New Plan, Step One: Provide For My Community [open]

[summerdude]

Magnus needs something to change, so when a Mansion calendar helpfully informs him that it's International Falafel Day back on Earth, he goes to the library for some cookbooks, and then to the kitchen.

He lays out ten different falafel recipes. He gathers the ingredients they list, as best as he can understand them. He has canned chickpeas and fresh chickpeas and dried chickpeas and chickpea flour and box mixes of falafel that say 'just add water!'

Cripes.

"I can do this," he says, peering at the assorted recipes intently for a good ten minutes, and then takes the dried chickpeas over to the sink to rinse and soak.

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[summerdude]

Magnus sits down next to him, automatically assuming the position he does when he meditates. He breathes, and watches Lan Wangji like a hawk.

[lightbearinglord]

There is no way of knowing how many times he has asked this question. He can nearly picture Shen Yuan rolling his eyes with impatience. Nonetheless, Lan Wangji breathes alongside Magnus, relaxes his shoulders, and plays, Who are you?

He looks toward Magnus nearly before the answer has concluded. "Shen Yuan is here."

[summerdude]

Magnus breaks into a smile. In the late-morning light, this, more than anything, probably underscores just how exhausted, how drawn he looks. "Hey, bro," he says. "Really trying to overtake the bachelorette party plans, huh?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji lingers just for a moment in gazing at Magnus' smile. He looks so tired still, as if that typical summer glow has gone from him -- but the smile is worth it all regardless. For his benefit, he explains, "I will ask whether you exchanged bodies with his killer that day." He takes in another breath of the spring breeze and directs his qi, along with the question, to the strings. Did Magnus wear your killer's body when you showed him the Sun and Dew Moon Mushroom?

He is startled by the length of the answer, but for Magnus, he remains calmly patient. It is easier this time; he has not just come off the revelation that little pieces of his memories have been stolen, day by day. Once he is certain that the qin is silent, he begins to translate. Because he is with Magnus, he makes his best effort to do so faithfully. "Yes. The two of you discussed being girls. That is when you realized that this woman could sense her name. He believes you forgot about the mushrooms because you were in her body that day and she took every memory of herself. He does not believe she knows about the additional bodies. He asks you to be careful anyway."

[summerdude]

"I'll be careful," Magnus promises. "I'm being careful. And Luo Binghe has a bunch of, like, I think wards? Up too."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji doesn't let his expression flicker at the mention of Luo Binghe. It is the one principle he knows Luo Binghe has: loving Shen Yuan. Of course he would protect him. He proceeds with the questions he promised to ask for Magnus, a careful slow breath and then a return to the hushed sound of the qin. Will the Evocation array work to place you within your future body?

"Evocation will work," he confirms aloud for Magnus. "I will ask how to know when the body is ready." He does, strings humming, and listens for Shen Yuan's response.

"Shen Yuan's knowledge is theoretical. He has read of these plants, but not used them himself. Before the body ripens, his soul can be placed within it. The soul will help its growth, and he will awaken in it when it is ready. He asks that we refrain from doing so until his killer is dealt with, because of the possibility that she might take his memories afresh."

[summerdude]

"Does he--" Magnus shakes his head and stares into the middle distance. "Shen Yuan, do you want me to keep, um, ripening you after your spirit is back inside you? And, like, are there any signs that it's going too fast and we should, like, slow down? And do you think she's going to try and attack anyone else?"

This last question is posed with more of a grim tone. Magnus survived. Shen Yuan didn't. Magnus doesn't have a lot of faith that other people could.

[lightbearinglord]

At the rapidfire nature of those questions, Lan Wangji casts a fleetingly fond glance at Magnus. He will take them one at a time, in order. He begins, as such, with the first. A moment or two later, he says to Magnus, "Yes. Continue to ripen him."

The second, then. What signs will indicate that the body is growing too fast? The answer comes with such vehemence that Lan Wangji could almost be amused. "Stop if it begins to grow extraneous limbs." He waits, to let Magnus absorb that, before embarking on the third question.

[summerdude]

"If it does start to mutate, is there a way to... undo that?"

[lightbearinglord]

That question results, at least, in a fairly quick interchange. "He doesn't know." Lan Wangji breaks his concentration here to look back to Magnus. "Claudius will help you," he says. "Shen Yuan has invited him to experiment with the third body, the one that has not been inoculated." He has great faith in Claudius' expertise on the topic of growing plants, even mysterious ones from distant worlds.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, I also told Claudius I'd talk to Luo Binghe about that," says Magnus, relaxing slightly. Of course Claudius can help with figuring this stuff out, too.

