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I have the seeds of a modern au in my head that it& #39;s going to be months if ever before I can write, but it involves a vague story parallel only high society vs criminal underworld, wwx spending a few months in prison for a crime he didn& #39;t commit when the Wen come after the Jiang
(JC& #39;s parents get murdered, probably)
Shit gets real for a while with WWX using newly-acquired criminal contacts to foil the plans of the genuinely-very-criminal Wen Ruohan, he succeeds but he has to distance himself because... not a good look
Shit gets real for a while with WWX using newly-acquired criminal contacts to foil the plans of the genuinely-very-criminal Wen Ruohan, he succeeds but he has to distance himself because... not a good look
He argues with LWJ, who just wants to help him clear his name, and then he just
disappears
completely off the grid
everyone thinks his body& #39;s probably in the harbour and they& #39;re very, very upset about it
Years pass.
disappears
completely off the grid
everyone thinks his body& #39;s probably in the harbour and they& #39;re very, very upset about it
Years pass.
Lan Wangji has become a private investigator. He& #39;s a bit of a social pariah because he looks into things even when the rich and powerful want those things to go away, but he can& #39;t quite be destroyed because he has Lan money and influence behind him.
He& #39;s looking into the disappearance of Jin Guangshan& #39;s bastard kid, Mo Xuanyu.
He& #39;s found out the kid was into the underground club scene. Last anyone saw him he was going to Necromancer - the rave so good it could raise the dead, if only they could get a ticket.
He& #39;s found out the kid was into the underground club scene. Last anyone saw him he was going to Necromancer - the rave so good it could raise the dead, if only they could get a ticket.
LWJ tries for weeks to get a lead on it. No dice.
And then he gets an envelope. At his home address, not his office.
Inside there is one (1) braided string bracelet, an address, a time and date.
Typewritten. On a typewriter. Someone went OLD SCHOOL for this.
And then he gets an envelope. At his home address, not his office.
Inside there is one (1) braided string bracelet, an address, a time and date.
Typewritten. On a typewriter. Someone went OLD SCHOOL for this.
And, look, it& #39;s shady, it& #39;s shady as FUCK but he has no other leads and honestly since Wei Ying disappeared part of how he& #39;s been so successful is that you can pull of some pretty dangerous and daring things if you don& #39;t actually give a shit whether you live or die.
So he goes.
He dresses like normal, but then he always dresses like a cover model for the kind of magazine where the advertisements are for fifteen thousand dollar watches and private jets.
Don& #39;t try and work out what designer he& #39;s wearing. Nothing he wears came off a rack.
Don& #39;t try and work out what designer he& #39;s wearing. Nothing he wears came off a rack.
This time he& #39;s also wearing a braided string bracelet.
He arrives at the address a few minutes early. It& #39;s a painfully normal, boring-seeming office park in the most boringly uncultural, mediocre suburb you can imagine.
He arrives at the address a few minutes early. It& #39;s a painfully normal, boring-seeming office park in the most boringly uncultural, mediocre suburb you can imagine.
Outside the building he& #39;s supposed to go to, he can see two men talking. Then one of them claps the other on the shoulder and goes inside. LWJ sees, like... two steps the man takes before he& #39;s inside/out of sight but there& #39;s this weird sound.
Like his heart beating again.
Like his heart beating again.
He goes up to the door and the man outside is looks him up and down and says, "I& #39;m sorry sir, it& #39;s after office hours."
He& #39;s dressed like a rent-a-cop. LWJ holds up his wrist with the bracelet and the man looks surprised, then smiles and says, "Ah, you have an *appointment*."
He& #39;s dressed like a rent-a-cop. LWJ holds up his wrist with the bracelet and the man looks surprised, then smiles and says, "Ah, you have an *appointment*."
He lets him in. Inside there& #39;s a lobby. It& #39;s quiet.
There& #39;s a loop of braided string tied to a doorhandle marked "EMPLOYEES ONLY".
Lan Wangji goes through it.
Dark corridor.
He walks along, slow and watchful, until he finds another door with a loop of braided string.
There& #39;s a loop of braided string tied to a doorhandle marked "EMPLOYEES ONLY".
Lan Wangji goes through it.
Dark corridor.
He walks along, slow and watchful, until he finds another door with a loop of braided string.
Doors and corridors and fire stairs, once an office, sleeping desktop computer and all, and out through the *window* and along a *balcony* and across a *plank bridge* to another building.
And then downstairs.
And then downstairs.
As he approaches the fire door to this building& #39;s *second sub-basement* he starts to feel the bass beat coming through the floor.
He& #39;s found the party.
He& #39;s found the party.
Inside there& #39;s a fire safety violation& #39;s worth of young people writhing to the music. It& #39;s good music.
There& #39;s a bar set up behind trestle tables. The bartender& #39;s vaguely familiar but the light& #39;s not that good, he can& #39;t place him.
There& #39;s a bar set up behind trestle tables. The bartender& #39;s vaguely familiar but the light& #39;s not that good, he can& #39;t place him.
