[closed] October catch-all

[turmoiling]

Who: Jin Guangyao and various
When: Throughout Octeuril (and possibly backdated Septeril)
Where: Aefenglom
What: Catch-all log for various things
Warnings: None yet.


[Individual threads in comments. If you want to plot something feel free to DM/hit me up on plurk at nanomachinesson!]

Comments

[zewu_jun]

[As much as he hates to be the one taking attention from the healers, Lan Xichen does feel better when the spells begin healing him, dissolving the remains of the stones built up inside his body. The small holes sewn into his flesh begin to close as well, still leaving him in a mess, but at least without such serious internal injuries.

If he were a proper healer, he wouldn't need that. If he were a proper witch, he could have defended himself from the start. Xichen's eyes raise to look at Jin Guangyao's soft and weary as he returns his hands to touch the injured scales.]

A chimera, perhaps. I would not be afraid if it were true.

[turmoiling]

[It doesn't feel so bad to ease into that warm touch now that he's sure Lan Xichen will be okay, perhaps slip a bit closer still for a few minutes of naga-justifiable warmth. Even if there were things that couldn't be public, it felt easier and easier for Jin Guangyao to find reasons to be close the longer he stayed in this world.

That response prompts an understanding look. He's not unaware of recent issues, and the nightmares cannot have helped. More seriously he adds:]

Still, it isn't the case, is it?

[zewu_jun]

[Isn't it the case? His mother and his father, two very different, conflicting elements, creating a child. In a way, weren't they much like chimera at home? As much as their father tried to deny it and their uncle tried to hide them beneath clean white and strict breeding, they were always wrong. Unnatural things. Unconventional compositions.]

No, it isn't the case. I am still a witch.

[He runs his fingers over Jin Guangyao's body, plucking at points like he's pressing his meridians, sending warmth through the channels that now flow with magic and comforting him.]

Were they terrible? They won't come here.

[turmoiling]

[A couple places, a couple times, there's an almost imperceptible tenseness underneath that touch -- if the two of them weren't so close, surely it wouldn't be noticeable at all.]

No, of course not.

[Except that certain individuals in parts of the nightmare were all too present in reality. Even if he wasn't being threatened so directly, they were still a real threat.

As was the idea that things that had been said in the dream might be heard and brought back. His origins had never been a secret in their original world. But here, as much as it was pleasant to not be dogged by those words, it was just another thing to keep quiet.

Even if Jin Guangyao lacks the magic that Lan Xichen has, as he can see his wounds healing moves his touch to settle on his bonded's arm where the holes had been, as if it had really been only a bad dream of the normal variety, rather than one that injured them both.]

Do you want to talk about it?

[zewu_jun]

[They were terrible. Lan Xichen knows that, but he also knows that Jin Guangyao won't want to talk about the things that hurt him most. He never has, because those things are still weighing on him. If they weren't, he wouldn't come out of the dream realm with injuries like that. They are still threats to Jin Guangyao because he believes they are. Trying to talk about that might only make it worse.

He smiles softly when the hand rests on his arm. A small, comforting gesture reminiscent to ones they had shared before in another world, long before the truth came out. They weren't all bad times. Even though the reality was much harsher than Lan Xichen had known, even then, Jin Guangyao had kept his word and had not hurt him. That still meant something.]

I saw my mother.

[turmoiling]

[Ah. How that ties into the injuries he's seen is unclear, but dreams are so often fragments of things set loose in unfitting circumstances. He nods, with at least some degree of understanding from what Lan Xichen shared with him in the past.]

It must have been difficult.

[zewu_jun]

It... made me realize that there are things I still cannot do.

[Nothing like a nightmare about being helpless to bring into focus how much you still need to work on yourself. He could blame others, but really, what Lan Xichen concluded was that if he wants to do anything, he has to become stronger.]

I should have been able to find you. I wanted to.

[turmoiling]

[As intensely personal as they were, if there had been anyone he could suffer to have seen his dreams, he would rather have had it be Lan Xichen than others. Though he's not thrilled at the idea of seeing his brother any time soon, it will be all the more uncomfortable for their experiences there.]

Perhaps that is the nature of such a dreamwalking, that it would prevent it.

[zewu_jun]

If we were together, then we could have prevented these injuries.

[He thinks, at least. Maybe even that is a bit too optimistic, but Lan Xichen does think that there would have been safety in numbers to some extent. They have supported each other fairly well so far (when they aren't arguing). He scoots slightly closer, putting his hand on Jin Guangyao's back and starting a slow massage.]

A-Yao, did you notice anything strange in that city?

[turmoiling]

[It's definitely optimistic, but Jin Guangyao nods anyway. The muscles are still at first, but it was hardly a restful sleep. He tries to relax into the familiar touch and remember details beyond just the personal.]

There was feeling that there was some other presence lurking nearby. I know I am not the only one who felt it.

[He recalls his gaze flickers across the other present Mirrorbound, looking for possible judgemental eyes. With none in sight and slow to move into a fully comfortable position still, the snake half of his body shifts again, curling back around Lan Xichen and resting tucked up against his back, narrower tip resting on his leg.]

[zewu_jun]

Do you think that it will follow us?

[If they can bring crystals out of the dreams, then maybe that dark presence can follow them out as well. And do worse. He felt that presence watching them in the city, but couldn't pick up anything about it. Was it a living creature? A spirit? He frowns slightly, leaning closer to Jin Guangyao for comfort of his own.]

I knew it was only a dream, but it hurt to see them again. I thought if I did, I would be happy.

[There is something tight in his throat as he says that. A wire pulled inside him.]