[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]

Wei Ying goes quiet, and after the first moment or two his own look turns quizzical at the continued silence.

He doesn't say anything, of course, since to do so would be to break the precepts, but he is a little surprised. Not to mention, he realizes, that he's become used to listening to Wei Ying chatter, even when he himself is silent.

He takes a moment to refill their tea, and continues eating. Maybe Wei Ying is trying to be polite. Maybe he has something on his mind. If so, surely he will not try to hide it.

[acrookedpath]

How does Lan Zhan do this every day?

Wei Wuxian kicks his heel against one leg of the barstool like a fidgeting child, trying with all his might to remain silent and not look at Lan Zhan. Without quite realizing, he's begun to eat faster.

Not that finishing his meal quickly will make things any easier. What can they talk about that won't make him stammer and accidentally wound Lan Zhan? Surely he thinks Wei Wuxian has taken a sudden dislike to him, with how he has flinched and veered away and hardly given him a glance. What can he say?

He has two more bites of gan guo to figure it out.

[lightamidchaos]

He is beginning to wonder if Wei Ying is going to wiggle himself off of the barstool.

Lan Wangji lets out a quiet breath, and then deliberately breaks silence.

"Wei Ying."

He sets down his chopsticks and turns to look at him.

"Is something wrong?"

[acrookedpath]

He jerks in surprise that Lan Zhan caved to the quiet before he did.

"Nothing!" His voice sounds too loud to his ears, as if trying to make up for being stifled for so long. (It was five minutes, if that.) "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine, Lan Zhan. Just, ah -- silence during meals."

[lightamidchaos]

"Yes," he agrees.

A beat.

"Which you usually do not keep."

[acrookedpath]

"I thought I would give it a try?" he offers weakly.

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn."

There is more than a little skepticism in the sound, but he does not press.

"Very well, then."

Returning to quiet, he reaches for his tea.

[acrookedpath]

And there go the last two bites of his dinner.

...Tea still counts as part of the meal, though, right? Of course it does. Wei Wuxian pulls his cup close, still frantically searching his mind for something, anything, he might say.




Oh, no.

The beds. The bed.

Any attempt at marshalling a conversation topic or two is instantly replaced with a quiet scream in Wei Wuxian's mind. He can feel his face growing warmer once more, and it takes all his willpower not to bury his head in his arms right there.

[lightamidchaos]

He takes a moment to appreciate the scent and delicate flavor of the last of his tea before returning the cup to the bartop and murmuring a quiet word of thanks as Bar-guniang reclaims the dishes.

Wei Ying has not finished his own tea yet, though, so he does not speak to disturb him, especially not if he truly wishes to attempt silence during meals.

[acrookedpath]

Maybe he can stay up late again, he thinks desperately. Maybe he can secretly ask Madam Bar to push the beds apart before they even go upstairs. Maybe he can also secretly ask her to replace all the tea in his cup with coffee so strong it will keep him awake for days, and he will never have to sleep again -- which would honestly be preferable sometimes with the nightmares a constant pressure on his chest, but that is not his biggest concern right now, his biggest concern is --

-- his tea is gone.

And the pot is empty.

Well.

Carefully, he sets down the cup, manages a feeble, "Thank you, Madam Bar," and watches it vanish into the bartop.

[lightamidchaos]

When he looks at Lan Wangji, he will find the other man watching him with quiet, patient amusement.

"I have a copy of the rules with me. Should you wish to refresh your memory, to attempt others."

[acrookedpath]

"Ah," he stammers, "no, no need, Lan Zhan. I still remember most of them."

If only he had requested wine with dinner. Then, at least, he would have a convenient excuse for the redness surely visible in his cheeks.

"...Why do you have a copy of the rules with you?"

[lightamidchaos]

"Ah."

A flicker of awkwardness passes over his face, just for a moment.

"I was making it."

[acrookedpath]

His brow knits.

"Lan Zhan," he says, with a quick smile, "if you need another way to pass the time in the inn, I am sure there are other things to do besides that."

[lightamidchaos]

"It is not that."

He keeps his tone matter-of-fact.

"I am -- it is part of my meditations."

Required as such, in fact. He does not think it necessary to clarify.

(He is, unfortunately, deeply and bitterly certain that Wei Ying will not need him to.)

"The additional copies will be useful for the younger disciples."

[acrookedpath]

"Ah."

(Indeed, he does not.)

"Perhaps in the copies you give to the juniors," he muses, "you could add several extra rules as a test, to see if they can spot what is amiss. 'You must hold a rabbit for at least half a shichen a day.' 'If someone is loud, do not scold them, but endeavor to be even louder than them.'"

[lightamidchaos]

"If I did, I would have to write even more," he observes.

[acrookedpath]

"Perhaps I will do that, then, when I run out of ideas for new talismans." Cheerful. "Make up my own set of Gusu Lan rules. They would know it was not you if you bring them back -- my writing is much worse than yours."

[lightamidchaos]

The look he slants at Wei Ying is only a little wary.

"Mn."

[acrookedpath]

"Ah, Lan Zhan, you know I am only joking." Quickly, he stomps down on the urge to poke Lan Zhan in the arm; he is actually able to talk now, and he does not want to lose his thoughts again. "I would not do that to you. The last thing I want is for your seclusion to stretch even longer."

Especially when it is Wei Wuxian's doing that Lan Zhan is in seclusion in the first place.

[lightamidchaos]

"I know."

Quietly said, but steady and certain.

"It will not be much longer."

[acrookedpath]

"Good."

He smiles, bright.

"We'll need to celebrate when you are free! Think of desserts you would like, and I will be sure to get them -- or we can simply ask Madam Bar to provide something interesting. I have had a milkshake thanks to Lady Ingress; that may be a good place to start."

[lightamidchaos]

"A milkshake?"

He is not certain why anyone would want to shake milk. To froth it, perhaps?

Lan Wangji feels that to be dutiful, he should not encourage the idea that his seclusion was unwarranted. It was Lan Qiren's right to set the punishment that he did. Even if Lan Wangji does not regret the actions for which he is being punished; even if he would do them again -- which he would -- it is still his uncle's right. That much, he accepts.

(Is it fair? Was Shufu right to do so? The answers to those questions are very different.)

Still, he cannot escape the warmth that rushes through him at the idea that Wei Ying wants to celebrate something with him.

"We will see."

[acrookedpath]

"I think you will like it," he reassures Lan Zhan. "It is very sweet, but perhaps Madam Bar could give you a different flavor if it is too much. And you can put liquor in it! Well, I know you will not put liquor in it, but I will."

Because of course he will.

[lightamidchaos]

"All right."

He will certainly not put liquor in his own, but there is no harm in Wei Ying doing so -- and no surprise, either.

"If you and Herald Ingress both like it."