afterthemoment | [Open RP Post]

It didn't connect, one minute his arms around his partner, trying to plead with him to let go and then a spray of warmth over his face, the body he's holding going limp and Wangji sinks down with him, his arms still around Wei Ying as he looks down at his face, his fingers reaching to stroke his cheek.

"...Wei Ying.." It's soft, shaky, his eyes widening slowly as what just happened sinks in. The noise of the gunshot, Wei Ying in his arms unmoving and his voice cracks this time.

"Wei Ying, please..open your eyes. I need you to look at me."

Edited 2020-02-03 11:19 (UTC)

Heavy booted footsteps approach the pair from behind, their owner some kind of armed bounty hunter decked out with body armor.

Miraculously, if anything about this situation could be considered a miracle, Wei Ying's eyelids to flutter open a fraction, eyes unseeing, his face slack. But he manages to turn his cheekly slightly into Lan Zhan's hand.

The foosteps stop just behind them.

"Subject is alive but incapacitated. Awaiting further orders," says an emotionless, genderless, and mechanical voice.

Wei Ying opening his eyes even that much is something and it's a moment before he's moving to stand, adjusting his hold so Wei Ying's head on his shoulder, his arms supporting the other man before he turns to walk back toward the entrance.

Toward the light so he can heal this, so he can do something to bring him back, to help him and his eyes are blazing with light as he moves, steps purposeful, daring anyone to come near them.

"Stay with me, I can fix this." Lips brush his forehead as he steps out into the light, fingers moving to the wound once he can access his powers again.

The damage is extensive as a shot through the head would be but the healing seems to be having a slight effect. At least, Wei Ying's eyes shift slightly toward Lan Zhan is some vague semblance of alertness.

"Lan Zhan," he whispers so quietly, the name slurring together. The left of the brain is where the speech and language functions are located, after all. That he can speak at all is a positive sign.

"I'm sorry..."

Edited 2020-02-03 12:02 (UTC)

"..No, I.. This is my fault. I didn't .. I should have protected you." His voice is shaking as he sinks to the ground, his hand still working on the wound, his head turning to look Wei Ying in the eye.

"...Don't leave me, Wei Ying. I can't... I need you to stay with me. Just hold on, I'm trying to fix it. I love you..."

"I love you..."

Wei Ying's eyes drift closed again, tears trickling out of the corners, and then comes one last slurred whisper.

"Not your fault... Mine."

His body slumps as he falls completely unconscious. In the distance, those heavy marching footsteps can be heard approaching again. The bounty hunter steps just out of the dark and into the light, rifle in hand. He raises it, cocks it, and gets ready to aim it directly at the still faintly, moving chest of Wei Ying.

Edited 2020-02-03 12:34 (UTC)

"No..." His voice cracks again, and he adds more power to the healing, "Wei Ying..please..." Because this isn't how it ends. It can't be. And until he hears those footsteps, his entire focus is on the man in his arms.

But when he hears them, he turns his eyes gold eyes blazing as he attacks, light blasts heading directly for the bounty hunter and his expression gone cold.

The bounty hunter, under the impression the subject's lover was merely a human given his vulnerability in the Underground, is taken off guard by the attacks. They knock the rifle from his hands, bullet firing off into the sky. Undeterred and seasoned at fighting metahumans, he pulls out a handgun and fires it twice at Lan Zhan.

It turns out to be the last thing the bounty hunter ever does.

"Wangji, look out!"

There's a flash as a blur of white trenchoat and black hair as a figure leaps down from one of the gothic buildings close by out of nowhere, which what appears to be a sword forged of pure, bluish white light in his hands. Without mercy or sound, Lan Xichen slices the man's arms off like cutting through both like sticks of butter, the limbs flopping uselessly to the ground.

The bounty hunter soon follows, completely in shock. There's no blood, the wound cauterized on contact.

Once the threat to his brother has been eliminated, Xichen strides as quickly over to the couple as he can.

"Tell me what happened while I take a look at him," he orders, gently but firmly pushing Wanji aside to make room for himself.

Edited 2020-02-03 13:19 (UTC)

"...Brother." His voice is faint, even if he's not letting go of Wei Ying, just shifting his hold to pull him closer, his eyes flashing for a moment before he lets them close slowly.

"...I want to take him home."

"Wangji."

Of course, he knows. When Wei Wuxian had been enrolled as a student at their school, he'd even encouraged it. It'd been the first time he'd ever seen his asocial sibling really show an interest in getting to know anyone else, even if he couldn't express it.

But the situation with Wei Wuxian has changed. He's no longer simply his brother's lover. Now he's a dangerous metahuman wanted for multiple homicides. He just doesn't know much protection the NSO will be able to give him in light of these charges.

He knows that he can't say that right now, though, not when his brother's barely hanging on at the edge of despair. Xichen nods after a moment.

"...Fine. Carry him. I'll prepare a portal for us and do what I can."

He rises, walks ahead to a clear spot, and proceeds to start absorbing the light shining off of neon signs, pulling it and weaving it into a shimmering doorway.

"...Thank you, Brother." It's barely audible as he moves to his feet, cradling Wei Ying to his chest and joins him before moving through the doorway. When he's on the other side, he goes dead still, gold eyes taking in his surroundings before he turns back to look at the portal, hold tightening on Wei Ying and tension in every line of his body.

he's already failed to protect Wei Ying once, he's not making that mistake again.

