eastbound | username: yiling laozu

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username: yiling laozu | video

( a smile from the man on camera, and a wave of his fingers against the backdrop of an ice wall. )

To those who know me not at all, or less well than others of our number do, I'm Wei Wuxian.

( hands lifted, he offers a polite, perfunctory sort of bow, paired to the clasping of fingers over the other hand's set. they drop out of frame, and he looks a touch more serious, dark eyes fathomless. or maybe it's all in the lighting. (the lack of proper lighting. torchlight keeps him flickering in reds and oranges.) )

The king mentioned Irenia in passing, the dragon? She was thieved away from a lord of death our group knows of, and has run into several times. His name's Anurr, he's the, ah, very slightly less horrible option for being enslaved by death lords, and from Sa-Hareth. Trailing after us with his creatures or his shifting loyalties, never trust his kind voice, Eleven can tell you about that! Five, I'm sure, can tell you more, as can Xie Lian, or Xiao Xingchen. All members of our group, as it were. Anyway!

( he claps his hands, and grins. a little crinkling around his eyes makes him almost seem truly merry, instead of merrily dry. )

Irenia lured far enough west can be called back to Anurr's dubious graces. Far enough east, and with a different strong pull on her mind, maybe, maybe we can free her. Either way, I recommend we do one or the other, because space to crash a being who never asked to be used as she is is limited, and using the keep itself in poor taste, as it defends this world from hell. Apparently. Very exciting stuff!

( ball's in your court now, chaos crew! )

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It would be convenient if we could, firmly, move too far west. He hasn't, unfortunately, declared he doesn't wish to conquer and keep the living as cattle. Cared for cattle.

His words. Not mine.

[ ...That sounds like a freudian slip Anurr might make. It's easy to get offended and forget that they've kept that relationship for a reason. The same reason Five carries his finger around. ]

You expected something else? If you wanted to object to our deal with him, that ship has sailed. [ Way back in Sa-Hareth, when the group swore they were going to be neutral and killed Unhalad the next day. ] Of course we're his favorite pets. All he has to do is sit back and bide his time while we take out his opposition.

( ooc: definitely meant 'east', close your eyes and pretend... )

( the driest of looks here, and a slow lift of his eyebrow. )

He didn't mean us, Lao Five. He meant the entirety of the world. We're tools this world wishes to make use of, and we let Master Scorpion guide us enough, but most our worst damages were our own choices. Not anyone else's.

We need to be as prepared for when Anurr is left standing as we do for each deathless lord that hasn't been swallowed by an overreaching space cultivator.

[ He's probably right that it's 'when' and not 'if' when it comes to Anurr. As much as Five balks at the idea of saving another world when he couldn't save his own, despite trying his damnedest multiple times, he doesn't... not care. But what does he expect him to do? ]

You're right, we've made mistakes. It's because of us that he's as powerful as he is. [ Largely Five, specifically, but details. ] That doesn't mean we won't need him on our side. We have to be smarter.

[ Of course, Five could do it differently if he went back in time, but he hasn't touched that math in weeks. Finding out what the future holds is a surefire way to knock the wind out of your sails. ]

Will we?

( Five, you're getting a very flat look, and the slight, wry twist of Wei Wuxian's lips.

Because he does know you're why Anurr gained so much strength in Taravast, and that Winnie was tied in as part, being the one who'd tucked away the mirror after the bank heist. And he knows you're cursed by Anurr, and doesn't believe that's ever been resolved. )

Lao Five, find me. It's time for us to address a longstanding issue regarding your well being. Having been drafted into so much healing here, I feel obliged to act the part to even our most stubborn old hurts.

[ That was a very diplomatic way to put what Five knows he's referring to. The problem is that he remembers how it went at the lake, and how all their cleansing and flute playing did nothing to help him. Wrath is the only one who seemed to still be monitoring it.

Why he's suddenly offering is suspicious. Wei Wuxian sensed the curse before and did nothing, so he wonders what else this is about. If he's aware of the piece of Anurr that Five keeps with him. ]

You feel obligated now?

I've felt obligated to wait on your decisions. I have not, as you've noticed, try to force action on you.

( no, that has been his husband, for different reasons, and he knows it. they both know it. )

So I ask you cooperate now, because this is an avenue you've chosen to leave off exploring. I don't believe that's wise, or that it should continue anymore.

[ If he's been waiting on him to break again, he'll be surprised at how much anguish Five can live with.

His instinct is to pick apart exactly why he's decided to bring this up, but he holds back. It'd be too easy to undermine him if rumors spread about him being compromised. Not to mention a possibility that has kept him from burning bridges. ]

This isn't the time.

So when is? Specifics, Five Hargreeves.

I hate to point out the obvious. But it's nice to know I outrank a dragon on your list of priorities.

Only one of them is new! And now is a great time. Planning for a dragon is minor in the scheme of things here, age transports ah? Not the attack leader.

I think you might have been here too long to judge a crisis.

I know you prefer to believe yourself in control of situations you're not.

I'm a talented man, Five Hargreeves. I can handle more than one thing at a time.

Like you handled it in Sa-Hareth?

( cute the raised eyebrow. )

Oh?

[ He was there at the lake. It's not entirely his fault, but they didn't help him then and he's done nothing but watch since. ]

What changed?

My continued patience for your refusals.

[ He says that like he's never tried anything, or that they've haven't been in a constant state of emergency since it happened. ]

And if I don't cooperate?

Would you continue leaving your family at risk?

[ He doesn't have words for how much he hates it when his family is used against him. ]

What risk is that?

You know. Do you want me to say it so you can hear it outside of your own mind?

I know what you think, but it's always nice to be vindicated.

This will take a moment, bear with me.

Being afraid is not a sign of weakness. Accepting it, facing it, handling it, those are things we can do for ourselves. Accepting offers of help before we unleash powers to a lord of death, before our own great powers can be used against us, before we're fully destroyed, that's important, ah?

I've been there before, in slightly different ways. You've become more and more lost in fear and anger over the last two years, Lao Five. It has to be exhausting.

[ The sincerity, if nothing else, takes him by surprise. He wants to refute him, but he's aware that what he's carried around for damn near two years is not getting better with time. They're never far away from anguish for him to absorb, the only difference is that he's learned how to compartmentalize the effects so he hasn't had another incident like Taravast. Wrath has offered more than once to remove it under the right conditions, but he understands why he's continually put it off. Bad can always get worse.

He can't afford another mistake. ]

The last time someone tried to help me, I lost all memory of one of my siblings. [ He hadn't planned to admit that, but he's reminded any time someone asks for his trust. It still tortures him that he lost his chance to get his memories back when Mingyu was too afraid to meet with him and disappeared again. That he couldn't murder him for what he did. ]

None of you are subtle. I know you see me as a threat. I've traveled with you, fought with you, for two years, and your own husband still tried to start a campaign against me. So why would I agree to put my life in your hands?

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