inbox (penance)

[weiward]

if he doesn't answer, he's probably at the bar.
(he's probably at the bar.)

Comments

[deadwenwalking]

No need. I already did. [Sort of.] He doesn't deserve to hear it from you too.

[He says this deadpan. Xue Yang had basically tested it by stabbing him in the back with a knife, after all.]

[weiward]

[WEN NING, THESE ARE IMPORTANT DETAILS.]

I still have a couple of questions for him anyway. And checking in on him from time to time wouldn't be such a bad idea anyway.

[for lots of reasons. but he is from the same place that they are.]

[deadwenwalking]

[You can't even tell! It's fine. It's fine!]

I think he's... keeping to himself. It might be hard for him to figure out what to do in this place.

[weiward]

That might not be such a bad thing, on both counts. It might be what keeps him out of trouble.

[he sure is one to talk about that.]

Wen Ning, have you made any other friends herel?

[deadwenwalking]

I... possibly?

[Why must he ask this? Is this a requirement?]

Young Master Tim is very friendly.

[He's had more than one good conversation with him, so that's basically friendship, right?]

[weiward]

[he's decided that it is. it's kind of sad that wen ning's chances for that are probably greater here. in their world wen ning was either feared or bullied, with little in-between.

plus wei wuxian feels bad that he never found him a nice lan girlfriend.]

Good. I like him too.

[he practically complimented wei wuxian's cooking. in a way. so clearly he's good people.]

[deadwenwalking]

[Something about the topic of friendship causes Wen Ning to look thoughtful. Then his eyes light up and he moves away from the camera with a quick:] Hang on just a moment... [That fades off as he goes to grab something.]

[When he returns, he has a slightly crumpled piece of paper in his hands. He attempts to smooth it out, then holds it up for Wei Wuxian to see.]

I-I was talking with someone in the library a while back and... we went looking through the music section. [The image is one he'd drawn himself, an attempt drawing some sheet music from memory. It ends up looking like a bunch of lines with circles on them and two symbols at the end that were trying to be the bass and treble clefs but didn't quite match the originals.] Sorry, it's... not the best. We thought it... it might be a language of some sort - one for music that the translation magic here doesn't work on.

[weiward]

[he's curious about where wen ning's going so suddenly, what he's getting. but wei wuxian remains patient and just waits, knowing that wen ning will return when he can.

he's impressed when he does, studying the hand-drawn sheet music and listening to his explanation.]

I never thought about looking for something like that in the library here.

[deadwenwalking]

I didn't copy it exactly...

[He should have at least copied it better instead of trying to do it from memory, but he was very concerned about pulling out diagrams or languages from random books in Hell.]

I didn't want to accidentally draw something dangerous. But they had... a whole section in the library and...

[He hesitates a few seconds, looking away from the screen and then looking back.]

Young Master, I hate to ask something unrelated, but... your forehead.

[It didn't quite make it into a question, but the intent is there.]

[weiward]

[smart thinking wen ning. leave the accidentally drawing something dangerous up to him. though it's something lan zhan would probably be interested in too.

he's pondering over all of this, eyebrows raising when he sees that wen ning has become distracted by something else.]

Hmm? What is it?

[ah. that. he shakes his head.]

They're just nubs.

[deadwenwalking]

[Just nubs, as if having horns on one's head is nothing. It's not nothing - not if what their mutual acquaintance said was true.]

Master, you can't have those! How do we get rid of them?

[His voice lowers into a frantic whisper, but he's afraid to give too many reasons for why he's upset. Tim had said they might be listening, and here they are over an open network that Hell has control over.]

[weiward]

[uh...okay. while it's true that it's not exactly -normal-, at least not for him, some people have developed far worse here. maybe he even deserves it. at any rate, he wasn't expecting wen ning to nearly panic over the sight of them.]

Wen Ning, it's alright. They don't hurt.

[most of the time.]

[deadwenwalking]

That's not the p-point.

[And speaking of points, he aims one finger at the screen, pointing in the other man's general direction. It can be assumed he's meant to be pointing at the horns.]

You can't let them grow any... any longer.

[Wen Ning gives Wei Wuxian a serious look.] Okay?

[weiward]

Okay...

[his eyebrows inch even higher, physically leaning back when wen ning points at him.]

I promise I'll try to keep them small.

[that would be fine with him but he's mostly just wanting to appease him right now.]

[deadwenwalking]

[Wen Ning nods seriously, though he knows Wei Wuxian probably has no idea why this is so upsetting.

He leans in closer to his device, lowering his voice further.]

I'll talk to you about it i-in person.

[weiward]

Okay.

[he whispers back before resuming his normal volume.]

You know where my room is at, don't you? We have a spare bed, you can even sleep in it if you want.

[deadwenwalking]

Did... you want me to move in? I was assigned to a different room recently. I don't know what's allowed.

[There don't seem to be all that many rules in Hell, but he wouldn't want to get in trouble here all the same.]

[weiward]

I'm sure plenty of people sleep in beds that aren't theirs.

[wei wuxian isn't sleeping in his, after all. it's the reason they have that extra bed in the first place.]

You could even go between the rooms if you wanted.

[deadwenwalking]

I'll do that if it's what you want.

[It might make the other man more comfortable to know he's nearby and can be called upon when needed.]