dieva: (Default)
in my goth necromancer era (wei wuxian | 魏无羡) ([personal profile] dieva) wrote2025-12-30 10:24 am
shangba: (15.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-28 08:56 am (UTC)(link)
( The night stretches.

First, the talk with Zewu-Jun, murmured, sedate. Hix brother's agony to hear Lan Wangji has breached every etiquette and succumbed Cloud Recesses in a diplomatic quagmire. His gladness after, that Hanguang-Jun has met contentment.

Then his uncle, the same tale, reception gelid but firm. It is a choice made, and it will be honoured, and the unorthodox Wei Wuxian will receive what respect the sect can spare him. Then, their elders, faces wan, drawn, guarded.

At several points, Lan Wangji is dismissed, then called again for questions. More often than not, the words are the same. He does not lose patience. He does not begrudge.

Not until midnight has long fled, and he is sent to his quarters. There, dim candle light, gentle warmth. His two charges, sleeping.

He shames himself, barely sparing the time to silently pass water over his body, before slipping into sleeping silks and retiring on the lesser bed, prepared for Yuan. A bad fit, but inevitable.

Come morning, he wakes first, body startled by habit. He hushes the child, himself already awake, and calls him for ablutions. By the time of Wei Ying's own stirring, they wait at the low table, breakfast long brought and Lan Wangji taking his tea. )


Good morning.
shangba: (10.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-28 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Late.

( Late, if somewhat productive, his mouth curled in an unbothered line. There are words to speak, all discouraging. He cannot serve Wei Ying his doubts. Instead, he answers the affection with a squeeze of Wei Ying's arm, with the tip of his head.

His mouth chases the ghost of Wei Ying's warmth, missing his cheek. Ah. So be it.

Yuan, at least, is thoroughly satisfied, laughing at the onslaught of affection. Lan Wangji shifts to allow them their easy exchange, turning instead to devote himself to filling out three of the unused, clinking bowls, to excess with the breakfast offering. )


Brother and the elders convene today among themselves.

( Best they do not trouble themselves with the conclusion. )
shangba: (09.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-28 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
( Unknowingly, Yuan — who, despite the tumultuous nature of his upbringing, still finds the manners to look up questioningly at Lan Wangji before picking out the finer crisp vegetables from his bowl — acts as a shield between them. It is an art not to wage a war of anxieties, between two men grown.

Lan Wangji finds both of their protests and questions silent, suspended. Their war unwaged, their mouths sweet and tame. Here, inevitably, they must act at their finest, and so he briefly diverts himself with the child, teaching him, also, to fill out Wei Ying's bowls. Duly attended. )


Eat with us. ( In truth, by now, Wei Ying will be eating either alone or with the rare companionship of Yuan, who picks away at the dregs of what's gone untouched of Lan Wangji's portion. ) Yuan wishes to see his infant disciple friends.

( To think, brought here to vacation with his caretaker, and he abandons Wei Ying shamelessly for the nursery. )
shangba: (12.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-29 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
( ...oh. Oh, no. So many of these children would wish for siblings. After the war, Cloud Recesses fell and felt quieter. So much so that Lan Wangji cannot fault them a certain enthusiasm for company.

Still, this cannot be allowed to pass. With a light adjustment of his voice, he taps his own arm, calling forth a butterfly to deliver a soft-worded message to the caretaker. A diplomatic endeavor, likely to earn immense gratitude.

He turns back to Wei. Ying, one brow raised incredulously, after. )


And who taught Yuan such things? ( Beside him, a-Yuan's mouth opens wide as he stares at Wei Ying, as if he too wishes to say, Caught! )
shangba: (10.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-29 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
( Well, then. Let not Lan Wangji's disbelieving, staggered stare — amplified by Yuan, who imitates it flawlessly — ruin the moment. Surely, they can both hold vigil over Wei Ying's saddening attempt to relinquish responsibility with all gravity.

He does not roll his eyes. Does not look away. Only pivots to sipping his tea, aggressively glaring down the last of Wei Ying's meal, all the better to will it out of existence. )


Shall keep Wei Ying company, while Yuan educates the disciples. ( Apparently, on matters of reproduction. )
shangba: (07.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-30 01:09 pm (UTC)(link)
( What shall they do? Strategy dictates they should flood their schedule, finding a way to distract themselves from their current predicament. It won't do to meander over the same subject, over and over and over again. Not at all.

