[Because Lan Wangji is a gay disaster at any age, but a younger Lan Wangji has his studies to throw himself into, and distracts himself from his confusions by working even harder than usual. Somehow. If that's possible.
But that's why it's so unusual to find him doing something like this. He's in Hua Cheng's office, as usual, with a stack of work next to him and his laptop open. He's been sitting quietly, also like usual, seemingly utterly focused on whatever he's looking at.
...Except that the pile of papers next to him has barely been touched, and he's been here for at least half an hour. HM.
He doesn't seem to notice that he's frowning openly at his laptop, and when he does type something, it's slower than usual. Once, he even lets out a low sigh of obvious frustration, which is exceedingly out of character.
Normally, Lan Wangji doesn't let people sneak up on him, but considering this is Hua Cheng, he probably has his ways. If the illustrious professor simply decides to ask him, he'll probably try to be (poorly) evasive--if he decides to simply look for himself, he'll see that Lan Wangji isn't actually working at all.
In fact, he's clothes shopping. During working hours. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE THE REASON FOR THIS.]
[ Hua Cheng in this world is a silent killer, a brutal assassin that can walk in the shadows with little to no problems. Nearly impossible to detect.
This Hua Cheng is the Ghost King, a Supreme, capable of walking in and out of the Heavens under the emperor's nose. Sneaking up on a distracted TA is hardly an issue for him to do, especially given how deeply he's engrossed in whatever he's doing on his laptop. Arms folded behind his back, he slowly meanders over when he notes that no work is getting done. He doesn't necessarily care, but he's particularly interested in what he's doing.
He comes to stand behind him, single eye focusing on the screen. Technology is fascinating, he thinks absently, as he watches him scroll through the clothes he's looking at.
Silence reigns for a few minutes longer.
He assesses, making sure there's nothing immediately dangerous that could be used as a weapon. (Not that it'd kill him, considering he's already dead, but it would blow his cover.) ]
[It's very rare that Lan Wangji is unfocused enough to jump, but that's exactly what he does now, very nearly banging his knee on the desk as he does. His first instinct is to slap his laptop closed, as if he was caught doing something much more scandalous than browsing Eternally22.
His own actions catch up with him a second later, though, and he lowers his head, the tips of his ears reddening. NO USE IN DENYING IT NOW... not that he would, but still. IT'S EMBARRASSING.]
[I'M STILL NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHAT'S HAPPENING AT ANY TIME, EVER but at some point during the week, Lan Wangji will be sending along a letter via Xie Lian!! Enclosed will be the note from Lan Wangji, along with a neatly folded advertisement for Wu Ming, although the paper itself is crinkled, as if it was torn off of something. Also at some point Okuni might show up??? idk. ANYWAY, the note just says:]
I seek your assistance. I wish to help.
If you are amenable, you know how to reach me.
[The letter is simply stamped with the same butterfly pattern that's embroidered on Lan Wangji's forehead ribbon in this world.]
[ YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S FINE, WE IN THIS we definitely in this. Hua Cheng is always happy to see Xie Lian - especially since he's started to come visit him at Wu Ming? - and is fond of Lan Wangji, so having a sort of combination of the two is good. Potential for Okuni? Superb.
Though, he does raise an eyebrow at the note and the advertisement combined. Yes, he painted this one himself, what is this, he thinks absently, as he smooths out some of the crinkles. ]
Who am I to deny such a polite request from Wangji, especially when gege is the one to deliver it?
[ xie lian shakes his head!! it was simply a letter to deliver.
he looks at hua cheng with an almost imploring impression, clearly worried about the state of the town (and his friend.) he's pretty sure san lang won't say no. (....especially if it's him asking, like he said? which is a weird thing to unpack never.) ] You'll help him, right? It must be about the Maou. Would you like me to deliver a message back? I'd be happy to play courier.
[Good afternoon! It's a fresh new week in this changing country. Are you ready to face it? Hopefully so, because starting Monday, 5/4 and lasting until the evening of Friday, 5/8, Hua Cheng will be dealing with a pesky little problem...
