[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

[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...?

[one_note]

We will test wards and interactions.

[inclines his head to Jon a little]

It may take some time.

[end_recording]

[He nods. That sounds reassuringly sensible.]

Right. If you have any, um, q-questions, I can answer them.

[one_note]

In a few days.

Has your meditation gone well?

[end_recording]

It's, um... getting a little easier, I think. I-I've been getting some use out of that recording of Song of Clarity we did. It, uh. Helps.

[one_note]

[nods]

. . . I can provide you other recordings. Rest may also be suited.

[end_recording]

Oh! Uh, y-yes, if it's not any trouble?

[one_note]

If you have your device, we can do it now, before parting ways.

[end_recording]

I do, yes.

[one_note]

[removes his qin from his back, then . . . they probably have to leave the forest area to find a decent place to sit, but hey]

[end_recording]

[Yes, Jonathan starts leading them back to the Courtyard where they can find a bench. He's content to walk quietly.]

[one_note]

[Lan Wangji kneels correctly on the grass beside the bench to lay the guqin down, waiting for Jonathan to activate the recorder before he starts to play the complicated, soothing-slow tune of Rest]

[end_recording]

[Jon settles across from him and pulls the recorder into his lap. He gives Lan Wangji a brief nod before thumbing the record.

Since Lan Wangji is playing anyway, Jonathan will practice his meditation and breathing for however long he plays. The faint hum of the recorder is an additionally soothing undercurrent.]

[one_note]

[he seems to modulate his playing a little to include the sound, so it seems nearly a part of the tune. Jonathan may (slightly ironically) feel the weight of Lan Wangji's eyes on him, observing to see how he's doing]

[end_recording]

[Jon's hardly perfect at it. There are flickers of emotion: a brow knit in thought, lips thinning with frustration. His fingers stroke idly over the buttons of the tape recorder. Some unconscious part of him feels the weight of that gaze, and the fidgeting increases, but Jon's really doing his best to let it go. He forces his hands off the recorder flat onto his thighs.]

[one_note]

...

[puts a little spiritual energy into the tune, perhaps enough to affect Jon a little -- shhh]