For Wei Ying

[lan_wangji]

Filling the day is not the problem for Lan Wangji. His days have been filled, all his life, with every minute accounted for. One rose at precisely 5AM, had tea and a small meal, cleaned one's self and then began morning meditations. The rest of the day was filled with physical training, studies, and practical application. After the evening meal and bath, a meditation focusing on reflecting on one's progress and behavior was completed and notes made before falling asleep at precisely 9PM.

These things can, in some way or another, be done in this place as well. The course of studies are very different as are the practical application. They are...disappointing, largely. Every day reveals some new way he is weaker and duller and unable to provide to the world what he once could. He might have been cold and not particularly liked but he was unparalleled in skill. Here, well. Here he does not know quite who he is or ought to be. Wei Ying points out often, that not all of the 3000 rules he grew up under need apply so literally. But parsing through 3000 rules, some he holds very dear, and making such determinations feels impossible some days.

The days when he cannot make those decisions, he wanders without aim. This is definitely against the rules. He likes the market, early in the morning before the crowds have descended. At this time of day it is only himself and those out gathering supplies for the day's meals. He'd rarely gone to market in Caiyi Town, disliking the bustle and the stares and the comments he was clearly meant to overhear. But no one cares who he is, here. If anyone finds his silence off-putting they do not say so. He is looking over various trinkets, bits of leather and bone fashioned into jewelry when he sees an array of combs. He does not know where the impulse comes from, only that he has hazy memories of styling Wei Ying's hair (he really must never drink again). He takes it without another thought, horrified at the lack of payment system but determined to find a way to make it up to the merchant. It is a purchase born entirely out of impulse and affection rather than need, another rule broken.

A few quick strokes with a small knife have inlaid a small protection charm, likely useless in this place but he thinks Wei Ying will appreciate it. He has no idea how he will go about giving it to him but he wraps it up in a piece of cloth and heads over to Heimdall District, feeling light and not a little unsettled.

"Wei Ying," he sends through the bizarre bracelet contraption. "Am in Heimdall. May I come to the Haus?"

Comments

[yiling_laozu]

"Very lucky," Wei Wuxian murmurs to himself, looking out at the lands on the other side of the river as if the enchantment will immediately make itself known. He takes hold of the boat and pushes it into the water, running alongside it to hop in. His boots splash Lan Wangji's knees, and he winces in apology as he takes up his oar.

"Being an ordinary man is messy, Lan Zhan," he says, for if they're adventuring without their old magics, more will surely come. He pulls the oar smoothly through the water, working with the current to take them more swiftly towards the settlement's edge.

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan very much suspects that Wei Ying is just a particularly messy man but he does not voice the thought, choosing instead to take a patient breath and flick muddy water off his knees.

He looks around at the bright sun and the leaves that are changing from green to shades of gold, and wonders what it would be like to spend days like this. Simply following whims. He suspects it would get very agitating very quickly but he is glad for it, at least this day.

It's that thought that reminds him of his purchase and he carefully pulls out the comb, covered in soft green cloth. He has no idea what to say about it, what excuse to give. He realizes, just now, he's never really done anything like this at all.

"Here," he finally says, thrusting the gift at Wei Ying.

[yiling_laozu]

"Ey?" Wei Wuxian asks, finding a small, green parcel suddenly beneath his eyes. He puts down the oar and takes it. "Lan Zhan is giving me this? It's..."

Carefully unfolding the green cloth, Wei Wuxian finds himself gazing down at a wooden comb. It's fairly plain as combs go, but as he turns it over he sees a hand carved protection charm in the wood, and he smiles.

"Is this because you styled my hair in the river pool?" he asks, looking up at Lan Wangji. "Thank you, Lan Zhan. Now I have something tangible to remember it by."

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan is a little bit mortified but it is partially the truth and he doesn't want to say that the other is because he suspects Wei Ying does not know how to properly comb his hair.


He nods, relieved and pleased that Wei Ying seems to like the gift, rather than being offended which Lan Zhan only now realizes was a possibility. This sort of thing is as stressful as he'd always imagined.

"Remember doing without permission," he apologizes, scandalized at how bold he'd been. "Sorry. Shouldn't touch without permission."

