[OOM] One Month of Longing Begins
Mar. 24th, 2021 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thesecondjadeWith Yi City and Tan Zhou now behind them, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying had returned to Cloud Recesses and the Jingshi. Some layout changes had to be made to fit a second bed, but it could be done. Wei Ying snuck out regularly, and though Lan Zhan worried, he could not be upset. This was a hard time for them both.
Yi City had showed them both what they had been, and what they had lost in sharp relief: when Song Lan had left with the shattered soul of his cultivation partner tucked into his robe and Frostwork strapped to his back, Lan Zhan could not help but see himself. The walking dead, carrying the weight of two men on his back.
I will bear it, he had said -- of grief, of punishment, of all the things between. He'd meant it, too. Song Lan would never rest, and unlike him, never hope to see his beloved again.
Wei Ying had been acting strangely since Tan Zhou, though, and Lan Zhan thought it best to give him space to sort some things out for himself. He wasn't sure what had happened in Tan Zhou, but he was both lighter hearted and troubled in turns. Perhaps Lan Xichen had given him a great deal to think about, or perhaps the Curse marks have bothered him further. Time kept ticking onward, and neither of them could slow or stem its tide.
While Wei Ying was out again, Lan Zhan found himself an afternoon among the rabbits, stroking soft ears as he made sure the scraps from the Lan kitchens made it to the spot outside their burrow. As they munched on ribs of bok choy and radish greens, he tried to find his own island of calm among them, putting thoughts of Song Lan aside and simply trying to find a meditative space in this daily ritual.
Yi City had showed them both what they had been, and what they had lost in sharp relief: when Song Lan had left with the shattered soul of his cultivation partner tucked into his robe and Frostwork strapped to his back, Lan Zhan could not help but see himself. The walking dead, carrying the weight of two men on his back.
I will bear it, he had said -- of grief, of punishment, of all the things between. He'd meant it, too. Song Lan would never rest, and unlike him, never hope to see his beloved again.
Wei Ying had been acting strangely since Tan Zhou, though, and Lan Zhan thought it best to give him space to sort some things out for himself. He wasn't sure what had happened in Tan Zhou, but he was both lighter hearted and troubled in turns. Perhaps Lan Xichen had given him a great deal to think about, or perhaps the Curse marks have bothered him further. Time kept ticking onward, and neither of them could slow or stem its tide.
While Wei Ying was out again, Lan Zhan found himself an afternoon among the rabbits, stroking soft ears as he made sure the scraps from the Lan kitchens made it to the spot outside their burrow. As they munched on ribs of bok choy and radish greens, he tried to find his own island of calm among them, putting thoughts of Song Lan aside and simply trying to find a meditative space in this daily ritual.
