bang! crash! the lightning flashed!! -- that's another story, nevermind, anyway!

[qingxinling]

Jiang Wanyin sweeps along the shores of the lake, glowering. This is not his beloved Lotus Pier. These waters are cold, foreign, uninviting. Clearly there's been some trap: he's been distracted by duty in this hunt, and when he followed the slight tug in his chest, he ended up getting pulled into unfamiliar territory.

No matter. He draws himself to full height, letting cool arrogance slip down his shoulders and suffuse him. Sandu is naked in one hand; Zidian crackles in the other. He can handle whatever monsters may arrive.

Comments

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Well, I can direct you to the main room. There is a table, there, with information such that you might learn how to make yourself comfortable here, or-- well. You are a Cultivator, are you not?"

(He is very proud that he's finally properly associated Lan Wangji with Cultivation, even if he still doesn't fully understand what Cultivation is.)

[qingxinling]

The frown settles back into its usual lines. Jiang Wanyin retrieves his writing utensils from his qiankun bag, and then takes his brush in hand. "You hold it like this," he says, demonstrating: a favor for a favor.

[sagramore]

"Oh, I see." He changes the writing implement in his grip from a pen to a brush, and imitates the swish of Jiang Wanyin's calligraphy.

[qingxinling]

"He's always acted like he's better than anyone else in the universe," Jiang Wanyin nods. "For all of the twenty-five years I've known him."

[protagonisthalo]

"What a hardship to have known him for twenty-five years," Luo Binghe says. "You have my sympathies. I am Luo Binghe—I feel sure that we can be allies."

[qingxinling]

"Better," Jiang Wanyin says. It sounds grumpy because he always sounds grumpy, but he is feeling a little more assured that his message will reach the correct recipient. Unlike some assholes he could name, Jiang Wanyin is impeccable in his manners and sense of propriety; he bows to this strange simple man, formal and polite.

[qingxinling]

Obviously Jiang Wanyin is a cultivator. The question is so inane he barely dignifies it with a response, but -- since this man is so strangely appointed, and seems to have limited understanding of the proper way of things -- he nods and says, "I am Jiang Wanyin, sect leader of the Yunmeng Jiang clan." His tone is a little pointed. Lan Wangji isn't a sect leader.

[qingxinling]

"Jiang Wanyin," he says, and give Luo Binghe a second, more formal bow. "Sect leader of Yunmeng Jiang."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot bows a little, though not in the way Jiang Wanyin would expect and without the (presumably) proper degree of deference. "Well met, sir. I know nothing of clans, but something of leaders, and I can see you carry yourself as such."

He gestures toward the mansion. "Within, there is a hall when first you enter. That is where you will find the table. You may feel free to explore as you wish. Should you have need of a room, it should be easy enough to find one unclaimed."

He's trying to recall what folks said to him, on his first day, but he's having a little trouble so he keeps to the basics.

[protagonisthalo]

Luo Binghe bows too, out of respect for this man's good judgment and opinions. Not that low, though—he is still Emperor. "Emperor of the Three Realms," he adds.

[sagramore]

Sagramore bows back, equally polite. This appears to be a dismissal, so he clicks his tongue to Fenyes again and leads her on.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan scoffs. "Nothing to do with being immortal, I can just smell a fraud from a mile away." Because he's such a practiced one himself, but no reason to go into that!! "Most people here like him, though, so it's refreshing to speak to someone who gets it." He elbows Jiang Cheng conspiratorially. "He defaced a wall the other day. You want to see?"

[aflashbastard]

Crowley eyes the whip; not that it hurt that much but it definitely wasn't pleasant. "I'll be sure to pass that along," he says, turning to head back to the mansion. "But that's a great start to your own burn book." It would definitely be a more productive way to get some of that anger out.

[qingxinling]

Jiang Wanyin is torn. He wants to hurt Lan Wangji -- does he ever want to hurt Lan Wangji. He wants to smear his smarmy little face through the streets until his outsides look as bitchy and dumb as his insides.

