[mingle] the space (january).

[fracturamods]

interim mingle

( WELCOME BACK, TRAVELERS. )

There's nothing but the clatter of train tracks, and the odd feeling of almost floating.

When you wake, it's hard to tell exactly what it is that you're missing - only that you are. There are pieces that aren't quite right, even if you're not sure where those pieces would normally be. Pieces of what, exactly....? Well, if you had to put a word to it, it would be - yourself, probably. Or did you get something back recently?

The place you've found yourself in is strange, certainly. It's probably worth exploring a bit. Though it just as easily seems that the only form of welcome or explanation that you have, comes from nothing more than a slab of marble. It might've changed since the last time you saw it.

You might have changed since the last time you saw yourself too - perhaps with a new emblem on your clothes, or a portrait on your skin.

There's no need to fret that much though. You've already gone through the ordeal once, and you might be able to see results from it. Even so, it's best that you don't get too comfortable, because there is still the unshakeable feeling:

There's still much more ahead of you.

Comments

[goldenrepair]

i. a duck walks into a bar and says, "got any grapes?"

[The establishment itself is pretty strange. Jiang Cheng realizes what it's mostly for after a bit of plundering, and if he hadn't been tossed in such a random hellscape without answers, he might have thrown back a few shots to settle his nerves.

He's standing at the wall, looking at the people in their peculiar outfits. Weird... He thinks he sees himself out of the corner of his eye sometimes. A real what the fuck moment that dissipates when someone enters and distracts him. A look is cut over his shoulder, watchful and suspicious. He says,] What? [roughly if there's staring.

But then there's a sudden gunshot, and he straightens up.]

What was that?!

ii. fantasy not-costco

[All at once in one corner of Very Generic Merchants, a swarm of shiny, foil balloons disperse in all directions and begin to ascend. The culprit for this disaster is standing below them with a sword out, and it appears he has cut the net of their housing.

Very promptly, he skewers one on the end of the sword uncertainly, and then he's startled when it busts and deflates in one go.

?!]

...What's the meaning of this?

iii. wildcard

[please catch him around being stupid. by the train, on the train. surfing on his sword (don't ask). throw a snowball at him. he likes dogs and being left alone, but not warm hugs.]

I had to restart my computer for this

[souheki]

[AND I'M COMING FOR YOUR WILDCARD because listen I have to do this.

Why is Lan Wangji not with Wei Wuxian right now? Well, probably because of this pesky thought-sharing thing that he's still learning to master. He's mostly got it under control by now, but he still slips up when he's feeling Extra Big Emotions.

Like when he's walking along in the snow, minding his own business and looking for a nice area to meditate or whatever, and he spots Jiang Fucking Cheng™ in the distance. YOU CAN BET HE FEELS SOME PRETTY DAMN BIG EMOTIONS, because he stops, and stares, and very, very loudly broadcasts his immediate thought-reaction:

Fuck.]

your computer

[goldenrepair]

[It isn't hard to hear or recognize the loud FUCK! Honestly, Lan Wangji is valid and fair. Seeing Sandu Shensasquatch would cause anyone to yell the same curse, even inwardly. Especially inwardly.

He stops, too, leaving him and Lan Wangji standing yards apart. Already suffering from resting bitch face, the sourness seeps quickly in to cover it. In equally elegant fashion, there's a resounding Fuck! from him. He is, naturally, offended on his own behalf, though. Very tersely:]

Hanguang-Jun. [Whether it's a relief or a curse, Jiang Cheng doesn't look much different than usual. The front of the sash around his waist, however, is plagued by the stitching of a crown. Everything else is accounted for: the head piece, the sword, the bell, except... hm, all ten of Jiang Cheng's fingers are bare. CARRYING ON like nothing just happened.] Where are we?

it tried so hard to save us both

[souheki]

[Even though he was literally the one to start swearing, Lan Wangji finds himself bristling at the outburst, not that it's openly visible. HE HAS NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER TO BE OFFENDED but he automatically is anyway because the one person he didn't want to see is here. Why. WHY.

He's honestly debating just turning around and walking away without so much as a "well, bye", but he can't not notice the absence of Zidian (and probably feel a little stupidly glad for it, because if he had to lose his guqin then it's only fair LISTEN HE'LL TAKE IT BACK LATER...). Besides that, there's something very important he needs to know, so he's just blatantly ignoring the question for one of his own. SO MUCH FOR THE POLITE AND RIGHTEOUS HANGUANG-JUN.]

What is the last thing you remember?

[goldenrepair]

[Can't believe fucking Lan Wangji is scandalized by his FUCK! but not his own FUCK! That's so rude? GusuLans.... Sheesh.]

