middleofsomewhere | Into the Unknown Part Two

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Into the Unknown Part Two

On day twenty-five of the month of Symphony, everyone is gathered together, at least everyone who follows the request for a meeting to be held.

One of the head scientists - named Till - stands before the group, a look of excitement on their face.

"We have found something, an anomaly in the void. We are not sure what it is exactly, but there is a lot of activity coming from its coordinates. More penitently, initial investigations have picked up readings that are constant with a void storm.

I believe from your own reports you have experienced void storms before, and you know they can be dangerous, but always fleeting, never lasting more than a few days. However, this storm seems to be static. It has not moved or changed since we first detected it.

We understand there may be people who do not want to venture into this storm, and we understand. The loops we have added to your tethers will allow you to stay on the base long enough for those investigating to return. You may experience some discomfort and disorientation during the time your craft is away, but it should only be mild and temporary.

For those investigating, we know little of what you will face. Every storm is different, and this one is already stranger than anything we have come across before."

The scientists stick around to reassure people and help them make their decisions. Those going to investigate are told to report to their craft in the morning.

INTO THE UNKNOWN: PART 2

SYMPHONY 26-29 ~ OOC POST ~ QUESTIONS ~ FIRST PART

JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN

Those willing to go will leave on the Voidtrecker Express first thing the next day, with only warnings and well-wishes to be careful to go with them. There is an estimate for how long it'll take them to reach the anomaly, about half a day's travel by the train's clock, give or take. But there's no telling the true time it'll take, nor the effects of the void that will be waiting for them. Keeping away from the windows or putting up blinds is advised as a precaution, just in case, and to monitor each other's health.

"Warning: Approaching Voidstorm, please take precautions." The train warns as they arrive on the edges, all the usual train precautions have been taken, the lab cart has been shut down, the ovens in the kitchen are disconnected. The train begins to shake as it enters the first layer.

LAYER ONE: CHANGING SHADES
They first experience changes by sight - literally. Around them, objects start emitting an aura that's unique to each passenger, colouring it to match their mood towards that particular thing. Coffee machines? Amazing, paint that gold. A boring book? Ugh, the entire thing is turning grey.

It's a small effect at the start, yet objects aren't the only things being affected - so are the people on board. Their own moods are changing their hair colour, eyes, and skin, shifting more rapidly than the furniture's paint job. And as time goes on, passengers will be able to affect one another's colouration and aura, giving away how they may feel about that person at that moment, if their feelings are strong enough. Never noticed how fondly one feels about you? Now you do.

LAYER TWO: LOOSE LIPS
Going into the next layer, there's an itch that starts to gnaw at everyone - an itch to talk. To friends, to strangers, to anyone; you have a need to chatter, and it has to get out. Attempting to isolate yourself only makes the need worse, and you won't be able to sleep it away. It doesn't matter if you don't know what to talk about - you'll find something.

A good chat will subdue the need for a while, but it will eventually return. So while listening to others talk might help keep it at bay, it won't forever.

LAYER THREE: CONFESSION - I THINK YOU'RE OK
The changes become stronger, and with them the urges. Passengers will feel compelled to tell those they know their feelings for them, whether it's as simple as finding them okay, to having stronger inclinations of friendship, dislike, or even love.

These urges can be held back on for a time, but it's easy for it to slip out; and many may still be suffering from the previous layer, where they get the sudden need to talk.

LAYER FOUR: A CAKE FOR MY BELOVED
Talking is simply not good enough in this layer: actions speak louder than words. You want to create ways of expressing your desires, regardless of how creative you actually are. Building a shrine to your loved ones, challenging rivals to duels. You can't stay idle, and your hands and brain need to be at work! What can you manage on this train?

EYE OF THE STORM

Finally, all of it stops. The colours, the emotions, the compulsion of dramatics; their minds go from being caught in the storm to completely calm (or, as calm as they ever are). It is much like waking from a dream, or going from one very noisy overwhelming place to complete silence.

A second passes, and then another, and then... there's a feeling. Fear, terror - even those who normally have no ability to feel the emotions of others can feel it, emanating from the train itself.

With it comes an invitation. Hard to describe, but a tugging at their mind. They can push it away no problem, but if they accept...

They are looking out. The familiar colours of the Void are all around them, but they can't turn to look. Ahead is a hole where space should be, nothingness curving and spiralling out from a point deep within that wound in reality, tearing and tugging at the unfortunate observer. The chaotic nimbus at the edge of their vision spins inwards to meet it, and vanishes at the edge of the hole. A void within the Void. And within that terrifying chaotic darkness there are shapes.