[lightbearinglord]

It rankles, the idea that Claudius will need to receive Luo Binghe's permission for the privilege of helping Shen Yuan. Lan Wangji stays silent again. Nearly every part of this is aggravating. He can't dispute Luo Binghe's right to guard the future body of the man he loves. He knows that involvement with those plants is important to Claudius and that he will contribute invaluably to their success. Claudius is resilient, and he has set aside the problem of Luo Binghe as thoroughly as he can; still, Lan Wangji doesn't care to think of him forced to spend time, even in passing, with the mercurial emperor who tortured him. But if there is anything that will truly stay Luo Binghe's hand, it is the knowledge that Magnus and Claudius are helping speed Shen Yuan's return. Additionally, it should not be Magnus' responsibility to ferry messages on Luo Binghe's behalf, solely because he cannot be trusted to remain reasonable or to accept necessary assistance.

He has already told Magnus more than once to be careful around Luo Binghe. He trusts Magnus to look after himself, and he trusts that Claudius will use his signal flare if it becomes necessary.

Slightly discomfited, Lan Wangji returns to the third question of Magnus', the one he has not yet had a chance to ask. Do you believe your killer will attack anyone else here?

"Shen Yuan doesn't know if his murderer will attack others. If she had other plans, she did not tell them to him. She intended to neutralize Luo Binghe, because he was the most prominent threat to her, much as she attempted to neutralize you because she could not steal your memories in their entirety. He suspects she will lie low and try to gather intelligence, particularly if she discovers that Shen Yuan has a path for return."

[summerdude]

"How was Luo Binghe a threat to her?" Maybe if he knows the kind of stuff that she finds threatening, he can get a sense of whether anyone else may be in eventual danger.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji considers Luo Binghe a threat to nearly everyone, but it is a pertinent question, regardless. If there is something about him specifically that threatened Aornis, it is worth knowing. He asks it.

"Luo Binghe would visit her dreams, and they would fight. She would take the memory, but he returned again and again. Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe were suspicious of her. The entire mansion was suspicious. There were clues, but no proof. They were investigating."

[summerdude]

"He was visiting her dreams to investigate? Did he find anything out?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji has been thinking, quietly, of the evident fact that he and Claudius were also investigating. It is difficult to know how far they got, even with Claudius' penchant for writing everything down, because it is difficult to know at which points Aornis saw fit to reach into their minds and take their memories of whatever they found. Every time he lets his mind down that path, it is a new kind of icy shock. Memories of Wei Ying, memories of Claudius, memories of Magnus. All taken, and those are only the ones he knows for certain were stolen.

He asks Magnus' question, but the answer is as he suspects it will be. "Shen Yuan doesn't know." He pauses then, and frowns minutely. The revelation of Aornis' existence answers several of their questions. Shen Yuan has a killer. Magnus was also her target. She can use coincidence to her favor, and she can take memories, which means she can touch the minds of others. There is at least one obvious loose end.

He puts his hands back to the strings, which are still alight with qi, and asks a question of his own.

A quick answer, unmistakable. "That woman is also the one who sent Galahad nightmares several months ago."

[summerdude]

Magnus goes cold. "How dare she," he says, quietly, angrily. But there's more important things at hand. "Does he have, um. Any messages for Galahad?" He knows Galahad will be grateful to hear them, and he's definitely too embarrassed to ask about himself.

[lightbearinglord]

"Claudius asked what he would say to Galahad when first we contacted him. Would you have me ask again?" Lan Wangji has no doubt that Shen Yuan could come up with additional words. He has no trouble speaking at length even when the medium is qin music.

[summerdude]

Magnus looks away, stung. Hanguang-jun had asked for messages, but not for Magnus? Claudius had asked... did Hanguang-jun not remember to ask about Magnus because he's not Hanguang-jun's disciple? "Yes," he says; his voice wobbles.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji hesitates, abruptly unsure. "Are you certain? Not what he would say to you?" He couldn't have lied to spare Magnus' feelings. He has already apologized for neglecting to ask for Shen Yuan's words for him. There are too many reasons Magnus' voice might be so suddenly shaky, and he feels unusually unable to untangle them.

[summerdude]

Magnus waits for a long, long minute, until he's composed himself. "You can't do both?"

[lightbearinglord]

"I can. I thought you might not want to wait." He can't play Inquiry indefinitely; it is not an easy technique, and the difficulty is compounded by the complexity of many of the questions he has asked and the even greater complexity of their responses. But he can ask at least two more questions.

[summerdude]

"I can wait."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji hesitates for a second time, something sour in his gut, but Magnus asked. He wants Magnus to have what he wants and needs from this. So he does as he said he would, steadies himself and his qi, and asks, What else would you say to Galahad?

As he suspected, Shen Yuan faces no difficulty in devising additional words. He listens, focusing silently on the music. There is a moment partway through when Magnus, who knows him well, may well notice the suppressed flare of surprise that crosses his face, the flicker of something a little more vulnerable. He masters himself again.

"He asks that we pass along what we just learned about the nightmares, and tell Galahad not to worry," he begins. "He knows that memory loss is already a painful subject for Galahad. None of what that woman takes is gone forever. Shen Yuan remembers everything now. That message is for everyone. The truth remains, and we will restore it somehow."

[summerdude]

"I'll tell him."