[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

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian draws his legs up to sit crosslegged on the bed, setting his hands in his lap with the cup cradled between them. He endeavors to straighten his back and breathe deep as if he were just learning how to meditate. The incense slows the jitter of his heart; he focuses on that, rather than the slight dip in the mattress from where Lan Zhan sits next to him.

Breathe. Wen Qing is quieter now, as if knowing she has left him in good hands.

(And then there is Harrow, from mere hours earlier: He is so obviously the most important person in your life. And it is just as obvious that nothing matters to him as much as you.)

Yet he can only bear so many devastations in one night. If he bares his heart to Lan Zhan and ruins everything --

He can't.

He ought to appreciate what they have while it lasts.

It is not very long before his shoulders slump again, his focus gone, and -- still without a word -- he moves closer to lean his head on Lan Zhan's shoulder, in the same companionable way he has before.

[lightamidchaos]

As he has in the past, he puts his arm behind Wei Ying to brace and support him as he leans against Lan Wangji's shoulder.

"I am here," he murmurs. "We are both here."

Whatever this nightmare was, it has shaken him deeply. He will not press; not until Wei Ying can speak of it, not when it had driven him to hide.

[acrookedpath]

He nods against Lan Zhan's shoulder, watching the far wall.

"I'm glad you are," he whispers. "I know I have -- not been myself tonight. But it is not because of anything you've done."

(Except stand there and be beautiful, he thinks, and has calmed enough -- or grown tired enough -- that he can even find a touch of humor to it.)

There are no sudden shocks beneath Lan Zhan's touch now: only a quiet, steady warmth. He imagines the blues and whites and greys of Lan Zhan's energy enveloping him like a second blanket; the brilliance of his golden core illuminating the blackness of the nightmare, driving it back as surely as a sword.

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn."

Relief, selfish as it may be, rushes through him in a wave. Whatever is wrong - and it is even more clear now that something is - it is not something that he has done, not some unintended harm that he has caused Wei Ying.

"I am here," he repeats. "You do not ever need to hide from me."

There is nothing of accusation in the quiet words, only affirmation.

[acrookedpath]

"Sometimes I do."

Quietly said, with no rancor -- or any other emotion.

"When it is very, very bad. Like this. It does not happen often, but it is bad enough that I would even hide from shijie were she here. And it is not your fault either."

[lightamidchaos]

Oh, Xianxian.

The hair at the nape of his neck stirs at the ghost of a ghost of a presence, invoked by his earlier desperate thoughts and her brother's own quiet words - and before that, by a ritual at the water's edge. He will have to play Inquiry tomorrow, just in case, but not now.

Now, memory is more important; the memory of Jiang Yanli standing in front of him in the Unclean Realm, gentle and kind and with the strength of bright steel.

Second Young Master Lan. I need to ask you something.

And then again, later, sitting at the bedside where Wei Ying lay unconscious while he himself played guqin, day after day, the two of them united in their determination and the quiet understanding between them.

I promise you, he tells her now, in the silence of his mind, the same words he had spoken to her then. I will do everything I can.

For an instant, he thinks he can feel a breath of air pass through the otherwise still room, drifting lightly over Wei Ying's hair before it fades and is gone.

Lan Wangji closes his eyes, and draws a slow, careful breath of his own.

"Then when you do," he says. "When you must. I will be here when you come back. Like this."

Equally quiet, and very certain.

[acrookedpath]

His eyes well up; he closes them before the next round of tears can get too far.

Thank you, he wants to say, and knows Lan Zhan will just dismiss it as stolidly as ever. But what else can he possibly offer when faced with this gift? Why does Lan Zhan keep coming back every time Wei Wuxian pushes him away?

He is thinking too much. He is tired, scoured and aching by the nightmare, probably still a little tipsy from too much wine in too short a span, and it is making him maudlin. Enjoy this while it lasts, he tells himself again, silently. That is all you can do.

[lightamidchaos]

He keeps his arm around Wei Ying and stays quiet for a while, steadying him, letting him absorb the warmth of the blanket around him and the sandalwood-scented room.

Eventually, he asks,

"Is there anything else? That would help?"

[acrookedpath]

"I don't know," he whispers. The tea sits warm in his hands; Lan Zhan's arm is steady and sure around him. He breathes in sandalwood. "I am used to hiding away even when they are not this bad. I wake and I wait for it to pass. That is all."

[lightamidchaos]

"We will wait together."

