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.

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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!"

Is that not what everyone in this life lacks? Understandings of clean endings. He smiles, letting his nephew go and quirking his brows as the young man gains his distance. Not unnecessary amounts, and that's touching, the trust it implies that Wei Wuxian swallows against for its kindness, unspoken.

"That's the thing you realise as an adult. Few people have any idea how to end anything. May as well enjoy the journey, ah?"

He reaches out, squeezing Jin Ling's shoulders, then pats him once after letting go.

"Go on, I spot an uncle of yours who'd love to have your bright face lighting up his world." Jiang Cheng is here somewhere, and to him, he'll gladly send this living part of the person they'd both loved best, far more than themselves.

Love is the most precious of gifts. Jin Ling, denied the knowledge of his mother's love, is still the precious result of it, and had his own loves to give.

Sometimes Jin Ling wishes there will be clean endings to things and all of that, but he know it's unrealistic and there's not much he can do about it. He still gives Wei Wuxian a glare for that, while his face is still a little flustered from the embrace earlier.

At least, he has some distance now to fix his composure.

"Only you would say that. No one is more unreasonable than you!"

Jin Ling replies, crossing his arms and huffing at the same time. He at least doesn't shake off the shoulder squeeze before he finally maintains most of his distance and Wei Wuxian isn't being oddly affectionate. He can't seem to get used to it, no matter what.

There's a perplexed look for Wei Wuxian's words as he processes them. He frowned before speaking. Perhaps, because it was the way the train functioned at the moment, that allowed him to say this.

"...Why aren't you coming to if you spot him?"

He smiles, using his hands to make a shooing motion.

"Do you really want to end up hugged by two uncles at once?"

Jin Ling gives him a long stare for that statement.

"As if I'd want that!!!"

Thanks Wei Wuxian, now he really doesn't want to wait around to see the results. Granted, it probably won't bother him as much as he makes it out to be.

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Into the Unknown Part Two

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lmf forgive me the brevity

It's all good ahaha.