video: average sighren

[lanclan]

[ The scene is one of steam and muffled, echoing male voices from elsewhere, tiles covering walls. Xichen's face is in shot, hair unbound and soaked where it falls down his bare shoulders, pink from the hot water (no fear, he has a thin robe shrugged off but tied about his waist out of shot) where he is leaning over the edge of the bath. ]

This is rather unorthodox, in many ways, as first meetings go. Pardon my appearance, robes are somewhat contradictory to my surroundings. [ But he's out of seclusion, in a strange realm, and this is the only way he knows to prove the bathhouse is safe: by using it. ] Some of you already know my younger brother, Lan Wangji. You may call me Lan Xichen.

[ He sighs, nasal and soft. More of an exhale. His smile hitches back up. ]

I now live above the bathhouse. Technically, [ here he glances over blandly to a pair of guffawing sailors in the background, lips pursing as he holds back his real opinion, ] this is a private residence, but it would be rude to deny access to those who wish to use the downstairs, so I would like to invite over anyone who wishes to bathe in something other than cold lake-water — if my housemates wouldn't mind, I should like to meet all of you, too.

There is a separate area for women, of course. Please use the rinsing stations before entering the main baths and wear something discreet, for the sake of others.

[ Xichen glances around as someone calls his name and there is a momentary wider shot of him soaked to the waist as he straightens to nod in answer, raking back his hair so it isn't stuck to his chest you're welcome. He looks again to the video and smiles warmly, tilting his head in apology for the break in his attention. ]

It is seemingly busier in the afternoons.

Comments

[balancedwire]

At the very least, to keep it clean.

[deescalate]

[Ah. He put himself in this situation. Cal won't give the specifics; Lan Xichen is still a stranger, despite his friendly demeanor, and one of the wounds is still too fresh, the day he received it still too horrible to think about without his family here to be a reassuring presence.

Instead, he compromises. He shrugs a little, the water rippling out from his body once again.]

I fight for what I believe in. I just encounter a lot of people who don't share the same sentiment.

[vestments]

Khonshu knows nothing of beauty, ( is his rebuttal, immediate and with little room for argument. cold, cratered lunacy is not the same thing, and marc would argue that khonshu is capable of little else. he might be else — healer, embracer, pathfinder — but very rarely has he opted to share those aspects with marc.

(badr had said there was nothing of beauty in marc, in the way he fights. marc had argued there was none in anything they did in khonshu's name.)

neither gusu nor cultivator mean much to marc, and his expression is briefly questioning before he settles on acceptance. spirtuality has never much resonated with marc, he's never much understood it.

(and strength of mind? marc has never had any of that.) )

Some say — you wouldn't?

[lanclan]

I would say I am dedicated to my clan and everything else follows, including my cultivation.

[ The same way Marc is devoted to his Khonshu, as little as it sounds he reveres him. ]

[lanclan]

[ Sensing there's some mild defensiveness there, or at least deflection, he nods amiably and doesn't chase the subject. Instead, he taps his own long locks as he says, ]

You have beautiful hair. It's like a captured sunset, I've never seen that shade on anyone before.

[deescalate]

[Hearing his hair described like a captured sunset is so poetic amd kind of absurd that Cal almost laughs. After all the times people have screamed his surname in anger or announced they're going to make him suffer or bleed or any other variation of pain, it's strange to hear something so innocent and not laced with derision.]

That's...one of the nicest things I've heard lately.

[He glances over at the sailors nearby and then back to Lan Xichen. None of them have red hair. Which doesn't bother him, not like it might have when he was much younger.]

It's a rare color in humans, at least where I come from. Not impossibly rare, though. I've seen other redheads before.

You said you have a brother, right? Your hair must be similar.

[He thinks that's how siblings work.]

[lanclan]

His is a little longer, but the colour is the same.

[ Wangji's hair has always been lovely and long, Xichen thinks with a smile back to when he first arrived and helped to wash it, to style it neatly. All in a cave. Wangji really should visit the baths ... ]

If you meet him, know he says little but means well.

[deescalate]

It's a nice color.

[Cal would try to come up with some comparison like Lan Xichen did, but he's no poet. He doesn't think "it's the same color as Koboh tar" really comes off as appreciative.

It's also just not true. That tar is oily with all the colors that apply and that definitely isn't the kind of thing someone wants to hear about their hair.]

What's his name again? Is he shy?

[lanclan]

Lan Wangji. He isn't shy as much as reserved in what he says.

[ And kind of a bitch, but that runs lowkey in the family. ]

text ★ un: cocked tale

[pathologise]

what if we don't have something suitable to wear?

[lanclan]

There are underrobes provided for both men and women.

[pathologise]

very convenient
how warm is it?

[lanclan]

Far hotter than I am used to, although that says little as I am from a mountainhome that remains cool in the height of summer. Quite hot in general?

[pathologise]

i like a warm shower
but baths are nicer when it's comfortable
though it still sounds nicer than river water

[lanclan]

You are welcome to attend any time.

[pathologise]

thanks
did you just get dropped here?
i don't know many people so i could be wrong
probably am

[lanclan]

Yes, although my brother has been here a while. You may know him.
I have never been tasked with a bathhouse before so I believed it appropriate to display a welcoming atmosphere.

[pathologise]

i don't remember the name

( they talked, she was very drunk )

it's a nice gesture whatever it is
and it'll get you meeting people since you want to

[lanclan]

It's for the convenience of all, there is no need to seek me out.

[pathologise]

maybe we'd want to

[lanclan]

In that case, once introduced, I can offer tea upstairs.

[pathologise]

coffee?
i'm adrienne

[lanclan]

I have never had coffee nor own any, apologies.
Hello, Adrienne, I look forward to meeting you.

[pathologise]

then i'll bring some over
it'll be a win for both of us

[lanclan]

Thank you, Adrienne that is most kind.
Shall we say an hour for decency's sake? I live above in the apartment and will be listening for the door.