#darklwj

Suddenly, the sound of metal clattering disrupts the previous silence. And despite coming from the other room, he can hear the grating noise of knives being sharpened.

Wei Ying's entire form threatens to tremble. And it takes nearly all of his willpower to stop his scales from expanding even more.

Not today, he won’t show it today, won’t show he’s afraid. He's confident, majestic, powerful… or so he tells himself, tells himself this mantra of words in his head, again and again. Until he makes himself believe it to be the truth.

By the end of this mantra, he starts to realise something. The slicing sound of the knives…stopped. That is- Too soon. He's never done sharpening his tools this soon. Confused, Wei Ying sways closer to the edge of the glass, touches it with his face to look through it and into the large room.

It is as ever, beautiful. Decorated to the brim with the most illustrious of furniture, and the shelves are packed with glass vials all varying in colour. They glisten and sparkle whenever a few rays of sunshine enter through the elaborate Victorian windows. But what’s out there, around him isn’t what matters most, what’s on the inside however… Inside those innocent looking vials... One doesn’t need to study them for long to see what’s being displayed in them.

Eyes, noses, mouths, bones, fish, vermin.

The hand of an elderly man, a foot of a child. and the teeth of one that never made it out of its mother.

Even the eye of a kraken, a beast of legend, sits proudly atop one of the shelves…

The lord of this manor, Hanguang-Jun holds many things dear to him here, in pristine condition. Every ache, disease, oddity or smile, forever preserved here inside this room. Forever encased within colourful glass containers.

And one of his greatest possessions, a creature recently only known in myths, now exists here within these walls. Its face remains pressed against the glass of its tank and the scales of its tail and fins reflect into a mesmerising rainbow of light, a beautiful display in the normally dimly lit room.

Focusing on his work Hanguang-Jun carefully and with utmost precision, a result no doubt of years of repeated practice, arranges his knives and tools on his worktable in front of him. The edge of the blade is still blunt in places, sharpened as if an amateur worked on it. Normally he would never dare deliver such sloppy work, but today is different. Today, his tools won’t require precision. Today they are allowed to be…rough… He glances at the golden metal threads on the corner of his work bench and holds one up so it glitters in the faint light that Illuminates the room. Yes, this wire will make a perfect base to work with. Decision made, and tools prepared and ready Hanguang-Jun, or Wangji, gathers his things and heads into the main space.

And no matter how many times he stands in front of it, it will never fail to amaze him. He feels his hair stand on edge, and his breath catch in his throat. His blood pumps harder, traveling to his ears and neck staining them a vibrant red. It does things to him, seeing such a marvel right before his eyes.

Oh, what beautiful things he could make from it.

But that, that is a thought for later. First he must see to it that his possession is…malleable.

Wangji tilts his head, studying the caged creature before him for a few seconds longer, noticing the way its eyes dart around the room they’re in as if looking for a way out, as if trying to spot if there’s anything different. Anything it could use. But no.

“The room is the same as it always was Wei Ying.”

He tried but failed to stop his scales from blowing up, like a cat with its fur standing on end. Wei Ying stares with wide eyes as the Lord of the manor now stands before his tank. Somehow he just knows, knows that something is different today. Normally Hanguang-Jun would come to him, open the latch to his chamber. Drag him out by pulling at the heavy chains tied around his neck and tail, and leave him on the cold floor in a constant state of suffocation. His skin suited for life underwater would become uncomfortable dry, and his scales would bristle to show his discomfort. He would be kept like that, only occasionally granted some water over his body to keep him alive, but just barely. Just enough so that he would continue to live, but also to know in who’s hands his life is held, to be made aware who is in control. At the end of this ordeal, he would be various scales poorer, have a pinch of fin missing in multiple places, and would watch as another lock of his hair is sliced off and put into a container.

But again, today seems different. There’s something unnerving about the way Hanguang-Jun looks at him, at the way his eyes travel over his body as if examining every detail in a way he hadn’t before. It sends a shiver down his spine and he wonders if this is the day he’ll break. After all, he might be important, he might be considered a prized possession to his arsenal of treasures. But he isn’t Hanguang-Jun’s most cherished one. That, that lies in front of him, and in between him and Lord Wangji.

There in the midst of the both of them, a golden metal table carries the one thing more important than him.

But before he can gaze upon it, he's distracted when from the corner of his eyes he sees sharp tools glisten as Hanguang-Jun, careful of the object in the middle, steps closer to his cage. And Wei Ying ignores the way Wangji’s words make him shudder, they’re meant to demotivate him, to make him lose any hope of ever leaving, he knows this. So he tries to respond coming from a different angle, because despite his unease he is still curious… What more could there be, he’s given him so much, done so much…

“Ah Lan Zhan, what more do you want from me?” His Lord doesn’t grant him a response, so he continues, saying the only thing he can think of that might mean something, that might stir something within Wangji.

“I already gave you my heart long ago”

Atop the gilded table lies a bowl filled with water with a reddened sheen. In it, is the one thing Hanguang-Jun treasures more above all else. Wei Wuxian's still-beating heart.