[ closed post: the sun shines brightly ]

[lightbearinglord]

It has been a strange handful of weeks, but Lan Wangji can accept strange far more easily than he could accept the pain that rippled inexorably outward from Shen Yuan's death, seeming to leave no one untouched. The parade of visitors was unusual, and thought-provoking, but not painful. Lan Wangji enjoyed meeting most of them. Even Galahad, whose empty politeness made him feel hollow in turn -- there was a quiet satisfaction in bringing him to the rabbits and watching his stunned expression at the simple joy of holding something small and vulnerable and trusting.

As for himself, the memories are so abstract as to be incomprehensible. There is something there, enough something to assure him that Aornis had no hand in this specific strangeness. But he can barely grasp at the details. He remembers embracing Magnus, but that signifies nothing out of the ordinary. He remembers sparring with Gideon; he remembers that he needs to ask Sagramore for fresh poetry. He remembers the loss of Wei Ying, newer and crueler than it typically is these days, but when he came back to himself the next morning, Wei Ying was there, his head tucked beneath Lan Wangji's chin and his ankle hooked around Lan Wangji's hip.

The least enjoyable of his encounters, at the least, provided him with something important. He has not removed the locket from his qiankun pouch. He wants to waste no time in bringing it to its intended recipient. He performs the first of his morning routines -- his meditation, his patrol, Wei Ying's breakfast -- and then goes to look for Magnus at the camp.

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji doesn't know the answer to that question -- he thinks not, but how could he be certain? So he doesn't answer it. He takes his arm back from around Magnus, but only so that he can pluck his qiankun pouch from his waist, pull it open by the strings, and slip his hand inside. The locket is near the top still, just past the note from Claudius that is still pinned to the mouth of the bag, and easy to identify by its texture. He presses it into Magnus' palm.

[summerdude]

"What's--" Magnus asks, hand closing automatically around the object. The chain slips through his fingers, and his eyes widen. He brings the locket close to his face, running his fingertips over the little etched whorls on the side, speechless.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji doesn't speak. There seems to be nothing to say. He has already traveled the path in his mind that asks how he would feel if he received a similar memento of his own mother. He has already thought, at length, about Natalie Chase and how much she loved Magnus, not to mention how much Magnus loved her. He puts a hand at Magnus' back, solid between his shoulder blades, and watches him quietly.

[summerdude]

He slides his thumb against the catch and lets the locket fall open, staring. His breath catches, and he slams it shut, clutching it against his heart.

[lightbearinglord]

There is more that Lan Wangji needs to tell him, but he doesn't want to rush this moment for Magnus. He rubs his back, stays silent, and waits to see if he needs anything.

[summerdude]

"He gave you this?" Magnus asks, voice breaking.

[lightbearinglord]

"Yes. He has seen your mother more than once."

[summerdude]

"Where? How?"

[lightbearinglord]

He takes a moment to recollect what the other Magnus told him. "The first time, on the Bragi quest," he repeats, "a decade into his time in Valhalla."

[summerdude]

Magnus is quiet for a long, long moment. "I was getting ready to start that when I came here," he whispers.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji goes cold, but doesn't allow himself to visibly react. His hand stills at Magnus' back without leaving its place. His instinct is to be silent again, but he also doesn't want to leave Magnus in that silence with this, so he continues: "I asked if you would still see her here. He said that prophecies tend to find ways to come true."

[summerdude]

"They do," Magnus sighs.

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Lan Wangji studies the locket, sidelong. Without the photographs displayed, it is only an object, but it seems weighty in Magnus' hand nonetheless. "He gave me this in case you don't see her. Or in case it is much longer than it was for him." Before he forgets, he adds, "He also asked me to tell you that he is rooting for you."

[summerdude]

"Oh!" Magnus says, palpably overwhelmed. "That's, um. That's nice."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji remains quiet and motionless for a beat, and then he gathers Magnus into his arms for a firm embrace. It jostles them slightly on the trampoline, but he pays that no mind.

[summerdude]

"I'm okay, Hanguang-jun," Magnus says, but he's definitely burying himself into the hug.

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn," Lan Wangji says, just to acknowledge that Magnus has spoken but without altering his course of action whatsoever. It is not a requirement that Magnus be overwhelmingly distraught before Lan Wangji offers him comfort. And in any case, it was so unsettling to spend time with an incarnation of Magnus who seemed mildly interested in him at best, certainly unlikely ever to turn to him for anything. He relishes that feeling of Magnus burrowing into him. He holds onto it, and him.

[summerdude]

"Are you okay?"

[lightbearinglord]

"I am glad to see you," he says, a little more fiercely than he intended to.

[summerdude]

"Was I really that bad?" Magnus asks. "You were pretty cool, actually. I mean, Evil Twin you. You said 'bullshit.'"

[lightbearinglord]

That catches Lan Wangji by such surprise that he laughs -- quietly, but Magnus won't be able to miss it when they are this close. "I hope you enjoyed that. It will not happen again." After a slight pause, he says, "You were not bad. But you were a stranger."

[summerdude]

"That must have been really discombobulating," Magnus says, giving Hanguang-jun a squeeze. "You really won't ever say bullshit?"

[lightbearinglord]

"It is very unlikely." He relaxes, some, not letting go of Magnus but loosening the strength of his grip.

[summerdude]

"You're killing me, Hanguang-jun," Magnus says, but he doesn't sound terrifically discontent about it. "Hey, remember when I thought you were a god?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Lan Wangji could hardly fail to remember the tears in Magnus' eyes or his own distress at the flurry of accusations he barely understood.