It's Parent-Teacher Midafternoon At The Ol' Secret Training Grounds [closed]

[summerdude]

Magnus, who now definitely knows that many mansion residents keep specific daily schedules (thanks Galahad!), can reliably find Hanguang-jun whenever he needs him. (Unless it's the part of the schedule when Hanguang-jun is alone with Wei Wuxian, in which case Magnus can find him but, for the sake of his own mental peace, elects to never ever do that unless it's a genuine emergency.) He can also reliably find Galahad, Sunny, at least one of their shared fathers, Tress, and sometimes Claudius, except Claudius's unpredictability is genuinely unpredictable, as opposed to, say, Tally's unpredictability, which is predictably unpredictable.

Lancelot is definitely a regular schedule kind of guy, but outside of their training sessions, Magnus has no idea what it is. Magnus asks Galahad since Galahad is his go-to calendar and schedules guy; Galahad's brow wrinkles infinitesimally in the way that, on someone else, would be an incredulous, laughing 'what are you up to?' and his lips quirk when Magnus clarifies that he has really reasonable regular normal reasons for wanting to know. (Then Galahad tells him Susan's schedule, which is helpful, because Magnus is generally interested in avoiding her.)

All of this to say that Magnus doesn't actually manage to track Lancelot down and give him a heads up on the same morning he non-randomly encounters Hanguang-jun after dropping Sunny back with their dads, and impulsively asks "So, wanna do parent-teacher conference day? Me and Lancelot train after lunch in that clearing way out past Dads' house."

Whatever. He'd cleared that it was okay with Lancelot at, like, some point, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

So in the end, Lancelot gets about thirty seconds' warning that Hanguang-jun will be joining, between when Magnus rocks up, practice sword in one hand, shield in the other, and Jack flying around behind him, calling, "How's it going, Swordmaster Dickface^*? We've got company today," and when Hanguang-jun alights from Bichen.


*He's still workshopping appropriate nicknames

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

Because Lan Wangji has never fought with a shield, his interest in its use is wholly sincere. His gaze sharpens on the push and pull of their two shields -- although hopefully it is an intangible sharpening, for Magnus' benefit.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot lets himself be shoved back, shifting his weight so as to keep his footing; his hope is that this will make Magnus overbold, make him think he has an opening.

[summerdude]

Unfortunately, he's actually a good teacher, and Magnus scrambles back into a better position, circling, looking for an actual opening.

[lightbearinglord]

Fortunately, then, this little flash of clear insight from Magnus does not escape Lan Wangji, and if someone who were skilled at reading his expressions glanced his way, that person might notice his fond approval.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Oh, very good," Lancelot says, breathless and grinning, even as he resets his stance, moving to keep facing Magnus.

[summerdude]

Magnus grins back, some of his hair in his teeth and a joyous light in his eyes, and then comes at Lancelot like a whirlwind, angling so that Lancelot will have to keep turning to face him head-on, aiming for a spot under Lancelot's arm that he hopes will be awkward to block. He's not looking at Hanguang-jun at all, so he misses the approval; he's now totally focused on the fight.

[lightbearinglord]

That is just as well, and perhaps even likelier to fan the spark of that approval into something more robust. Lan Wangji continues to observe with sincere fascination; he is more attentive to Magnus, interested by the way he has changed since the last time they fought side by side nearly a year ago, but his eyes often light on Lancelot, the more proficient of the two, as well.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot's advantages are: decades of rigorous training and drilling; actual battle experience (in which dying is definitely to be avoided); and a not-insignificant amount of natural aptitude and endurance. Of these, two give him an edge over Magnus and his einherjar enhancements. But now that Magnus has been training with him for a while, and taking things seriously to boot, Lancelot is finding that it's rather difficult to keep up with him. He finds that he has, of late, been tempted now and then to pull the sorts of stunts he would in a real melee tourney back at court. To take what might feel to Magnus like a cheap shot, or to disarm him; to go hard enough to push Magnus back and eventually put him on the ground. He doesn't ever do this, though.

Magnus still has things to learn, refinements to make -- everyone does. But he is terribly fast, and Lancelot has to put in real work to deflect or block his whirlwind of strikes. He manages to do this, though it's a near thing, and then he shifts enough to twist and snake around to hit Magnus' thigh with the flat of his blade.

