[pfsb]

[acrookedpath]

The good news: the energy-revealing array works!

The bad news --

It's not bad news, he insists to himself. It just... is. It's a complication, a hole in the road, a little snare tripping him up. That's all. It doesn't have to be more. It might not even be in the first place, yes? He is dead, Lan Zhan is alive, of course seeing just how very alive would stir something in him. That's all it is.

Right?

Never mind that he's fairly certain if he placed the same array on Harrow, or Tom-gongzi, or Ingress, he would not have been struck the same way. That -- it's ridiculous, this is all ridiculous, and that's why he's out here by the lake, standing on a flat rock with another array of talismans fluttering in his hand.

The key is not just luring resentful energy from the forest, despite the suppression around the inn. It is how swiftly he can do it. During his coffee-fueled spree of work last night, he drew up some new lures that ought to work faster than a traditional set. Now he scatters them in a wide circle around his feet, gestures sharply, and sends a bolt of red energy into the yellow paper slips.

Silently, in his head, he begins to count. One... two... three...

At the count of thirteen, something boils at the forest's edge, dark and oily.

Wei Wuxian smiles and lifts his flute to meet it.

Comments

[lightamidchaos]

He moves forward and bends down to help collect the lures. It seems the least he can do after inadvertently helping to scatter them.

"Mn. The inn is odd enough that it would have been stranger for there not to be at least some."

[acrookedpath]

Quickly, Wei Wuxian shifts to give Lan Zhan more space, focusing on the lures farthest away from him.

"I don't know," he says, light. "I think it would have been fitting, in the strangeness of everything, for there to have been no death at all."

[lightamidchaos]

He gives Wei Ying an uncertain look as the other man jerks away, then shakes his head and focuses on carefully picking up each lure.

"True," he admits.

"But I am glad you have found what you needed."

[acrookedpath]

"So am I."

He thinks he has pulled himself together. It is worth the chance: Wei Wuxian looks up and grins at Lan Zhan.

"Now all I need to do is fine-tune the lures so the energy can be summoned by a count of five. That is still not as quick as I would prefer, but I believe it's the best I can hope for. And it will be sufficient if something happens."

[lightamidchaos]

The bright grin eases the uncertainty that had been starting to grow within him, and his expression softens as the corners of his mouth turn up in one of his faint smiles.

"Good."

He holds out the collected lures.

"Is there something I can do? To help?"

[acrookedpath]

"Ah -- "

Well, there goes his composure again.

He drops his gaze with another nervous, involuntary laugh, taking the stack of paper from Lan Zhan. (Carefully, so as not to touch his fingers by accident.) "I will have to think about it," he says. "Do you have any ideas? For how I could summon the energy more quickly?"

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn."

He thinks about it, giving the problem his full attention as he stands upright once more. Absently, his right hand goes to the small of his back, his posture poised and relaxed at once.

"An element of repetition? To enhance the effect of each lure?"

[acrookedpath]

Should he stand up if Lan Zhan's standing up? He probably should. Wei Wuxian rises and stuffs the lures into his robes -- which promptly leaves him with nothing to do with his hands. He settles for tucking them behind his back in a not-quite mirror of Lan Zhan.

"Maybe." He considers this. "Some sort of amplification, to be certain. I wonder if there would be a more succinct way to do it than repetition."

[lightamidchaos]

He shakes his head, uncertain.

"... reflection?" he offers, at last. "Between the lures? Perhaps?"

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian makes an intrigued noise, eyebrows lifting as he looks out over the lake.

"Reflection," he echoes. "Like a candle set between two polished mirrors. That might work! I will have to test it first on something less dangerous so I do not accidentally call more than I can handle, but that may work very well."

[lightamidchaos]

"That seems wise."

It brings up another question, one he's not sure quite how to ask, but all the same he feels that he must try.

"Do you know? How much you can handle?"

Without the Stygian Tiger Seal, he does not say.

[acrookedpath]

He exhales. Shakes his head, reluctantly, after a moment.

Quieter: "I will run less risk if I call only as much as I need. No more. And I do not expect to be fighting any armies here."

He turns a lopsided, largely humorless smile on the ground.

"At least, I hope I will not."

[lightamidchaos]

There is only one possible response he can give, so instinctive and deeply rooted in his soul that he cannot say anything else, or even stop to think before the words spill out.

"Not alone."

A beat.