Once they're on the other side, Xichen hurriedly closes the portal, and starts giving directions to the medical staff to prepare a gurney, notify the trauma unit that they had a critical patient coming in.

"Everything about this one stays in house. No one is to know he is here. Understand?"

Once his orders have been given and a gurney is wheeled toward them, Xichen turns to his brother.

"Wangji. You have to let him go for now. The doctors need time and space to work with him. I will oversee them myself. Right now, you need to find a room and rest."

"...I'll watch over him, Brother. I ....this is my fault." His grip tightens on Wei Ying for a moment before he moves, gently placing him on the gurney, fingers smoothing his hair.

"...I want to be there."

The longer Wei Wuxian goes without medical attention, the worse his prospects become. Finally, Xichen simply grips his brother's shoulders, holding him firmly in place while the medics quickly wheel their new patient away for treatment.

"Wangji. You will be. I promise I will come get you as soon they are finished. I need you to trust them. To trust me."

Then a long pause and earnest stare at his little brother's face.

"...There is a waiting room near to where he'll be. Come with me and I'll sit with you until there's word on his condition."

His eyes follow the gurney until it's out of his view, hands flexing at his sides. "...If they can't save him..." He doesn't finish the sentence, doesn't need to, not with the look on his face as he finally turns to meet his brother's eyes.

"...I failed him."

"Wangji."

Xichen suppresses a sigh. Now is not the time to voice criticisms of Wei Wuxian's behavior or flaws, not when his life is hanging by a thread. It's worry for his brother's well-being driving it anyhow. He know better than anyone just how deeply Wangji loves that man. Xichen rests a hand on his shoulder, to offer some measure of comfort.

"I'm sure you did everything you could."

He leads his brother over to a small alcove with chairs, magazines, and a water cooler, gesturing for him to sit down, while he goes to get him a cup ot water, more out of a desire to do something to ease his brother's pain than anything else.

Edited 2020-02-03 14:56 (UTC)

?The hand on his shoulder isn't do anything to calm him, much as he almost wished it could. For his brother's sake, not his own. He didn't deserve comfort when he'd failed this badly at doing the one thing that would have fixed things.

"If I hadn't distracted him, they..." He can't sit, can't be still not with Wei Ying down the hall out of his reach so he ends up pacing. "..Nobody told me they were going to send someone to kill him. I .. " He never would have agreed to that.

"I was reaching him, I could have brought him out if..."

Edited 2020-02-03 15:01 (UTC)

"Was it the man who shot at you? He wasn't with us."

'Us' meaning the NSO. Xichen might have had whisperings of an operation to handle Wei Wuxian. Perhaps on some level, he'd even thought something needed to be done. His activism may done more harm than good to the image of metahumans everywhere.

"We spoke only of retrieving and detaining him for everyone's safety, including his own. Killing him was not part of the plan. I would never have mentioned your relationship with him had I known."

The assassin wasn't one of theirs, right? It couldn't have been...

"He was so scared." It's very quiet, his footsteps slowing. "He...didn't want to hurt anyone, but he said they came after him. He didn't ...You know he wouldn't have done what they said he did, Brother." Not without provocation. Wei Ying wasn't that type of person.

"They attacked him and he was defending himself.. When I found him, he was terrified. He ..." Wangji trailed off, gaze dropping to his hands.

"...He was in my arms when he was shot."

"Wangji..."

Xichen's tone is pained and horrified and he rushes over to his brother, placing his hands on his shoulders. A sick feeling settles into his stomach, his heart aching with grief for what Wangji must've experienced in that dark and horrid place. As fond as he's been of Wei Wuxian in the past, Xichen will never feel the same depth of feeling for him that his brother does.

When he'd heard Wei Wuxian had started attacking and hurting people, Xichen hadn't been altogether surprised, given the problematic rhetoric he'd been spouting for months. His brother's lover had no appreciation or understanding of conflict descalation either.

But ultimately, he trusts Wangji. He trusts his judgment. If Wangji says that Wei Wuxian acted in defense of himself, Xichen believes him.

"...I'll do what I can for him. I can't promise anything absolute but I will try. Once he is awake."

If he wakes up but Xichen doesn't dare say it. Not while trying offer her brother some kind of hope.

"If he dies.." His eyes close for a moment, his hands coming up to tug Xichen's arms from his shoulders, taking a careful step back. "...I know you'll do everything you can." But he knows that it likely won't be enough. Not with what they're saying Wei Ying has done.

"...You have business to take care of, don't you, Brother?"

"...Yes. Just rest here and I'll be back as soon as I can."

How on Earth is Xichen going to clean up this mess? But his brother has his own worries to deal with right now. He'll just have to figure out something.

"Take care, Wangji."

And then he's off, casting one last concerned look at him brother before disappearing down the hall.

Edited 2020-02-03 16:14 (UTC)

[Open RP Post]

Re: cw: somewhat graphic gun violence

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DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NO CLUE WTF I'M DOING WITH LXC. ALSO CW: DISMEMBERMENT

Re: DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NO CLUE WTF I'M DOING WITH LXC

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