lan xichen; late april catch-all

[calmness]

CHARACTERS: lan xichen & you (+ closed starters in comments)
LOCATION: all around the station
DATE: after april 21st
CONTENT: sad old man being sad, star/moon gazing and sparing
WARNINGS: n/a but will update as i go

i. stress relief in the training room

[once he is feeling better, xichen spends his mornings meditating and then in the training room. it is a slow start but after a few days he's moving through sword forms with relative ease, even when he works up a sweat. In sedorum he had felt torn apart, exhausted by both use of cultivation and from wielding his sword. It had felt like a burden, a strain, but now the sword in his hand feels like a part of him again.

he stops to take a break, to wipe the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. it’s then he realizes that he is not alone, that someone is looking at the training swords left leaning against one of the nearby walls (did someone leave a mess behind?!). ] Interested in a spar? ​​[ he asks, not quite fully turned to face the person he is speaking to so unaware if they are well acquainted with a blade or in need of a lesson.]


ii. star gazing in the sunlit room

[during the day, a sun shines brightly in the sunlit room. at night, xichen finds himself wandering through the same space under stars and moonlight. it feels like another world, simulated or not.

it's peaceful, quiet. he stops on the small bridge that overlooks the brook and rests his forearms pressed on to railing, looks upward at the false moon and wishes it were the same one he knew back home. he hears the sounds of footsteps or maybe a moment later realizes that he is intruding, hasn't been alone this whole time.] If none of all this was real, what would you do?

iii. wildcard

[ ooc: feel free to tag in with a wild-card! open to anything but if you'd like to discuss, feel free to reach out in pm or @ cloudrecess]

Comments

closed to shang-chi

[calmness]

[ xichen's room was the logical choice to do this. there are two beds in case they are worn from what xichen hopes will not a successful attempt at re-aligning his qi pathways and retain any qi shuan is willing to spare now that both of them have rested just enough. it is a large ask for a skilled cultivator to do this for a comrade, xichen has placed his hope in a man he will be teaching as he goes.

some may call xichen's optimism a fault, but here it carries him forward along with desperation and faith. he has not seen shuan do this, but he has faith based on all they have discussed and after witnessing him fight in scorpion's bend.

so.

they are in xichen's room, seated on the floor opposite of each other. xichen finds this more comfortable than the arm chairs and for this they have to be close, if not touching. ] I will walk you through each step and can demonstrate what needs to be done if knowing what to mimic would make it easier. Do not be nervous. [ at any sign of nervousness, xichen offers a gentle smile. he looks tired still, but less frayed at the edges than he did in sedorum. feels better now that he is away from what he hadn't realized was resentful energy all around. ]

[karaoqi]

[ He's not nervous. Really. He's taken down an entire Chinese gang on his own at the age of fourteen, took his father of 1,000 plus years of experience and wisdom and avoiding assassins down, and can handle his weight in alcohol. (Well. For the most part.)

He's got this.

He's got this! ]

Yeah, no problem.

[ And no, he does not sound nervous either. He's got his shoes off (kept by the door) and he's seated across from Xichen on the floor, legs crossed, knees almost touching. He isn't sure if the ten rings might be of any use, but he brought them with him, tucked in their wooden box — just in case he needs the boost. But for now, his arms are bare in his white t-shirt, and he's ... okay. He's determined, if anything, and he knows determination and innate instinct can go a long way with this kind of procedure. ]

Okay. What's the first step?

[calmness]

[ as an older sibling, xichen finds himself dubious of the other's words. he raises a brow, as if to question before letting that fade away.

if the other is nervous, they are starting off on the wrong foot.

part of him wishes he'd played clarity before they started, to ease worries and tip the scales in their favor, but it would be too jarring to course correct now.

he takes a deep breath.] First step is to tune in to the way ones your qi flows through your meridians, familiarizing yourself with how the flow feels as they are aligned. Then send it flowing between your hands like a loop through your body.

Once you have a good grasp of that, you'll direct it from your palms to mine. [ he pauses there, carefully thinking over his next words. ] Our goal is to align the flow through the meridians in my wrists, push it back into place on your side while I pull on mine. That is a more than good enough start.

I can demonstrate. [ at least up to the sharing, shuan will not need anything set in place. ]

[karaoqi]

Yeah. I think I follow you.