And so, he considers the matter of how he can occupy a grown man, coming slightly empty-handed, before brilliance strikes, and despair polishes it: )


Bathe in the cold stream. ( In the midst of winter. An undertaking only the Lan clan may enjoy, and that even some of its members might find troubling. Yes. A fine notion. )
shangba: (15.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-30 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
...thought it pleasing. ( Truly, Wei Ying's expression would sooner suit a funeral, yet here he is, determined to bury Lan Wangji with a glance, if he so much as flinches in the direction of materialising his suggestion.

In his arms, young Yuan shudders, and Lan Wangji raises both hands now, bewaring the possibility of mutiny. Mercy, mercy. )


We may linger here. ( Better to sweeten this offer — ) Where it is warm.

( And where Lan Wangji may seemingly reconsider his countless wrongs. )
shangba: (Default)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-31 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
( They are together, alone, briefly. He thinks, more fool he, to nudge his husband to don his own day clothes, now that he has played long enough with his food. But then Wei Ying leans on him, their quarter is empty as Yuan fumbles in the adjacent one, and he takes his chance — lips crossing Wei Ying's temple in his own good morning.

They will have either all the time in the world, or barely these few hours. He cannot think of the worst outcome, therefore must prove — negligent with their time together. Slow. Indolent. )


Do you wish inks brought? ( For drawing, calligraphy. A leisure activity to occupy Wei Ying, if they're to spend a snowy day indoors. ) Weiqi?
shangba: (Default)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-01-31 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
( Ink, paper. More butterflies, same as the one gently requesting an escort for young master Yuan. The caretaker himself flies over, undaunted by the light powdering of snow dripping down outside, unwilling to surrender a child to the trek.

He introduces them again, Yuan and his one-day teacher, all pleasantries duly exchanged before the two excuse themselves. The caretaker, perhaps less enthusiastic than his charge, who hops and gasps and points and falls in awe at everything. Anything at all.

And so, left behind, watching them from the window as they disappear into a singular blitzing point in the horizon, Lan Wangji assesses his would-be husband once more. )


You are well?
shangba: (12.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-02-01 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
He requires playmates.

( Even Lan Wangji, for all his solitude, once entertained children of his age. It was only later, with grudging and educated maturity, and grief, that he surrendered companionship.

At least it appears as if Wei Ying is happy to toil away at his scrolls, as well entertained as a child. Lan Wangji laughs, nods, and amuses himself by offering out either fresh parchment or a different brush, only to watch Wei Ying wade through his chaos. )


He would be happy here.
shangba: (Default)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-02-01 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
( Ah, Wei Ying will stain the parchment.

Then the table, the floor, perhaps the world whole. And it will not matter. Drip-drip-drip and the contagion of his ink spreads, and Lan Wangji can only stare, still impossibly charmed.

Long may he be spared a world where this man is no longer the epicenter. He could not bear it. He must not think of it. )


Let him stay, come what may.
shangba: (Default)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-02-02 09:38 am (UTC)(link)
( Can he? In truth, for all his willingness, Lan Wangji suspects even Wei Ying would struggle to relinquish this child, his child. Cutting off company is not unlike severing a limb, and Wei Ying has long bled now.

But Yuan would sooner thrive here than in a wasteland of starvation, perpetually threatened. He knows so. They both know so. And so, he nods. )


It would be to his benefit. ( And, truly, Lan Wangji would be nothing to no one, if he cannot make such arrangements. ) Though he will have to shed his name.
shangba: (02.00)

[personal profile] shangba 2026-02-02 01:12 pm (UTC)(link)
( If he adopts Wen Yuan. Certainly, his blood family should have the final say, for all he suspects asking people succumbed into destitution is at best dishonest, and at worst manipulative. They will want the very best for their offspring. That is Wei Ying, that is Gusu Lan.

But Lan Wangji cannot find the words to speak so. He nods, barely perceptibly, and he turns the flat of his hand to squeeze Wei Ying's with sudden, strange enthusiasm. A pretty plan. Not fine, not fair, but pretty. )


Do it. ( Wei Ying, his beloved. Wei Ying, Wei Ying, Wei Ying. ) If... the elders refuse the Wen. You will not come?

( Without them, he needn't say — and knows the answer, already. Hastens to mitigate it: )

Now and then. To visit.

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