(Open) The Cruelest Month

[strikingchords]

Who ⬤ Lan Wangji and YOU (in April)
What ⬤ Night Parade fallout/catchall
When ⬤ throughout April
Where ⬤ Various locations
Content Warnings ⬤ Will be added as necessary!


1. food runners (April 2022 event #4B)

[before and after the assassination, food still has to get delivered. though he pointedly hasn't followed the kuidaore philosophy of the city, Lan Wangji has enough uses for money (and is unused enough to having to ration it) that it's worth earning more -- and because he's recently reacquired certain abilities, he sees no reason to limit himself to his feet or a motorbike. no, he's a cultivator who's regained his golden core, which means he can fly. if you've ever wanted to see a man carry food strapped to himself while riding a sword like a hoverboard, now is your chance.

finances aren't Lan Wangji's only motivation, either. before and during the festival, he’s also doing his best to keep his ear to the ground -- he’s making a point to deliver to the Kappa and anyone else who seems nervous or tense. sometimes, he'll even put some of that new lucre directly into delivering complementary meals to small gatherings, just for the excuse to see and hear more of the conversations happening within them.

after the assassination attempt, he’s doing the same, but now his goal is even more targeted: he's keeping a special eye out to learn the reactions of the other factions, or catch up with and reassure the Kappa who are unwilling to talk to anyone but Sutoku Alliance members.

are you a Tamamo restaurant worker, receiving your payment from the last order before giving him a new one? are you coming to your door to take your food, complimentary or not? or are you a fellow beast of burden, helping him deal with an large delivery to an equally large -- and potentially information-rich -- gathering?]

...

Here. Take this.

2. busking for spirits (April 2022 event follow-up, #6)

[in the few days immediately after the disaster, you may come across an odd sight near the city center. a man is sitting around some of the rubble still not cleared away with a traditional instrument on the ground in front of him, eyes closed, frowning.

he plucks a few notes that seem to tremble on the air. the hair at the back of your neck rises -– there something not just sound in those chords. they tug at something you can't quite explain; you feel it in your throat and behind your breastbone.

after moment, the man takes his fingers away and waits expectantly. what happens next has no immediate explanation –- all the strings on the instrument shiver at once, very softly, enough to create a helplessly muddled home of noise.

the man frowns deeper before he jerks his head up and notices you watching.]

Hm.

3. club life (April 2022 event follow-up, #1, #6)

3a. open

[later in April, Lan Wangji is still trying to find new connections with the events of the Night Parade... with the help of some connections he made along the way.

specifically, his performance among the festival's spectral cherry trees caught the interest of one of the more music-oriented club owners in a district controlled by the Sutoku Alliance. now Lan Wangji has been installed as a performance artist at a live music venue, one that specializes in a sophisticated, traditional flavor. the manager here had suspected that a smoking-hot man in hanfu, playing a seven-stringed zither under in front of a projection screen that showed drifting wind and flowers, would create exactly the kind of ambiance some customers would want. they might have been on to something.

Lan Wangji seems at peace with playing along, the gentle lighting softening his severe face. if you just wanted to listen to the music and feel calmer after these crazy weeks, it goes no further than this, and you might notice the song becoming even more peaceful as your food and drink show up.

but Lan Wangji and the club owner also have an understanding. you might wonder: is he close enough to that table full of faction higher-ups with serious expressions to overhear their conversation? are you?]

3b. closed to Sutoku Alliance

[this particular group appears to be from the Sutoku Alliance, and something about the seriousness of their conversation and the way they're sitting feels like business. they're leaned in close to each other, voices low. if you wait long enough for Lan Wangji's set to end, you'll see him lift his hands away from his guqin and watch them openly, eyes sharp.

after another few moments, he'll glance at you briefly, confirming that you're also part of the Alliance. then he'll rise to approach the table.]

4. we love an open prompt

((respond with your own prompt, or hit me up by journal PM if you want me to write a specific starter for you!

for further reference, my plotting comment can be found on the ooc post, some starters that go down specifically during the festival itself are available over this way, and Sutoku Alliance members can find Lan Wangji available for the forbidden gossip post-Night Parade IC brainstorming here.))

Comments

[laughitoff]

Hah. I never thought I'd see the great Hanguang-Jun in such bad shape again--but then, they only give you back your capabilities a little at a time too, don't they.

[it's a statement, not a question.]

Anything else more serious?

[strikingchords]

[he'll shake his head... his voice is still low, eyes closed. he's going to cling to this sense memory, to the softness of the cloth and the slosh of the water and the sting of chili in his nose from the kitchen.]

I think not.

[he wants to know the answers to a million questions, find out what abilities Wei Wuxian has back, hear more about his life in this strange new place, but he doesn't think he's permitted to ask. he sticks with one.]

Your leg?

[laughitoff]

It's fine. It's healing.

[it'd probably heal faster if he rested more, but who has time for that? gotta hustle.

