(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]

[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.]

[laughitoff]

Stop that, ah, you'll undo any good you were doing yourself. I won't look, I won't do it again.

[turns around pointedly, to emphasize this.]

[strikingchords]

[there is a pause from behind him, but it is not immediate, and there are not yet any accompanying noises of Lan Wangji putting his robes straight and sitting again...]

...

[laughitoff]

[he stays turned around, arms folded, feet planted. it's not without tension -- he is very aware Lan Wangji could attack him from behind at any time, especially as it feels like he's entirely broken the dumb little ice-centric moment of truce -- but he doesn't move.]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji's voice in his blind spot: not something he's used to, these days. any detectable emotion has been ironed out of it except maybe a hint of tension, more apparent in the feel of his voice, the taut delivery and clipped edges, than in his tone itself.]

Do you wish me to stay?

[laughitoff]

I want you to sit still, and I want you to keep out of sight for any Enma who might be looking for you in the street.

[neither of which is a wish for him to stay, exactly.]

[strikingchords]

Here?

[Lan Wangji always was relentless.]

[laughitoff]

If you get up and leave, what part of that is sitting still?

[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!