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]

Phew. Okay. Magnus has been fairly self-sufficient and able to navigate his own life for over ten years now, largely by dint of necessity. When he had to stop Loki from setting sail on Naglfar, Percy had pointed out that he should purposefully make use of his community, since everyone has different strengths. He likes to think he's actually pretty good at managing the sometimes-destructive whims of teenagers, especially with the years he's put into the Chase Space, but also, depending on a kid's specific needs, sometimes he'd tag in Alex or Hearth or Blitz instead and let them handle it.

This is kind of like that. He likes to think that he has responsibility -- he has, after all, saved the world a bunch -- but he'd be the first to admit he doesn't really project authority, especially in the way an adult-shaped adult would. And it sounds like Sagramore and Lan Wangji will be really good helps with, like, ensuring nobody cuts off a limb. (Toes don't count as limbs. Magnus stands by that choice. Anyway, he reattached it just fine, so.)

"Okay, good," he says, with evident relief.

[sagramore]

"Agreed, no cutting off hands. We don't need another Bedivere." He grins at Magnus, reassuringly. "Good field report, Sir Magnus."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is almost tempted to slip in some dry quip about the removal of limbs, but he is less certain of the reaction than he would be with Crowley and Claudius¹, so he only gives Magnus a firmly reassuring squeeze of the shoulder. "Do you know how to make the masa?" He suspects they will all be happier if they remain on-task.

¹The sacred bonds of a burn book ritual are unbreakable. Probably.

[summerdude]

"No," Magnus admits, sadly. "I know how to assemble the prepared ingredients but that's really all."

[sagramore]

"That's what the recipe is for. We'll be sous-chefs for Lan Wangji."

(He's picked up this kind of language from skimming Anthony Bourdain, and Magnus may rest assured his French pronunciation is appalling, although whether or not that's on purpose is shrouded in mystery.)

[lightbearinglord]

"I had not heard of a tamale until I agreed to learn this style of cooking," Lan Wangji tells Magnus, as assurance. "You remain the expert. We will need masa harina, lard, water, and salt. For the sweet tamales, oil, sugar, and cinnamon." At the reminder that they will be working with lard, he tightens his ponytail again. The idea of returning to Wei Ying with his hair smelling of animal fat is intolerable.

[summerdude]

Obediently, Magnus trots around the kitchen, retrieving ingredients and setting them out on the counter in turn. "I think we could use lard for the sweet ones, too," he says, thoughtfully, as he sets out the oil. "I think Alex likes the texture better."

[sagramore]

"Let's do lard, then," agreeably.

[lightbearinglord]

"Whatever Alex prefers." Since the cookbook has now been freed from its qiankun pouch confines, Lan Wangji slides it down the counter toward Magnus. He steps back to the stove to check on the pork.

[summerdude]

Magnus pores over the recipe a couple of times before going to -- a little anxiously! He doesn't want to fuck this up! -- measure out the masa.

[sagramore]

Sagramore watches, as easy as ever. He likes cooking with Lan Wangji, who takes charge as easily as Laertes does, but perhaps a touch more naturally, and he's happy to do whatever he's told to.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is, in fact, keeping an eye on Magnus and would say something if he appeared in imminent danger of catastrophic error. "One of you, mix the savory dough. The other, the sweet." Again, they can divide that task however they see fit. He returns to procuring a quantity of peppers.

[summerdude]

Magnus revisits the recipe. "I'll do the savory," he tells Sagramore. "There's fewer ingredients, so fewer ways for me to mess it up."

[sagramore]

"I accept my charge." He pushes his glasses up the slope of his nose and checks the recipe over Magnus' shoulder before going for the sugar and cinnamon.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji watches them briefly, satisfied that Sagramore can also help Magnus if it is required. He dedicates himself to the methodical roasting of several poblano peppers over the open flame of one of the stove's burners. It was, actually, quite helpful to have done this same task with Tress the other day, and for more than a mere distraction from his unhappiness.

[summerdude]

Masa measured, Magnus gets out another bowl and starts whipping together the lard and salt. He does this by hand -- he doesn't know how to use a mixer, and anyway, he's got the strength and stamina.

[sagramore]

All the swordwork with Laertes has had the same effect on Sagramore -- his arms are probably the strongest part of him. He is aware of the stand mixer, but this isn't something he'd particularly use it for (unlike bread dough, which he finds immeasurably tedious to knead by hand).

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is quite content to lapse into companionable silence as the three of them work together. He makes his way through his quantity of peppers, roasting them one by one and then setting them aside to rest. In the interim, he examines the large pot that is still simmering. Determining that the pork is ready enough, he commences wielding forks for the first time in his life in order to remove those pieces of meat and begin shredding them.

[summerdude]

Magnus looks over -- he's finally whipped the lard to the consistency described in the recipe, and he's about to add the masa. "If you hold them upside down the shredding is easier," he says, helpfully. "Not, like, upside down by the tines upside down, but upside down the hump thingy is up upside down."

[sagramore]

Sagramore glances over from mixing the sweet dough and laughs.

[lightbearinglord]

Perhaps Lan Wangji deserves that laugh after thoughtlessly handing chopsticks to Sagramore a few months ago. As instructed, he gamely flips over those forks and resumes his work. "Thank you."

[summerdude]

"Sure thing, dude. I had the hardest time as a kid, switching between chopsticks and forks like every other day."

[sagramore]

"You grew up with both?"

[lightbearinglord]

Naturally, Lan Wangji prefers the precision and control of chopsticks, but he has to admit that these implements are proving effective at reducing the pork to shreds. He continues to listen to Magnus and Sagramore as he completes that task, setting aside the bones for making stock later. He returns the shredded pork to its vessel, in which most of the liquid has reduced, and then fetches that sauce. It takes him a moment to work out how to separate the blender from the base (also known as the part that prompts it to make such ear-splitting noises), but he does manage it so that he can pour the sauce over the pork and give it all a brisk but controlled stir with -- of course -- his trusty cooking chopsticks.

[summerdude]

"Oh yeah, me and my mom lived in an apartment above a KBBQ place when I was growing up." Magnus stops, still mixing his masa, and then amends without prompting, "Korean barbecue. Uh, Korea is also in Asia, so: chopsticks. It's, like, this peninsula to the east? North-east? of China. We'd eat at the restaurant a bunch on days when mom was too tired to cook. It was a family-run place and the grandma took it upon herself to make sure I knew how to use chopsticks."