Your fur is now being warmed by the fire. [petulant nearly, as if it cancels out the very reason that such a thing is needed at all.
wangji glances to the side to look at the others ear for a moment. that looks soft too. which is distracting. ] I will tell you if you shift to your human form. [he doesn't think the fox will do so, really, so there's no harm here.]
( because in the next moment, the fox is very much human, or human enough, leaving his tails as they are and instead becoming a crouched man at the dragon-man's side, artfully draped in robes of black to match his fur, lined with an inner white, to again match his fur. illusioned robes, and only visual, but the one way anyone could tell would be to reach out and touch him, and he rather doubted the dragon would be attempting that.
thus wei wuxian smiles, charmingly enough, and cants his head to regard his somewhat unfairly handsome companion who had gone on summoning massive storms. )
[lan wangji is an idiot. he curses mentally and knows that physically, he has turned a shade or red that stands out even if the fire tints everything in the small space with it's orange hue.
he looks at the fox turned man quite dumbly and then purses his lips, fighting a battle with himself because he had not accounted for this.
he had made a promise, the precepts forbid lying. even if the reason is embarrassing.] I was worried it would get out of hand. [quiet, terse. an admission of weakness and anxiety.]
( it does not, strictly, occur to wei wuxian to not admire the red as he finds it painting across lan wangji's pale features. he even reaches out, ostensibly to pink at an ear, or his cheek, full admiration: )
Why, you're blushing! Don't be embarrassed, there's no reason, we all have times where testing our limits means learning if we over-extend beyond them. Storms growing out of hand... no, that's not one I've worried over, but it's where your affiliation must lie. Is it linked to emotion, or simply to strength? Can the storm win away from you with its own will?
( some of his tails are twitching and being beguiling without his active thought. they all do help conspire to keep him decent, for what that's worth. if, again, anyone were to realise his robes weren't truly there, but only in illusion. )
[strictly, lan wangji should not allow the touch to his ears. they are sensitive and even though he has control over his own reactions in most moments, a light tremor passes through him before he leans back.
he doesn't go far, not with them sitting side by side, but it is a childish attempt at putting distance between him and the hand he glares at.
at the same time, he grows more flushed.
instead of addressing it, he sticks to the more practical side of the conversations.] They should not get away from us but they can. [his brother and uncle are always in control, but wangji can sometimes lose his grasp and drench the region in rain for days longer than he intends.
he's distracted by a tail swiping, reaches for one and misses only for his hand to land on the fox's thigh. which-- while it looks covered, does not feel covered. wangji stares at where his hand is, frozen and knowing the rest of his skin is matching the red of his ears.] You are not clothed. [and yes, that is an accusation.]
Sounds like a matter of practice, ( he says, leaning forward in a partial tease, but not truly chasing after the retreating dragon. he has limits, and that would be more cruel than fun.
he does laugh at the missed grab for a tail, though the laughter chokes off into something more awkward with the dragon's palm lays warm and heavy on his thigh. he almost jerks back, but he's as frozen too, and his immediate rejoinder (illogical as it is) comes out: )
We're all naked underneath the illusion of clothes!
( watch a tail curl around to very firmly drape into his lap, across the bits that made people silly, whatever their species. just in case the dragon proved vindictive. )
for a moment here is nothingness, a silence filled with a static before he tries to understand what has just happened. his hand remains a moment longer before he snatches it back from the soft, warmed skin of the fox's thigh.] I am wearing real clothes. [he sputters, dumbly. it's an accusation too because not all of them are naked like this indecent fox!!!]
( truly, he shouldn't still feel that hand on his leg, but he does, and he trips into laughing as an awkward defense anyway, because who does that? he's from a fox clan, they're known for illusions, why in the world is a dragon flustered by reasonable expectation, ah?
(because it's hardly like he's illusioned anything else.) )
Yes, well, you also didn't show up here in nothing but fur and scales, now, did you? Where exactly did you think I'd be carrying robes, ah? Pfft, stop worrying about it and stick to stroking tails, it's safer.
