Perhaps Instead Of A Homeless Teen I Shoulda Been A 19th Century Newsboy, Given All These Headlines

[summerdude]

It's been a big few days in general, and this day, specifically, has also been pretty big, and so Magnus does the number two thing that reliably lets him reach a place where he feels more grounded: he goes to Hanguang-jun's parlor at a time when Hanguang-jun is also there playing music. (Number one, of course, is burying his face against Alex's belly and groaning. Number three, embarrassingly, is still finding a summery spot outside and praying to his dad.)

This time, he has a stack of comic books to go through -- he wants to start making tailored recommendation lists, for Tally and Lancelot (who he's made general recommendations to), but also for Galahad and Sagramore and Sunny and Hanguang-jun and Gideon and Shen Yuan and Gu Xiang and Tress and Nina. So he lays on the ground for a while, paging through issues while Hanguang-jun quietly picks out a tune on his qin and Danding nibbles his hair.

But after about half an hour, he's still got excitement and overstimulation brimming through his veins, so he sets Sensational She-Hulk #39 to one side (it's definitely going on Lancelot's list, probably also Tally's, possibly also Gideon's), twists his head, and waits for a lull in the music. When it comes, he says, "Hanguang-jun? I have... stuff. Not crisisy stuff. Mostly good stuff, and also... some questionsy stuff."

Comments

[summerdude]

"That's really cool, Hanguang-jun."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji's eyes are slightly soft, that characteristically minute but distinct display of affection. "Is this what you told Sagramore?"

[summerdude]

"Huh? Oh. I said I did want a dad, and he asked if I'd have him, since I've been calling him Pops and since me and Sunny already adopted each other. And I said yes, with the caveat that it has to be okay that I kind of see you guys equally as father figures." Magnus still desperately wants Hanguang-jun to call him son! He won't be belaboring the point anymore, but ideally he would like to be adopted twice, eventually. He gets that Hanguang-jun has, like, both personal and cultural reasons for not wanting a more specific relationship than 'family,' but he's going to hold out hope anyway for a long long time.

[lightbearinglord]

Attentive, Lan Wangji nods. He is obscurely glad for the weight of his qin across his lap, the familiarity of its strings under his hands. "Are there duties Sagramore will be taking on that you would like me to take on as well?"

[summerdude]

"We didn't really talk duties. Just about, like, doing family stuff together."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji hesitates. He doesn't quite have what Sagramore has to offer, and that is intentional; he doesn't have the fullness of an entire house, at least not anymore, or a newly-adopted younger sister. He is content for himself with what he has, but he wants neither to demand more of Magnus' time nor to imply that he cannot offer it if he likes. "If you wish to join Wei Ying and me more often, we would be pleased."

[summerdude]

Magnus blinks and his heart pounds, then soars. He pulls himself up into more of a seated position so that he can scoot closer to Hanguang-jun. It sounds almost as if he's going to try to match Sagramore...?! Magnus can definitely be patient, then; actions are more important than labels, anyway.

"Maybe," he says, "me and Alex could come over for dinner? Like once a week?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Of course." The look he is giving Magnus is unmistakably fond again, warm around the eyes. He does like to feed the people he loves. And he misses the rare but precious evenings when Sizhui would come by and eat with the two of them, when all three of them happened to be at the Cloud Recesses at the same time, or the night-hunts wherein the three of them would dine at the local inn all together. "We usually dine in our quarters."

[summerdude]

"That sounds nice," says Magnus, now grinning big enough to match the fondness radiating from Hanguang-jun. "Maybe every so often you guys could come to camp. If you wanted. I'm getting pretty not-terrible at kabobs."

[lightbearinglord]

"Wei Ying will eat anything," Lan Wangji says primly, as if he could possibly pretend that he will not be delighted to try whatever Magnus cooks.

[summerdude]

"I know," Magnus says, grin widening. "He gave me my first-ever cooking lesson, remember?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji remembers. His mouth twitches. "It is fortunate that I intervened."

[summerdude]

"Hanguang-jun!" says Magnus, faux-scandalized and all the way delighted. "So snarky."

[lightbearinglord]

"Snarky?" He doesn't always stop Magnus and ask for definitions, but in this case, he is curious enough to do so.

[summerdude]

"Funny-sarcastic and kinda..." Magnus hesitates. He doesn't love to say this word, because he drinks his respect women juice every morning. In fact, it will be only the third time he's used any version of it in his entire time in the mansion. But there's not really a better word to use in this context, so: "...bitchy. In a fun way."

[lightbearinglord]

The very corner of Lan Wangji's mouth quirks up again before it settles. "Mn." He doesn't argue with the assessment. In any case: "Congratulations. I will say the same to Sagramore when next I see him."

[summerdude]

Magnus wants to hasten to clarify that this doesn't mean anything about his and Hanguang-jun's relationship -- that he can be adopted more than once. But Hanguang-jun just said that he wants to do similar duties to Sagramore, and he's called the two of them family several times, so Magnus stays his tongue. "Thanks," he says instead, grinning. "I didn't really expect it, but I'm pretty happy about it." His grin widens. "I warned him Alex is gonna interrogate the crap out of him."

[lightbearinglord]

"She will," Lan Wangji agrees, having already been subjected to thorough, if slightly subtler, examination by Alex. "But I anticipate she will find him satisfactory." He is very fond of Sagramore, who is an immensely kind man and a good friend.

[summerdude]

"I don't know what this means about me and Laertes," Magnus adds, because Hanguang-jun did say he should come to him about his confusions. "Since he and Sagramore are, you know, married, but he's also just a few years older than me. He's been calling us 'brothers' recently, and I hadn't really thought about anything different, but..."

[lightbearinglord]

"You will have to speak with young master Laertes," Lan Wangji says, perhaps predictably. He can make guesses. He knows how Sagramore likes to gather family about him, and how much his marriage means to him. He knows how much it means to both of them. It is not difficult to surmise that he will want Magnus to belong to them both, particularly if he is to consider himself Sunny's sibling. But he cannot speak for them. "Would you like him to be your father as well?"

[summerdude]

"Oh, I know I will," Magnus says. To the question, though, he hesitates. "I... I don't know. I didn't start considering it, like, at all, until about an hour ago."

[lightbearinglord]

"There are only thirteen years between my age and yours," Lan Wangji points out. And, he does not say, Magnus is, in many ways that matter, still sixteen.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, but that's different, that's like a whole generation." Probably. What even is a generation? "Laertes could've been in school with me, if he was also from Boston and also my era." He pauses. "It's not, like, a no. Or a yes. I think I need to wrap my brain around it before I talk to him."

[lightbearinglord]

This seems reasonable enough. Lan Wangji nods. Xiaoxue, noticing the absence of movement from Lan Wangji's hands, has been creeping nearer in hopes of snacks or attention. Lan Wangji obliges, stroking the rabbit's cheek with two fingers without looking away from Magnus. "I understand."

[summerdude]

"I just don't want to, like. Upset anyone if I wrap my mind around it and my mind decides, 'hmmmmm, maybe not.'"