[pfsb] happy halloween!

[acrookedpath]

It's that time of year again.

The inn is bustling. All manner of strange outfits have been donned (some more willingly than others). Lanterns flicker ominously in the corners, pumpkins stand sentry at either end of the bar, and every order comes complete with a handful of wrapped candies.

And -- if you're Wei Wuxian -- Madam Bar has also gifted you with an enormous array of tiny cakes, each one with a little candle stuck in its center. His second birthday at the inn has arrived, and he could not be more pleased.

(He's also wearing a red T-shirt that reads, simply, I'M THE CHAOS. Just like last year, he has set his mild confusion aside in favor of delight at the bounty Madam Bar has given him.)

Comments

[acrookedpath]

"The flower glass-house!" Wei Wuxian smacks his forehead. "How could I forget? Shijie, you will love that -- ah, but..."

He droops a little.

"El-ahrairah did warn we should stay inside past moonrise."

[lotus_sister]

A flicker of surprise flashes in Hanguang-jun’s eyes, but she nods. “Next time,” she says, firmly.

[acrookedpath]

"Yes," he agrees, perking up. "We will show you the inlet then as well!"

His smile softens.

"Perhaps the lotuses will even have blossomed by then." He looks to Lan Zhan. "Lan Zhan was able to bring seeds from Lotus Pier, some months ago. We planted them together."

[lightamidchaos]

The top curve of his ears flushes the faintest pink as Jiang Yanli stares at him in surprise and clear delight. "A-Xian, that's marvelous!"

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian beams. Catching sight of Lan Zhan's blush, he smothers a laugh and reaches to snag his hand.

"Isn't it?" he says. "I cannot wait for spring to see how tall they grow. We found a shallow curve in the lake that should be perfect for them."

[lotus_sister]

"I'm so pleased to hear it," she says, smiling. "How lovely they'll look!"

[acrookedpath]

"I will make sure you can see them in person, shijie."

He squeezes Lan Zhan's hand.

"Even if that means I pluck one at its full height and save it for your next visit."

[lightamidchaos]

He squeezes back, and wills his ears to stop showing his blush as Jiang Yanli teases, “You’d better. But I intend to be here again before that.”

Lan Wangji certainly hopes so. There must be a way to ensure it.

[acrookedpath]

"Good."

His eyes have gone suspiciously bright under the lights of the library, but quickly enough, Wei Wuxian blinks the encroaching tears away.

"I don't know if you would be interested in the flying machines," he goes on, thoughtful. "They're... very odd. Even for this place! Aiyo, if only the moon would set faster so we could go back outside."

[lotus_sister]

“Is there danger?” Hanguang-jun asks. She looks at A-Xian. “Maybe not directly?” she hazards.

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian scrunches up his nose, ambivalent. "It is hard to say," he agrees. "We were able to speak to El-ahrairah briefly, with the help of a translation talisman, and he said it was not wise for shijie and I to be outdoors while he met with the Black Rabbit of Inlé. Did the rabbit-wangye ever tell you of the Black Rabbit?"

[lightamidchaos]

“Not as you did,” Lan Wangji manages, struggling with his instant impulse to lock the door to the inn and keep Wei Ying and his sister safe.

He will not. He will never do anything to deny Wei Ying even the slightest scrap of free choice.

“If you wish me to check and see if they still remain, I can.”

[acrookedpath]

Their time together has made Lan Zhan so easy to read. A tiny scratch of a crease forms between Wei Wuxian's eyebrows; gently, he gives Lan Zhan's hand another squeeze, steadying this time. I am here.

"Perhaps," he says, glancing to Jiang Yanli, then back to Lan Zhan. "If you are willing."

[lightamidchaos]

“I am willing,” he says immediately, quiet and certain, while Jiang Yanli looks on.

“If you wish.”

[acrookedpath]

"All right." A small smile. "Then let's go downstairs and see."

Pocketing his notes as best he can (there are a lot of notes), he gets up from the table to lead the way.

[lotus_sister]

Jiang Yanli looks back and forth between them with a faint frown, but forbears to say anything. Instead, she helps collect A-Xian's notes until everything is gathered, then accompanies them back down to the common room.

Hanguang-jun stops them by the lake door. "I would ask you to wait there." He tips his head slightly toward a table some distance away, and meets A-Xian's look with a steady gaze.

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian nods. "All right," he murmurs -- and briefly, he lays a hand on Lan Zhan's cheek. "We will be fine, Lan Zhan."

[lightamidchaos]

He nods, makes sure he has a translation talisman from Wei Ying, and crosses through the door into the darkness.

The moonlight is cold and icy as it falls on the grounds outside the inn. Lan Wangji makes his way toward the stables, all senses fully alert, looking for any sign of El-ahrairah or the Black Rabbit.

[acrookedpath]

It is cold, yes, but not yet the chill that sinks deep into the bones of the living; the kind that feels as if warmth will never return.

Not until Lan Wangji passes near a fence post along the horse paddock.

Hm, says a deep, resonant voice. The robes Lan Wangji may as well be constructed from the thinnest paper, for all the good they suddenly do in keeping out the cold. Shadows swirl up the fence post, forming into the pitch-black outline of a rabbit -- a blackness so deep that no light could illuminate it. Its ears twitch. Stars glitter in its eyes as it peers closer.

You are looking for me, Moonlight, are you not?

[lightamidchaos]

"Yes." He draws on his golden core to keep the cold from consuming him, or to try, at least. Lan Wangji turns to the fence post and faces the Black Rabbit directly, without evasion. "If you are the Black Rabbit of Inle, I am. I have a request to make of you."

[acrookedpath]

I am as you name me.

It sits tall atop the fence post, holding Lan Wangji's gaze. For such a small creature, its presence looms far greater, like the yawning, endless mouth of a cave.

I am not much given to granting requests, however. Amused, and flickering with exasperation like a lightning storm: The Prince With a Thousand Enemies tells his stories, and soon everyone believes I will hand out favors to any who find me. But speak, Moonlight. Say what you came to say.

[lightamidchaos]

He brings his hands together before him and offers the spectral rabbit a formal bow. The darkness laps at the edges of his robes, drawing close around him. If he listens, he thinks he can hear the whispers of ghosts and the screams of the lost. If he looks behind him, he is not sure what he would see.

He does not look. He tries not to listen, as he had in the Burial Mounds, in the deep and icy shadows of Cold Pond Cave when grief and madness threatened to consume him.

"I do not assume that anything you agreed to grant would be without price," he murmurs. "It was not my desire to disturb you. But Wei Ying - Hawthorn - has received a great gift tonight, and I would do all that I could to see him be able to keep it."

[acrookedpath]

The glittering eyes -- like diamonds, like frost -- narrow.

Keep it, he echoes. For how long?

Surely, the voice implies, Lan Wangji is not really asking what the Black Rabbit thinks he is asking.

[lightamidchaos]

"I am not sure how it came to happen," Lan Wangji tells him. "It may only be a spell for one night. I would only ask that it not be ended early under your influence."

[acrookedpath]

Ah.

The Black Rabbit settles back on its haunches, still regarding Lan Wangji.

It won't, he says, calmly, as long as we do not meet under moonrise. El-ahrairah told your friend as much, didn't he? (It is not a question.) I cannot take Hawthorn to join my warren -- he is human, after all -- but the dead are the dead, Moonlight. It will not be comfortable for him, or his sister, to stand in my presence.