[shit this is why I don& #39;t post wips]
note that when the door guy let him in, he told Lan Wangji in a friendly sort of way that he was just in time for the last available appointment
note that when the door guy let him in, he told Lan Wangji in a friendly sort of way that he was just in time for the last available appointment
anyway, then there& #39;s a BOOM and the music cuts out.
highly distorted voice comes over the speakers.
"THE ENTRANCES ARE SEALED. THERE IS NO ESCAPE."
"DIE TO RISE."
And then the music comes back.
This is the vibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhSB8EEnCAM">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
highly distorted voice comes over the speakers.
"THE ENTRANCES ARE SEALED. THERE IS NO ESCAPE."
"DIE TO RISE."
And then the music comes back.
This is the vibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhSB8EEnCAM">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
It& #39;s a couple of floors underground in a shitty office park basement. It& #39;s too hot and it smells like alcohol and body spray.
But someone& #39;s put a complicated light setup in here and some genuinely good speakers and people dance like there& #39;s joy coming up through the floor.
But someone& #39;s put a complicated light setup in here and some genuinely good speakers and people dance like there& #39;s joy coming up through the floor.
Lan Wangji is no longer in any doubt: this is Necromancer.
He works his way through the crowd, looking for Mo Xuanyu or for any sign of what in the ungodly fuck is going on here...
... and that& #39;s when it happens.
The music changes. The crowd screams.
He works his way through the crowd, looking for Mo Xuanyu or for any sign of what in the ungodly fuck is going on here...
... and that& #39;s when it happens.
The music changes. The crowd screams.
And Lan Wangji stops dead.
Because he knows this music.
He WROTE this music.
Wrote it and recorded it and put it on a MIX CD he gave to Wei Ying, a really long time ago, and now it& #39;s being sampled into dance music at an underground club and he& #39;s shaking.
Because he knows this music.
He WROTE this music.
Wrote it and recorded it and put it on a MIX CD he gave to Wei Ying, a really long time ago, and now it& #39;s being sampled into dance music at an underground club and he& #39;s shaking.
He realises then there& #39;s a shift in the crowd. A space is forming, it seems like that shouldn& #39;t even be possible with people this tightly packed but there is. There& #39;s a spotlight, too, somewhere over... there.
Pushing closer is difficult but he& #39;s tall, he can see glimpses...
Pushing closer is difficult but he& #39;s tall, he can see glimpses...
And then he stops caring about being polite and it gets relevant that he& #39;s also *strong* as he starts forcing his way through the crowd.
Some people start protesting, it& #39;s becoming a commotion.
The bartender crowd-surfs across and drops to the floor to grab his arm.
Some people start protesting, it& #39;s becoming a commotion.
The bartender crowd-surfs across and drops to the floor to grab his arm.
The bartender& #39;s strong, Lan Wangji can& #39;t move, but he& #39;s also no longer trying, because he& #39;s finally got a clear view of the open, spotlit area, and he can see who it& #39;s for.
He& #39;s frozen. Watching.
It& #39;s Wei Ying.
He& #39;s frozen. Watching.
It& #39;s Wei Ying.
Wei Ying is dancing with a beautiful woman. She& #39;s vaguely familiar but he can& #39;t tear his eyes away from Wei Ying. They& #39;re wearing matching outfits - he& #39;s in sleek black with a red shirt, she& #39;s in a red dress with artful slashes that reveal a black lining.
Their eyes are locked on each other and they& #39;re both smiling, almost laughing. They& #39;re good dancers. They move together like their bodies know each other. They& #39;re not even touching but it& #39;s sexy as *fuck*. Lan Wangji is seething with jealousy and also *rock* hard.
And then the song finishes.
The music drops to a low pulse.
Wei Ying turns his megawatt smile on the crowd and keys the radio mic he& #39;s wearing.
And then his eyes fall on Lan Wangji, and he doesn& #39;t speak.
The music drops to a low pulse.
Wei Ying turns his megawatt smile on the crowd and keys the radio mic he& #39;s wearing.
And then his eyes fall on Lan Wangji, and he doesn& #39;t speak.
The woman follows his gaze and her eyebrows twitch, and then she& #39;s pulling the mic off Wei Ying and putting it on herself, starts smoothly working the crowd.
"Sir," the bartender says. "Please come with me."
Lan Wangji tries to resist but the bartender is STRONG.
"Sir," the bartender says. "Please come with me."
Lan Wangji tries to resist but the bartender is STRONG.
He& #39;s dragged out and through a couple of fire doors, and suddenly there& #39;s ugly fluorescent lighting and Lan Wangji works out who the bartender *is*.
"Wen Ning," he says aloud, and Wen Ning& #39;s eyes go wide, suddenly recognising him in return.
"Oh," he says. "Oh dear."
"Wen Ning," he says aloud, and Wen Ning& #39;s eyes go wide, suddenly recognising him in return.
"Oh," he says. "Oh dear."
yes obviously the woman was Wen Qing
proceed with a ridiculously long thing in which Lan Wangji explains why he was there, he and Wei Ying work together to try and find Mo Xuanyu, plots are revealed and etc
proceed with a ridiculously long thing in which Lan Wangji explains why he was there, he and Wei Ying work together to try and find Mo Xuanyu, plots are revealed and etc