[ His mother had explained some of this to a very young Shang-chi, during their family Tai Chi sessions, the four of them in the courtyard going through the motions. She described the way qi was supposed to flow, the strength it provided, the way it could balance them ... make them more focused; stronger.

He absorbs Xichen's explanation and what he remembers his mother explaining, and takes a breath to steady himself.

He knows being nervous won't help matters either. ]

Sure. Let's do it.

closed to yennefer

[calmness]

[ the sunlit room is warmer now, has shifted from the depths of winter and the thaw of spring into a full-blown display of florals. it is fortunate, xichen thinks that the simulation does not bring any seasonal colds or sensitivities to the different blooms and plants littering the previously snow-covered space.

seated on a blanket under one of the large trees near the brook that provides plenty of shade, xichen strums the chords of his quqin softly. the instrument floats in space, not settled on to a stand. this time the song is not laced with magic, no soft tendrils of blue light float through the air and offer relief from panic or anxieties that plague the minds of anyone wanting to sit and listen to the tunes. even with his energy returning along with the ability to meditate properly, xichen is not risking expensing it so soon. the song comes to a close and xichen sets the instrument aside.

there are footsteps approach and as he hears them, he reaches for a bag he's brought with him when he sees that it is yennefer approaching.] Was it the tea or the rare wine that peaked your interest? [he asks, offering a smile.

or perhaps it's that they both need quiet and a drink after the last mission?they had made a good team in sedorum, helping the sedora to safety so xichen had checked in on yennefer after they'd returned to the station and had some time to rest. back home, it would be a strange thing for a member of the gusu lan sect to offer to share in alcohol of any kind but here that fact is knowledge to few. so xichen indulges, shares the rarities of home that keep getting dropped off with their supplies.

while he's spoken of it and is reaching for the bag, there is no wine in sight.]

time for calm tootings

[choicely]

[ Yennefer hadn't been entirely opposed to the sunlit room when there was still snow on the ground, its satisfying crunch beneath her boots calling to more recent memories of Kaer Morhen even if the temperatures here remain placid without descending into the more cutting, biting version of winter that the witchers' training grounds can be known for. Even her room on the station is a far cry from the one she'd been given there, lacking in any definitive cracks in the foundation through which those cold winds can seep through and demand a piling of more blankets on the bed.

She often prefers this room regardless over many of the others on the station, as if the technology that calls to mind even the most expansive of illusion magics can effectively trick her into believing that they really are beneath the open sky rather than drifting amongst unknown stars. Thinking that deeply about the latter is usually proven to overwhelm her thoughts quickly, which is why she tends to divert in favor of other distractions.

(It hadn't taken much for Xichen to convince her to meet him here, in other words.)

She plucks up the skirt of her dress with a hand, guiding it out of the way long enough for her to be able to join him in a seat on the blanket before letting it fall across her lap courtesy of a brief sweep of her fingers. ]

Can't it be both? [ Her smile is smaller than his, little more than a brief quirking at the corners of her mouth, but present nevertheless. ] Though that does beg another question about how you came by the wine in the first place, if it is indeed so rare.

[calmness]

[ gusu lan's precepts forbid excess, forbid indulgence, but lan xichen is not within the walls of his home and has long lived in the grey found between the list of three thousand rules that govern the life of both sect leader and his disciples.

'share, give what you have with those around you.' is also written into the slabs of stone that make the center piece of the compound nestled in the mountains. ] The tea first then?

[ in the other order, the tea is wasted. ] I have Viveca to thank for it in the supply drop and how she got it, well, I don't think there's a point to question that. [ the ai was able to do quite a lot to ensure they were as comfortable as possible, what is a bit of wine. from his bag, xichen pulls a white bottle and then two cups, then a teapot before quirking a brow at yeneffer as if unsure she has truly chosen both. ]

[choicely]

[ Truth be told, Yennefer doesn't spend days languishing in her cups or even focusing ahead on the next opportunity she might have to pour herself another teeming glass; like many things in her long life, it lost the glimmer of novelty a long time ago, but that doesn't mean she won't partake in the indulgence every now and then, especially when this lull between missions all but encourages it. ]

