[sidereal - the dreaming]

[laughitoff]

[for MDZS AU plot-related shenanigans]

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[laughitoff]

[his tone dulls even more]

Give me a minute. Let me think. It's been years...

[strikingchords]

[...

he can't help but refocus and sort of shift his attention back that way again, alive to the nuance of Wei Wuxian's voice]

[laughitoff]

[he doesn't reject the attention. at last:]

Go around the back of the one you're facing.

[strikingchords]

[he obeys...]

[laughitoff]

[it looks nondescript! there is a small window, but all he can see inside is a strange, flickering light]

...kneel so your head is below the sill, and touch the wall at the bottom left corner. There should be a stone you can push in...

[strikingchords]

[he is obeying meticulously, heart pounding a little, doubly at a disadvantage. the apparently-wooden walls don't show a stone to his eyes. he closes them and finds it with his fingers.]

[laughitoff]

[the stone is smooth and solid and cold under his fingers; there's the barely-there seam of the one to push . . .

when he does, there's a hard thunk overhead, something passing close enough to ruffle his hair as it slams out of the 'window']

[strikingchords]

[he keeps his eyes closed.]

Now?

[laughitoff]

Feel...feel around the sill for a catch...

[he is concentrating VERY HARD on NOT GETTING LAN WANGJI MURDERED]

[strikingchords]

[reaches up to the sill, also concentrating hard on doing exactly what Wei Wuxian says and not being murdered]

[laughitoff]

[his fingers touch almost burning-cold metal on the left side]

Push down when you feel it.

[strikingchords]

[pushes down obediently!]

[laughitoff]

[there is a rush of air in front of him as the wall pulls apart, and then Wei Wuxian YELLS in horror]

Get back! Get back GET BACK GET BACK!

[strikingchords]

[shoves himself away from the wall hard]

[laughitoff]

[there are white-robed children sitting inside the opened house, curiously samefaced and generic like the surrounding buildings; despite that, Lan Wangji may be achingly minded of A-Yuan for a moment when he sees them. Papa! they cry, and come running towards them. Wei Wuxian is still shouting:]

Back! Faster! I got it wrong! Fuck!

[strikingchords]

[that's both creepy and wrenching and he feels a jarring, unpleasant lurch in his stomach; wavers and nearly hesitates for a second and then shuts his eyes and obeys, more surefooted when he can't see what's going on]

[laughitoff]

[hot breath near him, the sounds of gnashing teeth and eerie giggling -- Wei Wuxian curses and YANKS on the link himself, his perception slamming into Lan Wangji's, pure horrified adrenaline]

LOOK, damn you!

[strikingchords]

[his eyes snap back open and he wrenches around to look.]

[laughitoff]

[it's am amalgamation of ghoul children, not many separate ones; they're extruding themselves out in horrifying ways from the inside of the dark stone room, reaching out for him, perilously close. he can smell the rotten blood-stink of the Burial Mounds now, see the hulking mass of tombs chiseled out of the mountain face and the red sky and curved black peaks beyond]

[strikingchords]

[Wei Wuxian can feel his jolt of reaction, his instant reorientation and the way a smooth, analytical calm rushes into the space the change in perspective left. he's as quick to adapt as Wei Wuxian could have asked for; no less than one would expect from the great Hanguang-jun.

now that he can actually perceive the surroundings without the illusion blurring even his sense of danger, he can jump back to a safe spot and draw his guqin off his back in one motion, the noise of the strings ringing out]

[laughitoff]

[Wei Wuxian doesn’t discourage this. his own fear is all subsumed into the grim directive of keep Lan Zhan alive, holding down his own bad memories]

Don’t spend too long trying to suppress them. Keep moving or you make yourself a target for everything else!

[strikingchords]

[doesn't respond in words, but when he's pulled this closely into Wei Wuxian's ambit Wei Wuxian can feel his acknowledgment like a hum in the back of his mind.

Lan Wangji does keep moving; the ghouls are attracted to his strong spiritual energy, but at the same time they're afraid of him, and a few flashy displays of power followed by him suppressing the sense of his own presence as far as possible and keeping on the move until the ghouls get confused should be able to get them to safer ground for the moment.]

[laughitoff]

[sags in relief when they do, though Lan Wangji can still feel his hyperalert tracking around them for fresh threats. he's quiet]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji is steady, alert as well but with that calm underlying it; he takes the opportunity to look around him better...]

[laughitoff]

[they're on high ground above the tombs now I guess?? they can see the ghoulbaby monster casting around and wailing, thwarted. the other tombs are quiet. if you want more info please let me know what Lan Wangji is looking for specifically]