[yiling_laozu]

"Lan Zhan has permission to touch me," Wei Wuxian scoffs. If a scenario exists where such touch would not be welcome, Wei Wuxian can't imagine it. "Always." He even holds three fingers to his head. "I promise I won't be bothered."

Forgetting the oars for now, Wei Wuxian lifts the comb, running it experimentally through his long hair. "It works very well, Lan Zhan! Though I don't expect I can manage such ornate plaits as the ones you gave me, fine comb or not."

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan nods, grateful he'd not crossed a boundary with Wei Ying. The thing he most dreads is any of his feelings, his impulses, making Wei Ying uncomfortable.

"Like Wei Ying's regular style," he states, leaning forward and grabbing for the oars to give Wei Ying a moment to play.

"Just enjoyed...playing," he finally decides on, not sure what else to call what he'd done to Wei Ying's hair. There was no purpose, no desire to change how Wei Ying styled himself. He just wanted to.

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian's eyes dart worriedly to the oars in Lan Wangji's hands. He wielded a sword in battle, yes, and would do many more thing out of necessity while in pain, but Wei Wuxian hates to think of the scars on his back pulling for every row.

"Gusu Lan's styles are not so orante," he observes. "You save that all for the hairpieces. The Nie clan always fascinated me. Who has time for so many braids when there is war to be done?" He shrugs. Nie Mingjue could pull off a good many things - being fierce and still looking incredible had been one of them.

[lan_wangji]

"Mm, elaborate styles not allowed," he parrots, actually unsure why the decision had been made long ago to focus on the hair pieces rather than styles to indicate status. He'd never dreamed of asking. He rows them gently upstream, the movement unfamiliar but not terribly difficult so far.

He has not perhaps, actually, rowed a boat. But he has been in many boats before and seen it done and it seems fairly straightforward.

"Ribbon is hard to secure without magic," he admits, feeling very much as if he is betraying his entire Clan by saying so. "Must rise earlier to make hair look correct."

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian looks up from his comb to crow at him. "I thought it must be magic! They couldn't remain so straight otherwise." He's seen Lan Wangji fight hundreds of fierce corpses and have nary a strand of hair out of place before.

"If it's too terrible, I can do it for you," Wei Wuxian offers, brows pinched. "Do you think it troubles Odin that you wear another clan's mark?"

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan smiles softly as he imagines that, Wei Ying coming over early in the morning every day to try and help him secure his ribbon. It is very thoughtful and very ridiculous.

"Mm, must rise very early to help every day," he warns, noting that ahead a mist seems to have settled on the forest. He wonders if this is the marking

"Unsure if Odin minds. Considered it but have always worn it. It is sacred. Refuse to not wear it."

[yiling_laozu]

"It is part of Lan Zhan," says Wei Wuxian, twisting to watch the shore come closer. "Of course you should keep it. Even a god shouldn't touch it, only your wife." Wei Wuxian grins, then, quick and bright.

"Wei Wuxian has touched it many times," he laughs.

[lan_wangji]

"Will not take a wife. Don't want a wife," Lan Zhan says firmly, eyes steady on the mist growing closer. He has never thought of himself as taking any kind of partner, assumed until the last years that he was not built for that type of affection.

Wei Ying has indeed touched it many times and perhaps Lan Zhan should have explained how intimate that was but it is too late, now.

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian' laughter fades, that ever present smile fading into thoughtfulness. "Won't Lan Zhan be lonely?" he asks. "If we are very lucky, life is long. Wouldn't it be like - "

He stops abruptly, his eyes wide as he realizes Lan Wangji doesn't know he knows about his mother and the Silent Room. The last thing Wei Wuxian could ever wish for Lan Wangji is for him to be confined, even inside his own heart. "I don't think I want a wife, either," he says instead. "I've never wished for what others think I should."

[lan_wangji]

"Did not say I want to be alone," he clarifies, frowning as tendrils of fog start wrapping around them, blurring the shore on either side.

"Said I would not take a wife."

At that he stops rowing, sitting straight as he hopes the subject will swiftly change, although a very selfish part of him is pleased that Wei Ying does not yearn for a wife.