The train rocks as energy rushes past it, tossing the craft from side to side. It spins, lurching out of control, the connection snapping as everyone is thrown back into their own awareness as the train starts vibrating to at full speed.

But the tell-tale signs of movement isn't there, and a creaking of metal can be heard. The train shakes more as the view outside the windows shows them inching forward towards where the hole had been, and parts of the roof start to bend inward, water pipes burst and the electricity fails in multiple carriages.

Until there's a rush, a shaking and twisting, and the void flashes violently in the windows. The ever distant choral singing becomes a roar as a kaleidoscope of colours fills the interior of the train itself.

Then there is stillness. It calms, and there is no storm, no terrifying darkness. Just the void, as it ever is, ever changing.

OOC NOTES

NOTES: They will be in the storm for three days, each layer takes about half a day.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

layer one: colour me pretty

He finds it fascinating how objects are people are reacting to emotion: that colours can bleed in and out depending on those nearby, that the effect is intensifying. In all his necessities over the coures of the day, he hardly notices what is visible about himself to others, doesn't seem particularly perturbed.

Wei Wuxian lights up objects and people around him in colours, but his own self is increasingly, muzzily grey. Grey and white, like a bleached out ink painting left too long in the sun, with only his eyes staying as intensely dark as they always were.

"Takes on a whole new meaning about colouring someone's world," he says from where he's sitting in the dining carriage, gesturing toward a teapot he's been steeping. "It'd a good thing I'm drinking tea. If it were Emperor's Smile, it'd be too blinding to look at!"

And he laughs, while even his red ribbon tied around the knot of his half-up hair seems the dark of dried, old blood.

the fear tears through: eye of the storm

His hand darts out to take hold of someone nearby, while his mind's eye is focussed on the improbably shapes formed within the not-void, the deeper void, what the train fears. Wei Wuxian is not a stranger to fear, but he is a stranger to buckling under it in the end, and so he does not.

"Hey, this isn't the end, we'll weather this," he says, and if it's the the Voidtrecker Express or to his companion, there's no outward indication. "You're not alone."

Right in the moments before the connection snaps and they all go flying as the voidtrain spins out of control, the deep vibrations starting up as it sought to flee.

confessions: wildcard

ooc note: hit me up here with "confessions: wildcard" in your subject line to get wei wuxian's confessions about his feelings concerning your character! or to confess your feelings in return, tell him how annoying he is in person! (he probably already knows--)

Lan Wanji has never experienced anything quite like what is happening as they travel through the void. It is clear that it is effecting the colors around him and although most things are fairly monotone, every once in awhile there is splash of color. It becomes very clear that the things he likes are brighter then others.

He comes upon Wei Wuxian and as soon as his eyes land upon the man it is no surprise to him that a bright golden color seems to start coloring over the grey. The bright red of that hair ribbon more clear then anything.

"Wei Ying..." He hears what the man says about the wine of home and the smallest of smiles tries to tug at the corners of his lips.

He smiles, nudging a cup toward Lan Zhan when he enters the area. A bit more colour is seeping back in; he can see his skin gaining an odd golden cast, but it's no stranger than the way colour is reacting to people now. Emotions, he can guess. Emotions, and it's why seeing Lan Zhan, he sees him starkly as living, vibrant blues. Darker in degrees than they should be, given Lan Zhan's general light blues.

"Lan Zhan, drink, drink! It's tea, no matter what colour it might take on right now. Still tastes right!"

Right being relative, but also good in his opinion.

Edited 2022-08-25 07:00 (UTC)

"Mn..." He walks up and settles himself at the table. He trusts that Wei Ying won't lead him astray with the drink. Since the man was lamenting his lack of the familiar wine then he is sure that this is something far less exciting for him. His fingers wrap around the cup as he feels the warmth from the drink inside.

But his intense stare is still quite stuck to Wei Ying as he studies the colors that dance and move along him. It's beautiful in a way to watch them and perhaps he is feeling a little more distracted by that then he should.

As if to snap him from his gaze he lifts the cup to his lips so that he may take a sip. Not at all afraid of the drink even if it turns out to be something besides the tea he is used to.

The tea remains tea, taking on whatever colour intensity correlates to in Wangji's mind.

"You're staring," he says with a hint of an awkward smile after a moment. "What, are you turning me green?"

He slowly shakes his head, lowering the cup back onto the table. "Wei Ying sparkles like gold." Precious and rare. Whether he meant to actually say that out loud or simply think it is unclear.

But he does try to lower his eyes very slightly so that he isn't staring and making his companion uncomfortable.

He pauses, then laughs.

