[[open post and announcement: no mourners, no funerals]]

[ravkanwitch]

[cw: discussion of death!]

Nina knows that word of Shen Yuan's death has been slowly spreading. She tried to put out a general warning of danger right after it happened... but she's not sure how many people were warned by it. She wasn't in the right mind at the time, after all. This time, she's more careful and collected. With SecUnit's help, she's alerted and gathered everyone who's interested for an important announcement in the lobby of the mansion. Despite all appearances of bossiness and stubbornness - all quite true - Nina has never been in charge of anything so serious. Kaz, Zoya, and the King himself; she followed their lead. As people slowly begin to gather and she attempts to compose herself, she wonders why she decided to put herself up to this.

Deep breath, Zenik. Pretend that - well, that this is pretend. She's back in the orphanage as the official greeter, making an important announcement to all the other children. She's the governor of a small town, making sure that all the citizens are aware and prepared. It does have to be her, after all. She's playing a crucial role in everything. She also doesn't want anyone else to carry the emotional load.

"Hi," she tells everyone gathered, trying to paste on a somber but not-too-morose expression. "Thanks for coming. I'm sure some of you have heard part of this announcement already and I'm sorry that it took so long to pass this information onto everyone else... but there was an incident not too long ago. We're not sure what caused it, whether it was the house or whether it was an individual, but... Shen Yuan is dead." There's most likely a reaction at this point and Nina forges onwards as confidently as she can, pitching her voice above the hubbub.

"But there is a way that he can return. We're sure of it. We're just trying to figure out the details, which might take a while. If you want to know more about that, you can ask Magnus, but I'm not sure how much he can tell you. Also, if you encounter any signs of Shen Yuan's spirit, you can talk to--" Here she meets Aleksander's eyes almost instinctively; this line of conversation is something she's purposefully kept from him. "You can talk to myself. Or... to Lan Wangji. ...That's all. Thank you."

A confident start but slightly deflated by her last few sentences, Nina steps back and allows for conversation to happen. If anyone would like to speak to her, she's looking much less strained and grim than she has in a while.

[[Feel free to post a single comment reaction and/or start a thread with Nina in the comments!]]

Comments

[wickedwit]

Claudius waits patiently for him to find his words.

[summerdude]

Part of Magnus remembers, from childhood, that it's considered rude to invite yourself over to someone's place for an activity. The rest of him has been homeless and/or living in a pagan afterlife for eleven years. Maybe he doesn't know about manners. "Can me and Alex come over for dinner with you guys tonight?"

[wickedwit]

But Claudius, who has longed all his life for a home he can play the host in, brightens considerably at the request. "We'd love to have you. I'll let Galahad have the last word on the menu. My attempts at cooking are still all rather experimental." And put to the wayside, after everything that's happened. Perhaps he'll attempt a single gelatin dessert. There's a wine jelly he'd been wanting to try.

[summerdude]

"Oh. Great," Magnus says, earnestly; the prospect of a nice evening with his best friend and his girlfriend and his, uh, fellow bamboo stalk or whatever has him actually, visibly relaxing for the first time in days, shoulders slumping, tension simmering down.

[wickedwit]

Claudius was, of course, humoring Magnus when he last said he was okay. Now he looks at Magnus and believes it. He will be okay, if nothing else, letting some of his burdens be shared and returning to what brings him comfort. And it's good for Claudius, too, to sit and plan with Galahad how to make a pleasant dinner for their friends, putting aside all thoughts of training and preparing against invisible threats, focusing on what they can do to enjoy a moment of peace together. "Excellent. Know, too, thou art always welcome with us."

[summerdude]

At this, Magnus actually laughs. "Yeah," he says, warmed. "I kinda got that around the fifth time I practically jumped into your bed to bribe Galahad into hanging out during Dark."

[wickedwit]

"Better you than Drosera. No offense to her, but she needs to learn not to use her talons on the comforter." He smiles comfortably, and asks, "Now, shall I show you where I want the gentians planted?"

[summerdude]

"Get a water bed, she'll learn really fast," Magnus says. "And yeah. Show me. --How much longer do you think the garden will take? I'm worried about Hanguang-jun."

[wickedwit]

"Not long at all." Claudius worries for Lan Wangji, too. At the beginning of their friendship, he's worried about never being able to return the favors Lan Wangji has paid him -- now it isn't so transactional a concern. He simply wants to give solace to the man who's done so for him so many times now. "So much bamboo has sprouted, you know, and it's settled quickly into the initial landscape. The magnolia is still small, for now, so we'll want to leave room in the bed for it to grow. The other beds we'll layer with spring and summer blooms, with some eyecatching elements for the autumn. Of course, during Rainbows, who knows what will happen? Last year everything was blooming and fruiting out of season."

