[open] a picture that focuses

[wenyuan]

Who: Wen Sizhui and open to all
Where: Coach G - Greenhouse
When: Month Llama, Day 17
What: Wen Sizhui pieced together what had happened to his family in the other world. He needs a quiet moment to himself but really, he doesn't want to be alone.
Warnings: mentions of death and execution and murder (past).



As far as he knew, he was never far from home. Ever. There was hope that was given to him that he would return to his time and place without so much as a moment that had passed for him. Qing-shenshen, Granny Wen, and Uncle Four were all alive back home and happy and healthy.

He clenches his fists in his hoodie as he walks along the path in the Greenhouse carriage. It seems...peaceful. And a good place to contemplate what he had gleaned from his recent adventures. He sniffles a little and wipes his nose with his sleeve. Not very gentlemanly of him but at the moment, he doesn't feel like one.

No one had said it outright but he understood that in order for him to grow up as a Lan, that meant that his family...

He makes his way toward one of the raised beds of soil, reaching down to sink his fingers into it. He gives a very soft smile at it, recalling how Xian-ge buried him twice. Once in the Burial Mounds and once again in Dafan Mountain.

To grow big and tall!

Comments

[weisexual]

Lan Wangji has been spending most of his time in the greenhouse car. It is the most familiar place on the train besides the library. And as peaceful as the library is, sometimes he just wants to be surrounded by signs of the outdoors.

He is walking past the raised beds with one hand placed behind his back as he notices someone else in the greenhouse. He pauses in his movements and watches for a moment. It is not hard for him to recognize the teen that he raised from a small child. But he also has been informed that multiple versions and worlds exist.

Since he has met the one he is most familiar with, despite their similar appearance he is still able to tell that this is not the one he knows. But that doesn't make him any less important. The soul of Sizhui is the same, no matter what world he might be from.

He doesn't make a sound but he does take a couple more quiet steps towards him.

[wenyuan]

Sizhui is still a cultivator, despite a different origin. He looks up as soon as he senses another presence coming near him. His eyes widen and he pulls his hand out of the dirt, immediately joining his hands in front of him and bowing.

"Hanguang Jun."

When he straightens again, he tries to determine if this is the Hanguang Jun from his world or another.

[longforgottenpromise]

"Wen-gongzi?" He hasn't seen him since the mission. He's spent a lot of days in bed recovering and hadn't really emerged until the day before, to help those on the platform.

He spends a lot of time in the greenhouse, sitting by the kouji and Lord Gyousou's sword, now with sweet peas beginning to grow up over it.

He spots Wen Sizhui and starts towards him with a wave but then pauses, taking in his posture, that sniffle.

"Are you alright?"

[wenyuan]

His head snaps up when he hears his name being called. Sizhui quickly wipes at his eyes.

"Ah, Taiki-gongzi."

Though it suspiciously still sounds watery.

"I'm fine."

He stands up again and tries to smile like nothing's wrong.

"How is your recovery coming along?"

[flatteries]

Inigo has no idea what Sizhui is going through - what he's thinking about. But when Inigo spots the other guy all alone in the greenhouse carriage while he's passing by, of course he isn't just going to walk past him without saying anything.

There's a slight smile on his face as he speaks up.

"Thinking of trying to grow something?" Inigo asks.

[fennu]

The greenhouse is not where Jiang Cheng spends a lot of his time, but he's taken to wandering - that's what brings him here, almost stumbling over the Sizhui that he knows is not his own. The one who spoke of Wen Qing as though she was still alive, waiting for him to come home. That's enough to leave him feeling uncomfortable, but for all that he might appear a grizzly and frustrating man to know he's not the type to leave a child upset.

Not one he knows, at least.

Walking forward, Sandu clutches in his hand, he peers down at the soil.

"Did you grow things in your home too?"

[wenyuan]

He pulls his hand out of the dirt.

"Perhaps. I always ran underfoot of everyone when they tried to plant things there."

[wenyuan]

Sect Leader Jiang's presence is a comfort. Even if he isn't the man he knew.

"We tried to in the Burial Mounds," he admits. "Things were more fruitful when we moved to Dafan Mountain."

He pulls his hand out of the dirt and brushes it off of his hands.

[fennu]

There's obviously something going on, something under the surface, but Jiang Cheng has never been diplomatic enough to get to the heart of problems without inspiring something a little more negative. When he settles down near Wen Yuan all he can do is nod his head.

"I saw," he admits, voice low and soft. "I visited the Burial Mounds, once. You... Lan Sizhui hugged my leg."

Did the same happen for him? Who knows.

[wenyuan]

He chuckles softly.

"It's nice to know how much we're alike. You did come to visit the Burial Mounds and I did hug your leg. And I did again when you came to Dafan Mountain to check up on us. I grew out of it after you yelled at me for doing that when we visited Lotus Pier once. You were the one that taught me how to shoot properly."