"You've a kind heart, Lan Zhan," he says, because he finds it true, and it adds warmth to his features, deepens the colours he generally wears, because that's Wei Wuxian's affection. Somewhat distant, but through no particular fault: awareness, yes, of mortality, and his having met his own twice over.

Lan Zhan, for the first time perhaps, given a haze of warm, vibrant red to the edges of his robes.

The smile on his lips is soft. If colors were normal he would probably have a small touch of it to his ears. He has been praised by many in his lifetime but compliments from Wei Ying hit much deeper and are far more treasured.

"I'd give Wei Ying that heart if you would have it."

A soft confession with eyes still down turned. He would give Wei Ying anything. The man only ask it of him. He held onto regrets for sixteen years. Regrets of things not said or done and even more regrets for things he did do. He shouldn't hold back any more then he already has.

There are ways being on the Voidtrecker Express has turned him into a man who has peeked in at what his life is, from other views, and how he is as a person, from his own gaze leveled at a version of himself he's an imperfect reflection of. He resents none of it, and he thinks he understands better the depths of Lan Zhan's heart in a way he wouldn't have been ready or able to see clearly back home, not at the time he first arrived here.

Even now, it's hard, albeit for different reasons. He reaches out with one hand, fingers settling on Lan Zhan's sleeve. Just one small tug, and he smiles, voice pitched low and warm.

"You should ask the me living in your world, Lan Zhan, once he's back from finding his road."

When he knew who he was, away from the morass of the world they'd grown up in. When he'd found his footing as Wei Wuxian was starting to on his journey, but had not been able to find before he ended up here, ended up serenading Chaos and seeing worlds he'd never dreamed of, technologies he finds fascinating and frustratingly difficult to reproduce at the same time.

"That's the me who needs to answer. He's the one who can hold a heart, if he's learned how."

He wonders if he would ever be able to say those same kinds of words to the Wei Ying on his world. The things he has seen on the train, the knowledge of the kind of lives his alternative versions have lived...he wonders if that is what prompts this confession now. Or perhaps some other power that draws the words from his lips. If he doesn't have the same kind of courage, will he ever be able to tell the Wei Ying of his world the same things?

And will he ever get the chance? It's not like they know when they will return home. He was denied any sort of closure about how his world is doing without him there. He didn't get the same opportunity that others got to check in on things and so he has been left wondering. How much longer will he have to wait before he can walk that same road as Wei Ying?

"All Wei Ying deserve to hold a heart." And he is sure that every Lan Wangji would give it if he could. If he was prepared to present it. But even this Wei Ying that is on the train and walking this path deserves to feel loved. His other hand comes over to try and cover the one that has found his sleeve.

He doesn't dodge the touch, nor duck away from the words. He smiles, and judges that they know each other well enough for the tiredness there to be seen, for the warmth of colour that flushes Lan Zhan to only be met in turn by what colour Lan Zhan gives him.

"We do," he says, "And we've held many. Hold man. Not all in... not all as romance, no, but Lan Zhan. Even I've felt loved."

By a brother, a son, a series of soulmates who saw him, by the dead and the living on the train, by all these things.

"It's not a narrow bridge anymore."

Not isolated, alone, and rejected. The things which aren't fine aren't ones either of them can fix, and it's not in his nature to be distracted in pursuit of a cause. Yet he can hear, and believe, and trust, and say again:

"Remind me of that. And tell me the name of that song, finally, when you wake, ah? You're the slyest man in the most unexpected ways."

"Good." It gives Lan Wangji's heart a feeling of ease to know that Wei Ying's path has found a wider bridge to travel across. That he knows he isn't as alone as perhaps he has once felt. He cannot erase the mistakes of his own past but at least he can rest assured that he hasn't let those mistakes continue. Wei Ying has found a version of his own peace because of the family and friends he has found since his return.

He lets out a soft hum, reminded of that song that he wrote and the name that is so important and precious. He doesn't feel that sly but he knows he was never terribly forthcoming about it and the reasons he never gave the name. Perhaps that is the door that needs to be opened in order to let those feelings flow more freely then he has been willing. To finally let the name reach the ears of the Wei Ying he knows best.

"I will." There needs to be no more hesitations. Should he ever return then things will need to change in himself.

"It is a good name."

Jin Ling almost runs into the man tearing his way down. He definitely isn't looking at where he's going. Not to mention, he lost track of his spiritual dog. (Much to Wei Wuxian's relief, probably.) She might have found one of the other juniors to play with or anyone else that has doted on her in the past.

Jin Ling skids to a complete stop, about an inch or two from colliding right into him. He really doesn't want to stick around longer, because he fears what will come out of his mouth. Since they all found themselves here, he's been loose lipped and confessing things he normally would not say to anyone. A quick sorry and a dart should be good right?