Shady reputation aside, Hua Cheng has done a lot of good for people during his time in Kōun. Surely good deeds merit good fortune! But this week, it looks like fortune is feeling a little fickle. Hua Cheng will be plagued by bad luck that can range from losing important items to experiences that end in injury. The only way to catch a break is by spending time with someone else, which temporarily transfers his bad luck to them as long as he is in their company. The more fond he is of the person he's with, the better his luck and the worst their luck will be. No matter what charms or spells he may use to try fixing this, it seems like he's stuck with this funky luck until the week is up. How strange!
You're free to play with this effect as you please. Have fun! :)]
He's tired of walking through dreams, actually. At first it was better than being trapped in his own nightmares because at least he could actively control the ones he visited, since it was essentially lucid dreaming. But for an empathetic person, seeing nightmare after nightmare of the fears of so many people really wears on you after a while!
Which is why, when he finds himself in Hua Cheng's dream, he doesn't even do anything right away. The entire world could be on fire and he'd just sit on the ground with his head in his hands for a second. JUST A SECOND. JUST... just a second... to rest... It's fine.]
[ Well, at least the entire world isn't on fire. Just some parts of it!
There's a stillness that belies calmness, at first, but that's not always such a good thing. Around them, as Wei Wuxian catches his breath, takes a moment to rest, after what has surely been an exhausting night... the fires burn, smoldering more than anything else now, dotting the familiar streets of Umite. The rivers that he knows like his own pulse are a mess, debris and rubbish filling the usually clean water. Such disarray is, no doubt, not out of place with this night of dreamwalking, but it isn't any less disheartening.
Or strange, when it appears there's no one in the dream.
Besides Hua Cheng, anyways, on his knees in the middle of the street, something held close.
As someone with so much presence, so much height, Hua Cheng always fills a room. His tails - when all of them are accounted for - lend to that quite well. But right now, he's... bigger, yet there's still the sensation of just the two of them in a sea of nothing. And he stands out, too, as he stares ahead into nothing. His hair and fur are wild, almost bristled even where the reddish orange fur is matted, and there's a sluggishly oozing tear in his right ear. It wouldn't be wrong to say that he appears more fox-like than his usual human form shows, either, features sharper and elongated, something nearly feral in the dark glint of his visible eye.
But he turns his head, the moment he realizes he's not alone, and the right side of his face is clawed up, bruised, cut - yet it does nothing to hide the mismatched red eye.
And just like that, the picture of Umite shudders - and is normal again, the place they call home, except the people walking the streets have blank faces that have been shredded to ribbons, their throats torn out and caked with brackish, tacky blood. It doesn't stop a chorus of voices from shouting around them, though - "monster! he's a terrible monster!" "the gods left him cursed, and if you get too close, he'll curse you too!" "how hideous, how ugly, it's so terrible - why don't you just do everyone a favor?" "die!" "die!" "die!"
Nothing about Hua Cheng himself changes, save for a contrary hostile disinterest.
The white figure he cradles against him remains motionless, but somehow pristine all the same, even with the bloody and clawed hands that are used to support it. ]
THAT'S NOT GOOD. None of this is good, even if the themes are strikingly familiar. There are a lot of ties between demons and humans in nightmares. Thematic repetitions. Loss of lives, loss of loved ones. Tragedies veering wildly out of control. Being a passenger in a slow-moving wreck, seeing it coming but being unable to stop it. Fire. Destruction. Faceless mobs, angry people coming together in groups to chant and capture and hurt and destroy.
Hua Cheng was right when he said people can be smart on their own, but are stupid when together.
There's not as much hesitation as there probably should be - probably would be from anyone else - as he steps across the streets of Umite. He darts through the blank faces with their slashed throats, he pays no mind to the blood that gets on him. With the way these dreams are going, he feels like he doesn't need a closer look to see what - who - Hua Cheng has cradled so carefully.]
Will you come with me? [A soft question. In reality, it would be drowned out by the angry cries of the faceless people around them. Here, it rings through clearly.] You shouldn't stay here.
[ When Beau and Hua Cheng arrive at Coin-op, they find that the windows are all dark, although that's nothing too strange for the building that sits nestled in amongst all the others in the shopping district. Inside the antechamber, the cup on the string hangs down in front of their faces— the password is one that Kano entrusted to Beau before shooing her out of the shop to find Hua Cheng: hum the tune of Toryanse.
