Frozen Out Of Time.

Wangji Meets A Sworn Brother

After several hours, Lan Zhan woke up and heard a slight noise in the kitchen. He walked out and was shocked to see Wei Ying hunched over a yellow piece of paper with a brush in hand. A talisman? Ying had not had to do a talisman yet, this lifetime. 

"Resurrecting old habits?" Ying nearly jumped out of his skin.

"What are you sneaking around for?" He glared at his fiancé.

"You were gone."

"I am sorry, My Love. But, Lan Zhan, I had the greatest idea Let me ask you. What is the main thing that could go wrong today?"

"If Wangji is involved, misunderstandings and bloody noses."

"Wrong! Well sort of- kind of right, but wrong!"

"Enlighten me."

"Communication!"

"Mn?"

"I woke up and the first thing that came into my head was, they won't be able to communicate. So, I decided to work out a talisman to have their languages instantly translated so they will be able to speak to one another!"

"That is brilliant, Ying."

Ying was bouncing in his seat with barely contained excitement. "Wait...wait...wait...! It gets more interesting! I added a second level to it. The talisman will make it impossible for anyone to notice a difference in lip formation when they watch one another's faces. In other words, they will not notice that they are moving out of sync with the words being heard. Nothing to confuse or distract!"

"You are a genius, My Love. What will you call it?"

"Lan Wangi's Peace Through Communication Taliman!"

"That is perfect. Are you sure it will work?"

"Let's try it out. You speak to me in German. I will speak to you in Thai."

He reached out and touched the talisman with a tapered forefinger and whispered an incantation. The red words began to glow on the golden paper.

Lan Zhan leaned in and muttered a long sentence in German. Ying blushed a bright red, the tips of his ears on fire.

"Lan Zhan," he replied in Thai. "Behave! I am not the most beautiful creature on earth. You are...HEY! It worked!!!"

"Indeed."

"It will work for eight hours straight and will cover an entire block as well."

"Good. Now can we retire once more? The morning will come quicker than you think."

Ying tapped the talisman again and the writing stopped its glow. Then he stretched his hand out to his soulmate and they left the kitchen.

Later that morning, Lan Wangji learned to play. 

In Cloud Recesses, everything had a preordained purpose. When he was not in the classroom, the play was structured to continue the curriculum designed to make a child apply all he learned in the lecture halls to his development into a cultivator. It was necessary. Survival when fighting evil was paramount and new forms of evil were starting to show a presence in the area. Children grew up fast and were expected to work towards adulthood as soon as they walked and talked. So, playtime had a purpose. It built strong bonds and you applied that to the sports you were taught. That in turn, help you grow strong and caused you to absorb strategies and tactics that later aided you when you began to learn self-defense, combat, and warfare. Nothing was left to spontaneity.

But this bright day, one that glittered and glowed with three feet of heavy, wet snow, had created a wonderland throughout Denver. Most work and school were still canceled so really, there was only one thing they could do on a day like today. Snow battles!