thesecondjade | [OOM] Cold Compromise

Once he was through the wood, trees gave way to thick bamboo stalks, and then to the coolness of Cloud Recesses. It was the ideal return, honestly; he could quickly strip and soak himself to regain his control. With the freezing waters keeping him from feeling hot shame breathing against his neck, he can find calm. It's hard to focus on literally anything except one's body when one is chest deep in icy waters.

It was only after he had forced himself into a state of calm that he felt like he was fully back in control. Wei Ying knew now: that was ultimately meanginessly. Lan Zhan never expected him to ever look his way. What would he do? Be the qidi to Lan Zhan's qixiong? Foolishness. Wei Ying asked for his friendship with one hand and spurned it with another. There was something deeply wrong with him, besides.

Something that Lan Zhan cannot mend. Hopelessness settles in his belly like ice, but it's hard to care when the rest of him is already so very cold.

Eventually, he dried himself off and dressed, picking his way up the hill a bit to seat himself among the rabbits.

"Have a word with Tu'er Shen, and ask him to spare me some kindness," he said to one rabbit, stroking it's ears. "Make Wei Ying forget me, and let my heart go."

The rabbit just nibbled on grass from his hand, and both sat in silence as the sun chased the western horizon.

Threaded | Flat

It wasn't that Lan Xichen was keeping tabs on his little brother.

He was, of course, but so would anyone who'd watched his little brother go through so much, so young.

(Only three years younger than himself, he realizes, but that's three whole years of peace missed.)

So when it came to his attention that the Second Young Master of the Gusu Lan hasn't been seen on the practice fields, or in the lecture halls, or in the library... can anyone blame him for being concerned?

He does pause to check Lan Zhan's rooms, just to make sure his little brother hadn't absconded with most of the library's musical texts again, but after that, there's only two options. He misses Lan Zhan's trip to the Cold Water Pond, so really, he ought to be expected to find his missing brother amongst the rabbits.

"Wangji." He calls, softly. He doesn't have to ask if his brother is well - while he has heard that Hanguang-Jun is as expressionless as jade, he has never found it so.

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