[♪♫♬]
[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.]
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.]

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If you tell me what's going on I might consider it though.
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Here...
Mourning.
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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.
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[their words are heavy in the air.]
But I do not hate you.
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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?
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...you have already...
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[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?
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I waited for you. This is my place. What would going back to the Jingshi do?
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[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?
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...A-Yuan could go to the Jingshi.
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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]
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He was there.
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[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?
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...I looked for you. I found him.
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suddenly more emotionally exhausted than he was dealing with the grief, he leans his forehead on Lan Wangji's shoulder]
Thank you.
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he clears his throat and
smoothly
changes the topic]
Do you, ah, know if anyone else is here? Is it just you and A-Yuan?
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You are here now.
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[his memory isn't the greatest, so it takes a second to dig through his sparsely-populated memories]
For your parents?
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so curious
it's mourning so it isn't going to be anything particularly pleasant, but the unpleasant things might be what's causing the qi deviation. so, there is an excuse to go and see it]
...If you don't want me to look, I won't go look. But if you don't tell me not to, I'm going to go and take a peek.
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