(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

[strikingchords]

[he hears a stir behind him...

...

then a skittering noise.

Lan Wangji has knelt down to pick up the scattered ice cubes.]

[laughitoff]

Lan Zhan!

[turns around in exasperation, and -- he probably shouldn't be wrestling him back to sit, so he kneels down to pick up the cubes with him, grumbling]

[strikingchords]

[that's another "Lan Zhan." Lan Wangji pauses in picking the ice cubes for just a second, heart hammering out of all proportion with the significance of the words themselves. he's been returning them to the towel.]

[laughitoff]

[their significance is that Wei Wuxian isn't thinking at all; on some level, when he's able to forget about his anger for a moment, maybe he simply doesn't see Lan Wangji as an enemy naturally.

they get the ice shuffled back onto the towel, and Wei Wuxian ties it into a closed ice pouch this time, before handing it back]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji awkwardly returns to the chair and puts the ice back over his ribs. all the coiled-up tension left him with the familiar name. now he just feels bewildered and vulnerable again, at a loss for words more than just quiet.]

...

[laughitoff]

[huffs at him, much in the tones of a housewife with her hands on her hips, exasperated in a wholly domestic way for the moment...

eventually he turns to his cluttered desk and fishes around in the papers, then hands over some takeout menus for places in the neighbourhood. he hasn't necessarily gotten takeout from all of them before, but he's certainly worked delivery for all of them by now, some time or another.]

If you're done fussing, tell me what I should order you for dinner.

[strikingchords]

...

[this conversation took a sudden turn back into the weirdly domestic after that brief, dangerous tension. it was the name, Lan Wangji realizes. it disarmed him. maybe he should try not to be armed, no matter how painful it is to hold himself open.]

What would you recommend?

[laughitoff]

If you want spicy, these two are pretty popular, I think...if you want your terrible Gusu food, this one's got some selections that are kind of similar...

[strikingchords]

Which is your favorite?

[laughitoff]

Haah...I like this one, but I haven't eaten at most of these places. They said I could have discounts if I did order, though...

[no matter how much more money he's making here, and the relatively easy access to life's necessities, it's hard for him to get away from the mentality of making ends meet in Yiling. there's no radishes-versus-potatoes debates here, and he's only got himself to care for, but...still.]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji is going to pick up his own phone and order spicy chicken tailored for Wei Wuxian's taste from the expensive place where he very recently signed on as a performer.]

[laughitoff]

[what]

Hey, hey, hey, wait--

[strikingchords]

[he hangs up his phone and puts it back into his sleeve! he'll raise his eyebrows at Wei Wuxian.]

[laughitoff]

I'm supposed to be paying! That's the point of discounts and everything!

[strikingchords]

House rates.

[laughitoff]

That's still expensive!

[strikingchords]

Hm.

You owe me an ice tray.

[laughitoff]

I was going to get you that anyway...

[he subsides, though, shuffling papers on the desk restlessly and then moving to the kitchen to make some tea; he's not entirely sure what to do with Lan Wangji in his house, either, but he hasn't forgotten all his courtesy lessons]

[strikingchords]

[given the opportunity, he'll look over those papers on the desk a bit more closely, since he's sitting here. honestly a bit shy about this.

he'll also take a moment to really take in the bunny picture.]

[laughitoff]

[kind of a Gusu mood, isn't it? for all Wei Wuxian vehemently insisted he never wanted to go there again...

the papers are just...an assortment of stuff? some of it is to do with Jigokucho, plotted delivery routes on napkins, and sketches of the glimpse of the machine he got and attempts to extrapolate it, and a rough map of the section of sewer he explored getting there, and a half-finished schematic of a broken-down small pistol; some if it is clearly still demonic cultivation notes of some kind, with interesting diagrams of devices and a couple of talismans, though he can't just read the written parts off casually because they're written in shorthand and also really messily; some of it is just more doodles, less finished than the pinned-up things.]

[strikingchords]

[ah, yes. he'd meant to add to those defined underground maps, when he had a chance. it's later than he meant to give them to Wei Wuxian, but he'll find a fresh sheet of paper and a brush and start laying down his record of what he's found out the night of their mutual swim wholesale.]

[laughitoff]

[he comes back with the tea tray, and while he can't help but tense up at Lan Wangji being this near his heretical notes, the fact that Lan Wangji doesn't seem to be paying attention to them does help. he'll pour.]

Here. What's that?

[strikingchords]

Further information.

[his reply comes at a slight delay as he focuses on getting the lines correctly in scale from memory. nods without looking much up in absentminded gratitude, acknowledging the tea.]

Had meant to impart it, before. I did not know your direction.

[laughitoff]

[frowns at the map as Lan Wangji draws it out and the pattern finally clicks, setting the rest of the tray on the table at a remove and picking up his own cup.]

...where did you get this information?