[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

[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.”

[acrookedpath]

A spark of curiosity lights Wei Wuxian's eye.

"And you can find it here, eh? Sometimes," he amends. "When it is not hiding."

[blue_ajah]

“Oh, yes.” There is something very wry indeed about her tone. “The way, for most, is through the woods.”

[acrookedpath]

He can recognize the wry tone, but chooses to ignore it. Honestly, Moiraine is such a spoilsport!

Brightening, he looks to Lan Zhan again, grinning. "All our exploring, and we never knew an entire world of dreams was so close by. Something else to look for when we visit the rabbits next, Lan Zhan!"

[blue_ajah]

“Wei Ying—“

There is caution in his tone, she thinks. Moiraine seats herself at the table and signals to Holly to bring her tea.

“Would you hear a word of advice?”

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian clearly hears the note of caution, too, if his exaggerated pout is anything to go on. But before he can start to wheedle and tease in earnest, Moiraine finally takes a seat, and all of Wei Wuxian's playfulness vanishes.

He snags a loquat from the dishes at the table's center. "I suppose," he says before biting into it.

Listening to advice does not mean following it, after all.

[blue_ajah]

“Should you encounter him, Lord Morpheus - Dream - appreciates respect.”

Her manner and tone are absolutely tranquil.

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian wrinkles his nose.

"I am capable of being polite, Moiraine," he says once he's swallowed his food. "When it's warranted."

[blue_ajah]

“I am quite aware of that,” she says, unruffled either by his words or by his cultivation partner’s glower.

“But you should understand that the Endless are not like mortals.”

[acrookedpath]

"I'd assume not, if they are able to craft an entire realm shaped by their desires alone," he says. Polishing off the loquat, he reaches for his tea again. "And able to further shape the same realm with the dreams of others."

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine shakes her head. “He is all dreams, and the Dreaming,” she explains. “He is Endless. He is Dream.”

[acrookedpath]

"...Ah."

That is a little quieter, as he studies Moiraine.

"So a deity. Not just a powerful being."

[blue_ajah]

“Some might call him so, but I am not certain it is that simple. The Endless are the very embodiment of certain concepts,” she tells them.

“Dream. Desire. Despair. Destiny. Delirium. Destruction. And Death.”