I Up My Boyfriend Game With The Help Of My F̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ Bother Figures [closed post]

[summerdude]

Magnus shows up to the kitchen earlier than the agreed-upon time, since he's actually really excited to fold tamales (and learn how to prep the individual components thereof) with a couple of his favorite people. When he gets there, he remembers having to teach Galahad about hand-washing, and thinks about the fact that both Sagramore and Lan Wangji are from old-timey places. When they arrive, they'll find him scrubbing down the countertops, making sure they have a clean workspace.

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[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji looks to Magnus, who is the authority on tamales if not the authority on cooking generally. "Unless there is anything else Magnus knows that the book does not."

[summerdude]

"I mean, there needs to be a filling inside the masa, right?"

[sagramore]

"Not for the sweet ones, right? Everything is just mixed together. I could be wrong," he adds, because -- obviously -- Magnus is the authority.

[lightbearinglord]

In deference to said authority, Lan Wangji remains silent and continues looking at Magnus.

[summerdude]

"I don't know," Magnus admits, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Alex would know. I've only ever had them with fillings."

[sagramore]

"I see," he says. "Well, let's follow the recipe this time -- aside from the strawberries and the corn -- and see how these come out. It's easier to choose what we'll change next time once we see how our first try does." His tone is firm, but not unkind.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji catches Sagramore's gaze. Admittedly, given their relative heights as compared to Magnus', this is easy enough to do. He nods. "Let's," he agrees with calm conviction. "Many dishes require several attempts." He knows he has spoken with Magnus about his eternal efforts to recreate Jiang Yanli's soup for Wei Ying, which manage to just fail every time, and which he will not give up unless Wei Ying asks him to.

[summerdude]

Magnus takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Okay," he says, a little muleish. "You're right. Anyway, it's not like Alex is going to show up tomorrow asking for tamales."

[sagramore]

"We'll have perfected our craft by the time Alex gets here." He hands the bowl of strawberry masa to Magnus. "Fold these while I finish the apricots, and then you can teach me the method of it."

[lightbearinglord]

Upon a moment's observation to determine that Magnus is well enough, Lan Wangji returns to his own filling and folding endeavors with the pork tamales. It is more forgiving than folding dumplings.

[summerdude]

Magnus goes over to show Sagramore how to fill the tamales. On impulse, he leans against him for a moment, and uses the touch to soothe himself. It's funny, how things change. There was a time -- a pretty recent time -- when all this closeness to other people would freak him out, and now he's, like, seeking it out instead. "He's gotta come back sometime, right?" he asks, quietly. "Like, he's got to, right?"

[sagramore]

Sagramore leans back, bumping against his shoulder companionably. "Undoubtedly. He found his way here for you once before."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji, a little troubled, applies himself to the folding of tamales. He hates the idea of giving Magnus false hope, but he also hates the idea that Magnus could never again see Alex.¹ It would be romantic, perhaps, to say that Wei Ying found his way back to him across the chasm of death -- but that was pure accident, the happy result of someone else's machinations. So he says nothing.

¹It's a happy dramatic irony lever moment for once!

[summerdude]

Magnus squints suspiciously at Lan Wangji and the way he's not saying anything for a second, and then subsides back against Sagramore's side. "I honestly kinda thought he'd be back here by now."

[sagramore]

Sagramore has no such concerns about false hope. "Perhaps there's a right time for it. The last time everyone came on the same day, so it might have had something to do with that day in particular."

[lightbearinglord]

It would never once occur to Lan Wangji that anyone would consider his silence suspicious or unusual, so he lingers in it. Sagramore seems to have this in hand, and even if not for the topic of conversation, he would enjoy working quietly with others talking around him. He starts on the green chile and cheese tamales.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, maybe," but Magnus doesn't sound particularly chipper about it. Still, he folds another few tamales with a singular focus.

[sagramore]

Sagramore copies what Magnus is doing with the tamales. As ever, he's quick to pick up things that have a physicality to them, and his biggest problem is that he tends to overfill the husks.

"I think it's more likely that Alex will come when he's ready to come, from what you've told me of him."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji watches Sagramore momentarily, to be certain he doesn't need help or further guidance. Unsurprisingly, he does not. Once he is sure of that, he glances at Magnus with a tiny frown. If his hands were clean, he might go to him and squeeze his shoulder or even pull him into a hug. As it is, the best he can do is mimicking part of the exchange he just witnessed between Magnus and Sagramore, deliberately pressing his arm to Magnus' shoulder. He doesn't have the ability to make anything that he does look casual or accidental; from him, it's an obvious gesture of offered comfort.

[summerdude]

Magnus, of course, immediately leans gratefully against Hanguang-jun. He's aware that his moods have been more mercurial of late, as more time passes since he last saw Alex. He's pretty sure he has to just let it happen and eventually things will improve. He's with two guys he likes a lot and respects completely, so that helps!

Eventually, he pulls away from Lan Wangji and folds another few tamales.

[sagramore]

And there's another husk that won't fold properly closed! Sagramore works in companionable silence for as long as he can, but at some point he's going to start talking about Fenyes' pregnancy again, he can't help it.

[lightbearinglord]

Between the three of them, they really are producing a prodigious quantity of tamales at a respectable rate. As always, Lan Wangji is perfectly happy to work in complete silence. Once the pork filling is used up, he takes a break from folding to begin cleaning up after that, washing the pot so that they'll have room on the stove for steaming.

[summerdude]

"Here," Magnus tells Sagramore. "Maybe half a spoonful less of the filling?"

[sagramore]

"I suppose that's reasonable." He scoops some of the filling out of the one he's just done.

[lightbearinglord]

With Magnus and Sagramore's voices as a pleasant backdrop, Lan Wangji washes that pot. "Magnus," he says, then, serious as ever. "Would it be appropriate to steam some of the tamales so that you can test the flavor?"