awashlogs | March Catch-All

Lan WangJi had seen people sit with these black boxes outside, and open them, and press... things? And look at things on the upper part?

So he took his own and sat on a bench, trying to figure out what it was about.

After a few moments, he figured out the latch that made the lid pop open a little.

Ah!

It had been a few days. WangJi was still getting used to the town, but with the efforts that Wei Ying made, his moving around was at least somewhat easier, and he could explore.

He did not venture very far in the woods, but he did go in, because what his senses told him could not easily be given by anyone else. And because, sometimes, he needed to be alone, even if most round him was colorless and dangerous.

He was getting back to town from one of those, his feet steady on top of his sword which was flying just high enough to clear the shrubbery on the forest floor. Who needed paths when flying was an option?

[ Is that some guy flying up on his sword, of all things? He's met someone who told him that was possible, and he was pretty good at it, too. But actually seeing it baffles him.

He's coming back to the town with fish in tow when he spots him, and he squints. Huh, this one isn't quite the right colour -- Wuxian tended towards the darker colours, right? ]

Nice sword. [ He calls up. ]

[ There’s a knock on the door of Lan Wangji’s colorless house in Bluo. Anyone who opens the door will find not a person standing there, but instead a wood-carved, mechanical rabbit. It has articulated joints, its whiskers quiver, and its ears move. It’s attracted to spiritual energy, and so will hop up and approach anyone possessed of such powers.

The creator of the rabbit is standing just out of sight. ]

[ WangJi blinks down at the young man, then lowers the sword and lightly steps off it. ]

Bichen, [ he agrees. Cleaning anything that may be clinging to the nearly-translucent silver blade with a pulse of spiritual energy, he holds it to be seen - though he is somewhat unlikely to relinquish his hold.

Very Definitely not Wei WuXian. ]

[ And the one who opens the door has so much of that. Besides, by now he is very aware how rabbits move, so - while the mechanical part is strange - he recognizes what he's seeing... and touching, soon enough, his hands taking the small thing even if he only can sense one living thing about it...

One person.

Long fingers resting on the wooden back, WangJi looks up. He doesn't try to look for him - he would only come when he is ready - but he does call. ]

Wei Ying?

[ Soft, and a little sad, and warm. ]

[ He’d contemplated trying to avoid Lan Wangji, but immediately dismissed the idea. This was too small a town, after all. He’d worried the man would try to fight him again, but considering the condition of his body..... he doubted Lan Wangji would come looking for a fight, anyway. So the rabbit is something of a peace offering, a reminder of more carefree days.

He expected to hear his name called in a monotone, perhaps laced with impatience or irritation. His little toy dismissed as “ridiculous,” or something like that. But this voice bereft of its edge... despite Maiden Maya’s ministrations, he must still be in a lot of pain. ]

[. Anyway, time to jump out and exclaim: ]

Here! I’m here! That’s me!

[ He’s all smiles and nonsense now, bounding up to Lan Wangji’s doorway, arms wide and eyes bright, his long ponytail bouncing. ]

Ah, but I guess you got used to the “new me” already! Hahahahaha!

[ Enjoy the sight of your creation being... not petted, exactly, but held. Also if WangJi was being polite and concerned when they first met here, now the way he is looking at him is almost soft. As close as WangJi can get to it while his heart is both soaring because Wei Ying! Alive! and sinking because... well.

Everything else. ]

Mn. [ Then he steps slightly to the side. ]

Come in?

[ There is tea. Because of course there is tea. Even if he can't guarantee the quality - at all - there is tea. ]

A-aah?

[ He stops moving and gapes at Lan Wangji. He hadn't... expected to be invited in. He'd expected a dismissive remark or at the very least, a sharp, impatient exhalation. It's funny how, after all this time, he remembers the way the man's eyes move, how his brows subtly furrow and twitch, how his lips thin and go hard. But this... isn't the man he remembers at all. It's as if he's possessed.

Earlier, Lan Wangji hadn't known who he was, and so it made sense that his expressions might be different. But now...