[yiling_laozu]

"Well that's alright, then," says Wei Wuxian, shivering slightly as the temperature seems to drop. "I'll just stay with you." Even Lan Wangji's form across from him is no longer as clear, and Wei Wuxian turns his worried expression towards the shore.

"Lan Zhan, what is this? Some kind of warning to go no further?"

[lan_wangji]

"Mm, does seem," he murmurs, aiming the boat towards the shore to the best of his ability. It would seem to be better to try and stay towards the shore.

"Does Wei Ying want to the heed the warning or press on?" he asks, fairly certain he knows the answer. It is not against the rules, precisely, to go outside the border. The war had occurred outside of the border. But it is not encouraged. Lan Zhan will need to rely on Wei Ying to make this decision for him.

"Ahead, have been told forest changes. River changes. Always. Land is unsettled."

[yiling_laozu]

"Press on," says Wei Wuxian, touching Suibian where it rests at his side. He has to admit, after so long without, it feels good to carry his own sword again, and to wield it, even without his golden core. For a moment Wei Wuxian gazes down at it as one might an old, dear friend, then looks eagerly again to the shore.

"The land is as alive as we are," he realizes. "I hope it isn't hungry."

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan feels the bump of the shore against the front of the boat and straightens again, rowing up river but attempting to the keep the shore just to their left in case they need to orient themselves.

The fog is so thick he can no longer see Wei Ying sitting across from him. It is disturbing and he hopes it clears, swiftly.

"Keep talking," he commands, wanting some tangible proof Wei Ying has not been spirited away. "Anything."

[yiling_laozu]

"Like in the forest of Dafun mountain," says Wei Wuxian, leaning out of the boat trying to see where they're going. "Lan Zhan," he says, worries crystalling over Lan Wangji. If there are obstacles in the water, Lan Wangji lacks the skill - and the vision - to avoid them, and if they overturn Wei Wuxian can't be sure he can get them both to shore.

"Find the shore. Any shore. We must get off the water until we can see."

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan takes a sharp breath when the weight of the boat tips, hearing Wei Ying move around. "Wei Ying, sit up," he hisses, afraid he might not find him if he slips into the water.

"Shore is left. Must keep rowing to get out of the fog," he argues, unsure why stumbling around in the forest is better than continuing as they are. "You can row if you want," he offers, unable to argue that Wei Ying's skill is likely higher.

[yiling_laozu]

Reaching forward through the fog, Wei Wuxian finds Lan Wangji's hands and takes the oars from them, rowing hard while looking into the endless white over his shoulder. "Now you, Lan Zhan," he says, smiling despite their dubious safety. As swiftly as he's rowing, the fog has begun to lessen, but only just. "Speak to me so I know the river gods haven't taken you for a prize."

[lan_wangji]

Upon reflection, giving up the oars may have been a mistake. He furrows his brow, wishing he could see Wei Ying's face to at least convey his displeasure.

"Still here," he intones, unsure how Wei Ying is able to so easily form words around all of his rapid thoughts.

"Tell me something I do not know," he says, feeling a little bolder for the shroud around them. "Something you know from the future. Knew about whips and A-Yuan. What other things?"

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian casts a pointed glance at him, even if he can't actually see him through the fog. Lan Wangji is clever, always well mannered yet sly enough to know when an opportunity comes along. Of course he wants to take advantage of their relative concealment from one another.

"A happy thing?" he asks, "Or an unhappy one?"

[lan_wangji]

"Both," he answers, seeing just a brief flash of Wei Ying's dark hair through the slowly thinning fog before he it swallowed up again. As long as the oar movement continues, however, he knows Wei Ying is only just out of reach.

"Balanced, that way. Did not think I would have showed you the scars. Unsure what else I told."

[yiling_laozu]

"Ah," Wei Wuxian hums. "Lan Zhan didn't show me them. At least, not on purpose. You were in the cold pool without your inner robes and I saw them. Much later, your brother told me what was done to you. I still don't understand why he let them to that to you, broken rules or no. If someone tries to hurt you like that again," he says, his voice light and yet entirely serious, "I'll kill them."