[♪♫♬]

[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]

[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.

[weiyingdown]

. . . ?????

What would you stay here for? Don't make me carry you back.

[one_note]

This is not a real place.

[weiyingdown]

I know that much. But whether it's real or not, it doesn't seem right to leave you here.

If you tell me what's going on I might consider it though.

[one_note]

[considers this awhile]

Here...

Mourning.

[weiyingdown]

[the grief that he can't shake makes that response obvious. of course this is mourning, this is grief, sorrow, loss. hearing it out loud, though, still surprises him]

You really are too good. Weren't we fighting each other right before this? I thought for sure that you hated me. And you still came to find me.

[a beat, and then he can't help but add]

If you're going to mourn you could at least burn some paper money for me.

[one_note]

No.

[their words are heavy in the air.]

But I do not hate you.

[weiyingdown]

[that eases something inside of him, a little knot of worry that he didn't know was there until it loosened, making all of that mourning easier to understand. maybe...all of this time, he really thought of them as friends]

[weiyingdown]

[and then he cracks a smile and laughs. there's an almost breathless sense of relief hidden in his laughter that he doesn't even notice himself; he's too busy shaking his head over his own stupidity.]

I didn't know that back then. But of course I should know better now. You've only ever been nice to me since I came back. I'll make it up to you, okay?

[one_note]

[there's a strange softening in Lan Wangji's face; his arm gently loosening around Wei Wuxian]

...you have already...

[weiyingdown]

I haven't! So just let me do something for you. Besides, you might be the only person who mourned for me. That means something to me too.

[giving him another pat on the head, fond]

I'll start by fixing this qi deviation of yours. Are you sure you won't come back to the Jingshi with me?

[one_note]

[bows his head again, weirdly tolerant of the pats]

I waited for you. This is my place. What would going back to the Jingshi do?

[weiyingdown]

It's just a nicer place to be than here. And you're all dirty! You could get cleaned up. And--

[he leans back slightly, suddenly aware that this position is not one that he usually finds himself in when Lan Wangji is sober. he's not sure what to make of it, beyond thinking that he might be a little drunk. or maybe this place just makes him more honest?

as he ponders what it might be (because it's clearly an abnormality of some kind, Lan Wangji wouldn't act like this normally) he finally notices the little bundle in his arms]

What's that?

[one_note]

[Lan Wangji lets him up, and then looks down at when he’s holding in his other arm. he...hesitates? and then moves it enough to reveal the small, sleeping familiar form]

...A-Yuan could go to the Jingshi.

[weiyingdown]

[for a moment he bluescreens a little, not comprehending what he's looking at. but it's A-Yuan, he's seen him a million times before]

What's A-Yuan doing here? Isn't this after...

[if this is already after the siege, then no one is left, which means A-Yuan should be as gone as everyone else]

[one_note]

[inclines his head towards the split in the trunk]

He was there.

[weiyingdown]

Huh?

[looks up at the tree trunk]

Huh????

[pokes A-Yuan's tiny sleeping face, to check that he's real and breathing]

Lan Zhan, are you sure that you didn't make this up? You didn't really come here and find him, did you?