[OOM + EP] - The feelings haven't changed, and neither has the pining.

[thesecondjade]

 [I loved thee, though I told thee not,
Right earlily and long,
Thou wert my joy in every spot,
My theme in every song.

-- John Clare]

Lan Zhan has been here since Wei Wuxian arrived.

This does not mean that he is constantly at the man's shoulder -- though he's often nearby in the background when his zhiji socalizes or trains, just in case. Still, he finds time for his own studies and pursuits, like study in the library, or creating a small space on the porch that is not too cold to play the guqin in.

Today, he's at a low table in the bar proper, seated before it. On the table is a packet of notes that are on magics that are forbidden - curses, spells woven by the Yiling Patriach, recently brought out of their hiding spot and re-copied for use in study only. His handwriting is much neater than his zhiji's, but if one knows Cultivator magic, this is most certainly dark stuff.

Which is fine, this is research in counter-curses. He is once again pouring through notes on the Songs of Clarity, wondering at what he might find to help counter such things. If there is a way to soothe Mo Xuanyu's cursed pain, perhaps they can buy themselves more time for their quest. Anything that will keep Wei Ying breathing longer.

Tucked to the side? Lesson plans. He's still teaching, after all, and he has to give the juniors something to study in his absences while he travels with Wei Wuxian looking for solutions to the little curse problem -- or whatever poor soul has to die to fulfill Mo Xuanyu's thirst for vengeance.

Comments

[thesecondjade]

There's the prickling sensation at the back of Lan Zhan's neck. Something like the presence of a spirit, or a magical creature. Something that makes his senses turn sharp and focused.

Paperwork moved to the idea, and Lan Zhan drew his guqin from his sleeve. The ebony instrument is laid across the table, testing the strings a moment later with a series of chords. Satisfied the guqin is in tune, Lan Zhan starts strumming out chords.

Speak your name, that I may know you.

[mogget_cat]

"Should I choose just one?" answers the small, cat-shaped patch of spiritual static, the wild, roiling power tucked away behind soft, white fur and the bright green eyes gazing down at the cultivator. "Even then, I don't know if would help you know me."

[thesecondjade]

"Mn," Lan Zhan says aloud as he covers the strings of the guqin with both hands. "Choose one."

At the very least, he needs a mode of address for the fluffy thing.

[mogget_cat]

"Yrael, then, still," answers the thing that isn't and has never been a cat, even if it is still more cat than even it knows.

It continues to peer down at the materials before Lan Wangji on the table, with their fascinating energy. "Has the bridge widened, then?"

Perhaps two could even walk side-by-side along it.

"Or has he returned?"

[thesecondjade]

"I have not walked the single-plank bridge," Lan Zhan said quietly. It is not the same, what he is doing here now. "But he left me the guide to it."

His eyes duck beneath his lashes, and he says, "I have been taking what can be used by those who walk the broader path, and incorporating it there. It, in and of itself, is not evil. Theoretically, it can be used for evil. But so can all other things. A hammer can break a skull and drive a nail in the same day."

A far cry from the boy he was, vibrating with tension at the mere suggestion of what the trail-blazing magic could provide.

He does not say a think about Wei Wuxian's return. For some that would be a distinct answer, likely yes, but in Lan Zhan it could simply be his natural reticence to talk about anything 'useless,' a confirmation of Wei Wuxian's death. There is silence because there is no need to repeat facts. Anybody's guess.

[mogget_cat]

Recognizing 'evil' methods as merely different tools, or the potential for a method to be both tool and weapon is a massive step forward! Such growth! Yrael would be proud, if he cared enough to be.

"That you return to it after the time such a broadening of perspective usually takes suggests there has been some recent change, however," answers the thing that is not a cat, smug as any cat could be. "A reason for the subject's renewed relevance."

"A return with strings attached, perhaps?" Those are notes on curses, right?

[thesecondjade]

"Few know," Lan Zhan says, keeping his words quiet.

It should also stay that way; he does not trust Jin Guangyao, and Wen Qing is for Wei Wuxian to decide to speak to. He does not wish to put this new life at risk.

[mogget_cat]

"That is probably for the best," the not'cat agrees, tailtip curving slowly this way and that. Yrael may be the nosiest Free Magic creature in existence, but he can stay silent, when it suits him and his aims. "At least until the stipulations for his return are met."

[thesecondjade]

"I have suspicions the Jin are involved," Lan Zhan says, watching Yrael warily. Then, quieter again: "We saw Wen Ning. Burned and scattered Wen Ning, bound in chains and answering the call of Chenqing's stand-in. He was not himself, but he defended his friend."

That bamboo flute is nothing close to Chenqing. But it did the job.

[mogget_cat]

Yrael watches him back, unblinking, with eyes the color of new spring leaves in sunlight.

Not himself?

Bound in chains?

"You'll tell me if you find who is responsible?" he murmurs quietly, half-question, half-request. For all its softness, there are teeth behind it.

Yrael had attended the funeral, as well.

[thesecondjade]

"Yes," Lan Zhan says. Yes, he will tell him. "But-- allow us to take justice for him."

Because that dollop of vengeance really belongs to Wei Wuxian.

[mogget_cat]

Then the thing that isn't a cat blinks.

And grins.

"I have no interest in justice."

("The last harm I enacted upon someone here was many years ago, and on one who had murdered one of my friends and had left another near death.")

"And I will prevent nothing you intend upon those responsible." It's as good a promise as he can manage.

[thesecondjade]

Yrael is a spirit-monster, he is as capricious as any of them. It's only because he obeys the bar rules (as they seem most sensible) and Yrael's good behavior that he does not act to suppress or eliminate him.

It would go poorly. The chance for success is low. But if it is to protect others, it is his duty to try.

Since there is no current pressing reason to disobey those rules, Yrael (and in turn, Lan Zhan) remains safe.

"If it is a Jin," he says, voice level and calm. "I assure you, there is no way they will escape justice twice over."

(They both know it's a Jin. They may even suspect the same Jin. But that is the only promise he gives.)

[mogget_cat]

"If it is justice twice over, is it still justice, or then does the excess spill over into vengeance?" asks the creature, blithe but curious about the idea Lan Wangji puts forth.

He agrees that they will not escape, but as Yrael said, he has no interest in justice.

[thesecondjade]

"I will not commit to revenge," Lan Zhan says. That's all he can say-- if justice for Wen Ning and justice for the slain Wen clan seems excessive, it's only because one is compounded with interest.

[mogget_cat]

"Luckily, I don't believe anyone is asking you to," replies the thing in the rafters, dryly amused. It was just a question to gauge his take on the nature of such things. "You act of your free will, no more, no less."

And Yrael reserves the same right for himself.

[thesecondjade]

"Mn," Lan Zhan replies.

The subject of justice and vengeance is settled.