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« Zewu-jun » TEXT ✧ AUDIO ✧ VIDEO ✧ ACTION Lan Xichen ✦ The Untamed
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Hello, this is Lan Xichen. I apologize for being unable to immediately receive your correspondence, and will return your message as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

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[ He is not yet in a place where he can truly feel much embarrassment over his behavior - he is still not quite himself, after all, although his mind is his own once again. Jiang Yanli's call sparks some of it, however, when it immediately brings to mind... well. There is a difference in finding himself feeling more playful and tactile, as a dragon, and the way he and Wanyin had behaved earlier.

Still, he answers it immediately, both not wanting to worry her and wanting to check on her as well. ]

I am all right, although currently in a form very different from what I am used to. [ Were she not family, or something close to it, he would have left it there - honest but vague - but for her, he volunteers a little more detail. ] I was similarly affected as some others who did not know themselves, but fortunately it did not last long.

And you? How are you faring?

( Jiang Yanli would probably not be entirely surprised to learn she'd heard some of him in... A-Cheng's return message, but her worries on this subject focus around Zewu-Jun having recovered, and not lingering in that space. )

I feel a number of us are finding ourselves in that situation. ( the rest of it... ) I'm glad to hear you've had your mind clear, but... please take care of yourself, Zewu-jun. I feel this is all a cycling for those who're struggling to keep clear minded, and contact to ground does help where I'm not sure what else will.

( she can guess he knows this, since he mentioned having been in a state similar to Jiang Cheng, then resolving it; but she doesn't press. why would she? )

I'm concerned for everyone. I'm not ill, I haven't suffered any attacks by others or by my own mind, but I worry, and A-Cheng hasn't always been responding. A-Xian is mostly with Wangji, both of them, respectively, and I want to check in on our Nie-ergongzi's, and the youngest of your sect here—Lan Sizhui? Have you heard from him?

Yes, it seems to work quite effectively to hold it at bay. This is another time where I am very grateful to have family and friends here.

[ As unfortunate as the circumstances were, he does not regret his and Wanyin's encounter, nor what it might have started, and he is not sure what he would have done without him. Or without Wangji, Wuxian, and Huaisang, who have helped him stay mostly himself. ]

I am concerned as well. [ It is something of a relief to compare notes with her, as he goes down the list as well. ] Wanyin was clear minded, when I last saw him, as was Sizhui. Huaisang seemed entirely his usual self, though I was unaware there was another in the city.

[ He will have to process that later - it has been a delight for him to meet those from other versions of their world and get to know them, but his relationship with Huaisang is... complicated, to say the least. He would not blame any version of Huaisang for wanting nothing to do with him. ]

Would you be opposed to meeting in person? I admit, I would like to see for myself that you are all right.

( There's a note of amusement in her voice when she says: )

So I see.

( Which, contextually, is slightly odd; but as a general statement of understanding, less so. She's equally grateful for the same things, though her degree of unsettlement hadn't gone to the extent that her brothers, or the older Lans, appeared to have struggled with.

She lifts her head, voice sounding more distant as she isn't speaking directly down into her phone. )

Sizhui-gongzi doesn't appear to have been suffering with lucidity. I know A-Cheng has, but it's good he's... better holding to it now. ( She has a question on that, but it's indelicate, and she's not sure she wants to ask. Yanli holds off for now. ) I wonder if Huasiang might have been spared some effects for having not chosen to go to Camp Whitegrave... or not. I don't believe either one of them did, and yes, Nie-ergongzi from the world that your other younger brother and my other younger brother come from.

( Does she know they all shared a prior space? ... So anyway has anyone pointed out communication is perhaps a less strong point for the cultivators? )

I'm not opposed, Zewu-jun. Have you eaten?

( She literally has managed like. A giant pickled not-salad salad. Yanli has been learning fine talon control, because that's what you do when stuck as a dragon for days on end. )

It's simple fare, but I've managed congee and pickled vegetables.

( A VERY DETERMINED DRAGON. )

[ As far as he knows, there is no way she could know about the... indelicate intimacy he's allowed himself over the last week, but it somehow makes him feel seen, anyway. Were he human, the tips of his ears would probably be a little pink here.

But he does his best to ignore it, humming thoughtfully. It seems between the two of them, they have been able to check up on almost everyone - a pleasing feat.]

Perhaps we should work together, moving forward, should circumstances such as these arise again.

[ He is reasonably sure they will, honestly, and he finds he likes the idea of making sure they compare notes like this a regular occurrence. ]

I have not eaten, and I would be delighted. Are you, ah, outdoors? My current form is less than suitable for a small indoor space.

( She too is content to have all those she wants to know are okay accounted for, and if not perfectly happy, as no one ever is in perpetuity, than safe enough to not be in constant danger, and fed. )

I would find that eases my worries if we did. I won't say I'm hoping we face this again, but if things are as... unpredictable as they've proven, it's wiser to plan for it, and hope otherwise.

