[ 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

[summerdude]

"Hey," Magnus says, brightening, sitting up straighter. "Wanna see the new plants?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Yes." Lan Wangji was already sitting straight, and brightening does not come easily to him, but his interest is obvious.

[summerdude]

"Cool." Magnus stands up and leaps neatly off the trampoline, landing at the edge of the clearing about four yards away from the camp setup itself. The space has been evolving -- he's growing flowers that Alex likes, tucked away here and there, and he's coaxed some berry bushes along the other side so that they can have snacks. He has plans to ask Laertes to teach him how to make cabinets, or something, so that they can use more than just the coolers to store their stuff. Neither he nor Alex want four walls and a proper roof -- they prefer actual camping vibes -- but the space is looking increasingly settled. And about 3% more baby-proofed?

But the point isn't the berry bushes or the flowers here. The most striking gardening is at the church. It doesn't cross Magnus's mind that he hasn't actually taken Lan Wangji there yet, so he just gestures for him to follow.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji follows, of course, and lands -- with the light-footed grace he initially intended -- a step or two behind Magnus. Curious, he remains quiet and comes with him as directed.

[summerdude]

Lan Wangji has visited Magnus at the old oak tree, here and there, before Alex came. The space is totally transformed now. The church is a riot of spring blooms, ephemerals slowly starting to give way to a wild garden. The seedlings Magnus "borrowed" from the greenhouse will turn into a riot of flowers that should go through the end of autumn -- and some produce, too, but that's more because Magnus likes pea flowers than it is because he wants to extend his forays into agriculture into Galahad's church. The little clearing where Galahad likes to kneel has become a study in grasses, shorter and softer ones toward the center, cooler ornamental ones toward the edges, all dappled through with flowers in the spots Galahad doesn't usually walk -- Magnus has convinced the trees in the area to make room with their branches so that everything gets what Claudius has informed him, during their near-daily gardening sessions, is the right amount of sun. The dwarf palm, even though it prefers alternate climates to this one (he'll definitely have to figure something out by winter), has taken to its new home, and its fronds are glossy in the sun. The cross itself he's left alone, but his latest project has been cajoling some trellises made out of grapevines from Uncle D that he can put on either side of the cross; morning glory vines and those pea-plants and wisteria are all starting to wind their way up. For the most part, Magnus is trying to keep his touch here to a minimum now that the cross is grown. He wants it to be self-sufficient, even though he likes working in it. He thinks it'll feel more natural that way.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji knew about this place, and he has known the general shape of it; it has been impossible for him not to, what with the regularity and thoroughness of his patrols. He has kept at a distance, however, out of respect for Magnus and Galahad's privacy.

Now, quietly touched that Magnus was willing to bring him here, he slows his steps. He says nothing, intent on taking in every detail. He touches one of the bells, lightly enough that it makes no sound.

[summerdude]

"Ta-da," Magnus says, a little awkwardly, and does a jazz-handy sort of gesture.

[lightbearinglord]

After a moment longer, Lan Wangji looks at him, soft around the eyes. "This is beautiful. You have worked hard."

[summerdude]

Magnus only doesn't scuff his toe on the ground because he worked hard to grow the plants there. "Thanks."

[lightbearinglord]

Another lengthy silence follows, then. Lan Wangji is taking it in: the hushed atmosphere, the gentle morning breeze as it moves the grass and the flowers, the persistent impression beneath it all of Magnus' qi, a feeling like sitting on the jingshi porch with Wei Ying at the height of summer, reaching to brush back a lock of his hair, and finding it warmed through by the sun.

"That other Magnus was surprised when I told him you had given up fighting," he says eventually. "He claimed that fighting, and dying again and again, is the only way for einherjar to remain connected." He directs a little smile at Magnus. "I knew he was wrong. There are other ways."

[summerdude]

"Like," Magnus says, a little apologetically, curling a hand around some buttercups. "He's not wrong for, like, Valhalla or whatever? I didn't know I could do all this until I got here and, like, did all this. It was--" he cuts himself off. Hanguang-jun doesn't know about his surprise yet, but it was learning to make dried out bamboo sprout that really started him on exploring what all he could do. "Like, Dark, I guess?"

[lightbearinglord]

Retrospectively, there were worse things to spark concern, but Lan Wangji still remembers how long and grim Dark felt -- the feeling that there was some lurking coil of resentful energy around every corner, how quickly and dramatically Sagramore's hair greyed, how little he slept. It makes him fonder still of Magnus to think that, during the lowest point of winter, he reached within himself and found this well of light and growth. He wants to say something about it, and about how glad he is that Magnus is here, but the swell of feeling stops his tongue. He's quiet, looking at Magnus with love caught in this throat.

[summerdude]

Magnus looks up and catches sight of the look in Lan Wangji's eyes. "Hanguang-jun?"

[lightbearinglord]

Almost surprising himself with it, he says, quietly, "There was a war when I was seventeen. We fought for three years. It ended, but it didn't end." Officially, the Wen clan was defeated, and they were in a time of peace. What happened at Qiongqi Path, what was happening at the hands of the Jin clan all around the cultivation world, belied that claim. "I want yours to end and stay that way."

[summerdude]

"Oh," says Magnus, a little surprised. "It ended but it didn't end?"

[lightbearinglord]

"We won. But the violence persisted out of sight."

[summerdude]

"Like... guerilla fighting?"

[lightbearinglord]

"No. Another clan rose to claim the power left for the taking by the clan we had defeated. Their leaders thought it best to exterminate any remaining members of that defeated clan."

[summerdude]

"Oh." Magnus shivers and makes a face. "Genocide."

[lightbearinglord]

"Wei Ying sheltered and defended them." Even Lan Wangji, measured and calm externally, sounds a little bitter as he says this. "He was cast out."

[summerdude]

"That's so messed up."

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." He lets himself have a longer pause here, alongside a grounding breath of fresh air. The flowers are indifferent to the past. He's slightly hesitant as he continues; he knows that Magnus doesn't like it when he mentions Sizhui, but Sizhui is impossible to extricate from the sentiment he is trying to convey. "I told you that Sizhui's first family is gone and that I gave him my family name. He is the only remaining member of that clan."

[summerdude]

Magnus twists to look at Lan Wangji. None of his trademark Sizhui-shaped jealousy is apparent in this moment. "How big was it before the war?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji meets Magnus' gaze, then. "Qishan Wen was the largest and most powerful clan in the cultivation world."

[summerdude]

"Jeez," Magnus says, quietly.