[ Whatever he does is crude work, empty. The spartan, brisk drag of the rope up, teeth clenched and tug heartier when two of the wolves recognise the cord shifts out of their reach — and they are feline, somehow, enough to understand Lan Wangji cheats them of their rightful plaything.
The rope's tattered and frayed at the ends, by the time Lan Wangji raises it completely, but it's serviceable still. It'll do. It has no alternative. He binds it readily over his arm once, then again, and again, and again, until he is readied and able to carry it.
Beneath them, a serpent amuses the wolves, one grotesque creature giving fright to another. To Lan Wangji's merit, he does not criticise the illusion, the ethics of deception, the sheer wastefulness of strength that its summon must have caused Astarion.
He only passes one end of the rope to the man, trying the branches within reach, just above them, for sturdiness before deciding which will bear the loop of the string and serve as a fresh anchor. Two men, both well grown. They cannot choose a stick and have it fall beneath their weight. Lan Wangji decides, absently, finally on one, and starts to bind the rope around it. ]
Perhaps you have a second trick, as we cross over.
[ So that they are not swinging treats for the wolves below, on top of merry fools. ]
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The rope's tattered and frayed at the ends, by the time Lan Wangji raises it completely, but it's serviceable still. It'll do. It has no alternative. He binds it readily over his arm once, then again, and again, and again, until he is readied and able to carry it.
Beneath them, a serpent amuses the wolves, one grotesque creature giving fright to another. To Lan Wangji's merit, he does not criticise the illusion, the ethics of deception, the sheer wastefulness of strength that its summon must have caused Astarion.
He only passes one end of the rope to the man, trying the branches within reach, just above them, for sturdiness before deciding which will bear the loop of the string and serve as a fresh anchor. Two men, both well grown. They cannot choose a stick and have it fall beneath their weight. Lan Wangji decides, absently, finally on one, and starts to bind the rope around it. ]
Perhaps you have a second trick, as we cross over.
[ So that they are not swinging treats for the wolves below, on top of merry fools. ]