A Long Time In Coming (Back)

[thesecondjade]

When Lan Zhan had left, it had been the tail end of summer and filled with warmth. Today, when he clears the woods, it is chilly and breezing, making strands of his long, dark hair flutter around his face.

It has not been months for him. It had been less than a week that passed in that span. He was used to it being the other way 'round: years passing for him while Milliways seemed stopped in time, unmoving. But now he was the one who had stopped, and he was the one who had been unmoving. The irritation of it all only served to make him furrow his brows and give a low hum of displeasure.

When he comes into the bar, hair falling back to place with nothing to tease it, he is given a small packet of bunny buns.

"You did not summon me," Lan Zhan says the the bar.

A note appeared on the polished wood: He needed time.

Lan Zhan gives a a soft mmm in reply. She isn't wrong, and he won't fault her for it. Instead, he orders tea and sits at a low table that's all but made just for him and in time he is filling the pocket of relative quiet where he sits with the strumming of his guqin. This is fine -- and it really, truly is.

Comments

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying has not been squandering (all) of his time in the bar, and it shows as he drops into the space opposite. He shows no sign of pain from his (nearly traditional, at this point) stabbing. His frame has continued to fill out, no longer filling the role of a starved waif. He still wouldn't dare to try to wield Suibian for more than a few minutes, but...

Well. He's been working on it.

"You got Sunshine's bunny buns too! I told her you would like them, they're so cute!"

Hi, he doesn't say. I missed you, did you miss me? He doesn't question. He does practically vibrate in place, however, which is nearly the same thing.

[thesecondjade]

Energy is energy, as Wei Wuxian has said in the past, but Wei Wuxian's desire for a reponse in kind finds an echo in Lan Zhan's intense, gold-coin eyes on him. But he says, "It was summer when I left. Today, autumn has brought its colors and cold. Barely has a day passed since I saw the gateway in the copse. Has it been so long?"

He was gone an eyeblink of time compared to what happened to Wei Wuxian. It is not ideal, but Bar was right: he needed time. Time to put color in his skin and meat on his bones, time to bring him closer to hale and healthy. Closer to the young man who fought a mad turtle with.

It makes his heart clench for things lost, but still: he is here, he is well, and Lan Zhan counts these as blessings.

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Oh, Lan Zhan." Wei Ying coos, any lingering worries he had about being abandoned disappearing in a flash. "Was Bar cruel to you? Don't worry, I've been very good." He promises, with a cheeky three-fingered salute.

[thesecondjade]

"For whose definition of 'good'?" Lan Zhan asks, letting his tea cup hide the tug of a smirk-turning-smile on his lips. He drinks, and then sets the cup down. "She was not unkind. She wished for you to have time."

Lan Zhan understands. He is just glad that Wei Wuxian has begun to thrive again.

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Lan Zhan." Wei Ying complains, because what has he ever done to deserve such slander?

Never mind, don't answer that.

"Well, I have had plenty of time, though I'll admit I haven't made much progress on how to convince everyone that Jin Guangyao has been up to no good."




"May have found some Yin Iron though." He adds on, faster, nervous.

[thesecondjade]

To his credit, Lan Zhan does not freeze up. He does not get upset. Instead, he sips his tea again and lets his mind curl around the concept of More Yin Iron, and specifically Yin Iron that hopefully, did not come from the version of China that he calls home.

Setting the cup down, he says, "How did Wei Ying discover it?"

Let's just start there. Small. Origins of Yin Iron. No need to panic (inwardly or outwardly.)

[alongfallfromgrace]

"My friend, Bucky, he lost his arm, an someone from his world has made him a new one, which is wonderful, but the metal..." Wei Wuxian sighs, "It absorbs all sorts of energy, including qi. It's not Yin Iron, not exactly, and it's not stuffed full of resentful energy... but it could be, in the wrong hands."

[thesecondjade]

This is not the story he expected. Someone with one arm? With an arm made out of yin iron, no less? Lan Zhan thinks of what something like this could be-- a repository of energy, yes, but energy is energy -- it could be filled with a reservoir of good, vital spiritual power to aid a cultivator when their resources were low, or so on.

"Then it is not true yin iron," he finally says, confirming his belief in what Wei Ying has told him. "It could be easily made to something like yin iron, but is otherwise not inclined to a specific energy. Do they have cultivators in... Bucky's world? Or anything like them?"

Zenigata's world is filled with strange things, but no Cultivators that Zenigata has spoken of. Who know what kind of world this 'Bucky' comes from.

[alongfallfromgrace]

"He says no, and certainly hadn't seen a yao before." Which, small mercies, he supposes. "But there's an entire mountain of the stuff, evidently. It'd just take one person figuring it out."

[thesecondjade]

"A mountain of qi absorbent iron?" Lan Zhan asks, his brows inching up a fraction on his forehead. That's dire news, indeed. "One person to figure it out, but you would need many to exploit it. A single cultivator would be a danger. A whole sect would be catastrophic."

Just look at Wen Ruohan. (Or, what was left of him and his clan.)

"What does this Bucky think of this?"

[alongfallfromgrace]

"He is letting me come up with a way to shield his arm, at least." Wei Ying is very thankful for this, as he's not sure he could stand to wait and see when disaster comes. "And, he... um. He offered me a piece?"

[thesecondjade]

Lan Zhan's tea is empty, so he flags a rat down for a proper pot of it. It buys him a few more precious moments to think.

"Is this something Wei Ying desires to have?" he finally asks.

[alongfallfromgrace]

Wei Ying flops backwards, groaning.