I... Why are you asking?!

[Both of his eyes narrow. It's a simple question with a simple answer, but the fact it's having to be asked at all is... strange. About as strange as the idea of them being able to hear other people's thoughts sporadically. Or, you know, Lan Wangji, of all people, heartily yelling FUCK about seeing him?! WOW, HE'S STILL OFFENDED BY THIS.]

Guanyin Temple. I was going in the doors, and then... I was here.

[counterclocked]

[He happens to be wandering through, and he has to stifle the laugh that comes through when he sees this happening.]

Dude, it's a balloon. Like, for celebrations and stuff. There's a lot of air inside, so they pop when you hit them with anything sharp.

[goldenrepair]

[Scandalized, he gives the sword a sharp swipe downward to toss the stupid foil balloon away. SULLIED.]

Balloon...? [What the FUCK. He glances up, the rest having ascended as balloons do.] They look like kites, but they aren't.

iii...

[givethemhell]

[So, like. As Jiang Cheng is wandering his way through Notsco, doing whatever it is Jiang Chengs do, he'll enter The Fated Aisle. The pallets of product are stacked extra high here! They tower almost to the ceiling! And it's all just a bunch of old discount Halloween merchandise. Like there isn't even anything useful here, it's just rows and rows of bulk bags of candy, enormous jack-o-lanterns, and those annoying ghosts that you hang from strings that jiggle around and make woooOOoOOooOO noises.

Which, compared to the melodious shrieking that comes from above, might actually be preferable.]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!!

[Good luck trying to escape because apparently this obnoxious meteorite is taking half of the top shelf down with him. Sheet ghosts (one of which he's partially tangled in), tablecloths designed to look like ouija boards, plastic candy dishes, fake bats, plastic severed hands and strings of purple fairy lights all come plummeting down in one fell FWOOMP. Why was he even up there?? Mysteries.

But hey, at least this isn't the pots n' pans aisle!]

[goldenrepair]

[CLOSES MY EYES INTENSELY

So this doesn't scare the bejeezus out of Jiang Cheng so much as it... sort of startles him? He's, like, extra shocked because in the matter of literally seconds, the entire section of this fucking aisle just descends around him. Sword can't even get a quarter of the way unsheathed.]

Are you a damn lunat--?!

[He's drowned in odds-and-ends of Halloween. Cauldrons, plastic and fuzzy spider decorations, a ripped open packet of gooey eyeballs. Instantly, he sits directly up in the middle of the chaos.] Get up!! [He starts digging through the mess for the other person.] I'll kill--!

[The bust he pulls out of the destruction really does scare him. Without any hesitation whatsoever, he shoves Wei Wuxian right back down into the everything and covers him back up.]

[givethemhell]

[WHY IN THE FUCK. HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE BURIED BY JIANG CHENG!!

But he also like. Doesn't want to deal with this in general?? Because he'd recognize that angry yelling anywhere, any time, any place, even with a blindfold on. He doesn't need to briefly be freed from the chaos to see Jiang Cheng's face with his own two eyes to confirm it, he KNOWS.

And so when Jiang Cheng just stuffs him back into this pile of garbage, he just goes very quiet and still. Maybe... Jiang Cheng will think he hallucinated this all... and Wei Wuxian can wait until he's gone to sneak away....... Yeah.]

[goldenrepair]

[There's a long pause, and then Wei Wuxian can feel and hear the clattering of all of the shit that scattered as Jiang Cheng stands up among it. The soft, solid thump of him dusting off the purple and black robes.

But then there's nothing. A longer pause than before.

Starting low, voice as terse and taut:] Wei WuxiAN!! [One or two of the precarious decorations tumbles down the mountain of crap from the growl.]

GET UP!

[Too late. The hands are shooting back into the mess to grab Wei Wuxian by the collar and drag him out.]

wildcard time

[deadened]

[So, wherever Jiang Cheng happens to be, as long it's somewhere outside... hope he's ready to get barrelled into AGAIN. It's not Wei Wuxian this time, though; instead he might catch the jangling of metal before Wen Ning either tumbles right into him or falls right onto the ground where he was standing, if he's fast enough.

Either way, the chains attached to him are probably now tangled around both of them, while a frantic Wen Ning does his best to untangle them. It might not be working.]

Ow... I-I'm sorry-! I didn't intend to... are you all right?

[And then he shifts enough to get a good look at who he's speaking to, his eyes immediately going wide.]

S-Sect Leader Jiang?

[Wow he needs to go right now immediately, but he's STUCK, and oh no. This is bad.

