdude]

At that point, Drosera decides she's done with Magnus waving his hands in her face; she bonks him with her closed beak. He immediately stops and strokes it, looking down fondly at her. "What's up, Hungry Baby?"

mama play??

Good thing Magnus brought toys! He takes one out of his backpack -- a little stuffed mouse. He dangles it, then tosses it so that she can stumble after it.

"You didn't give me The Talk early enough, Hanguang-jun," he jokes, and then blinks at himself. What the heck are you doing, bringing this up again, Chase... Oh well, he's pushed this sled down this hill, there's no stopping it now! "I ended up with a child."

[lightbearinglord]

With interest, Lan Wangji watches Magnus' interaction with Drosera. This occupies enough of his attention that a moment passes before he recalls the entirety of their ill-fated conversation in the kitchen. He shoots Magnus a single glance of tempered horror and then, with as much composure as he can, says, "Perhaps if I had known about condoms, I would have."

[summerdude]

Magnus stares at Lan Wangji for a moment and then splutters into laughter. "Dude," he says, appreciatively. "You're good at the, like, sniper dad jokes." Oh, gods, did he really say that? Okay, don't give any indication that you meant anything by it, Magnus! Totally casual conversation with an adult-shaped adult friend happening here, that's all!

[lightbearinglord]

Admittedly, Lan Wangji is a little bit pleased with himself to have made Magnus laugh. He tips his head infinitesimally to one side and asks, "What qualifies a joke as a sniper dad joke?"

[summerdude]

"Well, by sniper I mean it comes out of nowhere and hits me when I'm not expecting it," Magnus says. He's definitely not going to explain what an actual sniper is to a guy who, blessedly, probably has never heard of them before. "And a dad joke is, like," a joke a dad makes, right? "something that has a groan-worthy punchline. In a good way."

[lightbearinglord]

It is almost impossible to imagine Lan Wangji's own father making jokes of any kind -- but then, it is almost impossible to imagine him doing anything, considering that Lan Wangji did not know him at all. He nods, attentive. "You didn't groan," he points out. "You laughed."

[summerdude]

"Yeah, well, I find dad jokes funny," Magnus says, in tones of great confession. "Probably because I wasn't inundated by them as a kid."

[lightbearinglord]

"Nor was I," Lan Wangji says, almost dryly. If he and Lan Xichen had not been allowed those visits with his mother, he might have made it his entire childhood without ever hearing any adult laughter at all.

[summerdude]

"No?" Magnus realizes, then, that he's told Lan Wangji a lot about himself, but he knows comparatively little about Lan Wangji. Maybe that makes sense, in a weird parent-child sort of way, but it doesn't make a lot of sense in a friend sort of way. "I'd like to know more about how you grew up, if you're okay with sharing."

[lightbearinglord]

Although he very nearly invited the question, Lan Wangji is still somewhat surprised by it. He looks down at his hands, at the places where his fingertips meet Wangji's strings, and considers how much he would like to reveal. He wants to be honest with Magnus, but he also can barely tolerate the thought of speaking about his parents. "You know of the Cloud Recesses and its rules. When I was a child, there were three thousand of them. Xiongzhang and I were raised by our uncle. He was also our teacher."

[summerdude]

"What was that like?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Uncle is a renowned teacher of cultivation," Lan Wangji says. He's aware that this doesn't precisely answer the intent of Magnus' question, but he's also uncertain how else to answer. "I would be a poorer cultivator without his guidance."

[summerdude]

"Oh, speaking of, I've been meaning to ask," says Magnus. Since Drosera is off to the side trying gamely to rip her toy in half, he's pretty sure he has time to raise up into a handstand real quick. It's clear he's been practicing: his form is sturdier and more accurate now. "How am I doing? What should I focus on fixing next?"

[lightbearinglord]

This is a surprise of a slightly more pleasant variety. Lan Wangji stands and steps out from behind his qin so that he can make a circuit around Magnus, examining his form. "You have improved," he says, an understated compliment but an entirely sincere one. "Rotate your elbows out slightly more. Once you have mastered this, we can work on one-handed handstands."

[summerdude]

"Rotate out like -- this?" Magnus asks, attempting what he thinks Lan Wangji means.

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Lan Wangji watches, observing him for a breath or two. Magnus' feet are trying to drift apart; he takes hold of them and returns them to one another, and then he is satisfied. "Now see how long you can hold it."

[summerdude]

Magnus concentrates on holding his legs steady. "Your uncle taught you to do this?" He can't imagine Uncle Randolph doing anything like that.

[lightbearinglord]

"Along with other elders of my sect." Lan Wangji takes a single step back, continuing to keep his eyes on Magnus. He remains close enough to catch him if he has an uncontrolled fall.

[summerdude]

"So were you, like," Magnus screws his face up, trying to think of the term. "Communally raised?"

[lightbearinglord]

"To an extent. Uncle was our primary caretaker." And Lan Qiren loved them. Lan Wangji knows that he did. But there was such stark contrast between his demeanor, his strictness and his expectations, and their monthly respite in their laughing mother's company.

[summerdude]

It feels like there's maybe more to that story, so Magnus stays quiet for a little while, occupying his time by trying, carefully, to do a sort of push-up while still maintaining his handstand.

[lightbearinglord]

Unsurprisingly, then, Lan Wangji is quiet as well. He spares a glance for Drosera, to ensure she is still occupied and not destroying anything she isn't meant to destroy, and then returns to watching Magnus. This little demonstration of his strength is not exactly surprising after what he knows of Magnus, but he is silently both impressed and amused at Magnus' apparent inability to hold still.