[SIDEREAL - OVERFLOW POST]

[one_note]

[you'd think one wouldn't need this with how little Lan Wangji talks but life is full of surprises]

Comments

[mistletoe continuations]

[one_note]

[:|]

[jon]

[one_note]

Hm.

[that sounded a little closer to hmph than any other 'hm' he has ever made before]

You have grown more tolerant of it.

((from here))

[end_recording]

I wonder... I don't feel particularly suited to it. I've just seen the consequences when a person becomes... too isolated.

[one_note]

[...his eyes flicker visibly to the side; so has he, in a different way]

I understand.

[end_recording]

[Jon's tentative:]

D-did something happen...?

[one_note]

Not here. Long ago.

[end_recording]

Is it something you're allowed to talk about?

[one_note]

...

[shakes head]

Not mine to speak of. Apologies.

[end_recording]

[Nods. He suspected as much.]

[one_note]

[folds his hands in his sleeves]

...we will begin work on the Entities soon.

[end_recording]

Uh, d-do you know... what the first step will be?

[one_note]

Hm. Uncertain.

[he has promised to help, but he is not the one taking the lead on this, exactly. still, he can venture a better guess than most:]

I suspect, safety if possible. For yourselves, and us.

[end_recording]

[Jon swallows, anxious.]

How...?

[magolor]

[one_note]

. . .

[lets a slow breath out, once they are in open air with nothing over their heads mistletoe can just sneakily hang itself from]

Very unexpected.

((from here))

[begguiling]

As if the pink flowers weren't enough! That stuff was even more aggressive about it. Though I'm pretty embarrassed that I was the only one who felt any kind of itch there . . . I thought for a while it was nothing.

[you know, just the normal way he always feels,]

[one_note]

[he is not sure how to address this. an apology is not quite appropriate; he cannot help his heart being given away any more than Magolor can help gravitating towards it, and he is differentiated enough from his past self that it would be very strange to try and assume responsibility for the younger Lan Wangji's relationships.]

What can I do?

[begguiling]

. . . Hmm?

[he doesn't at all make the logical leap there to what Lan Wangji is offering, and blinks up at him.]

I'm perfectly happy with it. You were the one who looked like you'd been slapped!

[one_note]

[he's quiet for a moment, considering whether to push it more or not . . .]

To alleviate embarrassment.

[begguiling]

Oh, that. Don't worry, I'm not really that embarrassed about it! I have good taste and I know it. It's nothing serious.

[one_note]

[looks at him in a careful searching way, eyes oddly soft]

[begguiling]

. . . What? Geez. You both have that same way of looking at me sometimes . . . if you think I'm holding out any hope for either one of you, you're mistaken. But obviously, you especially! Don't start worrying about that.

[the two Lan Wangjis are both different and the same. Magolor's used to that; he's known alternate versions before. it's not hard to reconcile that they are the same person in different stages and circumstances. but it is really unfortunate that the things they have in common are the things that really make him squirm, like that way of looking at him]

[one_note]

It is not that.

[looks . . . down for a moment, eyelashes lowered, considering]

Your company is valued. I do not wish to cause you discomfort.

[begguiling]

[he sighs and reaches up to tug on one of those front hair locks. lightly]

You don't. I'm not itching to get away from you because I feel uncomfortable or anything.

[one_note]

Very well.

[it does not feel like enough. it rarely feels like enough, in situations like these. usually Lan Wangji accepts his inability with words, but. he advised his younger self to try harder to express appreciation. he would be remiss in not following his own advice, but also

?????????????]

[begguiling]

You really are worried about me . . .

[though he watches closely, considering that, and putting it together with how insistent the younger Lan Wangji had been the other night about what he does for others and what he does for himself]

Or you really are worried I'll get fed up and start avoiding you. Or both!