Tea first. [ She concedes with a small nod of her head, a press of her lips that still curves upward at the corners, and then leans back so that she can proper her weight on her hand, turning her face up toward the false sun. ]

Some questions are worth keeping, but these are not them. [ She cracks one eye open and notices his expression, and for some reason, it prompts her to don an even wider smile. ] Are you going to make me say "both" again?

closed to alina

[calmness]

[ most early mornings, xichen either makes his way to the training rooms or to the simulated natural space on the ship that has become a second home; the sunlit room.

in the early hours, it's rare to find another soul wandering through the landscape. it is quiet, the sounds of nature echoing through the vastness of the space. it reminds xichen of home, the whispers of winds circlin the mountain into which the cloud recesses are carved.

the sun has started to peak over the horizon, it's simulated rays warming the air as xichen walks off the main path and toward the tree line. there flowers blooming, turning upward to reach toward the rays of the sun in anticipation for the moment it'll cast away the shadows that surround them. it's amongst the flowers at the foot of an oak that he sees someone, a bundle of blankets huddled and turned away from the world.

'is someone sleeping here?' xichen wonders, though he cannot fault them. he prefers the comfort of his bed in his quarters back home, will take the bed in his room but sometimes misses the simplicity of camping on the forest floor. here, there is nature, a sense of connection to a world that is not a vast metal tin. once he's closer, he can tell that it is alina. curled up, not resting at all but frame curled in and tensed if he were to guess the shape under the blankets. ] Alina? [ he calls out, hoping he has not spooked her as he crouches beside her. ] Are you alright? [ if she is sleeping, he will feel very much a fool and worry for the state of her back in such a burrowed state. then again, she has her youth. ]

wildcarding!

[construing]

[ the invitation to have tea sat in her inbox for two days before gwen finally took it upon herself to accept. with the exception of mccoy looking in on her daily and one visit to itachi that she could not put off, she has been avoiding known faces. (wei wuxian does not count. within a day of moving in his few belongings, their room was a chaos of sheafs of paper and spilled ink. to control the disaster, gwen jokingly divided the room in half: he happily took the floor, while she claimed the ceiling.)

she messaged lan xichen first in case he should be occupied, then made the trip to the kitchen. venom settles around her this time in a mustard yellow dress with a white peter pan collar. the balloon sleeves end at her elbows. rather than her usual chucks, she opted for white keds. her dimensional travel watch, nonfunctional as it is every time she returns to the station, is stored safely in her room; her web-shooters sit in her dress's pockets.

(she will never go back to non-symbiote made clothing. venom gives her pockets.)

in the kitchen, gwen readily spots him. once near, she gives a little wave. ]

Hey.

[ if she was hurt, she shows no sign, not even a scar to indicate a past injury. but dark smudges under her eyes tell of a struggle with insomnia, a remnant of her episode. ]

[calmness]

[ in the kitchen, xichen has prepared two cups of tea after receiving the message from gwen. it is a brew of leaves from home he did not request, but found in the last supply drop and took to his rooms.

the leaves are light, a blend of jasmine that is grown in gusu.

home in a cup, really.

his worry for gwen since he learned what happened in taeum has only grown, though he has tried to temper himself with the knowledge she is cared for. while lan xichen did not have faith in wei wuxian's ability to care for friends and allies at the time of his death, now he knows better. and while the closeness forged between gwen and wei wuxian so quickly confuses him, strikes at a chord of protectiveness only an older brother knows, he hopes that this will play out better than a slowly built connection from many years ago. ] Hello. [ he offers in greeting with a smile, dipping his head slightly.

today he is dressed in white and blue robes instead of modern attire, defaulting to the comforts of home in many forms. ] How are you feeling? Many are still resting after the battle. [ xichen should be too, given he is not recovered and had started the last mission on uneven footing but this will not strain him too much. gwen looks tired but otherwise fine, he thinks, but given her power that may be just as deceiving as his own demeanor. ]

[construing]

Yeah, I'm many.

