( two syllables. an echo of a time long gone, scorching its way through him like it does every time it’s shaped like his name. lan zhan. lan zhan, let me go, and lan wangji’s right arm instantly stiffens, phantom pains curling his hand into a tight fist. there’s nothing there. it’s empty, only his nails digging into his palm, but his ears still buzz with the remnants of lost—yet hardly forgotten—memories, and he feels dizzy.
his focus sharpens. wavers. sharpens again as he grips the bars with his free hand. his pulse fluctuates erratic, a moment lost in stillness where everything fades around him, only to rush back and knock the air right out of his lungs. that voice. his heart in shambles, cradled in its notes. his vision blurs, face framed between cold metal as his eyes search frantic, fear and hope and disbelief in the arch of his brows.
ten years. a small eternity, when your light suddenly goes out. when you live your days in darkness and dream in what ifs, your back a little crooked under the weight of your guilt. under the ache of your grief. it’s a whole world of colors that turned monochrome in the span of a few tears, but not the same black and white his family drilled into his skull. it’s greyer now, and in the pitch-black of the dungeons, lan wangji catches a glimpse of red. )
Wei Ying… ( he responds at long last, croaky, dazed, overwhelmed. exhausted.. and his cheeks feel wet. )
\o/
his focus sharpens. wavers. sharpens again as he grips the bars with his free hand. his pulse fluctuates erratic, a moment lost in stillness where everything fades around him, only to rush back and knock the air right out of his lungs. that voice. his heart in shambles, cradled in its notes. his vision blurs, face framed between cold metal as his eyes search frantic, fear and hope and disbelief in the arch of his brows.
ten years. a small eternity, when your light suddenly goes out. when you live your days in darkness and dream in what ifs, your back a little crooked under the weight of your guilt. under the ache of your grief. it’s a whole world of colors that turned monochrome in the span of a few tears, but not the same black and white his family drilled into his skull. it’s greyer now, and in the pitch-black of the dungeons, lan wangji catches a glimpse of red. )
Wei Ying… ( he responds at long last, croaky, dazed, overwhelmed. exhausted.. and his cheeks feel wet. )