Lan Zhan! Is it really you? Did someone steal your body again, were you that unlucky?

But as soon as he thinks these words to himself, he's uncertain. Who else calls him "Wei Ying"? ]

Edited 2019-03-12 02:47 (UTC)

[ !!!!!!!! ]

[ Soft eyes, warm voice, inviting him in??? "Wei Ying"? There can only be one person! Pyra! He's laughing on the inside, so hard he wants to burst. If she's playing a joke on him, fine! He'll turn it right around on her!

His eyes light up and he smiles back even more warmly. ]

I'd love to! I can't think of anything I'd like better! Hahaha!

[ He strides inside, past "Lan Wangji," throwing a wink over his shoulder as he goes. ]

Mn.

[ Oh. The wink...

WangJi lowers his eyes to the construct in his hands, heart clenching as he knows that this is another show, then quietly closes the door and follows inside.

There is a cobbled-together low writing surface, with pieces of paper neatly stacked but they clearly look like calculations and trials, in WangJi's orderly handwriting. The only difference is that he is using a pencil, since he couldn't find proper brush and ink, and the ability to sharpen these and write more with them appealed to him. ]

Sit. [ Whenever he might please to, not that he needs to specify that. ] Will bring tea.

[ Beaming brightly, he starts to sit down. Being served tea by Pyra is a delightful prospect. Being served tea by Lan Wangji is entertaining as well. In all, it's a delicious combination, one inside the other's body. He can't tell exactly why it's so delicious, but he's certain it is, for some reason. But before can get settled, he remembers how much pain Lan Wangji's body must still be suffering, no matter who's inside. Pyra's motive in seizing the man's body was probably the same as his: getting it to a healer. So hopefully he's in even less pain than he was when Wei Wuxian last experienced it. Even so... ]

No, no, no, I'll help. I insist!

[ He's on his feet and following "Lan Wangji" close behind like a shadow. ]

Wei Ying. [ Quiet, not scolding. ] There is no need.

[ But he will not command. Merely move to the stove. He sets the construct rabbit on the floor, moving with a familiarity with having small affectionate creature underfoot. His motions are calm and orderly on the familiar task, and the other man's presence is... good. If Wei Ying does help, he'll make sure they work in harmony. ]

You... went to heal this body.

[ A brilliant conversationalist, as always. ]

[ What is a bichen? Is it the name of the sword? Noctis takes it in anyway, because that is super cool and he really needs to learn that trick. ]

You gotta teach me that.

[ Noctis is admiring the sword, coming a little closer but sensing the unspoken reluctance to release it, respecting the sentiment. ]

[ WangJi considers the youth for a moment, but then he shakes his head slightly. ]

Requires... high level cultivation. You do not have - your body does not have.

[ He does everything requiring bending and stooping... stoking the fire, getting water, all the while sneaking glances at Lan Wangji. It's been four months, from his point of view, since he'd seen the man silhouetted against the night sky, floating on his sword, strumming his guqin. He'd seemed like an immortal or a god descended from the heavens, surrounded by an aura of frost. It was hard to say which was brighter that night, the moon or Lan Wangji.

But he'd seemed older then, his face harder... ]

I did.

[ There's a little delay in his answer, as he comes out of his reverie. ]

[ And then he pulls a face. ]

Of course I did, it huuuuuurt!

[ He hops around as if he were remembering the pain. You are kind, Pyra, he thinks to himself, to take this on for a stranger. ]

Ow ow ow! Ah, if only that body's original owner had sought out a healer himself, it could have saved everyone a lot of trouble! Ahahahahaha! But we know how stubborn he is!

[ A moment. And then WangJi realizes the meaning of that wink. Wei Ying thinks he is addressing someone else. It's... almost a relief. That he is not trying to play and pretend to him.

It does nothing for WangJi's very atypical wish to reach out and touch him. Just touch him. Remind himself that he is here, and he is real, and he is warm and breathing and alive.

