Tom M. Riddle, Lord Ostium of the House of Arch (
riddleofthebelow) wrote2020-10-27 10:37 pm
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PFSB: What is time?
Tom is in the bar. It could be on the date the post was made. It could be a week before. He comes here more often lately after all (but not nearly as much as Ingress, apparently!)
He's reading The Daily Prophet and scoffing a little. That's his usual response to this particular publication.
He's reading The Daily Prophet and scoffing a little. That's his usual response to this particular publication.
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How terribly, terribly sad. He knew his instincts about Wei Wuxian were correct. He isn't evil, he's not like Tom. His path was different, offbeat, perhaps, but it was not the one Tom and so many others have tread on their way here.
And he had access to power that others did not. That alone will doom you, sometimes. Especially if you're a person who is not like Tom was.
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“The survivors,” he says. “Of the Wen - the ones who hadn’t —-“
“They were innocent. Elders and farmers and mothers and children. But they bore the Wen name, and were taken prisoner. When he learned—-“
Lan Wangji swallows hard. He can almost feel the ghostly sensation of rain against his skin.
“He gave up everything to protect them. And for a while, for a year, he succeeded.”
It had not been enough, and he should not have been alone in it, and the wrongness of it all threatens to choke him.
“But there were whispers. Rumors and fear and lies spread about him, because of his crafty tricks, and the power he controlled. And when they...”
He cannot. Cannot bring himself to say it, not all of it. Surely, surely he does not need to. Surely this will be enough, for what Tom needs.
“There was a trap,” he manages, finally. “An ambush. The heir to the Jin sect was killed. Wei Ying was blamed. The Wen remnants were slaughtered. He could not save them. He fought those responsible, with all the power at his command. I cannot count how many died in that battle, on that day. Including Wei Ying.”
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In a moment when Lan Wangji pauses, collecting the words that come with such difficulty, Tom discretely gestures for a waitrat and whispers for a pot of tea, nodding towards the younger man to indicate what kind would best be provided.
Tom remembers well being that younger man across the table, struggling for the words to divulge his secrets and confessions to patient confidants who listened without judgment. He always had a scotch in his shaking hand, at least. The least he can do is provide Lan Wangji tea.
"I'm so very sorry," he says. "Thank you for telling me. Should he ever need help - Dark Arts, wicked tricks, whatever you wish to call them, leave their marks, as we have discussed - I will readily provide it. But I know now that the situation is completely different than that of mine or others like me, and it will be treated as such."
The tea arrives, and Tom pours a cup for Lan Wangji. He's fairly certain that this goes against some expectation of etiquette, but if you aren't able to tell people that you care with words, you show them.
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(Something complicated flickers in his eyes when Tom mentions marks left, but he does not speak of that, not yet.)
"Wei Ying is good," he concludes, finally. "He is a friend to Herald Ingress, and to others here. He will give of himself to help where it is needed, even unasked. I trust him with everything I am, everything I have. You need have no concerns, Tom-qianbei."
"If you have questions. About what I have said. I will answer them."
He will cut himself open with the words and bleed, if doing so will spare Wei Ying pain.
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He nods, and takes a sip of tea.
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"Please know that even if his story had been different, more aligned to mine, I still would have offered all the aid and succor I could give. It's part of how I continue to make amends."
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Both his tone and his expression harden as though carved from jade in truth, however, as he adds,
"Not everyone here has been so gracious."
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"Do you know a woman named Moiraine?"
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"Yes. Yes, I do," he sighs, "and I count her as both a friend and an ally, despite a most inauspicious initial meeting many years ago. What's happened?"
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"Inauspicious meeting?"
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"She spoke of a shadow."
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He takes a sip of tea.
"I could speak to her, if she's been... insistent? It may be that, like me, she doesn't understand the entire truth, and we- well. Some who come here ignore the rules, and they tend to be people with an affiliation to the Dark Arts of their worlds. Many of us have been intentional in protecting Milliways and its patrons."
Intentional, zealous, you pick. But it's true, and Tom can't say he's against the warriors of the light protecting Milliways.
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"I do not think she knows. Or cares. She needs help, and is not inclined to accept a refusal."
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"I have to admit, Lan Wangji, I don't know what to think of that."
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“Desperate about what? Do you know?”
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"Due to trouble with a pool. In Twin Peaks."
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Temple and Arch, it must be bad if she’s acting in a desperate manner.
“I’ll inquire. We spoke for the first time in a long time recently.”
Nothing like that came up. But that doesn’t surprise Tom; Moiraine keeps her information to herself until she’s ready.
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"We -- Wei Ying and I -- have agreed to help. To at least examine the problem."
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It seems to say what is needed, to him.
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