"I don't know!" He wails, because frankly it's all been a little overwhelming and there's been no one here who understands. But now there is, and Lan Zhan is the best, so that Feels dam is just going to burst now, okay?

"I mean, of course yes, can you even imagine? A metal that can absorb any energy - it doesn't have to be bad! It could be good, a backup in case a night hunt goes wrong or a way to power wards for a city or... all sorts of things! And I need to figure out how to safely etch Bucky's arm, I don't want to ruin it, he's had a hard time without it."

But then he sighs, flinging an arm over his face, the loose sleeves of his robes hiding his expression.

"But who wants me to actually be in possession of something like that again? Not me! Once was more than enough. I failed everyone, and in the end they would have all torn each other apart over it." Self-loathing drips off his words like thick oil, the visitation of a few nights prior still dug deep into his bones.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine comes in through the door, eventually, chuckling at something on the little device in her hand. The guqin music is a mild but pleasant surprise, and her smile warms as she spots its source.

Fetching her own tea, something herbal that smells of lavender and citrus, she settles nearby to listen. She is dressed for the summer heat in her own where and when, and her previously cut-short hair has had time to grow a little longer, now just long enough to brush her shoulders when she turns her head.

[thesecondjade]

"Rae Seddon," greets Lan Zhan, with the appropriate bow. Once he settles himself again, he gives her the faintest smile. He does not understand the wild woman, even now, but she is kind and has done him no small amount of favors over the time he's known her. She will be ever welcome at his table.

"You look well," he says. He is not good at small talk, but efforts can be made before real topics can be reached.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Lan Wangji, it's good to see you," she replies, rising to return his bow with all the gladness that suggests it would be a hug if he were a friend from her own world and time.

"And... thank you. Things are well, for me." There are things left undone, as ever, waiting on events beyond her control, but she has learned not to question moments of peace when they come. They are ballast against the times when peace is in scarce supply. "And for you?"

[thesecondjade]

"This one is glad that fortune is favoring you," Lan Zhan said, before he glances at the bunny bun box. "Also grateful you continue to deliver good food. Little has happened since I went beyond the door; it seems much more time has passed here, than for myself."

That's okay, though, Wei Ying needed it. Lan Zhan might've gotten overbearing, or worrisome, or driven him before he was ready. Now he's had time to mend and his body is healing. This will make the days to come much easier on Wei Ying.

[sunbaked_baker]

Her grin returns as she notices the bunny buns. Sunshine had been pleased at how they had turned out, and is glad to see he received them. She nods, though, about the time difference. "I imagine the time-differences manifest more noticeably when multiple people from the same world come here."

One person might spend weeks in Milliways while no time passes for another in there world. She is the only one from her world, as far as she knows.

"Wei Wuxian is looking well, also." Better, as time goes by. More comfortable in his own (so to speak) skin. "He has offered to teach me a little - footwork, mostly - on the mornings when we're both here."

But not too early. Hilariously.

[thesecondjade]

Lan Zhan nodded quietly, making a hum of agreement. Yes, it gets a little odd here, doesn't it? Time is relative in all things, but Wei Ying, well. Wei Ying needs more of it than Lan Zhan does.

He doesn't ask if Wei Ying missed him (he did, that much was obvious) or pined (don't be silly) but he wonders all the same.

The moment the word 'teach' comes out of her mouth, Lan Zhan stopped still, mouth slightly open as he sucks in a breath. This is something big. This is something major.

Lan Zhan set his teacup down. Then he said, "He is teaching you -- Cultivation forms?"

No jealousy-- his shock is sourced in another place. A place of hope and wonder.

[sunbaked_baker]

His reaction gives her pause - though Rae is glad to see that she was right, that he would want to now.

"Yes," she replies, smiling slightly as she remembers how their conversation had gotten onto the subject of swords and early mornings. "He is working to regain his muscle memory, and said I should join him for morning drills. Bare beginner steps in my case, of course."

[thesecondjade]

If Lan Zhan was a more effusive soul, there would be large smiles and hope gleaming in golden eyes. As it is, his heart has skipped several beats and has another another sliver of hope to sink into it. Wei Ying is Cultivating -- even if in small ways, it's huge progress!

All he does, however, is say, "Mn," in a very positive tone.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine will beam for him. Even without the shiver running through Lan Wangji's otherwise tranquil shadows, Rae knows a very positive 'Mn,' when she hears one.

"I'm... glad to know I was right to tell you," she murmurs, still pleased. "I thought you would want to know."

[thesecondjade]

"Thank you," he says. There's a lot of feeling there simmering under those words, but it's all there. "It is good tidings, and speaks to Wei Ying's healing."

It's such a good sign he doesn't suppress the hope that's rattling his ribcage.

[sunbaked_baker]

She nods, sipping her tea. It is good, to know that one who has endured so much can still thrive.

"I was surprised by the offer," she chuckles, thinking about it. "I had mentioned reading Terry a story which featured a red-haired, sword-wielding heroine, a favorite of mine from when I was small."

There are not enough red-haired badass heroines in the world when you're seven.

"A sword is probably not for me, but the forms and the footwork... My opponents are stronger and faster than I am. Anything that helps me keep my feet in a pinch is good."

[thesecondjade]

"If you lose ground, the often lose the battle," Lan Zhan says -- he's known a few loses in his youth that way. These days, Hanguang-Jun hasn't seen a lost battle in... a very long time. Such is the benefit of both strength, brilliance, and a willingness to do what it takes to protect whoever is in his charge.

"He has not taught in some time," he adds, "but he was a good Second Disciple of Jiang."

At least where Cultivation was concerned.