Whether they enter the left door or the right one, either open up into the store proper, where they're greeted by the usual sight of the cramped shop, patches of light from the lanterns throwing most of it into shadow than doing any good job of illuminating the place. There is a man at the front desk, slumped over and wearing a large sun hat that completely hides his face- just sleeping, presumably, unrousable but breathing. The rest of the store is devoid of people. When they walk, tracing the pattern of hollow spots on carpet, there are times when it feels as if something taps back from the underside.
Someone?
Someone starts to hum Toryanse from the cup sitting on the counter. ]
[ beau is chill enough when she comes to get hua cheng; she asks to talk to him privately, and then tells him she really needs his help with something, and to please keep a secret. if he presses, she reluctantly admits to him that it's criminal stuff, but she refuses to explain properly until they get to kano's shop.
honestly, like - she shouldn't be surprised, because it's kano. but she is surprised, and she loses her mind internally at the unconscious guy just at the front desk, because excuse her you can't just leave evidence out like that!
she'll hum Toryanse to get into the shop, sure, but there's only so much she's willing to play along when there's bodies afoot. which is why she whacks the desk when she reaches it and hisses: ]
Kano! Fucking - now is so not the time! [ screeeeee ]
[ it's been over a day since hua cheng has contacted xie lian.
this is... this is unusual. xie lian doesn't like it. he doesn't like that he can't just reach out to him over the home base, or with those lovely cell phone devices they'd had in the world before. no matter where they've been, it felt like hua cheng was always there, telling xie lian if he had somewhere to check in (in the last world in particular) but never far out of reach. he can't recall a day since they met that they haven't been in communication... until today.
but it's probably fine. hua cheng mentioned having some business to take care of the night before, and xie lian was busy helping royce. they were both working to help this place, even if san lang knew it in a way xie lian did not, and that was fine. he likes how easy things are between them, even when one remembers and one doesn't. hua cheng makes it easy to have a friend, even though xie lian is awkward, and generally unlikable, and not good at having friends at all. he's a comforting, perfect presence and not having him there is. odd. it's wrong, but he trusts hua cheng and he knows it'll be fine.
two hours into the day, he's making breakfast, experimenting on a bowl of congee and ruining it beyond all disbelief. he eats it anyway.
four hours into the day, he's harvesting vegetables outside of the shrine, replanting the fields, digging out plants and putting in new ones, moving them around. he's made a note to himself to ask for san lang's communication array password, when they return to the space.
six hours into the day, xie lian has taken apart a part of puji shrine and put it back together, adding in new stones, fixing the holes made last week. maybe hua cheng will contact him eventually. it's not unusual for him to be busy. he might drop by as a fox, maybe--he'd like that.
by the evening, xie lian's worry has reached a peak, and he gives up trying to make himself busy with a thousand useless tasks. the priest makes his way into umite, down through the docks, around the corner to the beautiful red facade of wu ming. he has a bad gut feeling, which has never been a good sign, and he nods his greeting to the matron, who greets him with a bow and a worried look on her face.
that only makes it worse.
hua cheng will hear the sound of footsteps, coming down the hallway. they start off quieter, but get louder and louder as xie lian picks up the pace, the bad feeling in his gut twisting into something like a knife, and he stops himself just before the door, raises his fist, and -- freezes.
what if he's here for a reason? what if he doesn't want to see xie lian--if the hua cheng of this world has wised up to him, understands who he is and what he's done? like in his dream, it would be better; he'd be safer, but -
( "If you will have me at your side, then that is where I intend to stay, for however long this banquet may last.")
xie lian lifts his head. his resolve steels. the worry for san lang (what if he's hurt, what if he's dying, san lang, san lang) and that bad feeling take over, and with a demanding entrance that's truly worthy of the crown prince of xian le, he grabs the sliding door and pulls it open.
sorry if it was locked he may have broken the lock. ] --San Lang!
[ Hua Cheng should have predicted this, he thinks.
