closed post for the lads: makeover montage

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan is standing in his room in the Mansion in nothing but boxers, absolutely surrounded by clothes. There are stacks of discarded robes in every color of the rainbow (except, notably, red; the Mansion had given him one of those and he'd yelped and hid it under the bed); intricate and wildly expensive guans piled in teetering towers; he's knee-deep in jeans, and boots, and button-up shirts, and dress pants. There's a tuxedo, still on its hanger, swinging from the closet door. Behind it, the closet has helpfully refilled with more options, including a few very pretty dresses that Shen Yuan did not, actually, ask for, but he can't blame it for getting confused. He's fucking confused. He's completely at a loss, in fact.

He groans and grabs an outer robe at random, pulling it around his shoulders, and then falls over backward and starfishes on the clothes-covered floor. He doesn't know what the fuck to wear on a date. Especially not a date with Binghe, a dinner date with Binghe, and of course it's going to be world-class food, because Binghe is incapable of cooking anything else. And Binghe's going to be looking at him. The whole time. And it's not for—for an apology, or even for a seduction; he's just there to talk, and to listen, and to eat, and to—to flirt!! Intentionally!! Like gay people do!!

He has to look good, but not so good that it's painful for Binghe not to ravish him, and like himself—Shen Yuan, the self he's trying to be with Binghe—but not so different from Shen Qingqiu that Binghe doesn't like him anymore because he just looks like some fucking guy. He can't wear what he would have worn on a hypothetical date with a girl, because that's way too cringe and straight. Also, he doesn't know what that would have been, either.

It would be easier to do this somewhere else, anywhere his wardrobe is limited by what he already owns or could readily buy, and not made up of anything he can possibly imagine.

He rubs his hands over his face, and then pulls two slips of talisman paper and a brush from the robe's sleeve. Writing above his head like he's texting in bed, the paper held steady by an invisible force, he finishes two different but equally urgent messages. They fold themselves up, and he paints a last few qi-imbued characters on the outside before they both zoom out of the room in opposite directions.

[Magnus and Galahad will each receive a note that only opens for them and will lead them back to his room once they read it. However, Shen Qingqiu has mixed up which message was for who, so Galahad's reads "SOS!!! date emergency!!!" and then has two little drawings of the prayer hands emoji, and Magnus' reads "I need a favor, if you have the time - your friend Shen Qingqiu."]

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[peaklordshen]

Shen Qingqiu shifts so his back is to Magnus, secretly pleased. He likes having his hair played with. "You want to try that on?" he asks Galahad. "I think I'm set, so. Open season on the fashion show."

[summerdude]

"Do you have a brush or a comb or something?" Magnus asks -- he can't believe he didn't anticipate this when he brought supplies!!! -- glancing around the room until he spots one. He goes to grab it and then sits down behind Shen Yuan. It turns out Shen Yuan's hair is already pretty un-tangled, so he uses it to pull his hair back and start separating it into sections.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I like the color." It feels impolite somehow to try on clothes when Shen Yuan is still getting ready, so he just folds it up for later.

[peaklordshen]

"You can take anything you want," says Shen Yuan. "You, too, Magnus. I kind of... don't know if it will go away? After I generated it? So if there's anything you like, please, or I'll be trapped in a clothes-whirlpool forever." He smiles at Galahad. "There's some sweaters in a pile over by the closet, the knit ones you like, with the patterns."

[summerdude]

Magnus glances around at the clothes as he starts to braid Shen Yuan's hair. "Thanks man," he says. "A lot of them are a little too colorful for me personally, but I'll take a look. Some of it looks like stuff Alex would like."

[onthewillowsthere]

He perks up at the mention of sweaters, and goes to investigate. It makes him happy that Shen Yuan knows what he likes -- he feels noticed in a way that's pleasing, not anxiety-provoking. As he sorts through the pile, he asks Magnus, "Why don't you like colors?"

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan relaxes under Magnus' hands and listens. This had been a good idea. Even if his friends hadn't really given him that much feedback—not at all like the gay best friends in a romcom would have—he's still glad he asked them. Just having someone around is calming him down so much, reducing the boiling in his brain to a much more manageable excited simmer, and the two of them together have such a quiet and comforting energy. It reminds him a little of being around Yue Qingyuan, except without the... sort of weird vibes sometimes, like there's something he should be picking up on but isn't.

[summerdude]

"I like most colors just fine, but too much and they just get a little overwhelming sometimes," Magnus tells Galahad, pulling in more strands of Shen Yuan's hair. This braid is getting kind of elaborate, actually; it's definitely more than three strands, but Shen Yuan has the hair to support that kind of braid. He bets it would look really good with, like, flowers tucked into it or something. "Alex was practically putting me through exposure therapy back home, but it's like what I was telling you the other day."

He doesn't say the word panic attacks, partly because colors don't trigger them, they just overstimulate him sometimes, and partly because Shen Yuan doesn't know about all that and now is not the time to bring it up, but he makes a face at Galahad over Shen Yuan's shoulder to try and communicate the idea.

"Too many is like, a crowded room. I like beige?"

[onthewillowsthere]

The comparison to a crowded room is perfect for making Galahad understand, and he nods immediately, elbow-deep in Fair Isle knits. "But you like colors on Alex."

[peaklordshen]

"Beige??" Shen Yuan snorts, careful not to pull away too much from Magnus' hands. "Man, no offense, but I really did not pick the right sartorial specialist to help me out, here." The reference to Alex, though, makes him very fond; he's in a good mood in regard to romance. "I wonder if Binghe would wear other colors if I asked him. He has to look like an Emperor, back home, he has a brand to maintain, but." He's struck, suddenly, with an image of Binghe in the thick, cozy grey sweater Galahad is holding right now, and nearly starts crying with how cute he would be. Truly the words gap moe were invented for Luo Binghe!!

