[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]

"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."

[acrookedpath]

"And that reminds me!" He taps his fingers against the bartop. "Madam Bar, I would be very remiss if I did not finish my dinner with some wine. May I?"

A white ceramic bottle materializes. He swipes it off the bar with a cheerful thanks, uncorks it, and takes a quick gulp.

(Considering he will soon have to share a bed with Lan Zhan, he will need all the help he can get in steadying his nerves.)

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn."

There is an absolute lack of surprise in both expression and demeanor as Wei Ying picks up the wine.

"I spoke with her earlier. Her - sect, I suppose; the Heralds - are more interesting than I first realized."

[acrookedpath]

"Mm!" Hurriedly, he swallows his drink so he can rejoin the conversation. "Yes, Harrow told me a little of her world. The tianma, specifically. Lady Ingress and I mostly spoke of other things when I met her myself."

[lightamidchaos]

"The tianma, yes - we have spoken of that also."

He looks pleased about something as he adds,

"And musical cultivation. Her mentor practices magic through music, as well. She has suggested that I meet him."

[acrookedpath]

He lowers the bottle back to the bartop. "Oh?"

What Wei Wuxian knows he should think: Lan Zhan is making friends! Good! This is good. He will have someone he can speak to about cultivation in a way I not always can.

What Wei Wuxian is thinking instead, as he notes the pleased look on Lan Zhan's face, is not words so much as a sudden spear of jealousy deep in his gut, sour and ugly. He swallows, doing everything he can to keep a pleasantly neutral expression.

"Does he visit the inn as well?"

[lightamidchaos]

"He has before. She has also offered to arrange a visit to their -- Collegium, it is called."

He murmurs a request to Bar-guniang for water and takes a sip before continuing,

"This Vanyel is not the only musical cultivator, she says, but evidently he is one of the most skilled in their magics. A Herald-Mage, she calls him."

[acrookedpath]

"Interesting."

Is he going into qi deviation? He may be going into qi deviation. Wei Wuxian sternly reminds himself that qi deviation is likely impossible for someone dead, even if they are partially animated by the inn's magic, and empties three-quarters of the bottle into his mouth.

"Did she say how his cultivation varies from what we know?"

[lightamidchaos]

"Not in detail. I played Tranquility for her, and she suggested that Vanyel would be interested to learn of healing through music."

[acrookedpath]

"Well." He musters up as carefree a smile as he can manage. "I hope you will tell me all about it when you visit! Perhaps you and he can learn from each other as Harrow and I have."

...Why did he say that. Why.

He polishes off the wine and, before Madam Bar can even reclaim the empty bottle, asks her, "A second one, please, Madam Bar?"

[lightamidchaos]

"Perhaps," he allows.

He had thought Wei Ying might be interested in visiting as well, and was about to suggest that one of them ask Ingress if it would be possible, but given how he has just dismissed the visit so freely it does not seem as though he is.

"I will tell you. Of course."

[acrookedpath]

"Wonderful."

Yes. Wonderful. He pops open the second bottle.

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn."

It seems as though Wei Ying only has polite interest, if that, in the subject. He is a little surprised, given how skilled Wei Ying is with his dizi--

--and perhaps a little hurt, he admits inwardly, although he forces that down and away. Wei Ying does not need to be interested in the same matters of cultivation that interest Lan Wangji. He has chosen his own path, and Lan Wangji will not try to pull him back from it.

He takes another sip of his water, in silence, trying to think of something else to say. Usually it is Wei Ying who leaps from topic to topic in conversation, asking questions and chattering of news; he is not used to this.

[acrookedpath]

He doesn't actually want to suggest they move upstairs for the night. He has no idea how long remains until hài hour, and however uncomfortable he has made things down here, it will be far worse once the need for evening ablutions and sleep begin.

Unless he has drunk enough wine that it won't bother him. In which case it might also loosen his lips, but --

He takes a gulp from the new bottle, steels himself, and says, "Do you need to sleep soon?"

[lightamidchaos]

"About half a shichen," he says. "I should prepare soon."