(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]

[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.]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji literally never does that, Wei Wuxian. everything he does has an implication. right now, he is considering the implications while he's staring at the stupid ice. they are in hell, and Wei Wuxian is dead, and he has procured the means to freeze ice in little fish shapes. they are so stupid. Lan Wangji wants to cry again, from how sad it is, and also how much he loves him.]

Ridiculous.

[laughitoff]

Nooo...well, they are, but they're kind of cute, aren't they? The store had some that let you make little hearts or little moons, too. I can get you one if you want.

[ice is safe, ice is a safe topic, ice is so innocuous that when babbling about it you don't have to think about how you've dragged this man home (why?) and treated him (why???) and how you are probably going to order dinner for the pair of you because you don't want him going back out there and possibly getting tangled up with Enma again (why?????????) ice is great. love ice. perceive ice.]

[strikingchords]

[for once, Lan Wangji is on the same page as Wei Wuxian.]

I want it.

["I would like a novelty ice tray" is not what he came into this encounter thinking, nor truly what he wants to express, but in this moment, it is not a lie. he has been offered a novelty ice tray and he is not going to refuse.]

[laughitoff]

[he gets a doubletake, because Wei Wuxian didn't expect him to agree, but you know what, continuing this conversational thread while Lan Wangji applies stupid ice fish to his torso is fine. it's fine. it's fine it's fine it's fine.]

Well, I'll keep that in mind next time I go shopping, then. Maybe I'll give you the address too, the store's cute and the proprietor likes handsome young men, ha! She'll probably give you a discount.

[strikingchords]

[the thought of them casually buying things at the same store makes Lan Wangji's head swim. it's extremely possible. they literally live within walking distance of each other. it would be very easy.]

...

You have my thanks.

[looks up at him, achingly sincere]

[laughitoff]

[meets his eyes for just a second, then looks away again sharply. he's not quite able to face sincerity over...anything. any of this. unfortunate that Lan Wangji is a human handcrafted by the heavens out of jade and sincerity.]

It's fine. Consider this some repayment for getting you injured, ah.

[strikingchords]

Nothing is owed.

[he doesn't try to keep chasing Wei Wuxian's gaze, but draws himself up a bit more to change the position of the ice on his ribs, silent and dignified. the drape of cloth covering up the livid red mark on his chest tugs up a bit more -- Wei Wuxian can see what looks like the bottom half of something with a rounded, circular edge.]

[laughitoff]

[it does catch his attention; he frowns and nods at it, instead of acknowledging Lan Wangji's rejection of the sentiment, though he doesn't just go and yank the cloth aside]

Another injury?

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji tenses up slightly and then exhales and relaxes, again. he doesn't want to show this to Wei Wuxian -- he doesn't really have a right to have done something so foolish, and he doesn't want to talk about it -- but at least it's not what's on his back.]

Of previous origin. It has healed.

[mostly.]

[laughitoff]

[luckily(?) 'of previous origin' is a pretty sobering reminder. ah, yes. previous to his fights in the city, which means he took this wound back in the cultivation world, which means...he didn't have to have gotten it around the time he would have killed Wei Wuxian's people, it could have happened beforehand. he finds he's abruptly mad about it again anyway, on some level.

wait, though. what leaves a permanent mark like that on a powerful cultivator's flesh? or is it a permanently healed mark? is it actually a curse?

anyway now he's going to try to grab the panel of robe aside for a better look.]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji reacts to twitch the cloth out of his grip, moving a moment too late to actually stop him -- ice scatters on the floor as the towel comes loose from his errant fingers and flutters free, landing next to his chair in a damp pile. despite Wei Wuxian's previous assaults, it seems he wasn't ready for this one on privacy, either.

the good news is that to Wei Wuxian's experienced eye, this wound wouldn't be from the time of the Burial Mound siege: it's not actually older than that, but fresher, no more than perhaps three months old.

the bad news is that it's entirely inexplicable: a livid brand of the Wen Clan mark, that matches the one six years healed on his own chest.

Lan Wangji is glaring up at him, eyes hot as coals, apparently furious. he grabs his robe back from Wei Wuxian's reaching hand.]

[laughitoff]

[wow! he sure doesn't know what the hell he thinks about that! he takes a step or two back from the force of that glare, actually, glaring back but, in, like, a confused way]

What the hell?

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji doesn't reply immediately! he stands to -- begin to pull his own robes back on the rest of the way, actually...? his movement is a bit too abrupt for his more recent bruise; his jade face doesn't quite naturally conceal the flinch of pain.]