And maybe a part of him did. But he's been caught up in making sure Beau and Futaba recover, which has left him preoccupied more with other people than himself - because when that dust had hit him, his thought was and what could it do to me? as if he was untouchable. He'd so carefully cultivated the person that he is now, the strength and knowledge, the skills and resources. Perhaps not invincible, but as of late it had felt like even in the midst of all the chaos, he had the power and control necessary to face the oncoming storm.
The Wu Ming staff all flutter around him like nervous butterflies, fretful but trying not to get underfoot and aggravate him further. They leave him be when he enters his own quarters, in the dimly lit, crimson red halls of the private floor of Wu Ming, but he knows that they're all whispering to each other as he licks his wounds.
It hurts. His head throbs, the socket aches, the skin around it is irritated. There's a sort of irony in that it was his right eye, he thinks, but if that was the sacrifice for making sure that Beau didn't suffer worse than she did - and didn't bleed out as a consequence of it - and that Futaba was gotten to safety, then he'll accept it.
For as often as he holds disinterest for those not worth his time, he would give of himself for those that he cares about, no matter how distant and aloof he pretends to be.
Even after the eye is gone - because what point is there to leave what remains of it there, when it's effectively melted out of his head - the pain remains.
Hua Cheng is used to pain.
His ears twitch when he hears the quick pace of footsteps making its way towards his door, and it takes a moment for it to register for what it is behind the throbbing of his head. There's barely any time for him to react when the door slides open, the lock broken under Xie Lian's determination. (Later, he'll doubt he even knew the door was locked.) (Probably didn't notice.) All he can do is sit up from the lounge he'd sprawled back on to look at him, tails spilling over the side, remaining eye dark and round in surprise - and a little guilt, hearing his voice call him like that, the realization that he's been caught. But otherwise there isn't, technically, anything different.
In the dreams, his red right eye was visible. There was no eyepatch to cover it. In the waking world, it's more common to see him wearing the patch, so there's tecnically no difference to him now.
Save for the irritated skin that's visible under the edges of a white bandage, instead, wrapped around his head in place of his often pitch dark, decorated patches. A red blotch of tacky blood is just barely showing through the layers. ]
[HELLO, HUA CHENG, your not!son is coming to visit. He heard you currently look like shit!! I can't believe this is the reason he finally visits Wu Ming, incredible.
Even better is the fact that Lan Wangji also looks like shit! Given that he usually looks nothing short of utterly dignified, the fact that anything at all is readily apparent probably signifies how terrible he feels. But he's here, holding himself straight-backed and proper out of sheer force of will, even though he digs his nails extremely hard into his palm anytime he has to look at other people directly. Hm.
But he'll state that he's here to see Hua Cheng, to whoever comes to greet him when he arrives. He won't be sent away, even if they try--either Hua Cheng comes to see him, he's led inside to meet him, or he just rots in the lobby forever. Their choice.]
[ Fucking truly incredible, that this is finally what gets the prestigious Lan Wangji to come to Wu Ming.
The matron that greets Lan Wangji is openly surprised to see him, but no less polite - between her employer and a constant visitor coming in on crow wings, she knows who he is, and sends one of the other workers off to inform Hua Cheng on his visitor. He has to rot in the lobby for a little while, but it's actually the proprietor himself that comes up to greet Lan Wangji, rather than have him escorted to where he needs to go.
He looks tired. For someone so effortless and aloof at all times, who never lets anyone see him at less than composed, the two of them are certainly a picture to behold. His eyepatch is still replaced with bandages, a faint stain visible from the under layers of it where it rests over the socket of his right eye. Acid burns are just peeking from beneath it, and all of his hair is swept towards that side of his face, his shoulder, as if a shield. ]
[ what's up, beau is on her way to wu ming today, a couple days after The Stabbening. she's been thinking about what the mysterious probably-not-a-god told her on the mountain, and even though whoever it was (she's got a suspicion) said hua cheng wasn't going to be angry, she still needs to say something. she needs to get it out there.
so she walks, slowly, from the winery to wu ming. she's in no shape to be wandering around anywhere, really - it shows, in the way she carries herself and the way her hair barely glows above a feeble flicker. but she's nothing if not stubborn.
if she runs into futaba on the way, she'll offer to carry her with. but either way, she's in wu ming's lobby, looking for hua cheng. ]
[ hello, it's your friendly neighborhood fox child. she, for the record still looks a little green around the gills after yesterday's fun time but she is if nothing but also stubborn. they all should probably be in bed for the next few days but checking up on the others is far more important than lazing around and seeing shit that's not there.
it's too quiet where she is and her thoughts are Loud.
at least with running into Beau, Futaba can tuck herself under an arm so she doesn't eat shit along the way? look at that, it's already a good thing that she wandered out.