Realistically, it's not the smartest political play. Sure, Gusu Lan is no longer as strongly positioned as it was before their sect leader went into seclusion, but Jiang Wanyin is a sect leader, and Lan Wangji is merely a second son.

The thing that's pissing Jiang Wanyin off more than anything else is the way Lan Wangji is clearly shielding Wei Wuxian from him. Sure, Jiang Wanyin has whipped Wei Wuxian. Sure, he hunted him for years. Sure, he's never going to forgive him for every stupid fucking choice he's made, starting with his fucking behavior in their childhood, continuing on to his fucking bullshit martyr complex and subsequent rejection of Jiang Wanyin the Yunmeng Jiang sect, and culminating in his stupid cut-sleeve cultivation partnership with the biggest drip in the world after years of his personal responsibility in leaving Jiang Wanyin without any family in the stupid shitty world (besides Jin Ling, who Jiang Wanyin loves regards more than anything left in aforementioned stupid shitty world). But he's not going to hurt the asshole! That would be descending to his level. And maybe Jiang Wanyin could tell that motherfucker that he's not going to descend to his level, if his stupid little yappy lapdog of a partner would go the fuck away for half a moment!

Jiang Wanyin focuses all of his anger and confusion and aims Zidian's next attack directly at Lan Wangji.

[qingxinling]

"He what?! Yes I fucking do."

[qingxinling]

Jiang Wanyin supposes that there is an emperor, but he's never spared the guy much thought before. "Good for you," he says; his tone is even borderline respectful.

[qingxinling]

"I won't need one," Jiang Wanyin says, still short. "I'm not staying."

[protagonisthalo]

What an agreeable man. Luo Binghe is looking forward to becoming close friends with Jiang Wanyin over the course of what will surely be his long stay at the mansion.

"How do you know Lan Wangji to begin with?" Luo Binghe hates the man, but admittedly the basis of his hatred is mostly that Lan Wangji hates him. Luo Binghe can easily hold a grudge forever based solely on that, but he'd love to have more reasons.

[qingxinling]

Jiang Wanyin considers telling Emperor Luo about the lectures at Cloud Recesses; the ensuing conferences and competitions; those months trying to find Wei Wuxian at the start of the Sunshot Campaign. He considers telling of their... differences of opinion... about the Yiling Laozu and his death. About thirteen years of disciples at loggerheads surpassed only by their own mutual acrimony.

"He's fucking my former shixiong," he says.

[lightbearinglord]

Almost before Lan Wangji can think, he is blocking Zidian's attack with Bichen, twisting the sword so that the whip wraps around it rather than striking Lan Wangji himself or, worse, striking Wei Ying. Its touch renders Bichen's qi inert, the glow draining from its usually-bright blade, but Lan Wangji's strength is untouched, and he holds on with his fingers tight around the hilt. Jiang Wanyin will not take this from him. Jiang Wanyin will not take anything from either of them. He has taken Wei Ying's golden core, because Wei Ying loves him too much for his own good; he has taken Wei Ying's peace from him on too many nights to count. He could have saved him, and he cast his shixiong aside instead.

He knows that Wei Ying hates this. If he had his way, Jiang Wanyin and Lan Wangji would get along -- or, at the least, they would not loathe each other so intractably. But Wei Ying gives away parts of himself as though they are worth nothing. He is quick to anger when injustice is done to others and not quick enough to it when he is hurt. He is the bravest, cleverest, most infuriating, and best person Lan Wangji has ever known, and if it remains Lan Wangji's duty to carry the anger he deserves for him, then he will shoulder that burden willingly.

With Bichen so occupied, it falls to Wangji to retaliate. Lan Wangji calls up spiritual power from within himself, pure qi and intent that feels equally pure, and sets his fingers to the strings to unleash a fresh chord assassination in Jiang Wanyin's direction.

