Second Time Around

3. Koi Tower

Jin ZiHothead might be upset at the spilled wine, but he shouldn't hold a grudge over it. He hoped. This was the same guy who thought Wei Ying had cast the hundred holes curse on him....

Once outside, Wei Ying skipped forward a few steps to walk beside his friend. "I always did wonder why the Lan don't drink.... I'd offer to drink with you, if you'd like. But if you don't, I'll be happy to drink your portion for you."

"No need," was the curt response.

"So... should we go look for pretty girls or go hide in one of our rooms for a while? I'm pretty sure that Jin guy isn't going to come after us, but...."

"Jin ZiXun might want to retaliate at a later date, but he will not leave the banquet tonight," Lan WangJi reassured.

"Jin ZiXun? That's his name? I knew it had a Zi character in there." he shrugged and followed Lan Zhan into the other's room.

Lan WangJi sat at his guqin and strummed a few chords. "Will you allow me to play Cleansing for you?"

Wei WuXian slumped next to the low table. "You really don't need to do that, you know. There's nothing in my body to Cleanse."

"Resentful energy...."

"I said I wasn't going to have this conversation with you anymore," Wei Ying interrupted angrily. "Play what you want; I don't care." Now he was sulking. "After I got you out of drinking, too," he muttered, like a petulant child.

"Thank you for that," Lan Zhan replied quietly, his hands playing a song that didn't sound like Cleansing. "There are Lan who drink outside of Cloud Recesses. XiongZhang does. I... have no desire to try it."

"Well, when you do decide you want to, I'll take you to Caiyi and we'll drink Emperor's Smile there. No sense in learning how to drink on inferior wines when you have the best right nearby!"

"Mmm." The song slowed, changing to a new tune.

Wei WuXian slumped further, letting the music lull him. "I wish I had a jar or five.... I don't like the tedium of the banquets, but I do enjoy the wine!"

"Wei Ying should drink less."

Not liking where the conversation was headed, Wei Ying changed course. "I'm hungry. We should go find someone to bring us food before they all get tied up with serving in the Hall." There were no servants to be easily found, but there were several junior disciples. Wei Ying sent several on a mission to obtain food and wine.

Happily munching away on the delicacies the juniors brought back reminded Wei Ying of days when he didn't have a lot of food. He glared angrily at a dish with radishes. "You know something, Lan Zhan?"

"No talking while eating."

"It's not like I have food in my mouth while I'm talking," Wei WuXian protested. "I have made a permanent decision: I will not eat radishes unless they are the only food available."

"You dislike them that much?" Lan Zhan carefully held his sleeve, and whisked away the bowl. He wouldn't eat the meat inside, but he would eat the vegetables.

"For a long time, they were pretty much the only food I had to eat." He hadn't in this lifetime. Knowing what was there and what he had needed his first two times of living in the Burial Mounds informed his last stay. He brought food and bedding for the three months he needed to hide out and forge the amulet. Not having to eat radishes for months on end this time didn't make him like them any more than he had the first time.

His last life almost seemed dreamlike. It happened and yet it didn't. "Lan Zhan? Have you ever met someone with hair the color of cornsilk?"

"No. Of course not."