He can't help it, but to burst into laughter that knows she's serious as well as jesting (probably, maybe, he should perhaps never assume Wen Qing jests) when it comes to interrogating Lan Zhan, the needles and the reminders, and would it be a case of Lan Zhan perhaps appreciating that too much? The man bears through pain without calling out, it may end up a point of pride.
(Lan Zhan has a good, healthy respect and fear of Wen Qing. Maybe that works in his favour?)
"Ahahaha, no, I don't think, unless you want to? Lan Zhan could use the fear of proper health knocked into him, he's been trying to fatten me up on millet alone for months now."
A sidestep into dietary concerns, but what else she says at least means he looks at his tea, then startles to look back up to her. "No! No, it's not that, though maybe before—ah, Wen Qing, I'm no good at these things."
Which he whines, not quite with the petulance or exasperation he could summon in his youth, but with the tired awareness of an adult who isn't truly that put out by whatever's going on. Uncertain, yes, conflicted, but not over all the easy things, or even the hardest.
"I... I've cared for him deeply, for a long time. Before here, I don't think it would have been wise. He's Chief Cultivator, he decided that on his own as any adult might. I'm a rogue cultivator, apparently married without knowing about it, which didn't make me all that married at all." Before here, back on marriage one, broken by the very nature of his mostly-death.
"It's only recently that I've felt... not unequal."
A lack of guilt, of appeasement, of giving in to what's asked of him by someone he cares about because he feels it's what he must do. It's strange, uncertain territory, and no, he doesn't look confident about it. When it comes to feeling, Wei Wuxian is dodgier than most. Not for his own capability, but for his learned expectation of others.
Am I worth this? He argues back now, he puts up resistance, he doesn't cave before each statement Lan Zhan makes, and it is perhaps the presence of contention that lets him believe, maybe. Maybe it'll work out, beyond their time here and the ways they lash out at each other, bleeding where none can see.
no subject
(Lan Zhan has a good, healthy respect and fear of Wen Qing. Maybe that works in his favour?)
"Ahahaha, no, I don't think, unless you want to? Lan Zhan could use the fear of proper health knocked into him, he's been trying to fatten me up on millet alone for months now."
A sidestep into dietary concerns, but what else she says at least means he looks at his tea, then startles to look back up to her. "No! No, it's not that, though maybe before—ah, Wen Qing, I'm no good at these things."
Which he whines, not quite with the petulance or exasperation he could summon in his youth, but with the tired awareness of an adult who isn't truly that put out by whatever's going on. Uncertain, yes, conflicted, but not over all the easy things, or even the hardest.
"I... I've cared for him deeply, for a long time. Before here, I don't think it would have been wise. He's Chief Cultivator, he decided that on his own as any adult might. I'm a rogue cultivator, apparently married without knowing about it, which didn't make me all that married at all." Before here, back on marriage one, broken by the very nature of his mostly-death.
"It's only recently that I've felt... not unequal."
A lack of guilt, of appeasement, of giving in to what's asked of him by someone he cares about because he feels it's what he must do. It's strange, uncertain territory, and no, he doesn't look confident about it. When it comes to feeling, Wei Wuxian is dodgier than most. Not for his own capability, but for his learned expectation of others.
Am I worth this? He argues back now, he puts up resistance, he doesn't cave before each statement Lan Zhan makes, and it is perhaps the presence of contention that lets him believe, maybe. Maybe it'll work out, beyond their time here and the ways they lash out at each other, bleeding where none can see.