[summerdude]

"It was, wasn't it?" Disconsolately, but still carefully, Magnus pokes at the gentians. "That's smart. The layering. I think he's really depressed and trying to hide it from me."

[wickedwit]

"Wert thou not my ally, I well tell thee worry not. Lan Wangji is a capable and dutiful man, and even with his duties, he has his daily comforts." Claudius doesn't dwell on what daily means here. He guides Magnus down to the winding edge of a flower bed, so unlike the manicured gardens of England and Italy. Research has told Claudius that the garden of a Chinese scholar -- the culture closest to Lan Wangji's on his world's map -- should seem to emerge out of nature, with natural forms instead of boxed plots and hedge mazes. Other sources described the principles of geomancy, ways to influence the flow of qi within a place. It will be entertaining later, he thinks, to ask whether following feng shui worked, since Lan Wangji can sense flows of qi like breathing.

"But thou art my ally," he continues, "and so I must be honest: all is not well with him. He is capable, and dutiful ... and lost, I think. Bringing back some of the comforts of home for him will help."

[summerdude]

"Do you think it'll make him more or less homesick?" Magnus asks. "He's, like, definitely super homesick."

[wickedwit]

"Honestly, hearing Lan Wangji speak of the Cloud Recesses has made me homesick for it. You can tell when someone loves truly loves the place they're from, and when they've simply fallen in a sort of habitual patriotism. Lan Wangji, I think, had the chance to choose what of his birthplace was worth keeping, and what he wished to change ... and that makes his love more sincere." Fondly, he says, "When I was Aziraphale for a day and could miracle anything he asked, he asked for Gusu tea. His homesickness is a part of him, I think. But this will ease it. It was a brilliant idea."

[summerdude]

Magnus really appreciates Claudius's penchant for telling it to a guy straight-up. "Wait, do you think we can try to grow Gusu tea? Whatever that is?"

[wickedwit]

Claudius considers the question seriously, as he does all botanical questions. "We can try, certainly. We can try the long way: start with a camellia sinensis plant or two, see how many generations it takes to cross-breed something to Lan Wangji's taste. Or we could coax the mansion into giving us suitable seeds -- I've a theory the further we're out from Dark, the more obliging the mansion will be. And you and Galahad have a talent for exploring the mansion depths.

[summerdude]

"He told you about that?" Magnus shakes his head, amused at himself. "I mean, of course he did." After all, he tells Alex everything (almost) (just not the training again thing), too. "Interesting theory."

[wickedwit]

"Ay, e'en so." Claudius kneels down by the flowerbed, plucking up a spade to dig into the earth and make room for the gentians. "I am sure Galahad would miss little of the questing life, were it not for the company of a friend. Has he told to thee of Sir Percival? It's a similar thing. Whenever he speaks of what he saw with Percival, what Percival told him, what cliffs they climbed and what creatures they encountered, thou wilt see his face alight. There's a sadness to it, too, because Percival in elsewhere. But thou art here, thou art ready to share this world's marvels with him. Exploring the mansion's many doors with thee ... I think it brought back the best parts of his quest. This time, there's no martyrdom waiting at the end, only stories he can share. I hope to hear many more of them."

[summerdude]

"Obviously I know about Percival," Magnus says. "Percival was his Gertrude, right?"

[wickedwit]

Claudius considers the comparison. “I suppose you could say that, yes. We spoke about it, once — about how we were alone, until someone chose us.”

[summerdude]

"A friend that you loved back home but couldn't be with, for whatever reason," Magnus adds.

[wickedwit]

For a moment, Claudius is taken by surprise -- were he and Gertrude friends? But she said it herself, when she visited. They were, they are friends. Brother and sister. Survivors of the same family. People who love each other. "That, too," he says, lightly.

[summerdude]

To Claudius's earlier point, Magnus says, "I do wish this world was a little bigger. I miss, like, variety." That's why he had so much fun with the basement.

[wickedwit]

“I used to travel often. Diplomacy, you know,” he says, potentially referring to any number of previous conversations. “I would I could take Galahad on a wedding trip to a city somewhere by the sea.” So Galahad can see the way the sea-air curls his hair (and he can see Galahad sunbathe upon the beach, the way the Italians do).

[summerdude]

"Oh, that would be cool," Magnus says. "Man, I wish there was a sea here, too. Probably all the, like, eleven different sea gods who want me dead couldn't reach me here, so I might even have fun with it this time."

[wickedwit]

"The gods of the sea are merciless -- any mariner will thee," Claudius says with amusement. "Who knows? Perhaps thou wilt find some secret underground shore, the next time thou art a-questing."