[summerdude]

Magnus is halfway into autopiloting his usual reaction when Lancelot gets a hit whenever someone else has joined them -- clapping his hand to the spot, letting out an almighty wail, and shouting, 'he got me! avenge me!' (usually their visitors are Sunny -- who likes Playing Swords and who Magnus doesn't want to worry and also it's really cute when she goes raaaaa and does her little chubby-leg toddler run at him, sometimes with her little wooden practice sword in hand and but more often with just her teeth bared -- or Alex, who sometimes sides with Lancelot, sometimes shouts totally unhelpful things like 'sigma delta offensive!' or 'fourth down!', and on one very notable occasion, kissed the boo-boo as soon as they were done) -- when he remembers that it's Hanguang-jun with them, and Hanguang-jun probably won't react in that way. He gets as far as the wail, then pulls up short, replays Lancelot's movements in his mind, and tries to recreate the twist.

"Like that?" he asks, running through the motions twice more.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Aye, just so," Lancelot looks pleased with him. He lowers his blade and shield. "You've been sparring with Alex, now and then, haven't you?"

[summerdude]

"Ummmmmmmm," says Magnus, and turns bright red. "Sort of?"

[lightbearinglord]

At this, Lan Wangji makes nearly involuntary eye contact with Magnus, who appears to have erred in his efforts to look at anything or anyone other than Lancelot. His eyebrows twitch upward, an expression of very, very subtle amusement on his face.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot's own eyebrows are rather raised; he glances over at Lan Wangji. Is it the sparring as flirting thing, or something more?

He certainly is not going to share any details of his own sparring-as-foreplayflirting sessions with Magnus or Lan Wangji, and his own urge to tease Magnus seems mean-spirited in general, given present company. So instead he says, "That's well. Our sessions alone would not be enough practice to truly build your skills. I am glad that Alex is a help to you."

[summerdude]

"Yeah," says Magnus, loudly, directing the full force of his attention up to Jack. "Yeah, Alex is helpful."

Jack, a traitor of a blade, pipes up, "Wait, you mean like when he turned into a bear and started--"

"REALLY HELPFUL," Magnus says, even more loudly. Someone -- not him -- might describe him as yelling over the sound of Jack's voice. "I ALSO PLAY SWORDS WITH SUNNY TOO BUT THAT'S NOT REALLY TRAINING."

[lightbearinglord]

Helpfully or not, Lan Wangji does manage to calmly interject: "You are still welcome to join Galahad and me any morning you see fit."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot winces a bit at the yelling. "A bear," he says, to himself, with a thoughtful frown. But he brushes that off. "I think that spending time learning what Hanguang-jun has to show you, sparring or training with Galahad... that would be beneficial, as well. It is good to spend time at such things with those close to you, and to learn as many styles and methods as one can."

[summerdude]

"I can't do morning practices, that's when I have Sunny Time. So Dadgramore and Laerdad can sleep in." Everyone here definitely knows 'sleep in' is probably a euphemism, and Magnus refuses to blush about it. "Unless..." he glances at Hanguang-jun. He doesn't want anyone to think his continuing array of flimsy excuses are flimsy excuses! "She could play swords with you too. If it's not too disruptive."

[lightbearinglord]

"I am not easily distracted, but that is for Galahad to decide." Their training is for Galahad's benefit, not his own -- although he does enjoy and appreciate the chance to have a student, to keep to a routine with him, and to watch his strength and skill grow.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I think, if he is open to it, that you should. There is only so much I can teach you, unless you wish to start doing other sorts of practice... without the shield, or with some other sort of blade."

[summerdude]

Magnus blinks at Lancelot. "I'm not married to the shield," he says. "Or this sword. I am in a lifelong committed platonic relationship with Jack--"

"You better believe it!" Jack interjects, swooping closer now that he's been mentioned specifically by name.

"--but, like, you know."

[lightbearinglord]

Naturally, the topic of whether Magnus ought to join them or not at their morning training is, for better or worse, a slightly fraught one, but he has always been welcome. "I will ask Galahad about Sunny, if you like."

[summerdude]

That's Magnus's bluff called! "Cool," he says.

[lightbearinglord]

Unaware that he was calling a bluff at all, Lan Wangji only gives him a fond look, the corners of his eyes just crinkling in the suggestion of a smile.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Well, then," Lancelot says, briskly. "Thou'rt free to ask me to continue as we have, to request something new, and to visit with Hanguang-jun and Galahad. As thou likest."

[summerdude]

"Whatever you think is best," Magnus says, managing to make his tone sound brazen instead of, like, uncertain or deferential or whatever.