sizhui | Inbox for prismatica

[ in lieu of a written address, wei wuxian sends instead a picture of a nearby location. he figured out the cameras pretty quickly, though selfies are... well, they're taking him some getting used to. ]

yuri left me with some donuts and water. would you like any, so i can set them aside for you?

Yuri is a good person, but don't worry about me, you can have as much as you want - we can go to a place for a ... Well, more of a meal, too, none of them are quite proper. Though the one I have in mind has reasonably spicy meals.

i enjoy spicy food! please, let's visit one of these places. i don't have much chroma, however...

i'll make it up to you!

Wait for me where you are and I'll take you!

[ He might arrive on his sword, because faster. Then he hops off it and cups his hands in greeting. ] Young Master Wei.

[ suibian sits against wei wuxian's hip, its unassuming shape nonetheless stark against the sharp lines of wei wuxian's outfit. he'd woken up with the sword to his side, as well as a chicken; wei wuxian left the chicken behind with yuri for now.

he waves sizhui over, a half-smile on his face, and salutes the other with a bow as well. ]

Lan Sizhui. Ah, I didn't mean to bother you so soon, I hope I didn't interrupt anything?

It's all right, Young Master Wei. It, ah. I was preparing something for a friend's birthday, but I'm almost done, anyway. And I wasn't that far.

Are you all right? This way.

I'm fine, thank you for asking. My heart feels like it's beating too fast for my body to keep up with, though.

[ coffee palpitations. fun.

wei wuxian falls in step with lan sizhui, setting aside his more pressing questions for when they get to wherever they're headed. ]

Whose birthday is it? Is it a fellow cultivator? Would I know which sect they're from?

Do you need to cultivate or meditate ...?

[ ... wait. ]

... did Yuri have you drink a dark sharp-smelling liquid that is not really tea...? It has a similar effect, I've observed.

And you would know the sect, but I don't think you would know him yet, unless you have met him here already. His name is Jin Ling.

Coffee! It's a really interesting drink, I rather like the taste of it, and its effects are curious too. Aah, I may have taken too much of it, however. There are so many flavors to it!

[ wei wuxian makes a face at the name, though. ]

He's from the Lanling Jin Sect? Does he walk around with a chip on his shoulder like most of them do?

... oh dear. I should... really talk with Yuri about that. You might not get to sleep soon, too, that is another effect of coffee. But then you're exhausted because... you haven't slept, and the effect of the coffee wears out. You do not have to try all the flavors at the same time. They will still be there another day.

[ Sizhui's face goes a little sadder. ]

Well he... was the Sect Heir, but he also lost both his parents when he was very young, less than a year of age. So a lot of people were unpleasant to him, and he learned to be unpleasant back, and preemptively, but he - he's really a good person and a good friend.

But you could say he has a chip on his shoulder. It just... there are reasons why it's there. I think he'll grow to be a much calmer and better Sect Leader, too.

You're fond of him, aren't you?

[it's less of a question as it is a statement, but wei wuxian cushions it as such to soften the implications as propriety dictates he should. he hums under his breath, falling silent for a handful of seconds before curiosity - as always - gets the better of him and prompts him to inquire. he does the math in his head, accounting for the time that lan sizhui's mentioned previously, and his estimate of the young man's age... if jin ling is heir, then—]

What happened to Young Master Jin Zixuan and his wife? Who did he marry? Jin Ling is his son, isn't he? Unless Master Jin Guangshan acknowledged his other sons - but that seems unlikely.

I am.

[ Sizhui walks a little bit in silence, but not very long - a half dozen steps, maybe. ]

Young Master Wei, I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge, but I need to warn you first - you will not like the answers to some of them. Please have the patience to learn all of the events before you try to take any action?

I'll do my best. [there's an awkward pause, to which wei wuxian attempts to lighten by raising three fingers in salute to lan sizhui.] I promise.

But you have to agree to be honest with me, too! Unless... If it's something you'll get punished for, then don't tell me. But with everything else, be honest with me.

You know the rules of the GusLan Sect. I will not lie to you.

Sect Leader Jin Guangshan acknowledged two of his illegitimate sons, eventually. Lianfang-Zun, Sect Leader Jin Guangyao, and eventually Young Master Mo Xuanyu, though he was sent away a few years later.