[summerdude]

"Beige is a great color, dude, and I did tell you I wasn't good at this stuff," Magnus points out. To Galahad, he says, "I love colors on Alex. He goes for pinks and greens and patterns." This last is said in a tone of affectionate bemusement.

"Do you have a hair tie, man?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"I like that here I can wear what I want," Galahad says, relaxed enough in the presence of his friends to say it. "Maybe he would too."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Qingqiu hands Magnus a hair tie over his shoulder. "Maybe he would," he says, happily. "I'll ask on our date.¹"

¹ Probably not, with how it's going, actually.

[summerdude]

Magnus binds off the end of the braid. "What do you think?" he asks, of both of them, and then, more to Galahad: "Maybe some flowers, too?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Bachelor's buttons," he says, but this is a joke, and he quickly follows it up with, "Peach flowers."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan laughs, delighted at Galahad making a joke. "I think that might be a bit much, for a first date. I feel like hair festooned with flowers like I'm in a John William Waterhouse painting might be, like, third date material." Oh, man, note to self, do not mention Waterhouse to Laertes.

He leans over so he can look at himself in the mirror, at the intricate braidwork. Honestly, this alone might be a bit much for a first date—it looks more like hair for a bride than a hopefully casual and relatively staid dinner. "This is beautiful, Magnus, thank you." He can always undo it later if he needs to. "Hey, by the way, I'm going to paint a portrait of Galahad, one of these days. You want one?" He can do a series—Protagonists of the Mansion.

[summerdude]

"Hell yeah, my dude," Magnus says, immediately, and then he purses his lips. "Do I need to be beautiful for it, too?"

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad nods emphatically at Shen Yuan behind Magnus' back.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan winks at Galahad. He would have said yes anyway, probably, but now they're in this together. "Absolutely," he says. "You can pick something out for it now if you want, or take some time to plan."

[summerdude]

"Fine," Magnus says. He's putting on a huffy tone, but he's clearly pleased. "Lemme see what you've got, I guess."

He gets up and starts nudging through the piles of clothes, making his way toward the closet.

Once he get there, he pauses. There are a lot of dresses? For a second, he remembers when Shen Yuan was stoned and talking about how it would be easier to be a girl, and he glances at the guy for a quick little moment, before flipping through those, too.

Then he stops. There's a dress that screams Alex at him: it's fluffy and floaty and frankly an eye-searing shade of green, with little pink flowers embroidered all over it. He doesn't know much about skirts... is a skirt that looks like it would hit just above the knees a mini-skirt? A maxi skirt? Looks like it would give a person a good range of motion in a fight, though. It would also, he thinks, look great on Shen Yuan.

He reaches out and touches it. It's softer than it looks. Hmmmmm.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad fingerspells Alex against his thigh as he watches. Magnus talks about Alex all the time. This is an Alex dress. He's pleased that he knows.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan notices Magnus pausing on a frankly hideous dress, but it's not about being beautiful, it's about feeling beautiful, and it would give him a lot practice painting ruffles. Also, he remembers their conversation in the while he was stoned, and how Magnus had brought up turning into a girl for Binghe¹ and said, a little shifty, there are ways, you know, without magic.

"You want to try it on?" he asks. "Go for it, dude." He winces at himself. Probably no need to reinforce, the, like, masculine, right now. Come on. We're being supportive bros!!! Oh, god, is all his friendship language masculine??

¹ Nope.

[summerdude]

The dress really is an assault on his senses. "Sure, why not," Magnus says. Unlike Galahad, he has no compunctions about trying on clothes during someone else's date prep sesh, so he yanks off his shirt and pulls the dress on. It's a little puckered over the button of his jeans -- for a ruffled monstrosity, it really hugs tight to the skin.

Then he peers at himself in the mirror, trying to decide how Alex would react. Horrified delight? Double checking that he's doing this in earnest and not being a dick? That slow, feral grin he gets sometimes when Magnus does something he really likes? Magnus hopes it would be the first or the last, not the middle one. He's really not trying to be a dick. Like, he'd take it, if it meant she was here to judge him for it, but it's not his preference.

Really, he'd prefer the dress on Alex, but... it feels kind of like she's hugging him?

"Alright," he says, turning around to show it to his friends. "What's the verdict?"

[onthewillowsthere]

The sight of Magnus in the Alex dress-- is perfect. It's perfect. For the first time since he came here and left Percival behind, Galahad feels uncomplicatedly happy. He has friends. They've taught him new things and made him better. They like him, and they like each other, and he knows them, and he knows what they love, and he's here with them -- Shen Yuan told them his name, and asked them for help. Magnus is wearing a dress that reminds him of Alex. There's the taste of root beer on his tongue. He's so happy.

He signs friend, not at either of them but just to himself, and says, "It's good."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan had been very prepared to supportively lie his ass off about how Magnus looked in this dress. He'd been certain it wouldn't look good on him, not because he's a boy, but because the dress itself is so neon and terrible. But—"It's actually kind of great," he says, surprised enough to fail to hide his surprise.

Part of it is that Magnus looks so happy in it—quietly and a little embarrassedly happy, but happy nonetheless. But it also kind of works, on him, with his blond hair and coloring. He remembers Galahad describing Magnus as the summer, and maybe that's why. He looks like a cloud of summer flowers, a sunburst of warmth and light and growing things. "You definitely need flowers in your hair," he says. "To match with Galahad's, for the portrait series, but also, like, generally." He looks at Galahad. "What do you think? Cactus flower? Saffron crocus?"