PFSB: Milliways

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom needed his camera to take yet more pictures of his adorable children, and when he fetched it the evening before, he found something odd he can't explain. It's not a bad odd thing. It's just a puzzling odd thing.

Ingress has some explaining to do.  Or Wei Wuxian. Either one.

So Tom's at a table at Milliways, with an eyebrow raised, and wouldn't mind some company.

Comments

[riddleofthebelow]

Ah, good. Tom taps the picture on the table. He found it on the floor of his study when he fetched his camera. The moving image shows Ingress (in a very skimpy dress!) and Wei Wuxian hanging on each other and laughing, obviously drunk, in what must be a club in London Above. They look like they were having a splendid time.

See, here's the thing.

Tom likes Wei Wuxian. He trusts Ingress. He's not really concerned about any goings on between the two, if that is even the case. He's more worried about Ingress. She's been acting strangely. Visiting without Megwyn, coming to the House without stopping to say hello to him or to Door, drinking...

He knows she's been to the House at least twice now without visiting. Portico told him about seeing his aunt and her friend, Harrow, in the library a couple of days before.

Ingress was in Haven for her teenage years, and if there was a rebellious phase, he didn't see it. She's always been a dedicated student and never complained during her visits home, aside from frustrated mentions about how some in her new home world didn't accept her as fully one of them.

Then there was her first disastrous love affair here at Milliways when she was seventeen (which he handled terribly, he will freely admit). Once she got over her heartbreak, Ingress dove into her Heraldic training. Even though her visits were fewer and farther between as she left her teens, she was her sunshiney self when she did.

Things have seemed fine for the past few years. He's wondering, though, if things aren't fine.

He waves at Wei Wuxian before the younger man can return upstairs. "If you have a moment, I believe I have something of yours."

[acrookedpath]

"Ah! Tom-gongzi, hello."

Still beaming (and slightly flushed), he returns the wave. Madam Bar presents his food in an ornate tiffin box, along with another napkin full of exclamation points and smiley faces; he stuffs the napkins into his robes alongside the medicine and joins Tom at his table.

"What is it you -- ah." That's a touch more sheepish, but only a touch, as he glimpses the photograph in Tom's hand.

[riddleofthebelow]

He slides the picture over to him. "So what's this then?"

Tom is not glowering. But the furrowed brow from being worried might give that impression. Maybe. It's not intentional!

[acrookedpath]

He picks up the photograph for a better look.

...Well. He thinks it's from the last bar they visited, with the performers Ingress called drag queens? Maybe? He also knows if he says as much to Tom with that much uncertainty, it will probably not help matters.

"Ingress and I went to London Above for an evening," he says. "It was nothing untoward, Tom-gongzi. I promise."

[riddleofthebelow]

"I wasn't overly concerned about that, but I appreciate you telling me," he assures Wei Wuxian.

His frown deepens. "It was a surprise, is all. Ingress usually visits us whenever she comes to the House, and she didn't that evening."

And she borrowed his camera without asking, which Tom would have given over to her with no hesitation.

[acrookedpath]

"Ah," he says again. "I cannot really speak to that, I'm afraid. We were both feeling poorly that day for our own reasons, but I did not know she always calls on you when she comes to the inn."

In the photograph, Ingress, her arm slung around Wei Wuxian's shoulders, bends double in silent laughter, almost dragging him down with her. He finds himself smiling as his photographic self bursts out laughing in reply.

[riddleofthebelow]

“Poorly?”

Oh no. It’s just as he feared.

“Wei Wuxian, please, I understand keeping confidences... but did she tell you what was wrong? She’s been acting strangely of late and I’m starting to worry about her. A great deal.”

(No, Tom, you may not use legilimency to peek and find out if Wei Wuxian doesn’t have a verbal answer for you. We’ve had this discussion many times before and you know that’s wrong.)

[acrookedpath]

He frowns slightly, uncertain.

"A heartbreak, from what I understand," he says "That is all."

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom nods, grave. It is beyond frustrating for a man with his level of power to feel this helpless in the face of a problem. But at least heartbreak is a reasonable excuse for unusual behavior.

“It does look like you made the best of things,” he says, nodding to the picture. “I’m glad for that.”

[acrookedpath]

He chances a smile. "We did," he says with a small laugh. "London Above is quite a lot! I do not know how people can live somewhere so bright and loud. But we still forgot our woes admirably and had a wonderful evening."

And then Wei Wuxian's woes turned out to be all for nothing! An excellent outcome, really.

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom’s expression lightens as well. Wei Wuxian has that effect on people, and if Ingress has happy evenings in London Above with friends like him, then that can only be a good thing.

“Excellent. Yes, it’s quite the city, London Above. I spent my childhood there; it was loud and busy then, too.”

[acrookedpath]

"Did they ever play music so loud you felt it through your shoes?" His grin broadens. "I did not even know it was possible for my ears to ring after listening to music! That has only ever happened with demons before now."

He does not sound too perturbed about this discovery, however.

[riddleofthebelow]

“Yes,” he says with a chuckle. “I understand that since then, the music's been amplified even louder.”

It’s been awhile since he took Door swing dancing in London Below. Perhaps he should remedy that.

[acrookedpath]

"I have thought to take Lan Zhan there, but I do not think he could stand it."

...Is Wei Wuxian's face going a touch red as he says that? Maybe!

"Ah, but speaking of -- I am afraid I must take my leave, Tom-gongzi. May we speak another time? And, ah -- " He wiggles the photograph between his fingers. "Would it be all right if I kept this?"

[riddleofthebelow]

“But of course,” he says, answering both of Wei Wuxian’s questions at once.

“I’ll see you soon, no doubt. Let me know if Lan Wangji needs access to the library at the House, as well. And thank you, again, for letting me know about Ingress.”

[acrookedpath]

"I will," he assures him.

...yes, he is definitely going red. And there's a faint doofiness to his grin that wasn't there before.

"And I hope I was able to put some of your worries to rest. Be well, Tom-gongzi -- I will see you soon."

With a cheery wave, he heads back to the stairs with the photograph and his dinner in hand.

(Is he humming as he goes? Maybe. A little. What of it?)