Young Master Jin Zixuan was killed before Jin Ling's one-month celebration, and his wife, who you know as Maiden Jiang, shortly after. At the time, Jin Guangshan was still Sect Leader. After he passed, Jin Guangyao, born Meng Yao, became Sect Leader until he... died, not long before I came here.

[a picture: wei wuxian, coming up short and stopping in the middle of foot traffic, his face wiped clean of any humor.]

No, that can't be right.

[the words are out of his mouth before he can stop himself. shijie, married, and shijie, heavy with child — but also shijie, dead.

wei wuxian stumbles on nothing. the lans would never lie. the lans would not lie, especially not on this matter, and yet—]

Who— [force the words out, wei wuxian, spit them out--] If you must answer nothing else, please tell me - were they avenged? Where were we? Did we—

[in wei wuxian's mind there's no question who "we" are. he'd sworn to stand by his shidi, sworn to give his life to the jiangs. together, they should've been unstoppable. and yet— and yet.

how could it have come to pass at all?]

What happened?

Edited 2019-11-22 12:25 (UTC)

[ Sizhui considers the questions, but then gives a small nod. ]

As far as I know, all of the people responsible, directly or not, had either already lost their lives, or lost them, immediately or later. They were avenged.

I was too young to be certain of the facts exactly. It is possible that Hanguang-Jun will tell you, if you ask.

You... died, shortly after, too. Then, more than a decade later, Young Master Mo - Mo Xuanyu - used a ritual in which he sacrificed himself to bring you into his body.

Edited 2019-11-22 12:28 (UTC)

[wei wuxian will not pretend to be a good person. a righteous person, certainly, and one who believes in doing the right thing at every chance he gets. but to be good - truly, deeply good - is to be forgiving, to be gentle, to be kind. shijie was the first truly good person that wei wuxian has ever met and loved.

he finds no small amount of vicious satisfaction in knowing she was avenged. a thousand deaths would not be enough for the light that was snuffed out by his sister's death, nor would it be enough to atone for the orphaning of her son. motherhood was a duty to which shijie would have devoted her life to, and jin ling - his nephew, his nephew - would have grown to be just as good. no child of shijie's could ever be anything else, no matter the father.

there's no love lost between him and jin zixuan, but if shijie married him, then she must have loved him.

she loved him, and she had a son by him.

wei wuxian will not cry, nor will he cry out.]

Thank you, Lan Sizhui. [he tries to be discreet in wiping at his face, to dry the hot tears at the edge of his vision; he mostly fails.] I'll have to ask Lan Zhan when I meet him. He won't be too happy, haha.

[he can already imagine it - lan zhan's face, pinched so delicately as wei wuxian plies him with smiles so clearly possessed of motive, but refusing to tell him off because it's not the lan way. wei wuxian chuckles wetly, because what else can he do?

his affected levity is marred by a frown, however, as he considers the last part.]

Lan Sizhui, are you saying I was summoned? [never mind dying - wei wuxian has always considered that he will die young, relative to the lifespan of a cultivator, and he's always assumed it'll be in a great battle with jiang cheng by his side. he doesn't question that he'll die. but to be called back after his death invites more questions, multitudes that are controversial and thrilling in their subject matter.]

To summon a soul and trap it in a still-living body— that's— [brilliant, he doesn't say. a proof of theory, he doesn't say. i want to know how it was done, wei wuxian thinks but swallows down.] Why me? Why would he choose me?

He... Hanguang-jun won't be happy, no, but he would not lie to you without a huge reason.

And I do not know, about Young Master Mo. I never met him, only after he had done this. So I cannot answer that.

[ Sizhui points to an entrance. ]

This is the restaurant, Young Master Wei. If you wish, I can order while you consider more questions, or you can do it for yourself, of course.

Oh, and... You said you did not have much Chroma. That is not a good thing, since using spiritual energy burns through Chroma, too. I can... Help with moonlacing, as much as you are comfortable with.

[ nie huaisang is someone who enjoys being idle and he's not a great cook, so restaurants tend to be his first choice for eating at any given time. it's not like he is lacking of chroma after all, his spiritual core is weak and he does plenty of moonlacing with jiang cheng daily.

the only way to use it is to spend it.

he's stepping towards the same entrance pointed out by lan sizhui and spots the familiar lan robes and a familiar - albeit young face. without missing a beat he lifts his fan and waves it in the air to grab their attention. ]

Oi, Wei-xiong, Young Master Sizhui!

