[♪♫♬]

[one_note]

[after Yi City and the second time Wei Wuxian gets Lan Wangji drunk, it takes about a day for them to reach the Garden of Annual blossoms. this curious incident takes place in the space of that day.

outside of appeasing the corpse pieces they've been collecting each night, it's not uncommon for Lan Wangji to take the time to practice on the guqin. he doesn't play entire songs, since he's not trying to interact with any spirits at the moment, but safely broken-up sections of Inquiry and Empathy (was Empathy always a musical technique? it is in this timeline, shut up) and the other songs he uses for battle hum through the walls of the rest stop they've paused at on the road.

it's partway through a passage of Empathy that there's a notable shriek of strings, and then silence; when Wei Wuxian goes to check, he'll find Lan Wangji half-collapsed over the instrument, his breathing harsh and a strange fluctuation of energy around him.

a qi deviation...? oh no.]

Comments

[one_note]

[there's no one there's no one they're all they're all they're all they're all they're all Wei Ying Wei Ying Wei Ying Wei Ying--

it presses down on you the further in you go, a nearly physical weight, not quite the rolling boil of resentful energy but something that's cousin to it, that could become it if left to fester]

[weiyingdown]

[resentful energy is something he's used to dealing with; something like it is something that he does his best to bundle up and push into a corner when it has no use. he doesn't let there's no one and they're all weigh him down.

he pauses near a burnt tree at the wave of emotion for him, though. that's new, and he doesn't know what to do with it.]

Lan Zhan?

[one_note]

[the bunny headbutts his ankle.]

[weiyingdown]

[takes a steadying breath and looks down at the rabbit]

I'm going, I'm going. I thought--

[shaking his head]

No, there's no reason for him to be here.

[he looks around for...something that isn't burning, if there is anything]

[one_note]

[everything is burning.

however, the rabbit smacks its head into his boot again, then hops away a few steps, then looks back at him, then takes a few more...]

[weiyingdown]

What, you can't go anywhere without me?

[he follows the rabbit]

[one_note]

[it leads him further into the ruin of the place, picking its way around the torn remnants of trees and building, around fires.

everything...fades around them, gradually, not disappearing, but...moving forward in time. the fires are replaced with mounds of ash; the bloodied dirt is blackened; the smell of smoke and blood fades to a colder remnant of iteself. the violent storm of feeling gives way to utter desolation, grief drawn out in one long endless note across Wei Wuxian's nerves.

they're going uphill. a familiar tree with a split trunk comes into view. someone in (dirty, bloodstained) white is seated by it, leaning against the trunk in an exhausted slump.]

[weiyingdown]

[this would be so much easier to deal with if his nerves weren't fraying with every beat of his heart

he doesn't run up the hill so much as stumble up it, fighting down the invading feelings that are poking at him like an exposed, raw nerve.

he thought that he had something to say to that white figure, but once he's at the tree he doesn't know what the words were anymore]

. . . I don't understand.

[one_note]

[Lan Wangji doesn't open his eyes, though he lifts his head at the sound. there's a small form bundled against his side; he has an arm around it.]

Wei Ying...?

[weiyingdown]

[he reflexively feels his face. does he look like himself?? the thought slips away as quick as it comes; Lan Wangji isn't even looking at him, it's irrelevant. his eyes barely flicker to the little bundle he's holding before going back to his face, his mind whirling]

What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here, Lan Zhan.

[one_note]

[a very soft sound of disagreement]

You are dead.

[therefore you are the one who should not be here, his tone implies.]

[weiyingdown]

[pulling himself together with a deep breath]

I was only dead for a little while. What are you so upset for? Come on, get up or I'll feel bad.

[offering him a hand]

[one_note]

Dead is dead.

[amazingly, he does open his eyes -- only a little, he seems exhausted -- and reach up to him, though]

[weiyingdown]

Yes, yes, that's very true. But I'm the great Yiling Patriarch, remember? A little death is nothing I can't handle.

[he pulls Lan Wangji to his feet, letting him lean on him if he needs it]

[one_note]

[or Lan Wangji could yoink him down instead :'D]

[weiyingdown]

[OR. OR THAT! he goes down super easy (ba-dum-ch) and blinks at Lan Wangji, trying to figure out what just happened]

?!

[one_note]

[he's just holding him very tight, previously free arm pinning him against Lan Wangji's chest. it's easy to tell the blood on Lan Wangji's robes is fresh, this close. Lan Wangji shuts his eyes again.]

...alive.

[on that word, the keening grief doesn't start to ease exactly, but it does start to dim. it's like someone turning the volume on a TV down a couple of notches -- the sound's still theoretically there, but it's being blocked off somewhat instead of fading out.]

[weiyingdown]

I already said that.

[he puts a hand against Lan Wangji's chest, like he's going to push away from him. but one, two, three heartbeats pass and he doesn't, and instead reaches up to give him a pat on the shoulder]

It's alright. I'm alright. But what happened to you?

[one_note]

[he winces away from that for a moment, though his expression doesn't change.]

...went looking. For you.

[weiyingdown]

[this is very difficult to reconcile with the image in his head of the person that he always fought with, always parted on bad terms with, and who always disapproved of him]

Why...? Ah, you mean that you were with the siege on the Burial Mounds? Is that it?

[one_note]

[frowns, briefly.]

After.

[weiyingdown]

You wouldn't have been able to find me after.

[come to think of it, Lan Wangji was also supposed to be in secluded meditation during this time. so?? why?? is he?? here????

when the swirl of grief doesn't completely subside, he reaches up and pats Lan Wangji on the head. trying to be comforting]

I'm sorry. Don't...don't be so upset, okay? I don't know what to do when you're like this.

[one_note]

[bows his head under Wei Wuxian's hand.]

...stay alive.

[weiyingdown]

I will. I've been perfectly fine since I got back!

[well, there's still a curse on his leg. but that's not important enough to bring up]

Lan Zhan, let me up, will you? We should go back to the Jingshi. You shouldn't be out in a place like this.

[one_note]

[nods towards the rabbit, which is waiting patiently nearby]

That...belongs in the Jingshi. I stay here.