Video: un: Suihua

[amnopeacock]

[ Seeing someone in a hospital bed might be somewhat common a sight for Nippon. This time, the young man pictured is being checked over by a nurse - his pulse is being taken as the feed continues. He doesn't look the most happy, more impatient and maybe even a little worried as he sits mostly still for the check up.

Finally he pulls away and glances at the communicator he'd been given. Perhaps he'd been interrupted just before he was going to speak? His lips go thin in mild irritation before he seems to make an effort to draw himself up straighter, ignoring the nurse's cautioning words to not overdo it, they'd just gotten that hole closed thank you! ]

I am Jin Zixuan. I understand there might be people here I know. If this is true, please contact me.

[ His eyes might be begging one of these people is his wife. ]

Comments

[amnopeacock]

[ Jin Zixuan isn't a cruel man. He's just...sheltered. Spoiled. But he's been working hard to learn and better himself. Marrying Yanli, becoming a father, fighting in the war, have all helped him grow and to prove himself to be better than his father. ]

Has anyone tried to keep you apart here?

[ He has Suihua. He'll use it to help his...what? His brother-in-law...? Is that how he should think of Wangji now?

A wry little smile tugs at his lips at the belief it won't be hard. ]

I'll try. I'm glad he's happier.

[mourningjade]

(Guangshan never cared to improve his image. Zixuan has noticed the problem and set about righting it. Wangji - and anyone else - can ask no more of him than that. Even Wei Ying had wanted nothing more than someone who could be loyal and loving to his sister.)

We were separated when he was returned home.

(Perhaps! They are family through marriage and that sort of thing is very important to Wangji.)

Jikan is a complicated place. I believe it is easier for those of us who are bonded with another.

[amnopeacock]

[ Guangshan is, frankly, out of control and sees no problem with it. Zixuan isn't his father. It had bothered him how little his father wanted to fight in the war, which was why he'd led their sect himself.

Separated when Wei Ying had left.

Just as Zixuan had left Yanli. ]

...I assure you when that happens...It is not intentional.

[ That much he knows for fact. ]

The...Kizuna bonds I was told of?

[mourningjade]

(All of which works in Zixuan's favor. Wangji hopes that when he speaks with Wei Ying, the two will see their similarities and forget the differences. What a relief that would be for poor Yanli too!)

No, I did not think it was.

(He plays a gentle melody that allows them to talk.)

When we bond, we sometimes acquire animal characteristics.

(Wangji wiggles his long, fuzzy deer ears and bows his head to bring attention to his antlers.)

The stronger the bond, the more we can change.

[amnopeacock]

[ Well some of those similarities include arrogance and short tempers...but they have worked together, fought together, and trusted each other to guard the other's back against enemies.

Anything is possible, really!

The gentle melody does help boost his weakened state and he draws in a calming breath, willing his core to accept the gift the Second Master Lan is offering. ]

...I see.

[ Yes thank you, he's been trying not to stare!

Those ears look so very soft! ]

Is it uncomfortable or painful?

[mourningjade]

(Wei Ying's arrogance has lessened with age. As has his short temper! Wangji is proud of the man he has become, though he has been head over heels in love with him since they were teenagers (much to his shock back then).

Stare all you like, Zixuan. He is accustomed to that reaction - and, yes, they are soft.)

Only to transform fully. I can become a stag.

[amnopeacock]

[ Age and experience and hardship can have that effect. Zixuan knows it's changed him, though his growth has been...interrupted. Maybe now he can return to growing into a better person?

He can hope.

He nods, gaze lowering as his thoughts turn back to his wife - they rarely stray far from her! ]

Does the pain linger?

[mourningjade]

(Stay around Yanli and it will happen naturally. Wangji respects her almost as much as he respects Wei Ying.

His fingers move across the strings with practiced ease.)

No. It fades once the transformation is complete.

[amnopeacock]

[ Oh, he doesn't care about the pain for himself. He just fusses over his wife ever being in pain! ]

Good.

[ The music really does help. But at least there's no lingering resentment, even aimed at Wei Ying, that needs banished. Just a tired core that needs rest to recover and grow strong again. ]

[mourningjade]

(Yanli is strong, but he understands the fear. Wangji will happily be whipped if it means Wei Ying sheds one less tear.)

Don't fear it. The magic is only giving form to our deepest bonds. A stag protects his herd by watching over them and, occasionally, fighting predators and other stags. He is one with the seasons.

(The song flows like water, reaching Zixuan's core and offering it rest and rejuvenation.)

[amnopeacock]

[ Of course she's strong. Far stronger in ways that he can hardly fathom. Oh, he has the physical strength she lacks. But her heart and spirit are far stronger.

The words are reassuring and Zixuan nods. ]

It suits you.

[ Familiar rest and rejuvenation that makes healing easier. Breathing comes easier. His heart rate settles. ]

[mourningjade]

(She is a mother. Yanli was a mother long before she gave birth. Her brothers can attest to that.)

Your form will suit you.

(He visibly relaxes, relieved that Zixuan is not carrying a grudge.)

I was told that I will know your son well in the future.

[amnopeacock]

[ Of course. His A-Li is perfect. The best person he knows. He'd just been too fool to see it and look past how others saw the match. ]

A-Li told me she took a sword meant for Wei Ying. Do not fear that knowledge will endanger him. She has always been protective of her brothers.

[ And if he can look past what had killed his wife to see her intent, then there really is nothing from the past that will make him strike out at Wangji's husband.

Then he's told this man will know his A-Ling in the future. He almost lunges forward to demand more, but manages to subside and rein himself back. ]

I am sure you will treat him well.

[mourningjade]

(Being foolish in that regard is something they share. He should have told Wei Ying far sooner how he felt.)

She... She did. I saw it. (Wangji grimaces, pained at the memory.) She knew she was the only one that could reach him. After the Wens were put to death, Wei Ying lost control. It was even worse after she died.

(And Wangji had been forced to watch the love of his life go insane.

But not insane enough to forget his pain. If anything, the insanity was just grief on a dangerous scale.)

He is always welcome. I lead the young Lan Cultivators in the future.

[amnopeacock]

[ It's a stab to the heart (ha) to imagine a world without Yanli. But he understands why she'd chosen to put family before her own safety.

Zixuan forces himself to breathe normally. To let the peace of the music keep the worst of the pain away. Her death had driven Wei Ying even crazier. Perhaps it's a comfort, cold as it is.

It isn't.

His gaze lowers, fingers tight at his lap before he forces them to relax. It helps to hear something of what Wangji does. ]

Would you tell me about them?

[mourningjade]

(The world was much darker for her loss. But Wangji likes to think the deceased watch over the loved ones they leave behind. He tries to weave some of that hope into his music, falling into the song he had written for Wei Ying without thinking. It is his favorite.)

The young Lan? (Here is a topic he likes.) Lan Jingyi lives with me; he is someone you can rely on in good times and bad. Lan Sizhui was here, briefly, too. He...

(Wangji takes a deep breath.) He lost his parents; they were among the innocent slaughtered Wen. The Wen left took him in and he was raised, at first, by Wei Ying.

Then, by me.