"Should you need to fight. For any reason. It will not be alone."

Not ever again.

[acrookedpath]

His eyes widen.

He cannot help it: even as his face starts to flush, even as every thought or word flees his head, he turns back to Lan Zhan. He keeps his hands laced tight together, lest he make the mistake of reaching out. All he can do is stare in mute shock.

[lightamidchaos]

Wei Ying looks at him, eyes wide and stunned, and Lan Wangji turns to face him fully. He will not turn away from this, will not hide or seek to explain or defend himself for his lack of action in the past, but he has to be sure Wei Ying knows. That he understands.

"Not alone," he repeats, low and weighted with the certainty of stone. "Never again."

[acrookedpath]

He swallows, hard enough for his throat to visibly bob. His whole stomach has transformed into dragonflies vibrating their wings at top speed; he cannot look away from Lan Zhan's eyes, or the softness of his mouth. Not alone, echoes over and over in his suddenly empty mind. Not alone.

"Good," he finally manages, and immediately wants to smack himself in the face for saying something so asinine. And yet he says it again! "Good. Ah -- "

He clears his throat, wrenching his gaze back to the lake. His whole chest feels warm -- his face even warmer, embarrassingly so. "Have you eaten? Shall we -- ?"

[lightamidchaos]

Good, Wei Ying says, and he feels the shock of the blow knock all the air out of him.

Good. As if chiding a disciple who has failed to live up to expectations and is earnestly promising to do better. Which, in a way, is the truth, is it not?

He can only be grateful that Wei Ying, in kindness, did not say anything else to point out how Lan Wangji's promise is too little, too late.

Wei Ying turns away, unable to look at him, and he makes himself turn to face the water as well, sparing Wei Ying from his ill-done sincerity.

"Mn. As you wish."

[acrookedpath]

All the warmth congeals into a lump of ice. The fluttering in his belly isn't so pleasant any longer -- it's frantic, nauseating, and if it wouldn't hurt Lan Zhan even more Wei Wuxian would simply make his excuses and leave.

"Ah, Lan Zhan -- " He drags a hand down his face, still too afraid to look at him. "I'm sorry. I..."

What can he even say? I'm sorry but if I think about you too long I may blurt out something I regret and destroy the little friendship we still share? If he loses Lan Zhan --

"I am not thinking clearly today. I am sorry. Forgive me."

[lightamidchaos]

"Do not apologize."

Low, but clear. He keeps his gaze fixed on the water.

"There is no need. None."

[acrookedpath]

"I think there is." No louder. "But..."

He sighs, heavily.

"If you insist. Come." He starts to turn for the inn. "Let's share a meal."

[lightamidchaos]

The sigh rips through him like a gale.

What can he possibly say? If he insists there is no need to apologize, he will hurt Wei Ying. Yet how can he forgive him when there is nothing to forgive?

"All right," he manages, and turns to walk beside the other man, back toward the inn.

It takes several steps before he finds the will to say, softly,

"Wei Ying already has my forgiveness. For whatever he needs."

[acrookedpath]

He tries not to flinch, and barely succeeds; his eyes shut too tight for an instant as his step hitches.

I do not deserve this, he thinks, small and clear. I cannot destroy this.

"I know," he whispers. He doesn't know what else to say.

[lightamidchaos]

Lan Wangji glances up at him, then nods, and stays silent.

For another ten steps.

"The mirror. For the lures."

The subject change is obvious, he knows, and he hopes it will work all the same, allowing Wei Ying to retreat into a more comfortable topic of conversation - and talisman theory has often been that, for him.

"Could you use it to reflect what you saw, as well? For the other array you have been crafting?"

[acrookedpath]

Obvious as it may be, Wei Wuxian has never been a particularly subtle person himself. The set of his shoulders loosens as he welcomes the subject change with open arms.

"It might," he says, as thoughtful as if they had been discussing this all along. "I think it would need to be coupled with similar principles as attaching my senses to a paper doll. And it would need to be aimed very precisely, so what you see would not only be identical to what I see, but located in the same place."

Yes. He can talk about this professionally. He does not have to dwell on exactly what he saw, or how Lan Zhan might react to knowing Wei Wuxian thinks him beautiful, or --

Professionally, damn it.

[lightamidchaos]

"As opposed to making it visible for anyone," he concludes.

They are near the door now, and he moves to open it for them both.