( She's practical, when it comes down to it, and taking steps along those lines appeals to her as something concrete she can manage. Lan Xichen is a good partner in this, too, even if he had some... hm. Well, she's not a woman to hold another's passions or heart against them. Why would she? )

I am, yes. I have been all week, for much the same reason. How do you feel about fresh greens and pickled vegetables?

( She considers offering fish, but... she isn't going to assume. Plus she's only just figured out how to work the kitchen with half her inside, and some of her creations have been less than ideal. )

Rice, I've been able to figure out plenty of rice. Even congee, if you feel like it.

Yes, precisely. Now that we know it is a possibility, it will ease my mind if we are prepared to look after the others.

[ Not that they cannot look after themselves - they are all quite capable, of course, and Lan Xichen has... struggled with his own capabilities when it comes to looking after anyone, after the truths he's learned of his own life. But that doesn't stop him from wanting to make sure they're looked after.

And that Jiang Yanli herself is looked after, while she is busy taking care of everyone else. ]

I am impressed - and that sounds wonderful. [ He's completely honest as he says it. Lan Xichen would probably try anything she made, simply because she was the one who made it. ]

Where are you? I will come to you.

( They both know it's not an incapability of those they care about. It is, however, a reality of their personalities and concerns to want to be there for those same people, when and how they can. Even if it's knowing they can't always, or at least not fully.

So aside from the sound of affirmation she makes, she curls herself around her device and stares down at its lit screen. )

I'll make it simple. Scan the skies, I'm still getting used to the words for the streets here.

( That said, she tap tap tap TAP TAP finally gets the phone off, and goes spiraling up into the sky. There is now, in Emerald district, a dragon who is somehow primly posing in the air, whiskers gently floating around her face, a breeze playing through her mane. She's a stark contrast to so much of the movement, peaceful in her stillness, but also weighted, as if she's simply waiting to move.

The point is: this is easier, she thinks. Be a giant floating lavender flag who gently looks this way and that, tracking up, sides, even down, because plenty enough can fly and try to tangle in the air. )

Perfect.

[ Though he can make his way on the ground easily enough in this form, he has greatly enjoyed this manner of flying, and he readily takes to the sky.

It isn't long before he spots a form very like his own and Wangji's, in a lovely shade of purple rather than shimmering white and pale blue. He can take a guess that it is Jiang Yanli, particularly since the dragon appears to be looking for something, and he twists and spirals as he makes his way over to her.

It isn't a lack of control in his flight that makes him stop closer than he normally would, but rather having to pull back the instinct to greet her by nuzzling into her the way he'd done with his brother in their dragon forms. He doesn't stop himself from giving a pleased little rumble, though, clearly happy to see her. ]

You've mastered flight in this form quite wonderfully!

( She flows around like a swimmer in her element, bringing her nose right up to his for the brief, gentle boop that follows. Her eyes shine with a hint of amusement, and she pulls away to roll over him and wind back around under, stirring fur with the breeze she generates, but pointedly not touching. It's playful in a way she really isn't outside of between her brothers, but the mood is on her, and it's been stressful this week, and she's been stuck as a dragon, and at least Zewu-Jun can understand some of the hardships that entails.

Thus she laughs, all motion, and flicks her tail in a swat at his hindquarters as she starts to tuck and dive back down to the ground. )

I should hope so, I've been stuck like this since the skies went red. Come down, I said I'd feed you!

( She's nothing if not adaptable, and while... plates aren't precisely anything she can bother with, she's figured out larger platters from glass stored in the house. She lands light on her feet, in the square open area of the backyard attached to her townhouse, walking forward to clear the way for him in whatever space he might need. What are their calorie needs really supposed to be at this size? Hers don't feel matching, and she supposes that's part of the magic, lest poor Zewu-Jun become a pescatarian to handle anything other than constant foraging. How horrible that'd be, she reflects; no one should be forced to live as other than what reads true to them, when it brings no harm to the world, and no harm to themselves.

Anyway, she's managed to make... vegetables. So many baked and seared and not exactly fried vegetables, and piles of rice, because bless but there was this machine that made rice and she wanted five more of them. For reasons, such as a lack of properly sized pots and steamers to otherwise handle future demands. )

If you've managed to figure out drinking in this form, I can offer tea.

( Let her not discuss how she figured out the physiological means of drinking in this form. She's also figured out tricks involving whiskers, wind, and ways to pour substances into her tipped back maw. Not efficient if truly thirsty, but slightly more appropriate for company. )

[ For a moment he freezes, slightly startled as he has been almost every time someone has initiated physical contact with him since he's been here. He supposes he will have to get used to it, at some point, considering how often it is starting to happen, but then, he is still struggling to allow himself to simply enjoy it. Still, it's only for a moment, and then his tail swishes happily in the breeze.