[ the medication she is on is magical and wonderful and feels like someone is sitting on her brain and going, "shhh…" at it. almost immediately, it cleared up the confused haze that had settled over her while they were still in taeum. the visual hallucinations went next; the voices were the last to fade, but fade they did too. her head is again her own—or as much as it ever is considering venom claimed free real estate.

mccoy also stressed the importance of avoiding undue stress while it worked. the thought of a relapse is terrifying considering how much damage she is capable of causing. for a reminder, she only needs to look at the sling wei wuxian keeps forgetting to wear.

her fingers warm around the teacup. she raises it to her nose first, taking in the scent of…jasmine? is it? before taking a sip. she finds her muscles loosening. ]

This is lovely. Is it from your home?

[ and a neat detour away from the subject of the mission. ]

[calmness]

In all fairness, I am as well.

[ xichen says after a moment, settling across from gwen. he holds his own cup in his hands, waiting for it to cool. he could rely on spiritual power to cool it, but there is something soothing about waiting and enjoying the peace in that moment.] Yes, a blend from Gusu. The region where I am from.

I found it in the last supply drop and could not help myself, I may have taken most of the tin. [ an admission given with a hint of mischief in his eyes, the twinkle of something many at home do not think possible. ]

closed to huaisang

[calmness]

[ while he isn't feeling wholly renewed, xichen feels better after a week or rest and meditation on the ximilia. shang-chi's assistance in realigning his qi pathways and transferring some spiritual energy has tipped xichen in the right direction, able to begin the process of regulating the imbalance within himself.

he is by no means safe from falling backward, back into the pit of despair and sickness that comes with qi deviation, but the lan sect leader looks more rested and less worn than he had even hidden under sedorum's red light.

he is well enough to train by the second week, to move around the station without the hinderance of injuries sustained keeping sedora safe. what he needs for the rest of the time between the next mission is peace, but he is unsure he will find it. not when he hears familiar footsteps approaching, as he stands in the kitchen in front of a counter as he waits for the electric kettle to boil water for his tea.

the water is about to boil, he realizes, so perhaps he's been standing there lost in thought longer than he realized. long enough for it to be strange for anyone passing by.

xichen stands a little straighter, a minute difference in his stance, and squares his shoulders. huaisang's presence on the station is a complicated thing; for xichen will always consider him a responsibility, someone he wishes to look after, and his failings embodied in a person, a reminder that he failed this man's brother in so many ways. they'd been separated on the mission, torn apart by ground separating. xichen feels guilty about that still, does not let that thread take him down a path back toward darkness. takes a deep breath, finds he can center himself in the moment. ] A-Sang. [ he turns to greet him, a gentle smile on his face as he tries to figure out if there will be a need to adjust the weight of his stance to account for Huaisang shifting his balance off kilter. ] Would you like to join me for tea?

[eschewings]

[ truthfully, it isn't huaisang's first time, checking up on xichen after their return to the station: careful not to be noticed, standing somewhere innocently enough but there just at the right time to catch a sight of him, only to turn away, disappear behind the corner or a tree in the sunlight room — even still, he wonders if what happened in sedorum was his fault.

it's a complicated feeling: guilt and vindication bundled into one, the knowledge that xichen's inner balance is so badly shaken. vindication, because it adds to the screams in his heart, you should have done something, you shouldn't have been so blind, I should have been able to trust you —

and guilt, because every time he closes his eyes, he sees da-ge, sighing heavily, eyes closing, and he can't stand it, the thought of nie mingjue's disappointment.

this time, he intends to be seen: despite his own complicated feelings about xichen, he is still da-ge's sworn brother, someone da-ge cared about a great deal. someone huaisang himself cared about a great deal, too. so when xichen turns to him, gentle with a smile, the way his lip wobbles in return is not entirely fake. ]

Er-ge...! [ but instead of throwing himself at xichen, he instead finds the nearest chair to slump on, eyes downcast for a moment before he looks up, eyes big and liquid. ]

I didn't know the missions would get this scary! When the red cloak got me, I thought I was gone for real, and on my first mission...

[ and then, as if an aside, with a small sniffle ] Yes, tea sounds lovely, thank you.

