If Alex Came Back We'd DEFINITELY Be The Local Power Couple [open post]

[summerdude]

Magnus has come to realize that nobody else in this entire place is presently in a relationship that has lasted nearly as long as his and Alex's. Shen Yuan's concept of "communication" "with" "Luo Binghe" is continuing to horrify him every time he thinks about it. What if there are other people who could use the advice of a sixteen-year-old twenty-five-year-old virgin who has been in a committed relationship for nearly seven years with someone to who he is probably widely known to have never verbally declared the undying depths of his love? (Gods, he hopes Alex figures out a way to do another little visit for their rapidly-approaching anniversary)

To that end, he posts an announcement sign over the welcome table, in the café, and on the door to the kitchen. It reads:

NEED RELATIONSHIP ADVICE OR FEEDBACK? Local Long-Term Relationship Expert Magnus Chase Offers His Aid.

He even lists office hours — an inoffensive parlor (meaning he can tolerate hanging out in it, and the door can close if people want privacy for their conversations) every other day for an hour, immediately following his Drosera hand-off to Galahad.

Comments

[summerdude]

"Aw, shucks," says Magnus, who is both genuinely touched but also a little disappointed that Hanguang-jun doesn't actually want his advice. "I do have advice about more things, though! I was telling Tress this the other day, but I recently realized that I went from being in the newest and shortest relationship of all my friends -- like, Halfborn and Mallory have been on-and-off again for over fifty years, and they're just getting started, too -- to being one of the longest-term ones here. I think, at least? Me and Alex are going to hit seven years during Eid, and I'm pretty sure that's next month. If Galahad's calculations are right."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji makes a faintly surprised face in answer to that. He had not realized Alex and Magnus had been together for so long. Wasn't Magnus only recently asking him for advice on how to declare his love for Alex? They have been courting for nearly seven years without Magnus stating the truth of his feelings?

Obviously, he says none of that. "That is longer than I have been married," he allows. "If there is further advice you want to give, then do so."

[summerdude]

Well, Hanguang-jun, it's different, okay? Seven years might as well be seven weeks to an einherji!

"What topic?" Magnus asks. He makes a face. "It's actually kind of hard to just, generate advice without a starting point. I could say, like, 'happy wife, happy life,' but neither of us have wives, and Wei Wuxian seems totally happy with you already, so."

[lightbearinglord]

Happy wife, happy life actually seems perfectly applicable to Lan Wangji, for all that the rhyme is lost in translation, and his mouth quirks into another almost-smile about it. "What do you know now that you did not know after only a year?"

[summerdude]

Magnus squints at Lan Wangji for a moment. "I'm guessing you of all people don't need to advice about how to say things without saying things."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji, again rising to the occasion, says nothing. He only lifts his eyebrows the slightest bit, asking, What do you think?

[summerdude]

Magnus snorts. "Do you need advice about saying things with words?" Shen Yuan definitely needed that advice.

[lightbearinglord]

In the interest of honesty, Lan Wangji does devote a moment to weighing the question. "When you asked me about declaring your love to Alex, I told you that I have loved one person all my life and could only recently bring myself to speak of it. That was true."

[summerdude]

"Remind me why?" Magnus asks. "Um, if you don't mind."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji's expression turns almost helpless. Where to begin? He straightens his back, although he was not remotely slouching, and glances down at his hands again. "Circumstances were complicated," he says, at length. "We were young. By the time I found my voice, it was too late."

[summerdude]

"He died before you got up the nerve to tell him?" Magnus guesses.

[lightbearinglord]

"I told him. He died. He does not remember that." Two days of a confession, enshrined in no one's memory but his own. A great deal of that pain is blunted now by the eventual happy outcome, but not all of it.

[summerdude]

Oh, Lan Wangji looks sad. Magnus gets up and moves so that he's sitting next to him and can lean against him, calling up just enough warmth to maybe be a comforting presence. "Did you think he did remember, when he came back?"

[lightbearinglord]

Magnus' warmth is, indeed, comforting. His presence is even moreso. "I did." Lan Wangji had been so utterly certain of what he wanted, finally, and they had done such an abysmal job of understanding one another.

[summerdude]

"How did you figure out that he didn't?"

[lightbearinglord]

"I have my brother to thank. I was prepared to accept that Wei Ying knew my feelings and did not return them." The specifics of some of this story are not appropriate for sharing with Magnus.

[summerdude]

"Your brother asked him?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Lan Wangji gives Magnus a sidelong glance, almost sheepish. "Wei Ying was the one to speak first."

[summerdude]

"He couldn't tell from all your extremely evocative facial expressions?" Magnus is only 15% teasing, and it's mostly based on his broader point about the importance of clear communication. He thinks he can read Hanguang-jun pretty well, and so surely everyone else can, too?

[lightbearinglord]

Essentially illustrating Magnus' point, Lan Wangji makes a fairly subtle little dubious face at him, one side of his mouth quirking and his eyebrows twitching up for less than a moment. "I believed my intentions were obvious. I should not have."

[summerdude]

"This is why, even if it's someone you understand really well and can communicate without saying anything, you still gotta say words sometimes," Magnus says, wisely.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji learned that lesson vividly, as they have just discussed, so he nods in acceptance of Magnus' wisdom. "I will remember that over the next six years."

[summerdude]

"You planning on having something change six years from now?"

[lightbearinglord]

"By that time, Wei Ying and I will have achieved the longevity you and Alex have now," Lan Wangji says serenely. Is he teasing Magnus again? Perhaps. Most likely.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, but in six years I'll be on the verge of thirteen, sooooo."