[sidereal - the dreaming]

[laughitoff]

[for MDZS AU plot-related shenanigans]

Comments

night 73

[laughitoff]

[in this dream, you hear insistent yapping and barking. you find yourself coming up a path to the sight of the younger Wei Wuxian huddled up high in the thin upper branches of a tree, as . . . a pack of adorable puppies yip and gambol and paw at the trunk occasionally, whining . . .?

it looks like such a cute scene! a sweet, harmless dream! still, some faint thread of dream logic warns you that there's something just a little off about this; nightmares and loneliness aren't always immediately obvious, after all.]

((reference))

[strikingchords]

[of course there's something wrong here. there should not be dogs anywhere near Wei Ying?

he stops dead on the path and glares at the puppies, keeping still in case he's not yet attracted Wei Wuxian's attention. the puppy-directed aura of menace is palpable.]

[laughitoff]

[unlike in real life when mere puppies will back off from the imposing aura of the great Hanguang-Jun, these keep tormenting Wei Wuxian without acknowledging him. Wei Wuxian doesn't seem to notice him either, apparently tunnelvisioned with terror]

[strikingchords]

[UNACCEPTABLE. he puts his hand on the hilt of his sword and hurries down the path in Lan Wangji's usual smooth, regal-looking glide]

[laughitoff]

[a few of them turn to face him, wagging their tails! by all appearances they are hoping for treats]

[strikingchords]

[draws Bichen and leaps lightly over the heads of the pack, landing with his back to the tree's trunk to insert himself between their unwelcome presence and Wei Ying's escape route. he'll try to chase them off first by preference but he will not actually hesitate to beat up puppies if that's called for here.]

[laughitoff]

[his perceptions shift, as sudden and all-consuming as a dose of the Empathy-spell: he feels far too small, suddenly, a sharp knot of hunger in his stomach, and the dogs are all around him, cornering him, and though they do not change shape they are far, far more threatening and the light gleams off their teeth. a foreign panic rises in his throat, loud and blaring in his mind as a child's]

[strikingchords]

[he lifts his chin stubbornly against the fear, glaring defiance at the dogs, hand steady on Bichen despite his thudding heart. I will protect you, he thinks, as fierce and earnest as he's ever been about anything. he is not sure if he's directing the sentiment at Wei Wuxian above him in the tree, or the echo of a frightened child in the back of his mind.

he unsheathes Bichen and takes a step forward towards the dogs, eyes still blazing]

[laughitoff]

[they attacc!! he protecc!!

fortunately, they do not stop being regular puppies, with all the offensive capabilities of regular puppies; it's the screaming, crying fear that's his biggest problem here, really]

[strikingchords]

[he's had his own moments of fighting through pure panic in the past, though they did not feel quite like this. he tamps it down and swings Bichen flat-first around him to make the puppies back off, thinking hard about that time he chased the dog away from the tree Wei Wuxian was hiding under when they were children. his THREATENING AURA is turned up to max.]

Leave.

[laughitoff]

[he can't really get them to leave the general area, but he can get them a good distance away, cowed and not making so much noise.]

[strikingchords]

[...

...

...

he puts up a physical ward around the tree. Lan Sect is very good at them, as evidenced by their wall.

only when that's done does he glare up into the tree instead; he doesn't think there's any chance of him not being noticed this time.]




Wei Ying.

[laughitoff]

[there is a confused sniffle, as Wei Wuxian finally registers his presence]

Lan...Lan Zhan?

[strikingchords]

...

[he gentles his voice a little, though there's no helping his blank face, as usual]

Do not be afraid.

[laughitoff]

I'm not--!

[he is]

[strikingchords]

[ignores that]

They will not come close.

[laughitoff]

[whines, not unlike a puppy himself]

[strikingchords]

[softer still]

Wei Ying.

[laughitoff]

They'll bite me. They'll come back and they'll run in and they'll bite me--!

[strikingchords]

[very seriously]

I will not let them.

[laughitoff]

[wobbly]

You won't--you won't be here forever.

[strikingchords]

I'll stay.

[laughitoff]

You never did before...

[strikingchords]

[I tried, he might say, or you sent me away, or I did, but you do not remember. all contemptible answers. he left; he failed; he will not make excuses about it, neither to Wei Ying nor himself.]

...

I was wrong.

[laughitoff]

[hat gets Wei Wuxian to turn his head and stare down at him incredulously, the branches he's hanging onto creaking dangerously with his shift in weight]