[fennu]

"I was?"

Jiang Cheng pauses, thoughtful. Then he was mixed up with this version of the Wens. What did that mean for his relationship with Wen Qing? The comb? He didn't want to think about that, not when his heart is already so heavy, so burdened, and he breathes out gently.

"Hmph. It sounds like your version of me is just the same."

[flatteries]

"You should try it! It's fun," he says with a slight smile, pointing at some flowers in the distance. "I put those here. Took them along from some of the worlds we visited, because it just felt too bad that we'd never be able to see those pretty flowers ever again after leaving the worlds."

He glances back from the flowers to Sizhui.

"And it's also a slightly mindless thing to do, you know? It's good for when you don't really want to think too hard about other things."

[wenyuan]

He nods, then turns, leaning against the box a little.

"Just about. Jiang-guniang explained to me that you yell because you care about people." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose this means that you care about Xian-ge a lot if you yell at him all the time."

His hands curl into the box.

"...I...heard some things about Lan Sizhui's life. Or things that people seem to say without saying it. Is it true?" he asks softly. He looks at him, trying to contain it. "What happened to them after being taken to the Burial Mounds?"

[wenyuan]

"Inigo..."

Sizhui looks over to where the flowers are growing.

"Inigo, do you...have you met others that were like you?"

[fennu]

"Oh, really?" Jiang Cheng snorts. "I tell at Wei Wuxian because he's stupid, not because I care about him."

He does, though. He cares about him a lot, but he'll never put into words. It's too difficult, at least with how complicated and confused their histories with one another, too many words left unsaid.

But it keeps going, and Jiang Cheng frowns, lowering his head.

"Do you really want to know?"

[wenyuan]

"Yes."

He wants to know and understand the fate of his brother's family, to understand him better, and what happened. And why there was a certain way the others on this train have treated him.

"I should know."

[fennu]

Jiang Cheng moves, settling down and breathing out slowly. Is it really his story to tell? But would anyone else tell it? Sandu rests on his legs and he breathes out.

"Wouldn't you rather ask Wei Wuxian? Either of them?"

[wenyuan]

“Xian-ge never liked talking about that time,” he replies easily. “At least, mine didn’t. Anytime I asked, he’d wave me off and tell me that I should spend my energy hearing Hanguang Jun’s lessons instead of worrying about the past.”

[fennu]

"Then maybe you should. There's a reason why he would want you to focus on what Hanguang-jun wanted. Some things you'd rather not know, or rather not hear."

He has personal experience with that, after all.

"This is your last chance. Knowing the truth isn't always what you hope it would be."

[flatteries]

He pauses.

"Like me..?" He echoes. The smile drops off his face a little, replaced by something more thoughtful. After all, he isn't entirely sure in what way Sizhui means it. "You mean like me in certain ways?"

Although there is an obvious answer, and Inigo figures he at least ought to try it: "Or are you talking about that other you here on the train?"

[wenyuan]

He considers his words carefully.

“I know that they did not survive in your world. That seems to be the reason why Ning-shushu hesitates, why didi won’t say anything, why any of the Xian-ge I’ve met here seem so…surprised when I mention Qing-shenshen.”

He looks at his feet, then off into the distance.

“Perhaps you are right.”

[wenyuan]

“The other me on the train.”

Though his brows furrowed and he tilts his head at him.

“What did you mean like you in certain ways?”

[fennu]

"Their path was very different, you're right. For Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian the truth is difficult to talk about because it's painful to remember."

Jiang Cheng crosses his arms, shifting to lean back against a wall.

"I know from experience that it can be... Difficult to deal with the hurt. The pain. If you really think you can deal with it then I will tell you, but I don't want you to have regrets."

[flatteries]

"Ah, well, perhaps you just meant people with similar personalities, or similar hobbies.." Inigo admits, a little sheepishly now he knows that the obvious answer was the truth after all.

So he shakes his head, leaving that behind him to focus on what's really important here. Inigo can't admit that he's had the same experience here on the train, with having someone who's almost exactly like him, but..

"But when it comes to someone who's pretty much just.. well, you.. I haven't had that experience yet, though I soon will once I return home. And I have seen a different version of my older sister already. So I suppsoe I have a bit of experience, if it's something you want to talk about?"

[weisexual]

There is a small twitch of a smile at the corner of his lips that fades quickly as dirt flies from the young cultivators hands in his speed to greet him, watching as small grains of it land on the ground.

He walks up and reaches out, placing his hand on top of the others in order to get him to stop bowing to him. He pulls it back away to place it behind him once more.

"Are you going to plant something?"

Or is this just a relaxing stroll through the gardens.