[sidereal - the dreaming]

[laughitoff]

[for MDZS AU plot-related shenanigans]

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[strikingchords]

[his brows knit; in context it is possible even for someone not familiar with Lan Wangji's blank face to guess that he is thinking hard of how to explain better.

finally, slowly, the words trickling back in an echo from not very long ago]

When I did not stay.

I was wrong.

[laughitoff]

[oh

goes still...]

[strikingchords]

[...

nods slightly when he sees Wei Wuxian isn't going to protest more and gets to his feet again.

he frees up one hand and leaves the other cradled against his chest for Wei Wuxian to ride in. then he starts west down the tunnel.]

[laughitoff]

[the paperman keeps stealing peeks at him]

[strikingchords]

[hard to see much of his face from this angle...]

[laughitoff]

[wriggles unobtrusivey back, more away from his chest and against his fingers]

[strikingchords]

[his face is Lan Zhan's familiar face, carved-jade and still and intent and FUCKING DECEPTIVE because he now knows personally that he has a BILLION FEELINGS what the FUCK

Lan Wangji notices him wriggling around, glances down at him, and transfers him to his shoulder so he has a bit more room to move around and find a spot - he can probably get a better and less conspicuous profile view from here if he wants, actually.]

[laughitoff]

[wobbles a bit and then tucks his arms just under the collar of Lan Wangji's outer robe to stay in place; he doesn't have a ton of traction on there as opposed to a hand]

[strikingchords]

[seems stable! the smooth fall of Lan Wangji's hair in front of him will conceal his peeking pretty effectively if he wants to try that again...]

[laughitoff]

[does, for a bit]

[strikingchords]

[now he gets to look at Lan Wangji's sharp pale profile! lovely, mostly opaque... he looks much the same as he did every day Wei Wuxian stole a glance at him in Lan Qiren's class or across the table from him in the library.

there are some differences. he has a smudge of dirt on one cheek that might be covering up a fading bruise. a few strands that he hasn't tucked back into place yet have come loose from the smooth mass of his hair and are caught in his forehead ribbon, dangling and threatening to get in his mouth. the mouth itself is... softer than Wei Wuxian remembers. the corners aren't tamped sternly into a straight line. they aren't curving up or down, but it seems almost as if they could in the right circumstances, instead of it being completely impossible.

the expression in his eyes is softer, too. for the moment it is more quiet and thoughtful than blazingly intent. he's relaxed faintly; is he relieved...?

weird that one can have different flavors of "mostly expressionless."]

[laughitoff]

[t, tears his eyes away and goes back to scanning the tunnel around them]

[strikingchords]

[no immediate threats except potentially tripping over a stray marble or two scattered on the ground here and there, which is lucky since Lan Wangji probably couldn't see them if there were! the tunnel is starting to slope up slightly though. they might be getting close to their destination.]

[laughitoff]

[they are; Lan Wangji can smell moving air. fresh air would be inaccurate; it reeks, again, of blood and rotting corpses. fibrous roots make an appearance, penetrating through the tunnel ceiling; they're not wispy but rather hard and sharp and scratching. Lan Wangji will have to watch his head.]

[strikingchords]

[they look like fragile little things to him, when he can see them at all; the split vision is probably going to become troublesome again by the time they emerge...]

[laughitoff]

[before they reach that point, Wei Wuxian shakes himself and the paperman falls off Lan Wangji's shoulder, held in place only by its tucked in-arms; he feels that spirit-presence in the back of his mind again, less a flood in and more of a tentative easing.]

[strikingchords]

[...he tucks the paperman into one of his sleeves.

Wei Wuxian feels him carefully making space for his passenger, just as tentative, marking his presence with just a narrow edge of mental attention; it's rather like someone looking out of the corner of their eye.]

[laughitoff]

[ah; he can see the hazards now, and a faint greyish haze of light at the end of the tunnel

Wei Wuxian just sits there kind of huddled in on himself, nervous and bristly but no longer actively protesting this whole situation]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji gradually, gradually relaxes into the available space again as he starts to feel out where Wei Wuxian has settled himself.

he's still shaken but-- genuinely calmer, mostly open and tranquil, only a little wobbly around the edges. the wounds are healed over, if thinly. it was a huge relief for him to be able to say what he had to say to Wei Wuxian in a way he seemed to understand; so much so that Wei Wuxian can feel the weight gone. he'd badly wanted to.]

...

[laughitoff]

[he doesn't say thank you or sorry, but the feelings of mingled gratitude and apology are there nonetheless, gossamer-fine and tentative]

[strikingchords]

[he's open to those, too. Wei Wuxian feels them accepted.




he didn't mean to get that upset and lose control either.]

[laughitoff]

[oh :X

finally relaxes a little]

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji... ALSO relaxes a little more, when he does

oh no!

the mouth of the tunnel is right ahead.]

[laughitoff]

[he can see the bamboo stands already, and the churning of wraiths around them]

[strikingchords]

[half turns in towards Wei Wuxian's mental presence, a bit more certain in the contact now, still steady

Wei Ying. Do you remember this?]