Collide and Cry

Part 31

Mingjue watched the second Young Master Lan carefully. His gaze lingered as the two bounded off and he could not help but notice that...well, he was not able to read the second young master as much as XiChen, of course, but it almost looked as though...He coughed, gathering Lan Wangji's attention. The boy tilted his head to the side, staring at him. He stared at him, unblinking.

"Perhaps we should follow them, just in case. I would hate to see them get into some trouble. You know my little brother has a habit of attracting danger like nothing." Lan Zhan glanced back towards where the two had left before shaking his head slowly.

"No," He said simply. "Wei Ying will protect him." He turned back towards Mingjue. "We must meet with Xionzhang now." Mingjue almost wanted to laugh. It was obvious that the boy was enthralled with him. He wondered, it was not often that Lan Wangji expressed certainty in the capability of another. The fact that he had done so with Wei Ying made him wonder what about the boy had his full confidence in such a manner. It was rare, for him to be so certain in the ability and capability of another to protect so certainly.

"If you say this, I will agree to it, then." Lan ZHan nodded once, and then turned away from both the path that Nie Huaisang and his Wei Ying had taken, and Mingjue, striding forwards without hesitation.

"Let us go,"

-

Wei Ying bounced happily striding here and there, joy alighting him as he wandered about the streets. It was nice, being able to be outside of the Cloud Recesses. Not that he wanted to stay outside of there, he just...he did not know what what was going to happen, and he really did not like the uncertainty. He hoped...he hoped that he could stay. That Lan wangji would let him stay. He did not want to stay if Lan Wangji would not let him. He was the first person to truly show him the level of warmth and comfort that he had felt from him. Every moment spent with Lan Wangji was a delight. He would truly regret if he was no longer allowed to have such a thing, but he also did not...he did not want to impose among the Lans either. He supposed...there was nothing to do until after the meeting though. It was then that they would have to have this sort of conversation, even if Wei Ying would prefer not to.

He flounced from stall to stall, and Nie Huaisang was shocked with just how much pent up energy the boy could possibly have. It was...almost horrifying in a way. How the people of the Cloud Recesses could manage someone who seemed to have an endless resource of energy, he did not know. How Lan Wangji managed someone who had an endless resource of energy, he even further did not know. How someone could even manage having such large amounts of energy himself, he did not know. It was...insane. The way Wei WuXian flounced from stall to stall, never staying longer than a moment. He talked but a moment to each person beaming brightly as he rushed to the next stall. Nie Huaisang could only trail after him and hope that he did not lose him.

He sighed but tried his best to keep the other in his vision. It would be...bad should anyone find out that he had lost their key witness. That would definitely get his Dage on his case. He was not sure what it was that the Jiangs had done, but he knew that it was bad enough that Wei Ying had been taken from them. Then again, considering he had never heard of a Wei Ying or a Wei WuXian from the Jiang sect...well, he shuddered to think about what it could mean. Especially considering that the Jiangs had been quite active in the cultivation world in the last few years, and from the way that Wei Wuxian was yammering to the other vendors and to Huaisang whenever he came close enough, it was clear that he was highly intelligent, and could easily have made the List of Bachelors. He was just curious what exactly had been done. He knew better than to ask though, he would figure it out when the time came.

"Wei WuXian," Nie Huaisang called out suddenly. The other turned to him abruptly and trounced back to him.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" He asked, hands hesitating before they landed on his shoulders. Huaisang looked at him with a blank stare.

"I just was worried you were wandering a bit far. I can't walk as fast as you, you know." Wei Ying stared at him with big eyes.

"Oh, I am sorry, Perhaps we can just...walk together? I was not really paying attention."

"Oh, no, it is okay, I just figured that perhaps we could savour more the atmosphere if we were slower." Wei ying stared at Huaisang as though his words were gold.

"Of course!"

It was strange. With Lan Wangji, he never hesitated to stay by his side, and when he was given permission he would bound ahead, but he always rushed back. He realized...he did not do that this time. He supposed he should not compare what he does with Lan Zhan to what he would do with other people. Lan Zhan is a strange person, and Wei Ying had strange reactions with him. He was...special, he supposed. It was different from other things, and he guessed that would have something to do with it. Lan Zhan made him feel comfortable, and calm. It was a strange reaction, but he supposed he had dealt with far stranger things.

Nie Huaisang was secretly glad that Wei ying had managed to slow down. He was breathless and totally out of energy trying to keep up with the other. He may be a Sect Heir, but was not interested in the whole, training and as such his stamina tended to be a lot lower than others. Wei WuXian himself seemed to have endless bounds of energy and there was no way that he would keep up with that.

They spent a few hours in the town. Wei Ying was enamoured with many things, and Nie Huaisang once more dreaded what it was that the Jiangs would, or could, have done to such a bright soul. For him to be so shocked over the most simple things. He knew that the Cloud Recesses had taken to housing him, but he wondered idly if he could get him to stay in Qinghe, though he doubted it. Not with the way that Wei Ying had stared at Lan Zhan like the universe was his to command, and not with the way Lan Wangji stared at him as though everything of his life was within Wei Ying. Perhaps visitations at the very least.