( Paler than the ghosts that early dawns summon, he is not the man often conscripted for feats of subterfuge, of cunning. There lives and breathes and sulks in Lan Wangji a deficit of deceit, of that sophisticated quality that lends generals to martial consideration and strategy.
When Benedict calls out, Lan Wangji is — flinching, first startled from reverie, as sound scratches the young morning's stillness. Then, curious. At long last, invaded by self-awareness, prone to shaking his head and refusing a task that might see him fail —
Before, hands gristling to the knuckles on his silvered sword's hilt, he understands he can perform some part of this. Break it down and keeping watch is only partly the diversion of troubles. More of it is mere... playing guard, and has Lan Wangji not excelled in all matters of bloodshed? Death, music, amputation and increasingly rolling his eyes at Wei Ying's performances are the highest skills he has perfected.
He nods, once. Again. And he begins to quietly stalk the perimeter, walking the open marketplace in a tight circle around Benedict. Stark, long shadows, blaring braziers. Streets so dust-mantled, they may well be the desert. )
You are a veteran of — ( How does one ask such things? ) Thieving?
proscriptions
( Paler than the ghosts that early dawns summon, he is not the man often conscripted for feats of subterfuge, of cunning. There lives and breathes and sulks in Lan Wangji a deficit of deceit, of that sophisticated quality that lends generals to martial consideration and strategy.
When Benedict calls out, Lan Wangji is — flinching, first startled from reverie, as sound scratches the young morning's stillness. Then, curious. At long last, invaded by self-awareness, prone to shaking his head and refusing a task that might see him fail —
Before, hands gristling to the knuckles on his silvered sword's hilt, he understands he can perform some part of this. Break it down and keeping watch is only partly the diversion of troubles. More of it is mere... playing guard, and has Lan Wangji not excelled in all matters of bloodshed? Death, music, amputation and increasingly rolling his eyes at Wei Ying's performances are the highest skills he has perfected.
He nods, once. Again. And he begins to quietly stalk the perimeter, walking the open marketplace in a tight circle around Benedict. Stark, long shadows, blaring braziers. Streets so dust-mantled, they may well be the desert. )
You are a veteran of — ( How does one ask such things? ) Thieving?
( ...not like that. )