[closed post: a task]

[ravkanwitch]

Nina has been feeling more like herself recently. It's taken a few weeks of self care, a failed waffle experiment, many naps with Khitka, a history lesson from Kade, quality time with friends, and a few mildly distressing conversations with alternate versions of people that she knows – but she's okay. She'll be much better once Shen Yuan is back of course, but for now, she'll do what she does best and weather the storm.

There are few things she's considering in her mind but right now, she's flipping through some language books with Khitka curled around the back of her neck, dozing.

Comments

[futaille]

Grantaire is walking by with Jared Padalecki (currently wearing a pink plastic hula skirt, a puffy vest in safety equipment yellow, and Mardi Gras beads) under his arm as he peeks in different rooms looking for a good spot to have him lurk for now.

Upon spotting Nina, though, he sets Jared down in the hall by the door and walks in. "Good afternoon!"

[ravkanwitch]

"Grantaire!" Nina exclaims, setting down her book. Just who she wanted to see; it's funny how that works, isn't it? "How have you been?"

[futaille]

Truly funny how that works. It's almost like the mansion spirits themselves intervened. "My complaints are few, which is rare enough. How about you?"

[ravkanwitch]

"I've been... alright." That's true enough. Some days better, some days worse. Overall, good. She pauses, appearing to scrutinize him closely. "Wait. How do I know you're the actual Grantaire and not some double sent to swindle me?"

[futaille]

"Because three batches would be a first, and besides, I was caught up in the second one already? Although if you have any other way to prove myself, I'm perfectly happy to accede to it."

[ravkanwitch]

"Tell me something only Grantaire would know," she commands, loftily, a smile playing on her expression. She's not sure what that would be; let him figure it out.

[futaille]

"Something only I would know. Let me think. That's actually surprisingly difficult. Can nobody on any other world at all know it? Well, no, obviously it would be best if you knew it too, even if that slightly goes against your request. Still, verification is probably the best idea. So I'll say... I assigned you to a croquembouche."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina giggles, as she was only joking around with him. "That's right. You are Grantaire. Here's a second question... Who's that handsome man hanging around in the doorway? Someone I should meet?"

She is, of course, speaking of Mr. Jared Padalecki.

[futaille]

"Ah! That is Jared. He was a birthday present for me."

[ravkanwitch]

"A birthday present? From who?"

[futaille]

"From Sagramore!"

[ravkanwitch]

Nina laughs. "Of course it was from Sagramore. What's i-- um, he wearing, though?"

[futaille]

"Oh. I asked my closet to give me interesting things for him to wear."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji intends to give Nina a wide berth. He saw the fury blazing in her eyes the last time they spoke. He has felt fury like that. He knows how high and long its flames can burn. She will be safe; that is enough for him. He regrets the sudden absence of their friendship, but he would have regretted endangering her even more.

As such, it is an accident when he comes across her. He makes brief and startled eye contact with Khitka, and then he dips into a brief but precise bow of apology before turning to leave as quickly as possible.

[ravkanwitch]

Khitka lets out a small squeak of surprise when they make eye contact -- she likes Lan Wangji, despite him keeping her away from the rabbits! -- and Nina looks up at the sound, startled. She had been thinking about seeking him out, some of the emotions from their confrontation having been tempered over the past few weeks, but she wasn't sure what she would say if she found him. Well, Zenik, one of your best qualities is being able to talk without thinking, she tells herself sternly.

"Wait," she says softly, setting aside the book in her hands.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji stops. As she asked, he waits, and he turns back to face Nina. He doesn't say anything, because it feels as if he shouldn't.

[ravkanwitch]

Is it too rude to immediately go into something serious? Does he even want to hear what she has to say? It's difficult, as always, to tell from his expression. Nina wonders both of those things, then realizes she's been silent for too long.

"How-- How have you been?" The knowledge that Shen Yuan can come back. The discovery of the murderer. The new circumstances hang between them.

[lightbearinglord]

Of all the things Lan Wangji might have expected her to say, that certainly was not one of them. He stares at Nina for a beat -- not offended, only surprised, although his expression is indeed not the easiest to read. Has she forgiven him? Or is she simply pretending that their last conversation didn't happen? "Better than when last we spoke," he says, carefully and a little stiffly. "And you?"

[ravkanwitch]

"I'm doing ...okay," Nina says, honestly. 'Okay' is the best way to describe it. Sometimes good, but most days a mix of good and bad -- and anger, at the thought of Shen Yuan's murderer still out there. There's something about this slightly vulnerable exchange of emotions that makes it easier for her to backtrack to what she wanted to say from the start. She sighs. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about our last conversation."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji, surprised again, straightens his back and squares his shoulders. He links his hands behind his back and nods. It is the demeanor of someone who is anticipating a deserved punishment and preparing to receive it with dignity.

[ravkanwitch]

There's a lot that Nina could say, if she let it all spill out. "I think I let my emotions get out of control," is what she does say.

[lightbearinglord]

Although his face remains almost completely still, his eyes widen fractionally. He hesitates. "I am familiar with that phenomenon."

[ravkanwitch]

She sighs, quite heavily; it's not all on him or this conversation, the past few weeks have been long and trying. "I'm not going to apologize for what I said because... because I still believe in it. However... I think I let myself get too frustrated."

[lightbearinglord]

Some of what she said stings, still, but Lan Wangji won't contest her right to have said it or to believe in it. He grips his own hands more tightly and controls his expression. "I did not intend to disappoint you," he says slowly, after a silence that feels tentative and uncomfortable even to a man who is accustomed to long silences. "I wanted you to be safe. It was a difficult day."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina isn't sure if the intensity of the conversation had overwhelmed him to the point of not conveying his thoughts at all -- or it was also possible that she had been so laser-focused that she didn't process them. Perhaps both. Her expression softens slightly at I did not intend to disappoint you. "It felt like you weren't even listening to me," she says, quietly.