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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[summerdude]

Magnus shrugs. If Sagramore wants a watch, he should probably give Galahad another shot. "Do we need sugar?" he asks.

[lightbearinglord]

"It has been nearly a shichen," Lan Wangji volunteers, before amending that, remembering that most people here measure time differently than he does and that he went to the library about that, too: "Two hours."

[sagramore]

"Thank you! I never have any idea. As to the sugar-- for sprinkling on top? It's a bit too late for anything else."

[summerdude]

Magnus shrugs. "I dunno," he says. Oh no, his flimsy excuse is growing flimsier! "I guess I'm just trying to figure out this cooking stuff." There, nailed it.

[lightbearinglord]

The kindest thing to do here, clearly, is to pretend that he believes Magnus without question and ask no further questions. As such, Lan Wangji says nothing, aside from an indulgent "Mn," and settles the lid firmly onto the steamer pot.

[sagramore]

"I, for one, am looking forward to the fruits of our labors."

[summerdude]

"Yeah," says Magnus, and then he brightens. He'd sort of forgotten that they'd eat the tamales at the end of this -- that it isn't just some kind of intricate ritual to try and get whatever powers that be to bring Alex back so she can enjoy them.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is also looking forward to it, especially to the part where Magnus tells him whether any of it tastes as it should. Also, if they are at least moderately edible, this volume of tamales will feed several people. "Are there other Mexican dishes you want to learn above the rest?"

[sagramore]

Sagramore listens as he continues trying to be reasonable about the amount of filling in his corn husks.

[summerdude]

"Oh, street food, definitely. More street food, that is. Probably any street food. Me and Alex, we're big street food fans." Magnus tilts his head. "Is street food even a word anymore? Street food. Streeeeet food."

[lightbearinglord]

"If it becomes possible, I will take the two of you to Yunmeng." As those tester tamales steam, Lan Wangji returns to the primary task so that he can help Magnus and Sagramore finish wrapping the stragglers.

[sagramore]

"Yunmeng?"

[summerdude]

A very dim long-ago memory surfaces, which Magnus mostly remembers because he'd thought Lan Wangji was a god and took extremely careful mental notes on anything he said that might be used to narrow down the pantheon so he could figure out his deal. He starts to gather the empty bowls and cutting boards, since Lan Wangji and Sagramore seem to have filling the last few husks well in hand, and takes them over to the sink. He's also pretty good at being Dishes Guy. "That's where Wei Wuxian is from, right?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is slightly surprised, only because that was, indeed, quite a long time ago, and because his own memory tends to be better than the memories of the people around him. "Mn. There is a variety of street food there."

[sagramore]

"What is it like?" Sagramore asks, because he likes listening to Lan Wangji talk about Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian-adjacent things.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, any favorites?" Magnus asks, eagerly -- maybe this will help him when he tries to narrow down when Lan Wangji is from? "His or yours."

[lightbearinglord]

"Wei Ying likes jianbing¹," Lan Wangji says with a trace of fondness, recalling just how many Wei Ying can consume in one go. "With chili oil." That may go without saying. "One may also purchase baozi with every type of filling, grilled sticky rice cakes, hu bing², and steamed rice flour cakes." That is far from an exhaustive list.

¹A many-times-folded crêpe, basically.
²Baked sesame bread.

[sagramore]

The fondness in Lan Wangji's voice is what he likes best. "Marvelous," he says quietly, smiling.

[summerdude]

"I wanna learn those, too," Magnus decides. "Gu Xiang was teaching me a little, back when the translator broke." This is a... very generous description of what happened.

[lightbearinglord]

Indeed, Lan Wangji looks at Magnus with some faint surprise. "Is young mistress Gu skilled in the kitchen?"

[sagramore]

They're almost done with the tamales, and he fills his last one as he listens.

[summerdude]

"Oh, she's great." Magnus grins. Cheerfully, he says, "I'm pretty sure she wanted to kill me, because we could only communicate through Qi Yan and I kept getting her the wrong tofu, but I'm used to violently talented girls wanting to kill me."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji can only give Magnus another indulgent look. It is charming every time he mentions Alex. "At least you provided entertainment for Qi-xiansheng."

[sagramore]

"How did you speak to Qi Yan? He doesn't know English, does he? Actually, that's presumptuous, I don't know what language they speak in America."

[summerdude]

"A lot of people in America speak English. Qi Yan doesn't." Magnus hesitates, prevaricates. "We have... other, um. Languages. In common."