[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

[lotus_sister]

She trades a look with Han-- with Lan Wangji, hers fondly amused, his tolerant and no less fond, she thinks, and turns to follow A-Xian.

"What's so wonderful about this inlet, anyway?"

[acrookedpath]

"You will see!" Wei Wuxian promptly ruins any attempt at mystery by continuing: "It is not a part of the lake at all, but a piece of the ocean. Somehow the inn has carved out a place for it, with warm air and saltwater."

[lightamidchaos]

"I do not understand how," he adds, noticing how startled Jiang Yanli looks. "Some sort of magic, it seems, but there is no apparent harm in it."

[acrookedpath]

"I almost wish it were a little colder," says Wei Wuxian with a laugh. "When it snows, you can see the inlet boundaries perfectly -- all the snow melts the instant it arrives at the inlet!"

[lotus_sister]

"Mn," says Lan Wangji, and Jiang Yanli has to focus on her footing with careful attention to avoid letting her own laughter show.

"I'm sure it's quite different from either of our homes," she compromises on.

[acrookedpath]

"Very," he agrees, "but that's what makes it so interesting!"

The gentle, curving path along the lake has begun to turn to sand beneath their feet. Within moments, a hint of salt-smell drifts on the air, and the grasses -- rather than thinning out little by little -- come to a sudden stop. Wei Wuxian halts on the border between the inlet and the rest of the lake.

"Here we are! Come, stand here -- "

He waves his shijie closer.

[lightamidchaos]

He steps across the border with the inlet to stand where it is warm, and watches as Jiang Yanli approaches Wei Ying and follows his directions.

[acrookedpath]

"Can you feel the change yet?" He's grinning. "See, like this -- "

He stretches out his arms: one hand on the lake side of the border, one on the ocean side.

[lotus_sister]

She gives him a patient look and mimics him. In the next moment, her eyes go wide with surprise.

[acrookedpath]

If possible, his smile brightens even more. He nods enthusiastically, wiggling his fingers as if to beckon both cold air and warm air into his hands.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

[lightamidchaos]

"It is," she declares. "Is it always like this?"

"Mn," Lan Wangji confirms.

[acrookedpath]

"I would have planted the lotuses here were it not for the salt water, since it is always so warm."

He takes his shijie's hands, coaxing her to step into the full warmth of the inlet.

"Sometimes, when I went to visit the rabbits last winter, I would stop here for a moment to warm up before continuing on my way."

[lotus_sister]

"Who wouldn't?" She squeezes his fingers and follows him across the odd border, walking down toward the water as Lan Wangji trails along after them. "It's lovely."

[acrookedpath]

When they are close to the water's edge -- but not so close to be splashed by an errant wave -- Wei Wuxian flops into the sand, contented, and leans back onto his palms to admire the view.

"Someday I will figure out how it came to be," he says. "Whether it is another door to somewhere outside the inn, or a piece that was brought here, as the inn brings so many people. I have talked to some that have seen a ship floating on the water not far from shore."

He points to a patch of water in the distance.

[lightamidchaos]

“A black ship,” he agrees. “I have heard the same.”

Lan Wangji moves to the side and settles on one of the large rocks to watch them.

[acrookedpath]

"Maybe we will be lucky enough to see it tonight."

He tilts his head toward the moon. Gradually, his smile turns more thoughtful; dims, slightly, as he looks Jiang Yanli's way.

A little hesitant: "Shijie, do you... remember any of the very first time you arrived here?"

[lotus_sister]

“The very first time?” she asks, frowning a little as she studies him. “Do you not - you don’t mean in the room upstairs?”

It’s a question, but not entirely.

[acrookedpath]

He shakes his head.

Quieter, "When Harrow performed her consecration ritual. Here, in the salt water."

[lotus_sister]

She starts to shake her head, then stops, frowning in concentration.

“There was a voice,” she says, after long moments of silence. Her glance goes to A-Xian and holds, thoughtful. “Your voice?”

[acrookedpath]

"Yes." He smiles, small and crooked, as a flicker of worry lights in his eyes. "I acted as Harrow's voice throughout the ritual. And..."

He trails off. She does not seem to remember. It would be a kindness to leave it that way, surely, given the horrors he saw: his shijie standing waist-deep in the inlet's waters, gored by a lotus blossom, her white robes stained red by the blood dripping down her chest.

[lotus_sister]

She shakes her head. “It was like I was dreaming. I could hear something, from a long way away, but I couldn’t make it out, not really.”

She looks at Lan Wangji, silently listening. “You played? There was music. Faint. I don’t remember anything else… just floating closer, like on the river.”

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian breathes out, his shoulders sagging with the movement.

"It was such a strange collision of power," he murmurs. "Far beyond what any of us anticipated. I saw things, as I spoke with Harrow's voice..." He laughs, a little, but there is no humor to it. "I am glad they weren't real after all."

He studies Jiang Yanli.

"You encouraged me to keep going, though, when I faltered."

[lightamidchaos]

“I did? Of course I would,” she echoes, and Lan Wangji feels a pang in his heart. He remembers seeing another shape that had tried to form there that night, before Jiang Yanli had appeared.

It is better this way. It is. Wei Ying has missed his sister so much, and she him.

[acrookedpath]

"My shijie has always looked out for me," he says: quiet, still, but warmer now.

He looks back to the expanse of ocean in front of them. After a moment, he exhales another soft sigh.

"I hope that Harrow is all right. She has been gone a long time, by the inn's reckoning, but perhaps it is like how time passed differently for Lan Zhan and I."

[lotus_sister]

“She’s another friend,” Jiang Yanli murmurs. It’s obvious.

“I don’t pretend to understand how that works here, but I’d think it’s certainly possible.”