A Lonely Oath
Nov. 23rd, 2021 10:11 pmIn response to a prompt by MathIsMagic in the mo_dao_zu_shi_kink_meme_2020
collection.
Prompt:
After Wei Ying's death, Lan Zhan plays inquiry for him. He never answers. But others do - Wei Wuxian's Yiling Wen remnants. Whether it's because LZ's pull for Yiling-area ghosts was so strong, because they were clung to their last surviving family member when he brought back Yuan, because they were interested in LZ specifically, idk.
But anyways, he asks for Wei Ying, and they're the closest thing that can answer. And so, they can at least explain that Wei Ying's missing, not ignoring him or destroyed. They have fond stories about wwx they can share. They're probably the only people LZ can speak to positively about wwx. And, they can thank him for and advise him on raising Yuan.
Just, give LZ some angsty ghost companions to help him out a little after he loses his beloved.
Bonus:
-Them hanging around eventually becoming spies for LZ, helping him find 'the chaos' that doesn't get reported or even unravelling some of the worst conspiracies from canon
-Them being able to share wen culture and/or healing techniques so SIzhui can be connected with his heritage
-One or two other Wen survivors who are less welcome. Specifically I'm imagining Wen Zhuliu informing LZ that wwx didn't have a golden core before he was thrown into the burial mounds (or I guess Wen Qing) and LZ posthumously mourning what wwx had to go through on his own, and why he couldn't 'return to the right path.'DNW: Unhappy ending. Angst is delicious, but total despair is too much. Ideally this will be slightly less painful than canon, at least.
Lan Wangji would love to say that he remembers the first ghost who spoke to him via inquiry. That he remembers the wonder he felt when he realized that he could understand the things the dead were saying to him through music, that he could communicate in a way that made sense to him in a way that words and body language just plain didn't.
But lying is forbidden, especially to the self, and he doesn't. He learned the qin language at his mother's knee, long before his instructors started teaching them to his age group. He remembers her hands over his own, her fingers cold and still calloused, her voice repeating the sounds and notes as he learned. He remembers the way she laughed at his mistakes, kind and happy because what else is learning, but a series of mistakes that eventually solidify into the correct answers?
He wishes he remembered her voice a little better; thinks he misremembers her accent, knows he doesn't remember her smile. Did she smile like Wei Ying, with her whole body, her very soul brightening through her eyes, her golden core pulsing with happiness and contentment? Did she smile like Xichen, small and tucked away, his eyes dancing with mirth?
Did she smile like A-Yuan, wide and trusting? A giggle waiting just behind his teeth, ready to be unleashed at any moment?
( Read more... )Did she smile like Jiang Yanli, those last moments when she looked at her precious little brother who was finally holding her? She had looked so gentle and happy there, blood on her lips and on her hanfu, even as Wei Ying stared down at her with horrified denial. Did she look like that – defeated and content with it? Happy to know that at least she got to see, one last time –