[ near the end of the week, hua cheng will receive a gift. it's handed to him by his mysterious masked assistant, during a less busy time at wu ming.
inside of a small bag is a couple of water chestnuts, and there's a folded note neatly tucked into the bag itself, written in xie lian's beautiful handwriting.
Dearest San Lang, If you aren't too busy this evening, I could use some help harvesting. It would be nice, to have the company. - Xie Lian
[ To say that Hua Cheng's ears perked up would probably be an understatement. With everything happening, any little attention from Xie Lian is welcome, especially as a distraction.
So the trip from Wu Ming to Puji Shrine is quick. He's already rolling up his sleeves and tying them into place as he makes his way back, ready and willing to head back.
... they have some things to talk about, anyways. ]
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03/15 | prom!
Are you in your office?
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hello gege
i am - are you coming here?
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SOMETIME AFTER THE 13TH
But that's why it's so unusual to find him doing something like this. He's in Hua Cheng's office, as usual, with a stack of work next to him and his laptop open. He's been sitting quietly, also like usual, seemingly utterly focused on whatever he's looking at.
...Except that the pile of papers next to him has barely been touched, and he's been here for at least half an hour. HM.
He doesn't seem to notice that he's frowning openly at his laptop, and when he does type something, it's slower than usual. Once, he even lets out a low sigh of obvious frustration, which is exceedingly out of character.
Normally, Lan Wangji doesn't let people sneak up on him, but considering this is Hua Cheng, he probably has his ways. If the illustrious professor simply decides to ask him, he'll probably try to be (poorly) evasive--if he decides to simply look for himself, he'll see that Lan Wangji isn't actually working at all.
In fact, he's clothes shopping. During working hours. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE THE REASON FOR THIS.]
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This Hua Cheng is the Ghost King, a Supreme, capable of walking in and out of the Heavens under the emperor's nose. Sneaking up on a distracted TA is hardly an issue for him to do, especially given how deeply he's engrossed in whatever he's doing on his laptop. Arms folded behind his back, he slowly meanders over when he notes that no work is getting done. He doesn't necessarily care, but he's particularly interested in what he's doing.
He comes to stand behind him, single eye focusing on the screen. Technology is fascinating, he thinks absently, as he watches him scroll through the clothes he's looking at.
Silence reigns for a few minutes longer.
He assesses, making sure there's nothing immediately dangerous that could be used as a weapon. (Not that it'd kill him, considering he's already dead, but it would blow his cover.) ]
My, my, Wangji. Looking for a change in style?
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His own actions catch up with him a second later, though, and he lowers his head, the tips of his ears reddening. NO USE IN DENYING IT NOW... not that he would, but still. IT'S EMBARRASSING.]
I apologize. I am [
very gay] distracted.[NO SHIT, LWJ.]
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week of 4/27
I seek your assistance. I wish to help.
If you are amenable, you know how to reach me.
[The letter is simply stamped with the same butterfly pattern that's embroidered on Lan Wangji's forehead ribbon in this world.]
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Though, he does raise an eyebrow at the note and the advertisement combined. Yes, he painted this one himself, what is this, he thinks absently, as he smooths out some of the crinkles. ]
Who am I to deny such a polite request from Wangji, especially when gege is the one to deliver it?
[ NPC Yin Yu, send word to the Lans! ]
Did he tell you anything of interest, gege?
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he looks at hua cheng with an almost imploring impression, clearly worried about the state of the town (and his friend.) he's pretty sure san lang won't say no. (....especially if it's him asking, like he said? which is a weird thing to unpack never.) ] You'll help him, right? It must be about the Maou. Would you like me to deliver a message back? I'd be happy to play courier.
