Live Again, Love Anew

Chapter 30- Murder Time

Summary

Murder time... Or is it?

Just kidding!

...Or am I?

Beginning Note

Hi guys! I know I haven't posted in awhile, and it's mainly just because life has been hard.

It's not that I didn't have time to write, it's that when I had time, I didn't have the energy.

I'm in my final two years of high school, taking college classes at a local campus, taking the ACT in about a month, looking for colleges to get my four year degree, and also dealing with an illness that I've had most of my life. It's finally been diagnosed, but that comes with it's own set of problems. Turns out I can't eat a lot of foods I normally did, and there's a list of maybe 40 foods, drinks, and spices that I can safely consume. My mom and I spend an entire day about once every two weeks just cooking so I can have stuff to eat, and it's really exhausting. But at least I don't have the debilitating symptoms I've been living with since forever, so small mercies.

Anyway. Updates are still going to be rocky for awhile, probably until mid April or early May, and then it should be weekly again.

Hope you guys enjoy, and thanks for sticking with me!

Wei Wuxian

There was a knock on the door during breakfast. Aunty Yue set down her chopsticks and went to answer the door and Wei Wuxian took the chance to glance over at his sleeping(?) friend.

Lan Zhan hadn't woken up, or snapped out of his trance, or un-whatever-ed during the night. Wei Wuxian had closed Lan Zhan's eyes after the first hour, so if you just happened to walk in, you might think he was sleeping, but Wei Wuxian knew for sure something was going on inside his head.

Wei Wuxian wasn't an expert of the mind or whatever, but he could identify this as Lan Zhan's brain's way of coping. Wei Wuxian wasn't a stranger to coping, he just resorted to outside methods, like drinking or training or sparring, pretty much the opposite of Lan Zhan. Wei Wuxian's brain worked too fast for his own good, so he either had to muddle it with alcohol, or work his body so hard he had no choice but to focus on the present.

Lan Zhan was the opposite. Wei Wuxian knew Lan Zhan liked the Cold Springs, so he imagined that meditation would be one of his coping strategies. And as weird as it sounded, spacing out seemed to be another one.

Where Wei Wuxian used outside stimuli to cope, Lan Zhan seemed to retreat inward, away from the outside world. Time travel probably didn't do Lan Zhan any favors, and that seems to be the reason why his coping mechanisms are going so haywire now.

(And he was no expert, but he didn't think people usually spaced out for nearly 12 hours at a time. But who knows? Maybe this is normal, and Wei Wuxian just hasn't met anyone like this yet.)

Wei Wuxian looked over at Aunty Yue as the door creaked open. Mrs. Wen was standing on the other side.

"Two more Lans arrived this morning. They have an official letter, and it seems like they were sent here to monitor your case and learn from us so they can help you or others in the future."

Aunty Yue nods. "Could I meet with them- Ah- Wait, could you come in for a second?"

Mrs. Wen looks a little puzzled, but compiles, shutting the door after herself. "What do you need?"

Aunty Yue brings Mrs. Wen over to Lan Zhan. Wei Wuxian quickly scarfs down the rest of his breakfast so he could sit with them.

Aunty Yue crouches down and rests a motherly hand on Lan Zhan's forehead, sweeping stray hairs away from his face. "I told the boys about my condition yesterday." Aunty Yue says. "A-Ying was a little shocked, which was understandable, but A-Zhan... he retreated into himself. He doesn't react to the outside world." Mrs. Wen's brows furrow. She gingerly grabs Lan Zhan's wrist. "A-Ying said it happened before, and that it was very brief, so we decided to wait to see if he would wake up on his own." She shakes her head. "Since he wasn't better by this morning, we were going to take him to see you straight after breakfast."