Open Post: Hard at Work

[sporesprouter]

Yes, Tress might have been up late charting stars, but that doesn't mean that she can't get up at dawn to start doing other work on the continued Operation Get Us Out of Here.

So it's barely light outside when she tucks herself into an out of the way workroom that she's decided to repurpose as a sprouter's workshop. She doesn't have much in the way of spores, just what she arrived with, but that was no reason not to use some. What was the point of hoarding a potential resource? Sitting on something that might be able to help? Not a great idea.

So she currently sits at a table with some supplies laid out carefully before her, carefully taking water from a bowl in front of her with an eyedropper to some pink-red spores and shaping the crystals that spring up from them with a small iron shield-shaped plate and a steel trowel. She's working slowly and incrementally, but several finished spheres sit on the table away from her active work.

On the floor to the side of the table are several full drinking water bottles that she found and commandeered, knowing they'd come in handy if she decides to move on to her next idea.

For now, though, pink crystal spheres.

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

Ah, barely light outside. The perfect time for a wandering Lan Wangji, wide awake but with his husband still abed in their chambers, to find his way to Tress. His behavior when first they met was poor, bordering on rude. He regrets that, although he was in significant distress at the time.

"Young mistress Tress," he says from the doorway, soft and even so as not to startle her.

[sporesprouter]

She looks up at the voice and smiles a bit. "Oh. Lan Wangji, right? Good morning."

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Lan Wangji bows, formal as always, in greeting. It would seem that Tress is quite diligent, up so early and already at work. Lan Wangji recognizes none of her materials, but the work ethic reminds him of his own disciples. He does miss them, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi in particular.

Curious, he drifts into her workshop and looks over her shoulder at what she's doing. It remains opaque to him.

[sporesprouter]

She looks at him and then back to her work surface. "I'm making roseite casings for flares and vine charges. Just in case they might come in handy."

[lightbearinglord]

That explanation is nearly unintelligible to Lan Wangji. He considers what he's seeing for a moment or two, as though the worktable will reveal its secrets to him shortly. Then he concedes to saying, "Will you explain your discipline to me?"

[sporesprouter]

She nods. "On my world, the seas are made up of spores that fall from the moons. If the spores get wet, they have different effects depending on which color moon they came from. These are roseite spores. They grow crystals. Most often, they're used to quickly patch holes in a ship's hull before a carpenter can come and repair it more permanently.

Right now, though I'm making cases for flares... um... they can be shot in the air to make a flash of light let people know where you are if there's danger. So if I add water to the spores, as the crystals start to grow, I can influence their direction with these." She picks up the plate and trowel. "They'll grow towards the plate if it gets close, and away from the trowel. A silver knife will break off the crystal where you want, because silver kills spores. So does salt, but silver's easier to work with in this particular way."

[lightbearinglord]

There will follow a slightly lengthy pause as Lan Wangji takes in this information. He would prefer to be certain he understands it before he ventures to make any comment on her work. She would do well at the Cloud Recesses, he thinks, as an outer disciple. He could nearly smile at the thought of Tress wearing one of the plain white forehead ribbons reserved for non-Lan sect trainees. Sizhui would adore her.

"If I see such a flare going up," he says, then, "I will know to come to your aid. My students can summon me similarly."

[sporesprouter]

"Thank you. I don't know that they'll ever actually be needed, but better to be too prepared than not prepared enough, right?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Precisely." Lan Wangji glances at Tress. She is, overtly, tired and overworked. He wouldn't need spiritual senses to know that, but he has them, and they only corroborate the impression. A barely-there frown graces his features. "Young mistress, you need to rest."

[sporesprouter]

Tress blinks. "I haven't even been awake that long."

[lightbearinglord]

"And did you sleep a full night prior to awakening?" When the occasion calls for it, Lan Wangji can be fantastically stubborn, in a placidly immovable sort of way.

[sporesprouter]

"I got to bed as soon as I could once I was done charting the stars for last night."

[lightbearinglord]

So that is a no. With gentle finality, Lan Wangji says, "You cannot work effectively without a foundation of rest. Your spirit will suffer for it."

[sporesprouter]

She's quiet for a moment. Mostly because deep down she knows he's right. When she speaks, though, it's quiet. "I think it might suffer more if I don't think I'm doing everything I can to get home."

[lightbearinglord]

"One bee makes no honey." Lan Wangji is used to shepherding several disciples; surely he can help one exhausted young woman. "Rest, young mistress."

[sporesprouter]

She pauses and thinks that over for a moment.

"One bee might make some honey..."

[lightbearinglord]

Unmoved, Lan Wangji gazes levelly at her. This is the you can't get away with this with me; I'm Hanguang-jun look and it works exceptionally well on Lan Jingyi. "Young mistress," he repeats, an entire essay's worth of firm concern behind the title.

[sporesprouter]

Well yes, but Tress is totally the captain of a ship... who really isn't particularly fond of actually asserting her will on people in any significant way unless it is absolutely necessary.

... She folds almost immediately.

Her shoulders slump a bit. "I'm not sleeping well."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji hardly needed her to tell him that. It's wholly evident. "Do you meditate, or have some other practice to calm your spirit?"

[sporesprouter]

Tress waves a hand at the work in front of her. "Just this. Or baking, I guess, but I don't know how much it counts."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji doesn't even bother to glance at the spore materials in answer to her gesture. "Your mind and body need to be still." He has already made up his mind that Tress needs some light guidance from him. "Let me show you."

[sporesprouter]

Her body is one thing, but Tress is very dubious about ever getting her mind to be still. It's practically one of her defining qualities.

Still, though, he's trying to help and it would be very rude not to give him a chance.

"All right..."

[lightbearinglord]

"Come."

Presuming that Tress will follow, Lan Wangji sweeps out of her workshop. He is in search of a quiet parlor, free of clutter and with a calming atmosphere. He himself can meditate in any circumstances, but a fledgling trainee will require a suitable setting.

[sporesprouter]

... Okay, she wasn't expecting now. It's possible nobody else will find this room while she's gone, but she can't guarantee it... She hesitates for just a moment before ripping a blank page from her notebook, writing on it, 'Please do not touch anything on this table. Thank you, I appreciate it!' and setting it face up in a prominent position before quickly standing and hastening to catch up with Lan Wangji.

[lightbearinglord]

When they reach their destination, so designated by Lan Wangji, he allows Tress to enter the room before him. It is largely empty, only a few sitting chairs in evidence, and the sun is just beginning to stream in through the windows as it creeps above the horizon.

"Sit," he instructs. To demonstrate, he assumes lotus pose on the floor, his robes floating down along with him. "As I do."