This is also not quite the Wen Ning that Jiang Cheng remembers seeing more recently. For one thing, he's alive. For another thing, while he still has the chains, he isn't wearing the same clothes thanks to running into Wei Wuxian before Kano, Agent Of Chaos. Instead, he has a flamingo sweater with little light-up shrimps on it and a pair of jogging pants because WWX shouldn't be allowed to dress his ex-zombie.

So, basically, this is all a horrific mess.]

[goldenrepair]

[Just when Jiang Cheng thought things couldn't get any worse: Wen Ning, of all people, hurdles directly into him.

He hears the metal chains first, stopping dead in his tracks and staring into the middle distance for a few seconds as he tries to make out what the fuck--

Wen Ning does both, falling right on top of him where he's standing. He lets out a strangled yell of surprise when he goes down into the snow, making a Jiang Cheng-shaped imprint. His hand grabs the hilt of his sword, but it's the familiar title that makes me less inclined to spin over and yank it out.

Instead, sits instantly up at the waist like a crypt sleeper, glaring enough to melt all the snow. His hands clamp stiffly around the wiggling chains.] BE STILL! [Luckily for Wen Ning, his fingers seem to be missing something important. Sad.]

You...

[Wait a fucking minute here. The anger zooms away in favor of shock. Wen... Wen Ning? Did someone put makeup on Wen Ning?! Did he visit a mortician?!]

Why are you...?!

[deadened]

I- I don't know!

[He gives his head a quick shake, and while he does hold still for a few whole seconds-- he's chalking up the fact that he has yet to be stabbed to Jiang Cheng's shock. This definitely doesn't mean he'll continue not being stabbed, so he's right back to work trying to get them untangled. Wen Ning isn't in any shape to fight him off, not like this.]

I j-just arrived like this, I... don't know what's happened either.

[goldenrepair]

[Inhaling, and only inhaling, Jiang Cheng slowly and fluidly rises to his feet. He doesn't yank on the chains so much as they... just... go up with him, and so Wen Ning is forced to also stand up unless he wants to be dangling around.

Tightly:] Where is Wei Wuxian? [All he has to do is lift the chains with his hands and cast them to each side, and they fall away. His narrowed eyes don't leave Wen Ning's face the entire time.]

Why are you alive?!

i

[unfriendliest]

[ kara is also here, not staring at jiang cheng but frowning at the door with one hand on his sword. that isn't a sound he expected to hear in this place. what the fuck. ]

Gunshot.

[ because that explains a lot. ]

[goldenrepair]

[It's very quick when the sword at his side unsheathes without him pulling it, but he's already raised his hand to capture the hilt anyway, almost like it was draw into his hand instead of the other way around.

He rounds on the door before cutting a glance at the other man. He at least isn't brandishing the sword at him?]

What does that mean?

[unfriendliest]

[ he is suddenly very interested in this sword. what the fuck? even the strongest tsukumogami can't do that in sword form??

he's not taking his eyes off of that sword as he answers. ]

Someone's fighting.

[goldenrepair]

[There's a resounding, fuzzy, "Fuck," but Jiang Cheng's mouth doesn't even move at all. It's all in Kara's head which is probably as irritating as it is to Jiang Cheng when it happens from others.

He makes a dash for the door with sword in hand, but on the outside... there's only... the place they had left. He looks around kind of ??? like. HE WAS SO READY FOR A FIGHT.]

Where?!

ii

[suddenlybees]

Oh no—-

[ Kano comes running out from around the corner of one of the aisles to scoop up the scraps of popped foil balloon and clutch it to his chest. ]

You released it? Did you see where it went?

card why do you haunt me

[goldenrepair]

...What?

[Please, he's OLD. He's OLD and medieval. Don't do this to him. He looks both suspicious and concerned.]

What are you talking about? Released what? Who are you?

because i love you

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano lowers the balloon scraps to his lap so he can place his hand over his heart and give his introduction as much sincerity as possible. ]

My name is Gel-P, keeper of souls. The most frightful ones have been kept in containment, like you see here... But now it's escaped! Through no fault of your own! So don't go popping balloons like that again, 'kay?

ii

[rateup]

[ itaru turned around in the middle of his search for phone reception at the sound of balloons popping. ]

...You poked them a little too hard. [ no shit ]

[goldenrepair]

[Quickly, he swipes the sword to discard the poor, sadly limp carcass of the balloon. It doesn't release any powder, or energy, and it doesn't do anything wild, so he's free to raise the sword in Itaru's direction.

And then lower it again.]

What are they? Kites?

[rateup]

Whoa, whoa...

[ immediately puts his hands (and phone) up at the sword because it's pretty telling that it ain't just a prop. ]

They're balloons. Filled with air that lets them float like that. Usually used for celebrations.