[sidereal - the dreaming]

[laughitoff]

[for MDZS AU plot-related shenanigans]

Comments

[strikingchords]

I will protect you.

[he doesn't remember saying that drunk, but it feels very natural here]

[laughitoff]

[it earns him another startled glance]

[strikingchords]

[stares back up at him, sincere and concerned]

[laughitoff]

[in a small voice]

Why?

[strikingchords]

You are afraid.

[laughitoff]

I--

[snap, goes another branch; he's running out of them]

[strikingchords]

[his fingers curl in towards his palms; can't decide if it'd be more dangerous to climb up there and maybe startle Wei Wuxian more, or stay put and keep trying to talk him down with inadequate tools for the job...]

[laughitoff]

[it may be moot in a few more moments anyway, even though Wei Wuxian is doing his best to scramble . . .

snap. snap. snap]

[strikingchords]

Wei Ying!

[it's nearly an actual yell, though Wei Wuxian might not hear it in his panic]

[laughitoff]

[he is BUSY]

[strikingchords]

[MOVES UNDER HIM, INCREASINGLY ALARMED]

[laughitoff]

[the last branch finally gives way just as Lan Wangji moves under him; Wei Wuxian is too scared to make a sound as he falls]

[strikingchords]

[ALARMED TOO; he leaps to catch him in his outstretched arms, rocking back hard and bracing himself to stick the landing]

[laughitoff]

[Wei Wuxian falls --

through him? into him? not solidly into his arms, certainly

the dream cracks like glass around them, falling away in shards--]

[strikingchords]

[braces himself further, straightening up. Wei Ying? Where--]

[laughitoff]

[there's a familiar, cheerful little ding! sound]

【Hidden encounter resolved. Unlocking objective. Would you like to activate the direct-action mode of your 「WISH」?】

[strikingchords]

[he doesn't answer directly, but his intention comes through clearly anyway. he wants to find Wei Ying]

[laughitoff]

[another ding!]

【Activation successful! In accordance w

f͝i̡͟n͝d̛͠͞ ̷ẃh̴͘a̧͏̧t'̛͢s ̨̛w͝r͢͜͜o͏ng͘
f͠i̴x ̀́͟į͘͜t̢͡
̕͢d̴̡ơ̶͝ ̵͟͡u̸s̡͢ à̀ ̀̕f͘a͡҉́v̡̧͠o̧̨͢r͡!̛҉̷

SCANNING DATA SCANNING DATA SCANNING DATA SCANNING DATA SCANNING

PLEASE IGNORE THE DISCOMFORT OF

My, what do we have here? Such strange little worlds inside your heads.】

[strikingchords]

[this is very unsettling and he doesn't like it]

[laughitoff]

[the dream-world comes back, in an altogether different shape.

he is in the dark, walls of rough wood pressed in all around him; someone is hyperventilating in the back of his head]

[strikingchords]

[he goes very still and controls his breathing, his rather telling first reaction to an unexpected situation. closes his eyes carefully and then opens them again, ascertaining that it's still dark, that he's still closed in...]

[laughitoff]

[nothing has changed, except that he is of course breathing more slowly and steadily]

[strikingchords]

["someone is hyperventilating in the back of his head" is not something he is familiar with. tries to isolate the sensation to figure out what the heck it is before doing anything else; reaches out his internal senses...]

[laughitoff]

[a foreign presence, riddled with the telltale distortions of resentful energy]

[strikingchords]

[goes still again, but internally this time. he's surprised.

Wei Ying.]