Lan Wangji's face is clean enough; Wei Wuxian fiddles around, and then drops a tube of antiseptic ointment into his lap. he hasn't quite forgotten himself enough to start dabbing that onto Lan Wangji's face by hand]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji opens his eyes again at the movement and the tiny thump of the tube on his leg.

question for science, how close is Wei Wuxian's face, still?]

[laughitoff]

[it's like, less than six inches away? dangerous.]

[strikingchords]

[oh yeah, then he's absolutely just staring up into Wei Wuxian's beautiful orbs or whatever transfixed for a second. thanks.]

...

[laughitoff]

[his beautiful tired bloodshot orbs. Lan Wangji, please. your taste is very bad.

Wei Wuxian seems to realize they're a little too close to each other after a moment, jerking back a bit and then making an impatient motion at him]

Let me see the rib, we should be sure.

[on the one hand Lan Wangji apparently does have some of his core capabilities back! on the other they don't have much in the way of real healers to verify, as far as Wei Wuxian knows, so a second eye will have to do.]

[strikingchords]

[his taste is Wei Wuxian, and he would disagree with your assessment, narration. he hesitates at the request, though. taking off his robes... in Wei Wuxian's room... CERTAINLY FEELS LIKE A LOT...]

[laughitoff]

[huffs at him]

I'm not going to stab you in my own rooms.

[strikingchords]

[he'll straighten up, haughty with embarrassment, and respond in a cool voice:]

I did not suspect it.

[huh?]

[laughitoff]

[he jerks a little in surprise at that, yeah. it's not like he's made himself particularly trustworthy since they got here...? he's still kind of surprised Lan Wangji's sitting in his room at all.

tugs at Lan Wangji's sleeve instead of addressing any of that; come on, now.]

[strikingchords]

...

...

...

[he's going to die, isn't he. he had a 60/40 shot of refusing and maybe getting kicked out until Wei Wuxian tugged at his sleeve, like A-Yuan politely asking for a hearing for whatever request he wants to make. this is illegal.]

Turn away.

[laughitoff]

As though I haven't seen you in the springs before! Really, now.

[he does turn, though; as long as Lan Wangji lets him look at the injury, it's not like he needs to ogle the rest of him.]

[strikingchords]

[in fairness to Lan Wangji, he always seemed uncomfortable in the springs and with Wei Wuxian and nudity in the Xuanwu's cave as well.

after a long moment, he hears a rustle of clothing rather than getting a knife in his back, which is nice.]

[laughitoff]

[Wei Wuxian will wait for him to signal he can turn back around, arms crossed, mildly glaring a hole in the rabbit painting on his pinboard while he waits...]

[strikingchords]

[softer-voiced, somehow, after another rustle of clothing:]

All right.

[laughitoff]

[what does he see, when he turns?]

[strikingchords]

[he's got his inner robes pulled back, his outer robe still loose over his shoulders... Wei Wuxian sees the edge of something ??? red and raised??? higher on his chest, but it's mostly covered. there's dark bruising lower down.]

...

[laughitoff]

[Wei Wuxian, being Wei Wuxian, frowns at the picture this makes...he marks the red whatever-it-is for later investigation, but right now it is time to kneel unselfconsciously in front of where Lan Wangji is sitting, and very gently feel around the edges of that bruised area with his fingertips.

this is perhaps not a scenario that has previously come up in Lan Wangji's fantasies about him. hm.]

[strikingchords]

[WHO SAYS. HE'S HAD AT LEAST ONE PAST INCIDENT OF WEI WUXIAN TENDERLY CARING FOR HIS INJURIES.

he hisses low under his breath, his body going very tense...]

[laughitoff]

[it's not a long inspection, thankfully; Wei Wuxian shakes his head a little, pulling his hands back.]

Well, you're right that you can probably heal that soon, and I don't have much of anything for broken bones anyway. Do you want some ice?

[strikingchords]

...

Why?

[of course this is the question he has to blurt out, as quiet and deliberate as if he meant to ask it, with Wei Wuxian's fingers just seconds away from his skin and no shirt on in Wei Wuxian's room...]

[laughitoff]

So you can numb the injury.

[that wasn't even sarcastic? he seems genuinely confused Lan Wangji is asking him this question?

Wei Wuxian is both very inconsistent and very stupid, sometimes.]

[strikingchords]

[...helplessly, unable to refuse that concern if it's being offered, but wholly bewildered:]

If you like.

[laughitoff]

[it's easier if you just kind of turn off thinking too hard about what you're doing and the implications and how they might clash with things you've said before, Lan Wangji! Wei Wuxian is unfortunately great at that! it's one of his essential life skills!

he gets a towelful of oddly-shaped ice pressed into his hand shortly; the freezer in Wei Wuxian's apartment is small and shitty, but it does have space for a tray. he got one of those cheap novelty ones.]