[calmness]

[ xichen's brows furrow, concern building as huaisang slumps forward in his seat.

wangji is not here and a fragment of family sits before him, one with ties set and sealed through decades. he has blue here now, a new piece of a family forged and nurtured, but this is deeper still. even before he and mingjue had taken their oaths with jin guangyao, with meng yao then, huaisang was a little brother.

so the concern is genuine as he sees the wobble of huaisang's lower lip. the missions are good reason for it, compared to the normal theatrics one could expect. xichen quick sets the tea to steep, brings it over to settle it on the table between them and settles across from huaisang.

he reaches across the table, to squeeze a forearm or hand if it's within reach. ] I am sorry, I couldn't find you after we were separated. [ one moment they had been together, the next the world was torn apart. ] But you survived the red cloak. Do not discount yourself on these missions. [ with help, xichen guesses, but there's an encouraging glint in his eye still. ]

sunlight room

[oiorpata]

[ as much as she appreciates the feeling of the sun, andy appreciates the sunlight room when the moon is overhead too. there's a comfort to the stars, in knowing they were always the same ones, even if the skies here are fake. even if simulated, it's better than them being blocked by smog, she supposes. she woke up a few minutes ago and intended to go to her actual bed, but she got a little distracted along the way. it's a normal process. ]

[ stumbling upon xichen on her favorite little bridge, she leans backward against the railing, crossing her arms to look upward. ]

I know the sunlight room isn't really real, but mostly I try not to think about it. [ she knows that's not exactly what he's getting at, but it's easier to for the low hanging fruit. ]

[calmness]

[ xichen quirks one of his brows upward, letting out a soft sigh as he hears andy's answer. he is happy that it is her who's joined him when he is vulnerable like this, lost in contemplation. ]

It is a very good illusion. [ there's amusement there because in response to his own words, he would have done the same. ] I meant the missions, this whole ship.

[oiorpata]

[ her face flickers with amusement at his quiet exasperation, but he should definitely consider that a compliment. when andy trolls you, that's how you know you made it. ]

What do you mean by real? That we're in some giant illusion? Or that the orbs won't work in the end?

stress relief

[hikae]

[ Majima weights the training sword in hand, trying to remember the tricks that Fei Hu showed him (so damn long ago, now it feels), and hums thoughtfully. ]

I normally go for a shorter blade— [ A tanto to be precise. Short enough to easily hide, long enough to make pain. But having favourites never stopped him from testing other weapons, so he throws with a slight grin playing on his lips ] But your show inspired me.

[ He does not have a proper stance when it comes to sword, if anything he's obviously never been truly trained in this art. Doesn't stop him from trying, or even just being confident about finding ways how to make a weapon work. ]

Re: stress relief

[calmness]

It is more than just a show. [ playful in return, amused at what it has been called though he is sure that majima does not take him lightly either.

he watches the other set a stance, tilts his head. ] I'd be happy to teach a proper stance. [ he smiles but then lifts his blade, taking a more defensive stand to let the other start an attack if he wishes. ]

[hikae]

And I'm always up for learnin' how perfect! [ Majima says in jovial tone. Though up till now he was learning from his masters more by figuring out counters for them, rather than following the lessons. Or maybe it was just old Komaki's attitude that made Majima want to be difficult.

Enough of the trip down the memory lane. New opportunities in the present— He narrows his eye slightly as he focuses on his opponent, noting the defensive stance. Well, he isn't going to refuse such an invitation, was he? It might be a trap but live and learn

One, two, three. He's fast but the quick, testing blows are delivered more as if he was handling and oversized dagger than a sword. Jabs, rather than slashes. ]

ii. star gazing in the sunlit room

[cairhien]

It's difficult knowing it isn't.

( she'd wondered when she'd first wandered in here how they'd managed to capture such beauty within a strange place before moiraine had then learned the truth behind it.

she can at least use the memories she knows, gardens she never gets to enjoy or properly experience to go with this, things that are real. but it's strange putting the two together )

Though I suppose it's easy to ignore that. It really is a beautiful place they have.

[calmness]

It is a wonder that we are standing here, on a bridge, when in reality it could be nothing. [ or something else entirely.

perhaps when they walk into this place, it is just a dream. xichen does not know, cannot sense the sort of magic he is familiar with here. ] It is but should it be ignored?

[cairhien]

This is no illusion I know, the words they describe it with I don't understand. Enjoying what I see, believing it to be real is nice to have.

( it might be pushing things under the rug but sometimes enjoying the beauty of a place is nice. and something she hasn't gotten to do in a long time )