help me piece it all together, darling
Ling Yao jumps through time, and Lan Fan becomes something extraordinary to protect him.
For Lingfan Week Day 1: Separation/Longing
‘He’s late.’ Lan Fan sticks her hands in her pockets and squints. The glare from sun spills off the reflective panels of a nearby dumpling shop. Like light on water. ‘He said 7:23. Which was eight minutes ago.’
‘Maybe he fainted? You should go look for him.’
“He didn’t.” She sighs. “I’d still feel him.”
‘Unless he’s hiding from you.’ Lan Fan tilts her head in acknowledgment. How like Ling it would be, to try and mask his qi from her when she most needed to find him.
‘Don’t be stupid, Cass. Lan Fan’s been refining her abilities for centuries now. If he was on the other side of the planet, she’d sense him.’ Davit’s voice is sharp in her mind. ‘Ling probably got the time off.’
‘Switched it to the morning, more like.’ Cass’ sigh is an echo. Lan Fan pictures her propping her chin in her hands. ‘He really ought to be more careful. It’s not easy, always having to wait for him.’
Lan Fan leans against the wall, the silver surface cool against her back. “That’s enough. His Majesty will be here soon.” The souls in her head shift and murmur quietly, and the sun slides lower, dipping the clouds in amber and gold. As one, the silver tiles on the dumpling shop turn, their sparkling faces rotating out of sight. On the backs of the tiles, glass screens begin to brighten, displaying the shop’s chubby mascot dancing among the chefs in the kitchen.
She leans away from the building behind her as it, too, exchanges its panels for screens that light white and blue and fuchsia into the backs of her eyes. Lan Fan turns away from the blinding wall and thinks how much Ling would love to see this: their city as bright as a star.
She doesn’t think about how it will shine on without him after he’s gone.