( hence another tail is flopped over into wangji's space. for the petting, clearly. )
We carry them in a qiankun pouch. [ wangji's is normally tied to his leg before he lets the transformation take hold. it weighs nothing, does not hinder his flight and is a reasonable alternative to being bare in the company of strangers.
called out as he is, he still moves his hands to rest over the tail but does not pet it. because if nothing else, wangji is stubborn. he does let himself touch for a moment, before pushing it aside. ] You're shameless.
[ or is he the one that's indecent, touching as he is. tempted to touch more. wangji squares his shoulders, trying to sit still even as they share proximity and warmth. ]
I'm practical, and by that claim, the whole of all fox clans are shameless. Which we may be, but what is shame beyond a lie we tell ourselves? Regrets are worth having, maybe, but shame is a waste of time.
( which is a poor way to state that live a life without the room for shame, to not act in ways which create shame for their ancestors, but that's... not entirely related to using illusions to appear clothed.
he keeps flopping his tail back into wangji's lap each time his hands slip through fur or flit away again, and he half closes his eyes, letting a lazy seeming smile steal across his features. )
It's nice though, isn't it? The warmth of a fire, good company, a plenitude of tails... poor dragon, you've only the one, haven't you? You're welcome to borrow mine anytime.
Why would it be a lie? [ wangji's eyes narrow as he looks at the other. shame is a complicated thing for a lan, especially one so young as wangji.
and distracted by his own question as he is, he gives in to the desire to touch. because the fox has such a nice smile-- wangji catches himself, though it's a bit too late as he's stroking fingers through fur and leaning in, a soft hum of acknowledgement the sign of the fox's victory.
Society is held together by a thousand pleasant, functional lies, ah? Finding anything of shame in the naked form is a lie people built. Nudity may be less effective for keeping a body safe, based on its environment, but there's no shame in the fact of it. Only people's intentions for it.
( it's not that he's strictly wrong, or largely right, but he says all this as a soothing sort of chirpy, chatty burble, likewise sneaking more tails into the dragon's lap until he's had to shift himself so all nine are, somehow, shoved that direction.
idly, cradling his chin in hand on an upraised knee, observing his dragon friend in profile, he opines: )
You're even handsome when you're blushing. Have I said that already?
I am not. [ to say he is not blushing would be a lie but caught and called out, for not the first time in the night, wangji decides that it will not result in him shoving the tails away.
his fingers slides through the soft fur, brushing one tail from base toward the tip. ] And you didn't. [ flat, evenly said but perhaps intentionally giving something away. ]
Ah, then you're handsome when you're blushing. Very much so! Unfairly so, perhaps.
( He smiles. Shivers at the contact, tail attempting to flick in Lan Wangji's lap. Thudding up against Lan Wangji's chest, because for all stroking is stroking, it rarely starts at the base of any one tail, or what counts as all of them.
He laughs, a cover for embarrassment and surprised: )
And a forward dragon! Do you want me blushing too?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
( her perks his ears forward, letting one swivel to be pointedly listening to the dragon in the moment. )
And I'm a good listener. Have you seen my ears? Wide open!
no subject
wangji glances to the side to look at the others ear for a moment. that looks soft too. which is distracting. ] I will tell you if you shift to your human form. [he doesn't think the fox will do so, really, so there's no harm here.]
no subject
( because in the next moment, the fox is very much human, or human enough, leaving his tails as they are and instead becoming a crouched man at the dragon-man's side, artfully draped in robes of black to match his fur, lined with an inner white, to again match his fur. illusioned robes, and only visual, but the one way anyone could tell would be to reach out and touch him, and he rather doubted the dragon would be attempting that.
thus wei wuxian smiles, charmingly enough, and cants his head to regard his somewhat unfairly handsome companion who had gone on summoning massive storms. )
Go on, tell!
no subject
he looks at the fox turned man quite dumbly and then purses his lips, fighting a battle with himself because he had not accounted for this.
he had made a promise, the precepts forbid lying. even if the reason is embarrassing.] I was worried it would get out of hand. [quiet, terse. an admission of weakness and anxiety.]
no subject
Why, you're blushing! Don't be embarrassed, there's no reason, we all have times where testing our limits means learning if we over-extend beyond them. Storms growing out of hand... no, that's not one I've worried over, but it's where your affiliation must lie. Is it linked to emotion, or simply to strength? Can the storm win away from you with its own will?
