[sidereal - the dreaming]

[laughitoff]

[for MDZS AU plot-related shenanigans]

Comments

[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.]

[laughitoff]

Lan Zhan? L-Lan Zhan, what--

[Wei Wuxian's struggling to control himself, at least, the moment he registers someone else is there]

[strikingchords]

[Not enough information to say.

he needs to be calm here, for Wei Wuxian's sake as much as his own. calm calm calm calm calm. he steadies himself further, immovable as stone.]

[laughitoff]

[calm; calm. it's hard to tell if what Lan Wangji is doing has the direct effect, but Wei Wuxian's terrified breathing slows too.]

[strikingchords]

[at least he knows he isn't making anything worse this way.

he waits a moment more for them to both settle, then reaches out to explore the rough wood walls with the pads of his fingers. is there anything that feels like a door or a panel to be pried away?]

[laughitoff]

[there is an inside seam between the walls around him and the panel on top of him; he is in a coffin, of course]

[strikingchords]

[OF COURSE???????????

unlatches the lid, if he can.]

[laughitoff]

[there is a beautiful blue sky above him, and swaying tree branches just visible past the coffin-edge. birdsong fills his ears. Wei Wuxian makes a faint despairing noise]

[strikingchords]

[hesitates. something about this feels wrong but Wei Wuxian's distress is more immediately important.]




Wei Ying.

[laughitoff]

Ah, I always end up back here . . .

[strikingchords]

[he sits up and looks around him, careful]

[laughitoff]

[he doesn't recognize the place, though it bears a certain semblance to the Cloud Recesses; a lush green mountainous landscape, replete with trees and birds and flowers

he is just seated in a little grassy hollow, very cool and pleasant -- so why can he still feel rough wood underneath him?]

[strikingchords]

...

[closes his eyes and assures himself of that feeling under his hands. very measured:]

Wei Ying. Where?

[laughitoff]

What do you mean, where?! We're in the Burial Mounds!

[strikingchords]

[even with the resentment liberated and a couple of decades to regrow and heal, the Burial Mounds would not look like this, Lan Wangji thinks. everything is too smooth and pristine. the Burial Mounds would show its scars, mourn its dead.]

We see different things.

[laughitoff]

????!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

[strikingchords]

[he opens his eyes again to check if he sees the same thing now that he's looking for the Burial Mounds...]

[laughitoff]

[he still sees the beautiful, peaceful landscape]

An illusion? --I can't move...

[strikingchords]

I cannot see you, either.

[it doesn't feel like Wei Wuxian is there with him; he's not sure he can sense another person's physical presence. it feels like Wei Wuxian is in the back of his head.]

[laughitoff]

What the fuck is going on?!