[pfsb]

[acrookedpath]

The lantern is done. It's a momentous achievement; a culmination of all of Wei Wuxian's work since he first arrived at the inn...

And now it means he doesn't have a project to work on anymore. The agony!

He'll think of one soon enough. In the meantime, he's settled for sketching out an update to the Compass of Evil, whittling away at a block of wood Madam Bar provided him. If he has all the tools of a thousand worlds at his disposal, it should be no trouble at all to fine-tune the instrument.

Comments

[acrookedpath]

Instantly, Wei Wuxian perks up, all his attention leaping from the half-carved compass to Lan Zhan.

"Lan Zhan!" He grins, brilliantly, as he drops the tool with another clatter and jumps to his feet. "Hello! How long have you been standing there watching me?"

Catching Lan Zhan's hand, he tugs him into a quick kiss.

[lightamidchaos]

“Not long.” He kisses him back and leads him to his seat once more.

“A new project?”

[acrookedpath]

"Ah, no, merely revisions to an old one." He flops back into his chair and nudges the schematics toward Lan Zhan. "I'll think of something new soon -- but until I do, I'll work on perfecting the Compass of Evil."

[lightamidchaos]

"A disconcerting name, I maintain." He leans down to accept the tray from the waitrat and sets it on the table beside Wei Ying. It contains tea and an assortment of snacks to make up for any missed meals.

[acrookedpath]

"A descriptive name," he counters, laughing. "What else should I call it? -- Ah, look at this!"

As always, he sounds a bit sheepish as Lan Zhan sets the food atop the table, finally remembering how long he's gone without eating. He plucks a few walnuts from one of the dishes. "Thank you, Lan Zhan."

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn," he responds to Wei Ying's thanks. Lan Wangji reaches to pour him a cup of tea.

"It is both. Descriptive and disconcerting."

[acrookedpath]

"What is even more disconcerting is how I thought this -- " he taps a finger on one particular sigil in his notes -- "was the height of elegant solutions when I first carved it. Imagine! There are much better ways to gain the same effect, look -- "

He shoves the food in his mouth as he flips another page of his notes."

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn," he says again, much more fondly, and leans over to look at what Wei Ying is indicating.

[blue_ajah]

It has been some time since she crossed worlds to step into the bar at the end of them. Days, weeks even - perhaps longer, in the bar. Moiraine does not know for certain how long has passed, and at what pace the passage of time has taken place there.

But she has delayed as long as she dares, laying every ward and protection that she can think of around the Grove without entering it. Hawk has promised to watch, and to have the Bookhouse Boys set guards of their own. Still, there is a looming sense of disaster in waiting.

She would prefer for it not to come to pass. Light help me, that I can do what I must.

The Aes Sedai glances around as she enters, observing those who are present. As she spots the cultivators, a sort of determination settles over her, and she glides across the room toward them.

"Light illumine," she offers, a tranquil greeting. "It has been some time, has it not?"

[acrookedpath]

Some time indeed. While even Wei Wuxian could not forget Moiraine's existence, the months -- possibly even years -- since their last meeting have pulled her from the forefront of his mind. Clearly startled, he straightens up; within moments he tries to school his expression, with little success.

"Moiraine." Wei Wuxian fights down the urge to sweep his notes out of view. "It has, yes."

[blue_ajah]

She arches an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between him and Lan Wangji, the latter of whom regards her with an impassive expression.

"I may hope you have been well?"

[acrookedpath]

"We have." He glances sidelong at Lan Zhan. "Quite a lot has happened, but most of it has been good, I'd say."

Snagging his cup of tea, he takes a sip, giving himself a little more time to wipe the rest of the shock off his face.

"What brings you to our table?"

[blue_ajah]

"For one," she says, with perfect calm, "I thought to greet you. For another... I am interested to know if you are still willing to investigate matters in Twin Peaks."

At the very least.

[acrookedpath]

...Huh.

Wei Wuxian pauses, his teacup hovering above the table. Beside him, Lan Zhan does not move a muscle.

"How much worse has it gotten?"

[lightamidchaos]

“It has not broken through my wards,” the woman says. Lan Wangji eyes her narrowly, suspicious of what comes next. He does not have long to wait before she adds, “Yet. But the pressure is mounting.”

[acrookedpath]

A small, crooked smile touches his lips.

"The wards have held well, then," he says: not in praise, but in observation.

[blue_ajah]

“They are holding,” she counters. “For now. But these last few weeks have been such that I would hesitate to depend on them alone.”

[acrookedpath]

There is something about the way she says the last few weeks --

Wei Wuxian's eyes narrow in thought.

"When you say it has been a while since we last saw each other," he says, "exactly how long has it been, Moiraine?"

[blue_ajah]

“About a month, as time is measured here in this place,” she returns. “How long has it been for you?”

[acrookedpath]

Whatever discrepancy he expected, it was not one that large. His eyebrows rise; quickly, he exchanges another glance with Lan Zhan.

"When I last saw you, it was my first winter at the inn," he says. "I've seen another entire winter since then -- and two springs, and two summers."

[blue_ajah]

The Aes Sedai nods. “Such things are far from unknown,” she tells them. “The passage of time varies greatly between worlds and this place. Twin Peaks is one of those where it seems to always run slower than here.”

[acrookedpath]

He huffs a laugh. "I suppose we are fortunate not to have dealt with that very much," he says.

Not for the first time, he thinks of Harrow; sends up another silent prayer that she has not been hurt, or lost her way to the inn, but merely been delayed by its vagaries.

[blue_ajah]

“Are there others, of which we should be aware?” Lan Wangji asks.

Moiraine inclines her head very slightly. “Perhaps. I do not know which you have already encountered,” she points out. “Some of the rooms upstairs have seemed to slow time, for example. Or the Dreaming. Although I am given to understand that it is harder to find the Dreaming from here than it used to be… but not impossible.”

[acrookedpath]

"The Dreaming," echoes Wei Wuxian. "I've heard of that in passing, but don't know very much of it. Is it just as it sounds? A place of dreams?"

[blue_ajah]

She cannot keep herself from a swift glance upward, then around, looking for the gleam of a starlit glance, the shifting motion of robes, but she sees no sign.

Moiraine looks back at them both. “Tel’aran’rhiod,” she says. “The World of Dreams; the Dreaming. It is the realm of Dream of the Endless, a place where reality is shaped by his wishes and the thoughts of dreamers or those who travel in dreams.”