Wei Wuxian (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
acrookedpath) wrote2020-09-23 05:05 pm
acrookedpath) wrote2020-09-23 05:05 pm
[pfsb]
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.
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.
no subject
no subject
Milliways is hardest for the dead who find themselves somehow living. He cannot imagine what it's actually like. All he can do is try to alleviate the difficulties in the ways he can.
"If you ever decide that you'd like to take up rooms in the House of Arch, please let me know. They've provided many patrons more of a, well. A home, than the rooms upstairs allow. You would be a most welcome and honored guest."
no subject
The smile re-emerges on steady, if disbelieving, footing.
"I would be equally honored, Tom-gongzi." He steps back just enough to give him the space for a proper, respectful bow, hands clasped before him. "For now the room Madam Bar gave me meets my needs, but if this is where I am to live for a long time, a home would be very welcome."
Though it demands the next question (and the need to turn his thoughts toward what he has studiously not been thinking about this whole time) --
"My friend, Lan Zhan, would he be able to access those rooms as well? He has taken to spending his nights here. It is much more comfortable than his current quarters."
no subject
You know what makes Tom happy? Having formidable allies who happen to be guests in his home. He is still a Slytherin, after all, even if he's become a genuinely friendlier one than most.
"If you'd like, when the time comes, you could even go with me as we look for forgotten rooms to fit any specific requirements you might have. The Underside has rooms from all the time periods of London's history, and some may be more home like to you than others."
no subject
He may not be, he realizes with a sudden pang. Lan Zhan's seclusion is set to end in several weeks. What is to say he won't choose to stay elsewhere, when the choice is not between a soft bed and a cold cave floor?
No. That does not bear thinking about, not right now. Wei Wuxian will face it when the time comes, and he will face it with dignity.
no subject
"Brilliant. It's settled then."
He's glad Ingress insisted he come by the lake today. Very glad indeed.