[the voice is a shade different, and the face isn't quite the one he remembers, but there's no mistaking that enthusiasm, that mischievous glint around the eyes - that fan.

nie huaisang!

wei wuxian lights up, tension draining off his shoulders at the sight of his friend - who seems older, in that ageless way that some people seem older while still looking the same. perhaps this is another case of a time slip, as he's starting to call these paradoxical appearances in his mind. it fits, after all; someone's slipped from the time they came from originally, the question left unasked being whose timeline is the correct one.

ah, well. those are thoughts for later. wei wuxian takes lan sizhui with him, his grip loose around the other's arm as he draws them even closer to the nearing nie huaisang.]

Huaisang! Is it really you! I've never seen you dress so seriously before!

—Ah, Lan Sizhui - you must know each other, yes? - well, we were just about to get something to eat, talk about some things I've been meaning to ask about. Will you join us?

Sect Leader Nie. [ Sizhui cups his hands in front and greets politely, the tension subtly tugging his face easing a little because an adult would surely know what to say and what not to...

If Sect Leader Nie looks at him, he'll glance at Suibian, held by the youth next to him; if not, well, he'll still try to warn the eldest of the three. ]

Young Master Wei was saying he has only little chroma, as he has recently arrived, and I was about to suggest we sit close while at least waiting for the food to remedy that.

Do you enjoy spicy food as well, Sect Leader Nie?

[ Surely that is a safe question, as he lets Young Master Wei to make up his mind about the offer. ]

[ in truth, huaisang is a keen observer and he can discern enough to know this is not the wei wuxian he has met in prisma so far. he looks from lan sizhui back to wei wuxian and then back to sizhui.

you know what? whatever is going on, so far, is not the weirdest thing nie huaisang has seen since arriving here. ]

Ach, Wei-xiong, as if you would ever catch me wearing anything less than the finest silks. [ he flicks open his fan ] Luckily, I have plenty of chroma so why don't I treat you to some food?

I heard really good reviews about this place. Although, I'm not as fond of spicy food as Wei-xiong.

Let's go inside.

[sect leader. it prompts even more questions, doesn't it? master nie mingjue is as strong as a hurricane, just as furious too; the ways in which wei wuxian can imagine nie mingjue giving up his seat as sect leader don't paint a nice picture.

he'll ask. eventually. later. it might come up during their dinner, anyway; wei wuxian simply needs to be patient and ferret the information out piece by piece. for now, he reaches for nie huaisang with his free hand and pulls the other into a one-armed hug.]

Last I saw you, you were swimming away to safety from the Muxi caves, [wei wuxian murmurs against nie huaisang's shoulder. there were moments in the caves where wei wuxian had thought he might die. it's nothing too morbid; his mind considers the possibilities of every situation, and he knew there were high chances of his dying in the caves. at the time, his main regret was that lan zhan would have to suffer with him.

heroism demands martyrdom, and often. anything more and heroism becomes tragedy.

anyway—]

If you're paying, then I'm getting the spiciest dish they have on the menu! Let's go!

[and so wei wuxian, brand-new and shiny as far as the city is concerned, pulls both lan and nie into the restaurant like he's been here all his life.]

[ Sizhui watches after him for a moment fondly. ]

I can help with the payment, too, but I do not want to leave him low on Chroma so that he won't hurt himself.

[ Calm and reasonable. Also... important addition. ]

Yuri let him drink coffee. A lot of coffee.

[ Sect Leader Nie lives in the same house as Jin Ling. He must have witnessed the disaster that coffee + cultivators wreak.

A nod, and he holds the door open for the the senior. ]

It'll be my treat, for both of you. [ nie huaisang beams because, hey, what best way to ingrain himself on lan wangji's good graces than by treating his de-facto kid to a nice meal alongside his ... well, future-husband? or something.

he has a lot of questions too.

but he returns wei wuxian's hug with both arms and gives a squeeze and allows himself to be dragged inside.]

Come let's sit over there and no more coffee for Wei-xiong. [ the restaurant has a comfortable feeling to it; it is not quite home cooked meals but it certainly has a more intimate air than a high-end place; it's well lit and sparsely decorated. if anything, it has all the signs of a place where the food is very, very good despite the modest decor. ]

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