"S-Sorry!"

He manages to yelp before he trips on his own feet from trying to tear away faster.

He reaches out, catching his mostly-nephew by the upper arms so he doesn't faceplant right into the ground.

"Hey, woah, I'm not that frightening, am I? I thought we were past the whole run me through or run from me phase of things," he says, offering a wry smile and a very honest statement in one bundled package.

Thanks to that, Jin Ling doesn't eat the ground. He's somehow pretty grateful for that and a thank escapes his lips almost too naturally.

"T-Thanks---what?"

The statement takes him by surprise, "No That's not it at all! I didn't mean to run you through that time-- or run away from you!"

Jin Ling really wants to dig himself a hole now and disappear underneath it. That's not what he wanted to say at all!

Wei Wuxian blinks, letting one hand fall away from his nephew's shoulder while the other stays in place for steading purposes. The Voidtrecker Express's current fluctuations are disorienting, and he suspects this is in part related, but still.

"Yet you were trying to run away now, ah? I see, I see, that's what this voidtrain venturing into the great unknown is causing today..."

Which is partly a tease, along with an observation he's piecing together as the effects of this particular journey toward the... not the void, obviously, but the hole within it? How does he describe the anomaly they're investigating. That has been having increasing effects since the day before.

Jin Ling is both confused with the blinking and the strangeness in Wei Wuxian's behavior. Maybe, it's not really that strange, but if he's anything close to the Wei Wuxian Jin Ling knows, then he does seem a little confused.

"Th-That's because I didn't want to say something to you that I can't take back and I hate that I can't say what I want!"

Wait-- what? No! that's not it at all. What the hell is up with this layer and everything going on? Why does his mouth move on its own and say things he doesn't want to say? Whatever investigation may be happening, he's still trying to understand it all. He doesn't need this honesty to rear its head too!

That answer provokes even more blinking, then a laugh, short and entirely unexpected. Hence also entirely genuine.

"There's enough times we have to be like that, why choose not to say it now? There's nothing you can say to make me hate you, and nothing I don't want to hear from you." A moment's thought, and he adds, "Other than you never wanting to see or hear from me again, but I'd respect that if it's what you really wanted. I hope it never is," he adds, wanting that to be clear.

Also aware he's being direct in a way he usually spares the ones he cares for but feels less than... deserving of their company.

Jin Ling's brows knit at the words. His mouth twitches a little. That last statement is so far from the truth, he doesn't even know what to think.

"You don't get it at all! Of course, you're annoying and always saying whatever the hell you want without thinking about what's best for you! I stopped hating you a long time ago!"

His words are more direct as well before finishing, "I actually don't hate you at all, so why would I not want to see or hear from you!?"

That hole is starting to sound really nice right now! He really needs to find it and bury himself.

Edited 2022-08-28 08:14 (UTC)

Another pause, and he doesn't laugh, touched in a way he hadn't been expecting. He knew well enough that Jin Ling didn't continue to hate him, he trusted in his shijie's son's ability to bounce back and see through what he could, while also mourning the uncle he'd lost, and the parents he'd not had a chance to know.

(More or less, though he had at least met his father, and had that same odd version arrive recently, which gladdens Wei Wuxian in the sense of knowing the preciousness of family found. The guilt, and the general grudging acknowledgement of Jin Zixuan for Yanli's sake, and his months long rebonding with Jiang Cheng means he really has no idea how to approach him.)

"Jin Ling... you're a great young man, you know? Your mother would be proud."

Very much so, this child with her wisdom of emotion compared to the constipation of his father and plethora of uncles, and the boldness and directness to speak forthright, though perhaps not... like... this... usually.

He should be more concerned about the effects of all this honesty, but instead, he's smiling.

"Are we supposed to hug? I'm better at those since Sizhui's been teaching me, and the other young folks, and you already know your uncle Jiang Cheng is a good hugger, there's no way he hasn't smothered you in his arms growing up!"

To this day, Wei Wuxian mostly remains surprised at the sheer amount of course correction the lack of violence between uncle and nephew indicates for his brother. The good kind of surprise. The kind that he knows is more indicative of who Jiang Cheng always could be, if his mouth could temper itself toward better honesty.

Jin Ling wants to make a break for it, really fast at that. However, he also is having a hard time doing that after such a strong confession. Something he might have internalized for a long time. While, he acknowledges that there are two different Wei Wuxian's that he know, and that they have two different relationships with him, he can't help but still feel that strange familial attachment to both.