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Shady reputation aside, Hua Cheng has done a lot of good for people during his time in Kōun. Surely good deeds merit good fortune! But this week, it looks like fortune is feeling a little fickle. Hua Cheng will be plagued by bad luck that can range from losing important items to experiences that end in injury. The only way to catch a break is by spending time with someone else, which temporarily transfers his bad luck to them as long as he is in their company. The more fond he is of the person he's with, the better his luck and the worst their luck will be. No matter what charms or spells he may use to try fixing this, it seems like he's stuck with this funky luck until the week is up. How strange!
You're free to play with this effect as you please. Have fun! :)]
DREAM WALKIN' action!
He's tired of walking through dreams, actually. At first it was better than being trapped in his own nightmares because at least he could actively control the ones he visited, since it was essentially lucid dreaming. But for an empathetic person, seeing nightmare after nightmare of the fears of so many people really wears on you after a while!
Which is why, when he finds himself in Hua Cheng's dream, he doesn't even do anything right away. The entire world could be on fire and he'd just sit on the ground with his head in his hands for a second. JUST A SECOND. JUST... just a second... to rest... It's fine.]
scuttles like crab over to finally
There's a stillness that belies calmness, at first, but that's not always such a good thing. Around them, as Wei Wuxian catches his breath, takes a moment to rest, after what has surely been an exhausting night... the fires burn, smoldering more than anything else now, dotting the familiar streets of Umite. The rivers that he knows like his own pulse are a mess, debris and rubbish filling the usually clean water. Such disarray is, no doubt, not out of place with this night of dreamwalking, but it isn't any less disheartening.
Or strange, when it appears there's no one in the dream.
Besides Hua Cheng, anyways, on his knees in the middle of the street, something held close.
As someone with so much presence, so much height, Hua Cheng always fills a room. His tails - when all of them are accounted for - lend to that quite well. But right now, he's... bigger, yet there's still the sensation of just the two of them in a sea of nothing. And he stands out, too, as he stares ahead into nothing. His hair and fur are wild, almost bristled even where the reddish orange fur is matted, and there's a sluggishly oozing tear in his right ear. It wouldn't be wrong to say that he appears more fox-like than his usual human form shows, either, features sharper and elongated, something nearly feral in the dark glint of his visible eye.
But he turns his head, the moment he realizes he's not alone, and the right side of his face is clawed up, bruised, cut - yet it does nothing to hide the mismatched red eye.
And just like that, the picture of Umite shudders - and is normal again, the place they call home, except the people walking the streets have blank faces that have been shredded to ribbons, their throats torn out and caked with brackish, tacky blood. It doesn't stop a chorus of voices from shouting around them, though - "monster! he's a terrible monster!" "the gods left him cursed, and if you get too close, he'll curse you too!" "how hideous, how ugly, it's so terrible - why don't you just do everyone a favor?" "die!" "die!" "die!"
Nothing about Hua Cheng himself changes, save for a contrary hostile disinterest.
The white figure he cradles against him remains motionless, but somehow pristine all the same, even with the bloody and clawed hands that are used to support it. ]
STRIKES A DRAMATIC POSE
THAT'S NOT GOOD. None of this is good, even if the themes are strikingly familiar. There are a lot of ties between demons and humans in nightmares. Thematic repetitions. Loss of lives, loss of loved ones. Tragedies veering wildly out of control. Being a passenger in a slow-moving wreck, seeing it coming but being unable to stop it. Fire. Destruction. Faceless mobs, angry people coming together in groups to chant and capture and hurt and destroy.
Hua Cheng was right when he said people can be smart on their own, but are stupid when together.
There's not as much hesitation as there probably should be - probably would be from anyone else - as he steps across the streets of Umite. He darts through the blank faces with their slashed throats, he pays no mind to the blood that gets on him. With the way these dreams are going, he feels like he doesn't need a closer look to see what - who - Hua Cheng has cradled so carefully.]
Will you come with me? [A soft question. In reality, it would be drowned out by the angry cries of the faceless people around them. Here, it rings through clearly.] You shouldn't stay here.
me: grenade launcher thread! also me: not finishing this tag for 20 years
some time this week
These supposedly bring good luck to those who have them. I think we all could use a fair bit of that.
