I Turn, Um... Uh... Sixteen? For The Tenth? Time???? [open post]

[summerdude]

It's Magnus's birthday and he is a man with a surplus of plans. And many, many plastic recorders.

He's still a little overstimulated from the birthday party Galahad got Claudius to throw for the two of them — he loves all his friends, but that was a lot of people in one space, most of whom were also feeling many, many things about their visitors — and so it's been a quiet few days. Sunny is still a little subdued, so they've been having muted hangouts in the mornings; Galahad, also overstimulated from their birthday party, has fortunately been on Magnus's wavelength about just sailing around aimlessly on the Big Banana with many snacks and very little conversation during their daily hangs for the past few days. He drags himself to sword practice with Lancelot once or twice, has his weekly dinner at Hanguang-jun's, spends a great solo afternoon cleaning out Little John's cave in case anyone else wants to use it at some point, and lets Alex tease him into wrestling and, um, other stuff after dinner basically every night.

But on this, the twenty-sixth anniversary of Magnus's actual birth, most of his energy has returned to him. He's made birthday dinner plans with just his immediate family (and also Alex and Hanguang-jun) at their house for the evening. He's had his liveliest morning of the week. And with his newly regained energy he's found critical supplies for his afternoon: a roll of duct tape, several trash bags, eight recorders, a handful of hollow pens, and a dream. He's sitting cross-legged in the middle of the Mansion's lawn, a look of grave concentration on his face, as he makes little holes in a bag, duct tapes two recorders and one pen here and there, and then seals it all up.

And then he takes a deep breath, fits his mouth to the hollow pen, and blows the bag up. When he places it under his arm and squeezes, he's gratified to find that his makeshift bagpipes work perfectly. And he still has supplies for a couple more!



I know everyone is still busy with visitor's day so feel free to take your time on this one... but I would love to ultimately have a ton of Chaos Thread Opportunities.

Comments

[summerdude]

"Hanguang-jun, every cereal has a vibe."

[lightbearinglord]

"Is there anything that cannot have a vibe?"

[summerdude]

"Well, I'd never say never, but... most things do."

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Lan Wangji nods seriously, as if making a mental note on the matter.

[summerdude]

"Don't you think?" Magnus asks, holding the door open for Hanguang-jun. Conveniently, the boba shop room is just a few doors down this hallway.

[lightbearinglord]

"I have not yet made a complete study of vibes. You are my expert." Lan Wangji, naturally, follows Magnus inside and down the aforementioned hallway.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, but you know auras. They're, like, kin."

[lightbearinglord]

"Everything has qi, but nonliving things have less of it."

[summerdude]

"Oh, sure, yeah. Um, how does feng shui fit into all that?"

[lightbearinglord]

It's not the question Lan Wangji anticipated, but it is at least one he can easily answer. "The shape and structure of the environment direct the flow of qi."

[summerdude]

"So it's not just interior design," Magnus says, mostly to himself. "I should've known... But you see how that contributes to vibes, too, right? Like if you're in a place that's just bad, so the vibes are bad."

[lightbearinglord]

"Perhaps," Lan Wangji says, noncommittal. "But you describe vibes differently. You said that I have dad vibes. There is no dad qi."

[summerdude]

Maybe there should be dad qi!!!! "Like I said, they're kin. It's, like, a Venn diagram, not a perfect circle."

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn," Lan Wangji agrees. "I will tell you if your bubble tea has any notable qi. You will tell me if it has vibes."

[summerdude]

"What if," Magnus proposes, eyes glowing, "we swap jobs? You tell me if you notice any vibes and I tell you about the qi. Like a pop quiz."

[lightbearinglord]

After a moment's consideration, Lan Wangji nods in acceptance of this proposal. "I will try."

[summerdude]

Magnus grins at him, and then -- since they've almost certainly made it into the boba tea shop room -- sets about throwing together two versions of the Hanguang-Jun^TM: grass jelly, no sugar, no ice. One has oolong and one has green tea. He presents them both to Hanguang-jun with a flourish.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji watches him with interest. None of the equipment in this room is familiar to him, although some of the tea scents are. With a single slow blink, he accepts both beverages, one in each hand. "The tea is cold."

[summerdude]

"Yeah, but I gave you no ice because I thought that might be weird for you." Magnus pauses. "Do you want ice?"

[lightbearinglord]

"No," Lan Wangji says after a moment. He did not expect the tea to be cold. Tea should not be cold. "It is meant to be cold?"

[summerdude]

"Most bubble tea is cold, yeah."

[lightbearinglord]

"Is this considered healthy?" Lan Wangji asks suspiciously.

[summerdude]

See, that's why Magnus didn't give him ice! He's been reading. "Yeah. And I'm not just saying that. From what I've heard it's really popular in China in my time."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji's suspicion fades just long enough for it to make a resurgence when he lifts one of the cups to his mouth and realizes there is no opening for his mouth. It appears to be a sealed container. He levels that mistrustful expression at Magnus again.

[summerdude]

Magnus swallows a laugh and hands Hanguang-jun a straw. "You stab the lid with the pointy end," he says. "It's one of the best parts."