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]

Only by the grace of considerable self-discipline does Lan Wangji catch the moment that the water begins to boil around the pork. He barely glances at it as he gestures to lower the heat. He pins Magnus with an expectant look.

[summerdude]

Magnus sighs. "Basically every single time I die or pass out, I have this, like, dream-vision of something that has either just happened, or something that's currently happening. Back in Valhalla, during the first few years when Loki was actively trying to get free and start Ragnarok, it was usually about him, or Hel, or Fenris Wolf, or maybe some jotuns who were also trying to stir up trouble. After I flyted him, sometimes it was just, like, random stuff happening in the Nine Worlds that I needed to be aware of. Stuff to help a quest. Stuff my -- stuff Frey wanted me to know about." Okay, so that happened twice. It still counts! "That kind of thing. Usually whoever I'm watching doesn't know I'm there, unless they're, like, super magical... so, basically just Loki, and only part of the time." He sighs and sets the blender lid on the counter, scuffing his toe along the ground. "When I first got here, that's how I tried to reach Alex, you know? Since he's --" he cuts himself off there. "Anyway, it didn't work. When she was here she said that from what I described, I saw her but she didn't see me. But TL;DR: I see whatever's the biggest threat to me or people close to me every time, so if Dream Person is actually the biggest threat here, odds are I'll see who it is and what they're doing." He pauses. "And they probably won't know, unless they're literally a god. And not just any god, a god of magic and deception and stuff." He perks up for a moment, and then makes another face, slumping again. "Never mind. I doubt it's our new godly resident. The worst thing Mr. D has done in recent history is piss my cousin off."

[sagramore]

"Dionysus? No, he doesn't really seem the sort, frankly. In any case, I see the advantages of what you're describing, but it seems like something that puts you at risk nevertheless. Those are the rules for your world, after all, and we're in an entirely new world here. Perhaps this person can tell what you're doing regardless of the fact you're a god."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji did not happen to catch the arrival of Dionysus, and this marks the first arrival of someone that he has read about in a book. The god of wine? He can think of several people who must be thrilled.

He continues looking levelly at Magnus. "I am unwilling to endanger you for only the possibility of information. We can always spar, if you wish, but not in that way."

[summerdude]

"I'm not a god," Magnus says, emphatically. He's -- honestly? A little relieved that his idea has been so firmly squashed. "We can keep it on the back burner for now, I guess. I did promise you I'd be careful with --"

He frowns, then looks at Sagramore. "Why did I promise you I'd be careful?" He can remember the shape of what led up to it, but just that much. He prods at the memory; it's like it's enshrouded in fog. "We were talking about... something?"

[sagramore]

Sagramore frowns back at him. "Were we? When?" He spoke to Magnus while he was in Aornis' body, but Sagramore's memories of that conversation are a bit vague -- he snaps his fingers. "I told you to be careful of Aornis¹. I don't care for her."

¹Ping!

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji frowns at Magnus. "I asked you again to be careful around Luo Binghe," he says, because that part he remembers with crystalline clarity, "and around Aornis¹ as well." He knows he told Magnus that his suspicions about Aornis are no more than suspicions, but that he wanted Magnus to heed the warning regardless.

¹Double-ping!

[summerdude]

"Yeah, but," says Magnus, frowning still. "We did something, right?" This is directed at Sagramore. He scratches the back of his neck. "Something specific came up, right? Something about what Aornis^* can--"

He breaks off, the memory of the hair on the back of his neck raising hitting him, but he can't for the life of him place why, but one thing is clear. He looks at Lan Wangji. "And then I found you and told you about whatever it was too, right?"

*Triple ping!

[sagramore]

"I don't think so," still frowning. "I just remember the part about Aornis¹."

¹Ping again!

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji's still and quiet for another moment, revisiting his conversation with Magnus that day. It's all quite vivid in his memory, he thinks; his visceral discomfort with every moment of inhabiting the wrong body made it difficult to drift through any of it. "When you came to me, you told me that Sagramore had asked you to be careful around her. I agreed."

[summerdude]

"There was a reason, though." Magnus is increasingly certain about this. There's something niggling at the back of his mind, something important. Something he experienced. He scratches the back of his neck, just underneath his hairline, yet again, frowning. "We -- me and Sagramore, we tested it in the hall."

[sagramore]

"We tested it," he repeats slowly. It doesn't wake anything in him.

[lightbearinglord]

The future sauce is simmering properly now. Lan Wangji spares it a single glance. "What did you test?"

[summerdude]

"Something." If Magnus sounds frustrated, it's because he can't remember. And he'd made a mental note and everything! He'd -- he'd told people. "You know, the thing Aornis^* can--"

He breaks off. He's touching the back of his neck again. He withdraws his hand and frowns at it, willing it to reveal its secrets.

*Piiiiiing

[sagramore]

"Easy, easy. Let's keep going, perhaps you'll remember when you're not trying to remember."

[lightbearinglord]

"If you told me something important about Aornis¹, I would not have forgotten." About that, Lan Wangji is confident.² Sagramore is likely right, however, about letting Magnus settle for the time being. He finds a pair of cooking chopsticks with which to stir the chiles.

¹Presumably, at this point, Aornis is turning her ping phone to Do Not Disturb.
²This would usually be true! Unfortunately, as you probably already know...

[summerdude]

"No, I definitely did though," Magnus says, with a huff of a breath, but he nods at the suggestion that they table it rather than trying to force the issue. He sighs again, and then goes over to watch what Lan Wangji is doing. "Dude, that already smells so good."

[sagramore]

"It does smell good." He's washing dishes; it's a chore Laertes doesn't particularly enjoy, and he's gotten used to doing it by default.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji gives Sagramore a grateful little glance, not that he'll be looking to see it. "We will see how it tastes." Given the smell, he will not be surprised if he winds up embarrassing himself with his poor spice tolerance when the time comes for them to sample it. "I will require your expertise with that blender shortly."

[summerdude]

"Yep, I'm ready when you are!" Magnus is trying very hard to focus on the conversation at hand and not just worry at whatever it is he can't fully remember.

[sagramore]

"Oh, tell me when, I do want to see this."

[lightbearinglord]

For better or worse, they managed to pass the majority of the necessary time in discussing whatever it is that Magnus does or does not remember about Aornis. A very short time later, Lan Wangji prods at one of the chiles with the tip of a chopstick and determines that it is adequately softened. "Now," he says to Magnus, and hefts the pot in his hand.

[summerdude]

"Okay," says Magnus. He pops out the little plastic cap in the blender cover -- one of the few things he remembers from his childhood blender adventures is that they can explode if there's hot stuff in there without ventilation -- and gestures for Lan Wangji to pour the sauce into the container. "Um, I'm going to need, like, a dish towel or whatever."

[sagramore]

"Say no more." In a moment he has produced one.

[lightbearinglord]

With great care, Lan Wangji pours the contents of his pot into the body of the blender. The final bits must be coaxed out with the tip of a chopstick. Once that is completed, he extinguishes the burner with a little gesture, sets the pot aside, and stands back to observe Magnus, the blender master.