He's grateful for being able to spend time with his father, even if it is a moment and a fleeting memory. Something, he'll never actually get a chance to experience if he hadn't been taken to places like Hakagemachi or even this train.

He's speechless with Wei Wuxian's words. Words that sound rather familiar but not at the same time. His face seems to change a bit more in color, probably a lot redder than he wanted.

"I don't know...if I am, but there's no point in hating you. There was never a point at all. With all those memories and the things I saw. Hu-hug?! How am I supposed to know. I don't go around hugging people casually!"

Jin Ling throws his arms up. He doesn't even know how to hug the other Wei Wuxian without being headlock into a hug first. The only other time he's been hugged was when the other Wei Wuxian went up and Sizhui had hugged him as a form of comfort. Outside of the obvious people, he never openly hugged anyone. He doesn't know what to do in these situations. Even the shoulder pat he had attempted one time was akward!

"Jiujiu--- he's always been strict, but you know he's kinder than anyone else. Of course, he's good at hugging! How should I know. I was young then-- maybe he did."

Jin Ling doesn't know but he agrees that Jiang Cheng's hugs are comforting to him. Whenever he's having a bad day or when he feels like he can't really contain his emotions, those hugs were comforting and warm. He really looked up to his jiujiu.

"Neither do I," he says, but when Jin Ling's arms are thrown up, Wei Wuxian steps forward and bends to embrace him in a full hug, probably all the bones that Jin Ling doesn't need to learn run too close to the surface under Wei Wuxian's train uniform. Unlike so many of their number, he's never regained the robes of their world, instead languished in the uniform given freely by the voidtrain.

"I'm telling you, he did." He says, smiling where Jin Ling can't see it, but can hear it. "He picked you up and smothered you, and he'd do the same now, if you worried him at all. Could be fun to test," he says, and then he pauses, changing what else he might say to go on and admit, in a lowered voice, "I don't know how to end hugs either."

He mostly stepped away when it got to be too much. Feels rude, in this situation.

Jin Ling doesn't even have time to brace himself when his arms come up, because he suddenly finds himself in a full hug with Wei Wuxian. Why are they all like this! He immediately stiffens up at the contact, not even sure how to respond as he's crushed in this hug he can't get himself out of.

His face is crushed between the fabrics and his hands, he's not even sure where they're supposed to be going! The only thing he can muster are silent muffled yelps, trying to possibly free himself from Wei Wuxian's iron hug as the man continues to talk about his jiujiu.

"Even if what you are saying is true! I don't want him to be smothering me! That's too much! How can I trouble him all the time with my problems?!"

At this point, Jin Ling somehow just partially gives up on pushing himself away and just stuck there, snug against the embrace, with the weird warm and fuzzy feeling swelling up in his chest. He wish he can outright say he hates it, but truthfully, maybe he really needed it, a hug. He's just pouting now, his face, partially puffed.

"...HOW am I supposed to know! You figure it out!"

Let him go or not, Wei Wuxian. There's not much he can do at this point. Even his struggles are futile, and he can't keep doing it, lest he gives the man the wrong idea that he dislikes him or something. He's kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.

Wei Wuxian, partly now amused, partly still awkward, continues to hold Jin Ling in his arms, against his bony frame. Slightly less bony, he eats more regularly here, but he's never quite managed to recapture his weight and health from before the exchange of his core.

Aspects of that he cannot actually regret.

"Hmm," he says, smiling at the ridiculousness of this, and the gratitude for having moments like these. Even having the chance to spend more time with his nephew, the one here from before, and the one who arrived later, has been precious. "Guess we're stuck like this forever then. Time to get used to carrying you around—"

Embarrassment: the multiverse's consistent means of getting every teenager to respond with oh hell no.

Jin Ling, also has no idea what to do but weakly push at Wei Wuxian's frame to get him to let go. He's not trying too hard, because he doesn't want to make the other feel like he hates him or something. All the damn Wei Wuxian's and their feelings that Jin Ling can't understand.

He tries to at some point, he really does, but Wei Wuxian is outrageous. There's nothing else he can say about that. Jin Ling will have a thing or two to say to him if the man isn't taking care of his health.

"I--What?! No! Why do you need to carry me around?! How did you come to that kind of conclusion?"

Seriously! He would not want to have anyone carry him. (save his father), but Jin Ling is by no means going to speak that aloud. He's trying to get it out of his mind and pushes once more with enough strength to free himself from Wei Wuxian without giving him the wrong idea.

"D-Don't do these things if you don't know how to end them!"

Into the Unknown Part Two

wei wuxian | ota

confesstions: wildcard

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confessions: wildcard me!

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lmf forgive me the brevity

It's all good ahaha.