Jack Puts Me Through My Paces [open post]

[summerdude]

"Señor, you really should practice more," Jack says, as Magnus rearranges his mental notes and sighs.

(Anyone else might think Magnus is just lying back on a bench on the grounds, staring at the sky, lost in thought. And technically, he is. But he's working hard!!! He's trying to sort out everyone he's encountered so far!!!)

"You're right," Magnus groans. Being in a weird Mansion with no way out, no established Battle Practice, and no pressing quests to go on is not an excuse to let his limited fighting skills fall by the wayside. He hauls himself upright and shoves his (still largely blank) notebook into his backpack.

Twenty minutes later, he's secured a practice sword from some random closet or another in the Mansion. It's dull steel, not sentient, and heavy in his hands.

"Perfect," Jack decides, so Magnus tramps back out to the spacious lawn, one sword in each hand. Checking to make sure no one is directly in harm's way, he releases Jack and brings the dull training sword up, ready to parry whatever attack Jack decides to throw at him.

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

With his hands now tucked neatly behind his back, Lan Wangji observes this display of, admittedly, legitimate prowess, especially from Jack. He follows the action closely, privately amused at several of Magnus' less graceful movements -- although he cannot fault their results.

Whenever they are finished, Lan Wangji nods. This is an indication of his general approval.

[summerdude]

"I'm... learning," Magnus says, a little self-consciously, approaching Lan Wangji so they can speak more easily.

[lightbearinglord]

This must be Lan Wangji's particular curse, or one of them, at this mansion: to always see his disciples in the faces of the young people he meets.

"I have students your age," he says, meaning that of course Magnus is learning. There is no shame in that.

[summerdude]

"Oh! Students, huh?" Magnus says. He's never heard a god use the term 'student' like that before. "Do you mean, like... disciples?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn. Junior disciples." A small measure of fondness colors Lan Wangji's voice. He wonders often how they are faring without him.

[summerdude]

"Junior disciples." Luo Binghe had mentioned Lan Wangji was a lesser god than he. Magnus isn't so sure about that, but if he only has junior disciples, then maybe it's the case? "How do you typically, uh. Instruct them?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Sword forms. Meditation. Principles and practice of night-hunting." Among other things, but that recitation seems enough to convey the general idea.

[summerdude]

"Night-hunting?" Magnus asks. "Is that a, um." What was the term Shen Qingqiu had used? "Cultivation thing?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is pleasantly surprised. He has only recently laid out the first stack of informational pamphlets on the nature of cultivation for Tress' welcome table. Magnus seems studious, however. Perhaps he has already read them. "We travel wherever we are needed for the purpose of exorcising evil."

[summerdude]

Magnus blinks. "Exorcising evil?" he asks, suddenly a little wary. He's heard similar words from the mouths of people who try to proselytize at some of the more religious shelters in Boston. "Like what?"

[lightbearinglord]

Magnus' penchant for questions does nothing to dispel the memory of the Lan juniors. "Fierce corpses. Unsettled spirits. Yao." Again, among other things, but a lengthy list feels unnecessary.

[summerdude]

"Oh," Magnus says, relaxing a little. Of course it's mythological beasts. "Are fierce corpses like... draugr? Barrow-wights, some call them?" He's familiar enough with the idea of unsettled spirits, though exorcism feels a little strong for that kind of situation. "And what's a, um. A yao?"

[lightbearinglord]

"A yao is a living creature, not a human, that develops its own consciousness over time. Not all are evil. A fierce corpse results from a human who has died but suffers excessive resentful energy." This is delivered with the cadence of someone reciting lecture notes, but with perfect patience.

[summerdude]

Magnus laughs a little. "So your fierce corpses are basically just... einherjar," he jokes. "I know a lot of those guys."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji pauses. A tiny frown pinches at his brow. "Einherjar?"

[summerdude]

"Oh, sorry, you must not have encountered that pantheon," Magnus says, politely. The Vikings made it all the way to present-day Iraq, but he's pretty sure that's as far as they went. "The glorious dead heroes of Valhalla? If you die bravely with a weapon in your hand during a challenge or while saving other people, you end up there. Where you keep fighting -- training -- until the end of the world."

[lightbearinglord]

The frown, though subtle, remains in place. Lan Wangji looks Magnus over from head to toe, briskly. He recalls the boy calling himself a demigod on arrival, but dismissing the matter when Lan Wangji questioned it. "And you?"

[summerdude]

"Oh," Magnus says. He hopes Lan Wangji doesn't decide to exorcise him, too. He's not entirely sure how he'd respond to that. "Yeah. And me."

[lightbearinglord]

The frown disappears, to be replaced by an equally small sadness in Lan Wangji's eyes. A child this young should not have died, no matter how bravely. "You fight well," he says, just a little softer.

[summerdude]

"Thanks!" Magnus says, brightly. A perceptive person will realize that he's pretty sanguine about his lot -- the fact that he's died (hundreds of times) doesn't really bother him. "Jack trains me pretty well in between all that formal Battle Practice. I'm not as good as a lot of the others yet, but I have some other tricks up my sleeve."

[lightbearinglord]

Magnus' apparent cheer does hearten Lan Wangji. He restrains any further grief over the situation and glances back toward Jack as the sword's name is mentioned.

After a moment's thought, he draws Bichen with a flash of glacial sword glare.

[summerdude]

"Well hello, sexy," Jack says, flying near. "Lookin' sharp today, my good sword. Did you see my feint just then?! Do you want to go out sometime?"

"He really likes your sword," Magnus observes to Lan Wangji.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji returns his gaze to Magnus, his features bordering on amused for the barest moment. Bichen will not be going out with Jack, obviously. That much goes without saying. It stays by Lan Wangji's side.

They can, however, spar. Rather than saying anything aloud, Lan Wangji steps closer to Jack, flicking Bichen demonstratively through the air. The blade glows blue, as ever.

[summerdude]

"This is the best day," Jack says, and immediately flies into a showy block.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji could smile, nearly. He has missed this feeling, the effortlessness of the way Bichen becomes an extension of himself. No words are necessary, only crisp, efficient movement. He presses closer with a flurry of slicing slashes, restraining Bichen from releasing its qi in the service of infusing each swing of the glassy blade with perfect intent.