Yours,
An observer
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Perhaps there's something to be said of extra luck. ]
5/8 super late edging into 5/9
Whether they enter the left door or the right one, either open up into the store proper, where they're greeted by the usual sight of the cramped shop, patches of light from the lanterns throwing most of it into shadow than doing any good job of illuminating the place. There is a man at the front desk, slumped over and wearing a large sun hat that completely hides his face- just sleeping, presumably, unrousable but breathing. The rest of the store is devoid of people. When they walk, tracing the pattern of hollow spots on carpet, there are times when it feels as if something taps back from the underside.
Someone?
Someone starts to hum Toryanse from the cup sitting on the counter. ]
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honestly, like - she shouldn't be surprised, because it's kano. but she is surprised, and she loses her mind internally at the unconscious guy just at the front desk, because excuse her you can't just leave evidence out like that!
she'll hum Toryanse to get into the shop, sure, but there's only so much she's willing to play along when there's bodies afoot. which is why she whacks the desk when she reaches it and hisses: ]
Kano! Fucking - now is so not the time! [ screeeeee ]
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:) you know what this is
this is... this is unusual. xie lian doesn't like it. he doesn't like that he can't just reach out to him over the home base, or with those lovely cell phone devices they'd had in the world before. no matter where they've been, it felt like hua cheng was always there, telling xie lian if he had somewhere to check in (in the last world in particular) but never far out of reach. he can't recall a day since they met that they haven't been in communication... until today.
but it's probably fine. hua cheng mentioned having some business to take care of the night before, and xie lian was busy helping royce. they were both working to help this place, even if san lang knew it in a way xie lian did not, and that was fine. he likes how easy things are between them, even when one remembers and one doesn't. hua cheng makes it easy to have a friend, even though xie lian is awkward, and generally unlikable, and not good at having friends at all. he's a comforting, perfect presence and not having him there is. odd. it's wrong, but he trusts hua cheng and he knows it'll be fine.
two hours into the day, he's making breakfast, experimenting on a bowl of congee and ruining it beyond all disbelief. he eats it anyway.
four hours into the day, he's harvesting vegetables outside of the shrine, replanting the fields, digging out plants and putting in new ones, moving them around. he's made a note to himself to ask for san lang's communication array password, when they return to the space.
six hours into the day, xie lian has taken apart a part of puji shrine and put it back together, adding in new stones, fixing the holes made last week. maybe hua cheng will contact him eventually. it's not unusual for him to be busy. he might drop by as a fox, maybe--he'd like that.
by the evening, xie lian's worry has reached a peak, and he gives up trying to make himself busy with a thousand useless tasks. the priest makes his way into umite, down through the docks, around the corner to the beautiful red facade of wu ming. he has a bad gut feeling, which has never been a good sign, and he nods his greeting to the matron, who greets him with a bow and a worried look on her face.
that only makes it worse.
hua cheng will hear the sound of footsteps, coming down the hallway. they start off quieter, but get louder and louder as xie lian picks up the pace, the bad feeling in his gut twisting into something like a knife, and he stops himself just before the door, raises his fist, and -- freezes.
what if he's here for a reason? what if he doesn't want to see xie lian--if the hua cheng of this world has wised up to him, understands who he is and what he's done? like in his dream, it would be better; he'd be safer, but -
( "If you will have me at your side, then that is where I intend to stay, for however long this banquet may last.")
xie lian lifts his head. his resolve steels. the worry for san lang (what if he's hurt, what if he's dying, san lang, san lang) and that bad feeling take over, and with a demanding entrance that's truly worthy of the crown prince of xian le, he grabs the sliding door and pulls it open.
sorry if it was locked he may have broken the lock. ] --San Lang!
boy oh boy
And maybe a part of him did. But he's been caught up in making sure Beau and Futaba recover, which has left him preoccupied more with other people than himself - because when that dust had hit him, his thought was and what could it do to me? as if he was untouchable. He'd so carefully cultivated the person that he is now, the strength and knowledge, the skills and resources. Perhaps not invincible, but as of late it had felt like even in the midst of all the chaos, he had the power and control necessary to face the oncoming storm.