He wants to offer to play Tranquility for Wei Ying, and fears to do so.

"I could... talk," he offers, after a moment. "Share news. As a distraction?"

Talk. Easier to offer almost anything else, but this is Wei Ying. If talking will help, Lan Wangji will find the words to do so even if he has to carve himself open to locate them.

[acrookedpath]

All is silent for a moment... and then Wei Wuxian cracks the smallest of smiles.

"Talking," he repeats, and while he cannot muster up his full humor, there is a shadow of his light teasing. "You would do that for me?"

He shifts his head a little on Lan Zhan's shoulder, making himself more comfortable.

"Yes. I would like that."

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn."

Now that he has promised to do so, he has no idea how to begin. He clears his throat, then tries,

"Xichen tells me that Chifeng-zun commissioned a painter to come to the Unclean Realm. For Nie Huaisang."

[acrookedpath]

"Oh?" His smile grows, fractionally. "I hope they will meet with Nie-xiong's exacting standards."

His old friend takes few things seriously, but art, he knows, is high on the list.

"Is he well?"

[lightamidchaos]

He nods, then realizes Wei Ying might not be able to tell.

"Yes," he says aloud, instead.

"He is well. Chifeng-zun was encouraging him to train harder with the blade, but has recently changed his mind and started supporting his art more, Xichen says. I imagine he is pleased about that."

[acrookedpath]

Remembering his tea, Wei Wuxian shifts just enough to take a sip before resettling against Lan Zhan's shoulder.

"I am certain he is," he says with a small laugh. "What an accident of birth for him to be a Nie! But I am glad Chifeng-zun is letting him do more of what he wishes."

[lightamidchaos]

"He knows poetry, too, correct?"

He looks down at Wei Ying.

"We are not close. Not as you. But if you think he would appreciate it, I could send him a copy of Lan An's work."

[acrookedpath]

"He might," says Wei Wuxian, thoughtful. "He may wonder why you have sent it to him, but he will be appreciative."

His brow knits slightly as he remembers something else.

"You said someone was playing Clarity for Chifeng-zun, didn't you? Is he well?"

[lightamidchaos]

"Baxia's effects are beginning to trouble him," he says, simply. "He is more irritable, and Xichen is concerned that he is in danger of the qi deviation that so often affects the Nie leaders."

"Xichen has played for him, and has taught Lianfang-zun to do so, as well."

[acrookedpath]

Sometimes he nearly forgets how much time has passed back home -- as if Lan Zhan were the only one who has lived three years, and everyone else has lived the mere month Wei Wuxian has spent at the inn. It seems so sudden to think of Chifeng-zun in danger of qi deviation, but of course it would not be sudden at all. Much can happen in three years.

Much has.

He breathes out, the furrows in his brow deepening. "I hope it does not come to that," he murmurs. "If your brother is playing for him, though, he is in good hands."

[lightamidchaos]

"I hope so, too."

He casts about for another topic of news that might engage Wei Ying, and remembers that he had been interested that day in Yiling in hearing of new alliances.

"Baling Ouyang is doing well," he tries. "They are interested in forming closer ties with Gusu Lan, and have suggested sending their sect heir to Cloud Recesses for training when he is old enough."

At least it is not Pingyang Yao, he thinks, but refrains from mentioning that.

[acrookedpath]

"Ah, really?" He turns his head a little to give Lan Zhan a sidelong, curious glance. "You must have thoughts about that, Lan Zhan. Will you share them with me?"

[lightamidchaos]

He realizes, all at once, that Wei Ying may not know of his own involvement with Baling Ouyang during the Sunshot Campaign, which - he has been told - is part of the reason the sect still exists at all, as it had happened during the three months when he was --

--well.

"Mn." He clears his throat a little awkwardly. "Sect Leader Ouyang is -- tolerable."

A beat of quiet, as he tries to find the right words to follow that.

"Young A-Zizhen is five or six now, and there are several who will be disciples near to him in age."

Including A-Yuan.

"I think it could be... good?"

[acrookedpath]

"Tolerable! High praise, Lan Zhan," he teases, before taking another sip of tea. "I will hope A-Zizhen is tolerable as well, then, and that he and other disciples will not give you too much trouble when the time comes."

[lightamidchaos]

"He is young. He will be fine. Even if he is trouble."

[acrookedpath]

"As long as he does not dispel a barrier, climb over the roof, and attempt to bribe anyone with alcohol, I suppose."

This is the closest to a true grin Wei Wuxian has shown since he woke up.