[qingxinling]

Frankly, this could go on for a while. Jiang Wanyin settles into the inevitability of it, because he doesn't know any other way to handle this. He hates Lan Wangji. He likes that, when he fights Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian is forced to see him.

He ducks the blast of qi from Lan Wangji, and sends another surge of lightning along Zidian, and reaches with his spiritual energy for Sandu.

[summerdude]

For a split second, Magnus thinks that someone has found fireworks and thought it a good idea to set them off in the middle of the day.

Then he sees some dude in purple and Lan Wangji in what looks like a really intense, pitched battle. He forgets, in that moment, that Lan Wangji has promised him he'll never have to fight again -- that Lan Wangji can handle it. All he sees is a spike of lightning more intense than anything he's seen coming off of Mjolnir, and it's aimed straight for someone that he loves.

He runs without really even realizing that he's running, as fast as his einherji abilities allow, Jack unleashed and flying at his side. He's not thinking about wanting to put down the sword, just that he has to do something to protect this man who means so much to him. He doesn't care who the other guy is: he's attacking, and Lan Wangji is clearly defending himself and his husband, and Magnus Chase hates bullies.

He has to do something. He has to do something. He has to do something. The need -- the urgent need to stop this situation before it can escalate further -- courses through him. He's been using alf seidr left and right here: warmth and light and healing as needed. This is more than that. He hasn't used the Peace of Frey since the first time he fought Galahad. The shockwave rolls through him, thoughtless and strong, swelling from the desperation seizing up his chest and then shooting through his entire body. It's strong enough that the water in the lake is pushed back from shore several feet, waves surging in its wake.

More importantly, even though Lan Wangji is disarmed, so is the guy menacing them. Jack has been blown back, too; Magnus hadn't had time to warn him. He'll deal with that fallout later. A bracelet clatters to the ground behind him; he kicks it away and wipes off the blood pooling from his nose with the back of his hand. This Peace was strong enough that the shockwave has dislodged a tooth; as he spits it out, he looks anxiously at the three men in front of him.

"Uh," he says, with an awkward, shaky wave. "Sorry. What the fuck?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"As you like," with another of those shrugs. "I can show you, if you like. Or you may stay here, though it seems there is not much more for you to find here."

[wwx_isdead]

Wei Wuxian has been sitting in the grass, watching, once he realized that his shouts for them to stop were useless. He is exhausted enough emotionally that it shows, in the slump of his shoulders and the expression on his face as he looks up. "Don't worry, Magnus. They're just trying to kill each other."

He pauses, realizing how that sounds to someone who doesn't know the long history between these two men, the one who once finished ripping Wei Wuxian's heart to shreds and the one who carefully sewed it back together and repairs it anew each day. "Neither of them would actually do it. Jiang Cheng has that much propriety and Lan Zhan cares for me too much."

[lightbearinglord]

This feeling, the wrenching of his weapons from his grasp and the blooming warmth of Magnus' aura -- at least it is known to Lan Wangji, and he knows to brace himself and that his spiritual items will begin obeying him again shortly. He looks first toward Wei Ying, to ensure he is unharmed, and then he draws up a surge of qi to call Wangji back to him before it can crash to the ground. Bichen is sturdy, almost indestructible, and will be fine wherever it lands, but the most he can do for Wangji here is restring it. To honor what Magnus has done, once it has returned to his control, he slings it into its place on his back rather than continuing to wield it.

"Magnus," he says, tight and urgent, with a tiny spike of horror: that Magnus has seen this, at the blood on his face, at the despondent sprawl of Wei Ying's body on the grass. He strides toward Magnus and catches his hand, passing him a flare of spiritual energy, and offers the other to Wei Ying to pull him to his feet. By this time, Bichen is flying back as well, having dislodged itself from a far-flung tree. It slides into its sheath. If Jiang Wanyin will only give them a moment, this can all be over.