i’m afraid of pain, both yours and mine / @holdslight. | @fatesarisen
you are no longer the wild boy sneaks alcohol into the cloud recesses. you are no longer the the man who used your blood soaked hands to clear battlefields. and you are no longer a mad genius holed up behind unbreakable wards with your community of fugitives. you are easing yourself carefully back into a world that does not want you. well that is not entirely true, your sister and jiang cheng want you out.
one of your hands is firmly on your son’s shoulder, the familiarity of it keeping you grounded. as old friends (and enemies) alike walk around whispering and gaping at your presence. maybe this was a mistake. sure you were invited but you had been invited to so many things over the years. but it was good for sizhui to socialize with people their own age and they have been desperate to nighthunt outside of the wards for long. it will do them good to be here.
of course, it’s lan zhan who catches your eye first. he looks different, just a little. still young but filled out more, he has grown into his good looks. not that he was not always handsome, but it’s more prominent now. you know you have aged way more than everyone else here, without a golden core to keep looking a twenty something forever. you are thirty-five and unlike the rest of the cultivators your age, you look it.