Laughter spills across the wind as he follows her down, and when he lands and approaches her again, this time he doesn't hesitate before he bumps his head playfully against her, nuzzling into her neck. He's mindful of his horns as he does so, though it causes the Jiang bell tangled amongst them to shift a little.

It would not be the first time he adapted his vegetarianism for the purpose of practicality - even recently, when he and Wangji were stuck in the forests of Wonderland in the place they were taken to before here - but he is very appreciative that he doesn't have to this time.

And that he has been able to figure out how many places deliver food here. ]

It is slightly undignified, but yes, I have. Tea would be lovely.

( There's a give and take to this she's not as used to with those not her siblings, her husband, or her son, but she's adaptable enough, and practical enough, that in her usual form, she's been the one extending helping hands. In this one, she can't really fathom much more than trying to show affection as she can, and she's more playful about it now that she's not living in deep concern over her brothers.

She still doesn't expect his reciprocation on the ground, blinking once in her own surprise before her whiskers twitch in an amusement also seen in the flick of her ears. They're all rearranging their boundaries, she suspects. Even as the thought flits through her mind, there's the small sound and the glint that draws her eyes to his horns.

Is that...? )

Then give me a moment, let me set the water to boiling.

( Which ends up being carefully walking her front half through the back door, tail gently curling this way, then back the other, short movements while she busies herself using wind magic, manipulating the kettle of sorts to the sink and then setting it to boil with the slowest, most careful taps of one talon. Then her whiskers of all things curl around two small handled bowls, which she's found sturdier for this purpose, if not as aesthetically pleasing. She backs out with them in whiskers and manages to set them both on the table, next to a waiting, empty, saucepan.

Needs must. )

Though I'm starting to wonder if I should be expecting you over for pouring tea sometime.

( This is a tease, and her tone is light, head lifting again as the kettle inside audibly hisses and burbles toward full heat. She tips her head and lifts a paw to tap a talon against her own undecorated horns, indicating a why with another small, amused twitch of her tailtip. )

Should I be considering calling you Xichen sometime in the near future?

( She's not going to mistake people's bedroom affairs as being deeper ones of the heart, let alone here; she does think there's more a tendency toward that given the peoples involved, but men are less obligated toward certain presentations than women often find themselves facing. Not that she puts stock in it one way or another; even if she weren't a widow, even if she'd been before she was married, Yanli wasn't prudish, simply reserved.

As the only one in the present lot of them married for more than a matter of months, she's perhaps deriving more (slightly pained) amusement in seeing so many late bloomers discovering themselves.

So no, while she had... decided to mostly ignore what she'd seen, seeing Lan Xichen with a bell from her brother is enough of something worth teasing over for her to tease. If her brother showed up with his headribbon, then...

Then there'd be no end to the teasing, really. )

[ He starts to offer to help, but, well. For one, he couldn't fit in there with her to help, and for another, she's clearly adapted to make the best use of her abilities and this form as possible.

There's a moment of confusion at her question, until she taps her own horns and he remembers - oh. Were he not a dragon right now, he's reasonably sure he would have started to redden. Particularly when he recalls the moment he'd thought he'd heard - or smelled - someone at the window, and that the only reason that his overactive protective instincts hadn't responded was because it seemed familiar. ]

You could consider calling me Xichen on the merit of the friendship I would like to have with you, regardless of my relationship with either of your brothers.

[ Of course his relationship with them is important to him, and of course it is one of the reasons that he is inclined to think highly of her - but what he knows of her efforts to tend to the wounded in the Sunshot Campaign and his interactions with her here have inclined him to think equally as high of her, and he suspects that she has most often had who she is defined by her relationships to her brothers, her parents, her husband. There is nothing wrong with that, of course - has he not been defined by his relationship with others as well, and taken pride in being who he was to them? But still, he cannot help but think that perhaps it would be nice, to have a friendship that was just theirs.

That is not what she meant by asking, though, and his whiskers twitch as he considers his response. ]

Wanyin and I have an understanding, which has recently had a new development. We have not yet discussed all that entails, though I will be having that conversation with him tomorrow after allowing some time for processing.

[ It's the most diplomatic way he can think of to say yes, I slept with your brother while we were a little out of our minds; he ditched me the next morning and left me on read, which I then had to look up on the internet to understand what that means, and I'm giving him one more day to respond as a courtesy before I politely knock on his door and let him know that he cannot get rid of me this easily. ]

We are not sect leaders here. No duties, no obligations, and adapting to this place has, by necessity, lended itself to becoming more comfortable with a certain level of intimacy with others. I would not want to assume such intimacy carries the same implications that it would were we back home, among those obligations.

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