lightbearinglord: (qin & bunny)
Lan Wangji (蓝忘机) ([personal profile] lightbearinglord) wrote2024-03-08 08:16 am

[ open post: Lan Wangji and guests ]

In the wake of his disorienting and unpleasant stint in Gu Xiang's body, Lan Wangji has done his utmost to resume and enjoy all of his usual pursuits. He has, he believes, thoroughly made up for his lapse in his promise to Wei Ying. He has wielded kitchen knives, his ink brush, and Bichen with precision and enthusiasm. He has sunk into long, restorative shichen of meditation. He has, at Claudius' behest, thoroughly perused Emily Post's instructions regarding how to conduct oneself as the best man at a wedding.

There is the matter of his qin, too. The discovery of the spirit in Gideon's sword struck Lan Wangji with greater surprise than he might have expected. Such things were once commonplace for him; he hardly went two weeks, before he came to this place, without finding himself called to some night-hunt. He does not like to believe that he could become complacent, and he has always practiced diligently, but still.

The tableau is a familiar one: a certain parlor near the entryway of the mansion, one that often houses this particular cultivator along with his spiritual instrument. Wangji is balanced on a table at the center of the room, polished black wood gleaming and strings freshly tuned, and Lan Wangji sits cross-legged before it. He is not actually playing it at this precise moment, however, because he currently has guests. A small white rabbit sits next to the qin, munching his way through a piece of lettuce. An equally small brown rabbit is perched in the crook of Lan Wangji's elbow, eyeing his brother with some envy. Ostensibly, the rabbits are in trouble, because they have recently laid waste to Lan Wangji's copy of Emma. It is impossible to tell, because Lan Wangji is petting Danding's head with exactly as much solemn focus as always.
kadewest: (GOBLIN MARKET.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-08 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Kade walks past! He's whistling a tune. Someone who knows something about music as a tool might be able to parse out that this tune is a communication, for all that Kade hasn't wanted--and therefore hasn't bothered--to look for the usual pan-pipes. (He's not actually talking to anyone; it's just a nigh-automatic recitation of one of the Court of the Rainbow Princess's ballads as he tries to excise it from being stuck in his mind.)

He's also still trying to be more present in this place. When he sees the open door, he pokes his head in.
kadewest: (Default)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-08 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"Lan Wangji," with a deep nod. "Cute bunnies."
kadewest: (Default)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-08 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, sure. Kade ducks into the room and kneels down, sinking back onto his heels. "Are they new?"
kadewest: (VIRTUE.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-08 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"I gotta admit," Kade says, extending a hand for the bunnies to sniff at, "I still haven't figured out how the calendar here works."
kadewest: (LOGIC.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-08 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"Short weeks, long months..." Kade holds very still, trying not to twitch at the feeling of whiskers against the side of his fingers. "I've been places with remarkably different... structures to the year, shall we say, but never long enough for it to really hit."
kadewest: (UNDERWORLD.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-09 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Yep." Kade slowly straightens his fingers, brushing the tips against the bunny's face. "What are their names?"
kadewest: (LOGIC.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-09 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
"Xiaoxue and Danding," Kade repeats. "They're real cuties."
kadewest: (MORTIS.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-09 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh yeah?" Kade smiles at the thought. "There's a lot of critters around my school, but not a ton of rabbits. Some of my students keep pets--ESAs, really. Emotional support animals." Carefully, carefully, he strokes Xiaoxue's ear. "Would you tell me more about your home?"
kadewest: (GOBLIN MARKET.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-09 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Night hunts, musical communication with spirits, and addressing evil, right?" Kade remembers. He purses his lips. "The musical communication was specific to your sect."
kadewest: (GOBLIN MARKET.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-09 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Their little whiskers are so ticklish. Kade gently strokes Danding's ear, too. "How's that?"
kadewest: (UNDERWORLD.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-10 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
Kade closes his eyes, trying to parse through the sounds and see if he can pick up any phrasing, but it's pretty different to the pan music he learned in Prism, and he can only get the faintest suggestion of meaning. One thing is clear, though: "It does sound soothing."
kadewest: (REASON.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-10 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Kade's eyes fly open. "That phrase," he says. "The one you just played. It's a beckoning, yeah?"
kadewest: (FAIR VALUE.)

[personal profile] kadewest 2024-03-10 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Kade chuckles, partly in disbelief. "It's like you're speaking a totally different dialect from the pan-pipes," he says. "Same family of language, but not necessarily mutually intelligible. But some passages are still pretty close."

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