The Wu Ming staff all flutter around him like nervous butterflies, fretful but trying not to get underfoot and aggravate him further. They leave him be when he enters his own quarters, in the dimly lit, crimson red halls of the private floor of Wu Ming, but he knows that they're all whispering to each other as he licks his wounds.
It hurts. His head throbs, the socket aches, the skin around it is irritated. There's a sort of irony in that it was his right eye, he thinks, but if that was the sacrifice for making sure that Beau didn't suffer worse than she did - and didn't bleed out as a consequence of it - and that Futaba was gotten to safety, then he'll accept it.
For as often as he holds disinterest for those not worth his time, he would give of himself for those that he cares about, no matter how distant and aloof he pretends to be.
Even after the eye is gone - because what point is there to leave what remains of it there, when it's effectively melted out of his head - the pain remains.
Hua Cheng is used to pain.
His ears twitch when he hears the quick pace of footsteps making its way towards his door, and it takes a moment for it to register for what it is behind the throbbing of his head. There's barely any time for him to react when the door slides open, the lock broken under Xie Lian's determination. (Later, he'll doubt he even knew the door was locked.) (Probably didn't notice.) All he can do is sit up from the lounge he'd sprawled back on to look at him, tails spilling over the side, remaining eye dark and round in surprise - and a little guilt, hearing his voice call him like that, the realization that he's been caught. But otherwise there isn't, technically, anything different.
In the dreams, his red right eye was visible. There was no eyepatch to cover it. In the waking world, it's more common to see him wearing the patch, so there's tecnically no difference to him now.
Save for the irritated skin that's visible under the edges of a white bandage, instead, wrapped around his head in place of his often pitch dark, decorated patches. A red blotch of tacky blood is just barely showing through the layers. ]
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5/20ish!!!
Even better is the fact that Lan Wangji also looks like shit! Given that he usually looks nothing short of utterly dignified, the fact that anything at all is readily apparent probably signifies how terrible he feels. But he's here, holding himself straight-backed and proper out of sheer force of will, even though he digs his nails extremely hard into his palm anytime he has to look at other people directly. Hm.
But he'll state that he's here to see Hua Cheng, to whoever comes to greet him when he arrives. He won't be sent away, even if they try--either Hua Cheng comes to see him, he's led inside to meet him, or he just rots in the lobby forever. Their choice.]
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The matron that greets Lan Wangji is openly surprised to see him, but no less polite - between her employer and a constant visitor coming in on crow wings, she knows who he is, and sends one of the other workers off to inform Hua Cheng on his visitor. He has to rot in the lobby for a little while, but it's actually the proprietor himself that comes up to greet Lan Wangji, rather than have him escorted to where he needs to go.
He looks tired. For someone so effortless and aloof at all times, who never lets anyone see him at less than composed, the two of them are certainly a picture to behold. His eyepatch is still replaced with bandages, a faint stain visible from the under layers of it where it rests over the socket of his right eye. Acid burns are just peeking from beneath it, and all of his hair is swept towards that side of his face, his shoulder, as if a shield. ]
Wangji. To what do I owe this pleasure?
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post investigation, idk when this is time is fake
so she walks, slowly, from the winery to wu ming. she's in no shape to be wandering around anywhere, really - it shows, in the way she carries herself and the way her hair barely glows above a feeble flicker. but she's nothing if not stubborn.
if she runs into futaba on the way, she'll offer to carry her with. but either way, she's in wu ming's lobby, looking for hua cheng. ]
wheezes in
it's too quiet where she is and her thoughts are Loud.
at least with running into Beau, Futaba can tuck herself under an arm so she doesn't eat shit along the way? look at that, it's already a good thing that she wandered out.
Hua Hua, are you still alive?? ]
wheeze party
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c:
inside of a small bag is a couple of water chestnuts, and there's a folded note neatly tucked into the bag itself, written in xie lian's beautiful handwriting.
Dearest San Lang,
If you aren't too busy this evening, I could use some help harvesting.
It would be nice, to have the company.
- Xie Lian
ya YEET
So the trip from Wu Ming to Puji Shrine is quick. He's already rolling up his sleeves and tying them into place as he makes his way back, ready and willing to head back.
... they have some things to talk about, anyways. ]
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