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]

"Exciting and fun to you, impressive to other people," Magnus says, immediately, and then sits up straight for half a second before relaxing back against Lan Wangji. "So I was talking to Sagramore."

[lightbearinglord]

That description mostly calls swordplay to mind, but Magnus has already decided he doesn't want to fight anymore. In any case, he is clearly going somewhere with this, so Lan Wangji only gives him a single prompting glance.

[summerdude]

"We were talking about how -- you know how you're learning to make Mexican food so you can teach me? We thought it would be fun if you and me and he and Laertes -- and Wei Wuxian, obviously, if he wants to come -- got together to make a bunch together. For, like, anyone who wants it. I can fold the tamales."

[lightbearinglord]

Thus far, Lan Wangji has primarily made an impossible number of tortillas from scratch, then fed them to Wei Ying as he attempts to perfect them, but he has begun branching out recently. Pico de gallo proved easy to master. More importantly, he's already read the Mexican cookbook through which he is slowly working in its entirety, so for once he knows exactly what Magnus is talking about. "I would like that," he agrees easily.

[summerdude]

"Cool. So that should go near the top of the list," Magnus says.

[lightbearinglord]

"Is that cool?" Lan Wangji asks, somewhere exactly between genuinely curious and teasing him again.

[summerdude]

"I sure think so."

[lightbearinglord]

"Then we will begin there," Lan Wangji assures him. "You have also expressed interest in calligraphy, painting, and meditation."

[summerdude]

"I still got it," Magnus says, immediately. "The interest. I wanna learn calligraphy first, I think. It looked really cool when you were doing it when the translator broke."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji nods again, giving him another somewhat soft-around-the-edges glance. "Calligraphy is cool." He has also agreed to teach Crowley, but he will not attempt to combine those lessons.

[summerdude]

Except - "Will the translator working again get in the way, do you think?"

[lightbearinglord]

The thought of Lan Wangji's painstakingly beautiful and precise characters being reduced to twenty-six letters, no more, is disheartening. "Occasionally, certain rooms here will fail to translate the written word. I was able to demonstrate some characters to young mistress Nina that way."

[summerdude]

"Oh! Good." Magnus grins. Hey, maybe he can learn a little Chinese this way, too, in case the translator fails again! Gratitude suffuses him as he directs his grin at Lan Wangji -- he's just really glad that he knows the guy, that's all, and that he's able to play around with him and learn stuff from him. "Thank you."

[lightbearinglord]

"You're welcome," Lan Wangji says dutifully. The more heartfelt answer comes as he scoops Magnus up into a real hug, privately relieved to be hugging him not as an expression of extreme heights of emotion but simply as an impulse born of quiet tenderness.