Instead, he keeps his hands covered by the edge of the sleeves when he is not using them. ]

This body's original owner never took to avoiding disciplinary punishment.

[ He doesn't know how much Wei Ying has told whomever he thinks he has switched bodies with, but this is a reminder that he thinks he needs to make. If nothing else, this fact Wei Ying would hardly have forgotten. ]

Even by trying to mend the damages caused by it early.

[ ...

As Maya had performed her healing, and the feeling on his—Lan Wangji's—back changed from a uniform wall of pain into more distinct sensations, he'd been able to puzzle out what the man's wounds were: whip scars. Only a discipline whip would hurt this much... actually, only the Lan Sect's discipline whips would hurt this much. And so many, it was beyond inhumane. He might have died! It would take years to recover from such damages.

In any case, he probably couldn't have avoided confessing to Pyra what these wounds were, once she'd seized his body. If anyone could wangle the truth out of him, it would be her.

He laughs. ]

How well I know! As for me, punishment never worked, ever, so I always avoided it if I could, hahahahaha!

[ What could Lan Zhan have done to deserve such a a thing? The only people who could have been authorized to deliver such a punishment were his brother and his uncle.... how could they, of all people, do such a thing to their beloved, star disciple? ]

[ WangJi cannot, nor does he try to, help himself. He spends a long moment basking in the sound of this laughter, sweet and maybe a trifle more than Wei Ying feels, but not forced. Not ... not cruel, vicious. Just Wei Ying's laughter. ]

Mn. You forget all past pain as soon as the wound is healed.

[ However, unlike something he might have sent in the past, this time the words come out more calm and even concerned - for there are surely now wounds which have not, and will not, heal, even if Wei Ying never says so - rather than angry or resentful about it. ]

You break rules, but seldom choose to do things that are genuinely harmful for others. So you know your transgressions are superficial, hence punishment often overdone.

Not so in this case.

[ Pyra, through Lan Wangji's eyes, is looking at him fondly. It's such a strange sensation. Strange and a little sad. Had he ever been able to have a civilized conversation with the man? His memory is full of holes, and at the moment, he can't quite recall the dinner they'd had, that day in Yiling. Freshest in his mind is the memory of that sword glare coming for him, because it just happened.

Lan Wangji's monotone voice is saying something about punishment... Pyra probably picked up from him that it's his favorite topic... and he's not paying too much attention to the words, because a terrible thought has just occurred to him...

Pyra's intense guilt, her wish not to exist as atonement for what she's done... Lan Wangji, with his rigid ideas about rules and punishment, would be a terrible influence. In fact, he might try to destroy her himself, if he knew! ]

Enough, enough, let's not talk about that! I've heard it all before, and it never stuck! Besides, is this a pleasant thing for old friends to discuss over tea? How boring, what a terrible conversationalist you are, Lan Zhan!

[ Involuntarily, he reaches for Lan Wangji's hand, gazing warmly into his eyes. ]

Obsessed with one topic. How about "forgiveness"? Let's talk about that, instead.

[ There is a soft 'mn,' at the first part. Yes, Wei Ying has said so before, and he knows it is truth.

But then Wei Ying takes his hand. Then Wei Ying looks at him like that, and the eyes are strange but the person behind them. Right now, there is not a shred of doubt in him that it is Wei Ying. He has not looked at him like that (he will probably never look at him like that), but WangJi knows. He feels as though Wei Ying can hear how hard his heart is struggling in his chest, almost enough to make him dizzy.

... and then

Forgiveness.

The word sinks for a moment, before WangJi's eyes widen. He has not thought that possible. Because he didn't think he deserved it. And then because the one person whose forgiveness truly mattered to him was not alive to give it. (His elders mattered. His uncle and his brother mattered.

But not as much as the person they had wronged, too.)

He gives the question a long moment of consideration, face smoothing out from his surprise but the attention not wavering from the man in front of him. Before he asks, quietly, ]

Is forgiveness something you can give... Lan Zhan?

[ Phrasing it carefully. Carefully. ]

March Catch-All

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