( some of his tails are twitching and being beguiling without his active thought. they all do help conspire to keep him decent, for what that's worth. if, again, anyone were to realise his robes weren't truly there, but only in illusion. )
no subject
he doesn't go far, not with them sitting side by side, but it is a childish attempt at putting distance between him and the hand he glares at.
at the same time, he grows more flushed.
instead of addressing it, he sticks to the more practical side of the conversations.] They should not get away from us but they can. [his brother and uncle are always in control, but wangji can sometimes lose his grasp and drench the region in rain for days longer than he intends.
he's distracted by a tail swiping, reaches for one and misses only for his hand to land on the fox's thigh. which-- while it looks covered, does not feel covered. wangji stares at where his hand is, frozen and knowing the rest of his skin is matching the red of his ears.] You are not clothed. [and yes, that is an accusation.]
no subject
he does laugh at the missed grab for a tail, though the laughter chokes off into something more awkward with the dragon's palm lays warm and heavy on his thigh. he almost jerks back, but he's as frozen too, and his immediate rejoinder (illogical as it is) comes out: )
We're all naked underneath the illusion of clothes!
( watch a tail curl around to very firmly drape into his lap, across the bits that made people silly, whatever their species. just in case the dragon proved vindictive. )
no subject
for a moment here is nothingness, a silence filled with a static before he tries to understand what has just happened. his hand remains a moment longer before he snatches it back from the soft, warmed skin of the fox's thigh.] I am wearing real clothes. [he sputters, dumbly. it's an accusation too because not all of them are naked like this indecent fox!!!]
no subject
(because it's hardly like he's illusioned anything else.) )
Yes, well, you also didn't show up here in nothing but fur and scales, now, did you? Where exactly did you think I'd be carrying robes, ah? Pfft, stop worrying about it and stick to stroking tails, it's safer.
( hence another tail is flopped over into wangji's space. for the petting, clearly. )
no subject
called out as he is, he still moves his hands to rest over the tail but does not pet it. because if nothing else, wangji is stubborn. he does let himself touch for a moment, before pushing it aside. ] You're shameless.
[ or is he the one that's indecent, touching as he is. tempted to touch more. wangji squares his shoulders, trying to sit still even as they share proximity and warmth. ]
no subject
( which is a poor way to state that live a life without the room for shame, to not act in ways which create shame for their ancestors, but that's... not entirely related to using illusions to appear clothed.
he keeps flopping his tail back into wangji's lap each time his hands slip through fur or flit away again, and he half closes his eyes, letting a lazy seeming smile steal across his features. )
It's nice though, isn't it? The warmth of a fire, good company, a plenitude of tails... poor dragon, you've only the one, haven't you? You're welcome to borrow mine anytime.
i lost the notif for this.. SHAME ON ME
and distracted by his own question as he is, he gives in to the desire to touch. because the fox has such a nice smile-- wangji catches himself, though it's a bit too late as he's stroking fingers through fur and leaning in, a soft hum of acknowledgement the sign of the fox's victory.
the fire does nothing to hide his flush. ]
no shame only GAINS
( it's not that he's strictly wrong, or largely right, but he says all this as a soothing sort of chirpy, chatty burble, likewise sneaking more tails into the dragon's lap until he's had to shift himself so all nine are, somehow, shoved that direction.
idly, cradling his chin in hand on an upraised knee, observing his dragon friend in profile, he opines: )
You're even handsome when you're blushing. Have I said that already?
no subject
his fingers slides through the soft fur, brushing one tail from base toward the tip. ] And you didn't. [ flat, evenly said but perhaps intentionally giving something away. ]
no subject
( He smiles. Shivers at the contact, tail attempting to flick in Lan Wangji's lap. Thudding up against Lan Wangji's chest, because for all stroking is stroking, it rarely starts at the base of any one tail, or what counts as all of them.
He laughs, a cover for embarrassment and surprised: )
And a forward dragon! Do you want me blushing too?